Chapter 463
Chapter Title: A New Semester, A New Approach
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Leo's day began early.
At an hour that could easily be called dawn.
Leaving his dorm room, Leo went down to the common room.
“Leo, good morning.”
Chloe was coming down from the girls' dormitory, letting out a small yawn.
Rubbing her eyes as she descended the stairs, Chloe looked like she was still half-asleep.
This was one of the few times that Chloe, who rarely showed any weakness, let her guard down.
With a slightly dazed expression, she reached for a table in the corner of the common room.
Bottles of milk, provided daily for the dorm residents, were neatly stacked there.
After downing a bottle of milk, a spark of life returned to Chloe's eyes.
Now fully awake, Chloe grabbed a book and followed Leo out of the dormitory.
Leo was off to his dawn training.
Chloe, to read her book while enjoying the morning air.
Click-!
They opened the door and went outside.
Next to the dormitory were the mailboxes for each of the students.
Leo and Chloe spotted one particular mailbox, stuffed so full of letters it looked ready to burst.
“Isn't that your mailbox?”
Chloe asked, her expression bewildered.
“It is.”
Leo opened the mailbox with a puzzled look and checked its contents.
Seeing the colorful stationery and pretty handwriting, Chloe asked with a look of disbelief.
“Are those… all love letters?”
“Looks like it.”
He received letters fairly often, but this was on a completely different level.
Leo looked incredulous.
“A good number of these are from outside the academy, too.”
There were letters not only from the daughters of noble families in other countries but even from what appeared to be a princess of some nation.
The cost of sending a letter to Lumerne was quite high.
And yet, all sorts of letters had flown to Leo from every corner of the world.
“Is it because I became a Hero?”
Leo let out a small laugh, reacting as if it were no big deal.
“Are you going to read them all?”
Chloe asked cautiously, but Leo shook his head.
“No.”
Shoving the letters back into the mailbox, Leo headed for the training grounds.
“Aren't you going to read in the garden?”
“I am. But the autumn breeze is so crisp today, I feel like a change of scenery.”
Feeling an inexplicable sense of unease, Chloe followed Leo.
A short while later.
“President! Maybe it’s because the second semester has started, but I want to begin morning training with a fresh mindset. Could you help me?”
“I want to start fresh with my magic training…”
“Hey! I, um! I’ve been worried about deepening my connection with spirits, and I was hoping for some advice.”
The usually quiet training grounds were packed with female students.
Chloe stared, dumbfounded, at the girls burning with motivation on the day after the semester started.
*Right, even the ones who were just testing the waters before are going to be more blatant now.*
What Iliana had said yesterday flashed through Chloe's mind.
*So this is what she meant? She's usually so clueless, but she's incredibly sharp when it comes to things like this.*
Remembering Iliana, who had foreseen this, Chloe pressed her temples and looked at Leo.
Her gaze wavered slightly.
*I know Leo isn't the type to be swayed by popularity or the attention of other girls, but…*
...he's still human. Won't he inevitably feel some affection for girls who approach him with such friendly smiles?
Moreover, the girls who were so openly approaching Leo were all exceptionally beautiful.
*They came for morning training, but they're wearing makeup. Wow, and that one's outfit is so revealing.*
Muttering to herself, Chloe glanced at Leo's face.
Leo was looking at the girls with a gentle smile.
Blinking as she stared at his face, Chloe silently turned and left the training grounds.
*What? Chloe Müller. She's just leaving?*
*She was with him since dawn. So annoying.*
*Is she taking the hint and backing off?*
Seeing Chloe leave, the girls cheered inwardly.
“You’re all full of passion this morning.”
Leo said with a smile.
“Your desire to become stronger is truly impressive.”
“You work so hard, so we have to do our best too.”
The most mature-looking girl among them said, elegantly sweeping her hair back.
She had a vaguely sensual air about her.
Leo smiled at the sight.
“Then I’ll have to do my best to help you all.”
“Yeah! But before that, I made this for you.”
“Me too! It’s a stamina recovery potion mixed with fruit juice! I’m sure it’s delicious.”
The girls took out drink bottles and offered them to Leo.
“Keep them. You’ll need them more than I will.”
“What?”
The girls looked at him, completely baffled.
“Well, since it’s so early, shall we start with some light physical conditioning?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Physical conditioning is nothing.”
Though they sensed something was off, the girls were still fired up.
They had to make a good impression to catch Leo's eye.
A moment later.
Aaaaaaaah-!
The desperate screams of the female students began to echo through the early dawn.
Sitting on a bench in the Glory Garden, enjoying her morning read in the autumn breeze, Chloe glanced up.
“Poor things.”
***
“Ughhhh.”
Morning Combat Studies class.
As it was the first class of the second semester, it was held in the grand auditorium.
With all the second-years gathered, Karl sat next to Leo, looking completely drained.
“Why are you so exhausted this morning? Did you get some special training from Leo, too?”
Chelsea, sitting beside Leo, asked with a giggle.
The story of how Leo had given a group-punishment-like training session to the girls who had come to hit on him at dawn had already spread throughout the entire school.
“Do you have any idea how much I was pestered this morning, not just by second-years but by upperclassmen too?”
Karl replied, looking as if his soul was about to leave his body.
“That love potion that caused such a stir last time. They were all clamoring for me to make it for them.”
“But the student council banned the creation of that weird potion, didn't they?”
Chelsea scowled.
The Love Potion.
It was a potion Karl had made last semester using a recipe from Dweno's alchemy book, which had caused a huge commotion.
At the time, it was determined to be a failure, but the student council had banned its production regardless.
Karl, not wanting to get on the student council's bad side by making a useless potion, had dropped the matter.
*Well, it was a perfect success, actually.*
It was just that the potion, created with Dweno's unique sensibilities, had a different effect than what people expected.
*In any case, it's a potion that would cause all sorts of problems if used on a student.*
“They’ve got some nerve. Who on earth requested it?”
“I don’t know. The request was anonymous. I had a crazy morning reporting it to the student council.”
“What kind of idiot would want a potion like that?”
“Probably one of the girls after Leo.”
“Why are they suddenly resorting to illegal potions to go after Leo?”
“Our innocent little lady still doesn't know how the world works.”
“I'll make *your* future dark.”
“Aaaargh-! Stop! Stop!”
Seeing Chelsea grab his face with both hands and press her thumbs into his eyes, Karl screamed and struggled.
Barely escaping Chelsea's grasp, Karl said.
“It’s because Leo became a Hero. He was already a lottery ticket with a 100% chance of winning. Now, imagine if that lottery ticket's prize money went up. By a huge amount. If they can just lock down Leo, their lives are set. Wouldn’t the girls who were already after him be even more desperate?”
Karl propped his chin on his hand.
“Leo, isn’t it a waste? You could date anyone you like. Why not take this chance to enjoy the kind of school life you only see in novels? If it were me, man… *Kuh*~”
“How crude.”
“Hey! What do you mean, crude?! I’m just encouraging the healthy, bittersweet, heart-pounding, and dangerous love between a man and a woman! If you don’t experience that as a student, when will you?”
“You’re crude.”
“Hey, Leo, tell me. You’re interested in that stuff too, right?”
Tired of Chelsea's constant criticism, Karl turned to Leo with a wronged expression.
“Not particularly.”
Leo smiled faintly.
“See? Leo is different from you.”
“Why aren’t you interested? You’re a guy!”
“Just think of me as an adult with more experience than you imagine.”
“An adult? We’re the same age. Besides, what experience could you possibly have when all you do is study and train?”
Karl, who knew Leo's daily routine well, looked completely lost.
Chelsea, on the other hand, gaped.
*Now that I think about it, Leo really is much older, isn't he?*
The Great Hero from the legends.
He's not a student.
*Ah, if he's an adult, then of course…*
“Hey, are you sick? Why is your face suddenly so red?”
“I-It’s nothing!”
Chelsea shook her head vigorously at Karl's question.
Just as Leo was watching Chelsea with an amused smile,
Bang-!
“Cadets! Did you have a good vacation!”
The door burst open, and Sedjen appeared.
“I hear some among you had a most elegant vacation!”
Sedjen said, looking over the entire second-year class.
“It is a fine thing to have experiences that others your age have not! I hope you all use those experiences as a foundation to take an even greater step forward! And for those who did not, do not be discouraged or shrink back! You are all still so young you’re practically children!”
Mmm-hmm! Sedjen, who had been encouraging the students with his arms crossed, suddenly widened his eyes.
“In that spirit! I will now discuss the practical evaluation for the second semester of second-year Combat Studies!”
At his declaration, the students stared blankly at Sedjen.
They were second-years, already more than accustomed to school life.
There was no reason to be surprised by him mentioning the second-semester evaluation on the very first day.
Just then, Duran raised his hand.
“What is it! My favorite pupil! Duran!”
“Is the Combat Studies practical you’re announcing for the midterms? Or for the entire second semester?”
“It is the evaluation for the entire second semester. And starting today, second-year Combat Studies will be self-directed.”
The students looked shocked at his words.
This was rather unconventional.
Combat Studies was a class that held as much weight as their academic courses.
To think that such a class would be self-directed for the entire semester.
“Well, in truth, the second semester of the second year is heavily characterized by self-directed assignments anyway.”
Sedjen grinned.
“Your second-semester Combat Studies rankings will be determined by request points.”
“Does that mean…”
“That’s right. Starting this semester, you will officially take on requests as hero candidates and be dispatched to all corners of the world!”
***
“Wow, that’s seriously unconventional.”
After class, during lunchtime.
Karl clicked his tongue in amazement at a restaurant in the square in front of the Hero's Spire.
“I can’t believe they’re making the class itself self-directed. That’s basically the third-year, first-semester curriculum, isn’t it?”
It was true that second-years began taking on official requests in their second semester.
But not in this self-directed manner.
Usually, it ended with the school arranging requests appropriate for the second-year level.
It was different for a few students, but that was only for those at the top.
The entire year level was never granted this kind of autonomy.
“The higher-ups have high expectations for our generation. Besides, it seems the professors think we’re capable enough.”
At Chelsea's words, Karl made a sad face.
“Couldn’t they show a little consideration for the students at the bottom?”
“Karl, we’ll use your corpse as a stepping stone and move forward.”
“Don’t just kill people off! And don’t use them as stepping stones!”
Karl cried out.
“Anyway, what’s Leo doing at the bulletin board?”
Karl looked quizzically at Leo, who was standing in front of the square's bulletin board.
“Looks like he’s checking the requests.”
“Aren’t the requests on the square bulletin board mostly the difficult ones with low points?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s he looking at that for? He could pick any easy request he wants. I hear those high-ranking escort missions have great points and amazing pay; they're practically a vacation.”
Karl said enviously, and Chelsea replied while looking at the menu.
“It's Leo. I’m sure he has his reasons.”
While Chelsea and Karl were ordering.
In front of the bulletin board, Leo was narrowing his eyes at a single request form.
The gray request form read: ‘Tomb Raider Suppression.’
At a glance, it seemed like a trivial request.
But…
*The fact that every single one of the raided tombs belongs to a hero is bothering me.*