Chapter 335

335

Whoosh-!

A cold wind was blowing.

At that moment, a surge of magical energy erupted from the warp gate.

Flash-!

The bright light subsided, revealing Leo.

The season was a clear spring.

However, despite the season, the frozen ground continued to radiate its coldness.

“Hoo.”

As Leo exhaled gently, his breath clouded his vision.

Carrying a luggage bag filled to the brim, he stepped off the warp gate.

Leo was the only person traveling from Lumeran to Seirun using the warp gate.

‘The academic conference period hasn’t arrived yet, so Professor Anna will come according to the conference schedule.’

Step- Step-

Walking on the marble floor, Leo glanced around.

It was already late.

All the academic schedules at Seirun had ended, leaving only the wizards operating the warp gate.

‘Either Lunia or Eiran should’ve come to greet me.’

Leo wasn’t unaware that he might not be welcomed at Seirun, but he expected that among the students, Lunia and Eiran were close friends, and Hermidum among the teachers thought very highly of him.

Hence, it surprised him that no one had come to greet him.

Feeling curious, Leo approached the Elf magician who was operating the warp gate.

“Excuse me.”

The Elf magician glanced briefly at Leo.

It seemed word had already spread about Leo, as his unexpected arrival at Seirun from Lumeran drew no surprise from the Elf.

“What is it?”

“I’m Leo Flove, an exchange student from Lumeran. By any chance, is there no one to meet me?”

“No.”

Shaking her head, the elf magician guided Leo outside the warp gate and pointed towards the Seirun campus visible in the distance.

“If you go to the entrance of the Seirun campus, you’ll likely find a staff member waiting for you there.”

After hearing this explanation, Leo nodded and stepped out of the warp gate.

The Elf magician watched Leo’s retreating figure hesitantly before adding,

“Um… Hang in there.”

Leo paused, turning back at her words.

Upon making eye contact with Leo, the elf magician quickly turned away and began sweeping the snow in front of the warp gate.

‘Despite his exceptional magical prowess, his mastery of the Magic of the Stars is not notable.’

The Magic of the Stars.

Created by Luna, it is now a unique magical system exclusive to the Elven race and symbolizes the elves.

Every elf wizard can practice the Magic of the Stars, but not everyone can achieve high proficiency in it despite their other magical talents.

‘And it seems that elves who struggle with the Magic of the Stars aren’t favored.’

This trend was even more pronounced in Seirun.

Founded by the Comet Wizard, it places the highest importance on the Magic of the Stars.

Even if someone possesses great aptitude in Auras or Familiar abilities, they cannot pass the entrance to Seirun without mastering the Magic of the Stars.

Therefore, students at Seirun who study Auras or Familiars are usually dual-class.

The pride in the Magic of the Stars was immense.

Leo’s story was world-famous, not just limited to humans.

The elf magician likely guessed how he might be treated at Seirun, hence her parting words.

‘Judging by her reaction, a simple conversation might get her reprimanded?’

Despite that, concerned for the newcomer, she still chose to offer her encouragement.

‘Good people exist everywhere you go.’

Leo smiled faintly while heading towards Seirun.

Lissinas believed this world deserved his life simply because such individuals existed.

Crunch- Crunch-

With each step Leo took, footprints formed in the snow.

Before long, he reached the entrance of the Seirun academy.

There, an elf who seemed rather meticulous was waiting.

She adjusted her glasses and greeted him.

“Nice to meet you, Leo Flove from Lumeran. I’m Orlean Azel, responsible for etiquette education for the second year at Seirun.”

“I’m Leo Flove. Nice to meet you, and please take good care of me for the next month.”

Before Leo’s greeting ended, Orlean turned briskly and began walking ahead.

Soon, Leo arrived at a castle within Seirun.

Upon opening the ancient castle gate, an expansive entrance hall unfolded.

Until reaching a small room within the castle, he didn’t encounter a single academic staff member, teacher, or student.

The grand castle was eerily quiet, as if everyone was dead silent.

After entering the small room, Orlean eventually turned to face Leo.

“Even though your stay is short, as an exchange student, you must abide by Seirun’s strict rules.”

Orlean gestured with her fingers, and the closet in one corner of the room opened. Clothes that looked like uniforms and what seemed like textbooks appeared on the table.

“Materials and luggage brought from the outside are not acceptable. Please leave them all here.”

At this, Leo nodded and placed his luggage bag on the table.

“One more thing, Leo Flove. You’ve come here to study, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I request that you refrain from openly revealing that you’re an exchange student.”

Orlean adjusted her glasses.

“You’re here to learn from Seirun, which requires appropriate behavior. While at Seirun, please act as if you’re elf-like. Even in appearance. Your presence could cause confusion among the students.”

This statement made Leo’s face twist in a peculiar expression.

“Isn’t it already common knowledge among the Seirun students that exchange students will arrive?”

“No, they don’t know.”

Leo tilted his head in confusion.

“Even so, I doubt acting elf-like will make them forget who I am.”

“You seem to have unnecessarily excessive pride, Leo Flove,” said Orlean with a smirk.

“Here, you’re at Seirun, not Lumeran. This is an elf society, not human society. Whatever fame you might have in Lumeran and among humans doesn’t translate here.”

Orlean gave a condescending laugh, speaking coldly.

“Please change into the school uniform and don the necklace provided alongside the uniform. I’ll give you a map of the school grounds where you can stay.”

Saying that, Orlean left the room.

‘What’s all this about? Surely, all the second-year students of Seirun know my face, right?’

With a bewildered expression, Leo, who was about to change into the uniform of Seirun, hesitated after glancing at the so-called textbook.

A smirk appeared on his face after taking a look at it.

“Now I get what she meant.”

Orlean had handed him a textbook, which turned out to be from the first-year curriculum at Seirun.

‘Seems like I’m not exactly their favorite person they were expecting.’

She probably didn’t want Leo to share classes with the second-year students.

Furthermore, it seemed like she was deliberately trying to prevent any contact with Lunia and Eiran.

‘Do they think I’ll have a negative influence on them?’

During the previous exclusive Phoenix contract.

Lunia had fallen out of favor with the headmaster of Seirun.

In the eyes of Seirun, Lunia had become a troublemaker, tarnishing their prestige.

To the point that they even threatened to exclude her as a potential candidate for the upcoming student council president.

‘But things must’ve changed after Lunia’s conquest of Dewenno’s world.’

Lunia had obtained a divine artifact personally crafted by Dewenno.

Even more astonishingly, she inherited the ancient flames of the Phoenix King during the Era of Catastrophe.

Unprecedented.

Lunia’s value had grown so much that Seirun couldn’t afford to discard her.

Thus, they probably wanted to shape her into someone suitable for their tastes.

“…How come they’ve learned so well without proper guidance?”

Recalling the old ways of the High Elves from 5000 years ago, Leo chuckled.

After switching into the Seirun uniform and wearing the necklace Orlean had provided, Leo approached the mirror.

The magical necklace was imbued with the Magic of the Stars and an Illusion spell.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, his ears had transformed into elf ears.

He looked exactly like an ordinary student from Seirun standing there.

“Guess I’m pretending to be a Seirun first-year, even though it’s not in my destiny.”

Leo couldn’t help but smirk, looking at his altered image in the mirror.

“It should be fun.”

Leo wasn’t here for studies after all.

He had come at Tina’s request, offering his presence to bring positive influence to Seirun in return for getting the wings of Kiran.

Additionally, she had requested him to teach magic to her young cousin who had just entered this year.

‘This might also be a good chance to gauge the abilities of the first-year students at Seirun.’

With the textbooks in hand, Leo left the room.

*

Following the map Orlean had left, Leo made his way toward the dormitory.

It was essentially a situation where they had left Leo on his own to some extent.

However, using the map, Leo easily navigated towards the dormitory area.

A short while later.

Leo arrived at the dormitory area without much difficulty.

Even though it was quite late, two individuals were sitting on the lounge sofa, chatting.

“Did you hear that story?”

In the center of the lounge, a male student, arms crossed, spoke out.

“Luvern’s student president during the midterm exams.”

“Are you talking about Leo Flove?”

“Right. They say he summoned a fairy during the test!”

“Huh? Do you really believe that?”

Hearing the male student speak, the female student let out laughter.

“Come on! He’s already known as the Contractor of the Phoenix, right? Suddenly summoning a fairy? Does that even make sense?”

The surrounding students also burst into laughter.

“It doesn’t stop there. They say he also summoned Pegasus.”

The male student, who had first brought up the story of Leo, continued earnestly.

“Hey! That’s even more absurd! No matter how great he is, do you really think a mere second-year student can make contracts with all three legendary familiars?”

The female student clicked her tongue as she glanced at the male student.

Still, the male student said solemnly,

“Even if a story sounds implausible, we still need to listen. We need to prepare for the upcoming Seru Tournament, right? Not much information comes from Luvern, so we need to gather every little detail we can.”

He seemed cautious and thoughtful.

Looking at the male student who kept mentioning Leo, the female student chuckled.

“Alright, maybe Leo Flove is great. But among the first-year students of our real competition from Luvern, there aren’t really any big names, right? Perhaps the granddaughter of the Sword Saint?”

Taking a sip of her tea, the female student smiled meaningfully.

“Besides, who do you think is at the top of our current year? It’s Lea Tinggel.”

The female student smiled confidently.

“With Lea, who successfully summoned the Fairy King for the first time in thousands of years, why worry unnecessarily about Luvern? We’ve got Senior Lunia and Senior Eiran too! This year’s Seru Tournament is definitely ours!”

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation.”

“Wh-what?”

At the unexpected voice from behind, the female student jumped in surprise and turned around.

There stood Leo, leaning casually against the sofa, grinning as he asked,

“Who summoned who?”

In this world.

Leo couldn’t help but be greatly interested in the story of the only other person who shared the same timeline as him.