♢ Student Council General Affairs Officer Teresia’s POV ♢
In the parlor of Lykeion Magic Academy’s student council building, a massive monitor displayed the various floors of the Last Dungeon via the Satellite System. If students got themselves in trouble while exploring the Last Dungeon but the dungeon staff were too busy to rescue them, members of the Student Council Task Force would go in their stead.
However, we weren’t in a state of emergency at the moment. The atmosphere in the student council room was quiet and peaceful. I’d settled into a corner of the parlor, dealing with paperwork while drinking some tea I’d prepared for myself. When I heard murmuring around me, I looked up to see, projected on the monitor, a student facing off against the Boss of the 10th Level. Apparently, that student was rescuing explorers from the Blue Sea Union. Not only that, but he was an acquaintance of mine.
Eugene? He was the student who, just the other day, had dropped by the student council with the otherworlder, Sumire. I heard the jeering of the other spectators from all corners of the room.
“Would you look at that? The backdoor Barrier Master’s gone up to the 10th Level.”
“Huh. He’s always skulking around the lower levels. What’s he doing up there?”
“I bet he’s trying to act all cool and tough around that reincarnator girl.”
I sighed internally. How unfortunate. As Warriors in the Advanced Course, they had no reason to direct such antagonism toward Eugene, who was a General Education student. I agreed it was odd to see Eugene in a Boss’s territory, though. In fact, this could be my first time seeing him there.
Curious, I set down my pen and kept my eyes on the screen. Eugene was acting as bait to distract the Boss from the Blue Sea Union explorers, who were clearly weaker than he was. When they’d had a chance to escape, he proceeded to fend off the Troll all by himself.
Amazing! And I wasn’t the only one who thought so. The insults turned to whispers of awe.
“Whoa, that was...awesome?”
“Don’t you usually need a team of over ten people to challenge a Boss?”
“Look! He ended up keeping the Boss busy all by himself!”
“Damn, did Eugene finally start getting serious?” someone said as he leaned against my table, blocking my view of the screen.
Ugh! Who is this?! I looked up to see a handsome male student with blond hair looking down at me.
“Hey, Teresia,” he said. “Got a minute?”
“Oh, Claude. Welcome. Is there something you need?”
Claude Percival was a student in the same year as me. As a Hero-in-Training, he was quite well-known around the school.
“Well, I forgot to hand in my expedition request. My captain chewed me out for that, so I brought you my form.”
“Not again with late applications... How many times does this make it?”
“Sorry, sorry.” He raised a hand and winked at me. Was his apology really sincere?
I accepted the form from him and thought of his earlier words. “Claude, do I remember correctly that you’re close with Eugene?”
“Yeah. He’s the one in charge of taking care of my partner, and I’ve asked him to accompany me on expeditions a few times too. He’s a real stand-up fellow.”
“Oh?” You don’t hear that every day.
Eugene was in General Education, while Claude was in the Hero Course. Only a handful of the over ten thousand students in Lykeion Magic Academy were permitted to enroll in the Hero Course, and Claude was one of the chosen. Yet, from Claude’s perspective, Eugene was worthy of respect.
Just then, the monitor displaying the 10th Level caught our attention.
“Oh, there’s Eugene again,” Claude said.
“Mm-hmm. But is he really going to fight the Boss himself?” I wondered aloud as Eugene, wielding a crimson magic sword in one hand, stepped into the Boss’s territory.
I heard the more combative students scoffing:
“Hah! He’ll never defeat the Boss!”
“He can’t attack with that magic sword!”
“We could take down the 10th Level Boss easily!”
“Yeah! Our team wouldn’t even break a sweat!”
They really view Eugene as a rival of sorts, huh?
“Hey, Teresia,” Claude whispered into my ear. “Why do they hate Eugene so much?”
Your face is too close. “It’s because President Sara likes him. They’re not happy about that.”
“Oh, so it’s about Sara, eh? Yeah, she’s got a keen interest in that guy.”
“That reminds me. President Sara’s in the Hero Course too. Do you two often chat with each other?”
“Nah, Sara’s always busy, so we never have the time. She has to carry out her duties as the student council president as well as take on missions as a Saint Candidate, right? Now she’s what I would consider a bona fide monster.”
“Please don’t use such insulting language to talk about her.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
I was a little angry at Claude for describing President Sara, whom I respected, as a monster. I doubted he’d meant it derisively, though.
A roar rose from the audience in the student council room. I looked up at the screen just in time to see Eugene slice off the Boss’s arm.
“Huuuh?! That was wicked!”
“He’s gonna defeat it, isn’t he?!”
“N-No way!”
Everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen as, all by himself, Eugene killed the Troll that served as the Boss of the 10th Level.
“H-He defeated it?”
“He downed a Boss, all on his own?”
“Th-This has to be a joke.”
“Who even remembers the last time someone defeated a Boss without any help?”
“I’ve never seen anyone accomplish such a feat.”
The buzz of conversation never ceased, and everyone looked bewildered at what they’d just witnessed. Claude, still standing next to me, was the only one who didn’t seem surprised.
“Nice work, Eugene,” he said.