Chapter 086
Chapter Title: The Fairy Hunt
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“Ugh! I’m exhausted!”
After magic class, Karl collapsed forward onto his desk.
“Agh! Fly magic class is no joke! Seriously! It’s like hard labor!”
“What’s so hard about it?”
As Chelsea spoke with a look of pity, Karl let out a deep sigh.
“Hmph. How would you, who passed the test in one go and went straight to Professor Albi, ever understand our suffering? Senior Torua is relentless! She chews us out like she’s going to eat us alive!”
Chelsea was one of the four students who had passed the Fly magic test with a free pass.
Those four were Leo, Chloe, Abad, and Chelsea herself.
“Should I help you?”
“What?”
“I can help you practice so you can get better at Fly magic.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
Karl’s face lit up with gratitude.
“I’ll help all the magic majors in our class practice.”
“Sniff! Chelsea! Thank you!”
*She’s going to drill him relentlessly.*
“Do you guys know anything about a senior named Elena?”
At Leo’s question, Karl looked at him as if he were absurd.
“You’re asking if we know about Senior Elena? It’d be weirder if you didn’t, wouldn’t it?”
“Is she famous?”
“She’s more than famous! Senior Elena is the third-year representative!”
“Is that so?”
“Sometimes, Leo, it feels like you’re too indifferent to school affairs. I’ll tell you about her.”
Chelsea cleared her throat with an “Ahem!”
“Elena Jer-on. Age eighteen. Currently a third-year. Her skill places her second overall in the entire magic department. Even as a third-year, she’s right behind Senior Torua.”
“That’s impressive.”
“It’s more than impressive. She’s a genius magic girl who became a dungeon conqueror in her second year!”
Karl shouted in excitement.
“It would be great to meet her someday!”
Watching Karl’s slightly dazed expression, Leo tilted his head.
“She seems popular.”
“Yep. She’s incredibly beautiful. Her nickname is the Queen.”
“The Queen?”
“Even the fourth and fifth-year seniors can’t mess with her, and she has a lot of followers. Thanks to that, even though she’s only a third-year, she’s a strong candidate for the next student council president.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
Leo gently patted Chelsea’s head.
Smiling brightly, Chelsea asked.
“But why are you asking about Senior Elena?”
“I just have a reason to meet her.”
“She’s on a dispatch mission until next week, so she’s not at school right now. Well, even if she were, she’s such a celebrity that it’s hard to see her. But since you’re a year representative, Leo, you might be able to meet her if you wanted.”
Leo nodded at Chelsea’s words.
“Leo, you have to go straight to your Summoning class next, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll see you at the dorm later.”
After parting with the two, Leo headed to his Summoning class.
*All my classes are outdoors today.*
The location for today’s Summoning class was the Isle of Phantasms, where they had their first lesson.
When he arrived at the dock, other Summoning students were preparing to cross the lake.
Just as Leo was about to use Fly magic…
“Guess who?”
Someone tiptoed up behind him and covered his eyes.
“Isn’t a seventeen-year-old a little too old for pranks like this?”
With a slight smile, Leo moved the hands away and turned around.
Chen Xia was standing there.
“It’s not like you treat me as an older student anyway, Young Master Leo.”
Chen Xia said with a shrug.
“You’re heading to the Isle of Phantasms now, right? Shall we go together?”
“Sure.”
Chen Xia leaped toward the water.
“Hup.”
Her feet left prints on the water’s surface.
Watching Chen Xia walk effortlessly across the water, Leo lifted himself into the air with Fly magic.
Typically, Summoning students would cross the lake using flying phantasms, phantasms capable of underwater travel, or wind and water spirits.
However, Leo couldn’t summon his contracted phantasm carelessly due to prying eyes, and Chen Xia found it faster to use Aura Step than to travel with Spirit Arts.
“Young Master Leo, want to race to see who gets to the Forest of Mythical Beasts first?”
“Loser buys dinner?”
“Sounds good.”
Chen Xia lowered her stance, and Leo gathered his mana.
“Ready, set, go!”
*Fwoosh! Whoooosh—!*
Both of them shot forward at incredible speeds.
Watching the churning waves at the dock, one of the Summoning students muttered.
“If we run into them at the interdepartmental competition, we should just avoid them at all costs.”
The other students nodded in agreement.
*Krrrrr-!*
*It seems she’s not just using Aura Step.*
Leo’s eyes gleamed as he watched Chen Xia speeding ahead of him.
*Spirit Arts?*
Leo accelerated even more.
“Eliza. A-are you sure these things won’t attack us?”
“Hmph. Are you doubting Ruri’s domination ability?”
“Of course not! Never!”
Atop a dolphin in the middle of the lake, Eliza sat with her legs elegantly crossed, inspecting her nails with a scoff.
“My Ruri may still be young, but she is a proper Delphinus. I’ve enhanced her domination ability with my own power, so she can control monsters of this level with ease.”
Delphinus.
It was a top-tier aquatic phantasm in the form of a dolphin.
It was a phantasm befitting Eliza, a top contender for first or second place among the first-year Summoning majors and the heir to the renowned summoning family, the Hergins.
*Screech—!*
“That’s right, Ruri. I’ll give you plenty of top-grade beef when we get back.”
Eliza, who was always cold to those around her, smiled gently at the Delphinus’s cry and stroked its back.
*I wish she’d be that kind to us.*
The students in Eliza’s faction shared a bitter smile.
“Huh?”
One of the students riding on a monster’s back turned around.
“What’s that? Why is there a huge spray of water?”
All the students looked bewildered.
“E-Eliza! Something’s approaching at an incredible speed! We have to get out of the way!”
“Hmph! What on earth are you making such a fuss about…?”
Eliza, who had been enjoying a pleasant moment with her summon, turned around with a displeased expression.
*Kwagagagagagak—!*
And an enormous wave of water crashed down on her.
*Screech! Screech!*
Swept away by the wave and sinking into the lake, Eliza was hastily pulled up by her summon, Ruri.
“Pfft! What was that just now?!”
Eliza, her eyes wide, shouted sharply. One of the students from her faction who had also been swept away cried out urgently.
“It was Leo Flove and Chen Xia!”
“Leo Flove!”
Sparks flew from Eliza’s eyes.
“How dare he be so rude to me?! Ruri! Follow them!”
*Screeeeech!*
*Kwagagagagagak—!*
“Agh! Eliza!”
“Take us with you!”
The students of Eliza’s faction, left behind, were in a panic.
*Grrrrr—!*
And the aquatic monsters, now free from the Delphinus’s control, began to show their killing intent.
“Hey! Take care of them, quick!”
“Agh! Undine, help me!”
“Aaaah! Get away!”
The screams of the students, suddenly forced to fight monsters in the middle of the lake, echoed across the water.
***
The first to reach the dock on the Isle of Phantasms was Leo.
“Looks like I win.”
“Huff… huff… So close.”
Chen Xia, who arrived a split second later, panted with a look of disappointment.
Yura, who was watching them, clapped her hands.
“Excellent! But I would have praised you more if you had used only summoning arts.”
Professor Yura, who was waiting for the students at the dock, grumbled.
“Especially you, Leo! Where did you learn such atrocious manners, using magic to come to a Summoning class! Ten points off.”
As Yura growled, Leo smiled brightly and said.
“It’s not like I could just summon my phantasm, now could I?”
“Perfect logic! The demerit is rescinded.”
“What was the reason for the demerit in the first place, and why were you persuaded so easily… Guh?!”
Yura jabbed her fist into the side of Assistant Professor Carlo, who had been heckling her, then looked toward the dock.
“Someone else is here.”
A massive wave, like a tidal wave, crashed toward Leo.
“Leo Floooove!”
*Boom—!*
A spray of water shot out in all directions.
Leo, who had easily blocked the water cannon, wore a puzzled expression.
“Why the sudden attack? And why are you soaking wet?”
“Whose fault do you think this is?! It’s because of the splash you made!”
“Ah, were you in the way? Sorry.”
“Sorry? You think a simple ‘sorry’ is enough?! How dare you commit such an act of disrespect against me, the heir to the Hergin family!”
Watching the furious Eliza, Chen Xia wore an apologetic expression.
“Miss Eliza. I was the one who created the splash, not Young Master Leo.”
“Xia, it was your fault?”
“Yes.”
As Chen Xia bowed her head in apology, Eliza flinched and stepped back.
Chen Xia, one of the oldest first-years and known for her kind personality, was friendly to everyone.
Because of that, even the ever-arrogant Eliza backed down a little in front of her.
“Alright, alright. You’re all students in the same Summoning department; you should get along.”
“I’m not in the Summoning department.”
“Me neither.”
“Oh? Look at these two.”
Yura’s eyes narrowed.
“Well, I was the one who raced without paying attention to my surroundings, so it’s not just Chen Xia’s fault. I’m sorry.”
As Leo sincerely apologized, Eliza stared at him for a moment before scoffing with a “Hmph.”
“It would be small-minded of me not to forgive you when you apologize like this. Very well. I accept your apology, Leo Flove.”
“It’s not much of an apology, but I can dry your clothes for you. It’s a bit awkward to see a girl soaking wet like that.”
Leo gathered his mana.
He used a spell to remove moisture.
In an instant, Eliza’s wet clothes were dry.
With the sudden removal of moisture, static electricity built up in Eliza’s hair.
“Pfft!”
“Heh!”
Chen Xia and Yura couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Eliza took a mirror from her pocket and checked her hair. Her shoulders trembled slightly.
Her once sleek hair was now a frizzy, poofed-up mess.
Now looking utterly ridiculous, Eliza glared at Leo with terrifying eyes.
“I’ll fix it right away. Do you have a comb?”
With a sigh, Leo took a comb from Eliza and began to fix her hair.
***
The first-years gathered in the Forest of Mythical Beasts.
The entire first-year Summoning department was buzzing with a strange excitement.
And for good reason. Rumors had spread throughout the school that the Knight and Magic departments had begun special training in preparation for the interdepartmental competition.
The Summoning students also expected to undergo training for the competition today.
Indeed, the class was being held on the Isle of Phantasms.
As everyone looked at Yura with eager faces, she scratched her head.
“Why isn’t that punk here yet?”
“Professor, who are you waiting for?”
When Dade raised his hand and asked, Yura sighed.
“As you all expected, today’s class was supposed to be special training for the interdepartmental competition. But Ulta suggested a special lesson.”
“Senior Ulta did?”
“Yes. Said he thought of the perfect training method and that we should hold class on the Isle of Phantasms, or something.”
The students were impressed.
At the same time, they looked uneasy.
Ulta of the Summoning department.
He was the rival of Lis Jerdinger, who was considered the strongest student, and a renowned, powerful summoner famous for his pact with a Pegasus.
But he was also known for being an eccentric.
He had made his presence known on the day of the interdepartmental competition announcement by waxing poetic about love.
*Even so, he wouldn’t make us do some weird training, would he?*
Just as the students tried to shake off their anxiety…
“It’s Senior Ulta.”
A student spotted Ulta walking from the dock.
“Hey! Why are you so late!”
“My apologies, Professor Yura.”
Ulta bowed gracefully, like a stage actor.
“The supplies I prepared for the first-years were delivered a bit late.”
“Supplies?”
*Snap—!*
Ulta snapped his fingers, and a giant eagle appeared in the sky.
*Whoosh—! Thud—!*
The eagle, stirring up a strong wind, dropped a cloth-wrapped bundle next to Ulta and soared away.
“Was that just a Wind Eagle?”
“Using a high-tier wind phantasm just for delivery… As expected of Senior Ulta!”
The students looked at Ulta with eyes full of admiration.
“What kind of training is he planning for the first-years that requires supplies…?”
Yura’s expression soured as she unwrapped the bundle and checked its contents.
“What are you planning to make the first-years do with this?”
What Ulta had brought were none other than butterfly nets.
“You must have heard as well, Professor. That right now, on this very Isle of Phantasms!”
Ulta spread his arms wide.
“A fairy has appeared!”
“A fairy?”
“No way!”
The first-years’ eyes widened.
A vein popped on Yura’s forehead.
“So? You’re going to make the first-years catch a fairy?”
“That is correct.”
“Correct my ass, you’re about to get corrected yourself. You crazy bastard! We’re busy as hell preparing for the interdepartmental competition, and you want to pull this useless stunt? You’re going to get a beating from me today! No, just dieeee!”
Yura hooked Ulta’s head with a butterfly net, pulled him toward her, and roared.
Carlo and the students, horrified, rushed to stop her.
Meanwhile, Leo pressed his fingers to his temples.
*That guy… He just couldn’t stay quiet, could he!*