Chapter 68

That evening.

While the Lumeran students were having dinner at their dormitory, a visitor arrived.

“Chelsea! How do you even eat this stuff!”

“Do you have a problem with my cooking?”

“Cooking? Is this even cooking? Please, don’t insult the art of cooking!”

“What? You guys are dead today!”

“Not cool! Run! That guy uses magic!”

“I’ll tell Professor Halind about this!”

“Class Leader, can’t you just be in charge of our meals? Everyone thinks your cooking is the best!”

“Well, yesterday at Seirun, I managed to sneak a few party dishes.”

Before the door was opened, chaotic noises could be heard from the dormitory.

Since the theme of this study trip was self-sufficiency, students were responsible for every meal.

Of course, since everyone had grown up pampered and unrelated to cooking, there was no way proper dishes would be produced.

Thus, every mealtime in Lumeran was a continuous commotion like this.

Upon hearing the students’ misconduct, Sena put her hands on her face and turned her head, and Halind let out a deep sigh.

“Haha! The students are full of energy!”

Only Lur smiled with a kind expression.

“Uh, I’ll go inside and calm them down.”

Sena awkwardly laughed and quickly went inside.

Moments later, after the noise had ceased, Sena opened the door.

The whole class suddenly ate with calmness and grace, as if nothing had happened before.

“Everyone, glad to see you.”

“Hello, Chairman Lur!”

The students of Class 5 politely greeted in unison but didn’t fail to keep an eye on Professor Halind.

“Haha. I’m not sure if I’ve disrupted your meal. The reason I came is to inform you of an announcement.”

“An announcement?”

“Yes. You all must have heard. There are numerous undead, including d*ath Knights, appearing in Fairy Forest.”

Upon hearing this, everyone grew serious.

“So, there was a council meeting. I’m here to inform you of its results.”

The Class 5 students looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

“The Elsalbekian Grand Council has officially requested both Seirun and Lumeran to investigate the situation. You’ll join forces with Seirun to investigate the unusual occurrences in Fairy Forest.”

Upon hearing this, all of them wore expressions of surprise.

“While it may still seem risky for you inexperienced ones, we’ve requested Seirun’s collaboration. You’ll join a team with their senior students to examine the strange situation.”

“Does that mean it’s an official request?”

“Yes.”

Official request.

Lumeran’s first-year students only start handling actual requests starting from the second semester, while second-year students handle official requests regularly. This process has been accelerated by a full year.

“Though it’s officially labeled as a request, bear in mind that it’s still an extension of your practical training. If anything happens beyond your capability to handle, the request will immediately be canceled. Moreover, since this is officially an informal request, there will be no compensation.”

Though some students looked disappointed upon hearing this, the atmosphere soon disappeared.

An official request!

They felt recognized as proper students of Lumeran.

“Did the Chairman personally come here for this request?”

When Leo asked in perplexity, Lur shook his head.

“Not quite. Actually, I came here particularly for you, Leo.”

“Me?”

“That’s right. This young one wanted to see you, saying she wanted to meet you.”

Lur smiled gently and brought forth Eiran who had been standing behind him.

“Aww, she’s cute!”

“Class Leader! How do you know her?”

The students of Class 5 marveled at Eiran who was standing there awkwardly.

When asked by Iliana, Leo indifferently replied.

“She’s Chairman Lur’s granddaughter.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Le, Leo-sama. Have you been well? I… I came even though it might be an intrusion because someone invited me…”

“Welcome.”

“Leo seems to be close with you, doesn’t he? Hello, I’m Iliana. Have you eaten? Would you like to join us?”

“Hey! Iliana. We don’t usually offer food to guests like this.”

“Ah, you’re right. Sorry.”

Iliana and Kal quickly removed all the food from the table.

Chelsea glared at them with anger, almost choking Kal and Iliana.

Eiran looked quite flustered at the scene.

It was a world apart from the atmosphere in Seirun.

“Did you eat?”

“Uh, not yet.”

“Would you like some then? Sure, these kids might be picky, but it’s not bad, I think.”

“Hey! Leo! Don’t feed her that stuff! The school image will be ruined!”

“Shut up!”

“Urk! I surrender! Surrender!”

Chelsea persisted in throttling Kal’s neck.

“Let’s consider this as a gesture of goodwill.”

Eiran gently picked up some meat with a fork and took a small bite.

Chewing delicately with tiny bites, Eiran said,

“I can feel the effort and care in this food.”

“See? See? It’s eatable, right? They are just picky!”

Chelsea, who had been choking Kal, ran over with a bright smile.

Eiran shuddered at Chelsea coming closer suddenly with such friendliness.

At this moment, Lur walked up and smiled kindly.

“Our Eiran is a student at Seirun as well.”

“Really?”

“But why weren’t you in class earlier?”

“Why weren’t you there?”

“Because I didn’t get a chance to properly talk with the Seirun students earlier. I’d like to take this opportunity to talk a little more.”

Upon learning she was a Seirun student, interest in Eiran surged among the class.

Eiran turned quite pale as the students began crowding around.

“Uh, Uh! Excuse me for a moment…”

Startled, Eiran hastily stood up and fled upstairs to avoid the crowd.

Seeing this, the students of Class 5 were taken aback, and Lur looked rather stiff.

“Aren’t you going to chase after her?”

Leo’s question made Lur answer carefully.

“Leo, would you do it instead?”

“Me?”

“Because it was thanks to you that my granddaughter, who usually stays locked in her room, had the courage to step out today.”

Recalling how shocked he’d been when his granddaughter came to him today after being cooped up inside her room,

“I guess I didn’t fully understand the heart of this child who merely wished to see friends her age.”

Lur looked at Halind with a nod, who also nodded at Leo.

Leo then went upstairs to chase after Eiran.

Noticing that the terrace door at the end of the second-floor hallway was open, Leo went outside.

In the corner of the terrace was Eiran, squatting.

When she noticed Leo and their eyes met, she hastily said,

“Lord Leo, please forgive me for showing such an embarrassing side.”

Leo stared at Eiran who was apologizing, and thought of an Elf maid.

‘Berkiya.’

Despite the passage of thousands of years, fragments of Berkiya’s legacy remained in Eiran.

Just like how Berkiya was initially dark when they first met,

‘It feels like I can’t leave her alone because she reminds me of Berkiya.’

Leo smiled wryly and draped his coat over her.

“B-but, if you give this to me, won’t you be cold, Lord Leo…?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Ignoring her consternation, Leo reached into his pocket and leaned against the wall standing next to her.

“So, why did you run away from Seirun?”

“At first, I wanted to go to Seirun. I admired heroes.”

Eiran wrapped her arms around her knees and spoke.

When she had first enrolled, she was placed in the intermediate class.

Though she had talent and worked hard, Eiran didn’t put all her heart into honing her swordsmanship and magic.

Eiran preferred reading hero stories over engaging in combat.

Eiran was content just to be in the same space with the hero candidates.

However, Eiran’s inclination towards merely admiring heroes became a target for ridicule, given her background in one of the highest elven families.

The introverted girl struggled with the mockery.

“When I felt overwhelmed by life at Seirun, I met someone who was like the sun.”

“Who was that?”

“Miss Lunia.”

Eiran’s face brightened with delight.

“Miss Lunia is an incredible person! She’s skilled at everything! Always composed and bold! Kind to everyone! In a word, she is like a true hero!”

Eiran’s face glowed brightly when speaking, just like when she told heroic tales.

In a sense, Lunia was the person who most closely resembled a hero among her peers Eiran had ever met.

Her presence was enough to captivate a girl who loved heroic stories.

“So, I began to look up to Miss Lunia. She felt extraordinary compared to me… I began wanting to follow in Miss Lunia’s footsteps.”

The simple goal of wanting to closely observe the form of a great person caused her talents to flourish, and soon enough, she moved from the intermediate class to the advanced class.

“Once I reached the highest level of the first advanced class, Miss Lunia was unusually kind to me. But… then, at some point, she began to seem scary.”

“Why?”

“During the battle evaluation, I must have made a huge mistake because she seemed to dislike me from then on.”

Leo frowned, wondering.

‘Given her character, she doesn’t seem like someone who’d do something that someone else would dislike… Lunia isn’t the type to dislike someone over trivial things either… I should ask her about it later…’

When she distanced herself from her goal of admiration, she was left with only the jealousy and rivalry of those she had surpassed.

Once considered far beneath her, people began to envy and watch her closely after noticing her meteoric rise.

‘Ultimately, this jealousy turned into a trauma, making her fear her peers…’

Leo’s personality made it easy to dismiss such things, but Eiran was undoubtedly too tender.

“Considering how you usually fear people your age, you seem pretty comfortable with me.”

“Well, Lord Leo feels like a grandfather to me!”

“Grandfather?”

Eiran who had been smiling brightly suddenly blushed.

“No, not that you’re old! I mean! Uh! You have a… grown-up charm… Wait, what am I saying!”

Babbling on, Eiran hid her face in her knees, embarrassed.

Watching her, Leo smiled and asked,

“You left Seirun because you thought that you, who didn’t aim to be a hero like others, just became a stumbling block to everyone else?”

“…Yes.”

‘She’s so kind-hearted.’

The girl lacked the ambition that a hero should have.

‘If she’d completely given up, there wouldn’t have been anything I could do, but…’

Thinking of the clean uniform of Seirun still in her room, Leo asked,

“Do you like the stories of Berkiya?”

It was a sudden question, but Eiran responded with enthusiasm.

“Yes! They’re the stories of my ancestors! I love them just as much as the stories of the Great Heroes!”

“Then you must know why Berkiya was able to become a great hero.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it because Berkiya admired her mentors, the Great Heroes, and pursued them?”

“…”

A great dream is not the sole requirement to become a hero.

‘If we measure that way, none of us, except for Lissinas, would qualify to be heroes. Well, definitely not me or Luna or Dwenno.’

Thinking about his friends, Leo said,

“Why are you so worried about what others think? Just follow the path you want to go on.”

Eiran’s eyes widened.

Seeing that look, Leo chuckled.

‘Her personality might be different, but she’s exactly like her ancestor.’

The eyes filled with admiration were the same ones Bethea used to have while looking at Kyle, no matter how often she claimed to dislike him.

When Leo extended his hand, Eiran hesitated for a moment before taking it.

“Let’s go back down. Lumeran kids are all pretty nice.”

Led by Leo’s hand, Eiran descended to the first floor and was welcomed by the students of Class 5.

“Oh! She came back!”

“Sorry if we put pressure on you.”

“Or maybe, you just ran away because of Chelsea’s cooking.”

“Wh-what!”

Although Chelsea’s fuse was lit, she held back out of concern that Eiran might be scared again.

At first confused by the strange atmosphere, Eiran couldn’t help but start laughing as she felt more comfortable.

She naturally began to mingle with the teenagers around her.

Lur watched with deep satisfaction.

“My granddaughter mingling well with peers!”

“I heard that Ms. Eiran is one of the best students in the first year at Seirun. Why did she leave the school?”

“Until recently, I thought it was due to an insurmountable student. But it wasn’t that… The atmosphere at Seirun was the problem.”

“The atmosphere?”

“You know, in Seirun, higher-level students get more benefits. Students with lower grades gradually drop out.”

“Same goes for Lumeran.”

“True. Structurally, that’s unavoidable. However, this trend is much stronger in Seirun.”

The class system naturally led to such issues.

“It seems to have been a burden for my granddaughter.”

Lur gave a wry smile.

“I went to and taught at Seirun, so I never thought there was a problem. But the system of Seirun didn’t suit my granddaughter.”

Lur looked at Leo.

‘I failed to understand the heart of a frightened Eiran. In that sense, meeting young Leo was… truly a stroke of good luck.’

Fulfilled by the courage this human boy gave to his granddaughter, Lur wiped away a tear.

Watching this, Halind spoke,

“To rise higher, one must overcome obstacles. Ms. Eiran is talented enough to overcome them.”

“That’s true. However, just now I thought of a better way.”

“What way is that?”

“Halind professor.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

After wiping his tears, Lur took on a serious expression, which also led to Halind becoming serious.

“By any chance, does Lumeran accept transfer students?”

Halind let out a deep sigh.

‘Earlier you suggested sending someone away, now you’re asking about enrolling. Why are so many elves inquiring about transferring?’