Chapter 56

【56】55.

The week passed in the blink of an eye, and the day of the field trip arrived.

In front of the Lumeran Teleportation Gate, the first-year students had gathered by their classes.

“It’s kind of hot today.”

“Going to a cold region in this heat? You could say it’s kind of like a summer escape, in a way.”

Since it was the beginning of the summer uniform season, all the students were wearing their summer uniforms today.

Even though they’d swapped their spring/fall uniforms for their summer wear, the unusually hot weather had Nella fanning herself with her hands, muttering to herself. Illiana cheerfully replied.

That’s when Celia from Class 1 approached the group of Class 5 students.

“Leo, why is your class going to Elsalbekia? Isn’t that the coldest country?”

Celia, wearing a white short-sleeve blouse, a red ribbon tie, and red-and-black checkered school uniform that went down to just above her knees, looked flawless despite the intense heat of the day.

Lumeran Academy allowed students to personalize their uniforms as long as the basic requirements were met.

Being teenagers who loved to express themselves, many students would modify their uniforms creatively.

Some students added dangling jewels all over their uniforms, while others had re-designed theirs to store weapons.

Some students kept it pristine, almost like military uniforms. There were even students who had reformatted their uniform to resemble wizard robes.

Because of this, surprisingly, students like Celia, who wore her school uniform immaculately, were rather rare.

As a member of a great hero family, Celia’s motto was ‘well-groomed appearance.’

“You’re headed to the warmest place available, right?”

“Of course. I hate the cold.”

Celia said it decisively in response to Leo.

“Well, if we could have gone to Seirun, it would have been a different matter.”

Watching Celia laugh happily, Kal asked her, “Hey, Celia, you look really pleased. What’s up?”

“Duran wanted to go to a cold place. So, I challenged him to a match to decide where we’d go.”

Celia flicked her hair back smugly.

“Which, as you can see, I won.”

“Top students of the Department of Knights in Class 1, huh… That must have been a big match! Why didn’t I know about it? What was the competition?”

“Rock-paper-scissors.”

“…”

“His face when I threw scissors? Ohoho, priceless!”

“Celia, setting the destination of the field trip for the whole class with rock-paper-scissors isn’t something to be proud of… Can you please keep it down?”

Chloe scolded her with an expression of embarrassment.

“You’re going to a warmer place. That means you’ll likely encounter humans more often. Be careful.”

“Nah. I want to meet those kinds of guys.”

Leo said, prompting Celia to smirk.

Humans were not allowed to enter the Elven territories.

Most humans found within the Elven territory were illegal border crossers. Indeed, the majority of them were thieves.

“I have to show those who dishonor their race what it’s like to disrespect our honor.”

“Monsters and humans are different.”

“I know. Do I look like someone who would let their guard down?”

Celia grinned, but Leo shook his head.

“That’s not what I mean. Don’t underestimate the malice of humans.”

Celia widened her eyes.

“I’m worried about you, big brother.”

“Huh? I don’t need your worry! And why are you my big brother? I’m older!”

Celia’s face turned flustered as she exclaimed.

“You also be careful! Fairy Forest is a monster-infested zone!”

Acknowledging Celia’s words, Leo turned to Chloe and said,

“Be careful, Chloe.”

“Yeah. See you in ten days, Leo, Kal.”

Chloe waved her hand.

After parting ways with them, next came Chen Sia, who came to say her own greetings.

“Lord Leo. See you in ten days.”

“You too, be careful.”

“Okay.”

Just as they exchanged brief words, the homeroom teachers arrived.

“Leo, Nella. Check the headcount.”

“Everyone gather here.”

At Halind’s request, Leo took control of the Class 5 students.

Since Halind was their homeroom teacher, the Class 5 students lined up quickly and neatly on either side.

“Everyone has gathered.”

“Good.”

Standing in front of the class, Halind spoke with his characteristic cool voice.

“The field trip is also part of the curriculum. I hope no one is approaching this lightly.”

“Yes, sir!”

Watching the disciplined response of the fifth class, Halind nodded.

One by one, starting from Class 1, the students boarded the warp gate.

“Destination connected: Elsalbekia.”

“The teleportation magic will activate in five seconds.”

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Teleport.”

Whoosh!

The scene changed along with a bright light.

Whoosh!

The first thing the Class 5 students saw was a snowstorm.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

“What the hell is this!”

“Way too cold!”

The Class 5 students screamed in horror as they hurriedly pulled out their winter coats.

“I at least thought we’d end up inside a building!”

Kal exclaimed, shocked.

Class 5 had been teleported directly into the open field.

“Why is everyone making such a fuss?”

Chelsea asked, blowing her nose while looking at Leo, who didn’t even flinch against the snowstorm.

“Leo, aren’t you cold?”

“I am.”

“But why are you just standing there as if it’s nothing?”

“Because looking flustered would be embarrassing.”

“Wow, authoritative.”

Chelsea marveled.

“You know, sometimes I notice it. Our class leader looks super pretty-boyish, but has this tough-guy side to him.”

“True! Especially when his gaze gets sharp, it’s downright scary.”

“But isn’t that also the moment when he looks the coolest, even if it feels a bit dangerous?”

The girls murmured amongst themselves.

“Maybe we should have tried to look cool like Leo?”

“Even if we tried, we’d probably get the same replies or mocked as putting on airs.”

The male students expressed their gloom.

“That’s enough chatting. Line up.”

At Halind’s command, the students quickly got into formation.

Leo also slowly put on his winter coat.

“As forewarned, we’re in the capital of Elsalbekia, Berkiya. Any of you want to tell us something about Berkiya’s history?”

At the prompt, a few students raised their hands.

Halind nodded at the first hand, which belonged to Chelsea.

“Berkiya is the name of one of the disciples of Star Cloud, Luna! It’s named after the Fairy Knight, Berkiya of Eresar! Additionally, the descendants of Berkiya, the Eresar family, leads the parliament of Elsalbekia!”

“Good job. Five points.”

Chelsea clenched her fists proudly.

“As Chelsea LeWalyn explained, the Elven nations are different from ours as they don’t have a monarch. Instead, they have a republic run by prominent noble families.”

While listening to Halind’s brief lesson, Leo thought to himself,

‘That arrogant upstart brat is now known by the grand title of Fairy Knight.’

Before the Era of Catastrophe, elves were ruled by a single king.

Fairy Knights were the guardian knights closest to the Elven King, supporting him.

Now, they are figures lost to history.

And the last Fairy Knight in history was Berkiya.

Berkiya.

One of the great figures who revived the elves after the heroes ended the Era of Catastrophe.

Although commonly known as a disciple of Luna, Berkiya was actually a disciple jointly trained by Luna, Aron, and Kyle.

‘He certainly put on airs in front of Luna and Aron, but was audacious with me.’

As Leo recalled his not-so-cute disciple,

Crunch…Crunch…

Footsteps were heard beyond the snowstorm.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Professor Halind.”

An elf with light silver hair appeared.

“Who is this person? Such a handsome gentleman.”

Illyana whispered girlishly, but Teid next to her mimicked the sound of vomiting.

Of course, he got a punch from Illyana and ended up rolling on the ground.

Watching this, Leo remarked,

“You don’t care about his age? He looks at least seventy.”

Illyana giggled.

“Mother! Is the Class Leader jealous? How could this face be seventy?”

The other students nodded in agreement.

“Why would I be jealous? And as you know, elves live long and age gracefully.”

Elves’ childhoods are similar to humans, but their youth and middle ages are much longer.

Their lifespans are typically fifty to over a hundred years longer than humans and maintain the appearance of middle age even when old.

Thus, it wasn’t uncommon for this man to be over seventy.

Still, humans generally find it difficult to guess an elf’s age just by appearance.

“Watch your manners! Do you know who this is? Don’t speak recklessly!”

The other elves accompanying him shouted at Leo.

The silver-haired elf smiled warmly at this.

“Such lively students. In those days, students led by Professor Halind were always extremely well-disciplined.”

“Still green. These are just first-year students.”

“Ho ho ho. The vitality of first-year students is pleasant wherever you go. You guys shouldn’t mistreat the guests.”

“Apologies!”

The elves apologized in unison.

Then Halind introduced the silver-haired elf to the students.

“This is Lur Eresar, the chairman of Elsalbekia’s Parliament.”

“Wow!”

“The Chairman of the Parliament?”

At the appearance of the highest-ranking official of Elsalbekia, the students of Class 5 were astonished.

“Attention!”

At Nella’s command, the students snapped to attention.

“Greetings to Chairman Lur.”

“Hello! Chairman.”

The chairman chuckled.

“What a polite group of children. Meeting potential heroes like you makes me feel good. Do any of you have any questions?”

Seeing him laugh heartily, Illyana hesitantly raised her hand.

“Yes. Over there.”

“Um… Excuse me… But, um, your age…?”

“This year, I turn ninety-seven.”

Click-clack!

“This face looks ninety-seven? You must take great care of yourself.”

Leo sighed in admiration.

Illyana, meanwhile, was in shock, her expression frozen.

At that moment, Halind’s stern gaze caught Leo.

Leo stealthily kicked Illyana’s foot, snapping her out of her daze, and she quickly stood at attention.

Lur smiled watching this.

“I’ll guide you to where you will stay starting today. Everyone follow me, please.”

Lur started walking first.

After a short walk, the snowstorm ceased, and the city’s landscape came into view.

The students of Class 5 couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment.

Even the Elven passersby looked curiously at Class 5 as if they were some kind of novelty.

“Professor Halind. What’s the schedule for the first day?”

“Free time is planned.”

“Ho? Free time? From you?”

Lur looked surprised.

“I guess you’re letting your cute first-year students loosen up a bit.”

Nodding, as if understanding, Lur looked at Halind.

“Not exactly,” Halind shook his head.

“This schedule was made by this student.”

Halind glanced sideways at Leo.

Lur looked at Leo with a curious expression upon catching Halind’s gaze.

“Hmm. Indeed. You have always been one to respect student input. It’s a relief this schedule was made by him.”

“Hmm.”

Halind made an intriguing expression.

“Actually, I sometimes think it might have been better if I had planned it.”

Looking at the schedule Leo had arranged all week, Halind had been shaking his head side to side.

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