Chapter 581

Eliza and Carr stayed up late gathering as much information as possible about Lumene’s World.

They were limited by the late hour and their inability to leave the room, but they still managed to learn a great deal.

'It’s fortunate that Clary Jesiang, the person Carr Thomas possessed, is the Student Council President.'

The room was filled with documents related to the Student Council President’s duties.

Thanks to them, Eliza was able to gain a general understanding of Lumene’s current situation.

'The Dragon of Genesis, Rodia; the Comet Mage, Seiren; the Great Warrior, Azonia; and even the Unbreakable, Damienne...'

All the prominent figures considered successors to the Great Heroes had gathered at Lumene.

“If something serious enough to bring the Genesis Heroes together again happened, it should have been recorded in history. But as far as I know, the Genesis Heroes never gathered at Lumene.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Isn’t knowing the history of the school you attend basic knowledge?”

“It’s a little strange hearing something so honor-student-like coming from you.”

“Hmph. It is basic knowledge. You know every useless little thing, yet you’re ignorant when it comes to this?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Carr shrugged.

“In any case, even after Calamity’s Return came to an end, it was extremely rare for all the Genesis Heroes to gather in one place.”

After the Age of Chaos ended, those who had saved the world had no choice but to devote themselves to rebuilding it.

As a result, they rarely had opportunities to gather.

“Yet such an important event happened at Lumene Academy without leaving any trace in history? Then the reason they gathered must be the key to clearing this Hero’s World.”

“Exactly.”

Eliza looked satisfied.

She crossed her legs as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“First, we need to determine how many challengers entered this World.”

That was essential whenever someone became caught inside a Hero Dungeon.

“All the Lumene second-years competing in the event should be inside this World.”

The area where the Lumene students had been waiting was clearly within the Hero’s World’s activation range.

“Not only us. All the second-years from the other academies who were waiting to compete must have been caught up in it too.”

“How do you know?”

“I checked right before we entered.”

“You had time to confirm that amid all that chaos?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm...”

Eliza narrowed her eyes.

“You certainly are quick on your feet.”

“Oh? Was that a compliment?”

“Did it sound like one?”

Carr snickered.

“Anyway, now that we’ve sorted out the situation, we should get at least a little sleep.”

Carr checked the clock.

There was still some time left to sleep.

“And where are you planning to sleep?”

“The bed, obviously. This is the room of the person I possessed.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The bed is mine.”

“Are you suggesting we sleep together?”

“Judging by that vulgar joke, you must have a death wish.”

When Eliza asked in an icy voice, Carr grinned shamelessly and lay down on the floor.

Eliza scoffed down at him before lying on the bed and pulling the blanket over herself.

She turned sharply away from Carr and was about to fall asleep when he spoke.

“By the way, Eliza. How has your training been going lately?”

“You ignored it until now, and you’re only asking me about it?”

Eliza scoffed with her back still turned to him.

“My training won’t fall apart just because you aren’t there. It’s going well. I’ve even grown somewhat accustomed to that damn pain.”

“Weren’t you already used to pain? Sometimes you laughed like you’d lost your mind.”

“I told you never to bring that up again.”

Eliza turned toward Carr with a scowl.

“Sorry I couldn’t pay more attention to you. Elena Sunbae caught me and kept exploiting my labor. I wanted to help you as much as possible, but I simply couldn’t get away.”

Still lying down, Carr folded his hands behind his head and crossed his legs.

He stared at the ceiling and muttered,

“Then again, you’ll do perfectly well without me.”

“If you knew that, why did you offer to help without understanding your own situation?”

Eliza spoke irritably.

“You should have worried about yourself instead of me. If you had, you might have improved even a little and avoided expulsion.”

“Hmm. Honestly, I don’t think that would have happened.”

“True.”

“...Aren’t you agreeing a little too quickly?”

Carr gave a hollow laugh before continuing.

“I just wanted to help you.”

“Why?”

“Because you weren’t acting like yourself back then.”

“Pardon?”

Eliza’s eyes widened slightly.

“The Eliza Hergin I know isn’t someone who doubts her own potential.”

Carr smiled.

“You’re arrogant and seem to look down on others, but you’re actually responsible and take good care of the people around you.”

Eliza was the leader of Lumene’s second-year Summoning Department.

She had not brought the entire department under her command through strength alone.

The second-year summoning students genuinely respected and followed her.

She could never have earned that much trust if she were merely haughty and dismissive of others.

It was possible because she had led those around her ever since enrollment, declaring that she would make the Summoning Department the strongest.

“Whenever you reach your limit, you find a way to overcome it no matter what it takes. That suits you best. That’s why I wanted to help.”

Eliza stared blankly at Carr.

A moment later, she clenched her fist.

“Carr Thomas.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for the cruel things I said back then.”

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. I didn’t take it to heart. It was true, wasn’t it?”

“It wasn’t.”

Eliza tilted her head.

“Not one of us thinks you’re unimpressive. Neither do I. Despite what I said earlier... I wouldn’t have endured Leo Plov’s training without your help.”

Eliza met Carr’s gaze.

Carr looked flustered by her sudden sincerity.

“Hey, why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“So don’t give up.”

“Huh?”

“You’re still useful in many ways.”

“...”

Carr scratched his cheek.

Then he smiled faintly.

“I haven’t given up. I’ll struggle as hard as I can.”

“Hmm?”

“But if I do get expelled, don’t pretend you don’t know me. Connections become incredibly important once you leave school.”

Eliza chuckled.

“If that’s what you’re worried about, would you like to be friends?”

“Huh?”

Carr’s mouth fell open.

“Consider it an honor. As the heir to House Hergin, I’m acknowledging a mere commoner like you as my equal.”

Carr scratched his head before grinning broadly.

“I’m so honored I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Yeah. As long as you understand.”

Eliza giggled.

Carr stared at her with a strange expression.

'Now that she’s speaking informally, it feels incredibly awkward. I can’t get used to it.'

“Since we’re friends now, make sure you advance to third year.”

“I keep telling you, that isn’t something I can accomplish through effort alone.”

Eliza glanced at him and raised her chin.

“For someone who claims he hasn’t given up, you’re pathetically unmotivated.”

“Well, maybe I’d feel more motivated if there were an additional prize at stake.”

“Pathetic.”

Eliza clicked her tongue.

Carr grinned shamelessly at her.

“If you’re grateful for the help I gave you during training, how about repaying the favor? If I advance to third year, grant me one wish. Who knows? It might motivate me a little more.”

Eliza sat upright.

Expecting an immediate reprisal, Carr curled into a ball with a frightened yelp.

But the whipping he expected never came.

“Fine.”

“Huh?”

Carr raised his head.

Eliza sat with her legs crossed and her elbow resting on her knee, supporting her chin with one hand as she smiled at him.

“I’ll grant you any one wish. So show me that you can be a little more motivated.”

“Really?”

Carr stared at her in disbelief.

“A member of House Hergin never goes back on their word.”

“Really? You mean it? You’ll do whatever I ask?”

Carr sprang forward, grabbed Eliza’s hand, and questioned her excitedly.

“What... exactly are you planning to make me do?”

Eliza narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but Carr leaped to his feet.

“All right! I’ll advance to third year no matter what it takes!”

Eliza stared at him in disbelief. Then she looked down at the hand he had grabbed and let out a quiet chuckle.

“Well, before that, clearing this Hero’s World comes first.”

After burning with enthusiasm for a while, Carr turned serious.

“Yeah, you’re right. You at least know the most basic method of clearing a possession-type World, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

Carr smiled confidently.

“We have to behave like the people whose bodies we’ve possessed. Eliza, you don’t have many clues, so you haven’t been able to learn much about the person you possessed. But I’ve already figured mine out completely.”

“Oh? How?”

Eliza looked intrigued.

“The dormitory supervisor’s reaction earlier, the fact that Megin Shell—the person you possessed—broke the school rules to be here in the middle of the night, and most importantly...”

Carr opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a small wooden box he had discovered while searching earlier.

Click—

When he opened it, they found it filled with expensive women’s hairpins.

“These all seem to belong to different women. Judging by his habit of collecting things like these...”

Carr clicked his tongue.

“This man was quite the womanizer.”

“Impressive deduction. So, do you think you can act like him?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.”

===

'Right. You’re certainly good at it.'

Eliza smiled coldly.

'You hit on every woman you see, huh? It must be your true calling.'

Clary Jesiang was the second prince of Jesiang, a magical kingdom located in the center of the continent.

He was also skilled enough to become Lumene’s first Student Council President.

He possessed a powerful background and overwhelming ability.

Combined with his personality, those advantages had made him a Casanova who left romantic scandals everywhere he went.

Carr did his utmost to portray Clary faithfully.

The harder he tried, the more murderous Eliza’s gaze became.

'I might actually die once the two of us are alone.'

He was only doing his best at what had to be done!

Carr was on the verge of tears when a contemptuous voice rang out from the distance.

“I’d heard the rumors, but isn’t he just a stallion in heat?!”

An elf approached with her arms crossed.

As she confidently strode toward them with her shoulders squared, the Lumene female students gathered around Carr began to murmur.

“That’s Seiren’s Student Council President.”

“What does she want? Did she come to provoke us right before the exchange match?”

Carr narrowed his eyes at Seiren’s Student Council President, Seira Tingel.

'Seira Tingel. The younger sister of Seiren, the Comet Mage.'

Since Seiren never had children, Seira would also become the true progenitor of House Tingel.

“You damn stallion! You’ve got such a stupid-looking face!”

The students murmured as Seira shouted at Carr with her arms crossed.

“Doesn’t Seiren’s Student Council President seem a little different?”

“You’re right. Her speech has become quite rough. I heard she was incredibly dignified.”

'Could she possibly...?'

Carr stared suspiciously at Seira, whose mannerisms felt strangely familiar.

“Don’t you agree, Azonia-nim?”

“Books written by beastkin are... more... i-interesting than I expected.”

“Nyaaaaaaah! I told you not to do things like that with that face!”

“Eeeeeek?!”

Seira charged at Azonia.

Azonia looked terrified as Seira rampaged with a bright-red face.

Eliza understood the situation and covered her face.

Carr muttered blankly,

'Ar is inside Seira, and Eiran is inside Azonia-nim.'