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"I heard it from my cousin. Apparently, it's a tactic used by the Marino Empire."
Bonita, who rarely spoke, turned towards Liber, her curiosity piqued.
"What tactic?"
"Before they turn another country into a vassal state, they always target the country's top academy first. Something about cutting off the future seeds."
"Future seeds? You mean we're the future seeds?"
"Exactly. The future seeds that will make the Alkancia Kingdom stronger."
"So, they tried to kill all our freshmen this time? All at once?"
Liber replied in a serious tone.
"Apparently, the Balkan Kingdom's academy was completely blown up in the past."
Luna's mouth dropped open.
"Huh? W-What do we do then?"
Liber chuckled.
"Hahaha. Don't worry, you cute little bunny."
Luna pointed at herself.
"Cute? Me... me?"
"Yeah, you."
"M-My name is Luna. Luna Pueri."
"Okay, Luna. Don't worry. The royal family and the academy will know about this soon. This is the strongest Elton Academy on the continent. This is probably the safest place."
Davian asked.
"You're saying you know something that the royal family and the academy don't know yet? And you came to tell us about it?"
"Yeah. You guys are the ones who defeated the Gray Witch in the ice cave. If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead. Or, even if we managed to stop her, many would have died or been injured."
Davian stared intently at Liber's face.
'He knows exactly what's going on.'
Liber continued.
"Their plan to kill all our freshmen was going smoothly, but they made one mistake. They underestimated the skills of our freshmen. They never imagined we could defeat the Gray Witch. Hahaha."
'Liber, that guy.'
He seemed to have not only good information but also a good eye for the situation.
It's just that he seems a bit frivolous.
'But was there always someone like him? I don't remember him at all.'
Then this Liber must have died repeatedly in the Gray Witch quest.
'Is he really that weak?'
But this time, Davian directly stormed into the ice cave and defeated the Gray Witch.
And thanks to that, all the freshmen were able to survive.
Liber Specula is a person who survived in the process and newly appeared in front of Davian.
'He got information faster than the royal family or academy professors with the help of his family? And he has a decent amount of insight.'
He thought it might be worth getting to know him.
Then.
"Oh, Chatterbox. You're a pretty useful guy, huh? Are you in the Magic Department? The Magic Department has specializations, right? What's your specialization?"
As if reading Davian's mind, Velum began to bombard Liber with questions.
"Oh, Velum. You also know the importance of information. Are you trying to dig up my information right now?"
"What are you talking about, Chatterbox? I'm just asking because I'm curious. Actually, I'm not that curious. You don't have to tell me. Bye. Goodbye."
"Ah, no! I am in the Magic Department. I haven't decided on a specialization yet, but I'm most interested in mental magic."
"Mental magic? That suits you. I think you can talk people's minds out without using magic. Puahaha."
Davian, Latia, Luna, Bonita, and Nubes all looked at Velum at the same time.
The thought that ran through the minds of the five people at the same time.
'Isn't that you?'
Whether or not he knew what his five friends were thinking, Velum chattered with Liber for a long time.
In the meantime, Latia spoke to Davian.
"Davian, when did you study summoning magic so much?"
"Professor Wendy is famous, you know. As a harsh critic."
"I know. You mastered the gargoyle summoning magic circle all by yourself just to avoid getting scolded? You wouldn't have had much time, right? What exactly are you..."
He did study, but it wasn't self-taught.
In fact, the gargoyle summoning magic circle is the first semester final assessment task for the summoning magic class.
Even after taking the class for a semester, most students can't perfectly draw this magic circle, but Davian has already taken this assessment twice.
That's why he was able to summon the gargoyle's head in front of Professor Wendy today.
"Well, I'm an oddball like you said. You have to catch up quickly, Latia."
"What? Wait. I'll catch up to you soon."
Then Liber raised his voice again, drawing the attention of his friends.
"By the way, guys, did you know that?"
"What?"
"This Elton Academy building used to be the royal palace of the Alkancia Kingdom?"
Velum, who had become friendly, lightly gestured to hit him.
But it didn't feel awkward at all.
Rather, the two seemed like they had been friends from the beginning.
What a great sociability.
"Hey! Doesn't everyone know that? Elton City was the first capital of the Alkancia Kingdom. The origin of the Alkancia Kingdom. And this academy building we're using is that royal palace."
At Velum's words, Nubes nodded slowly as if he had realized something.
"Ah... I wondered why the school walls were so high... That's why..."
It seemed like it was the first time Nubes had heard about it.
"You didn't know? Nubes? You're pretty bad too. I think even Davian knows about this? Right, Davian?"
"..."
He didn't know.
Liber continued with an even more excited face.
"See, there are kids who don't know."
"That's because Davian and Nubes are the only weird ones!"
"Anyway, that's not the point. Have you ever heard of the Stone of Enlightenment that has been passed down in legends?"
This time Latia showed interest.
"That stone that King Erium I gained enlightenment from when he was young?"
"Yeah. The records say that he became a completely different person after that. Erium, who gained so much power, unified the Pax Continent. In just 50 years."
"So? Why are you suddenly talking about that?"
Liber leaned forward a lot.
He leaned so far that his chin would touch the food plate if he opened his mouth.
Liber lowered his voice as much as he lowered his waist.
"That Stone of Enlightenment... is here. In Elton Academy."
"So?"
"Hey, I've even obtained some general location information. I think you guys would be able to go find the Stone of Enlightenment with me."
"Isn't it just a legend? And what are you going to do if you find that stone? Are you trying to gain enlightenment now, Liber?"
Luna chimed in.
"That's right. I saw it in a history book. King Erium encountered that stone when he was eight years old."
"Ugh. Velum, Luna. You only know one thing and not two. The Stone of Enlightenment is a mythical object related to the founding of the Alkancia Kingdom. So what if it's just a legend, or what if it's just become an ordinary stone after so much time has passed."
Davian opened his mouth.
"...If we find it, we can gain tremendous wealth and honor. Or, maybe, we can really gain enlightenment."
"That's it! As expected, the student representative! You're so smart."
Latia crossed her arms and asked.
"Such a great thing is in the academy. Why don't the professors look for it?"
"Because they don't know."
"They don't know?"
"Yeah. Nobody knows. It's information that our family found while rummaging through the ancient ruins that collapsed a while ago. It's written in a book found there. This is very hot, latest information. Latest information that even the academy headmaster doesn't know."
"Does that book say that the Stone of Enlightenment is hidden in the academy?"
"No. That's a very old book. The book says 'Alkancia Royal Palace'. When I looked at the publication year of that book, that royal palace is right here. The Elton Academy building we are in."
The next night.
The time when the moon is at the top of the head.
The storage room behind the training room.
It was late, so all the lights were off.
It was barely possible to distinguish the shape of a person with the moonlight coming in through the vent.
Davian and Nubes were waiting there for someone.
Davian's voice mixed with irritation.
"What's Liber thinking, calling us here and being late?"
Nubes took out his pocket watch and checked the time.
"It's only been five minutes. Let's wait a little longer. But this is really unexpected, Davian. You readily jumped into something so absurd. I thought you would say you would spend more time preparing for the exam."
"Well, it's fun."
Liber's proposal yesterday.
Let's go find the Stone of Enlightenment together.
As expected, Latia and Bonita flatly refused, saying they didn't have enough time for personal training.
Velum and Luna were the same this time.
It seemed that everyone was worried about the midterm exam coming up soon.
Then Davian suddenly showed interest.
Since his roommate Nubes went because Davian was going, he naturally followed.
Of course, Davian didn't come here because he was led by curiosity or fun.
Liber was urging him to go together, but at that time, Davian heard an alarm.
Ting.
=====
[Hidden Event: Finding the Stone of Enlightenment]
―Reward: Double Experience Acquisition Ticket
―After obtaining the reward, all mana points acquired will be doubled.
―Accept: Y / N
―Failure: ???
=====
When this notification window first appeared in front of him, Davian only had one thought in his mind.
'This is... crazy.'
He was even resentful of why this event hadn't been held even once during the third playthrough.
'Is it a hidden event that was created because I saved all my classmates from the Gray Witch? So Liber must have survived without dying.'
He was even hearing the words 'hidden event' for the first time.
There were many hidden quests, but it was his first time hearing about a hidden event.
'But the reward is... Is it even possible?'
During the third playthrough, Davian collected a total of 298,832 mana points over 10 years.
All of them are currently allocated to magic power.
But if he finds the Stone of Enlightenment, he will be able to get twice the mana points afterward.
'Is that why the first king of the Alkancia Kingdom was so strong?'
If the legend is true.
And if the reward he received after meeting the Stone of Enlightenment was also applied to Erium Alkancia.
It was enough to explain how he could have become so strong.
'King Erium Alkancia I was said to have met this Stone of Enlightenment when he was eight years old. Assuming the efficiency of mana training has doubled since then...'
According to historical books, the first king's personality completely changed after meeting this Stone of Enlightenment.
'Of course. The mana absorbed through training is accumulated twice as much as others, so it would be strange if he didn't aim higher and harbor ambition.'
The failure penalty ??? was a bit unsettling.
But after confirming this reward, he couldn't help but accept the event.
Creak.
The storage room door opened.
Davian and Nubes turned their heads to the door at the same time.
It was dark, so the face was not clearly visible.
But it was too thin to be Liber.
And her hair was long.
The figure slowly approaching.
Long blonde hair gradually came into view.
"...Latia? How did you get here?"
"After thinking about it, there must be a reason why you, Davian, who is a weirdo, ran into this with your eyes sparkling like that. Can I come with you?"
An answer without even a 0.1 second hesitation popped out of Nubes's mouth.
"Of course! Of course!"
Then, a familiar voice was heard from behind Latia.
"Wow, the number of explorers has increased by one?"
Liber, wearing clothes that Indiana Jones or something would wear and carrying a large backpack, entered the storage room.
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