NOVEL NEXT Chapter 90
As mentioned earlier, the world is home to five kingdoms and an empire.
Strangely, the empire and these five kingdoms touch borders around a central point.
At the heart of that border lies a statue representing the World Union.
A great hero who once halted a seemingly endless world war.
Olfraim.
Beside that great hero, Olfraim, were five companions who followed him.
Each hailed from different nations.
Thus, after the war, they scattered to their respective countries to establish academies for peace.
These academies were named after the six heroes.
However, Olfraim’s nation was the first to be destroyed during the war.
This was due to it being the central country bordering all other nations.
To honor the great hero Olfraim, the center of what was once his nation was designated as a sanctuary.
And so, the Sanctuary of Olfraim was built.
This is the venue for the upcoming meeting.
To honor his heroic deeds, peace must be maintained at the Sanctuary of Olfraim above all else.
This is a universally acknowledged principle among the empire and the five kingdoms.
If this principle is violated, it would mean turning the entire world into enemies.
Moreover, one would lose all social legitimacy.
Therefore, it was the perfect location for a meeting of members from the academy who would someday become key figures in the world.
‘After all, the international individual competition will also take place here.’
The international individual competition held every three years.
It was for this reason that my group and I came to the Sanctuary of Olfraim.
“Welcome, Jerion Academy student council members. We’ve been waiting for you.”
As we stepped off the carriage, a distinguished old gentleman and several waiting maids approached us.
The Sanctuary of Olfraim is a place where even the emperor of the empire pays respects to the great hero Olfraim.
Thus, they were quite experienced in attending to distinguished guests.
“Iris Haishirion, Sharine Sazarith, Isabel Luna, Hanon Irey. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I will be your guide, Monoriji.”
“Nice to meet you, Monoriji. I appreciate your help.”
Iris responded with a poised elegance befitting a princess.
Those who worked in the Sanctuary of Olfraim were individuals who had given up their titles to honor the great hero.
As such, it was only proper to show them respect, even as royalty.
“Yes, I’m the one who should be saying that.”
With a smile, Monoriji began to guide us, while Isabel and I followed behind, watching Iris closely.
Indeed, she exuded grace that was hard to imagine belonging to someone who had just been having a petty eye fight with Isabel.
“I didn’t know Iris had such a personality.”
As Isabel said, Iris typically didn’t show her true nature.
She always put forth a refined and confident appearance befitting her status as a princess.
It was rare for her to show any personal desires like she did today.
But Iris had changed a lot lately.
Her previously restrained personality had unexpectedly shown itself more frequently.
Just earlier in the carriage, for instance.
Iris hardly ever displayed possessiveness towards anyone.
“That’s thanks to you.”
Isabel’s gaze lingered on me.
Iris tended to show her true nature most often in my presence.
“It’s probably because she’s been getting good sleep.”
These days, Iris’s hobby had become sleeping, as she tried to catch some shut-eye whenever possible.
Of course, it seemed she still couldn’t sleep well unless I was close by.
“So that’s all thanks to you.”
Well, that much was true.
Not being able to deny it, Isabel followed Iris with a slightly sulky expression.
“Hanon.”
At that moment, Sharine suddenly bumped her head against my back.
“I think I know one thing about Hanon’s future.”
“What is it?”
“You might get stabbed.”
I pinched Sharine’s cheeks in retaliation.
Don’t say something like that, even as a joke.
“Ugh.”
As Sharine covered her reddened cheeks with her hands, I also followed the two.
The conference hall built in the Sanctuary of Olfraim had pristine white marble floors.
The meeting room was visibly luxurious.
Rather than feeling lavish, it gave off a refreshing ambiance.
‘That means the architect must have put in tremendous effort.’
It was said to be a structure crafted by the finest architects of the time.
Naturally, the building was impressive to behold.
As I walked along a path that had even the natural light meticulously designed, a spacious plaza appeared ahead.
There, a round table awaited us.
Six chairs symbolizing the empire and the five kingdoms sat around it, along with decorations of white doves representing the harmony of peace.
Behind them, dozens of chairs were arranged around the round table.
The representatives of each nation would sit at the center, while others would take seats for discussion.
‘In fact, this is a place that’s hard to find even in games.’
The international individual competition occurs only once every three years.
Thus, reaching a considerable level of relationship with Iris by the second semester of my second year was just part of the process.
This place was one that required clearing specific items and hidden quests leading up to it.
So, it wasn’t a location one could easily visit just by wanting to.
“Looks like someone’s already here.”
Isabel remarked as she scanned the area around the round table.
It’s customary for all representatives to sit at the round table together once everyone from each nation has arrived.
So, although no one was seated at the table yet, there were people in other chairs.
They were all students about our age.
Students from academies other than Jerion Academy.
They were students from the five kingdoms.
Their eyes turned toward us all at once.
“Jerion Academy.”
“Oh, then that must be…”
“I’ve heard rumors, but they truly are astonishingly good-looking.”
The center of attention was undoubtedly Iris.
The 3rd Princess representing the empire and renowned for her incredible skills even abroad, it was only natural for her to be the focal point.
“Then, the one behind her…”
“Is said to be a wizard who awakened to Mirinae.”
“She’s the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord.”
Next, all eyes shifted to Sharine.
As the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord and a magical genius, it was inevitable that she would be well-known.
However, Sharine herself let out a lazy yawn, seemingly uninterested in the attention.
Predictably, she was someone who had little concern for others’ evaluations.
“Over there…”
“Has an entirely different vibe from Iris.”
“Like a sun.”
The third to draw attention was Isabel.
Isabel had an appearance that contrasted sharply with Iris.
If Iris were a dark night, Isabel was a bright day.
As the main heroine, her outstanding looks didn’t pale even beside Iris.
In fact, the contrast between their differing auras made them even more striking.
Now, was it my turn?
“And the one behind.”
“Who’s that?”
“I haven’t seen them before.”
“They have the same hair and eye color as the 3rd Princess.”
“Are they perhaps related to the Duke of Robliju?”
I relaxed my tensed back.
Of course.
While Hanon had decent looks, there was no way she compared to the heroines.
Though her hair and eye color akin to Iris’s would draw some attention.
Most likely, nobody even knew her name.
“Still, she’s pretty cute.”
“Small—must be a 1st year?”
“Possibly.”
What the heck, who’s the last one?
Suddenly, chills ran down my spine.
If I find out who said that, I swear I’ll have to take them down for the sake of world peace.
Regardless, we entered the room, attracting a lot of attention.
Once seated, led by Iris, the murmurs began to fade.
In the meantime, I quickly scanned the room.
One of the kingdoms had yet to arrive, leaving me an opportunity to familiarize myself with key figures from other academies.
‘Usually, I wouldn’t have much interaction with students from different academies.’
But now, the protagonist Lucas was missing from this world.
I had to make up for my shortcomings elsewhere.
My eyes swiftly swept over the students.
They were representatives from each academy, serving as the president or vice president.
Because of that, they all appeared quite extraordinary.
Nonetheless, there were three individuals I needed to pay special attention to.
Fantasia Kingdom, Panisis.
Son of Shadow.
Vice President, Solvas Umbra.
He was chatting with others, looking relaxed.
You could tell he had good social skills.
His ability to handle people was apparent.
Divine Kingdom, Reum.
Noble Saint.
President, Akrede Nareah.
The composed saint sat in silence.
But knowing what her true background was, I could tell she’d experience difficulties without anyone noticing.
Seeing her in person, I couldn’t help but wonder how she had hidden all that.
Sky Kingdom, Paradon.
The only prince.
President, Ergo Paradon.
His face sported a mix of arrogance and confidence.
The pride of always being the best was consistent.
They were all formidable figures who had made their names known abroad.
With these three, Iris and Sharine completed the group of six stars.
‘And then…’
Although Lucas would eventually rise to make a group of seven stars, it was now a story that could never come to fruition.
However, there was one more important character that had yet to make their appearance.
One of the six stars waiting to be revealed.
‘Is it soon?’
Currently, among the five kingdoms, the most impoverished kingdom, facing a path of decline due to repeated policy failures.
Fallen Kingdom, Prelitz.
That’s where the person I was waiting for was.
Clop, clop—
In that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed in the conference hall.
All eyes naturally turned toward the sound.
As my gaze followed the footsteps, I observed four figures walking in.
Fallen Kingdom, Prelitz.
A nation that had fallen endlessly under its incompetent king.
The students from the Academy Ordo established there.
The foremost figure walked in with their body hunched, appearing rather shabby.
It looked like they wanted to flee from the gazes of the crowd, but were forced to lead due to their status.
Behind them, two of the three wore very grim expressions.
They looked displeased to be present in this gathering.
“Pfft.”
“What a shameful sight.”
The children gathered here were still young.
So it seemed that some had yet to overcome the intoxication of their abilities and looked down on others.
But among them, there was just one person.
One who could not be laughed at.
She reminded me of a blue flame.
No one could mock her.
With her short, bright blue hair and blue eyes.
And her straight posture.
She radiated brilliance in that place.
‘Finally.’
She possessed the most similar strength to the extinguished flame of Lucas.
Unyielding Blue Flame
Eve
The protagonist of the spin-off in the game, “Magung Slayer Series.”
**The Rise of the Blue Flame.**