Chapter 186

186

After the sparring evaluation ended, Leo approached the stands where the first-years were waiting.

Everyone watched him intently, holding their breath.

It was astonishing that a first-year had managed to hold their own against the strongest student for even a moment.

On top of that, Leo was the Contractor of the Phoenix.

It wouldn’t be long before he achieved a strength befitting the Student Council President.

Thus, everyone realized that despite being a first-year, Leo undoubtedly had the qualifications to be the Student Council President.

The first-years also looked at Leo with tense eyes.

‘Is Leo really going to become the Student Council President?’

‘Really?’

‘Shouldn’t we be worried about what the upperclassmen think?’

‘Still, isn’t he going to be the most powerful student in Lumeran from his first year?’

The first-years had mixed feelings.

The older students were no different.

‘Urgh! At this rate, that first-year is really going to become the Student Council President!’

‘But there’s no reason to stop him. Elena Zeruon already recommended Leo Flove as the next president.’

‘Now that it’s come to this, should we really side with Leo Flove instead of Elena Zeruon? He might be easier to deal with given the current trend.’

The second-years silently cried out in their minds.

The third-years continued to observe Elena.

Some fourth-years even thought that perhaps it would be better for a first-year to become the Student Council President after all.

In the midst of these complex looks and thoughts—

Pip-yak—

“Hungry?”

Leo, walking toward his seat in Class 5, furrowed his brows and retrieved a chocolate bar from his pocket, placing it on his palm.

Fwoosh— With a light flutter, Fiora flew to Leo’s hand and began nibbling on the chocolate.

In the blink of an eye, she finished it and looked up at Leo, spreading her wings and hopping around.

Chitter! Chitter! Chitter!

“What? You want more? I don’t have any.”

Pee-yak!

“You’ll turn into a pig if you keep this up.”

At that, Fiora flew up and grabbed Leo’s white hair, pulling it slightly.

“Cute! So cute!”

“I want one! A Phoenix!”

Seeing Fiora, students forgot their recent complexities and cheered.

As Leo sat down, the Class 5 students gathered around him.

“What is this? What’s going on? When did you make a contract with the Phoenix?”

“Incredible!”

“Leo, can we see it too?”

Fiora looked flustered as the students surrounded her.

She had never experienced such fervent attention in her life.

But her fluster didn’t last long.

Perched atop Leo’s head, she proudly raised her elegant neck.

“Kyaah! She’s so cute!”

“She’s adorable!”

The Class 5 girls screamed in delight, and Fiora began striking various poses.

Each time she did, the crowd applauded, making her more and more confident.

“Uh-oh! Professor Halind is glaring!”

“Ah!”

When Kal urgently warned them, they quickly returned to their seats.

After the excitement died down, Fiora looked around, flustered.

Amidst all this fuss,

Kalían, seated at the head table, was observing Leo.

“So, he’s finally proven why he’s worthy of being the Student Council President.”

At Riven’s murmured comment, Kalían nodded and stood up from his seat.

“What do you plan to do?”

“It’s proven now, so we only need to confirm it, right?”

Riven replied, “Remarkable. I knew you approved of Leo Flove, but I didn’t expect you’d support him so actively.”

“Isn’t he qualified?”

With a faint smile, Kalían descended onto the sparring grounds.

Suddenly, Principal Kalían stepping onto the sparring area caused all the students to look surprised.

Kalían looked around the students and spoke.

“Good work, all the first-year students. You’ve likely learned and experienced many things through this sparring.”

Kalían gravely looked at the first-years.

“Some of you might have discovered how much you’ve grown compared to just half a year ago, while others experienced the growth of someone you previously thought was weaker.”

At his words, some students looked proud while others appeared frustrated.

“This is the path you must walk. You need to keep competing, keep growing, and become heroes bit by bit. These are paths that your seniors have walked, and so have I.”

He smiled kindly.

“And now, I would like to discuss the matter of the Student Council President.”

Everyone held their breath.

Tense expressions spread across the entire grade as Kalían continued.

“Lumeran’s motto is ‘Transcend your limits.’ Put differently, it means that anything can happen.”

Kalían looked at the stands where the older students were sitting.

“To you all, does Leo lack the qualifications to be the Student Council President?”

No one could answer that question.

Leo himself had fought an equal sparring match against the strongest student.

And being the Contractor of the Phoenix topped that.

Based solely on the things Leo had shown so far, he clearly had the qualifications to be the president.

Certainly, Leo was not the strongest now.

But as a first-year, he had infinite potential.

He had shown the ability to surpass the current top students in the blink of an eye.

“The number of students who have the qualifications to be the Student Council President is limited, and the number of students who have the essential qualities is even fewer.”

Halind grinned.

“I judged that Leo Flove had both the qualifications and the qualities of a Student Council President, so I accepted Ris Zerdinger’s nomination.”

No one could refute that.

“So now, I would like to nominate Leo Flove as the Student Council President. Any objections?”

The entire grade, including the professors, was surprised, but no one dared to protest.

After observing the scene for a while, Kalían spoke.

“Ris Zerdinger, Leo Flove, please come forward.”

At that, Leo and Ris approached the middle of the training ground.

“The official appointment will be at the end of the second semester, but since the transfer of duties needs to start immediately, I think it’s best to officially announce this to the students now. What do you think?”

“I agree.”

“So do I.”

With that, Kalían smiled and nodded.

“Very well. I hereby announce that from today onward, Leo Flove is designated as the next Student Council President.”

At this declaration, the entire student body eyed each other cautiously.

But as Ris began clapping tentatively, others gradually followed suit, hesitating at first and then with more enthusiasm.

Clap-clap-clap-clap!

Various gazes intersected as the unprecedented first-year Student Council President came to be.

Elena rested her chin on her hand and smiled faintly.

‘Now, I need to help Leo-kun perform well as the Student Council President.’

While thinking about this, she narrowed her eyes as she scanned the third-years.

‘What should I do with the ones who might complain?’

Among the third-years, there were those who absolutely obeyed Elena’s word.

However, there were also quite a few who acted on their own whims.

‘I need to manage before someone makes a stupid mistake under my name.’

She flashed a cruel smile.

On the other hand, the fourth-year seating area remained calm.

“Hm, Leo Flove is quite something, isn’t he?”

Hark’s eyes sparkled with a competitive spirit.

“I’d enjoy a fight with that guy.”

Watching Hark, who thought only about dueling anyone except when sleeping, the surrounding classmates sighed deeply.

“Leo, would you share with the students your thoughts now that you’ve become the Student Council President?”

At Ris’s prompt, Leo took a microphone with a sound-amplifying spell.

As Leo grasped the microphone, everyone looked tense.

Leo then scanned everyone slowly before speaking.

“I will do my best so that my position as first-year Student Council President doesn’t cause problems for the school.”

The professors nodded approvingly at this almost textbook response.

“And if you feel dissatisfied or unhappy after we’ve started, feel free to approach me. If you can defeat me in a fight, I’ll hand over the position of Student Council President.”

“…!”

“…!”

Everyone looked at Leo with their mouths agape.

His statement was nothing short of a provocation to the second, third, and fourth years.

Even Ris looked baffled, staring at Leo.

“Hah! Hahahaha! That’s great! If you’ve earned the title of Student Council President, which is called the strongest student’s position, you should have this kind of guts, right?”

“Are you crazy? If we’re not careful, there might be fights to seize the position of Student Council President starting next year!”

One of the fourth years chided Hark.

The Student Council President had considerable power.

If misused, it could cause significant confusion for the whole school.

There were precedents for such occurrences in the history of Lumeran.

Yet, Leo had openly announced that anyone who defeated him could become the Student Council President.

To the upperclassmen, it was tempting.

“Let him be. This guy’s not thoughtless; he’s just confident, that’s why he’s provoking them like this, isn’t it?”

With his arms crossed, Hark’s eyes gleamed with an unusual intensity as he looked at Leo.

“Things might get interesting when we’re in our fifth year.”

Meanwhile, Leo continued.

“By the way, I’ve already decided who the vice-president will be—it’s Hark Ligard from the fourth grade.”

“Huh?”

“The vice-president will handle all the practical student council work too—it’ll be Hark-senpai.”

Everyone looked surprised as Leo calmly announced this succession.

The source of the Student Council President’s power came from the daily operations.

Giving that source of power to Hark was unexpected.

‘Wait, there’s no way that guy would take on such a troublesome task, right?’

All eyes turned to Hark.

As expected, Hark got up from his seat.

“Why should I, of all people, have to handle such a tedious responsibility?”

With a scrunched-up face, Hark protested, and Leo looked at him as if he heard a strange sound.

“Hark-senpai, I will become the Student Council President next year, right?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t the President have the authority to nominate?”

“Yes.”

“So I’m asking you for this.”

Hark’s expression distorted.

Hark, whose personality wasn’t exactly known due to his habit of sleeping every day, wasn’t known to be pleasant.

When Hark wore an intimidating expression, everyone tensed up.

The unprecedented spectacle of the new Student Council President and Vice President starting off with a power struggle.

And the content was unusual.

“Are you refusing, huh?”

“I reject.”

“Yeah? Who are you to reject that?”

“I’m the Student Council President, that’s why.”

Leo smiled.

“So go ahead and try rejecting it.”

“Urgh? That guy…!”

Hark grabbed the back of his neck looking at the insolent junior.

His daily low bl**d pressure, which came from excessive sleep, seemed to have improved.

“Hey! You guys! Say something! That guy became the Student Council President and now he’s already looking down on us!”

Hark shouted angrily at his classmates.

But the fourth-years had different reactions.

“If Hark wields the real power, it’s not a bad deal for us, right?”

“Yeah. Student council power does stem from everyday tasks.”

“Considering his usual demeanor, it’s fitting that even a first-year could tell him what to do.”

No one defended Hark, who usually just slept through everything.

“You… you guys really…”

Hark’s body trembled in frustration.

Watching this, Leo grinned.

“Power does feel good, doesn’t it?”

At this, Hark had to grab the back of his neck again.

“…He’s doing well. A first-year as the Student Council President, huh?”

“He made a contract with the Phoenix, right?”

“I’d like to challenge him someday.”

Voices fueled by competitive spirit were heard here and there.

In the classroom, the beastgirl with a white cat tail swayed it gently as she read the newspaper.

“Black Rabbit!”

Ar perked her ears upon hearing the news about the boy she declared as her rival.

As the world watched,

Lumeran was moving in a new direction.