LHAHS Chapter 360
"Leo's back!"
"Ooooh!"
"Leo has returned!"
The moment Leo stepped into the dormitory, the students of Glory erupted into cheers.
"Let's have a party! A welcome party for our class rep!" Eliana, always eager for excitement, shouted enthusiastically.
At her suggestion, all eyes in the dorm turned to Chen Xia and Chloe—both dorm heads of Glory and the ones with decision-making power.
Normally, the strongest voice in Glory belonged to Leo. However, rather than making decisions himself, he usually just went along with what others wanted.
[It's way more fun to let the fresh-faced kids make the calls than to have some boring old man make dull decisions,] Kiran snickered to himself.
"……" Leo pondered how to punish the snarky fairy later.
"Just for tonight, it'd be nice to enjoy some time with our dormmates," Chen Xia said with a smile.
"As expected from our big sis!"
"Chen Xia! Chen Xia!"
The students cheered, chanting her name.
"Since it's a special occasion," Chloe added with a grin.
With that, the students roared in excitement.
"As expected of Glory's mother!"
"Mom is the best!"
"Why am I the mom?!" Chloe's face turned red as she shouted, but her reaction only fueled the students' mischief.
"You nag a lot. That's totally a mom thing."
"Yeah, exactly."
"You brats… You do realize how insulting that is to a perfectly young teenager?! And what about Xia? She's older than me!"
"Chen Xia is our big sis."
"Yeah, yeah."
Laughter filled the dorm as Leo chuckled.
"Honestly…" Chloe, after dealing with the teasing, sighed in exasperation.
The Glory dorm quickly got to work preparing for the welcome party. Some students ran off to gather food and drinks, while others rearranged tables in the common area. A few went to call those who hadn't returned yet.
Watching the dorm buzz with energy, Leo smirked. "Seeing all this noise really makes me feel like I'm back in Lumene."
"How was Seiren?" Chen Xia asked.
"Not bad," Leo replied, grinning.
"Chloe! Chen Xia! Can we invite students from other dorms too?"
"It's Leo's welcome party, after all."
"Awesome! We need to invite Chelsea, Carl, Nella, and Tade!"
"Make sure Celia gets invited too."
"I'll just call everyone Leo's close with."
Eliana, known for her sociability, was on good terms with nearly all the second-years.
And so, with everything ready, the welcome party began in a lively atmosphere.
"What? So you actually took classes with the first-years?"
"That's crazy."
"Wait… How could they treat our student council president like that?!"
Hearing Leo's story, the students grew indignant.
"It was a pretty interesting experience. I also got to gauge the skill level of Seiren's first-years," Leo said.
Celia crossed her arms. "How does Lea Tingel compare to Aina?"
As Aina's mentor, Celia was naturally curious about Lea Tingel—Aina's rival. Since they were Lumene students, it was only natural that the upcoming Lumeiren Games was on their minds.
"Well, it's hard to compare them directly since one's a knight and the other's a mage. But purely in terms of level… they're evenly matched."
"As expected, she's no pushover," Celia muttered, rubbing her chin.
Chelsea, munching on a cookie, turned to Leo. "But seriously, you actually thought of teaching the Seiren first-years Introduction to Stellar Magic?"
The magic department students knew how heretical Introduction to Stellar Magic was considered among elves. And yet, Leo had taught it right in the heart of Seiren?
"That's so you, Leo," Chelsea said, eyes gleaming.
"They were desperate enough to need it," Leo replied simply.
As the party continued, Leo shared more about his time at Seiren.
"What about Lumene?" he asked.
Carl leaned back. "While you were gone, the second-years started conquering Hero Worlds."
"Oh?" Leo's eyes sparkled with interest.
At Lumene, the first year was about laying the foundation as a hero candidate. In their second year, students officially started walking the path of a hero. That meant tackling Hero Records and exploring Hero Worlds.
At the start of the second year, the heroism class had introduced the Hero Records available for students to challenge. And in the month Leo had been away at Seiren, the others had been busy conquering them.
"For the record, I got some amazing rewards!" Eliana suddenly jumped in front of Leo, puffing out her chest. "You better watch out, class rep!"
"You were barely able to clear your conquest after being greedy for rewards."
"You were a mess, crying and panicking the day before!"
"You almost failed and barely scraped by with a passing score."
Mocking voices rang out from all around.
Normally, Eliana would have turned to Leo for sympathy, but this time, she smirked smugly. "Sure, I scored low! But you all know it was worth it! Ohohohoho!"
It seemed this particular assignment had awarded higher grades for speed rather than difficulty. A higher-difficulty Hero Record naturally took longer to conquer.
So students had to decide—go for high grades now, or invest in their future with better rewards?
Honestly, this school is ruthless.
They always made students take responsibility for their choices. Even though the mentor system had made things slightly more manageable, Lumene still constantly pushed its students to the brink.
From what he heard, Carl had been one of the top scorers.
"I just picked the lowest-difficulty Hero Record," Carl said, shrugging. "The reward might not seem great to most people, but it was perfect for me."
Leo, intrigued, asked, "What was it?"
Carl grinned. "An alchemy tome."
His first conquest had been Dweno's World, and his reward was Dweno's Alchemy Book. However, it was still too advanced for Carl's current skill level. So instead of using it immediately, he had started laying the groundwork to understand it.
Leo smirked.
"Thanks to that," Carl said, sticking up a confident thumbs-up, "I think I'll be making something huge soon. If I play my cards right, I'm gonna be filthy rich!"
"If you make another weird potion, the student council will crack down on you."
"Relax! I'll have them review it properly before selling anything!"
"Everyone's talking about Senior Leo." Juen shook her head as her classmates continued their endless chatter.
Well, it is a big deal.
As a mage through and through, she understood exactly what it meant to be acknowledged by Seiren.
He's just one year ahead of me, but…
Juen clicked her tongue.
A top student in the first-year class, she had her sights set on becoming the class representative and, ultimately, the next student council president. But standing in her way was Leo—her senior by a year, already making history.
It's enough to make anyone feel small.
Just thinking about their past battles made Juen shudder.
Step. Step.
Someone walked past her.
It was Aina, the first-year class representative.
As always, a group of followers trailed behind her.
Juen scoffed. The rivalry between the magic and knight faculties had been fierce for generations. As the top student of the first-year magic department, she naturally clashed with Aina, the top student of the first-year knight department.
But her dislike for Aina wasn't just because of that.
She always acts like she doesn't care about anyone else.
Even if their fields were different, she couldn't deny her skills. Aina excelled beyond just her knight classes—an undeniable prodigy. The successor to a legendary swordmaster, a title given only to warriors of an era-defining caliber.
Juen couldn't refute that she surpassed her in nearly every way. But that indifferent attitude, as if no one else even existed, was enough to set her on edge.
And yet, for some reason, she's obsessed with Senior Leo.
She grumbled internally, then spotted a familiar figure ahead. Her lips curled into a smirk as she approached Luke.
"Just came from studying at the library?"
"Yes."
"You're way too diligent," Juen remarked, impressed.
Among the first-years, Luke had long been a subject of ridicule. His midterm results had been abysmal, and there was no sign of improvement. And what made him look even more pitiful was the fact that his mentor was none other than Leo Plov.
It doesn't make sense.
Juen had always found Luke puzzling. She knew firsthand how much the guy was struggling, yet…
He even gets private lessons from Professor Len.
That was the strangest part.
Other idiots keep saying he only gets those lessons because of Senior Leo's influence, but that's just nonsense.
As the daughter of the Southern Tower Master, Juen knew all about Len's reputation.
A genius in the field of magic research. A man utterly uninterested in anything outside magic itself.
Someone like him wouldn't waste his time just because his prized student asked him to.
There's something here.
She just couldn't figure out what.
That aside, she liked Luke. From the entrance exams to the mentor selection, Luke had always pushed past his limits. Unlike Juen, who had recognized and accepted her own boundaries, Luke kept challenging his.
And most importantly…
Aina had come to a stop. She was staring at Luke.
She's jealous. And that's hilarious.
Juen chuckled.
Aina was conscious of Luke. Not because of his talent. Not because of his achievements. But because he was Leo's mentee.
It was a bizarre sight—watching the class representative envy the lowest-ranked student. For someone with Juen's slightly twisted sense of humor, it was nothing short of delightful.
"I was just about to head to see Senior Carl in the second-year dorms. Wanna come?"
"Yes! Senior Leo called me over too!"
"Perfect! Let's stop by the Noble dorm first, then head to Senior Leo." Juen clapped a hand on Luke's back and nudged him forward.
Before turning away, she stuck her tongue out at Aina.
Expressionless, Aina averted her gaze and resumed walking.
The basement of the Noble dorm. The private workshops of the magic faculty students.
There, Carl was carefully holding a flask, working meticulously on a potion. Sweat trickled down his brow as he focused on the alchemical text from Dweno, making sure every step was perfect.
Pop!
A thin wisp of smoke curled from the flask. The liquid inside began to glow a brilliant gold.
"Holy crap. No way." Carl's voice trembled. "What? This actually worked?"
Sure, he had boasted to Leo, but he hadn't really expected to succeed. Gulping, he carefully poured the shimmering potion into a bottle. Now, it was time to report to the student council.
Not that they're ever going to let me sell this. Carl sighed. There's no way they'll approve something like a love potion, right?