Chapter 360
Chapter Title: A Welcome Party and a Secret Potion
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360
“It’s Leo!”
“Whoa!”
“Leo’s baaack!”
As Leo entered the dorm, the students of Glory erupted in cheers.
“Let’s have a party! A party! A welcome party for our class rep!”
Iliana, who loved all things extravagant, shouted with an excited face.
At Iliana’s cry, the dorm students’ gazes turned to Chen Xia and Chloe.
The two, who were dorm leaders alongside Leo, were also the decision-makers for Glory.
Normally, Leo had the strongest say in Glory.
However, Leo often went along with others' opinions rather than offering his own when the dorm students were deciding something.
[It's much more fun to let the fresh-faced kids decide than to have some gloomy old man make a boring decision.]
Kiruan chuckled to himself.
Just as Leo was contemplating how he would punish Kiruan later.
“For today, it would be nice for us dorm mates to have some fun together.”
“That's our big sister!”
“Chen Xia! Chen Xia!”
The students cheered, chanting Chen Xia's name.
“Since it's a special occasion.”
When Chloe also agreed with a smile, the students let out another cheer.
“The mother of Glory, as expected!”
“Mom’s the best!”
“Why am I the mom?!”
Chloe shouted, her face flushing red.
At that, the students, their mischievous sides kicking in, broke into wide grins.
“All the nagging makes you a perfect mom.”
“That’s right.”
“You guys… do you know how rude that is to a fresh-faced teenager? And what about Xia! She's older than me!”
“Chen Xia is the big sister.”
“Right, right.”
Watching them chatter and laugh boisterously, Leo burst into laughter.
“Oh, honestly.”
Chloe sighed as if to say they were a lost cause, having returned after dealing with the students who were teasing her.
The Glory students moved quickly to prepare for the welcome party.
Some went to prepare food and drinks.
Others gathered tables from the common room.
And some even went to call the students who hadn't yet returned to the dorm.
Watching the bustling dorm, Leo let out a small smile.
“Seeing all this commotion really makes me feel like I'm back in Lumerne.”
“How was Seirun?”
Chen Xia asked with a gentle smile.
“It wasn't bad.”
Leo replied with a smile.
“Chloe! Chen Xia! Can I invite kids from the other dorms too?”
“It's Leo's welcome party, after all.”
“Alright! I'll invite Chelsea, Karl, Nella, and Dade!”
“Invite Celia too.”
“I'll just call everyone the class rep is close with.”
The sociable Iliana was on good terms with just about everyone in the second year.
And so, with the preparations complete, the party began in a boisterous atmosphere.
“What? So you had classes with the first-years?”
“No way.”
“Hey! Is that any way to treat our school's student council president?”
Listening to Leo's story, many of the students burst out in indignation.
“It was an interesting experience in its own way. I got to see the skill level of Seirun's first-years.”
At Leo's words, Celia crossed her arms and asked.
“How did Leah Tingel compare to Aina?”
As Aina's mentor, Celia was curious about the skills of Leah Tingel, who could be considered Aina's rival.
Being a student of Lumerne, she couldn't help but be concerned about the Lumerne-Seirun tournament.
“Well, it's hard to make a direct comparison since one's a knight and the other is a mage, but in terms of pure skill, they're on par.”
“As expected, she's no pushover.”
Celia stroked her chin.
“By the way, Leo, I can't believe you actually thought of teaching the Seirun first-years the Introduction to Star Magic.”
Chelsea said, picking up a cookie to eat.
The students of the magic department knew that the Introduction to Star Magic was treated as heresy by the elves.
To think of teaching it in the heart of Seirun.
“That's Leo for you.”
Chelsea's eyes sparkled.
“That's how desperate those kids were.”
They chattered excitedly about what happened while Leo was at Seirun.
“How were things at Lumerne?”
In response to Leo's question, Karl spoke up.
“While you were gone, the second-years have been conquering the World of Heroes.”
“Oh?”
Leo let out a sound of admiration.
At Lumerne, the first year is a time for hero candidates to build their foundations.
Then, starting from the second year, they begin the process of becoming true heroes.
That is, by conquering the World of Heroes through the Hero Records.
From the beginning of the second-year semester, the Heroics class had already provided a guide to the Hero Records that students at Lumerne could conquer.
And it seemed that during the month Leo was at Seirun, the other students had been conquering the World of Heroes.
“For your information, I got an amazing reward for my conquest!”
Iliana popped up in front of Leo and shouted confidently.
“You'd better watch out, class rep!”
“Showing off when you almost failed because you got too greedy.”
“You were pale and crying your eyes out just the day before.”
“You barely managed to clear it, so your score was almost failing, wasn't it?”
Jeers erupted from all around.
Normally, Iliana would have complained to Leo, but instead, she wore a smug expression.
“Of course my score was low! But you all know very well that the reward was worth it, don't you?!”
Her nose in the air, Iliana burst out with a haughty "Ohohohoho-!" laugh.
It seemed this assignment was one where you got a better score the faster you completed the conquest, regardless of the Hero Record's difficulty.
A higher difficulty naturally meant a slower completion time.
Would you take the good grade now?
Or invest in the future for your academic life ahead?
‘When you think about it, our school is pretty harsh.’
It makes students take responsibility for their choices.
The mentor system seemed to offer some breathing room, but it still relentlessly pushed them to a crossroads of survival.
From what he heard, one of the top scorers was none other than Karl.
“I chose the one with the lowest difficulty.”
Karl shrugged.
“Well, the reward might have seemed shabby to the others, but there was one that was perfect for me.”
“What was it?”
When Leo asked with interest, Karl broke into a grin.
“An alchemy book.”
From Dweno's world, Karl had obtained Dweno's alchemy book as a reward.
However, with his current skills, it was difficult for Karl to fully understand and utilize Dweno's alchemy book.
That's why Karl chose to build a foundation to help him understand it.
Leo smiled gently.
“Thanks to that!”
Karl gave a sharp thumbs-up.
“I think I'll be able to make something incredible soon. If it goes well, I could become filthy rich!”
“If you make another weird potion, the student council won't let you get away with it.”
“Don't you worry! Once it's complete, I'll be sure to have it inspected by the student council!”
***
“Everyone's going crazy over Leo's story.”
Juen shook her head as she watched her classmates, who were all abuzz with talk of Leo.
‘It certainly is a hot topic.’
As a mage to the bone, Juen knew all too well what it meant to be acknowledged by Seirun.
‘We're only one year apart...’
Juen clicked her tongue in amazement.
Juen was currently one of the top honor students among the first-years.
As such, she was aiming not only to be the year representative but also for the future position of student council president.
In that situation, Leo, a year above her and the current student council president, was showing an incredible performance.
‘It's kind of intimidating.’
Just as Juen shivered, recalling Leo, with whom she had fought several times before.
Step- step-
Someone walked past Juen.
It was Aina, the current first-year representative.
A crowd of her followers trailed behind her.
Seeing that, Juen's face twisted into an expression of disdain.
The magic department and the knight department.
Departments that have been fierce rivals for generations.
And Juen was the top of the first-year magic department, while Aina was the top of the first-year knight department.
But beyond that, Juen simply didn't like Aina as a person.
‘That attitude of hers, always acting like she doesn't care about anyone else.’
Their departments were different, but she had to acknowledge her skill.
An honor student in all aspects, not just in her knight department classes.
To be honest, it was true that she was skilled enough to be considered the successor to the Sword Saint, who was hailed as a hero of the century that had defined an era.
She couldn't deny that Aina was superior to her in every way.
But even so, her attitude of completely disregarding others was enough to set Juen off.
‘If you look closely, she's weirdly obsessed with Leo, isn't she?’
Grumbling, Juen spotted a boy and her eyes widened.
Then, with a grin, she approached the boy, Luke.
“Just came from studying at the library?”
“Yes.”
“You're so diligent.”
Juen said in admiration.
Among the first-years, Luke had long since become an object of ridicule.
His midterm exam results were disastrous, and he showed no signs of improvement.
What made Luke seem even more pathetic was the fact that his mentor was none other than Leo Flove.
‘It's strange.’
Juen always looked at Luke with an expression of confusion.
Juen knew very well how hard Luke worked.
‘He's even getting private magic tutoring from Professor Ren.’
That was the strange part.
‘Well, the other kids gossip that he's getting tutoring from Professor Ren because of his connection to Leo, but only idiots would say that.’
As the daughter of the Southern Magic Tower's master, Juen was well aware of Ren's reputation.
A genius in the field of magical research.
A man with absolutely no interest in anything other than magic.
Professor Ren was not the type of person to do something worthless simply because his favorite student, Leo, asked him to.
‘There has to be something more to it.’
She just didn't know what it was.
Of course, setting all that aside, Juen liked Luke.
Both during the entrance exam and the mentor selection.
Luke had always pushed past his limits.
It was a stark contrast to Juen, who had acknowledged her limits and given up.
‘And crucially.’
Aina, who had stopped walking at some point, was staring intently at Luke.
‘It's fun watching her get jealous, too.’
Juen snickered.
Aina was conscious of Luke.
That was because Luke was Leo's mentee.
The bizarre situation of the year representative being jealous of a failing student.
For Juen, who had a twisted side, the sight was satisfying.
“I'm going to the second-year dorms to meet Karl. Want to come with?”
“Yes! I have to go too, Leo called for me!”
“Perfect! Let's stop by the Noble dorm and then go see Leo!”
Juen pushed Luke's back, urging him forward.
Then she stuck her tongue out at Aina, who was watching her and Luke.
Aina, with a blank expression, turned her head and walked away.
***
The basement of the Noble dorm.
The place where the magic department students had their personal workshops.
There, Karl was carefully brewing a potion, holding a vial.
He broke out in a cold sweat, poring over Dweno's alchemy book with extreme caution.
And then...
Pop-!
A small puff of smoke emerged from the vial.
The contents of the vial began to emit a golden light.
“Holy cow. Is this for real?”
Karl's voice trembled.
“Whoa? It actually worked?”
He had bragged to Leo, but he never actually thought he would be able to create such an incredible item.
Swallowing hard, Karl poured the concoction into a potion bottle with a trembling hand.
Now, he had to report to the student council.
‘But even though I made it, there's no way the student council will ever approve it for sale.’
Karl sighed.
‘They'd never let me sell something like a love potion, would they?’