Chapter 336
Chapter Title: The Lower Class of Seirun
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336
Ranked third among all first-years at Seirun.
Eclair Welarun tried to calm her racing heart as she looked at Leo.
‘Wh-when did he get here?’
She steadied herself, her eyes fixed on her white-haired, red-eyed classmate, before glancing over at the other boy, Elric Dwone.
Elric adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses, his expression placid as he watched Leo.
From the looks of it, he had noticed this boy was listening to their conversation long ago.
‘Ugh! How embarrassing.’
The second-ranked first-year at Seirun.
Elric Dwone had been a close friend since they first enrolled.
But as much as he was a dear friend, she also considered him a rival she had to surpass.
The fact that Elric had noticed while she hadn't made Eclair feel a bit small, but she quickly regained her composure.
‘I’m a traditional mage, and Elric is a combat mage! That’s the only difference!’
Shaking it off cheerfully, Eclair tilted her head.
“Who are you?”
At Eclair’s question, Leo paused to think for a moment, then smiled brightly.
“You can call me Rail.”
He had thrown together a fake name by combining Leo and Kyle.
Eclair tilted her head again at his response.
“I’ve never heard that name before. You’re not in the upper classes, are you?”
“No.”
“Alright, then you can’t go spreading rumors, okay?”
Ahem! With a little cough, Eclair spoke proudly.
“Leah Tingel! The top-ranked first-year and a direct descendant of the Tingel family! You’ve heard of her, right?”
“Yes.”
Leo lied with a straight face.
All he really knew about Leah was that she was a descendant of Seirun Tingel and the niece of Tina, who was a visiting professor at Lumerne.
There was no reason for a Great Hero like Leo to be interested in a fledgling hero candidate, no matter how promising she was.
‘Still, I can’t just say I don’t know her.’
Besides, it would be strange for a fellow first-year to not know the top student in their grade.
At Leo’s reaction, Eclair raised a finger and said, “Well, that Leah! In class today, she summoned the Fairy King, Lord Silroad!”
Her face was flushed with excitement. A natural chatterbox, she seemed unable to hold back her desire to share what had happened in class.
Elric, however, responded calmly to her words.
“To be precise, it wasn’t a summoning. She merely called forth the Fairy King’s will.”
When summoning the highest-ranking familiars, like phoenixes, fairies, or pegasi, they didn’t always send their physical bodies in response to a summoner’s call.
Sometimes, they would only convey their ‘voice’ to the summoner.
That wasn’t typically called a ‘summoning.’
If only a voice was heard, there was usually a reason for it.
It meant the contractor was not yet a worthy vessel.
“Just hearing the voice of the Fairy King, who has been silent for 5,000 years, is practically the same as summoning him! Even the teachers said so, right?”
“That’s just the teachers’ opinion. In the study of summoning, that isn’t considered a true summon. Leah herself doesn’t think of it as a summoning, so why are you dressing it up as one?”
“Ugh!”
“And it wasn’t a summoning ritual she accomplished on her own, either.”
“Not on her own?”
Leo asked, looking puzzled, and Elric nodded.
“That’s right. You know, don’t you? The upper classes had their lesson in the Hall of Comets today.”
The Hall of Comets.
The very heart of Seirun, where the magical artifacts and grimoires left behind by the Comet Mage, Seirun, were kept.
Of course, Leo knew nothing about the Hall of Comets.
He just assumed from the name that it had some connection to the Comet Mage.
“Leah was chosen to wield Cometes there. She used its power to hear the Fairy King’s voice.”
‘Cometes…’
While Polium was Luna’s signature magical staff, it wasn’t the only one she used.
Depending on the battlefield and the situation.
And depending on the nature of the enemy she faced.
Luna used other staves besides Polium.
One of them was Cometes.
A magical staff crafted by Dweno. While not on par with Polium, it was still a staff Luna had favored.
‘Of course, it’s not the original.’
Cometes, too, had been broken along with Polium in Luna’s final battle.
The original was never passed down to later generations.
The Cometes that existed now was a reward the Comet Mage had obtained 3,000 years ago when he first conquered Luna’s world.
Though a replica, it was a magical staff that held immense power.
‘Could it be considered the strongest magical staff in existence today?’
In a way, it was to be expected.
It was a divine-tier magical staff personally crafted by Dweno, and Luna herself had imbued it with her mana.
On top of that, the current Cometes was also steeped in Seirun’s magic.
It was, in every sense of the word, a mighty staff in its own right.
‘If she borrowed the power of Cometes, it would be possible to hear Silroad’s voice, even if she’s still lacking.’
Cometes even contained the mana of Luna, who had been Silroad’s contractor.
‘Even with all those contributing factors, to converse with the Fairy King at her age… She must be exceptionally talented.’
Leo, now intrigued by Seirun’s top first-year, spoke.
“Thanks for the story.”
With those words, Leo turned and walked off to find his room.
After he was gone, Eclair muttered in wonder.
“I don’t know if he’s in the middle or lower class… but he’s a strange one. He wasn’t intimidated by us at all.”
“Just because they’re in a lower class than us doesn’t mean they have a reason to be intimidated, does it?”
“That’s true, but at our school right now, class ranking is basically social status. I heard it wasn’t like this last year.”
Eclair pouted, hugging a cushion.
“Even my own classmates are so wary of me because I’m a class representative that they won’t even come near me! I wanted a school life brimming with the scent of youth! To make tons of friends! To have a heart-fluttering romance! I hate this ridiculously authoritarian school life!”
Eclair threw herself onto the sofa and thrashed about.
Elric adjusted his glasses.
“If the teachers hear about you acting like this, you’ll get demerits.”
“Are you going to tattle?”
“Leah and I might not, but you should be more careful around the others.”
Thinking of the classmates who were constantly eyeing the class representative position, she went limp.
“Yesterday, I saw some lower-class kids chatting in their classroom. It made me wish I was in the lower class.”
“…It’s still the beginning of the semester. You’ll get closer to everyone soon.”
“You really think so?”
Eclair sighed heavily and sat up.
With a gloomy face, she returned to her room.
Watching her go, Elric also adjusted his glasses and gazed out of the lounge at the first-year building, the ‘Castle of Beginnings.’
‘…I don’t know if this is for the best.’
Although he had tried to comfort his friend Eclair, Elric was also aware that the academic atmosphere was strange.
‘Are other hero academies like this?’
A sense of doubt filled Elric as he let out a deep sigh.
***
The next day.
Leo left his room early in the morning.
The map Orlen had given him after guiding him to the first-year’s castle the day before also included the location of the classroom he would be studying in.
The first-year classroom area was quite complex.
Thus, he left the dormitory early to ensure he would arrive at his classroom with plenty of time to spare.
‘I’ll just skip breakfast.’
Whenever his friends saw him skip a meal, they would make a fuss as if it were the end of the world.
‘Hey! Seriously, does it make any sense to make us growing kids skip a meal?’
‘Hear, hear!’
Whenever Karl would preach about the importance of a single meal, the others, including Chelsea, would agree.
Of course, Leo, accustomed to it from his past life, didn't quite share their devotion to three square meals a day.
It seemed Seirun was no different in that regard, as the dining hall in the dormitory area was bustling with students, full of life.
Passing by the lively dining hall, Leo headed to the classroom area early.
A short while later, he found his assigned classroom.
“Well, I guess this is to be expected.”
Leo let out a chuckle.
The class Seirun had assigned him to was the ‘Lower Class.’
“How predictable can you get?”
With an expression of amusement, Leo entered the classroom and immediately froze.
The Lower Class classroom was vast.
It was so spacious that even with over a hundred desks and chairs, it didn’t feel crowded.
On top of that, the classroom was generally rundown, and the atmosphere was far from conducive to learning.
‘What is this? I heard Seirun was divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Classes, and that even within the same grade, there were classes 1, 2, and 3.’
Leo glanced up at the sign above the classroom door, which read ‘Lower Class Classroom.’
With a puzzled expression, he walked into the room.
He took a seat in the very front row.
After all, as an exchange student, he needed to present himself as a diligent, model student.
Once seated, Leo checked the clock on the wall above the blackboard.
Next to it, a single phrase was written in large letters.
[Believe in Yourself.]
‘Seirun’s motto.’
The motto of each hero academy was the last words its founder left to the school.
Lumerne’s was ‘Surpass Your Limits.’
Seirun’s was ‘Believe in Yourself.’
Azonia’s was ‘Advance Forward.’
Demian’s was ‘Pursue Potential.’
As he recalled the mottos of the various hero academies…
*Ding-dong-dang-dong-*
The bell signaling the start of class rang.
For a moment, Leo looked around the classroom with a strange expression.
‘Why is no one here? Did that teacher set me up?’
Leo’s brow furrowed as he thought of Orlen.
*Screech-!*
The classroom door opened, and a female elf entered.
Dressed as a teacher, her face stiffened when her eyes met Leo’s.
With a flustered look, she checked the classroom name outside before looking back at him.
“Um… I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Who are you?”
The elf teacher asked cautiously.
Leo replied calmly.
“My name is Rail. I’ve been assigned to the Lower Class.”
“L-Lower Class…?! Don’t tell me you’re from the Middle Class?”
“It’s complicated to explain, but it would be easier for you to think so.”
Realizing that Seirun’s higher-ups hadn’t even bothered to inform the teachers about the exchange student, Leo clicked his tongue internally as he answered.
It was a strange response.
But the elf teacher’s face lit up with emotion as she rushed over to him.
“It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Laura Quir, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher from today! Let’s study hard together from now on!”
Laura grasped Leo’s hands, her eyes welling up with tears.
She looked so overjoyed, as if the mere fact that she could study with a student was a deeply moving experience. Leo watched her with a peculiar expression.
“I’ll do my best to help you get back into the Middle Class!”
“Ah, yes. But where are the other students?”
“Th-that is…”
Laura’s expression turned to one of panic.
Then, she stammered, “The… first class is… Aura Basics.”
“…”
Leo blinked.
‘Aura class?’
He thought for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.
“Are you teaching this class, Professor? Is there no other teacher?”
“…No.”
Laura’s ears drooped as she nervously watched Leo.
‘A mage is teaching an aura class?’
He could tell at a glance.
Laura was not a knight; she was a pure mage.
And a mage like her was teaching an aura class?
As Leo scowled, Laura hurriedly said, “D-did you happen to choose Knight Studies as a dual class? Don’t worry! I’ve studied really, really hard! I’m sure I can be of help!”
She clenched her fists as she spoke, but then her shoulders slumped.
“…No, I won’t be much help. You can just come in for the third period like the other students.”
“What’s the second period?”
“Spirit Power Basics.”
“Are you teaching that as well, Professor?”
“…Yes.”
‘This is a complete mess.’
For one of the world’s four great educational institutions, Seirun’s curriculum was an utter disaster.
He could tell that Laura was a skilled mage.
But being a skilled mage didn’t mean she could teach aura or spirit power.
“What about the other students?”
“…The Lower Class students only come for the third period, which is Star Magic.”
‘I think I get the gist of how things work around here.’
Just as Leo let out a deep sigh…
*Screech-*
“Hello, Professor. I just came back to grab a textbook I left behind.”
A female student with a cheerful demeanor entered the classroom.
“Anre.”
Laura called the student’s name with a bitter expression.
Anre was heading to her seat at the very back when she spotted Leo and let out a surprised “Whoa?”
She then walked over to him.
“You came from the Middle Class?”
“Yes.”
“That’s too bad.”
Anre offered a wry smile and said, “My name is Anre Bizan. What’s yours?”
“Rail.”
“Let’s do our best together, Rail.”
Anre extended her hand in a friendly greeting, then let out a deep sigh.
“Even though it’ll be tough.”
As Leo shook Anre’s hand, his brow furrowed.
‘…This is the Lower Class?’
Anre’s skill was, at a glance, far beyond the level of a Lower Class student.
She was on par with the top-class students in Lumerne’s first-year Knight Department.
‘This school’s become a total dump, hasn’t it?’
To think a student of this caliber was rotting away in the Lower Class.
For Leo, who had come to Seirun to scout students with the makings of a hero, it was simply absurd.
‘At this rate, any potential they have will just vanish.’
He could already see the look of resignation in Anre’s eyes.
Leo seriously considered it.
‘Should I just tell Mel to transfer all the promising kids to Lumerne?’