Chapter 552
Chapter Title: A Date and a Strategy
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552.
“What? A date?”
That afternoon.
Celia, having heard the news during combat class, looked utterly dumbfounded.
“So you’re saying he skipped class to go on a date?”
“Yeah, apparently there were a lot of witnesses.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Celia crossed her arms and let out a hollow laugh.
Leo was undeniably the strongest of the second-years.
No, at this point, it would be more fitting to call him the strongest in all of Lumerne.
But if you were to ask if he was a perfect honor student like Celia in every aspect, the answer would be no.
In practical subjects like combat-related courses, Hero Dungeon raids, and mission assignments, he was the undisputed best.
But that wasn't the case for other subjects.
Even though it was a hero preparatory school, Lumerne was still an academy where teenage boys and girls were educated.
History, social studies, mathematics, language, music, art, etiquette, and so on.
They also learned liberal arts.
While his grades in those subjects weren't terrible, he wasn't at the top of the class either.
It was a clear contrast to the top students in each department, who vied for the highest scores in every subject.
Even so, Leo had never once skipped a class since he enrolled.
‘And for a date with a girl, of all things? That’s not like Leo.’
Celia narrowed her eyes.
Elena Jer-on.
Even to Celia, another woman, she was an astonishingly beautiful girl.
Moreover, she was currently one of the top three most skilled students in Lumerne.
On top of that, her background was nothing to scoff at.
Celia knew that Leo was popular with the female students.
But there had never once been a rumor about him dating anyone.
‘Leo’s a guy too, so if it’s Elena Jer-on…’
As Celia was stewing over her cousin's deviation from the norm, a voice chimed in.
“What’s the big deal? Leo’s a guy, isn’t he? He might want to enjoy a date with a beautiful woman.”
“Shut up, butter. You think Leo is you?”
Celia scowled and shot a glare at Abad.
Abad, the self-proclaimed most handsome boy of the second-year, was also famous for being kind to all the female students.
Thanks to that, he was involved in more romantic rumors than anyone else in their year.
Seeing Celia grinding her teeth with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed, Abad held up his hands and said.
“Whoa, whoa, calm down, Celia. You’re getting a little too worked up, don’t you think?”
“I’m in a position where I have to consider the implications between the Jerdinger and Jer-on families!”
“Even for a perfectionist like you, isn't that taking it a bit too far?”
“Hmph.”
Celia snorted and swept her hair back.
Besides her, the entire second-year was buzzing with the news that Leo had skipped class to go on a date with Elena.
“By the way, some first-years saw Leo and Elena-sunbae heading to the docks earlier.”
“What? You mean they went to Lumeria City?”
“Well, it’s not the first or second time Elena-sunbae has skipped class.”
“Are they dating?”
“They’re going to be the Student Council President and Vice President next year, right?”
“In terms of their positions, they do seem to suit each other.”
Gossip about other people's love lives is always entertaining.
Especially when the subjects are the Student Council President of Lumerne, the most famous academy in the world.
“Xia, did something happen?”
Karl, wanting to quickly get to the source of the rumor, promptly asked Chen Xia, who worked with Leo on the student council.
“Young Master Leo asked Elena-sunbae to take the position of Vice President. In return for accepting the position, Elena-sunbae asked Young Master Leo for a date.”
“Ooh?”
Karl’s eyes sparkled.
That piece of news also spread rapidly throughout the second-year, courtesy of the second-year student council members.
In the meantime, class began, and the combat instructor approached.
The professor, while taking attendance, looked puzzled.
“Leo is absent? That’s unexpected.”
“He supposedly skipped class to go on a date.”
“That’s a rather common, yet uncharacteristic reason for a student like Leo.”
The combat instructor looked on with a curious expression as Eliza spoke nonchalantly while filing her nails.
But he didn't press the matter further.
Whether a student skipped class or not was their own choice.
And since it was the student's responsibility to keep up with attendance and coursework to avoid falling behind, many professors didn't pay much mind to absences.
“Then, let’s begin the class. Today’s lesson will be a game of Bastera in teams of eight to develop teamwork.”
“Yes, sir!”
The students answered energetically.
But even after that, the talk about Leo and Elena didn't cease.
“It’s surprising, though. For Elena-sunbae to ask him on a date first. I can’t imagine it, she’s so aloof.”
At Iliana’s muttering, Duran, who was on the same team, let out a short laugh.
“It’s the natural order of things for the strong to take more. People are naturally drawn to the strong.”
As Duran clenched and unclenched his fists, Haul, also on their team, muttered.
“We’ve run into a tough opponent right from the start, haven’t we?”
“Hmm! Chelsea, Chloe, Karl, Chen Xia, Eiran, Dade, Nella, and Eliza.”
Iliana, with the palm of her hand brought to her eyebrow, stood on her tiptoes as if looking into the distance to survey the opposing team.
“And we are… Celia, Duran, Abad, Woreden, Jureden, Haul, Turka, and me.”
Aside from Karl, their team was comprised of the strongest second-years in terms of pure combat ability.
“The strongest forces clashing right from the start, huh? I like it.”
As Turka cracked his knuckles and grinned belligerently, Abad smiled faintly.
“That’s not all.”
“What?”
“The characteristics of our teams are complete opposites.”
As Celia added to Abad’s words, Jureden, Turka, and Haul looked on, confused.
“Hmph, can’t you even figure out something that simple? How pathetic.”
“What was that?”
Turka bristled at Duran’s sneer.
Just as Haul and Jureden sighed, as if used to this, a voice cut in.
“We’re a team that’s all-in on offense, and they’re a team that’s all-in on defense.”
As Iliana spoke calmly, everyone stared at her in surprise.
Even Woreden, who was usually indifferent to others.
“Why are you all suddenly looking at me?”
As Iliana asked with a reluctant expression, Celia’s face filled with emotion.
“That blockhead who only knew how to charge forward is now assessing the strengths of our allies and enemies! Iliana! I’m so moved!”
As an honor student, Celia took very good care of her fellow students in the department.
She was a bit different from Chen Xia. While Chen Xia made others comfortable by being considerate, Celia was the type to find their shortcomings, point them out, and study together with them.
Even though Iliana was a dual-class student, she was part of the Knight Department and took classes with Celia.
And Celia had tried very hard to fix Iliana’s tendency to charge recklessly.
But until recently, it hadn't been corrected.
For Iliana, who would charge the moment a battle began, to be assessing the battlefield situation, Celia couldn't help but be moved.
“Looks like Celia’s hard work paid off.”
Haul remarked in admiration.
“You guys. What on earth do you take me for!”
As Iliana scrunched up her face and yelled, Turka answered bluntly.
“An idiot.”
“Xia! Chloe! They’re calling me an idiot!”
As she whined with a tearful face, Karl’s voice came from the opposing side.
“They say the best revenge is betrayal.”
“Hoh?”
“Don’t fall for it, you idiot!”
“Who would betray their team during class!”
Seeing Iliana stroking her chin in admiration, Haul and Jureden shouted in exasperation.
“Just as Iliana said, the difference between their team and ours is that we specialize in offense and defense, respectively. To an extreme degree. They wouldn’t have formed the teams this way for no reason.”
“A battle of spear and shield, I see.”
Haul crossed his arms with a serious expression.
“First, to break through that defense, we need to collapse their formation. Plus, the enemy has Karl Thomas, who’s quite adept at strategy. If we press them using our strengths, there’s a high chance we’ll fall into his trap.”
As Duran spoke calmly, Iliana looked at him with curiosity.
“You rate Karl pretty highly, huh?”
“It’s a fact.”
Duran glanced at Karl, who was talking amongst his teammates.
“Regardless of his magical ability, he’s survived at Lumerne until now, on the verge of becoming a third-year. You could say he’s somewhat lucky, but you can’t survive on luck alone. The reason he’s here with us now is clearly because he has skill.”
“I agree with Duran.”
Abad smiled gently.
“Right now, I think the one we need to be most wary of over there is Karl.”
In a team battle, Karl was a very troublesome opponent.
“There’s nothing scarier than a strategist holding the best hand.”
Karl had always played the role of a game-changer in critical situations.
As a combatant, he wasn't a significant threat, but in terms of grasping the flow of battle and commanding, as far as Abad knew, Karl was the best in Lumerne.
‘Though he himself doesn’t seem to rate his own strengths that highly.’
“So, for now, I’d like to make the opponent attack us aggressively. So they can’t utilize their team's strength.”
“To make them attack aggressively, we’d have to leave our goal open. That’s too much of a risk.”
“Hmm. Is there a good way?”
As Abad and Celia’s conversation had the whole team pondering, Woreden, who had been watching silently, spoke up.
“Iliana Raden.”
“Huh? Why?”
“There’s something I need you to do on the front line.”
“Huh?”
“You are the key to this game of Bastera.”
“Me?”
As Iliana pointed to herself with wide eyes, Woreden nodded.
***
“Hmph, I had high expectations because it was you, but that’s a pretty ordinary strategy.”
Eliza said, looking bored.
“I appreciate the high praise, but it’s not like I’m some genius strategist. How am I supposed to come up with a special strategy every time?”
Karl shrugged.
“If our strengths are similar, it’s best to maximize our own advantages. In that case, defense is the best strategy for now.”
“Hmph.”
Despite Karl’s explanation, Eliza still looked at him with a slightly displeased expression.
‘Seriously, isn’t everyone’s expectation of me getting a little too high lately? I’m our school’s weakest link who could be expelled at any moment.’
Karl laughed bitterly to himself.
“It’s going to be a stalemate, then.”
“Right. The only variable is…”
“Is?”
“The other team has Iliana.”
“Iliana Raden? Why is she the variable?”
“If I were on their team, I would have given Iliana the task of provocation.”
“I know Iliana Raden can be flighty, but I don’t really think she’d be good at provoking people.”
“That’s true. But the situation is a little special right now.”
“Hmph?”
“Well, Celia, Abad, and Duran… all three of them are smart, but they’re not great at thinking on their feet. They probably won’t use Iliana for provocation… huh?”
Just then, Iliana walked up to the front line.
Chelsea, who stood at the forefront, smiled faintly as she faced Iliana.
“Get ready.”
“Yeah, but Chelsea. You know our prez, right?”
A muscle in Chelsea’s eye twitched slightly.
It wasn't just Chelsea; Eiran, positioned right behind her, perked up her ears, and the expression vanished from Chen Xia’s face, who stood beside them.
Chloe, positioned at the very back, maintained a gentle smile.
Amidst it all, Iliana continued to chatter excitedly about Leo and Elena.
After talking nonstop by herself until the start of the match, Iliana suddenly put on a serious face, crossed her arms, and muttered.
“Hmm, but I wonder… Surely the prez isn’t planning on staying out all night, is he?”