Chapter 030
Chapter Title: The Student Council President
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【31】30.
“This is my first time visiting Lumeria since enrolling.”
As Leo stepped off the regular ferry that ran between Lumerne and Lumeria, Celia nodded in agreement.
“Me too. It’s been more hectic than I expected, so I haven’t had a chance to come out.”
Many Lumerne students visited Lumeria every weekend, but few first-years did so regularly.
The reason was that they still hadn’t grown accustomed to their academic schedules.
Leo tugged at the collar of his uniform.
“Isn’t having to wear our uniforms even in Lumeria a pretty strict rule?”
“I don’t mind. Not only is our academy uniform well-designed, but being a Lumerne student is a tremendous honor in itself.”
Celia shrugged.
“Besides, the rule exists to keep us from doing anything foolish in Lumeria. If you’re in uniform, the school will know immediately who did what. I’ve heard many students break that rule, though. Of course, the moment a professor catches them…”
Celia made a throat-slitting gesture with her hand.
“It’s lights out,” she added.
Just as she said, quite a few students roamed Lumeria in civilian clothes, and a fair number of them were caught by professors.
“Anyway, why did the student council president want to see you and me?”
It was rather strange for the president, who had been away on a dispatch mission, to ask to meet them off-campus.
But at that question, Celia shot him a look of disbelief.
“Are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”
“I’m asking because I don’t know.”
“You don’t know who the student council president is?”
“I don’t.”
Hearing Leo’s reply, Celia let out a deep sigh.
As they entered the bustling Kuraju Street, Celia spoke.
“The student council president, Lis, is the heir to our family! That makes him your cousin!”
“Oh? My cousin is the student council president?”
“‘Oh?’ Is that all you have to say? How could you not know Lis? He’s the top student at Lumerne and the heir to our family!”
“It’s possible not to know.”
Celia clutched her head as she watched Leo shrug as if it were no big deal.
As they talked, they arrived at the inn where they had stayed before the entrance ceremony.
*Jingle, jingle—*
A bell chimed as they opened the door and entered.
“Welcome! Ah, you must be students from Lumerne! Are you planning to stay for the weekend?”
When the employee asked with a bright smile, Celia replied.
“Lis Jerdinger is staying here, correct?”
“You mean Sir Lis Jerdinger? Yes, he is. Are you with his party? Or do you have a separate appointment?”
As the heir of the Jerdinger family and the student council president of Lumerne, he was quite the celebrity.
Many people showed up unannounced, hoping to forge a connection with Lis.
The hotel employee, having seen such situations many times, showed a hint of caution.
As an employee of a high-end hotel, it was their duty to provide their guests with the utmost peace and quiet.
“I am…”
“Oh? Well, if it isn’t Celia!”
Just then, someone in the first-floor lobby called out to them.
The man, an Easterner with black hair and eyes, approached them with a broad smile.
“Senior Li Jamua. It’s been a while.”
Celia greeted him with a proper posture.
Li Jamua.
He was a fifth-year student at Lumerne.
“Haha! No need to be so formal between us!”
Li Jamua laughed heartily.
“Miss employee, these two are our guests.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“Not at all. Let’s head inside.”
Waving his hand dismissively, Li Jamua guided Celia and Leo inside.
“By the way, who is this?”
“This is Leo Flove. My cousin.”
“Ho? You’re that famous first-year representative?”
Jamua’s eyes lit up.
An All-Class user.
That fact alone was enough to create a stir not just among his year, but throughout the entire school.
Even in the history of Lumerne, which only admitted students with extraordinary talents, an All-Class user was unprecedented.
In fact, some students and even professors still regarded Leo as a fraud.
‘Well, even in my past life, people looked at me funny when I said I was All-Class.’
Leo, who knew full well why people were skeptical, took it in stride.
“You seem to be an excellent knight.”
Jamua grinned as he looked at Leo.
“Lis is waiting. Let’s go up.”
He puffed out his chest as he led the way.
“Magic is good, and summoning is good too! But at the end of the day, the best thing is this body of mine!”
Jamua pounded his chest with his fist.
“If you hone your swordsmanship while using magic and summoning as support, you’ll probably become a great knight!”
At those words, Celia nodded.
“That’s right. Leo, I think you’ve been neglecting your swordsmanship too much lately.”
“Oh no! You can’t do that! You can’t become a fine knight if you neglect your training.”
“Really? Celia, how about we increase the intensity of our training?”
Having brought it up only to have it turned back on her, Celia avoided Leo’s gaze.
Jamua, unaware of the circumstances, thought Leo was passionate and smiled with satisfaction.
“That’s a good attitude!”
“Quiet, Jamua.”
Just as they reached the top of the stairs, a sharp voice cut in.
“Don’t you remember the professors telling you not to speak carelessly about majors to dual-class students? And here you are, forcing a major on an All-Class junior you’ve just met?”
Leaning against the wall in the second-floor hallway was a woman from the south with light brown skin and reddish-brown eyes.
She wore the Lumerne uniform with a badge marked ‘5’ on her left breast, indicating she was also a senior.
The book and staff emblem embroidered on her right shoulder suggested she was from the Magic Department.
Pushing herself off the wall, she walked over with the *clack, clack* of her heels, pushed Jamua aside, and stood before Leo and Celia.
“Hello, my name is Torua Yan. You must be Celia, right? I’ve heard a lot about you from Lis.”
“Hello, Senior Torua.”
Although they had never met, Celia had also heard about her from Lis.
She’d heard Torua was the top student in the fifth-year written exams for the Magic Department.
“And… you must be Leo Flove?”
Torua stared at Leo in silence for a moment, then scoffed.
“Professor Ren praised you so much I actually had my hopes up… but what is this? That pathetic amount of mana? I feel like an idiot for expecting anything.”
“Did you just call Leo pathetic?”
Celia flared up.
“I was just stating a fact. So, Leo.”
*Clack, clack.*
Torua walked over to Leo and spoke.
“Drop your Knight and Summoning classes right now and focus on magic.”
Torua slung an arm around Leo’s shoulders and pointed at the ceiling.
“Leo, look up. Do you see your potential, shining like the stars in the night sky?”
“I only see the magic lights on the chandelier attached to the ceiling.”
“You didn’t understand me. I meant you should look with your eyes closed.”
“Then I’d only see darkness.”
“You possess the ability to evaluate things intuitively. That’s an essential quality for a mage. It seems you were born to be one.”
Torua was a typical mage who only heard what she wanted to hear.
“Senior Torua, a moment ago you said not to force a major…”
“Celia, I’m sorry, but this is a Magic Department matter, so could you please not interfere?”
Celia narrowed her brow and asked Jamua.
“Is she allowed to do that?”
“Of course not. But she’s a magic nutjob, so she won’t listen no matter what you say.”
Jamua shook his head.
“The professors will probably chew her out if they find out about this.”
“But the professors don’t know.”
“They will.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to snitch.”
Celia stared blankly, witnessing the tear-jerking friendship they had built over five years of life-and-death situations.
***
“Lis!”
“Celia, have you been well?”
Upon entering Lis’s room, Celia beamed and clung to him.
Leo watched the scene with a look of wonder.
It was the first time he had seen Celia, who always maintained the composed and proper demeanor of a Jerdinger, act so childishly affectionate.
‘Looking at her like this, she really is just a fifteen-year-old kid, huh?’
As Leo chuckled at her age-appropriate behavior, Lis spoke to him.
“You must be Leo. I’ve heard a lot about you. Is my aunt doing well?”
“Yes. Have you met my mother before?”
“I met her when I was young. I’ve also sent her several letters since coming to Lumerne.”
“To our aunt?”
Celia was surprised, and Lis smiled.
“Your aunt was quite famous during her school days. You two will naturally hear about her legends as you go about your school life.”
“For example?”
“The time she gathered students and stormed the principal’s office because the dormitory cafeteria desserts were terrible is a really famous one.”
“That was our aunt?”
“So that was Mother, after all.”
Celia’s jaw dropped, while Leo looked as if he had expected as much.
“Yes. Thanks to her, students can enjoy delicious desserts even in the dormitory cafeteria. I had a chance to taste the desserts back then… as the student council president, I found myself in full support of my aunt’s opinion.”
Lis chuckled, nodded, and then said.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for calling you out on the weekend. I figured I’d be too busy to see you for a while once I was back at school. That’s why I asked to meet like this.”
“I don’t mind at all!”
Celia, happy to see Lis after so long, chattered away cheerfully, acting like a spoiled child.
While looking after his younger cousin, Lis also made sure to include Leo in the conversation.
‘I can see why Celia looks up to him.’
As the heir of the Jerdinger family and the student council president of Lumerne, Lis was a flawless individual.
His skills were matched by his outstanding character.
‘Just like someone close to being a hero.’
It felt like it was only a matter of time before Lis ascended to the rank of a hero.
“So, Lis! Which hero dungeon did you conquer this time? Who was the hero?”
In the middle of their conversation, Celia asked.
“That’s still classified, so I can’t tell even you. But I can tell you that I recovered two pages.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Though one of them was so badly damaged that even the World of Heroes couldn’t be manifested.”
Lis said regretfully as he checked his watch.
It was already dinnertime.
“It’s already time to eat. You two don’t know about Lumeria’s hidden gems, do you?”
“I don’t. Are there places like that?”
“Of course. You think I’ve spent five years at Lumerne for nothing? I’ll take you to a really delicious place today.”
“Wow!”
Celia smiled brightly and stood up from her seat.
“Leo, is there anything you can’t eat?”
“I eat everything.”
“Good. Got it. You two head down first. I’ll just pack a few things and come down.”
Humming a tune, Celia pushed Leo’s back and went outside.
From his luggage, Lis took out a sealed box containing the pages of the Hero Record he had recovered this time.
It was an item that should never be shown to regular students, so he had to carry it with him whenever he went out.
As he picked up the box, which was slightly smaller than his palm, Lis froze.
He felt an unusual wave of power emanating from it.
‘What’s this? Is the hero dungeon I just conquered about to go berserk?’
A tense expression crossed Lis’s face.
Torn pages were unstable.
Even after being conquered, they would sometimes go berserk again and create a hero dungeon.
Opening the box to check, Lis frowned.
The Hero Record was showing no reaction.
‘Wait. Could it be?’
He hurriedly opened the box with the heavily damaged page.
A small page fragment, the size of his fingertip, was emitting a faint gray light.
Lis couldn’t help but be shocked as the page, which had shown no reaction until now, revealed its power.
‘What in the world is…?’