Chapter 353
Chapter Title: The Lost Record
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The Hall of Comets.
A building at the heart of Seirun.
But its significance wasn't merely symbolic of its central location.
It housed the countless magical legacies left behind by the Comet Wizard.
And it was where the history Seirun had built over the ages lay dormant.
Originally, it was a space not easily accessible even to students, let alone outsiders.
But today.
It was opened for the academic conference being held at Seirun.
Consequently, the wizards who came to attend the conference couldn't hide their excitement.
“The Hall of Comets.”
“I never thought I’d see the magical legacy left by the Comet Wizard with my own eyes.”
5,000 years ago.
The Comet Wizard, hailed as the greatest mage after Luna, the Progenitor of the Nebula.
She was not just an idol to the elves.
Just as Luna was an object of reverence for all wizards.
Seirun, regarded as Luna's successor who reinterpreted her legacy and passed it down to future generations, was also deeply respected by wizards.
“Opening the Hall of Comets freely during the conference period was a gesture of consideration from our Acting Principal, Rhagen.”
Orlen spoke calmly to the conference attendees who had entered the Hall of Comets.
“Seirun students will be providing tours of the Hall of Comets. We hope you will take this time to appreciate the value of the magical legacy left by the Comet Wizard.”
At those words, all the attending wizards looked surprised.
It was well-known that Seirun's current Acting Principal, Rhagen, was an elven supremacist.
For such a man to open Seirun's legacy to outside wizards was quite unexpected.
Seirun students were assigned to the conference attendees.
In truth, the students were guides in name only; they were there to act as monitors, ensuring no one tried anything foolish.
“Hello, my name is Eiran Ersar, and I will be your guide.”
Eiran, standing before Leo and Associate Professor Anna, bowed politely.
*Eiran Ersar.*
Watching Eiran, Associate Professor Anna was lost in thought.
*I heard she was a magic swordsman of overwhelming skill.*
As the second-ranked student in the rival school's second year, Associate Professor Anna had done a fair bit of research on Eiran.
*Her performance in last year's Lumerne-Seirun Exhibition was impressive. According to Professor Halind, she has quite a deep connection with Leo…*
“L-Leo. It’s an honor to be your guide.”
Seeing Eiran speak so hesitantly with her head lowered and face blushing, Associate Professor Anna covered her mouth.
*Oh, my. Goodness.*
Watching Eiran, who was so clearly showing her affection for Leo, Associate Professor Anna exclaimed inwardly.
Leo looked at Eiran and said.
“We’ll be in your care.”
“Yes!”
Eiran, smiling brightly, stepped forward and said.
“Where would you like to start?”
“I’d like to see the original grimoires written by the Comet Wizard.”
“Yes! I’ll guide you to the library!”
Eiran took the lead and began to guide the two of them.
Following behind Eiran, Associate Professor Anna tapped Leo’s arm.
“You’re so lucky, Leo. Getting to experience such a fresh, youthful school life.”
Leo looked at Associate Professor Anna as if asking what she meant.
“It seems Miss Eiran has taken a liking to you, don’t you think?”
Associate Professor Anna said with a somewhat mischievous smile.
“Isn’t it the dream of many a young man? To have a beautiful, lovely girl interested in him. This is youth.”
“You say that as if you’re no longer in your youth, Professor Anna.”
Leo let out a small chuckle.
Smiling at Leo, Associate Professor Anna said.
“Come on, tell me. You’re quite popular with the female students at Lumerne, aren’t you? You get just as many love letters as Abad or Duran among the second-year boys, right?”
*L-Love letters?*
Eiran, walking ahead, pricked up her ears.
“You’re popular with the underclassmen, too. And the upperclassmen are quite interested in you, aren’t they?”
With a knowing smile, Associate Professor Anna nudged Leo in the side.
“Haven’t you been in a relationship at least once?”
*A-A relationship?!*
Eiran’s face turned so red it looked like it might burst.
Seeing this, Associate Professor Anna stifled a chuckle.
“Elven ladies really are innocent. To get so flustered over a little talk of romance.”
*…I have a feeling what’s going on in her head is a lot more than just ‘a little romance.’*
Leo let out a dry laugh and said.
“I’m too busy with my studies. Where would I find the time for dating?”
“Spoken like a boring honor student.”
Associate Professor Anna made a disappointed face.
At that, Eiran felt a sense of relief.
“There are so many pretty girls. Aren’t you at that age, a boy in the throes of puberty, to be interested in the opposite sex?”
“If I were to date a student, it would feel a bit like… committing a crime.”
“A crime?”
Associate Professor Anna looked confused, but Leo just smiled.
Eiran’s heart pounded as she listened to their conversation, but she diligently guided them to the library.
“This is the library where the grimoires left by Lady Seirun are kept.”
“As expected of Lady Seirun.”
Associate Professor Anna exclaimed in admiration.
As a wizard.
It was a tremendous honor to see the magical records personally written by one of the great Heroes of the Dawn who saved the world from crisis.
“Professor Anna, is there anything you’re curious about?”
Eiran asked with a gentle smile, and Associate Professor Anna grinned.
“I’m fine. Why don’t you go help Leo?”
“Huh?”
Associate Professor Anna gave the flustered Eiran a push on the back.
Though flustered, Eiran approached Leo, who was walking between the library shelves.
“What a great time to be alive. I had days like that, too.”
Associate Professor Anna burst out laughing.
“Now I’m just being worked like a slave by that damned professor…”
It was then, as Associate Professor Anna sighed while thinking of Ren.
“Excuse me… you’re Associate Professor Anna from Lumerne, right?”
Someone cautiously spoke to her.
*Seirun’s first-years?*
Associate Professor Anna looked puzzled.
It wasn’t just outsiders who were permitted to tour the Hall of Comets this time.
Seirun students were also allowed to visit.
The students who weren't assigned to guide the conference attendees were touring the Hall of Comets in groups.
The same was true for the students of the first-year lower class.
“My name is Anre Bizan.”
Anre, who bowed deeply as the group's representative, looked up and said.
“Senior Leo told us to be sure to express our gratitude if we saw you, Professor Anna.”
Seeing Anre’s bright smile, Associate Professor Anna gasped in realization.
*Ah, these must be the students who received Leo’s guidance.*
The lower-class students who had greatly improved their skills through the [Introduction to Star Magic].
Anna recalled the names from the documents Leo had given her and nodded.
Then she smiled warmly.
“There’s no need to thank me. I merely showed you a path. It was you who forged that path and achieved results.”
“But for us, there was only despair. That’s why we wanted to thank you. So, here…”
Anre handed Anna a paper box.
The box was filled with letters expressing gratitude not only to Anna but also to Ren.
Though they had never met, it was their heartfelt gratitude sent to the Lumerne faculty who had given them a chance.
Receiving it, Associate Professor Anna felt her heart warm.
“Of course, there’s no guarantee we can continue to attend school at Seirun… but we have no regrets.”
Seeing Anre speak with a bright smile, Associate Professor Anna patted her on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen to you. And even if it does, once Professor Ren receives these letters, he’ll probably help you.”
To Professor Ren, these students were important assets who had opened up new possibilities for his thesis.
*He might even raise hell to get them admitted to Lumerne.*
Anna took a deep breath.
*A lot is riding on this conference.*
Whether the [Introduction to Star Magic] was heresy to the elves.
Or a new possibility—the outcome would undoubtedly have a massive impact on the magical world.
*Focus.*
*Step—*
Leo, who had been walking, came to a stop.
He reached out and pulled a grimoire from the bookshelf.
Seeing this, Eiran said.
“Most of the records here are from when Lady Seirun was just beginning her study of magic, so few people look for them. It’s surprising that you’re interested in these, Leo.”
Leo looked at Eiran, who was blinking with a curious expression, and said.
“Wizards these days tend to reference later records to understand a mage’s disposition.”
It was true that looking at records from after a mage's magical philosophy had been established was more suitable for grasping their tendencies.
“But I’m an old-fashioned wizard.”
Leo chuckled.
“Just as one’s initial resolve is important, I believe a wizard’s early actions form the foundation of their values.”
“You certainly are mature, Leo. But what era are you talking about?”
Eiran’s eyes sparkled like a girl listening to an old tale.
*5,000 years ago.*
Leo answered silently with a smirk as he flipped through the magical records Seirun had left in her teens.
In truth, the Comet Wizard’s records from her early to mid-teens received little attention in the elven magical academia.
This was because most elves focused their research on Seirun’s greatest achievement: the reinterpretation of Star Magic.
The knowledge she left behind about Star Magic had yet to be fully deciphered even after 3,000 years, so this was only natural.
However, Leo wasn't particularly curious about Seirun as the wizard of Star Magic.
He was more curious about the pure, uninfluenced Seirun, before she came under Luna's sway.
Reading through the grimoire, Leo clicked his tongue.
*No wonder she left such an arrogant record in her personal journal.*
Leo ground his teeth, recalling how Seirun had called him an idiot.
It was a good thing she’d left instructions that her personal journal was not to be read by anyone other than her direct descendants.
If not for that, he would have gone down in history as someone who was passionately in love with Luna.
*If that had happened, I would have strangled her on sight.*
Cursing a junior he’d never even met, Leo turned his attention back to the grimoire.
Though he was an All-Class, Leo was still a wizard.
One could learn a lot from records left by a wizard firsthand.
*She was completely reckless, wasn't she.*
The personality of Seirun reflected in the records was brimming with confidence in her own magical philosophy.
There were no separate notes, but one could discern her disposition just by looking at the interpreted records.
*She’s a carbon copy of Luna, isn’t she?*
Though the records were filled with the typical immaturity of a teenager, they were also full of self-belief.
*If she had met Luna in person, they would have fought like cats and dogs.*
Leo chuckled.
*And they would have become the best of friends.*
Leo thought as he returned the book to the shelf.
*No wonder she left behind the lesson, ‘Believe in yourself.’*
He felt like he had come to understand Seirun a little better.
*But why on earth did she leave such a fabrication in her journal? Even if you’re writing fiction, it should be based in reality, shouldn't it?*
Seirun was a conqueror of Luna's world.
If so, she should have understood at least a little of Luna's feelings.
“Eiran.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think it would be like if the Progenitor of the Nebula had been in love with the Hero of the Beginning?”
“…I can’t imagine it.”
Eiran, who usually loved to daydream, shook her head.
“Somehow, it’s hard to dare imagine the noble Lady Luna liking someone…”
“Then what if the Hero of the Beginning loved the Progenitor of the Nebula?”
“A tragic love story? How wonderful!”
*…These damn pointy-ears are interpreting things however they please. She isn’t noble! Not noble at all!*
Leo ground his teeth inwardly.
In the end, Seirun had just written a novel to her own liking and left it for her descendants.
*If I ever meet her, I’m kicking her ass.*
***
After the tour of the Hall of Comets ended.
Just before the conference presentations were about to begin.
Acting Principal Rhagen stepped forward.
“I extend my gratitude to the distinguished guests who have graced us with their presence.”
He spoke with a blank expression in the Hall of Comets.
On the dais where he stood rested ‘Kometes,’ the magical staff symbolizing the Comet Wizard.
The wizards marveled at the sight of the real Kometes.
“I trust that your time in the Hall of Comets has allowed you to once again realize the greatness of Lady Seirun.”
At Rhagen’s subsequent words, the attending wizards wore expressions that said, *Of course he'd say that.*
But no one voiced their thoughts.
Openly refuting him would only be tiresome, and besides, the fact that the Comet Wizard was great was undeniable.
It was just that any wizard already knew of the Comet Wizard’s greatness without him having to emphasize it like that.
“In that spirit, before the conference begins, we at Seirun would like to speak of a discovery that will mark an even greater leap forward.”
Everyone looked puzzled at Rhagen’s words.
“I hereby officially declare, in this very place, the discovery of the Hero Record of the great Hero of the Dawn, Lady Seirun.”
*Murmur, murmur—*
At his words, not only the wizards of the conference but also the Seirun students attending the tour looked utterly shocked.
*Clack, clack—*
Amidst the commotion, Orlen walked onto the dais carrying an elegant wooden box.
Rhagen’s lips curled into a smirk.
*With the achievement of being the first to discover and announce Lady Seirun’s Hero Record, I should have no trouble securing the position of Seirun’s principal.*
He was merely the acting principal for now.
But if the Pureblood Society’s power grew stronger, he would officially take the principal’s seat.
*Click—*
He opened the wooden box, revealing a fragment of a Hero Record.
“This is none other than the Comet Wizard, Lady Seirun’s…”
*Vwoom—!*
For a moment, the Hero Record began to glow.
Seeing this, Rhagen froze.
*This reaction… Don’t tell me the World of Heroes is opening?*
As Rhagen stood there in shock.
Leo’s face, which had been observing the situation, hardened.
*This is?*
Leo stood up from his seat.
“Leo?”
In the instant Anna was taken aback.
*Fwoooosh—!*
Black flames erupted from Seirun’s Hero Record.