【94】93.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Elena.”
“Is it really you, Elena-senpai?”
Chloe’s eyes widened.
“Yes.”
“I’m really enjoying the magic theses you wrote!”
“Huh?”
“I found the part about the resonance of mana in the atmosphere’s influence on magic extremely interesting!”
“You understood that difficult content?”
“Yes!”
“My goodness, such a cute junior has entered!”
Floating gracefully with magic, Elena cupped Chloe’s cheeks in her hands and leaned her face closer.
Seeing Chloe slightly flustered, Elena’s eyes sparkled.
At that gaze, Chloe felt a slight shiver down her spine.
“What brings you here, Elena?”
“Uncle!”
Elena flew over to Alby.
“I heard my uncle is giving a class! I want to listen!”
“I’m not doing anything special. I’m just giving advice to the first years. And you cannot attend the first-year class. You should attend the third-year class.”
“That boring class? It isn’t worth attending.”
Elena scoffed as she spoke.
“Then don’t disrupt the class and leave.”
Elena narrowed her eyes at those words.
And then, muttering under her breath, “Boring,” she was about to walk away.
“Senpai.”
“Why do you call me, Leo?”
“I have a favor to ask. Can I go to the mansion after school?”
“A favor?”
Elena tilted her head and crossed her arms, feigning disinterest.
“Why should I grant your favor? You just turned down my request earlier, didn’t you?”
“Were you asking for a favor?”
“Of course.”
Sitting cross-legged in mid-air, Elena smiled brightly and floated even higher.
“I’ll go before other professors swarm in to give me a lecture.”
Waving jauntily, Elena flew off somewhere.
Chloe looked on in disbelief.
For a model student like her, skipping class to go off having fun was a cultural shock.
“Is that really okay?”
“No, it’s not. There are quite a few professors who are watching.”
“But aren’t they saying anything? She’s your niece.”
“That’s her choice, so I have no reason to say anything. She won’t listen anyway. You all don’t worry about her and just focus on your practice.”
With that, Alby returned to his original position.
Leo looked in the direction where Elena had disappeared.
To enter the restricted library, Elena’s permission was needed.
‘Looking at her behavior, she’s very much her own person.’
Even if he showed Alby’s recommendation letter now, she would surely not care much.
‘For now, let’s focus on the interdepartmental competition.’
It was time to concentrate on the upcoming departmental event.
About a month had passed since the academy lockdown was imposed.
During self-study time in the classroom, Iliana was grumbling.
“How can there be no snacks during study time? Is this reasonable?”
Since most of the Lumeran students were aristocrats or from the upper class, they would study while enjoying snacks during self-study time.
Of course, since the lockdown, there were not even crumbs of snack to be found.
“What do snacks and tea have to do with studying?”
“Class leader! There’s supposed to be some energy boosters for studying!”
“By the way, where’s Kal?”
Just then, Nella looked puzzled.
Creak-
The classroom door opened and Kal rolled in with a snack cart.
Chelsea and Iliana jumped up from their seats.
“Kal! What is that!”
Seeing the two girls’ shining eyes, Kal elegantly bowed like a refined butler.
“Although I couldn’t get cakes or cookies.”
Clack-
“Oooh!”
As he opened the cart’s cover, a teapot and cups were all set.
“Ladies, I personally brewed this.”
“Oooh! Black tea!”
“Just black tea is enough!”
Since obtaining tea leaves was now as difficult as finding stars in the sky, they thought this was sufficient.
Drip-drip-drip-!
Clear, transparent liquid filled the teacups.
“It’s just water.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Pfft! Hahahahaha! Look at your faces! Were you deceived? Deceiv…… cough?”
Chelsea’s face, which had distorted into a grimace while looking at the teasing Kal, suddenly drop-kicked him in the stomach.
Then, kicking at the fallen Kal with Iliana, she shouted, “Stop! I’m going to break a bone… Agh! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Kal’s desperate screaming echoed through the classroom.
“I have some big news.”
“What is it?”
“The venue for the interdepartmental competition has been decided!”
“What? Where?”
Students from Class 5 gathered around.
Clearing his throat, Kal replied seriously, “Naegran.”
“Naegran?”
“Isn’t that a restricted area?”
Naegran.
Although it was a city located in the southeastern part of the continent, it was famous for having been destroyed overnight due to the rampage of the Hero Dungeon.
The tragedy of Naegran, which concealed the Hero Dungeon, had widely been warned against throughout the continent.
The dungeon had been conquered, but due to the curse of the Hero Dungeon, it had become a cursed land where humans could no longer live.
“Is it okay to go to a place like that?”
The students gulped nervously.
“Even though it’s a restricted area, I’ve heard it’s not unimaginably dangerous.”
Upon Chelsea’s words, Nella nodded.
“That’s right. It is indeed dangerous, but only mid to low-level monsters appear and there are curses spread about, that’s all?”
While it posed a significant threat to ordinary people, for aspiring hero officers, it was a danger they could definitely navigate.
Once the battlefield for the interdepartmental competition had been set, the entire Class 5 began to study with geography books.
Unlike in the Hero’s World, there were unpredictable threats, so students studied more seriously about Naegran than ever.
Leo also opened the geography textbook he received and searched for the map of Naegran.
‘Naegran… Naegran… Here it is.’
As Leo opened the book, he paused.
‘This place?’
The place names Leo remembered were different from those in the era Kal had lived in.
Given the time that had passed between the two eras, it was only natural.
However, he remembered what kind of incident had occurred in this area in the past.
‘This is where Lissinas and I first defeated a legion commander.’
As time flowed on, student discontent continued to build due to the school lockdown.
Especially the first years were having chaotic days.
Fizzle! Fizzle!
Duran looked at the aura forming on his hands and clenched his fist.
Bzzzzt-!
Reacting to Duran’s power, arcs of electricity exploded in every direction.
“Wow, amazing! Duran! You’ve almost mastered the Breath of the Hero!”
A student from Duran’s faction shouted excitedly, to which Duran replied with irritation.
“What’s this master business? I can’t even use it naturally yet, and besides…!”
Crack-!
Duran broke the wooden sword he was holding due to frustration.
“Compared to the strike that Leo Flove unleashed back then, this level is pathetic!”
“True, but Leo Flove, if he performs an attack like that, will just end up hurting himself from backlash, right?”
A female student crossed her arms and said.
“Such a destructive method has its limits. It’s just a trump card for emergency situations.”
Duran scoffed at the analysis of Leo by the female student.
“This time, I’ll take down Leo Flove and show who the true No. 1 is. And…”
Duran’s gaze flickered.
“I’ll also take down Celia Zerdinger.”
Swish-!
“Impressive, Celia! To control the flames of aura to this degree.”
Upon a friend’s comment, Celia brushed her hair aside.
“This much is basic.”
With a confident expression, Celia extinguished the flames.
In the past month, Celia had focused on the precise control of her aura.
Celia and Duran locked eyes.
Celia made a disapproving face, pointed a finger at Duran, and mimicked cutting her throat.
This provoked Duran, who responded by lowering his thumb downward.
Meanwhile, in the magic practice hall…
Wheeew!
Chelsea’s eyes widened as she stared at Abad.
‘Amazing, as expected from my older brother.’
The way he meticulously controlled the magic of wind left her in awe.
Boom- Boom-!
As Abad dispelled his magic, the rocks that had been floating in the air fell to the ground.
“To be able to output this and control it so delicately! Truly my older brother!”
As she approached him with a bright smile, Abad wiped the sweat from his brow and spoke.
“Chelsea.”
“Yes!”
“How does he compare to Leo?”
“……!”
Chelsea fell silent at Abad’s question.
In her eyes, purely based on magical ability, Abad was superior.
However, when looking at the complete picture…
‘Who should I root for?’
Abad, whom she admired as a wizard.
Leo, whom she admired as a hero candidate.
Seeing Chelsea in conflict, Abad smiled.
“So Leo is superior.”
“O-older brother! That’s true. I… um…”
“Not bad.”
“Huh?”
“Having someone to challenge is good.”
Chelsea was taken aback by Abad’s broad smile.
Meanwhile, Leo sat at the library, stacked with books about Naegran.
‘There are a total of five large lakes within Naegran.’
As a major city, it had five huge lakes.
“Which one is Lake Eridian?”
Leo scratched his head.
While other students were busy preparing for the interdepartmental competition, he was concentrating on other matters.
Memories from long ago surfaced.
‘Given how much time has passed, I didn’t think it would still be here.’
Leo crossed his arms.
There had once been a spirit sleeping in a place called Lake Eridian.
A spirit he no longer even remembered.
However, until the Era of Catastrophe, it had been a mighty spirit, revered and honored.
Lissinas’s lost Vow Keeper.
‘The Great Spirit of Radiance, Luminous.’
Closing the book, Leo stood up.
‘Well, I guess I have to visit all five of them.’
*
At the central training ground of Lumeran Academy, Erek, numerous crowds had gathered.
Not only students of Lumeran Academy but also many visitors were present.
“Ooh! Let’s see our daughter! How’s school life treating you!”
“It’s been fun!”
“My son! You are the pride of our family!”
“I know!”
“Let’s refrain from actions that tarnish the family’s honor.”
“Yes.”
Normally, only authorized individuals could enter Lumeran Academy.
However, for today’s large-scale departmental competition event, family visits were permitted.
Of course, this was also to alleviate the negative public sentiment stemming from the academy lockdown of the past month.
Thanks to this, Lumeran was having an unexpected festive atmosphere.
Of course, with many external guests, there were also many problems.
“Oh dear! I just want to see where my son studies, is that not allowed?”
“Due to security regulations regarding student projects, the entry of outsiders is prohibited. Please use only authorized areas.”
“Do you even know who I am?”
As outsiders were generally prohibited from entering Lumeran, many were curious and attempted to enter unauthorized areas.
While they were stopped by the teaching assistants, there were still many who resisted.
At the top of the Hero’s Tower, Kalyan looked down at Erek.
“If we receive so many outsiders at once like this, I worry they might sneak in.”
Professor Yura spoke with a worried expression, and Kalyan sighed deeply.
“Fortunately, a strong suppressive force has returned, so I doubt we’ll have the same incidents as before.”
At Kalyan’s words, Yura cautiously looked at the red-haired woman, who was sitting on a guest sofa and enjoying tea.
It was Phoenix Pirina.
‘I’d like to have a conversation at least!’
As the strongest summons master, Yura was itching to talk with Pirina.
Unlike Leo’s Fiora and Ulta’s Aelia, she was a complete adult.
In her, Yura saw the romance and legend of what a summons master could achieve.
‘We must reveal this fact through cooperation with Seirun eventually.’
Kalyan’s eyes shone with a serious light.
‘So that the Tartarus folks can’t run rampant anymore.’
——————==
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
