Chapter 090
Chapter Title: The Year Representatives
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Special training was held by each department ahead of the Interdepartmental Competition.
The ones who suffered the most were none other than the students of the Summoning Department.
“Wow, look at them.”
“Don’t they look like total beggars?”
“I heard they spent three days and two nights on the Isle of Phantasmal Beasts without even being able to use summoning.”
Students from other departments whispered as they watched the Summoning students enter the dormitory.
“They say we’ll be doing this every week until the competition… How are we supposed to do this again?”
Dade muttered in a miserable voice.
There was no way they could get used to the wild in just three days and two nights.
While most of the students looked like beggars, a few were relatively unscathed.
Leo, Chen Xia, and Woreden were prime examples.
A few groups of students snickered as they watched the Summoning Department.
“Ugh! They stink!”
“Their appearances are no joke, are they?”
Just as the Summoning students were glaring at those treating them like a spectacle, a voice cut in.
“What’s so funny that you’re laughing like that?”
“Gasp!”
“E-Eliza.”
Eliza, looking just as disheveled as the rest, asked in an icy voice.
“Are you saying our appearance is laughable?”
“N-No! We were just… uh…!”
“S-Sorry!”
At Eliza’s sharp reaction, the students who had been teasing the Summoning Department began to sneak away.
She was considered one of the top first-year students, and getting on the bad side of Eliza, who came from a renowned heroic family, would complicate one’s school life in many ways.
As Eliza glared, the other students scattered in a hurry.
Leo immediately washed up and went down to the dormitory lounge.
There, as always, Karl was selling items to students.
“Oh! Leo, you’re back?”
Karl greeted Leo with a smile.
“I heard you guys went through some serious hell.”
“I thought it was fun.”
“It’s only fun for you! That guy Dade looked like he was about to collapse.”
Chuckling, Karl suddenly spoke.
“By the way, Leo. You asked about Elena, right?”
“I did.”
“She returned to school this morning. All students are gathering at Erek tomorrow morning, so you’ll probably be able to see her then.”
“Really? That’s great.”
Leo’s eyes lit up.
The next day.
At 7 a.m., the entire student body gathered at Erek, the massive training ground in the center of the school.
The first-years, lined up by grade, all wore tense expressions.
It was the first official event at Erek since the entrance ceremony.
Moreover, the entire student body was present.
“Ugh, the upperclassmen keep staring.”
“I-I’m nervous.”
The upperclassmen chuckled as they watched the tense first-years.
“The first-years are so cute.”
“Look how nervous they are. How should we dote on them?”
Most first-years were like mice before a cat, unable to move in front of their seniors.
But there were also those who didn't fit the typical senior-junior dynamic.
“Lady Celia. I should have greeted you sooner, but school rules forbid upperclassmen from entering the first-year area during the first semester, so I am only now able to greet you.”
Niel Roda paid her respects to Celia as she would to her lord.
Celia sighed at the sight of Niel.
“Niel. Don’t be like this! What will other students think if they see a third-year acting like this toward a first-year?”
“Oh my! Lady Celia, you are so considerate!”
Niel Roda.
Four years Celia’s senior, she was a third-year student in the Lumerne Knight Department.
As the heir to the Roda family, vassals of the Jerdinger Family, she had trained in swordsmanship with Celia since childhood and was also her personal guard knight.
“The uniform suits you so well, my lady! I must capture this moment in a photograph!”
“Bringing magical items to official events is forbidden.”
“Yes. That’s why I got caught trying to sneak one in.”
“…”
“Tsk. Damn professors.”
Celia felt a headache coming on.
Normally level-headed, Niel turned into a doting fool whenever it came to her.
‘Breaking the rules gets you demerits!’
…But even if she said that, Niel would surely reply, ‘For you, my lady, a few demerits are nothing!’
“By the way, you are too much, my lady. You never once came to find me.”
“I wanted to spend time getting to know my classmates.”
To be precise, she had deliberately avoided Niel, who would surely neglect her own school life to fuss over her.
As the two were talking.
“Celia. Aren’t you being a little too familiar with your vassal? The relationship between master and servant must be strict.”
A boy with black hair and red eyes, just like Celia, approached them.
Seeing him, Celia spoke with a blank expression.
“It’s been a while, Baden.”
Baden Jerdinger.
A member of a branch of the Jerdinger family, he was Celia’s third cousin, three years her senior.
“Yes, it’s the first time since last winter break, isn’t it?”
Baden, who had been approaching Celia with a smile, frowned.
“What? Aren’t you going to greet me?”
“Why should Niel have to greet you?”
Baden flinched at Celia’s cold voice.
“Niel is a vassal of the main Jerdinger house. She has no need to show courtesy to someone from a branch family. In fact, as a second-year, shouldn’t you be showing courtesy to Niel, your senior?”
Celia swept her hair back, her red eyes flashing.
At the sight, Baden broke into a cold sweat and said.
“Right, I might have overstepped a bit! My apologies. Hahaha!”
Even as he laughed, Baden did not show Niel the respect due to a senior.
Niel looked at Baden with a pathetic expression.
At Lumerne, Baden was famous for swaggering around, flaunting his Jerdinger bloodline.
‘He hasn’t even mastered Phoenix Breath, yet he thinks he’s a true Jerdinger just because people around him praise him?’
In the Jerdinger Family, unless one mastered Phoenix Breath, they could not hold an important position, regardless of whether they were from the main or a branch family.
“Congratulations on placing first in the Knight Department!”
Baden quickly changed the subject.
At his words, Niel’s eyes sparkled as well.
“I knew you would be first, Lady Celia!”
“What’s the use of being first in the Knight Department? The year representative is some other guy.”
Celia crossed her arms and snorted with a “Hmph!”
Seeing Celia’s displeased reaction, Baden chuckled.
“Is it because of Leo Flove? Don’t worry about him.”
Baden wore a disdainful expression.
“I don’t know about this ‘All-Class’ or whatever, but a nobody with no pedigree who crawled his way here from the countryside will soon hit his limit. Besides, my friends in the Summoning Department told me that brat had the nerve to pick a fight with a second-year. Just because he’s the first-year representative, he thinks he can do whatever he wants.”
Celia’s face turned as cold as ice.
Whether he noticed or not, Baden continued to chatter excitedly.
“Young Master Lis, welcome.”
“Niel, have you been well?”
“Yes.”
“Brother Lis!”
“It’s been a while, Baden.”
Lis smiled faintly and gestured to his side.
“I saw you all gathered here, so I came to make an introduction. This is our cousin, Leo Flove.”
At Lis’s words, both Niel and Baden looked shocked.
“Though Leo did not receive the Jerdinger name, he has mastered Phoenix Breath.”
Baden’s eyes widened.
‘This bastard mastered Phoenix Breath! How!’
Baden had long requested permission from the main family to learn Phoenix Breath.
But he was rejected every time.
Now, some kid he had never even seen at a family gathering suddenly appears and is said to have inherited Phoenix Breath. It was infuriating.
‘Now he’ll finally shut up.’
Niel scoffed inwardly at the trembling Baden.
Since enrolling at Lumerne, the rumors about Baden had not been good.
‘He’s always using his Jerdinger name to intimidate his peers. And for what? His grades are barely above the bottom tier.’
To outsiders, being a Lumerne student might seem impressive.
But that was only to outsiders.
Within Lumerne, it was nothing to brag about.
‘That’s why he relies on his family name. Pathetic. Compared to him…’
Niel’s eyes sparkled.
‘He’s a very unusual young master.’
Leo had been the center of attention since the entrance ceremony.
But those who shine too brightly often attract envy.
Many looked down on Leo, especially because of his supposedly unremarkable family background.
Yet, she had never once heard a rumor that Leo was connected to the Jerdingers.
“My lady, does Young Master Leo not make it known that he is a Jerdinger?”
“No. He doesn’t. It’s not just that he doesn’t; it’s a problem how much he doesn’t.”
“I see.”
While Niel was marveling, a professor in charge of the event spoke into a magically amplified microphone from the central stage of Erek.
[The Student Council President is needed by the student council. Please come to the front of the stage immediately. And all year representatives, please gather in the tent beside the stage.]
“Well, we should get going. See you all later.”
“Celia, I’m leaving.”
“Okay.”
Leo and Lis headed straight for the front of the stage.
“Leo, you can go over there.”
Lis pointed to a tent that seemed to be a waiting room next to the stage.
“Okay.”
“See you in a bit.”
After parting with Lis, Leo entered the tent.
Two students were inside.
The first to catch his eye was a small-statured male student with vibrant, light brown curly hair.
A fourth-year badge was pinned to his left breast, and the emblem of a sword and shield embroidered on his right shoulder indicated he was from the Knight Department.
What was unusual was that he was wearing an eyepatch and snoring soundly.
In front of this fourth-year representative, a female student who appeared to be the second-year representative was kneeling in a reverent posture.
With mint-green hair and blue eyes, she bore the four-element emblem of the Summoning Department on her right shoulder.
She stood up upon seeing Leo.
“Are you the first-year representative, Leo Flove?”
“Yes.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ril Luce, the second-year representative.”
Ril extended her hand with a disciplined motion.
Leo, with a curious expression at her soldier-like demeanor, shook her hand.
“I’m Leo Flove.”
“This person here is Hark Liguard, the fourth-year senior. As you can see, he is asleep. He is almost always asleep, so you need not pay him any mind. I have rarely seen him awake myself.”
“I see. By the way, shouldn’t you speak more comfortably?”
“This is what I am comfortable with. In any case, Leo, I have wanted to meet you for some time!”
“Me? Why?”
“All-Class? Is that truly possible?”
Ril asked, her face slightly flushed with excitement.
“If it is not too much to ask, would you mind demonstrating the use of all three powers simultaneously?”
At her request, Leo simultaneously conjured his aura, mana, and spiritual power.
Ril looked on in admiration, then her shoulders slumped.
“I am truly envious.”
“Why?”
“I am a year representative, yet I am just a plain, ordinary spirit user with no special characteristics.”
“If you’re a year representative, doesn’t that mean you’re incredibly skilled?”
“No! I lack impact! Senior Hark has a distinct character because he’s always sleeping! Senior Lis, of course, possesses unparalleled skill! And even you, a first-year, are an All-Class! Ahh! I’m so plain! I’m the only one who’s so plain! So plain!”
‘From where I’m standing, she doesn’t seem plain at all…’
It was always the ones who claimed to be ordinary who were the least ordinary of all.
As Leo watched Ril crouch down, clutching her head, he asked.
“What about Senior Elena?”
“That senior is… a little dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Oh my? What part of me is dangerous, Ril?”
“Ugh.”
Leo turned toward the voice.
A third-year female student stood there.
Brilliant blonde hair. Sparkling pink eyes.
Jade-like skin and sharp, distinct features.
She was a person who could only be described as, quite literally, beautiful.
“It’s been a while, Senior Elena. How was your dispatch?”
“It was boring.”
Elena answered curtly, then her heels clicked as she approached Leo.
“So you’re the famous first-year representative?”
Elena’s eyes gleamed as she drew closer to Leo.
Then, she poked his cheek with her finger.
“Oh my~ how cute.”
Chuckling, Elena stroked Leo’s cheek and asked.
“Leo dear, wanna be mine?”