Chapter 273
Chapter Title: The Dwarves' Fervor
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After the commotion had settled.
Leo and Lunia returned to the great hall.
Seeing Lunia rejoin the Seirun students, Karl approached Leo and nudged him in the side.
“Hey, Leo. What did you and Lunia talk about?”
“About the reward for clearing that world.”
“Oho, must have been a high-level conversation, huh?”
*'It wasn't exactly high-level.'*
It was childish, if anything.
Leo shook his head, recalling how Lunia had grabbed him by the collar, screaming at him to apologize for insulting Luna.
“Then again, you're the only one among us who's ever cleared one of the Great Heroes' worlds, right, Leo?”
The conquest of Luna's world during last year's mission training.
In the process, it was revealed that the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, was a real person.
“Come to think of it, you're always one step ahead.”
“Does it look that way?”
“Yeah.”
“Anyway, it was so satisfying to see you shut that obnoxious elf teacher up.”
Karl chuckled.
It went without saying that, aside from the Seirun students, no one from the other schools looked upon Levet with favor.
Just then, the students of the Hero Academy entered the great hall.
Depeto, who seemed to have heard about Levet, let out a deep sigh.
*'I'll have to warn the Seirun side. No matter what, this has crossed the line.'*
Depeto was well aware of Seirun's current situation.
He knew there had been many personnel changes within Seirun and who had taken key positions.
In particular, Lehagen, the new interim principal, was an elf renowned even among other races.
Upon hearing that news, Depeto, the Demian Smith in charge of the second years, had even suggested canceling Seirun's invitation.
But it was Gerwin, Demian's principal, who had persuaded him.
*'We are blacksmiths who forge the armaments of heroes. Therefore, we must treat the hero candidates without discrimination.'*
With a bitter smile, Gerwin had stroked his beard.
*'And now that the Demon Queen has been slain and the Sword Saint has passed from this world, it may not be long before the world is swept up in a storm. The unity of your four hero academies is more important now than ever.'*
Heeding Gerwin's will, Depeto had ignored Levet.
He had coordinated the schedule with Herdium, who was effectively in charge of all second-year affairs.
*'It would have been wonderful if an excellent elf like Teacher Herdium had been in charge of Seirun's second years.'*
Depeto sighed deeply.
Lumerne had Sedzen, who had guided students for ages.
Azonia had Berga, a young but capable instructor.
They were all figures perfectly suited to lead the golden generation of their respective schools.
*'At this rate, I'm worried they'll ruin Seirun's students.'*
Sighing, Depeto stepped up to the podium.
“A message for the students of Lumerne, Seirun, and Azonia. If our Demian students evaluated you this morning, it is now your turn to evaluate our Demian students.”
The students of the three hero academies scanned the great hall, where weapons were lined up like an exhibition.
Made by Dwarves—a label that would make any knight, mage, or summoner drool.
The finest of the fine.
And now, the time had come to evaluate them.
A privilege, quite literally, that only hero candidates could possess.
“Ooh… this is a little nerve-wracking.”
“Tell me about it.”
Karl nodded in agreement with Iliana's murmur.
Although Iliana was from a prestigious family, it wasn't one that could afford to use dwarven-made weapons freely.
It wasn't just Karl and Iliana; most of Lumerne's students reacted the same way.
The same went for Seirun and Azonia.
Of course, there were some who were unconcerned.
“Hmph. I’ll make them pay dearly for daring to critique the heir of the Hergin family.”
Sitting on a chair brought by a follower, Eliza curled her lips as she filed her nails as usual.
“I hope there’s at least something better than the sword collections I have at home.”
“Should I take this chance to get a new magic staff?”
Duran and Abad also showed interest.
Watching them, Karl clenched his fist with a *Kuh-!*
“Damn bourgeoisie.”
“Don't listen to them. They live in a different world. A different world.”
Iliana shook her head.
“Now, then.”
Depeto said, looking over the crowd.
“You may begin.”
With that, the students of Lumerne, Seirun, and Azonia were about to move to inspect the displayed weapons.
“Hey! You there! The skinny one!”
*Thump, thump, thump-!*
A Demian student shouted as he came running.
“Skinny one? Who’s he talking about?”
Iliana tilted her head.
“Beats me.”
Karl shrugged.
But that was just the beginning.
Following that Demian student, others came rushing over as well.
“You! You! Over there! What was your name again?”
“Anyway, the guy who presented that weird thing!”
“Wow, looks like even the Demian kids are eager to scout the top students.”
“Well, that’s to be expected.”
The students burst out in admiration.
Karl and Iliana nodded in agreement.
“That’s to be expected.”
“By the way, doesn’t it look like they’re coming this way?”
Karl tilted his head.
“Hmph. As expected of outstanding craftsmen, they have a discerning eye.”
A scoffing sound came from behind them.
Iliana made a face of open disgust, while Karl stepped aside, wanting no part of it.
Emio strode forward, arms crossed.
Coincidentally, the five dwarves were running toward where Emio was standing.
And the student with the best grades in this area was also Emio.
Emio sauntered forward and spoke to the lead dwarf.
“Do you have some business with me…?”
*Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!*
“……!”
Emio’s face stiffened as he watched the dwarves run past him.
“Serves you right!”
Iliana giggled at the sight.
Then, with a smug look, she lifted her chin.
“It seems the dwarves have taken a keen interest in me, the top magic swordsman.”
Taking a step forward, Iliana cleared her throat. *Ahem!*
“Alright! I’ll hear you out….”
“You! Come with me! We need to talk!”
“Forget this idiot, come have a real talk with me!”
The five Demian students bypassed even Iliana and gathered in front of Karl.
“Me?”
Karl asked, pointing at himself with a bewildered expression.
“Yes! You!”
A female Demian student grabbed Karl’s hand.
“I sketched out a rough design for that magic bullet staff during lunch. I want to hear your opinion.”
“Don’t listen to this hack! You’d be better off looking at my design.”
“Hack? You wanna take that back?”
“No! I don’t!”
A male Demian student pulled on Karl’s other arm.
Karl looked at Iliana and said teasingly.
“What a shame, looks like they came for me.”
“You of all people, Karl…! You of all people…!”
“It seems the dwarves have taken a keen interest in me, the top magic swordsman.”
Karl mimicked Iliana’s tone and voice, mocking her.
Iliana’s face turned bright red at Karl’s taunt.
Karl cackled at the sight.
But his laughter didn’t last long.
“He’s coming with me!”
“No! He’s coming with me!”
“Ow? Ow-ow-ow-ow! My arm’s gonna rip off!”
Dwarves may be small in stature, but their innate physical strength was immense.
As they pulled him from both sides like a tug-of-war, Karl couldn't help but scream.
Watching this, Iliana crouched down next to the other dwarves who were hesitating to join the competition and said.
“I can assure you, Karl Thomas is also an alchemist with brilliant ideas. The items he makes are incredibly popular among our students.”
“I see. So that’s how he came up with such an idea.”
“I don’t want to lose him to them.”
“Hmm!”
The remaining three dwarves twitched, wanting to join the fray.
But since Karl’s arms were already taken by competitors, they couldn’t get in.
“Are you just going to let them take him? His legs and head are still free, you know?”
At her words, the dwarves swarmed him.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Karl’s desperate scream echoed.
Iliana walked up to Karl and gave him a bright, pretty smile.
“Karl, have you ever heard of being drawn and quartered?”
“Heyyyy! Iliana! You!”
Iliana burst into peals of laughter at Karl’s shriek.
Such uproars were happening all over the great hall.
The Demian students had begun a fierce battle to claim the students they fancied.
“Hieeeek?!”
Eiran let out a terrified scream and fled.
“Stop right there!”
“Catch her! Catch that elf!”
“Wh-why are you trying to catch me?”
“Show us the Animus Armor that boasts absolute defense!”
The targets weren't just students who had made excellent or interesting presentations.
Students with special skills were also targets.
Terrified, Eiran ran until she was cornered.
“Show us the unique magic passed down in the Ersar family!”
“Then there won’t be any bloodshed!”
“O-okay, I will! So please don’t chase me with such scary faces! *Huuu*…”
Eiran trembled, her shoulders hunched, and asked.
“So, should I show you here?”
At her words, the ten dwarves who had been chasing Eiran’s eyes glinted.
The unique magic passed down in the Ersar family.
The reason they wanted to see the Animus Armor was none other than to gain powerful inspiration.
To the Demian students, each other was a powerful competitor.
This was a different kind of competition from what was typical at hero academies.
At Demian, the value of a unique and brilliant idea was immense.
That’s why the Demian students chasing Eiran all thought the same thing.
*'I'll have it all to myself!'*
The moment that thought crossed their minds, they started throwing punches at each other.
“Give up! You don’t even specialize in armor!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Just because it’s magic, does it have to inspire only armor? Your thinking shows your level!”
“What did you say to me?!”
Watching the dwarves suddenly start fighting each other viciously, Eiran became even more terrified.
“What is going on here?”
Just then, Depeto approached with a puzzled look.
“S-Smith Depeto! It’s terrible! The Demian students are fighting….”
“Hmm.”
Depeto looked at his students with a serious expression, then smiled faintly.
“What excellent passion.”
“Huh?”
With those words, Depeto walked away.
Eiran stood there dumbfounded, watching the Demian students genuinely swing their fists at one another.
To see that and call it ‘excellent passion’ while doing nothing…
*'Scary! The Demian students are so scary!'*
In the end, Eiran was too petrified to even think of running away.
***
“Get her!”
“Catch that gnat-like girl!”
“That staff you have! It’s [Legendary] grade, isn't it! Show us the Llewellyn family heirloom!”
“Gnat! At least call me a butterfly!”
Chelsea, who had been flying freely through the air to evade the Demian students, paused and called down to Leo, who was walking leisurely below.
“You look so relaxed, Brother Leo! I’m jealous!”
Leo smiled and replied.
“Looks like you’ve really gotten on their bad side.”
“Hmph! They have no taste!”
Chelsea pouted.
“Stop right there!”
One of the dwarves chasing Chelsea had somehow fashioned a butterfly net.
“Wow… they’re really persistent. Brother Leo! See you in a bit!”
With a fed-up expression, Chelsea waved and flew off.
Waving back at her, Leo noticed a large group of Azonia students gathered in one corner of the great hall.
“Ooh! Black Rabbit!”
Ar greeted him with a pleased expression.
“Why are all the Azonia kids gathered here?”
“There’s a Demian student here who specializes in making super-heavyweight weapons!”
“You don’t use weapons like that, do you?”
Leo asked, looking incredulous, and Ar crossed her arms.
“That’s right! But that dwarf said something interesting.”
“Something interesting?”
“Yeah. He said only those who earn his respect through arm wrestling can try out his weapons.”
Hearing that, all the Azonia students who were confident in their strength had gathered here, Ar explained.
“You too?”
“Of course!”
Ar snorted.
“Did you pass?”
“Naturally!”
Ar crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
Just then, a dwarf of considerable size approached.
“Ar Tune. Are you sure you don’t want me to make you a weapon?”
Ar Tune shook her head at his words.
“Of course! It’s not that I can’t fight using weight, but my specialty is speed-based combat!”
“Hmph. A pity. With that much strength in those delicate arms, you’d be even more powerful if you trained your muscles.”
“Hah—if I get all bulky, my beautiful body will become unsightly, so I refuse.”
“Beautiful body? You mean scrawny, don’t you?”
“Don’t call me scrawny!”
As Ar hissed and raised her claws, Leo grabbed both her hands with an indifferent expression.
“Hmph, so you’re Leo Flove.”
The dwarf looked at Leo and snorted.
“You boasted earlier that you could handle any weapon, right? Why don’t you try handling one of mine?”
Leo smirked at his words.
“Should I?”
“Yes, but before that.”
The dwarf pushed through the Azonia students and stood before a steel table.
“You’ll have to earn my respect in an arm-wrestling match using pure strength.”
The Demian student grinned, as if provoking Leo.
“For your information, only five people have managed to beat me so far.”
Among all races, beastkin were the most physically capable.
But when it came to pure strength, dwarves were the best.
This dwarf, in particular, was one and a half times the size of other dwarves.
Befitting his size, his arms were armed with incredible muscle.
He was, quite literally, a possessor of immense strength.
Leo looked at him, nodded, and stood before him.
“Ooh.”
“Isn’t that Lumerne’s student council president?”
“I wonder how strong he is.”
The Azonia students watched with interest.
“Hah. You’d better give it your all. You might break your arm otherwise.”
The Demian student pointed to a few Azonia students.
Indeed, their arms were wrapped in bandages.
*Grip-!*
They clasped hands.
*Thump-!*
They braced their arms and looked at each other.
*'It’s impossible to master all weapons. Especially super-heavyweight weapons like these, which are even trickier to handle.'*
The Demian student, Eget, glared at Leo and muttered inwardly.
*'Even if you use Aura to boost your strength, what you ultimately need is pure physical power! My weapons can never be wielded without that kind of strength.'*
“Ready.”
Eget said, tensing his arm.
*'You may be an incredible guy, but you were too arrogant!'*
“Se…”
*'Leo Flove! I'll teach you a lesson!'*
“...Go!”
*CRASH-!*
Eget blinked.
He found himself staring at the ceiling.
The Azonia students’ eyes widened as they watched Leo end the match the moment it began.
“D-Did he use Aura?”
“I didn’t sense anything like that.”
Leo smiled and spoke to the fallen Eget.
“I’m going to try out those weapons you made.”