Chapter 421

421.

“Book of Shadows?!”

“Something like that exists?”

The first day of the summit meeting.

After the meeting concluded and its content was summarized and announced, the students looked utterly surprised.

The hottest topic among the students was about the Book of Shadows.

In the middle of everyone being astonished at the dormitory cafeteria, Chloe asked Chen Sia beside her,

“Sia, did you by any chance know about it?”

“Yes.”

After Chen Sia answered with her usual smile, Iliana made a fuss,

“Why didn’t you say anything! This is an incredible discovery! Moreover, if we had known that even Shadows could get their name on the Hero Record, there wouldn’t have been any conceptless people who would ignore or despise you!”

Iliana showed excitement.

The students of Gloria Dormitory and the students who were in the same class as Chen Sia in their first year treated her without prejudice even after it was revealed that she was a Shadow.

Chen Sia herself, after getting over her identity crisis with the help of Leo, decided to walk her own path without being overly concerned about whether she was a hero or a shadow.

However, as she was the princess of Shan, there were bound to be some students who would look at her through colored glasses.

Heroes are those whose great achievements have been acknowledged by the gods.

But no matter how great a hero may be, as humans, they can never be flawless; some have made big mistakes, and some do not possess noble character despite their achievements.

There are even heroes who deserve to be criticized for their actions.

But because they receive the recognition of the gods, people tend to forget such facts quickly.

But Shadows, not receiving divine recognition, were judged by stricter standards than Heroes.

Still, among the second-year students, there was no one who openly looked down on Chen Sia.

Not only Celia from the Department of Knights, to whom Chen Sia belonged, but even Duran, who has pride beyond anyone else, regards Chen Sia as a rival.

In the case of the Department of Magic’s Chloe, Chelsea, and Abad, they are all close friends with Chen Sia.

In the Department of Summoning, Eliza regards Chen Sia as one of the few people she humbly respects.

Warden cares not at all about such things.

Decisively, as Chen Sia is close to Student Council President Leo, no fool in Lumeran would complicate their school life by drawing unnecessary attention from the top students.

Still, it was impossible to change everyone’s look subtly.

Chen Sia had let such looks slide and hadn’t acted on them.

Chloe and Iliana, being fellow dormitory students, were well aware of this fact.

Chloe sighed softly as she saw Iliana clench her fists in frustration.

“It’s confidential information from Shan so, naturally, Sia couldn’t have just talked about it. Moreover, even if the existence of the Book of Shadows were revealed, things wouldn’t change dramatically.”

“Chloe-sama is right. It’s our responsibility as Shadows, including myself, to change such perceptions.”

“But still! The Dragon Lord himself promised that if anyone discriminates, there’ll be consequences! Now, anyone looking down on you will get crushed.”

“Thank you, Iliana-sama.”

At the moment Chen Sia smiled,

“Uh, Chen Sia-sama.”

Then Eiran, nervously approached.

A fellow peer from Seirun, ranking second in their second-year class.

“Yes, Eiran-sama.”

“Chen Sia-sama, as the princess of Shan, have you ever seen the Book of Shadows?”

“Of course, I have.”

“Then have you seen the records of the Hero of Beginning?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, how envious!”

Eiran, who loves tales of heroes, was very excited.

“What kind of stories are there?”

Eiran’s eyes sparkled.

And Chloe and Iliana, following Eiran’s curiosity, also looked at Chen Sia with interest.

Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.

Until just a year ago, he was only considered a myth, but ever since proof of his existence was discovered, he has been continually reassessed.

However, due to the lack of remaining records, research on his deeds has remained sluggish.

Hearing the news of the discovery of Kyle’s records naturally sparked interest among students aspiring to be heroes.

“What are you talking about so interestingly?”

Chelsea, passing by with her tray, tilted her head and asked, to which Chloe responded,

“About the Book of Shadows and the Hero of the Beginning.”

“That’s a story I’m interested in too!”

Chelsea’s eyes sparkled as she quickly sat down and said to Abad who was with her,

“Brother, sit here!”

Laughing at her words, Abad sat beside Chelsea.

“I wonder what kind of magic the Hero of the Beginning used. Is he truly an all-class?”

“Yes.”

Amidst the lively atmosphere, Lunia, dining at a distance, rested her chin on her hand.

“Lumeran is never a quiet day, is it?”

Lunia shook her head lightly.

Then Kar, Ar, and Driana, who were sitting together, stood up from their seats.

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t you want to know the story of the Hero of the Beginning?”

Ar’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, and Lunia shook her head,

“Not really.”

“That girl is too proud to admit interest even when she’s curious; leave her be.”

“True. She’ll come on her own.”

While Driana and Kar joked, Ar moved toward where Chen Sia was.

“Really not interested at all.”

Lunia wore an uninterested expression.

However, her ears perked up several times whenever the boisterous conversation grew loud.

“Ah, I can’t stand it!”

After a short while, Lunia rushed to the noisy spot.

The Summit Meeting held in Lumeran shook the world with the ensuing news.

Even on the first day, astonishing stories were revealed: the appearance of the Hero Record and the Book of Shadows, and the last journey of Great Heroes that had been unknown until now.

The next day, Melina continued to stun the world by revealing the Hero Records of the heroes who were active during the Jormungand extermination battle, as received from Leo.

Amid all the astonishing revelations, the first-year final exam tournament continued.

And soon enough, they reached the semi-finals.

“Wow, Ilianana’s mentee… Incredible!”

Iliana marveled.

“The year-end straggler made it into the top 4? Moreover, she’s going against the top student of the year!”

Looking at Iliana’s sparkling eyes, Kar leaned back and rested his chin,

“You seem delighted.”

“Of course! Now that Austin has stabilized, things are looking good!”

Austin, mentee of Iliana and a member of Leo’s Knights, secured a stable position.

Since Iliana no longer had to worry about expulsion, she thoroughly enjoyed the duels among the first-years from that moment.

“Thanks to Iliana’s mentee rising, there have been several upsets!”

Iliana jingled her money pouch with sparkling eyes.

“My grades were bad enough to lose my allowance, but thanks to this, I won’t have to worry about money for the second semester!”

Watching such an Iliana, Eiran, who was observing from the side, admired,

“Amazing.”

“Hoo-hoo! Call me ‘Iliana-sama, the Heart of the Beast.'”

“So cool!”

“Stop complimenting please, Eiran. That’s not the Heart of the Beast but the Head of the Beast.”

As Eiran excitedly clapped, Chelsea bluntly remarked,

“Hehe, anyway, can we multiply this money a bit more? Kal, you buying the odds?”

“Yes, yes, Luke’s it is?”

“What nonsense! It’s obviously Aina!”

“Didn’t you support only Luke until now?”

“Heh! A true gambler doesn’t gamble! The real pros collect money from sure wins with low odds!”

She who kept talking about the “Heart of the Beast” shouldn’t be saying that.

“So, how much are you betting?”

“All of it.”

Seeing the gleaming eyes of a greedy Iliana, Kal hesitated not a moment and began selling the betting rights.

“Make me rich, cute junior.”

Iliana’s eyes sparkled when,

“I’d like to try this once.”

Someone approached Kal.

It was none other than Lea.

Lea, whose soul was obliterated when captured by Halind but recovered painstakingly in just a few days,

“Who will you bet on?”

“Either Aina or Beda, half here.”

Lea handed over a pile of money to Kal.

Looking at Lea’s burning eyes, which weren’t ignited by greed, Kal sold the betting rights without a word.

‘It’s not my money.’

Kal put the pile of money into an extra-dimensional space.

“I need to prepare my business sooner.”

*

“Huff.”

Before stepping into the arena, Luke took a deep breath.

Leo wasn’t there.

In fact, Leo didn’t visit Luke even once after the first match.

Luke felt a twinge of regret but thought otherwise as well,

“Maybe Senior means I should do this on my own now.”

Reassured by this thought, he slapped his cheeks.

Calm down the fluttering heart.

Throughout the semester,

He had always admired from afar someone who seemed so incredible.

“How well can I do?”

Though the students he faced so far in his matches were impressive,

But his current opponent is different.

Literally the strongest of the first year.

The wave of uneasiness engulfed him and his heart pounded.

Still, after another deep breath, he moved forward.

“Go, Luke.”

Shaking off the anxiety within himself.

“Let’s test my training achievements against the strongest of the first year.”