CH 15

In the middle of the vast Lumeln Academy, there was a giant parade ground called ‘Erekra’.

This was where the school's major events, such as admission and graduation ceremonies, were held.

And here in Erekra, all the students of Lumeln were gathered.

“Has everyone arrived?”

“Did they get wet too?”

"Hahaha! Look, look! Didn’t I tell you that we wouldn't be short on such kids!"

As some of the uncultured upperclassmen booed, the new students with strong self-esteem trembled with embarrassment, but none of them got angry.

Meanwhile, Artian, who led the freshmen, spoke up as they stood in the middle of the Erekra Parade.

"Please line up by region. And, the top rankers, please come forward as representatives."

At her words, the students lined up in five rows, facing each other.

Unsurprisingly, there were noticeably fewer students in the western provinces when compared with other regions.

The professors who were watching from the podium clicked their tongues.

"Is it because of Professor Alby? The number of students from the Western region is too low."

Said one of the professors, looking at Alby who was sitting with an expressionless face.

However, Alby didn't bat an eye.

Leo stood at the very back.

"Oh! Brother Leo! hi!"

At that moment, Chelsi Llewellyn, who he had teamed up with during the entrance exam, approached him with a broad smile.

“You've been so busy that you didn't see me until now!”

Leo smiled bitterly as he looked at Chelsi, who was approaching warmly with sparkling eyes.

“Get in line quickly,” Leo said.

“Okay!” Chelsi stood next to Leo and chattered excitedly.

“I was so moved when I saw brother Leo fight, so I’m thinking about taking a knight class as a minor.”

“Hmm? You had said your goal was to be a battle mage, right?” Leo asked.

“Yes!” Chelsi replied.

In response, Leo looked at Chelsi for a moment and said.

“Then, shouldn’t you focus more on magic training first?”

“What? Don't I already know enough about magic? Why do I still need to devote more time to magic training?” Chelsi asked, a bit confused.

Just as Leo was about to say something, the ceremony began and the professor interrupted.

"Now, we will begin the entrance ceremony. First, the principal will speak," the professor standing on the podium announced.

At the professor's words, Chelsi fell silent.

Soon, an old man appeared in the middle of the podium.

The new students had anxious expressions on their faces.

There was no one here who didn’t know the old man. One who was praised to be the strongest among all the current Human Heroes, Sword Saint, Kalrian Baidan.

"You worked hard to get here, young soldiers,"

Kalrian said, with a youthful spirit that was uncharacteristic of an elderly man.

"I won't beat around the bush. I'll tell you the path you must walk!"

Bang-!

Kalrian hit the platform with his fist.

"If you guys dream of being a Hero, always risk yourselves! And go beyond your limits! Anyone who does not... they're not needed in Lumeln," the Sword Saint said with harsh words.

The new students held their breath.

Kalrian got down from the stage without hesitation.

A moment of silence passed, and then...

"Waaaaaaaaaa!"

Shouts erupted from the group of freshmen.

The short words from the sword saint had the power to ignite the passion of the new students.

Kalrian turned and made a dignified gesture toward the professors while drawing a V with his fingers.

Some of the professors shook their heads, thinking

'You’re the principal!'

'If he had always been so dignified, he would have really been cool!!'

'Uh, the more I live my life as a Professor in Lumeln, the more my fantasy about the Sword Saint crumbles.'

But they had to nod even if they didn't like it.

The fact that the greatest hero, Sword saint, whom everyone admires, is actually a light-hearted old man.

The head professor also shook his head and said,

"Then, there will be a speech from the freshmen representative."

At those words, everyone at the Erekra parade ground focused.

Freshmen representative means that that person is the best Hero candidate among all the freshmen of Lumeln, where only geniuses gathered.

The best Hero candidate among literally hundreds of hero candidates! Even the top rankers sitting at the front became tense.

While everyone was paying attention, the head professor announced,

"The freshmen representative, Leo Flove."

"Leo Flove?"

"Who is that?"

"Isn’t the freshman representative supposed to be one of the top rankers?"

The freshmen looked around and muttered.

The six chief candidates sitting in the front also made puzzled expressions.

Professors who had no idea who the freshman representative was were also taken aback. Then the head professor said,

"Student Leo Flove. Please come up on the podium."

At those words, Leo got up from his seat.

Chelsi stared at Leo with wide eyes, and Karl, who was sitting in another row, looked bewildered.

It was very abnormal for a normal student, who is not a top ranker, to become a representative.

Even the top rankers showed bewildered expressions.

Everyone’s eyes were on Leo.

'I'm the freshmen representative?'

Leo was also puzzled.

It was clear that he had done an impressive job in the entrance exam, but everyone thought Celia and Abad did even better to be able to get high scores.

In fact, the two of them had performed the best in the exam, so they jointly took the chief position.

Leo, feeling suspicious, stepped up to the podium and his eyes met with Alby, who supervised the Western Examination.

Alby, who had always been expressionless, revealed a smile.

‘It seems that it was due to the recommendation of the examiner.’

Leo stopped questioning and stood on the podium.

On the podium was a prepared speech.

"Respected professors and seniors. Thank you for welcoming us as new students. From now on, we freshmen, as proud people of Lumeln... … ."

Leo read the speech without a hint of tension.

Looks filled with various emotions were sent toward Leo.

Questions and curiosity about the fact that an ordinary student became the freshmen representative instead of the top rankers.

They were filled with envy and jealousy towards this honorable position.

"… … Freshmen representative, Leo Flove."

Clap clap clap-!

After the speech, there was applause.

"Thank you, student Leo. Then, as a freshman representative, could you say a few words about your aspirations?"

The professor asked with a mischievous smile.

Aspiration of the freshman representative. This was a tradition of Lumeln's entrance ceremony.

It was to give everyone in the school a chance to speak up, as they had won the position of freshmen representative through a series of competitions.

On the other hand, there was also the intention of motivating other first-years.

'Is this a provocation against the kids who weren’t able to rise to this position?'

Leo chuckled.

As it has always been, there must be many students who covet this position. Leo turned around and looked down at all the freshmen.

"I am the freshmen representative, Leo Flove."

The head professor had a disappointed expression at Leo's polite greeting.

'This new student representative is a humble student. Well, his aspirations should not be bad.'

In fact, even a hot-tempered student would find it difficult to speak carelessly if they were to be put in this position.

'It looks like this year's entrance ceremony will be peaceful.....'

"If anyone covets this position, try taking it from me… IF YOU CAN."

The head professor’s eyes widened.

The other freshmen were also surprised.

Leo smiled once and went down the podium.

Leo caught exactly what the school intended and followed suit.

'But still, that's a little too much!'

The head professor screamed inwardly.

Laughter broke out even among the seniors.

"Isn’t this year's entrance ceremony the best ever?"

"There's a freshman with a big attitude."

All eyes were on Leo. Nevertheless, Leo went down the stairs without batting an eye.

As he returned to his seat, his eyes met with Celia's eyes.

Celia, who stared blankly at Leo, gave a small snort and lifted her chin.

Abad, who was sitting next to her, smiled at Leo.

"Wow! Wow! Brother Leo was the representative?"

When he returned to his seat, Chelsi shook his hand and said softly,

“Isn’t it a pity that Abad didn’t get it?”

“It’s indeed a pity that brother didn’t make it, but brother and I saw brother Leo’s fight, right?”

Chelsi said, with her arms crossed and nodding her head.

“Even though my brother didn’t say anything, he must also have recognized brother Leo’s skill.” “Is that so?”

Leo looked at the back of Abad, who was sitting in the front seat.

Just like that, the time passed and the entrance ceremony came to an end.

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

After the entrance ceremony, freshmen were immediately escorted to their respective dormitories.

Naturally, the dormitory was divided into two sections: male and female.

Each dorm was lined up next to another resembling a grand mansion.

In the center, there was a garden while in the surrounding grounds, there was a sports field.

One of the dormitory managers spoke to the new students gathered there.

“The dormitory assigned a room for every person. And there is a curfew. In certain cases, an overnight stay can be permitted if you have any special reason."

The dormitory manager sighed briefly.

"Entering the opposite sex's dormitory without permission is strictly prohibited,"

The dormitory manager's face turned serious.

"I know that you are all at an age where you are interested in the opposite sex, but please maintain decency."

"Yes~"

The new students answered cheerfully.

The dormitory manager smiled wryly at their response.

Even if they said that, the truth was, there were always students who broke this rule at least once a year because they are teenagers.

'Of course, they never do it again after that.'

“Okay, then, everyone, get your luggage and unpack them in your assigned dormitory room, then gather here again in an hour.”

The dormitory manager pointed at the luggage that was delivered during the entrance ceremony and spoke.

Freshmen chatted with each other as they searched for their bags.

Then they checked the dormitory room assigned to them.

"Oh! Leo! You and I are next to each other?"

"Really? That's good.”

Leo laughed as Karl spoke in a bright voice.

"By the way, I'm really surprised, I didn't know you were the student representative!"

“Yeah, I didn’t know either.”

“I guess you did a great job during the test?”

"The examiner must have liked me."

Leo and Karl carried their luggage and went up to the 2nd floor.

The eyes of the other freshmen looking at them.

“Is he the freshman representative?”

"Why didn’t they choose the top rankers, and why did he become the representative? Did he enter through back door?"

"Can you become a Freshmen representative just because of a back door?"

'I got so much attention on the first day.'

Leo changed clothes in his room and spent some time aimlessly before gathering again.

Then he was assigned to a General class.

Lumeln Academy mainly offered classes that focused on major subjects.

There were also general classes that Leo should take along with other classmates.

In the case of the first years, there were ten classes from class 1 to class 10.

Among them, Leo was assigned to class 5 along with Chelsi and Karl.

After that, Leo was given a tour of the facilities inside the Lumeln Academy.

The academy campus was vast, as expected of one of the four Hero Academies in the world.

It took half a day to tour the important facilities. When they returned to the dormitory after finishing their field trip, the dormitory supervisor was waiting for them.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Obelio, the supervisor of the first-year dormitory. It must have been a hard day today. From tomorrow, a week-long General class begins.”

During the General class period, you could check any major classes you wanted.

Even if you aspire to be a Knight, you could take classes on magic and summoning.

Meanwhile, the student may discover a talent that they themselves were unaware of.

“Classes start tomorrow, so don't waste your time and go to bed early tonight."

As soon as Professor Obelio ordered them to dismiss, the students headed straight to their respective dorm rooms.

"Ugh~, it was really a crazy day!"

Karl said while stretching as if he was tired.

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s class! Anyway, Leo! Good night!"

“Yeah, good night.”

After greeting each other, they entered their respective rooms.

Leo entered the room, changed into pajamas, and went straight to bed. He soon fell asleep feeling the comfort of the bed.