Chapter 603

Observing the final pairings, Leo remarked,

“The selection was conducted honestly through a random draw, so surely everyone is satisfied?”

“Young Master Leo! I must protest! Being partnered with such a fragile person is completely unacceptable to me!”

“For once, I actually concur with this masculine woman’s opinion!”

Voices from both genders immediately joined in the chorus of complaints as soon as the words left their mouths.

Leo cast an indifferent glance toward Niel and Machel.

“Just accept it as destiny.”

In reality, they had to pull names from the lot three separate times.

The reason for this repetition was the intense complaints raised by Niel and Machel when they were first matched together.

Yet, fortune smiled strangely as they ended up together in the second attempt, and by some unavoidable twist, their names came out as partners on the final try too.

By that stage, reshuffling the groups yet again solely for their sake would have been quite humiliating.

“Isn’t there a familiar proverb? A first occurrence is chance, a second is an inevitability, and the third time signifies destiny.”

“Young Lady Chelsea! How can you speak of such an awful thing!”

While Chelsea chuckled softly under her breath, Machel reacted with intense repulsion.

Niel displayed an identical look of horror.

“Young Master Leo! I beg of you, switch us around! Just a single additional try!”

Witnessing Machel and Niel practically shedding tears in their frantic desperation, Chelsea firmly stated,

“Absolutely not. The groups remain as they are. Return to your spots.”

As for Chelsea herself, she had successfully ended up with Leo after those very same three rounds of drawing.

Realizing that Leo remained unmoved, Niel shifted her gaze toward Celia.

Celia was currently glaring with clear annoyance at Abard, who stood right beside her.

Niel addressed Celia, hoping for an ally in her misery.

“Young Lady Celia! Surely you wish to swap your companion as well, right?”

Noticing Niel’s attempt to pull her into the dispute, Celia let out a quiet sigh.

“Sister Niel, the selection has been repeated three times now. Besides, I am content enough.”

Now that she had advanced to her second year of studies, Celia’s relationship with Abard had progressed considerably.

Having survived numerous life-or-death crises side by side through constant mutual reliance, an undeniable connection had naturally developed between them.

Just as Niel, unable to recruit Celia to her cause, was looking around for another person to plead with, a quiet voice murmured,

“My, the complaining never ends.”

“Y-Young Master Leo?”

Niel quivered in apprehension, her gaze snapping toward Leo as his soft words reached her ears.

“The two of you.”

“Present!”

“Right here!”

Pinned beneath Leo’s icy glare, Niel and Machel instinctively straightened their postures into rigid attention.

Previously, Leo had shown them proper courtesy due to their status as upperclassmen at the academy, but that polite demeanor had completely vanished.

“Are your households locked in some blood feud?”

“Since the Rhoda family serves as vassals to Jerdingger, it is only natural that we clash with a household serving Lewalin…”

“Do Jerdingger and Lewalin hunt each other down? Are they actively slaughtering one another?”

“Well… no, they aren’t.”

“Did the forebears of the Rhoda family and the Luzia family engage in mortal combat?”

“…No, they did not…”

“Then for what reason are you so eager to tear into each other? Tell me, will you carry out this petty squabbling when standing face-to-face with the fiends of Tartaros? Go ahead, answer me. Are you inexperienced children, barely out of the nursery, meant to snarl at one another during every encounter as though you are mortal foes? What is it? Is there an actual enemy standing before you? Well? Is there?!”

Shaken by the immense pressure Leo was radiating, the onlookers quietly shrank back to create some distance.

Both Niel and Machel bowed their faces toward the ground before Leo, entirely incapable of offering a single word of defense.

Even though he was technically their underclassman at the institution, they were acutely aware that his prowess had left theirs far behind.

They perceived him as vastly more mature in every conceivable way, leaving them completely speechless despite any excuses they might want to fabricate.

It was entirely justified that they were receiving a lecture for exhibiting such pathetic behavior over petty grudges and disturbing everyone in the vicinity.

Even so, a strange sensation washed over Niel and Machel, causing them to tremble at a feeling both recognizable and deeply foreign.

‘W-what exactly is this? Young Master Leo is undeniably our junior in age.’

‘So why does it feel like I am being reprimanded by an ancient elder?’

As the terrified duo broke into a cold sweat, Leo opened his mouth to say,

“In my time—!”

“Brother Leo.”

At that precise moment, Chelsea spoke up with care to interrupt him.

“Perhaps that is quite enough for now?”

Turning his eyes back to Niel and Machel, Leo offered a gentle grin.

“Since destiny has paired you up regardless, use this chance to cultivate better relations.”

Witnessing the complete dissipation of the oppressive aura as Leo reverted to his usual self, Niel and Machel could only offer dazed, mechanical nods.

“The two of you have already celebrated your adulthood rites, so let us have no more infantile squabbles.”

Catching the fleeting, sharp glint in Leo’s eyes, the pair immediately nodded with frantic intensity.

Displaying a pleased demeanor, Leo addressed the rest of the gathered followers.

“With that settled, I hope you all enjoy your day, and we shall reconvene tomorrow.”

Upon hearing his declaration, the martial warriors of Jerdingger and the spellcasters of Lewalin exchanged highly complicated, nuanced glances.

Leo and Chelsea made their way through the bustling thoroughfares.

Treading slightly behind Leo, Chelsea became aware of the variance in their steps and whispered quietly to herself.

‘Reflecting on it, our stature wasn’t nearly this mismatched when we first arrived at the academy, but the gap has grown immense by now.’

Chelsea herself had shot up considerably since her enrollment, currently undergoing her own physical development.

However, Leo’s height had increased at an even greater rate than hers, rendering the physical disparity undeniable.

Chelsea quickened her strides to keep pace with Leo’s movements.

Someone else might have harbored a bit of annoyance that Leo wasn’t regulating his pace for her, but such trivialities never bothered Chelsea.

She had come to understand something clearly by now.

‘Throughout these last two years during our shared time at Lumen, Brother Leo has constantly shielded and guided me.’

Ensuring that Chelsea would never lose heart in her pursuit of progress.

‘He acted precisely like an instructor showing a novice how to sprint.’

Yet, she could not remain a mere dependent under his wing indefinitely.

‘I refuse to become a burden that slows Brother Leo down.’

Chelsea’s current desire was no longer to simply gaze upon the trailing figure of the individual she deeply respected.

Instead, she wished to stand firmly by his side, sharing the exact same horizon that occupied the vision of the one she idolized.

Moving amidst the sea of people, Leo suddenly brought his feet to a halt.

Positioned a step behind him, Chelsea looked intently up at his broad back.

‘What sort of vista is capturing Brother Leo’s attention right now?’

Pondering this thought, Chelsea lifted herself onto the tips of her toes, straining to elevate her perspective to align with Leo’s level of vision.

Following a brief moment of balancing, an amused, self-deprecating chuckle escaped her lips.

‘How foolish of me. Matching his physical height for a second won’t magically grant me comprehension of what Brother Leo perceives.’

It had simply been an instinctive movement born from her deep-seated longing to draw a fraction closer to her idol.

“What exactly are you up to?”

“Oh, it is nothing.”

Shaking her head to dismiss Leo’s inquisitive gaze, Chelsea planted her heels back firmly on the ground.

“Setting that aside, where do you propose we look for lodging?”

“To begin with, considering our complete lack of funds, wouldn’t our priority be to acquire some currency?”

“There is something I am curious about. What made you purposefully combine members from Jerdingger and Lewalin to go on an excursion without a single coin?”

The plan Leo had put forth was far from a routine sightseeing trip.

He had used a game of chance to forcibly couple individuals from conflicting factions and commanded them to survive a full day completely broke.

“I recognize that Brother Leo intends to foster a sense of harmony between Jerdingger and Lewalin, but did it truly require such an extreme approach?”

“If you wish to forge a friendship between individuals who harbor mutual dislike, subjecting them to shared adversity is necessary.”

“And that takes the form of a cashless journey?”

“It involves far more than merely lacking funds, doesn’t it?”

Leo let out a quiet laugh.

Prior to letting everyone go their separate ways,

Leo had established the strict regulations governing the day.

Rule one: Initiate the journey without a single piece of coin.

Rule two: The invocation of aura as well as sorcery is entirely barred.

Rule three: Under no circumstances are you to camp outdoors.

Rule four: Refrain from engaging in conflict.

When Leo cryptically warned them that violating any of these constraints would result in a highly memorable penalty, the retainers of both households experienced a collective shudder of dread.

Chelsea still harbored some skepticism regarding whether this exercise would truly bridge the gap between the rivals.

“In truth, it yields remarkable results. It happens to be a tactic that Lysinas once employed.”

“Lord Lysinas did that?”

Chelsea’s eyes grew large with astonishment at Leo’s revelation.

“Hold on, does that imply that even the Legendary Heroes were at odds initially? Just how terrible was their relationship to necessitate such an extreme solution?”

Spotting the vivid curiosity glittering in Chelsea’s eyes, Leo gave a light laugh.

“It was used on myself and Luna.”

“Pardon? Brother Leo and Lady Luna?”

Chelsea appeared thoroughly taken aback.

During Luna’s recent stay within Lumen, she and Leo had demonstrated an impeccable level of coordination.

They seemed capable of reading each other’s intentions through a mere exchange of glances.

To Chelsea, the notion that two individuals possessing such flawless synergy could have once shared a hostile relationship was utterly mind-boggling.

“Luna and I possessed completely incompatible temperaments from our very first encounter.”

The dynamic between Luna, who overflowed with self-assurance and claimed absolute competence back then, and Kyle, who viewed the entire world through a deeply cynical lens, was inevitably doomed to be highly volatile from the start.

Furthermore, Kyle carried an intensely sharp, sarcastic edge during that period. Consequently, he never held back from delivering biting remarks directly to Luna.

‘While Lysinas tended to suppress his grievances until he finally reached a breaking point, Luna would instantly retaliate with full force.’

While Kyle suffered from a warped disposition, Luna possessed an utterly erratic nature.

Unable to endure watching them bicker on a near-daily basis, Lysinas finally lost patience and resorted to an ultimate remedy.

“So that is the history behind it. Honestly, if anyone other than Brother Leo had recounted this, I would have dismissed it as fiction.”

Chelsea let out a bright giggle.

“Picturing Brother Leo and Lady Luna acting like Celia and myself is simply beyond my imagination.”

‘The animosity between you and Celia doesn’t even come close.’

Leo thought to himself with an internal smirk.

Still, to preserve both his own reputation and Luna’s dignity, he refrained from voicing that thought aloud.

“In that case, did you and Lady Luna navigate a town without any money, much like what we are doing today?”

“No, nothing of the sort.”

“What?”

“Lysinas completely suppressed both my power and Luna’s magical energy before dumping us right into the heart of a wilderness crawling with vicious beasts.”

Chelsea’s face registered pure shock at Leo’s explanation.

“Even for someone of Lord Lysinas’s stature, is such a feat actually possible?”

Suppressing the most formidable spellcaster to ever live alongside an individual of equivalent might simultaneously seemed unthinkable.

“Lysinas possessed incredible mastery over summoning arts, which naturally made him exceptionally adept at drafting deceptive agreements.”

“A d-deceptive agreement?”

Leo offered a casual remark upon noting Chelsea’s stunned expression.

“Indeed. Trickery is that particular reptile’s greatest talent. You witnessed firsthand how he tricked me into matrimony, correct?”

“……”

Confronted with Leo’s blunt words, Chelsea found herself entirely at a loss for an appropriate response.

“At any rate, once they undergo a modicum of hardship, they should naturally forge some cooperation.”

“Are you certain they will truly struggle?”

Chelsea remained unconvinced.

The retainers participating in this excursion consisted entirely of youth who possessed minimal knowledge of the real world.

Nonetheless, even stripped of their reliance on aura and spellcraft, they remained elite servants representing the prestigious names of Jerdingger and Lewalin.

Every single one of them had been hailed as a prodigy since their earliest years.

Chelsea found it highly unlikely that such capable figures would meet with serious difficulty.

“You would be amazed at how severely they will struggle.”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“They are aristocrats who have spent their entire existences traveling down a privileged track. Channeling aura and weaving magic comes to them as instinctively as drawing breath. Now, suddenly find their lineage, their gold, and their intrinsic skills entirely locked away. They are bound to endure an incredibly miserable experience, don’t you think?”

Despite their status as retainers, they all originated from high-born lineages.

The moment they attempt to navigate everyday tasks manually, they will undoubtedly find themselves utterly bewildered.

“Is that so?”

Despite Leo’s logical explanation, Chelsea continued to tilt her head to the side, unable to fully grasp the concept.

Gazing down at Chelsea, Leo let out an amused sound.

“You can experience it firsthand right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“To start off, why don’t you take charge of securing our accommodations for tonight?”

“By myself?”

Indicating her own chest with a finger, Chelsea’s eyes went wide.

“Should I intervene, the task would be settled instantaneously. That would defeat the purpose of the challenge, wouldn’t it?”

“That makes sense.”

“Therefore, give it your absolute best effort alone.”

“For some reason, this makes it feel like I am acting as Brother Leo’s provider.”

“Does that displease you?”

“Not at all, I believe it will be quite entertaining.”

Chelsea declared with absolute certainty,

“After all, these are precisely the sorts of mundane tasks that Kyle always managed without breaking a sweat, correct?”

Clearing her throat with a proud clearing sound, Chelsea threw her chest out and announced victoriously,

“Just watch me, I am going to provide Brother Leo with an incredibly lavish excursion today!”