LHAHS Chapter 366
"What do you mean by Land of Pleasure?"
"It's another way to describe Aleham," Carl said with a shrug.
Chloe, deep in thought, tilted her head. "Is it because of the casinos?"
"Oh, right. Aleham is famous for its casinos," Juen, a native of the south, nodded in agreement.
Aleham was well known for having royal casinos in every city.
"That's part of it, but not the whole reason," Carl said, crossing his arms. "Aleham is both the poorest human nation and the only country where all sorts of normally illegal activities are legal."
Chelsea still looked confused. "And what does that have to do with calling it the Land of Pleasure?"
Leo remained silent, but the other students were still struggling to understand Carl's point.
"Man, noble ladies sure are innocent," Carl muttered.
Celia frowned. "And what illegal things are you talking about?"
"It's a bit awkward to explain…"
"Then don't bring it up in the first place!" Celia snapped.
Before Carl could respond, Leo spoke up. "He's talking about things like the sale of illegal drugs or… transactions involving money for physical relationships. If those are legal there, you'd probably see it happening openly in the streets."
"W-What?"
The female students froze for a moment, then quickly turned their heads away, their faces flushing.
Carl smirked at Celia's embarrassed reaction. "Lady Celia, if you want me to elaborate, I'd be happy to…"
"Shut up!"
Whack!
"Urk?!"
Celia, her face burning red, delivered a sharp chop to Carl's throat.
As he clutched his neck and rolled on the ground, Luke laughed and turned to Juen. "Senior Carl is really funny."
Juen, without hesitation, deadpanned, "Who's Carl?" deliberately ignoring her mentor.
Once the brief commotion died down, Leo spoke again. "If Aleham really has those kinds of dangers, like Carl mentioned, we should be prepared."
Celia frowned. "Would it really be dangerous? I get that it's a rough place, but we're students of Lumene. No one would dare lay a hand on us."
Many students nodded in agreement.
"Think about it," Carl said, leaning back with his hands laced behind his head. "Whether it's gambling, drugs, or, well, other stuff… That place is tough to live in. And yeah, Celia, you're right. We are Lumene students, and most people won't mess with us."
His expression darkened slightly. "But there are always people who don't care about things like that. Especially the kind of scum who have nothing to lose."
Luke nodded in understanding, but the rest of the students still looked unconvinced.
Celia, Chelsea, and Martina were nobles from the Lordren Empire, which dominated most of the western continent. Among them, Celia and Chelsea came from two of the most powerful noble families—the Zerdinger and Lewellin houses—known for their heroes.
Chloe belonged to a family affiliated with the Northern Magic Tower. Even if the Mueller name wasn't particularly high-ranking within the tower, simply being associated with it meant status.
Juen was the daughter of the Southern Magic Tower Master.
Aina was the great-granddaughter of the Sword Saint.
Betty also came from a prestigious magic family.
Raised in privileged environments, they had only seen the good side of the world. They had little understanding of its darker realities.
Seeing their reactions, Leo said, "Carl means that people who have nothing to lose are the scariest. But I get it, it's hard to understand just by hearing about it."
He turned to Celia with a small smile. "Consider this a learning experience. Professor Harrid probably paired us with our mentees for a reason."
"You talk like you've experienced this kind of thing," Chloe said, tilting her head.
At her words, Carl let out a suggestive chuckle, stroking his chin. "Chloe, what exactly do you mean by experience?"
She immediately scowled. "What's with that creepy look? What kind of weird nonsense are you about to spout this time?"
Carl smirked. "Oh, I was just wondering… Were you asking if Leo had romantic experiences? You know, late-night rendezvous with girls and all that… I mean, with his popularity, sneaking out at night for…"
Crackle!
"Magic is prohibited in the library!" Carl, who had been teasing Chloe, yelped and flinched at the surge of mana surrounding her, ready to freeze him solid.
"Quit talking nonsense," Chelsea huffed. "Leo never gets involved in those kinds of scandals."
At Lumene, relationships were allowed, so dating itself wasn't unusual. The only rule was to maintain a certain level of propriety. One of the strictest regulations was prohibiting students from entering dorm rooms of the opposite gender after curfew.
Of course, that didn't stop certain brave souls from trying.
But whether they were first-years or second-years, every single one of them had been caught and utterly obliterated by the dorm supervisors. No exceptions.
Carl waggled a finger smugly. "Hah. You guys don't get it." He grinned. "Of course Leo doesn't have any scandals with our school's students! But during the Smith Contract Workshop, didn't he sneak out every night to meet with Seiren girls and only return at dawn?"
"What?!" Chelsea exclaimed.
Chloe's mouth opened and closed in shock.
Seeing their stunned faces, Carl's grin widened. "Oh yeah. He told me everything about what he did with those girls."
His deliberately ominous tone made Chloe and Chelsea blush furiously.
"You wanna know?" Carl whispered.
"I-It's fine! I don't…"
"What he did with them was…"
Chloe and Chelsea held their breath. The entire room went silent as Carl leaned in.
"…Study magic."
"…That's it?"
"Yup." Carl burst into laughter at their dumbfounded expressions. "What were you two expecting?! Puhahahaha… Ack!"
Chelsea dropkicked him in the stomach.
As Carl groaned and struggled to get up, Chloe followed up with a solid punch to his ribs, sending him back to the floor.
"You don't hit someone while they're already down—gah! Wait! Stop! I think you broke something!"
Carl's pained screams filled the room, but Chelsea and Chloe, still fuming over his teasing, showed no mercy.
Watching the scene unfold, Celia crossed her arms and sighed. "He's so childish."
Meanwhile, the first-years exchanged glances and thought the same thing.
The second-years aren't so different from us after all…
After discussing their mission training, the students split up to spend time with their respective mentors and mentees.
Since Chelsea didn't have a mentee, she followed Leo and Luke.
The three of them arrived at one of the training fields in the second-year knight department and settled into place.
"By the way, how's your magic coming along?" Chelsea asked curiously.
She had heard from Leo that Luke had recently started learning magic. It was well-known among the second-year magic students that Len was personally teaching him.
Chelsea had even seen Luke a few times when she visited Len with questions. He was always in the middle of a foundational magic lesson.
Luke scratched his head. "I can manage some simple spells now."
"Show me," Chelsea said, intrigued.
Luke cast a basic Magic Missile.
Chelsea watched and commented, "You don't have much talent as a mage, huh?"
Luke laughed awkwardly. It wasn't just his low mana that led her to that conclusion. Chelsea was aware that Leo's magic had forcibly sealed Luke's power, but her judgment came from the way he structured his spell.
It's too ordinary.
He had simply followed the textbook without any personal touch.
Magic had advanced significantly, and at this point, even a basic Magic Missile could be cast effortlessly by anyone with mana.
"Do you have any spells that show your individuality?" Chelsea asked.
Luke hesitated. "Well… I did try creating my own spell."
"You did?" Leo smiled, intrigued. "Let's see it."
"It's not very refined yet…"
"Doesn't matter. Just give it a try," Leo said.
Luke cast his spell, and Chelsea let out an exclamation of surprise.
Leo stroked his chin. "This might actually be useful."
"I agree with Leo," Chelsea added.
"What are you staring at, Aina?" Martina, who had been sparring with Aina, paused when she noticed her partner had stopped moving.
Martina was a swordswoman from the Zerdinger family, chosen by Leo to enroll at Lumene. She had exceptional talent with the sword, but compared to Aina, it was like a firefly before a full moon.
Aina was the granddaughter of the Sword Saint. Her talent was on an entirely different level. At times, it felt as if the sword itself favored her.
Even the second-ranked knight student, Haviden, was impressive. But from Martina's perspective, as someone who had grown up surrounded by knights, Aina's pure swordsmanship had already surpassed the first-year level.
Which is why there was one thing she couldn't understand.
"Are you thinking about Luke?" Aina glanced at Martina.
No one else had noticed, but Martina had picked up on it. As Celia's fellow mentee, she often saw Aina in private settings. That was how she noticed that Aina occasionally looked toward Luke.
"Aina," Martina called.
"Hmm?"
"If you compare your skills to Luke's, what do you think?"
"…There's no comparison," Aina replied.
"I suppose…" Martina mumbled.
It wasn't even a question worth asking. Aina was the best in the first-year knight department, and Luke, the worst. Putting them on the same scale didn't make sense.
Hearing her answer, Aina's gaze darkened. "Hey. Why did Senior Leo choose Luke as his mentee and not me?"
Martina frowned. "That feels a bit rude to Celia."
Aina quickly shook her head. "I have no complaints about Senior Celia's guidance. In fact, she's helped me immensely. I'm grateful to her."
Celia, after all, was a sword prodigy herself, and geniuses understood other geniuses.
Celia had shared all her experiences without holding back, and thanks to that, Aina had grown faster than she had imagined possible.
"What I'm curious about is why Leo acknowledged Luke but not me."
The Sword Saint had left behind his legacy for his beloved great-granddaughter, but in order to fully inherit it, Aina needed to meet one condition: she had to gain Leo Plov's recognition.
Martina folded her arms. "Honestly, I don't think he really acknowledged Luke."
Aina's eyes sharpened. "Then why—?"
"He probably just saw Luke's potential," Martina said.
"Potential?"
"Yeah. When he chose us for his knight order, it was the same. He picked those he deemed to have potential by his standards."
"…Does that mean I don't have potential?" Aina's voice sank.
Martina waved her hands. "No, no! I think it's more like… You don't need Leo's guidance to improve." She smiled. "Leo probably thought you'd do just fine on your own."
Aina fell silent.
"Let's finish our sparring. If Celia catches us slacking off, she'll scold us," Martina said.
Aina nodded. She tightened her grip on her sword.
During this mission training… I'll earn Senior Leo's recognition—no matter what.