Chapter 220
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Challenger
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“W-What was that!”
“That sound just now was huge...!”
The Lumerne students, who had been resting in their rooms, were startled and rushed down to the first floor.
“Didn’t that just sound like someone shouting for Leo?”
Karl asked with a bewildered look. Eiran, who had been covering her ears, cautiously lowered her hands.
“I-I thought so, too.”
Celia frowned and opened the door.
And in the distance.
Standing squarely at the dormitory's main entrance, she spotted a girl and tilted her head in confusion.
“A beastkin?”
The one who seemed to have shouted was none other than a beastkin girl.
Her appearance alone was incredibly striking.
And not just because she was a beastkin.
Her attire was far too conspicuous.
The winters in the west, while not as harsh as in the north, were still very cold.
Despite that, the beastkin girl’s clothes were extremely thin.
So thin, in fact, that she was even wearing short sleeves.
The cat ears peeking out from her white hair twitched nervously, and the tail between her back and hips swished with irritation.
Crucially, her sapphire-like blue eyes held a fiercely hostile aura.
She was like a cat ready to puff up its fur and hiss at any moment.
“She looks really angry, doesn't she?”
Chloe, who peeked her head out from behind Celia, tilted her head.
“But why is she causing such a scene while looking for Leo?”
“Wait. That uniform… isn’t that from Azonia?”
“What?”
At Chloe’s words, Celia’s expression turned to one of surprise as she examined the girl’s outfit more closely.
Chloe was right; it was an Azonia uniform.
“Why is an Azonia student making a fuss looking for Leo?”
Celia wore a baffled expression as she stepped outside.
Seeing Celia, the Azonia student, Ar, shot her a sharp glare.
*Step. Step.*
Celia walked up to Ar and spoke.
“You’re a student from Azonia, right? My name is Celia Jerdinger.”
“Celia?”
Ar narrowed her eyes.
Celia was a Lumerne student who was incredibly famous even at Azonia.
Ar herself had heard her name several times and knew of her.
After looking Celia up and down, Ar crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
“My name is Ar Tune.”
“Ar Tune?”
‘The top first-year at Azonia? Why would someone of her caliber be here looking for Leo?’
As Celia reeled in surprise, she recalled something.
‘Ah, right. He said he conquered Ar-on’s world with her during the summer break, didn’t he?’
The fact that Ar-on’s world had suddenly opened during this year’s Azonia entrance exam was a well-known story.
And Leo had mentioned taking the exam alongside Ar.
If that was the case, then to Ar, Leo should be a comrade with whom she had braved life-and-death situations.
But Ar showed no sign of such camaraderie.
While Celia stood there looking puzzled, Ar spoke.
“So? Where is Leo Flove?”
“Leo isn’t here right now.”
“If he’s not here, then where is he?”
“He hasn’t arrived yet due to family matters.”
At those words, Ar’s brow furrowed.
“If you don’t mind, could you tell me why you’re looking for Leo? It doesn’t seem like you’re here on good terms.”
“I came here to challenge Leo Flove to a duel.”
‘…What did he do this time?’
Leo wasn’t the type to go around making enemies, but he didn’t have a particularly pleasant personality either.
“If you’re willing, would you mind coming inside and telling us why you need to duel Leo?”
“Fine.”
Ar nodded and followed Celia inside.
‘She doesn’t seem like a bad person.’
As Ar entered, the eyes of every Lumerne student fixed on her.
Thanks to her thunderous shout moments ago, all the students had flocked down to the first floor.
Most would have been intimidated by so many students staring at them, but Ar didn’t bat an eye.
“An Azonia student?”
“Is she the one who was just yelling for Leo to come out?”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Ar Tune, apparently.”
“What? The top student of her year at Azonia?”
“Wow… why is someone like that here… No! More importantly, aren’t those the year representatives from Seirun?”
“What? What in the world is going on?”
The students who hadn't realized the Seirun representatives were there began to murmur as they finally grasped the situation.
Hearing the whispers, Ar’s ears twitched, and she glanced toward the Seirun students.
She saw three elves.
Among them, Ar’s eyes narrowed as she instantly recognized a girl with brilliant red hair and red eyes.
‘Lunia El Lundua. The top first-year at Seirun.’
Meanwhile, Lunia also recognized Ar and tilted her head.
‘Ar Tune… The top first-year at Azonia.’
An unexpected meeting between the top students of Seirun and Azonia.
A strange tension began to flow as they sized each other up.
“Looks like we have some distinguished guests.”
Just then, Duran pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
And he wasn't the only one.
Chloe took up a position in a corner of the lounge.
Abad and Chelsea sat nearby, watching the situation unfold.
Eliza was nonchalantly filing her nails as usual, but her eyes glinted with interest.
Watching this, the Lumerne students swallowed dryly.
Leo, Chen Xia, and Woreden were absent due to their respective family circumstances.
Even so, a group of hero candidates who could easily be called the strongest of their generation had gathered in one place.
The tension was on a completely different level than usual.
“So, why do you want to challenge Leo to a duel?”
If he had earned the enmity of someone on the level of Azonia’s year representative, it was bound to be a headache not just for the school, but for his family as well.
Especially since the Tune family was one of the most distinguished hero families among the beastkin.
If the problem was serious, it could even escalate into a diplomatic issue.
At Celia’s question, the Lumerne students looked puzzled.
Not many of them knew that Leo had participated in Azonia’s entrance exam during the break.
They couldn’t help but be suspicious of the sudden appearance of Azonia’s top first-year demanding a duel with Leo.
“Maybe it’s a kind of dojo challenge? Like, ‘I’ll defeat the most famous student of the moment, Leo Flove!’ or something?”
“Ah. I guess that makes sense. I’ve heard Azonia students have a battle-crazed streak.”
“If that’s the case, this could be interesting.”
Amidst the various speculations, Ar clenched her fists.
Her previously limp cat tail stood up stiffly, as if in anger.
“Leo Flove… that guy…”
Ar’s lips trembled before she shouted.
“He toyed with me and made a complete mockery of me!”
“Pfft! Kkh! Cough! Cough!”
Lunia, who had been sipping warm tea, spat it out as if she’d choked and began coughing violently.
“And then he just up and abandoned me!”
*Thud! Whack!*
Chloe dropped the grimoire she always carried.
“Oof!”
Karl, who happened to be standing next to her, clutched his foot and rolled on the floor.
But Chloe, still in shock, just stared blankly.
“I can’t forgive someone who would play with a girl’s pure heart!”
“I-It can’t be… Sir Leo… Sir Leo…”
Eiran muttered in a daze, clearly shocked.
“Wait! Hold on!”
Chelsea shot up from her seat, her face flushed red, and ran over.
“There’s no way Leo would do something so despicable! What kind of trick are you trying to pull!”
“A trick! I’m telling you what Leo Flove did to me!”
Ar, not to be outdone, jumped to her feet and shouted back.
The inside of the hotel was already a maelstrom of chaos.
“Hmph. So that’s the reason. Well, Leo Flove certainly does have a devious side to him.”
“Hmph. How disappointing, Leo Flove.”
Eliza commented mercilessly, while Duran crossed his arms and scoffed.
Celia tried her best to remain composed.
But the reason was so far beyond her imagination that her head was throbbing.
‘Azonia’s year representative doesn’t seem like she’s lying… Just what on earth did he do over there!’
Just as Celia was screaming internally.
“What’s going on? Why is everyone down here on the first floor?”
A curious voice cut through the noise.
The gazes of everyone on the first floor simultaneously turned to the speaker.
White hair and red eyes.
The man at the center of the controversy, Leo Flove, was standing there.
“Leo Flove!”
“Hm?”
Ar leaped up from her seat with a ferocious expression.
“Prepare yourself!”
As Ar charged, her eyes blazing and claws extended, Leo raised his fist.
*Smack!*
“Ack!”
“What was that for?”
Leo asked in an indifferent tone. Ar, who was crouched on the floor clutching her head, looked up.
“Leo Flove! Have you forgotten what you did to me?”
“Oh? That. I’m sorry about it, but what could I do? Things just turned out that way.”
“Hey! Leo! Did you really toy with her?”
Celia, who had been watching the situation, asked urgently.
“Yeah. But it’s not like I could enroll at Azonia, right?”
“What?”
Celia froze.
“I tricked her and attended the Azonia entrance ceremony. But I got caught by Professor Ain and Professor Yura midway through and had to leave without a proper explanation.”
“I was going to work with you to make our Azonia the greatest hero academy! I had such a grand dream! But it turns out you were just making a fool of me! I won’t forgive you!”
Leo pushed away Ar’s face as she lunged at him, hissing.
“What can I do to make you feel better?”
“Transfer to Azonia right now!”
“Do you really think that makes any sense?”
“Why doesn’t it! Does it make sense for a Lumerne student to take our school’s entrance exam? Transfer! Just transfer already!”
Watching Ar whine like a pouting kitten, Karl muttered.
“I always think this, but that guy is really popular, isn’t he?”
At his words, Iliana replied.
“And I always say this, but if that’s what popularity is like, I’ll pass.”
All the Lumerne students around them nodded in agreement.
***
On the outskirts of Loren, there was a massive training ground.
It was a place where the Empire held its military parades, large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people without issue.
And right now, countless spectators had gathered here.
The day of the long-awaited Lumerne integrated exam had finally dawned.
Usually, during the Lumerne entrance exam, the spectators’ attention was focused on the examinees.
But this time was different.
Most of the attention was directed at the second-year students who had been conscripted for the event.
“Look over there! It’s the second-years from Lumerne, the ones they call the Golden Generation.”
“Isn’t that Chloe Müller? The genius produced by the Magic Tower!”
“Duran of the Knight Kingdom Moira is there too.”
Among them, the top-ranking students captured the crowd’s attention at a glance.
The considerable interest from the spectators made the entire second-year class puff up their chests with pride.
Of course, even in the midst of all that, there was someone diligently attending to his own business.
“This is a gold mine! A total gold mine!”
“What business idea have you come up with now?”
Chloe, who had been encouraging her juniors from the Northern Magic Tower, burst out laughing and looked questioningly at the approaching Karl.
“Passing charms!”
“Passing charms?”
“Yeah! Aren’t I the guy who barely scraped by to get in and has been scraping by to survive as a second-year?”
Karl chuckled smugly.
“So I’m promoting and selling them to the examinees!”
“…Isn’t that a scam?”
“What scam! It’s not like I’m price-gouging, and I’m even giving out fatigue recovery potions as a service.”
Chloe just shook her head at her friend’s business acumen.
Meanwhile, Leo was giving advice to his knights.
“Do your best.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Whatever the exam task is, never give up.”
“Of course!”
“Senior Leo!”
Leo was in the middle of encouraging his knights.
A bright voice called out as someone approached him.
Seeing the speaker, the Slayer Knights gasped and formally bowed.
The one who had called out to Leo was none other than the princess of this nation, Sasha.
As the likely successor to the throne of Loren, she stood before Leo, flanked by numerous retainers.
“I’ve been counting down the days for this.”
Sasha smiled brightly.
“For the day I become your junior and receive your guidance!”
“Uh, yeah. Good luck.”
Leo replied with an indifferent expression.
At Leo’s tone, the royal guards who had accompanied Sasha glared daggers at him.
But Leo didn’t bat an eye.
Sasha, too, paid it no mind and wore a confident expression.
“Since I’ll be your direct junior, I’ll be aiming for the position of year representative!”
“Sure. Work hard.”
“Hehe! Please look forward to it!”
Watching Leo send off the radiantly smiling princess, Martina asked in bewilderment.
“Young Master Leo, is it alright to speak so informally to the princess?”
“What does it matter? She’s my junior. And technically, I’m not even a citizen of this country.”
Leo’s official nationality was the Delard Kingdom.
While the second-years were cheering on the first-years they knew.
“Everyone, attention.”
A low voice echoed throughout the entire exam grounds.
“My name is Halind Edmon. I am the one in charge of this year’s Lumerne integrated exam.”
Halind’s appearance drew gasps from all over.
It was only natural, as one of Lumerne’s most renowned professors had shown himself.
The examinees’ expressions grew tense.
Amidst the tension, Halind spoke.
“I will now announce the entrance exam task.”
True to his nature, Halind cut straight to the chase without any unnecessary chatter.
“This year’s Lumerne entrance exam task is ‘Survival’.”
At his words, a murmur spread through the examinees.
“Survival?”
“Do we just have to survive?”
“We will assess your ability to react in extreme situations. Only those who survive for the allotted time or demonstrate excellent coping skills will pass.”
Hearing Halind’s words, sighs of relief could be heard here and there.
“What? We just have to survive?”
“Are they going easy on us because it’s an integrated exam?”
“Surviving should be easy!”
“I was nervous for nothing.”
The examinees spoke with delight.
Watching them, Halind spoke with a blank face.
“Easy? You think this will be easy?”
His chilling voice, which dominated the grounds, made every examinee freeze.
“It seems you all think the Lumerne entrance exam is some kind of joke. You have no idea who you have to survive against.”
The corner of Halind’s mouth curled up.
“The ones who will be hunting you are none other than your seniors. That is, the second-year Lumerne students present here.”
At those words, not only the examinees but also the second-years wore expressions of utter shock.
“The phrase ‘survive within the time limit’ can be rephrased. It also means that anyone who fails to survive within that time will be ‘eliminated’.”
Halind’s eyes glinted.
“In other words, it would not be strange for there to be zero new students this year.”
The faces of the examinees slowly hardened.
‘Wait! I don’t want to spend my second year without any juniors!’
The second-years were also screaming internally.
“Second-years. If any of you go easy on them because you don’t want a school life without juniors, I will expel you myself on the spot.”
Everyone froze at Halind’s definitive statement.
“Th-That’s unfair!”
“That’s right! Our opponents are the second-years!”
When a few students protested, the corner of Halind’s mouth curled up.
“Surpass your limits. That is the motto of Lumerne. This is the Lumerne way.”