LHAHS Chapter 498
As the Twilight Festival approached, all of Lumene was abuzz with excitement.
The Twilight Festival was a celebration dedicated to Lumene. Because of that, Lumene students also took part in preparing for the festival. Some clubs even organized special performances just for the occasion.
"Clubs? This school really is lively." Luna smiled as she watched the bustling activity of Lumene's clubs. "It's completely different from the school I attended."
Chen Xia widened her eyes. "Lady Luna, did you also attend school?"
"Yeah. I went to a school called Balharun, which trained elves."
"Balharun! Lunia told me about it once!"
"Lunia? Ah, the red-haired girl?"
At Eiran's words, Luna recalled Lunia and nodded. She had already retrieved her memories from her Hero World. That included the memories of Lunia, who had fought a fragment of Erebos from her past.
"What kind of school was Balharun?" Chen Xia's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked.
Luna looked at her and replied, "It was a school that selected high elves. More than that, it was a school established by a god to choose the elf king."
"A g-god?" Eiran's eyes widened in shock.
"That's definitely different from modern times." Chen Xia marveled.
A school founded by a god—it was unimaginable in the present day.
"Lady Luna, have you ever met a god in person?"
"Yeah, I have."
"Wow. That's amazing. To have actually met a god…"
"I'm not the only one. That guy's met them too." Luna pointed at Leo, who was walking behind them with an indifferent expression. "Anyone who made a name for themselves during the Age of Calamity has met a god at least once."
Luna spoke as if gods were nothing more than pebbles on the side of the road.
Eiran and Chen Xia turned to Leo in admiration.
"Gods must be full of wisdom, right?"
"Are they truly omniscient and omnipotent?"
Luna smiled. "Gods are nothing but idiots, perverts, and incompetent trash."
Eiran and Chen Xia froze in shock at Luna's completely unexpected response.
"Not all of them are like that."
"Yeah, there are a few decent ones, but most of them are useless."
Luna, ever the skeptic, spoke bluntly. Leo agreed with her assessment.
Most gods, having lived through endless eons, were hedonists.
Just look at the kind of people they put into the Hero Record.
Many of those granted the title of hero were utterly unworthy, and the gods had done it purely for their own amusement, completely indifferent to what happened to the lower world as a result. They did it simply because they found it fun.
Anyone who understood the true nature of gods would realize they weren't particularly reliable beings.
Hearing the testimonies of two Great Heroes who had experienced gods firsthand, Eiran's face fell. "This is nothing like the fairy tales or storybooks…"
"Of course not. Reality is always harsher. Most stories are just lies. The more you wake up to reality, the more you grow up." Luna patted Eiran's head.
Leo then spoke to her, "Yeah, just like you."
"What do you mean, just like me?" Luna narrowed her eyes.
Leo pulled a book out of his coat. Everyone except Luna recognized it immediately.
[The Hero of the Beginning], a children's storybook.
It was the first book about heroes that nearly everyone in the world read as a child.
Leo opened it to the character introduction page. There, an illustration of Luna was drawn, smiling warmly like the embodiment of spring.
"A benevolent elf, the Nebula Pioneer Luna? What's this supposed to be? You have nothing to do with benevolence."
"I am benevolent." Luna shamelessly snatched the book from Leo's hand and swung it at him.
As he dodged her attacks, Chen Xia asked, "Then, Lady Luna, were you a candidate for elf king?"
"No. The elves back then were corrupt in a lot of ways." Luna replied indifferently. "They would never have chosen a lowborn elf like me as their ruler."
"There was a similar incident in elven society recently."
Luna clicked her tongue at Chen Xia's remark. "Figures. Elves as a race are completely rotten."
Eiran looked awkward, while Leo shook his head.
"You're an elf yourself, you know."
Elves were known for their immense racial pride, but having seen too much ugliness growing up, Luna had no attachment to that pride.
"It's just the truth." Luna grinned and playfully tugged at the tips of her ears. "But I don't hate all elves!"
She suddenly pulled Eiran into a hug, rubbing her cheek against Eiran's head. "Aww, my adorable little Eiran."
Watching Luna affectionately spoil Eiran the way she had once treated Velkia, Leo smirked.
Eiran, for her part, didn't seem to mind, smiling bashfully.
"Anyway, whatever it might have been like at the start, Balharun turned into a complete mess. That's why I like Lumene way better."
At Luna's words, Chen Xia nodded.
As they talked, the four of them arrived at the club district. The reason for their visit was simple—Luna had wanted to check it out.
"Hiik?!"
"L-Leo Plov?!"
"It's the student council president!"
As the four entered the area, the busy students immediately screamed the moment they spotted Leo and Chen Xia. They averted their eyes and fled without hesitation.
Luna looked around in confusion. "What the heck? Why is everyone running away like they just saw some kind of plague carrier?"
"Sir Leo is like the Grim Reaper to the clubs."
"The Grim Reaper?"
"Yes." Chen Xia giggled and explained.
When Leo had first become student council president, he had inspected every club. During that process, several clubs had their budgets slashed. It wasn't done arbitrarily—it had been a thorough audit.
From then on, club presidents would instinctively cower whenever they saw Leo.
"Which club do you want to visit first?"
"It has to be one related to magic, right?"
"Then the Magic Engineering Department."
Leo headed toward the Magic Engineering Department.
"Kyaaaaaah?!"
Fifth-year magic student Jaime Dect, the former head of the Magic Engineering Department, screamed the moment he saw Leo entering the department. He immediately hid behind a curtain, trembling as if he had just seen the devil.
Luna tilted her head, intrigued by his terrified reaction. She took Leo's hand, pulled him in front of Jaime, and yanked the curtain open.
"Kieeeeeeeek!"
Like a vampire exposed to sunlight, Jaime clutched his face, twisted his body in agony, and let out a pained shriek.
Luna watched with amusement, then closed the curtain again. The moment Jaime calmed down, she pulled it open once more.
"Kyaaaaah!"
Swish!
"This is really fun."
Leo, seeing the mischievous glint in Luna's eyes, shoved her toward Eiran and said, "Please stop screaming. We're not here about the budget today."
"R-Really?" Jaime cautiously peeked out from behind the curtain, his eyes still filled with fear.
"Yes. And besides, Senior, you're in the graduating class. What does it matter if your budget gets cut or not?"
"I-It matters! Even after I leave, the Magic Engineering Department's research must continue!" Jaime declared firmly.
"Sure. That's why we're not cutting your budget."
Only then did Jaime fully step out from behind the curtain, finally relieved.
"Then why are you here?" Jaime asked, puzzled.
Leo gestured toward Luna and Eiran. "We have some visitors who wanted to look around."
"Exchange students from Seiren?" Jaime adjusted his glasses.
Luna smiled brightly and asked, "What kind of magic does the Magic Engineering Department research?"
"A recent project we started is the Magic of Blooming Flowers."
"What?" Luna's eyes widened.
Jaime continued, "As a Seiren student, you should know—Leo restored the Magic of Blooming Flowers spell and returned it to elven society."
Jaime pulled out a chalkboard from the corner of the room. On it, the spell formula for Magic of Blooming Flowers was drawn.
"And it was revealed that Magic of Blooming Flowers was the magic that the Nebula Pioneer, Lady Luna, had once longed for."
Last summer, it became public knowledge when Luna's world was conquered.
"Even though the spell was restored, it hasn't been fully deciphered yet. As of now, Leo is the only mage capable of using Magic of Blooming Flowers."
Jaime glanced enviously at Leo. A magic that a mage longs for represents that mage's very essence. To use the magic that someone else had longed for meant truly understanding their heart.
In that sense, Leo was the only mage in this world who understood the heart of the Nebula Pioneer.
"We want to understand the Nebula Pioneer's heart, too. That's why we're researching how to use Magic of Blooming Flowers through Introduction to Stellar Magic."
Introduction to Stellar Magic?
Luna's expression momentarily stiffened before she asked, "Why do you want to understand the Nebula Pioneer's heart?"
"That's a strange question coming from an elf." Jaime laughed, as if the answer was obvious. "That's because Lady Luna is magic itself."
"…!"
"Every mage in this world respects her."
The footprints Luna had left in the field of magic were not limited to Stellar Magic alone. Before the Age of Calamity, she had compiled and organized the magic of the past, ensuring that even after the end of the calamity, magic would take root and flourish for future generations.
"Elves like to believe that they are the only ones who truly respect Lady Luna, but actually, every mage sees her as a star in the sky." Jaime grinned. "That's why we want to understand her heart. Does that answer your question?"
Jaime smiled at Luna, who stood frozen in shock.
"Former Head! Come over here for a second!"
"Call me Honorary Head!" Jaime huffed and stomped away.
Luna stared at them.
Young mages. Distant juniors in her eyes.
She had already realized that she and the others were revered figures. She had boasted about it plenty.
But now, for the first time, she truly understood what she meant to mages.
Her heart pounded. This was something she had always wanted. She had always believed this would happen, always been confident.
However, now that it was real, it felt embarrassingly unfamiliar.
"How does it feel?" Leo chuckled as he asked.
"…What?"
"To be a shining star in the night sky?"
Luna blinked.
"Every mage in this era is a successor to the Nebula Pioneer, Luna Luminance." Leo looked at the mages of the Magic Engineering Department. "You've become a great teacher and a guiding star for mages—a beacon lighting the way, like a star in the night sky."
Luna stood there, dazed.
"This could only happen because it was you, Luna." Leo turned to face her. "And I'm really glad that you got to see this."
His gentle smile made Luna's face turn bright red. She felt like she was about to explode.
She lowered her head, covering her burning face as if steam was about to rise from it.
"Getting embarrassed all of a sudden, huh?" Leo chuckled.
Deep down, Luna screamed, This is all your fault, you idiot!