A few days have passed since the start of Clarisse’s new semester curriculum.
The academy was ramping up its theoretical classes in preparation for the upcoming recruit selection test for aspiring heroes, also known as ‘Adventure Practice.’
Students had a grueling schedule, having to attend both theoretical lectures and practical lessons tailored to their respective roles.
But for me…?
It was actually easier than the first semester.
Starting from the second semester, I could completely remove the subjects set by Lev Denec from the Magic Department and reorganize my schedule primarily around Marksman practical lessons.
Anyway, the lecture happening now was a combined orientation for first and second-year students on adventure practice.
“Now… from here on is important. Originally, recruitment was aimed at second-year students, but it has now been extended to first years… The practice will consist of parties with 5 or 6 members. So, how should you form your group? Is it enough to just fill the numbers? Absolutely not…! When you allocated roles at the beginning of the semester, and according to the theories you learned in the first term, you’ll need to distribute the members…”
The professor spoke slowly.
Unlike McClone, he seemed to be a theoretical lecturer. Despite his thick head of white hair, it seemed he wasn’t retiring just yet.
At that moment, Selena, who had forcefully sat next to me, suddenly thrust a memo in front of me.
– Looking forward to it.
‘…’
When I turned my head slightly to look, she gave me an enchanting smile as if to encourage me.
Platinum hair, alabaster skin, emerald eyes.
A wonderfully noble elf’s expensive smile.
I picked up my pen and scribbled down.
– What?
– What you’re going to show in practice.
– …
‘Show, huh…’
First of all, the adventure practice would take place on an island.
Not here at the academy, but a bit farther away.
Mystic Island.
Called a place with traces of great magic, no one knows when this island was created, but according to the setting, it has a high density of ambient mana, recreating an environment similar to that of demon territory.
The test would start at the far end of the island, at a temporary location called Dusk,
This place corresponds to the ‘starting village’ in a fantasy game.
From here, participants would travel through forests and rivers, ultimately arriving at the Valley of Death…
Experiencing the schedule of facing the Demon King.
“As each party progresses, they will engage in battles with various demon creatures… The student committee members will be following you to evaluate in detail… so don’t lose your focus…”
Basically, they were saying they would sift through the aspiring heroes.
According to the fanfic, the last location, the Valley of Death, has traces of a magic tower hidden underground, and the main content of chapter 4 revolves around Caeran discovering and awakening this magic stone.
‘Here, Violet sacrifices herself.’
Violet steps in to manage the chaos caused by the reckless Caeran, but he betrays her, claiming she’s just a nuisance.
And then, he copies and absorbs all of Violet’s unique traits.
Edwin later starts questioning Caeran’s actions.
But that was only a minor inconvenience.
Based on what I’ve seen, it didn’t seem like Edwin’s character would come out strong.
My belief in my main character, ‘I still don’t know,’ shattered into pieces.
So, what I need to do here is simple.
First, ensure the survival of Violet, the leader who can lead Edwin, Yeriel, and Aria.
Changing the main narrative.
And second…
‘Completely… exclude that guy.’
Perfectly detach ‘Caeran Hiss’ from the story.
I’m confident. This time, I can definitely end it.
In the first semester, Caeran was endowed with overpowering abilities beyond a human’s capacity.
Given the overwhelming abilities between us, assassinating him wouldn’t be easy; I also had to tread carefully since the setting is the academy, and labeling him as evil would draw unwanted attention.
But now, it’s different.
Caeran has readily accepted the power of a demon, and if he manages to tap into the powers of a demon creature…
In this world, he would be classified as ‘dark.’
‘Therefore, he must be… killed.’
Well, even if I don’t take action, I’m sure Edwin won’t let him be.
And there’s one more benefit to using Caeran as a bait.
His vessel is coveted by demons like Yellody Latashia and even the fallen Rezilus of Crow Pay.
I guarantee that if I use Caeran as bait, we could attract powerful demons as well.
‘What if we eliminate all of them at once…?’
As I licked my lips in anticipation, Selena tapped her fingers on her notebook.
– This time, it’s a pity.
When I met her gaze instead of answering, she spoke aloud this time.
“I wanted to party with you.”
Her tone was cold yet oddly revealing disappointment. This was the first time I encountered this.
Well, Selena is already a selected member by Violet, so she’ll probably act as part of the evaluation team.
“Well then… you’re free to form your parties, and submit the group by the end of three days.”
And so the orientation came to a close.
*
‘…In the end, I couldn’t ask.’
During the lecture and after it ended.
The young elf, Selena, had her gaze fixed on the boy next to her.
The boy with ash-gray hair, who never failed to capture attention.
His slightly robust side profile and sharp nose kept everyone guessing what thoughts were crossing his mind.
-……
With the selection test coming up, she felt she could offer help with Marksman training.
However, those words never came from Selena’s mouth.
‘…Lev Denec…’
Her consciousness of Lev had likely begun during the Reconta Festival in Neldaran.
– I like him. Lev Denec.
I knew Aria and Yeriel liked him, but when I actually heard those lines, an unexpected emotional turmoil surged within me.
It was jealousy and impatience, sentiments typically associated with humans.
Longing and envy at the thought of a human girl revealing her feelings she had tried to deny.
And an anxiousness about realizing this truth too late…
‘Hoo…’
First things first, let’s set aside the personal feelings and consider the situation.
Currently, Lev Denec stands at the center of these human connections.
Edwin Gwynn, Aria Bluebell, Yeriel Artina, Lily Forget, and even Selena Windforce herself…
All had memories of receiving help from him.
Thus, it was reasonable to expect a chaotic development surrounding ‘Lev Denec’ to emerge.
‘Since when…?’
The problem is, amusingly enough, Selena herself got sucked into this maelstrom.
Can elves… like humans?
The answer is simple.
‘Mother did say that…’
But the price for choosing a human man was severe.
That’s why I swore I would never show interest in humans…
‘Sorry, but I think I still need you… Lev Denec.’
Selena desperately wanted him to achieve her goals.
Because he was so distinct from the other humans.
‘Just training… no special meaning behind it…’
With a secret sigh, Selena lightly tapped his shoulder in resolution.
*
– I’ll help with the training.
Selena reached out first, seemingly shy.
I had no reason to refuse.
Considering the upcoming Great Demon Battle, training was certainly necessary, and since the dark fairy Dalian had yet to show her face, I had to keep an eye on her as well.
“…”
With an oddly cheerful looking Selena behind me, the chatter from other students began to register in my ears.
– How am I supposed to form a party again?!
– Well, at least I’m better off than them.
– Who?
– Those two who received an A grade this time around.
– Oh… true…
– Lucky, huh? They practically climbed their way here claiming to be aspiring heroes.
“Haha…”
Edwin’s awkward laugh was an effort to ignore the front talk.
Maybe because there were second-year students present, Edwin and I were still undervalued just like in the fanfic.
– You’re going, right?
– You said you’d go.
– Ah, got it.
They whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, then paused as they reached Selena.
“Hey… you’re the A-rank, Selena Windforce, right?”
“…”
To my awkwardness, Selena didn’t even glance their way.
“We’re second-years; if you haven’t formed a party yet…”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“…”
“Okay, sorry.”
The male student scratched his head and awkwardly slinked away.
‘Tsk tsk.’
– Murmuring…
Selena never easily opens up to humans.
As I was clicking my tongue at the scene, noise began to rise from the right side as well.
– What’s that? Is that Yeriel Artina…? Trying to form a party?
– Probably not. She’s famous for having no interest in aspiring heroes.
– Then I guess I’ll have to ask Aria Bluebell; she’s cute enough… I’ll just try to get a top-notch healing session from her…
– Please wake up from that dream…
And slowly, the murmurs started to turn towards Edwin and me.
Two people were approaching our direction.
“Lev, Edwin! Have you decided yet…? Selena’s here too…!”
“Hello.”
“…Good day.”
Though their expressions were smiling, it seemed sparks were flying between the three.
“Then we’re going to party together again, right?! Lev, you too?!”
Edwin greeted warmly, but suddenly became aware of all the gazes on us.
– What is that situation…?
– …Looks like Yeriel is an Elder.
– Wow… luck is genuinely with them.
‘…Are they middle schoolers…?’
In this surreal scenario, I quickly shook off the fantasy of naive youth and thought about the party members.
Edwin will be the front liner.
I’ll take the back.
Aria and Yeriel as the middle.
To make it five, we need either another front liner or backliner.
‘Maybe I should ask Lily.’
*
The S-tier exclusive lounge at the Varaki Academy.
A table full of visually delectable desserts spread out.
Lily Forget, petite and all, had been buried in this mountain of sweets for quite some time.
The one who prepared this was the red-haired guy, Caeran Hiss.
He handed a napkin to Lily as she had cream smeared on her mouth.
“How was the jewel I gave you?”
“Hmm?”
“The dragon jewel I gave you. It was really hard to acquire.”
“Huh? What’s that…?”
‘Sigh.’
Is it like dealing with a kid? Or perhaps with Yellody Latashia?
Caeran suppressed his annoyance and continued calmly, “…Remember at the Royal Class Circle? I walked you to your lab.”
“Oh! I don’t need that, Lily…!”
“…”
Lily nibbled away at the desserts with her tiny mouth.
Caeran’s eyes twitched dangerously at her light response.
“Lily. Didn’t I say the summoning contract… takes time? If you don’t set up the circuit in advance, you can’t handle your drake…”
“It’s fine~. I don’t need it anymore. I threw it away. Yummy…”
“…What?”
“…No…”
As the laughter faded from Caeran’s face, Lily seemed to shrink back for some reason.
However, Lev had illuminated a particular fact.
“Lily won’t lose her summoning anymore. She’s grown stronger!”
“…”
Viewing a summoned creature as an object… implies one cannot grow stronger.
“Ugh…”
On the other hand, Caeran felt a headache coming on.
To obtain Kroon’s hidden legacy, he needed an ancient dragon.
Starting now, he was in a desperate situation, and then an unexpected variable arose.
‘Damn, what happened while I was away…?’
What kind of events occurred in his absence?
The first time he met Lily, she was nothing more than a kid who desired only a strong summoned creature.
So, he thought she was easy to manage, someone he could utilize.
‘Edwin, is this your doing again?’
No, it’s unlikely that that green-haired guy managed to catch on to anything and approached Lily.
He was too self-absorbed to have such thoughts.
Caeran brushed his tousled bangs aside and pulled out a piece of paper for Lily.
“Alright, would you look at this first?”
“Sure…”
What he handed her was the application form for the adventure practice party.
Uncertain of what would happen with Melissa and Aveline’s disciplinary action, the numbers were insufficient.
He had to hypnotize Lily to turn her around.
Caeran said, as though showing kindness, “I’ll take you this time. I didn’t include you in the circling practice last time.”
Certainly, while he included Melissa and Aveline, he didn’t take her along, creating quite a scene.
“…Ugh.”
“?”
Under Caeran’s urging glance, Lily displayed no change in her expression.
“Lily, this is fine too.”
“…?”
“Since I have someone else to go with… I’ll let you join~ omnomnom…”
“Are you joking…?”
In that moment, Caeran’s teeth began to grind.
“Ha.”
And a hollow laugh escaped him.
All this jewel and dessert cost a fortune.
“Lily, stop eating. You’ve had enough.”
Lily paused and looked at him as if asking why.
He spoke heavily, “Lily. Before I get mad, grab a pen immediately.”
“…No… You’re acting really strange today, Caeran…”
At her reluctant expression, sssss…
Black magic stirred around Caeran, and a surge of impulsive emotions began to rise.
-!
Just as he extended his hand…
“…That’s enough, okay?”
Between them appeared a ruthless figure, with a disdainful expression.
The violet-haired woman, Marksman Committee Chair Violet, stood there.
