Chapter 60

【60】59

[Hot!]

Deep in the early morning.

Kiran woke up with a start.

“Huh?”

[Ah, wicked human!]

Kiran gasped and pulled his bottom dragging backward.

Seeing such a reaction from Kiran, Leo rested his chin on his hand.

“I’ll admit that you’re the Heir to the Fairy King.”

[W-What did you say?]

“The vow was forcibly activated.”

Leo narrowed his eyebrows while looking down at the back of his right hand.

There, a silver summoning circle was shining.

Looking at this, Kiran was alarmed.

[No way! Could it be that you’re the Vow Keeper Father spoke of?]

‘Silrod mentioned the Vow Keeper? Indeed, the seal he referred to seems to have been set to break upon meeting the vow keeper.’

In Leo’s case, he accidentally formed a different pact altogether, independent of Silrod’s intentions, but it was undeniable that the contract was indeed enforced by the vow.

“Yeah, it seems that way.”

“I can’t believe it! There’s no way Father would choose someone as insignificant as a human as the Vow Keeper!”

Kiran fumed around while gesturing, but calmed down when he saw Leo lifting the textbook of Summoning magic.

“On second thought, contracting with a human doesn’t seem so bad, does it!”

“How did someone like you even come from Silrod?”

[Hmph! Who is a human like you to speak as though you’re on familiar terms with Father?]

“I know more about Silrod than you.”

During the Era of Catastrophe, Leo and Silrod braved countless battlefields together.

Even though Silrod had a contract with Luna, his bond with Leo was equally strong.

“Silrod has a very gentle nature. Nothing like your racial supremacist attitude.”

Leo rested his chin thoughtfully.

“In the first place, didn’t you commit a grave sin and get sealed by Silrod?”

Kiran trembled in response.

“The Royal Fairies have six wings. Only the Fairy King can strip those wings. Clearly, you were exiled from Fairy Land after committing a great offense.”

[H-How does a human like you know all these intimate details?]

“I already told you. I know more about Silrod than you.”

Seeing Leo’s meaningful smile, Kiran’s expression turned vacant.

[C-Ould it be true that you’re the Vow Keeper of the Fairy King? Have you truly met Father?]

“Yeah.”

It was technically from the previous life, but he wasn’t lying.

[Unbelievable.]

“So, how come you got exiled?”

[If you are truly the Vow Keeper, there would be no need to hide it.]

Kiran looked outside the window with a melancholic expression.

“That night, it was just like today, a starlit night.”

Apparently, as the first son of the Fairy King, Kiran was beloved by all fairies in Fairy Land.

Growing up that way, he got into numerous pranks and mischief.

[That day, those envious of me slandered me, and in the end, I incurred Father’s wrath.]

“So, causing mayhem everywhere, you ended up aggravating Silrod? You’re acting all indignant after being kicked out because your dad was sick of you?”

[Hiiik?!]

Kiran panicked seeing Leo swinging the Summoning textbook and fled.

Leo knew his friend’s character well and wondered what could have made Silrod take such drastic measures against his own son.

“Tch. Nonetheless, now that your seal is broken, you can definitely return to Fairy Land. Go get Silrod for me.”

[That’s impossible.]

“Why?”

[I can’t return to Fairy Land. To return, I must find all six of my wings.]

“…”

[It seems you’ll never see Father again, as is the case with most humans.]

Kiran crossed his arms and looked down on Leo with a sniff.

[Anyway, while it irritates me that you’re human, since you’re acknowledged by Father, I’ll make do. I shall honor you with aiding me in recovering my wings! By the way, I believe the first wing is located within the Fairy Forest, one of our ancestral grounds. I expect you to lead me there quickly.]

A shadow fell over Kiran who was wearing a proud look.

‘Silrod, it seems the destiny is that your son would come to me.’

Puhk! Puhk! Puhk! Puhk!

[Keu…! Save…! Please…]

‘I’ll make sure to properly educate him and send him back to you.’

Thinking of his friend who endured hardships because of his son, Leo smiled warmly.

*

“It’s freezing!”

The next morning.

At the entrance of the Fairy Forest clearing, the entire Class 5 burst out in cries.

Despite changing into winter uniforms and bundling up warmly, the cold in Fairy Forest was beyond imagination.

Even students from the northern regions were shivering from the cold.

Even though the Elf territory was further north than where humans usually lived, it was still much colder.

While all students were shivering, Halind spoke up.

“Right now, I’m going to tell you where you all fall short.”

Sena distributed papers she had prepared beforehand among the class students.

Upon receiving them, their faces naturally hardened.

“You think there’s a lack of harmony between swordsmanship and magic? Me?”

Iliana’s face showed her disbelief.

“Insufficient utilization of familiars?”

Teid’s face too revealed disbelief.

“Chelsea, what’s your issue?”

“Deficiency in understanding wind magic? Kal?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I get the lack of mana power, but your problem truly is the understanding of wind magic?”

Kal was surprised at Chelsea’s words.

Most of the students expressed doubts about the tasks they were given.

Chelsea raised her hand.

“Professor! I don’t understand! My wind magic is at the top level of the year, not just in our class! Why is my weakness listed as lack of understanding in wind magic?”

“Is that what you think?”

“Yes! In terms of wind magic, I’m as knowledgeable as my brother!”

As someone from a Heroic lineage specializing in wind magic, this was unacceptable.

It wasn’t just Chelsea.

The issues pointed out by Halind were aspects all the students in Class 5 considered as their “strengths.”

Areas they thought they excelled in compared to others.

When told their skills in these areas were lacking, naturally they couldn’t help but rebel.

With the reactions of all students, Halind spoke.

“Are you not accepting the fact that you are failing to properly utilize your strengths?”

“No!”

Chelsea answered with a slightly sulky expression.

“That’s what you think.”

Halind curled the corner of his lips upward.

“Chelsea LeWalyn. Step forward.”

At the unexpected call, Chelsea stepped forth with a puzzled look.

“Leo Flove. Step forward.”

Leo was called next.

“From now on, both of you will only use wind magic in this duel.”

“…!”

“If you’re truly at the top level of the year, prove it right here with your skills.”

“Professor. Even if it’s Leo-nii, using only wind magic, there’s no way I won’t win, right?”

The other students thought the same.

“If Chelsea LeWalyn wins, it means I’ve judged wrongly. If that happens, you’ll have free rein to spend your field trip however you’d like.”

At Halind’s words, all of Class 5’s eyes widened.

‘That means…’

‘We won’t have to endure this early morning cold if Chelsea wins?’

‘All Chelsea has to do is beat the class leader!’

“But if Leo Flove wins, you must follow my words without a second thought.”

“Understood!”

“Go for it Chelsea!”

“Destroy the class leader!”

“Chelsea! We believe in you!”

Suddenly turned against by the entire class, Leo let out a hollow laugh.

“No one is cheering for me?”

“Sorry, Leo! For once, we can’t cheer for you!”

With a shake of his head, Leo walked to the center of the clearing.

Thud… Thud…

“Come to think of it, it’s the first time we’re fighting using magic.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Even though they practiced weekly in martial arts, it was different fighting using magic like this.

‘Even if I’m only using wind magic in this duel, I don’t think I’d lose to Brother Leo.’

Chelsea glanced alternately at Leo and Halind.

‘Professor Halind wouldn’t have said that for no reason.’

Chelsea hopped around lightly to warm up.

“It’s still impossible for Leo to win, no matter how amazing he is.”

“Exactly.”

“It feels like Professor Halind is asking for too much.”

Most students looked peaceful, but Kal was tense.

‘Objectively, Chelsea has a huge advantage here. But Leo always surpasses our expectations. He might have something hidden up his sleeve.’

“Begin.”

The moment Halind gave the order, Chelsea began her incantation.

“Wind Breaker!”

“Wind Breaker.”

Simultaneously with Chelsea’s incantation, Leo also began chanting.

KWA-GAGAH-GAH!

Blades of wind from both collided, canceling each other out.

PAW-P!

Of course, fragments of Chelsea’s Wind Breaker that weren’t entirely canceled out struck Leo.

“Wind Shield!”

PUH-BUR-BURH!

The fierce storm blade scattered Leo’s wind-made shield and inflicted superficial wounds on his body.

“…!”

“Unbelievable!”

Iliana’s voice of disbelief shocked Taeid.

“What? Why? Isn’t Chelsea supposed to have the upper hand?”

“You idiot! Chelsea’s high-speed incantation is unmatched among the first-years. Yet, Leo countered her with the exact same spell! Don’t you get what that means?”

‘Could it be… is Brother Leo’s incantation faster than mine?’

Even Leo showed a weakness against the spell activation technique, which could be considered a modern magic trend.

‘Given Brother Leo’s abilities, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’d overcome that flaw quickly. But faster incantation than mine in wind magic? That’s hard to believe.’

Chelsea’s high-speed incantation capability is without doubt at the top in the first year.

Even Chloe and Abad are behind her in this aspect.

Though Leo’s high-speed incantation was less powerful than Chelsea’s, he was still faster.

And this was deeply wounding Chelsea’s pride.

‘Spell speed alone doesn’t decide the outcome of a fight!’

Just faster, but not by a wide margin!

There’s not much difference anyway.

‘Besides, I can cast much more diverse spells at high speed than Brother Leo can!’

“Wind Chain!”

SHHHHHHHH!

While Wind Breaker sweeps away enemies in a straight line, Wind Chain uses chains of wind to suppress foes.

As Chelsea’s magic came toward him, Leo completed his chant.

“Wind.”

‘Moreover, Brother Leo’s diversity in spells is lacking!’

Chelsea grinned confidently and shouted.

“There’s no way you can beat me with just wind magic!”

On hearing this, Leo chuckled.

“Do you remember what I told you on the day we first met?”

“What?”

“Wind magic is not supposed to be used like this.”

——————==