Chapter 273

After a commotion.

Leo and Lunia returned to the auditorium.

Kal approached and poked Leo in the side as he watched Lunia heading back to where the Seirun students were gathered.

“Hey, Leo. What did you talk about with Lunia?”

“It was about the strategy rewards I got at that time.”

“Oh, it must have been a deep conversation then?”

‘It wasn’t very deep.’

In fact, it was juvenile.

Leo shook his head as he recalled Lunia yelling and demanding an apology for insulting Luna.

“Well, among us, you’re the only one who has conquered the Great Hero’s World, right?”

During last year’s practical training mission, they conquered Luna’s world.

In the process, it was revealed that the Hero of Beginning, Kyle, was a real person.

“Now that I think about it, you always get ahead of us.”

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, it felt good to finally shut that annoying elf teacher’s mouth.”

Kal laughed quietly.

It goes without saying that no student from other schools, other than Seirun, looked at Rebet favorably.

Meanwhile, students from Hero Academy entered the auditorium.

Depeto let out a deep sigh, perhaps having heard stories about Rebet.

‘I suppose I need to issue a warning to Seirun. This is going too far.’

Depeto was well aware of the current situation at Seirun.

There had been many personnel changes, and certain figures were now in key positions.

Especially the elf LeHagen, who was now acting principal, was very well-known among other races.

When he heard the news, Depeto, the second-year commander from Demian, even suggested canceling Seirun’s invitation.

But it was Gerwin, the principal of Demian, who persuaded Depeto.

‘We are blacksmiths who create heroes’ weapons. So we must treat the hero candidates without discrimination.’

With a bitter smile, Gerwin stroked his beard.

‘And now that the Demon Queen has been defeated and the Sword Saint has passed away, the world may soon be swept into turmoil. The unity of your Hero Academy is more important than ever.’

Following Gerwin’s intent, Depeto ignored Rebet.

He coordinated the schedule with Herdium, who was in charge of the second-year’s overall operations.

‘It would have been great if someone as excellent as Teacher Herdium had taken over Seirun’s second year.’

Depeto sighed deeply.

From Lumeran, Sedgen, who had guided students for many years.

From Azonia, Berga, a young but capable instructor.

Truly, they were individuals worthy of leading each school’s golden generation.

‘At this rate, I’m starting to worry that the students from Seirun might ruin themselves.’

Sighing, Depeto stepped onto the platform.

“To the students from Lumeran, Seirun, and Azonia, this is a message. If our Demian students evaluated you in the morning, now it’s your turn to evaluate our Demian students.”

The three Hero Academy students surveyed the auditorium, which looked like a weapons exhibition with weapons lined up everywhere.

Knights, wizards, and summoners would be drooling over the merchandise made by dwarves.

It was a product of the highest quality.

The time to evaluate it had come.

A privilege that only hero candidates could have.

“Oh, this is a bit nerve-wracking.”

“Yeah.”

Kal nodded at Iliana’s murmuring.

Iliana, although from a prestigious family, was not one that could freely use dwarven weapons.

The reactions from Kal and Iliana, as well as most of the Lumeran students, were no different.

The same applied to Seirun and Azonia.

Of course, there were some who didn’t care about such things.

“Hmph. I’ll make them pay dearly for daring to evaluate the heir of the Hergan family.”

Eliza smirked, sitting in a chair brought to her by a follower while grooming her nails.

“I hope at least some of them are better than the sword collection at home.”

“Shall I get a new magical staff while I’m at it?”

Duran and Abad also showed interest.

Watching them, Kal clenched his fist with a cough.

“d*mn bourgeois pricks.”

“Don’t listen to what they say. They live in a different world. The world.”

Iliana shook her head.

“Well, then.”

Depeto looked around the room.

“Let’s get started.”

At those words, the students of Lumeran, Seirun, and Azonia began to move to view the displayed weapons.

“Hey! You there! Hey! Stick figure!”

A Demian student shouted and rushed over.

“Stick figure? Who are you talking about?”

Iliana tilted her head in confusion.

“Who knows?”

Kal shrugged.

But that was just the beginning.

Starting with that Demian student, others rushed over.

“You! You! Over there! What was your name again?”

“Anyway, the one who made that strange announcement!”

“Wow, the top students even know how to attract Demian kids, huh?”

“Well, that’s to be expected.”

The students exclaimed in admiration.

Kal and Iliana nodded in agreement.

“Of course, that’s to be expected.”

“By the way, doesn’t it seem like they’re coming this way?”

Kal tilted his head.

“Hmph. As expected from excellent artisans, they have good taste.”

At that moment, a scoff was heard from behind.

Iliana visibly showed her dislike, and Kal stepped aside to avoid getting involved.

Emio, with his arms crossed, walked forward.

Coincidentally, five dwarves were rushing towards where Emio was standing.

And the student with the highest grades in this area was Emio.

As Emio walked forward, he spoke to the leading dwarf.

“Do you need something from me…?”

Boom!

“…!”

Emio’s face stiffened as he watched the dwarves pass by him.

“Serves you right!”

Iliana chuckled at the sight.

Then, she raised her chin with a proud expression.

“It seems that the dwarves are quite interested in me, the top student for swordsmanship.”

Taking a step forward, Iliana cleared her throat.

“Okay! I’ll hear you out…”

“You! Come here! Let’s have a word!”

“Not this dumbass! Come chat with me for a bit!”

The five Demian students who passed by even Iliana gathered in front of Kal.

“Me?”

Kal asked in confusion, pointing to himself.

“Yeah! You!”

A female Demian student seized Kal’s hand.

“I roughly sketched the design for that magical staff specialized for missiles during lunch. I want your opinion on it.”

“Don’t listen to this loser! You should look at my design instead.”

“Loser? Did you just finish talking?”

“No! I didn’t!”

A male Demian student pulled on Kal’s opposite hand.

Kal teased Iliana, saying, “What now, they seem to be here for me.”

“Just a moment…!”

Kal imitated Iliana’s tone and voice, provoking her.

Iliana’s face turned bright red from Kal’s jibes.

Kal laughed at the sight.

But that laughter didn’t last long.

“She’s coming with me!”

“No! She’s coming with me!”

“Does it hurt? That hurts!”

The dwarves, small in stature, possessed incredible natural strength.

With the dwarves pulling on both sides like a tug-of-war, Kal had no choice but to scream.

Watching him, Iliana squatted by the hesitating dwarves and said,

“I guarantee you. Kal Thomas is an alchemist with exceptional ideas! The items he creates are incredibly popular among our school’s students.”

“Indeed. So that’s where those ideas came from.”

“I don’t want to let them go.”

“Ugh!”

The remaining three dwarves seemed to shake in anticipation of joining the fray.

But Kal’s arms were already occupied by other competitors, preventing them from joining.

“Are you just going to let them take him? You still have your feet and head left, right?”

At that remark, the dwarves rushed forward.

“Kyaaaaah!”

Kal let out a desperate scream.

Watching Kal, Iliana moved next to him, smiling brightly.

“Kal, have you heard of dismemberment?”

“Yaaah! Iliana! You!”

Iliana burst into laughter at Kal’s scream.

Such commotion was happening all over the auditorium.

Demian students began a fierce competition over the students they found appealing.

“Eeeeek?!”

Eiran screamed in fear and ran away.

“Get her!”

“Capture that elf!”

“Why are you trying to catch me?”

“Show us the Armor of Animus that boasts absolute defense!”

The targets were not only students who had made excellent or interesting presentations.

Students with special skills also became targets.

Eiran, frightened, ran away until she was cornered.

“Show us the unique magic passed down in the Eresar family!”

“Then there won’t be any bloodshed!”

“Ah, okay. So please don’t come at me with that scary face! Wuuuh…”

Shrinking her shoulders, Eiran trembled as she asked,

“Should I show you here?”

At those words, the ten dwarves chasing Eiran’s eyes lit up.

The unique magic passed down in the Eresar family.

The reason they wanted to see the Armor of Animus was to gain strong inspiration.

To Demian students, each of them was a powerful competitor.

This was quite different from the typical competition at Hero Academy.

In Demian, the value of special and unique ideas was immense.

Thus, the Demian students chasing Eiran simultaneously thought,

‘I will monopolize this!’

And with that thought, they began to throw punches at each other.

“Give up! You’re not even an armor specialist!”

“Don’t joke with me! Just because it’s magic doesn’t mean you can only take inspiration from armor! Your level is quite evident by that kind of thought!”

“What does that even mean!”

Watching the dwarves suddenly start fighting fiercely among themselves, Eiran became even more frightened.

“What’s going on?”

At that moment, Depeto approached with a puzzled face.

“D-Depeto Smith! This is bad! The Demian students are fighting…”

“Hmm.”

Depeto looked at his students seriously before smiling widely.

“What wonderful enthusiasm.”

“Excuse me?”

After leaving those words, Depeto walked away.

Eiran stood there, dazed, watching the Demian students earnestly throwing punches at each other.

To watch things unfold and claim it was wonderful enthusiasm while being a bystander…

‘Scary! Demian students are super scary!’

In the end, Eiran trembled and couldn’t even think of escaping.

*

“Catch them!”

“Get that pesky little thing!”

“Is that staff of yours! It’s [Legend] grade! Show us the heirloom of LeWalyn!”

“Pesky little thing! At least call me a butterfly!”

Chelsea, who was flying through the air to avoid the Demian students, stopped and called out to Leo, who was walking leisurely below.

“Leo, you’re so relaxed! I’m jealous!”

At that, Leo smiled and replied.

“I guess I’ve really made some enemies.”

“Hmph! They have no appreciation for the finer things!”

Just then—

“Stop right there!”

One of the dwarves chasing Chelsea had unexpectedly made a butterfly net.

“Wow… they really are persistent. See you later, Leo!”

Chelsea, showing a look of annoyance, waved goodbye and ran away.

Leo waved back at her while noticing a group of Azonia students gathering on one side of the auditorium.

“Ooh! Black Rabbit!”

Arga looked pleased.

“What’s going on? Why are there so many Azonia kids around?”

“There’s a Demian student who specializes in making ultra-heavyweight weapons here!”

“But you don’t use those kinds of weapons, do you?”

When Leo asked in disbelief, Arga crossed her arms.

“True! But that dwarf had an interesting story.”

“Interesting story?”

“Yeah. Only those who have earned recognition through arm wrestling can try out his weapons.”

That was Arga’s explanation for why all the Azonia students, confident in their physical strength, had gathered.

“You too?”

“Of course!”

Arga let out a puff of air.

“Did you pass?”

“Of course!”

Arga puffed out her chest.

At that moment, a rather large dwarf approached.

“Ar Tune. Are you really thinking of entrusting me with weapon crafting?”

At that, Ar Tune nodded.

“Of course! I can’t fight using weight, but my specialty is speed-focused combat!”

“Hmm. What a shame. If you had that level of strength in those weak arms and trained your muscles, you’d be formidable.”

“Pfft— If I get bulky for no reason, I wouldn’t be pleasing to the eye anymore, so I’d refuse.”

“Beautiful body? Hardly an appealing sight?”

“Don’t call it unappealing!”

Arga held up her hands, claws unsheathed, and Leo frowned at her.

“Hmph, Leo Flove, huh.”

The dwarf scoffed at Leo.

“Earlier you boasted about handling all weapons, didn’t you? Why don’t you give my weapon a try, then?”

At that, Leo chuckled.

“Should I?”

“Yeah, but first.”

The dwarf parted the gathered Azonia students and stood in front of a steel table.

“You’ll need to be recognized through pure strength in arm wrestling to make that happen.”

The Demian student, Eget, smiled provocatively at Leo.

“By the way, only five people have succeeded in defeating me so far.”

Among all races, beastmen have the best physical ability.

But when it comes to pure strength, dwarves excel.

In particular, this dwarf was one and a half times bigger than other dwarves.

Matching his size, his arms were heavily muscled.

He was literally a powerhouse.

Leo nodded and stood before him.

“Oh.”

“You’re the student council president from Lumeran, right?”

“Just how strong can you be, I wonder?”

The Azonia students were curious.

“Pfft. You’d best take this seriously. If you’re not careful, you might break your arm.”

The Demian student pointed to several Azonia students.

Indeed, they were wrapping their arms in bandages.

Crack-!

They grasped each other’s hands.

Thud!

Then they exerted force into their arms while looking each other in the eyes.

‘It’s impossible to handle all weapons. Especially when it comes to ultra-heavyweight weapons, it’s even trickier.’

Eget stared at Leo, muttering in his mind.

‘Even if I borrow the power of aura to boost my strength, the most necessary thing is still pure strength! Without that strength, there’s no way to wield my weapon.’

“Ready.”

Eget said while straining his arms.

‘You might be amazing, but you were too arrogant!’

“Set…”

‘Leo Flove! I’ll give you a sharp reminder!’

“…Go!”

Bang-!

Eget blinked in surprise.

He suddenly found himself staring at the ceiling.

The Azonia students widened their eyes as they witnessed Leo finishing the match the moment it began.

“Didn’t he use aura?”

“I didn’t see any signs of it.”

Leo smiled at the fallen Eget.

“I’ll give your weapon a try.”