Chapter 517

517.

The lounge of the Noble Dormitory.

As always, Eliza was sitting in one of the elegant exclusive chairs with her legs crossed, filing her nails.

Around her, the students of the Noble Summoning Department were cautiously observing her, trying to read her mood.

“Uh, Eliza. You haven’t gone out anywhere recently, have you?”

One of the female students from the Department of Summoning carefully started a conversation.

Eliza blew on her nails after filing and inspected how well they’d been smoothed.

Seeing Eliza’s reaction, the students in the Summoning Department looked exasperated.

Eliza is the de facto leader of the second year Summoning Department students.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Eliza is the top student in the Summoning Department.

When judged solely by academic performance, she is indeed one of the top students, competing with Warden for first and second place. However, she frequently skips classes.

Her class attendance is poor, and she even sleeps a lot in class.

Additionally, she habitually assigns personal errands to the students who follow her.

If one ignores her academic performance, she is without a doubt a troubled student.

Still, the reason Eliza is the leader of the second year Summoning Department students is because Warden has a rather strong individualistic tendency.

Even though Eliza is lazy in her responsibilities, she firmly leads the Summoning Department students as a leader.

The professors of the Summoning Department also recognize Eliza’s exceptional academic performance and acknowledge her in this respect.

And in the past week.

Eliza has only been in the dormitory and hasn’t done anything.

She hasn’t participated in classes, nor has she taken part in the reconstruction efforts of Rumelia City.

Although she always had a bored expression on her face, in recent days she has lost all expression.

Because of this, the Summoning Department students who follow her feel as though they’re suffocating.

‘Why is she acting like this?’

‘Uh… I wonder if something happened?’

Just as the Summoning Department students were exchanging glances with each other,

“It’s annoying.”

Eliza, who had been ignoring her surroundings for several days, suddenly spoke up.

“What?”

“Everyone, just leave.”

“What…?”

“It’s annoying. Just disappear from my sight.”

The Summoning Department students flinched at Eliza’s irritable, neurotic tone and soon dispersed.

Eliza’s neurotic behavior was something even the students of her faction had never seen since she enrolled in the academy, despite her tyrannical tendencies. She usually was lenient towards those who followed her.

Eliza remained alone in the lounge in silence and gritted her teeth as she stood up from her seat.

‘How pathetic.’

The reason why Eliza was shut up in her dormitory had to do with something that happened a week ago.

At a gathering of second-year elites, Eliza felt something she had never felt before.

‘Only I have not grown.’

Feeling suffocated, Eliza went back to her dorm room.

Creak – Click –

Closing the door, she flopped onto her bed.

‘Until just before the start of summer vacation, I never thought I was behind anyone.’

Thinking this far, Eliza paused and forced a self-deprecating smile.

‘Except for one person.’

There was someone she had always excluded from this equation.

‘Leo Flove.’

Leo was the first wall Eliza had ever encountered in her life.

So, she always kept him in mind, whether consciously or unconsciously.

‘Though others may not know, at least I do.’

Eliza wore a sullen expression.

To Eliza, Leo was the ‘benchmark.’

‘As a Summoner, and also as a hero, Leo Flove is flawless.’

There weren’t any other special emotions towards him.

It was absolutely unacceptable for someone to be above her, but with Leo, there was nothing she could do but acknowledge it.

‘And yet…’

Eliza’s face twisted painfully.

When the Demon King attacked Lumeran, she saw the backs of her peers, whom she thought were on the same level as her.

Before entering Lumeran, Eliza had firmly believed that she was the best.

Indeed, her talent was of the kind that could genuinely be called the best of an era.

By now, she knew very well, thanks to the incomprehensible monster named Leo Flove, that she wasn’t the best.

Even so, she had always been confident that she wasn’t falling behind among her peers.

Her confidence was shattered.

‘Am I hitting a limit?’

Eliza bit her lip hard and stared at her palms, unable to avoid acknowledging it no matter how hard she tried.

She had always believed she was the best, but she had witnessed countless students at Lumeran fall behind.

She used to mock them, but now, that wasn’t the case.

Isn’t she the only one who’s faltering while everyone else is going forward?

Is she about to drop out just like those she mocked?

For the first time in the competitive system of Lumeran, Eliza felt fear.

‘It’s my issue, yet I’m being irritable to people around me. I’m also a mess.’

With a wry smile, as Eliza buried her nose in her pillow, she heard a sound.

Squeak!

Something slipped under the dormitory door.

Raising her torso slightly and turning her head, she saw a letter.

‘What a nuisance at a time like this.’

Eliza frowned.

Eliza, who fiercely competes with Duran in bad temper, was that person, but nonetheless, she is an exceptional beauty.

She has many admirers for her haughty demeanor.

Added to that, she’s the heir to the Hergin family, one of the best summoning noble families in the northern continent.

She’s received hundreds of love letters.

Of course, Eliza has never read a single one of these love letters.

She burned all the letters she received.

‘Hmph. If you like me so much, why don’t you boldly confess?’

She showed no interest in confessions without ever showing their face and gathering the courage to confess.

Of course, even if someone boldly confessed in her presence, she had not the slightest intention of accepting.

It was impossible for her to notice someone she had initially shown no interest in.

As Eliza approached the door to tear the envelope, she stopped suddenly after checking the name written on it.

‘Kal Thomas?’

Eliza’s eyes twitched.

‘Why is this guy writing me a letter?’

Though she chuckled, her curiosity also peaked.

She who would have ruthlessly torn it up normally found herself, without realizing, opening the envelope and reading its contents.

‘I have something to talk about. I’ll be waiting at the dormitory training ground at midnight. – Kal Thomas.’

“Cheeky!”

Eliza made a face at the overly simple content.

“Ha! Who does he think he is to tell me what to do? He needs to know his place.”

Eliza delivered her characteristic smirk, neatly folding the letter back into its envelope.

Tap-tap-tap…

Eliza, who had thrown the letter onto her desk with a flick and was about to lie down on the bed, stopped in front of the full-length mirror in a corner of the room.

Glancing at her reflection, Eliza adjusted her hair.

For some reason, the gloomy mood faded slightly.

Without realizing it, she began to hum a little nasal tune while sitting in front of the vanity.

Then she smiled faintly.

‘It’ll be fun to crush him completely.’

*

“…”

Eliza’s face crumpled as she saw the person waiting at the designated spot.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Eliza.”

At Leo’s words, Eliza crossed her arms.

“The Student Council President is waiting for me? I don’t know what to do with myself. Wasn’t it supposed to be Kal Thomas who called me?”

“Here I am!”

With a thumbs-up and a playful smile, Kal appeared from behind Leo.

“The person who has something to say to me isn’t Kal Thomas but Leo Flove. So, it was you all along?”

“Yep.”

“Hmph. I’ll just go back to sleep then.”

Eliza muttered, clearly irritated.

Watching Eliza, Leo said,

“It’s an important matter.”

At this, Eliza hesitated and then sneered,

“There’s no way it’s that important if you had to call me out this late at night.”

Of course, Eliza was well aware that Leo wasn’t someone to talk nonsense, so she knew it was likely an important issue.

She just needed to voice her complaint as per her character.

Leo nodded, observing the irksome Eliza.

Meanwhile, Kal spoke up,

“By the way, Eliza… You’re particularly pretty today.”

“I’m the same as always.”

Eliza responded dismissively, but her tone was somewhat softer than usual.

“This guy wakes up perfectly made-up at dawn… I get it! You’re probably planning on meeting a guy after this, huh…?”

Whoosh- snap-!

Clutching-!

“Cough! Kekkekkekkekkek!”

“Do you think I’m the kind of scandalous woman who would go out to meet a guy at dawn?”

“You’re… you have many admirers, so maybe you took this opportunity to go on a date…”

“I don’t do that sort of thing.”

Shh-!

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

Eliza hysterically strangled Kal, bringing him closer using the whip she always carried and winding it around his neck.

Looking at this scene, Leo spoke dryly,

“Y’all have a good relationship.”

“Who says we do?”

Eliza sharply retorted, pushing Kal aside with a flick of her wrist.

“So? What’s the important matter?”

“I heard from Kal. Sounds like you’re getting quite anxious.”

“Then what? Did you just call me here to mock me because I’m stuck in one place while others move forward?”

Seeing Eliza’s pointed reaction,

Truthfully, Eliza viewed Leo as the person she had to catch up with.

Therefore, she was in a position where she couldn’t simply accept Leo’s concerns or offers of help.

Leo burst into laughter as he stared at the ‘competitive spirit’ in Eliza’s eyes.

“Yes, go ahead and mock me to your heart’s content. Leo Flove.”

“That’s not the meaning.”

Leo shook his head.

“Sometimes, I forget that all of you are still kids.”

“…Very strange things you’re saying, you know. While I do realize you have this geezer-like aspect, I am actually older than you.”

At this random statement, even Eliza couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically.

Seeing this, Leo said,

“You’re not exactly lagging behind compared to others. It’s just a difference in environment, that’s all.”

“…”

“Chloe and Abad, for instance, unconsciously stimulate each other. They share similar traits and often debate. They’re certainly good rivals.”

“Chelsea is the same. While Chelsea grinds her teeth fiercely against Selia, the sense of ‘not being able to lose’ to Selia is quite strong.”

Kal, who had escaped Eliza’s whip, leaned back with his arms crossed behind his head and spoke,

“Selia and Duran, Chen Sia – they all consider each other rivals.”

Leo mentioned examples from the Department of Magic and the Department of Knights.

“However, you don’t have a rival.”

While Warden is there, he isn’t the type to have a strong competitive spirit.

He just doggedly chases after ‘strength’ and pushes forward.

Even when Eliza had picked fights multiple times during the early first year, he had ignored her completely.

“Isn’t Warden someone you wouldn’t consider a rival…? Don’t you get what I mean?”

“Grind!”

Eliza clenched her teeth.

Seeing this, Leo continued,

“Decisively, summoners also grow relatively slowly.”

“Are you advising me not to be anxious because time will solve everything? What a really helpful advice, thank you.”

Eliza mocked sarcastically.

Watching this, Leo casually sat on a nearby bench and said,

“Well, you being you, it won’t take long to overcome any walls. But instead of just waiting for that, isn’t it a good time to also learn how to forcibly break through walls?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Leo curled up the corners of his mouth.

“How long do you plan to make me wait?”

Upon hearing this, Eliza’s face instantly hardened.

Clutching her fists, she ground her teeth.

That look, gazing down from an impossibly high place – it was a gaze she had seen from Leo before.

‘This attitude of his, pretending to give me time, really irritates me!’

Flames of anger sparked in Eliza’s eyes.

Seeing this, Leo said,

“Kal worries about you quite a bit, too.”

“Kal Thomas?”

Eliza glanced at Kal.

Kal shrugged his shoulders.

Eliza stared at Kal for a moment, and after taking a deep breath,

“So? How exactly can you help me?”

“Are you prepared to do anything I tell you?”

“As long as it’s nothing strange.”

“Then.”

“If it doesn’t involve dying?”

“…”