Chapter 346
Chapter Title: An Unlikely Alliance
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346
With exams a week away.
A palpable tension settled over the first-years of Seirun.
“This is my seat.”
“It was empty. How is this your seat?”
“I just stepped away for a moment. I left my book here.”
“There was nothing here.”
“What? Did you move my book on purpose?”
The first-year library.
Sharp voices cut through the supposed silence.
“Both of you, shut up. Can’t you see I’m trying to study?”
An irritated voice cut in between them.
The two students, who had been snapping at each other, flinched.
Watching them, a female student scoffed.
“Hmph. Just like a bunch of intermediate class nobodies to cause a scene.”
“What? What did you just say?”
“You’re only in Advanced Class 3!”
“Oh? You think the advanced and intermediate classes are the same? You rejects.”
“You…!”
The voices rose again.
Watching the scene unfold, Eclair, who had been studying, rose from her seat.
As the exam period drew closer, the mood among the first-years grew increasingly hostile.
Quarrels were especially frequent between Intermediate Class 1, whose students could advance at any moment, and Advanced Class 3, whose students could drop to the intermediate class with a single misstep.
‘This isn’t right.’
Eclair muttered to herself.
She was in Advanced Class 1.
Not only that, she was the class representative, yet she couldn't get used to the recent atmosphere at the academy.
She understood that competition was inevitable in a school setting.
As the class representative, she also understood that many coveted her position.
Even so, the recent atmosphere was far too blatant.
Aside from Leah and Elric, whose grades were higher than hers.
The students of Advanced Class 1 were busy trying to keep Eclair in check.
Many wouldn't even speak to her, and those who did would talk behind her back.
The class atmosphere wasn't any better, either.
She was only receiving focused scrutiny because she was the class representative.
The students of Advanced Class 1 were all at each other's throats.
‘And Mr. Geras, the new homeroom teacher, seems to be encouraging this atmosphere…’
At least Leah was different.
She was the undisputed top student of their year and a direct descendant of the Tingel family.
Everyone was desperate to get close to Leah.
Among them were some who openly tried to drive a wedge between Leah and Eclair.
It was the work of children from prominent families who looked down on Eclair’s Welarun family.
Of course, Leah blatantly ignored them.
‘Still… a school life where I only have two friends I can open up to… I never imagined it.’
Her ears drooping, Eclair went in search of a quiet place to study.
After all, as the third-ranked first-year, she had to do her best.
Eclair arrived at a secluded part of the first-year building, the Castle of Beginnings, and looked around.
The old classroom wing.
It was a place rarely frequented by anyone.
‘I should be able to study quietly here…’
“Ahahahaha!”
Just then, she heard the sound of several people laughing together in the distance.
Eclair’s ears perked up.
It sounded like incredibly joyful laughter.
Clutching her textbook to her chest, Eclair tiptoed toward the sound.
When she reached the old hallway, her eyes widened.
‘The lower class?’
It was then that Eclair realized she had wandered into the lower-class classrooms.
“Correct! The summary of Emetra’s Mana Theory!”
“Wrong!”
“Gah!”
“You idiot! How could you get it wrong! It’s a penalty!”
“Penalty! Penalty!”
Shouts of criticism and jeers rang out.
But their voices were full of playfulness.
Swallowing hard, Eclair carefully opened the back door of the classroom and peeked inside.
The lower-class students had split into teams and were having a quiz battle.
The quiz questions seemed to cover the scope of the upcoming midterm written exams.
The penalties involved eating incredibly sour and spicy fruits.
As Eclair stared blankly at the cheerful scene.
*Creak-!*
“Huh?!”
The door suddenly swung open.
*Thud-!*
“Ack?!”
Eclair, who had been leaning against the door watching the lower-class students play, fell forward.
In an instant, the gazes of a hundred lower-class students fell upon her.
“Eclair Welarun?”
“Isn’t that the class representative?”
“What’s the class representative doing in the lower-class section?”
The lower-class students looked at Eclair with wary expressions.
“Ah, sorry! I was just looking for a place to study and happened to end up here!”
Eclair explained as she picked herself up.
“What? Are you here to spy on us?”
“That’s right! She might have come to tattle on us to the advanced-class teachers.”
There had been several instances where advanced and intermediate-class students, trying to curry favor with the teachers, had framed lower-class students for trivial rule violations.
On top of that, the lower-class students were studying the [Introductory Guide to Star Magic], which they couldn't let anyone find out about, making them even more guarded.
Seeing the blatant distrust and hostility from the lower-class students, a panicked Eclair waved her hands.
“N-No! I really just came to study for the exam! I swear!”
Eclair was on the verge of tears when someone spoke up.
“Guys, that’s enough. She said she came to study.”
Anr said, calming down his classmates.
“Besides, Eclair Welarun is different from the other advanced-class kids. She’s nice.”
“Well, if Anr says so.”
“But shouldn’t the class representative be able to study in the best spot in the library?”
“Yeah, why did she come all the way to the lower-class area?”
The students looked at each other, tilting their heads.
“The advanced class must have its own troubles.”
At Leo’s words, Eclair’s ears drooped.
Looking at her, Anr scratched his cheek and said.
“If you need a place to study during self-study time, do you want to join us?”
“R-Really? Is that okay?”
Seeing Eclair’s bright smile, Anr nodded.
“Of course. Is that okay with everyone?”
“Yeah. We don’t mind.”
The class generally followed the lead of their leader, Anr.
Watching the scene, Leo smirked.
‘The atmosphere is good.’
The next day.
As soon as classes ended, Eclair headed off somewhere.
The advanced-class students who were watching her began to whisper.
“Did you hear? Eclair was hanging out with the lower-class kids yesterday.”
“A disgrace to the advanced class.”
Scoffs and jeers came from all around.
Leah, who was packing her books, glared at them before looking toward the door Eclair had left through, thinking.
‘I’m so jealous, Eclair!’
Leo, whom Leah admired with all her heart, was in the lower class.
Eclair was going to study with him.
‘The lower-class kids are probably being tutored by Senior Flove right now, right? I want to go study with them too.’
But Leah couldn't.
She remembered what Leo had told the two second-year seniors, Lunia and Eiran.
‘He said it would only be meaningful if they raised their grades with the strength of the lower class alone.’
If Leah went to study with them, it would surely cause gossip.
‘Of course, Eclair being the class representative might cause talk too, but…’
Leah couldn't bring herself to stop Eclair.
She knew that her best friend, Eclair, was having a difficult time at school.
‘Eclair wants to make a lot of friends.’
Right now, the atmosphere in the advanced and intermediate classes was not one where you could make friends.
As Leah let out a small sigh.
“Leah.”
“Yes, Elric.”
“Don’t you think… we should stop Eclair?”
Elric expressed his concern, worried about their friend.
Looking at Elric, Leah picked up her school bag and said.
“She’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much.”
“Still…”
“If anything, you should be worried about yourself.”
“What?”
“You might lose your second-place spot to Eclair.”
With a faint smile, Leah left the classroom.
‘This school needs to change.’
Receiving awe-filled gazes from the other students, Leah sighed.
The scenes she had always taken for granted now looked different after hearing Leo’s words.
She realized that the lower-class students were being blatantly discriminated against.
‘If it doesn’t change, I’ll transfer to Lumerne, whether my father objects or not.’
Leah clasped her hands and fell into a daydream.
‘Then I could spend my school days happily under Senior Flove’s guidance, right?!’
After Leah left.
Mr. Geras, who had remained in the classroom, narrowed his eyes.
‘Eclair Welarun… hanging out with the lower class. I suppose you can’t expect much from someone from such a worthless family.’
A look of annoyance crossed his face before his lips curled into a smirk.
In his hand was the team roster for the upcoming practical exam.
The authority of the Advanced Class 1 homeroom teacher was immense.
He had the power to decide the team assignments for the entire first year’s practical exam.
‘Hmph. If she’s teamed up with those lower-class kids, she’ll realize her mistake and regret it.’
***
After school.
While the lower-class students were in their classroom studying for the exam.
Laura called Leo aside.
“Leo, the practical exam roster is out.”
Laura said with a sour tone.
“You’re not on it, of course.”
“Of course not.”
Leo wasn't technically a student at Seirun.
It would be a huge problem if his name was on the exam roster.
Even if it was, Leo’s presence alone would shatter the balance.
The first-years of Seirun, who had barely shed their newcomer status, were no match for him.
“Yes, but there’s something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“Yes. The class representative, Eclair… has been assigned to a team with our students.”
Leo looked utterly baffled.
“She’s on the same team as the lower-class kids?”
“Yes. It seems she’s fallen out of favor with Mr. Geras for associating with our students.”
Laura sighed.
Leo also wore a grim expression.
“Doesn’t the advanced-class teacher look down on the lower class?”
“…He does.”
“But he’s putting her with the lower-class kids?”
“Yes.”
Leo stared, dumbfounded, at Eclair, who was smiling brightly among the lower-class students.
‘Any team with her on it is guaranteed to place in the top five, at least. What on earth is that advanced-class professor thinking?’
***
The day of the Seirun first-year midterm practical exam.
All of Seirun’s students gathered at the first-year building, the Castle of Beginnings.
The exam was to be held at the training grounds on the outskirts of the Castle of Beginnings.
Since the task was monster subjugation, the faces of the first-years were filled with tension.
A few of them, however, wore expressions brimming with anticipation at the chance to show off in front of the upperclassmen.
This midterm was the first official opportunity for the first-years to demonstrate their skills before their seniors.
The first-years were eager to make a good impression on their renowned seniors.
“Gasp! Aren’t those the Trina seniors from the second year?”
“They are!”
“Should I try talking to them?”
The first-years chattered excitedly as they looked at the Trina siblings, who were ranked fourth and fifth among the second-years.
The lower-class students were also surprised to see the Trina siblings.
“Wow! The Trina seniors!”
“I’m a big fan of theirs.”
The Trina siblings had been in the lower class when they first enrolled.
But through painstaking effort during their first semester, they had climbed their way up to Advanced Class 1.
The second-year salutatorian, Eiran, was also a remarkable talent who had started in the intermediate class and shot up to the second-highest rank in the blink of an eye, but to the lower-class students, the Trina siblings, who had started from the very bottom, were even more admirable.
Leo glanced at the lower-class students.
Despite studying hard, they looked extremely nervous now that it was the day of the exam.
Leo, who had been watching the lower-class students, approached the Trina siblings.
“Let’s see, are there any noteworthy juniors?”
The younger sister, Aris, was surveying the first-years with a meaningful expression.
At Aris’s words, Garin puffed out his chest.
“I can feel the admiring gazes of our juniors.”
“They’re not looking at you, big brother. They’re looking at me.”
When Aris asked with a smirk, Garin’s face scrunched up.
“No, they’re not! They’re looking at me!”
“I have three reasons why they’re looking at me. Should I tell you?”
“What are they?”
“First, I get better grades than you. Second, I’ve been the class representative. And third, ‘you’ haven’t. Does that explain it?”
“How much better can your grades be! And you didn’t even hold the class representative position for a week! And you! Did you just call your older brother ‘you’?”
“If you don’t like it, then get a higher rank than me! And are you lording the fact that you were born thirty seconds earlier over me? The one with the better grades is the older sibling, you know? In that sense, I’m the big sister!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
As the twin siblings began to seriously argue, the first-years looked on, bewildered.
Someone approached the two of them.
The students, who had been watching from the sidelines, unable to intervene in a fight between their god-like seniors, began to snicker.
“What’s that? Isn't he from the lower class?”
“A lower-class student is talking to advanced-class seniors?”
“He doesn’t know his place.”
Ignoring the jeers, Leo approached the two siblings and said.
“Seniors, my classmates really look up to you. Would you mind saying a word of encouragement to them?”
The Trina siblings, who were about to grab each other by the collar, froze at the sound of someone’s voice.
They cleared their throats with a *hem, hem* and turned to look at the person who had spoken.
“Alright, what class are you… Gak?!”
“Brother, why are you… Eek?”
Garin and Aris, who had belatedly tried to assume an air of seniority, looked shocked when they saw Leo’s face.
“You, you! You-you-you! What are you doing here?”
“Wait, why are you wearing our school’s uniform…”
“Shh-”
Leo raised a finger to his lips and smiled faintly.
Garin and Aris clamped their mouths shut.
“Could you cheer on my classmates? They’re in the lower class.”
Leo said, pointing to the gaping lower-class students. Garin and Aris looked at each other, then headed toward the lower class.
As everyone stared wide-eyed, Garin spoke to the lower-class students.
“Don’t be discouraged just because you’re in the lower class!”
“That’s right! If you work hard, you can do it too! Even this idiot made it to the advanced class, right?”
“Idiot? Did you just call your older brother an idiot?”
“If you don’t like it, get better grades than me!”
“I’m telling Mom!”
“Ack! I’m telling Dad you pulled my hair!”
The two siblings, who had been offering encouragement, once again started grabbing each other by the hair and fighting.
Watching them, the lower-class students began to burst into laughter.
Leo chuckled and said.
“Everyone, relax and just do what you practiced. I guarantee it.”
Leo looked at the intermediate and advanced-class students and said.
“By the time this exam is over, the standings will have changed.”