463.
Leo’s morning begins early.
It’s a time of day that can rightly be called dawn.
After leaving his dormitory room, Leo headed down to the lounge.
“Leo, good morning.”
Chloe stifled a small yawn as she descended from the girls’ dormitory.
Chloe, who was rubbing her eyes as she came down the stairs, looked like she hadn’t quite woken up yet.
This was one of the rare times when Chloe, who usually didn’t show any cracks, appeared a little more relaxed.
With a slightly sleepy face, Chloe reached out for the table where a stack of milk bottles provided daily for the dormitory students was neatly arranged.
Chloe’s eyes began to brighten after finishing a bottle of milk.
After collecting herself, Chloe grabbed a book and followed Leo out of the dormitory.
Leo was heading out for morning practice.
Chloe, on the other hand, was stepping out to enjoy the fresh morning air while reading.
Click!
They exited the door.
Beside the dormitory were communal mailboxes for all the students.
Both Leo and Chloe noticed a mailbox absolutely stuffed with letters.
“Isn’t that your mailbox?”
Chloe asked, looking a little bewildered.
“Yeah.”
Leo opened the mailbox with a puzzled expression and checked the contents.
Seeing the colorful stationery and elegant handwriting, Chloe asked, half-doubtfully:
“Could these all be love letters?”
“Seems like it.”
While Leo frequently received letters, this was on a different scale than usual.
Leo looked a little bemused.
“Isn’t it also strange how many letters are coming from outside?”
There were letters not only from noble families from different countries but even ones that seemed to be from certain princesses.
Sending letters to Lumeran was quite expensive.
Despite that, letters from all over the world had flown in for Leo.
“Is this because you became a hero?”
Leo chuckled and acted as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Are you going to read them all?”
Chloe asked cautiously, but Leo shook his head.
“No.”
Having stuffed the letters back into the mailbox, Leo headed to the training ground for his morning practice.
“Aren’t you going to read them in the garden?”
“Yeah, but today with the autumn breeze, I want to try changing the scenery a bit.”
With an inexplicable sense of unease, Chloe followed Leo.
A short while later,
“President! Is it because we’ve started the second semester? I want to begin the morning training with a fresh start, could you help?”
“Starting fresh with magic training…”
“Hey! I want to improve my connection with the spirit, I need some advice.”
The usually quiet training ground was packed with female students.
Seeing the second-semester girls brimming with enthusiasm, Chloe muttered to herself.
‘Sure enough, even the hesitant ones are becoming more overt.’
A thought passed through Chloe’s mind about what Ilana had said yesterday.
‘So this was what she meant? She’s usually so oblivious, but somehow very perceptive with these kinds of things.’
Recollecting Ilana’s prediction, Chloe pressed her temples and looked at Leo.
Chloe’s gaze faltered slightly.
‘I know Leo isn’t one to be swayed by the popularity or attention of the female students…’
But isn’t it only natural for Leo, like any other person, to feel attracted when approached warmly by female students?
Moreover, the female students boldly approaching Leo were exceptionally attractive.
“This person even seems to wear make-up for morning training. Wow, her outfit is quite revealing!”
Muttering quietly to herself, Chloe glanced at Leo.
Leo was wearing a gentle smile as he looked at the female students.
Staring at Leo’s expression, Chloe blinked and quietly left the training ground.
“What is this? Chloe Mueller, you’re just leaving?”
“Of course, your presence this early morning was annoying.”
“Ah, she’s stepping aside by herself?”
The female students gleefully watched Chloe leave.
“Wow, everyone sure is passionate this morning.”
Leo chuckled as he said this.
“Their desire to grow stronger is immense.”
“You’re putting in effort, so we must step up too!”
One of the more mature-looking girls elegantly flicked her hair back as she spoke.
Her presence carried a certain sensuality.
Seeing that, Leo smiled.
“I’ll do my best to help all of you.”
“Yeah! And here, I made this especially for you.”
“Me too! It’s a strength-restoring potion with fruit juice! It must taste delicious!”
The female students took out their bottles of drinks to offer Leo.
“You keep those. You’ll need them more than me.”
“What?”
The girls looked confused at his response.
“Since it’s so early in the morning, how about we start with some light physical training?”
“Huh, sure.”
“Physical training is easy enough.”
Although they sensed something was off, the female students continued with renewed vigor.
They had to make a good impression somehow to catch Leo’s eye.
A short while later,
Kraaaa!
The cries of agony from the female students began echoing across the early morning.
Sitting on a bench in the Glory Garden, enjoying the autumn breeze while reading, Chloe briefly glanced up.
“Good for them.”
“Uurgh…”
The morning combat studies class.
As it was the first class of the second semester, it was conducted in the grand auditorium.
All second-year students were present, and Kal sat beside Leo, looking completely exhausted.
“Leo, why are you so exhausted in the morning? Did you get some special training from Leo too?”
Chelsea, sitting next to Leo, chuckled and asked.
The story of Leo conducting group training during the early morning hours with the girls, who had approached him, was already well-known across the school.
“Do you know how much trouble both the second-year students and upperclassmen gave me this morning?”
Kal replied with a face that seemed like his soul was flying out.
“Last time there was a commotion about the love potion. You can’t imagine how many requests I got to make that.”
“But student council banned the production of that peculiar potion, didn’t they?”
Chelsea frowned deeply.
Love potion.
It was the potion Kal made from the recipe of Dweno’s alchemy last semester, which caused quite a stir.
Though it was classified as a failure at the time, the student council prohibited its production.
Kal, too, had lost interest in making a potion that had no effect and didn’t want to invite trouble from the student council.
“Although, it was a perfectly successful concoction…”
Just a drug created with Dweno’s eccentric sensibilities, whose effects were different from what people anticipated.
“Anyway, it’s a drug that would cause various problems if used by students.”
“How nerve-wracking, who commissioned it?”
“I don’t know. It was an anonymous request. I ended up reporting it to the student council and was in a scramble this morning.”
“Which fool would go to illegal means to pursue Leo?”
“Our innocent little miss still doesn’t understand the ways of the world, does she?”
“You will know soon enough.”
“Kraaack! Stop! Stop!”
As Chelsea, grabbing her face with both hands, pressed her thumbs into her eyes, Kal screamed and thrashed about.
Escaping Chelsea’s grasp with great difficulty, he said,
“Since Leo became a hero, it makes sense, right? Initially, it was like winning a lottery with a 100% chance of winning, but now imagine the prize amount has increased—massively! Capturing Leo firmly makes your life a complete reversal now. Those who were already targeting Leo are now even more restless.”
Kal rested his chin in his hand.
“Leo, don’t you feel like you’re missing out? You could date anyone you like. Why not enjoy that school life only seen in novels? If I were in your shoes, I’d go for it. Krr…”
“Low-grade.”
“What?! How dare you call it low-grade! I’m simply promoting a healthy, sweet, a tad dangerous yet thrilling love between men and women! When can one experience such a thing if not during student life?”
“Low-grade.”
“Hey, what do you think, Leo? Aren’t you curious about such things?”
In response to Chelsea’s continued questioning, Kal, looking aggrieved, asked Leo.
“Just not really.”
Leo chuckled.
“See? Leo is not like you.”
“Why aren’t you interested? You’re a guy, aren’t you?”
“Perceive me as a more experienced adult.”
“Same age and adult? Besides, you only study and train; have you really experienced anything?”
Knowing Leo’s daily routine well, Kal looked perplexed.
On the other hand, Chelsea was momentarily surprised.
‘Upon reflection, Leo does seem really mature, doesn’t he?’
The legendary Great Hero.
Not a student.
‘Ah, indeed an adult.’
“Hey, where are you hurt? Why is your face suddenly red?”
“Uh, nothing important.”
To Kal’s question, Chelsea quickly shook her head.
At that moment, Leo gave Chelsea a small smile.
Bam!
“Students! Did you enjoy your holiday?”
With the door opening, Sedgen appeared.
“I know some of you had elegant holidays!”
Sedgen looked around at all the second-year students.
“Having new experiences at your age is a good thing. I hope all of you use those experiences as a foundation and take a big step forward! Those who could not do so should not feel disheartened! You’re young, actually still immature!”
Hmm—! Folding his arms and encouraging the students, Sedgen suddenly glared.
“In light of that, I will now discuss the combat studies practice evaluation for the second half of the second year!”
The students stared blankly at Sedgen upon hearing that announcement.
Having long been accustomed to their school life, these second-year students had nothing new to be shocked about regarding a mention of the term’s practical evaluation right at the start of the term.
That’s when Duran raised his hand.
“What is it? My beloved pupil, Duran!”
“Will the combat studies practice announced today be until the midterm or for the entire second semester?”
“The evaluation will last for the entire second semester. Moreover, starting today, the combat studies class for second years will run on an autonomous basis.”
This surprised the students.
It was quite unprecedented.
Combat studies class holds significant importance, as much as any other subject.
For this class to continue as autonomous teaching for the entire second semester was quite a big deal.
“Although, the second half of the second year’s curriculum itself strongly emphasizes autonomous assignments.”
Sedgen smirked.
“The rankings in combat studies for the second semester will be determined by the score from the commissions.”
“What does that mean…”
“That is correct. From this semester onwards, you will be officially dispatched as Hero Candidates to take on commissions from all over the world!”
“Wow, that’s a radical move.”
After the class ended, during lunchtime.
Kal whistled in amazement at the square market near the Hero’s Tower.
“I never thought they would conduct the entire class on an autonomous basis. That’s typically the curriculum for the first semester of the third year!”
It’s true that students began taking on commissions earnestly from the second semester of the second year.
But it’s not the same as being given complete autonomy to choose their commissions.
Mostly, commissions tailored to the second-year level are recommended.
This freedom is extended to a few select students, predominantly in the upper echelon.
It’s not granted to the entire year group like this.
“It’s because the higher-ups hold high expectations for our generation. Seems the professors also believe we’re capable of handling this level.”
Chelsea’s comment made Kal look somewhat sad.
“Could they consider showing a little concern for the students at the bottom?”
“Kal, using your corpse as a stepping stone, we’ll advance ahead.”
“Don’t k*ll people recklessly! And don’t use me as a stepping stone!”
Kal cried out.
“By the way, what is Leo doing by the bulletin board?”
Kal looked oddly at Leo, who was standing by the square bulletin board.
“Probably looking at commissions?”
“Most of the commissions on the square bulletin board are those hard to complete and with low scores, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Why would he bother checking those out when there are plenty of easy commissions waiting to be picked up? Escort commissions for the high-level are not only high-scoring but also come with great pay, practically a paid vacation.”
As Kal spoke enviously, Chelsea glanced at the menu board and replied,
“Because it’s Leo, there must be deep thought behind it.”
While Chelsea and Kal were placing their orders.
Leo was standing in front of the bulletin board, squinting as he read a particular commission form.
The gray form simply read “Tomb Plunderer Clearance.”
At first glance, it seemed like an unremarkable commission.
But…
‘The tombs that have been plundered all belong to heroes, which feels unsettling.’
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