Chapter 13: Transfer Students

April rolled around, and Allen and his friends became second-year students. Today marked the start of the new academic year for the 2,600 students who had cleared their summer break assignment the previous year.

At this particular school, students in different grades attended classes in separate buildings, each with their own station along the magic train route. Allen’s group made their commute to their new school building and walked into the room with the same number as their previous classroom.

There were already many familiar faces in the classroom. Although it was a new school year, the class rosters had not been shuffled. The idea was that, for three years, the students would share the same classes and same room number, graduate as a group, then fight together on the battlefield.

When Allen headed for his usual seat, he found Rifol already in the seat in front, just like the year before.

“Morning, Allen.”

“Hey, morning, Rifol. Been a while.”

While settling in, Allen took a look around the room. There were thirty seats just as before, but only twenty-seven students. The missing three had failed to clear their summer break assignment and thus had been expelled.

“By the way, do you have any intel on who’s coming?”

“For once, I’m as in the dark as you are,” Rifol replied.

Well, since there are three seats, I guess we can at least figure that there’ll be three transfer students, right?

Before spring break, Allen had learned from Rifol that several transfer students would be joining their class. There was a reason for this transfer program. Specifically, in the second semester of this school year—meaning, after summer break—the second-year class would be learning Demon Lord history. Why after summer break? Because the second-year summer break assignment was the reason behind the majority of dropouts, and there was no need for dropouts to know the truth.

In this kingdom, information about the Demon Lord was strictly controlled. After all, the Demon Lord was a problem far beyond what Ratash could deal with on its own. Those in power had concluded that no good would come from allowing the general populace to know the truth of the world, and that it could even lead to a great deal of harm, not least destabilizing the economy and fostering discontent toward the powers that be.

Curriculum Leading Up to the Demon Lord History Class

• Year 1, before summer: History and geography of Ratash
• Year 1, after summer: History and geography of the other countries of the Central Continent
• Year 2, before summer: Geography of the world
• Year 2, after summer: Demon Lord history

Information was nowhere near as widely available as it had been in Allen’s previous life. There were magic tools for communicating over long distances, but they were accessible only to a small handful of people. Among the student body were mere commoners and serfs born in remote villages; it was possible they might not even believe the Demon Lord history they were to be taught. At the very least, their parents would have never mentioned anything of the sort. Each person had a limit to what they could believe. However, for the sake of the third-year curriculum—and for their approaching time on the battlefield—the students needed to be convinced of the truth regarding the rest of the world and the Demon Lord. And there was one particular way to do so.

“All right, all right! Seats, everyone!”

Carlova, the class’s homeroom teacher, lumbered into the classroom, wearing clothes that looked one size too small for him and seemed at constant risk of bursting due to his bulging muscles. Three others followed behind him and lined up in front of the lectern: one male elf, one female elf, and one female dwarf.

“WHOOOAAAA!”

The students suddenly let out a loud cheer. Their reactions to the transfer students varied greatly, from “They really exist!” to “Huh? Why do they have long ears?” and everything in between. Those who did not know that new students were transferring in were even more surprised at the visible racial characteristics.

“Pipe down, you lot! Do you want me to introduce them or not?!” Carlova’s hand shot forward, and, like a vise, started squeezing the face of one of the students in the front who had been kicking up a fuss like a carp that had just been fed. Cecil sometimes performed the same move on Allen too, and despite appearances, it actually hurt quite a bit.

When the class settled back down, Carlova began introducing the three newcomers. They had come from elven and dwarven countries respectively located on the continents to the northeast and northwest of the Central Continent. He told the class that they would be learning about these countries later on.

The reactions between those who’ve seen elves and dwarves before and those who haven’t is pretty disparate. Of course, I doubt their transferring here was just to convince the students of the existence of other races. Speaking of which, the headmaster is a high elf too, though I almost never see any sign of him.

“All right, go on and introduce yourselves.”

Upon being prompted, the female elf with long silver hair, golden eyes, and porcelain skin nodded gracefully and seemed to float forward. “My fellow classmates, it’s my pleasure making your acquaintance. My name is Sophialohne, and I’m from the elven country of Rohzenheim. Please call me Sophie. I look forward to my time with all of you!”

Some of the students were so charmed by her voice that they momentarily forgot to breathe. For some reason, the elf next to her looked very disgruntled at this.

Hm? Why’s she looking at me? What, you want a staring contest?

After introducing herself, the girl turned to stare at Allen. Noticing this, he decided to give her the stink eye in return.

Disregarding the exchange taking place between Allen and Sophie, the male elf stepped forward. “I’m Volmaar. I am here to guard Her Highness Princess Sophialohne—she who is next in line to the throne of Rohzenheim and a high elf.”

As it turned out, Sophie was no ordinary elf, but one of the high elves. Upon hearing that she was a princess, the students turned to look at her again, and she smiled back in response. The annoyance on Volmaar’s face grew deeper.

Sophie has silver hair, but Volmaar has gray hair. Is that how you differentiate between normal elves and high elves?

The homeroom teacher smiled wryly at Volmaar’s attitude, scratching the back of his head. Then he urged the dwarf girl to proceed with her self-introduction.

“What’s up! Ya boy hails from the Empire of Baukis. Name’s Meruru. Let’s all be friends!”

“Ya boy”? Well, she seems nice and energetic.

Meruru had drooping eyes, tanned skin, and light green hair in a bob cut, and she was a head shorter than Allen. For a split second, Allen thought he had gotten her gender wrong due to the way she referred to herself, but her appearance made it clear she was a girl.

When the three newcomers had finished introducing themselves, the rest of the class looked at Carlova expectantly. He suddenly looked toward the back corner next to the windows.

“Allen.”

“Yes, sir?” Allen replied, his voice breaking a little from surprise.

“Your group only has five people at the moment, right? Can you look after these three?”

Allen had a rather central position in this class and was on good terms with other relatively influential students such as Uster and Rifol. Carlova figured that the boy could be entrusted with the three transfer students.

I don’t mind helping them out, but how far does “looking after” entail? Do I just show them around the school building? I mean, it’s my first day in this building too. And Carlova did mention my group having five people. Did he mean our party? Are these three gonna be staying with us all the way to the battlefield? Or do we only have to take them through the dungeons?

Cecil interrupted Allen’s thoughts from the seat behind his. “What’re we going to do, Allen? Are you going to say yes?” She knew that he was someone who would bluntly turn down anything he had no desire to do.

With Krena also turning his way with an inquisitive look from her seat next to his, Allen replied, “Well...why not? At least, let’s first have lunch with them and ask them what they want to do.”

Even as Allen was conversing with his companions, the elven girl’s golden eyes were trained on him. This made him question whether he had any prior elven acquaintances, but he was pretty sure he had never met any other elves aside from the headmaster.

“All right, let’s do that,” Cecil said in agreement.

Seeing that Allen did not refuse, Carlova told the transfer students to take their seats and to direct any questions they may have to Allen afterward.

Even if we do have to take them to the dungeons, it’s not like it’ll affect the amount of XP we each get. Besides, now that everyone else has reached the level cap, I’m the only one who still needs XP in the first place.

After last year’s summer break, one of their classes had covered the distribution of XP for people fighting together in groups.

XP Gained When Fighting in a Group

• 1 person (solo): 100%
• 2 to 8 people: 80%
• 9 to 16 people: 60%
• 17 to 48 people: 40%
• 49 to 252 people: 20%
• Over 253 people: 10%

Allen was of the opinion that the conditions for gaining XP were very lenient. After all, someone simply had to be a part of a fight to gain XP, even if they did not contribute in any tangible way. This included, for example, healers on standby waiting to cast their spells, members of a backup force waiting to step up in case the front line broke, and members of a supply team whose only job would be to carry replacement weapons and ammunition. Even if a fight ended with those in such positions not having cast a single spell or dealt a single attack, they would still be considered eligible for XP.

Conversely, someone tagging along solely to observe—for example, as a learning opportunity—would not gain any XP. When Allen first heard this, he had thought, What, so it’s just a matter of having the right mindset?

Once the transfer students had taken their seats, Carlova continued with the homeroom announcements. “Since we’re at it, I’ll go ahead and tell y’all about your assignments for this year. Yep, plural—there are two. Just like last year, if you can’t clear ’em, you’re expelled. Take them seriously.”

To simplify his following explanation, their first task would be to clear a Rank B dungeon by the end of summer break with a party of no more than sixteen people; the second task would be to learn how to activate each of their skills before the end of spring break. With regard to the latter, he told them that their afternoon classes would begin covering how to do so and that they should listen carefully in class.

Soon it was lunchtime, and Allen invited the transfer students to eat with his group. He brought them to the cafeteria for second-year students close to their school building. There, clusters of students could be found also grouped around other elves and dwarves that had likely transferred into their respective classes. Everyone had come up with the same idea of getting to know each other over food.

Allen’s group introduced themselves and shared their daily routine of visiting the dungeons every day. Wanting to see whether he could accommodate the demands of these newcomers that he had been tasked with looking after, Allen asked them what they wanted to do.

Before he even finished asking his question, Sophie immediately replied, “I want to join you on the dungeon runs too!” She seemed so eager that Allen was more than a little taken aback. Volmaar, her guard, remained silent, indicating that he was willing to go along with whatever his charge chose to do.

When it was her turn to speak, Meruru said, “I also wanna hit up the dungeons myself. I’d like to send money home to my family.”

Naturally, talk then turned to the newcomers’ Talents. Sophie was a Spirit Mage, able to provide both healing and buffs. Volmaar was an Archer and could deal damage from long distances. These two additions would greatly expand the strategies available to the party.

Meruru’s Talent, however, was a bit of a curveball. Its name was Talos General, and it was so rare that only one in ten million people had it. After Allen heard what it did, he asked her to join the No-life Gamers without a second thought.

Then the topic of living quarters came up.

The No-life Gamers’ base was currently occupied only by the five core members and Keel’s family. As such, there were still plenty of spare rooms. When she heard this, Sophie immediately said, “Let us live with you!” with the same eagerness as before, leading Allen to wonder if all elves spoke with such intensity. And since Sophie and Volmaar were going to live at the base, Meruru decided to follow suit.

Sophie had two attendants, but again, there was more than enough space. Allen recalled that it was generally not allowed to bring one’s attendants to the school lodgings—attendants who were not enrolled as students, that was—but clearly an exception had been made for this particular member of foreign superpower royalty. Before long, lunch came to an end with Allen and his friends agreeing to help their three new companions move in on their next day off.

When afternoon classes also ended, Carlova told the Gamers that the headmaster wanted to have a chat with them about the transfer students, so they headed to his office. There, he stressed over and over for them to take especially good care of Sophie. The princess was apparently much higher in status than the headmaster. Rohzenheim worshipped the Sovereign of Spirits, with the queen being the one who actually governed the country. Sophie possessed the right of succession, which the headmaster did not, despite being a fellow high elf.

“As someone born into the royal family but with no right to succession, being the headmaster of a small country’s Academy City is the most I can do,” the headmaster said in a self-deprecating way.

I see, so Rohzenheim is a matriarchy.

Four days of school passed, and the weekend arrived. The whole party worked together to carry over their three new friends’ luggage and help them settle into the base. The newcomers had mostly been using whatever the school lodgings came furnished with, so they actually did not have too many belongings. Thanks to this, a single round trip with a carriage proved enough. Krena and Cecil took the magic train back ahead of the rest to buy supplies for the welcome party at night.

Once everything was loaded, the carriage set off, with Allen mulling over in shock how much the carriage ride cost compared to the magic train. Before long, the vehicle parked in front of the base. Krena and Cecil came out in greeting, followed by a Spirit C.

“Welcome home, master,” Maria said.

Allen nodded. “We’re back.” Although he was entirely used to seeing Maria phase through walls by now, a small part of him always wondered if their neighbors thought their place was haunted.

Allen’s familiarity did not extend to Sophie, of course. With eyes wide as saucers, she asked, “Wh-What is that?”

Allen promised to explain later and prompted everyone to start moving the luggage inside. Soon, everything had been dropped off in each person’s room.

The Carnel servants were taken aback by the appearances of the new inhabitants, but they got over it in no time, thanks to having been trained to adapt to strange goings-on from staying with the Gamers. Elves and dwarves were far less jarring than a flying ghost doll, after all.

What a big group we’ve become. I’m glad we chose this twenty-person house.

In addition to the five No-life Gamers, there was Nina, the six House Carnel servants, Sophie, Volmaar, Meruru, Sophie’s two attendants, and the one lady-in-waiting dispatched by Viscount Granvelle. All together, there were now eighteen people living in this base.

Last October, the viscount had sent the lady-in-waiting over to look after Cecil, saying it was far from ideal leaving her entirely in the care of the Carnel servants. Allen accepted this, understanding that the need for this sort of arrangement was just one of the considerations that came with being a noble. Naturally, the viscount was the one paying the servant’s salary.

While the new inhabitants were unpacking, Allen and his friends were cooking up a storm for the welcome party. Thanks to the Carnel servants, the menu was significantly more extravagant than what had been served at Keel’s party. The large table was soon covered with the dishes that everyone had worked so hard on, bringing the usual hungry sparkle in Krena’s eyes up another dazzling notch. When everyone sat down to eat, however, the two elven attendants remained standing.

“Come join us,” Allen said, realizing that he had yet to learn their names.

“No, we are fine, thank you,” they both replied in the same reserved tone.

Whoa, they spoke in perfect unison. Now that I take a better look, they have the exact same face. Are they twins?

“No, no,” Allen insisted, “the rule here at this Academy is that everyone, from serfs to royalty, has to treat each other as equals, regardless of status. This party is partly to welcome you too. Let’s all enjoy it together.”

Honestly, Allen was not normally such a stickler for the rules himself. All he really wanted was for the whole group to eat together.

“Since Lord Allen is insisting, sit down,” Sophie ordered. Again, she had spoken so quickly she seemed on the verge of cutting Allen off. And also, for some reason, she was addressing him as “Lord.”

“U-Understood, Your Highness,” the two replied, obliging.

Once they took their seats, Allen stood up to give a simple toast. “Today, five new friends have joined us here at the home base. Let’s make them feel welcome. Here’s to the future!”

“Thanks for having us!” Meruru replied cheerfully.

Everyone greeted and toasted each other in turn. As Krena shot her hands toward the food like a dog just released after being told to “wait,” the four elves clasped their hands together and started murmuring.

When they were finished, Allen asked Sophie, “Were you praying to the Sovereign of Spirits?”

She nodded. “We are thankful to Lord Rohzen for all that we have.”

Rohzen, the Sovereign of Spirits, was contracted to the elven queen, and it was through that contract that he provided all elves with Spirit Magic. If not for this power, the elves might very well have been wiped out by the Demon Lord Army long ago.

I guess it only makes sense that different countries and races come with their own distinct cultures.

When Allen turned to look at Meruru, however, she was already digging into her food without having said grace.

“Do dwarves not pray?” he asked curiously.

“Nah! Lord Dygragni said we don’t need to.”

“Who’s that?” Never heard that name before. Is he someone famous in Baukis?

“Lord Dygragni’s other name is Dungeon Master. He’s who we worship. He’s apparently been real happy these days ’cuz he’s getting close to becoming a Minor Deity.”

“Dungeon Master? Minor Deity?”

Seeing Allen’s confused face, Meruru explained that Dygragni controlled all the dungeons in the world—thus his name as Dungeon Master—and was the one who created the model that all magic tools were based on. The conveniences of dwarven technology, ranging from magic ships and magic trains to the simplest illumination tool, were all created by recreating and building off of Dygragni’s work. Consequently, many dwarves worshipped him as a god.

Ah, so the dungeon cubes also count as magic tools. They do seem kind of artificial and robotic.

Allen felt his world expanding with the addition of his new companions, who brought with them their dramatically different lifestyles and worldviews.

“What did you mean by ‘becoming a Minor Deity’?” Cecil asked, joining the conversation.

“Huh? That’s... How do I, hm...”

Seeing Meruru struggling for an answer, Sophie cut in. “Deities are born from people’s prayers.” She went on to explain that Rohzen had also started out as a normal spirit, but thanks to the elves relying on him and constantly praying to him, he became a Minor Deity with the title “Sovereign of Spirits.” If the elves continued praying to him, he would eventually ascend to a full deity. All elves shared the wish in helping Rohzen accomplish this. The same was true for Dygragni, who would also one day become a Minor Deity with enough prayers from the dwarves.

“Wow, I never imagined how different other countries could be,” Keel marveled out loud. Just like Allen, he was also feeling like his horizons were being broadened.

“Talk of the Dungeon Master is good and all, but what’re we gonna do about our own dungeon progress?” Dogora asked, holding a large hunk of meat in one hand. “We haven’t talked about it yet, right? Do we start all over from Rank B?”

It was true that, although it had been decided that Sophie, Volmaar, and Meruru would be joining the No-life Gamers, the specific details of what that would entail had not been hashed out yet. When asked about their progress, they had revealed that they had finished the requisite number of Rank C dungeons but had yet to challenge a Rank B one.

Currently, Allen’s group was in the middle of going through their fourth Rank A dungeon. If they could finish one more after that, they would gain an invitation to the world’s one and only Rank S dungeon.

As everyone’s stares converged on him, Allen replied, “I’m thinking of both continuing our Rank A dungeon and helping Sophie and the others with their Rank B dungeons at the same time.”

Dogora frowned in puzzlement. “Huh? What d’ya mean?”

In contrast, a look of understanding dawned on Cecil’s face. “You mean to split the party up.”

“That’s right.” Allen nodded.

He then explained that, of the two days each weekend, he and Dogora would spend one and a half accompanying Sophie’s group. During that time, Krena, Cecil, and Keel were to continue progressing through the Rank A dungeon.

Even before today, Allen had already put a lot of thought into the possibility of new members joining the party. After all, there were many roles that their party setup lacked. Any time someone new joined, they would face the same issue they did now. So, in order to help newcomers catch up, Allen had drawn up meticulous maps in his grimoire of all the dungeons his party had gone through. In short, their current situation had been within his expectations.

This arrangement did mean, however, that his Summons were going to be mobilized pretty much down to the last card slot, spread out between the Summons Squads, those accompanying both dungeon parties, and the rest standing guard both at their base and at Viscount Granvelle’s mansion.

◇ ◇ ◇

The following day, Allen brought Sophie, Volmaar, and Meruru to the Adventurer’s Guild and had them officially registered as members of the No-life Gamers party. Then, when the next weekend arrived, the group did indeed split up and head to two separate dungeons. The dwarf and the elves wore hooded cloaks of their own accord in order to avoid drawing stares from those they passed on the streets.

Admitting elf and dwarf transfer students and having the top-scorers in each class look after them was a yearly occurrence at the Academy. While one reason for this was, as mentioned before, to convince the students of the existence of other races, that was not all there was to it; the exchange program was just as much about helping the students become used to fighting alongside elves and dwarves and developing a sense of camaraderie with them before meeting them on the battlefield.

“Do the dungeons in Baukis look the same, Meruru?”

“Yep, yep!”

Just as her appearance suggested, Meruru had a friendly and affable personality. She had fit in with the party in no time at all.

“So, these are what we ride when we go through the dungeons. Fran, come out.”

“Kweeeee!”

“They’re huge!” Meruru gasped, expressing her surprise with every inch of her stout body. Allen had given her advance notice that the Gamers rode large birds, but she still could not help but be amazed upon seeing the huge cassowary Summons in person.

“Oh my! Are we riding on these birds, Lord Allen?” Sophie exclaimed, stepping out from behind Volmaar.

“Y-Yes,” Allen replied, still somewhat unnerved by her usual enthusiasm. “Allow me to show you how.”

He approached one of the crouching Bird Cs and threw one of his legs over its back. Meruru immediately copied him, albeit with her shorter limbs, looking very excited. Volmaar assisted Sophie with mounting her ride, then settled himself onto his own.

Once everyone was ready, Allen said, “All right, let’s go! We’re aiming to clear two floors by lunchtime!”

“Understood, Lord Allen!” Sophie cried out with as much cheer as Meruru. And with that, the group charged headlong into the labyrinthian dungeon.

Sure enough, they were preparing lunch beside the entrance to the third floor several hours later. It was a simple fare consisting of bread, jerky, dried sweet potato, and fruits.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t contribute at all...” Meruru apologized. She had been given a spear and a shield to fight with, but she had not been able to use either to any effective degree.

Allen looked up from his food. “Hm? Oh, no, it’s totally fine! I understand; there aren’t any golems around here, after all.”

Meruru had been standing in the front alongside Dogora as a secondary tank, but the difference between her abilities and those of someone with maxed out levels was painfully stark. Dogora had no trouble killing monsters while tanking damage for the whole group.

Meruru’s Talent, Talos General, enabled her to ride and control magic tools in the form of golems. These golems were extremely valuable, so she had not been allowed to bring one with her to Ratash. This was why she had not been able to contribute much to the battles and was feeling especially regretful for it.

Apparently, with a good golem, she can even beat a dragon to death!

The old man who had served as Cecil’s magic tutor was a wizard intimately familiar with the battlefield. Now that he was retired and no longer had lessons to teach, he had plenty of time to spare. So Allen had sent the tutor a message, asking him what he knew about golems. His reply had left Allen shivering at the mere notion of what Meruru was capable of.

Possessing the right Talent was a prerequisite for controlling a golem. To control a bronze golem, one had to be a one-star Talos Pawn; an iron golem, a two-star Talos Soldier; a mithril golem, a three-star Talos General. Mithril golems were powerful enough to beat dragons with their bare fists. Golems could only move for a limited period of time, as they were powered by their operator’s MP, but they produced incredible results in limited warfare. These golems were how the Empire of Baukis managed to successfully keep the Demon Lord Army at bay.

The flip side of this incredible ability, however, was that every single one of Meruru’s skills were related to controlling golems. While she was holding an adamantite spear and shield to more or less signal her desire to be a part of the battle, she did very little actual fighting.

Seeing how downcast Meruru now looked, Allen decided to change the topic. “I’ve mentioned this before, but the crown prince kinda has his eyes on us, and not in a good way. Now that you three have joined us, this might cause you some trouble too.”

He had already explained to the three of them that chances were high their party might get dispatched to a particularly fierce section of the front lines. He was up front about the fact that, although he did accept the task of taking care of them, they might get caught up in his own problems in turn.

“Oh, you no longer have to worry about that matter, Lord Allen. We have already sent word to my Mother Queen through Theodojiil.”

“Theodojiil?” Did I know someone with that name?

“Ah, I was referring to this academy’s headmaster, Lord Allen.”

It was only just now that Allen learned the headmaster’s name. Apparently her station was so much higher than his that she could casually refer to him by his given name. And what was more, apparently Rohzenheim was such a superpower that a single word from its queen was enough to sweep away the entire issue with the crown prince. Allen realized how reassuring it was having someone so powerful in his court, so to speak.

Within the Five Continent Alliance, said to hold the future of the world in its hands, there were three individuals with exceptional power: the emperor of the human Empire of Giamut, the emperor of the dwarven Empire of Baukis, and the queen of the elven kingdom of Rohzenheim. The heads of state of the major nations on the two southern continents were nowhere near as powerful as these three. Then far below them on the ladder were leaders like the king of Ratash, which was a comparatively tiny country that was not even a major signatory of the Alliance. And if the king was so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, the disfavor of a crown prince who had yet to even assume the throne was worth less attention than the bite of a mosquito. At least, this was the way Sophie saw things.

Continuing the conversation, Allen said, “Thank you for that. Still, we may end up getting dispatched to different locations on the battlefield.”

“I’m afraid that is indeed a possibility,” Sophie agreed. “After all, where each person is stationed is up to their own country’s discretion.”

The three new students had already learned the full Demon Lord history. This only made sense, of course—it would cause unnecessary confusion if they were to send teenagers to faraway countries without letting them know the real reason they were leaving.

The heads of each nation held exclusive rights to specify where their citizens were to be dispatched. Instructions from the Five Continent Alliance could only be considered advice. As such, the crown prince ultimately held the power to decide where Allen, Krena, Cecil, Dogora, and Keel would be sent after graduating, and there was no guarantee that it would be the same place where Sophie and Meruru would be going.

“By the way, what’s with calling me ‘Lord Allen’?”

“My, does it bother you?”

“I mean, not particularly. It’s just that I don’t really remember doing anything to earn the title.”

Though I don’t really care what she calls me. It’s all the same to me.

“I believe I have not discussed this yet, but Lord Rohzen prophesizes about you often, Lord Allen.”

“Huh? Prophecy? What’s he said?” That certainly piqued my curiosity.

“Um, it’s always in fragments and it’s sometimes hard to hear, but...” Sophie went on to explain that the Sovereign of Spirits was often asleep on an altar located within the palace where the queen of the elves lived.

Beginning ten years ago, Rohzen had mentioned several things in his sleep, including “a black-haired boy will be born,” “under the influence of a large country on the Central Continent,” and “all his stats will be ranked at the bottom.” Every time he mumbled something else, the priestesses tending to him always carefully wrote down whatever he said.

Seriously? So the elves even believe in their god’s sleep talking?

Allen recalled the headmaster’s behavior during the entrance exam and realized that this prophecy from Rohzen had likely been taken into consideration for his enrollment.

“Fascinating. Has Lord Rohzen said anything else?”

“Of course!” Sophie smiled brightly at Allen’s interest, giving off the impression that she had been waiting for him to ask about this all along. “He once said, ‘Numerous shall they be, enough to cover the skies, but a black-haired man shall stand up and banish the shadows from the world.’ All the elves were taken aback when we heard the message, but Lord Allen, do you know what? Today, I’ve become assured that this prophecy will truly come to pass!”

It was, of course, once she had seen the Summons that Sophie became convinced of the truth of the prophecy. Her eyes dazzled like the stars in the sky as she continued talking.