Chapter 571

“Come one, come all! Take your pick! These are Lumeria City specialties!”

“Rare beastkin delicacies from the distant southern continent—the land of deserts!”

“Come see jewelry made by dwarven artisans!”

“This is mithril cloth woven by elves.”

Countless merchants packed the streets of Lumeria City, calling out incessantly to attract customers.

As the home of Lumene and the center of the world, the city was always crowded with merchants and visitors, but the atmosphere this time was noticeably different.

Most of Lumeria City’s merchants were ordinarily human.

Now, however, merchants from many different races had set up shop.

It was rare to see merchants from so many races gather on this scale anywhere in the world.

But these were extraordinary circumstances. The Festival of Heroes, a celebration for the entire world, was being held, and the prospect of four Hero Academies gathering to compete had drawn members of every race to the city.

Wherever people gathered, merchants followed.

It was only natural that so many had assembled here.

Even members of the same race inevitably came into conflict when gathered in such enormous numbers.

With several races whose very values differed now sharing the city, disputes were unavoidable.

“Hey! How many times do I have to tell you not to cross over here?”

A human merchant was angrily berating a beastkin merchant.

“I only put them there for a moment because I had so much cargo. Besides, I’m moving them right now. Aren’t you being a little unreasonable?”

“Unreasonable, my foot! If you’re going to come onto our land to do business, the least you can do is show some basic courtesy!”

The human merchant irritably kicked the boxes the beastkin merchant had stacked up.

Crash—!

All the ingredients the beastkin merchant had prepared spilled across the ground.

His eyes turned fierce at the sight.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Enraged, the beastkin merchant bared his fangs and extended his sharp claws.

The human merchant flinched, but immediately began wailing.

“Oh, heavens! A beastkin is threatening a human!”

Both merchants operated street stalls selling food.

However, beastkin were renowned throughout the world for their culinary skill, so customers rarely visited the human merchant’s stall.

The beastkin’s food was also far cheaper.

Whenever Lumeria City held an event, the human merchant had taken advantage of the influx of visitors by charging steep prices. Naturally, the beastkin merchant’s crowded stall had become an eyesore to him.

When the human merchant began wailing, the beastkin merchant backed away in alarm.

“N-No! You were the one who started causing trouble...!”

“Oh, heavens! Foreign merchants are driving all the local merchants out of business!”

Just as the human merchant raised his voice as loudly as possible to turn the disagreement into a commotion—

“It looks like something happened over here.”

Someone emerged from the crowd.

“What’s going on?”

The human merchant checked the uniform worn by the light-orange-haired boy and smiled triumphantly.

The beastkin merchant, on the other hand, looked stricken.

“Oh, Lumene student-nim! Please, look at this! That brutish beastkin started harassing me while I was innocently trying to conduct my business!”

“Y-You were the one who harassed me first!”

When the beastkin merchant protested, Carr, the Lumene student, raised a hand.

“Let’s hear the whole story. Would the beastkin merchant please explain what happened first?”

The beastkin merchant recounted the incident.

“Mm-hmm. I see.”

Carr nodded and was about to hear the human merchant’s side of the story when the man spoke.

“Before I explain, thank you for all your hard work. Please take this as a little spending money.”

“Why, you shouldn’t have.”

Carr gave the human merchant an easygoing smile as the man slipped a coin purse into his coat.

The beastkin merchant stared at the sight in disgust.

After listening to the human merchant’s long-winded explanation, Carr nodded.

“I see. That must have been difficult for you.”

“Exactly!”

“Then please apologize.”

“Pardon?”

“I understand that you’re angry about losing customers, but you still shouldn’t act like that. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t been gouging your customers in the first place, would it? The Festival of Heroes was organized to promote harmony among the races and give everyone a chance to enjoy themselves.”

The human merchant’s shoulders trembled as he stared at Carr’s pleasant smile.

“As a Lumene student, you should side with your fellow humans! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“A hero isn’t someone who takes the side of any particular race.”

“But you even accepted my money...!”

“Oh? Wasn’t this just spending money?”

Carr hooked the coin purse around one finger and spun it with a sly expression.

“Why, you! You may be a Lumene student, but a mere second-year is getting far too insolent! What is your name? I’ll file a formal complaint with the Lumeria City Merchants’ Association!”

The merchant finally flew into a rage.

Even a Lumene student could find himself in considerable trouble if he was reported to the Lumeria City Merchants’ Association before he had made a name for himself.

Moreover, Carr’s courteous behavior had made him look like an easy target, so the merchant had begun to look down on him.

Carr scratched his cheek at the merchant’s words.

“Unbelievable. Is a street vendor really threatening a Lumene student right now?”

Juen, a girl from the south with light-brown skin, emerged from behind Carr.

When the surrounding crowd saw her standing there with her arms crossed and eyes raised sharply, they began to murmur.

“Isn’t that Juen Torbina?”

“The top student in Lumene’s first-year Magic Department?”

As more people recognized Juen, the human merchant grew flustered.

“You certainly have nerve, threatening Lumene’s Acting Student Council President.”

“Isn’t that Eliza Hergin?”

“The heir to House Hergin?”

“Wait, what? That student is Lumene’s Acting Student Council President?”

The crowd stared in shock after hearing Eliza’s remark.

The merchant’s face turned deathly pale.

“I-I mean... I...”

Eliza looked at him and spoke irritably.

“Tell the representatives of the Lumeria City Merchants’ Association to report to Lumene immediately.”

“Please! I didn’t recognize you! Forgive me just this once!”

The merchant threw himself flat on the ground, but Eliza merely snorted.

“Come on, Carr Sunbae. Let’s go.”

Juen pushed Carr from behind, ushering him away.

Once they had returned to the crowd, Eliza looked at Carr as though he were pathetic.

“You cannot even make proper use of your position. How foolish, Carr Thomas. Though I suppose that is only natural for a commoner.”

“Are you looking down on Carr Sunbae right now? He simply doesn’t throw his authority around at every opportunity!”

Eliza fixed Juen with an icy stare when she objected.

Juen shrank back slightly, but soon lifted her chin defiantly.

Eliza repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hand as she watched Juen.

“Now, now. Let’s all calm down.”

Carr stood behind Eliza and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Let go.”

Eliza irritably knocked his hands away.

Carr raised both hands with an easygoing expression and shrugged.

“I did all that on purpose.”

“What did you say?”

“Merchants are the kind of people who would risk their lives for money.”

Carr came from a family of alchemists who made their living through commerce, so he knew exactly how merchants behaved.

He was also a member of the Merchants’ Club, and whenever most of Lumene’s first- and second-year students urgently needed something, they used Carr’s distribution network.

“Since this festival is unprecedented, the Merchants’ Association will want to rake in exorbitant profits.”

Carr shrugged.

“But the Festival of Heroes isn’t just a competition. It’s also meant to be a celebration of harmony that everyone can enjoy.”

Carr recalled Leo’s words.

He had said he wanted to create a festival where everyone could gather and have fun.

Carr stopped walking.

The streets of Lumeria City, filled with members of countless races coming and going, looked noticeably different from usual.

'Right... It looks a little like Guardslone in Dweno-nim’s world.'

A city from the distant past where everyone had helped one another and lived in harmony.

A legendary city that had now vanished beyond the veil of history.

'Maybe Leo truly wants to create a harmonious world.'

It was not simply about preventing everyone from splintering in the face of a tremendous threat.

'Maybe he wants everyone to overcome the crisis together, then pass that unity down to future generations.'

“Division and conflict can begin with surprisingly small things.”

Carr shrugged.

“It ruins your mood when you come to enjoy yourself and someone gouges you, doesn’t it?”

“Does it?”

“You can just hand over that paltry amount of money.”

When Juen and Eliza looked at him in confusion, Carr clicked his tongue.

“This is why young ladies from well-to-do families are so...”

“Did you just treat me like a sheltered child?”

“You certainly have nerve, Carr Thomas.”

Juen glared and shook Carr violently, while Eliza smiled coldly.

“Anyway! Even merchants who do business fairly will make a tremendous profit, so we can’t let anyone ruin the festival by price-gouging! My father, who heads our small family business, always said the first step toward making a festival everyone can enjoy is eradicating price-gouging! Elena Sunbae agreed with him.”

Carr clenched his fist.

“A member of the Lumeria City Merchants’ Association picked a fight with the Acting Student Council President in front of everyone, so Elena Sunbae will use that as leverage to pressure the association. The only reason I could come into Lumeria City when we’re so busy with the final preparations was to create an excuse to pressure them in the first place.”

===

“I don’t care how you do it. Just find me an excuse to put pressure on the Merchants’ Association.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“That’s for you to figure out, isn’t it?”

“Wouldn’t a single word from Hark Sunbae-nim settle everything?”

Carr spoke while looking at Hark, who was working beside them.

“The mayor of Lumeria City isn’t a king. He’s in no position to give orders to the Merchants’ Association. We have no choice but to coax them through peaceful means.”

“What exactly are these peaceful means?”

“Pick a fight with them. Or find some pointless fault to hold against them.”

“That sounds great. I’m sure there won’t be any consequences.”

Carr sighed at the pair’s methods, which were anything but peaceful.

'Right. Who in Lumeria City would dare hold a grudge against the heirs of House Zeron and House Riguard? I’m a different story, though.'

As a commoner, Carr was reluctant to antagonize the Lumeria City Merchants’ Association, which wielded immense influence throughout the world.

===

Carr finished explaining and shrugged.

“Now I’ll slip neatly out of the middle, and Elena Sunbae and Hark Sunbae will use what happened as leverage to crush the Merchants’ Association.”

“Is that why you brought Juen Torbina and me with you?”

“Yes. I knew that the moment a fight broke out, you and Juen would retaliate in whatever way would hurt them most. And for the same reason no one would retaliate against Hark Sunbae or Elena Sunbae, there shouldn’t be any consequences for either of you.”

“So you used me? How cunning.”

Eliza curled her lips into a smile at Carr’s answer.

'I thought he was letting himself be taken advantage of like a pushover.'

Despite having been used, Eliza wore an oddly satisfied smile.

“Anyway, now that we’ve made some money, why don’t we go eat something delicious?”

“Bwahahaha!”

Watching Carr grin, Juen muttered,

“You look awfully happy, Carr Sunbae.”

“Hey! Of course I’m happy! I’m finally free! Once the Festival of Heroes begins, I’ll be liberated from that hellish workload!”

“But that’s only temporary.”

Elena had already marked Carr as a highly capable worker, so his future was obvious.

Even after the Festival of Heroes ended, she would work him to the bone.

At that, Carr gave a carefree smile.

“Hey, there’s no way I can make it into the third year with my grades anyway. Serving as Acting Student Council President wasn’t bad as a way to mark the end of my time at Lumene! If anything, I was lucky!”

'I’ve never seen anyone look so happy about being expelled.'

Juen stared at him in disbelief.

'Still, with Carr Sunbae’s grades, making it into the third year will be difficult.'

At the same time, she was worried about him.

Carr had openly stated from the beginning that his goal was merely to survive the first semester of his first year.

Yet he had survived all the way through the second semester of his second year, so Carr was undoubtedly more than satisfied with his time at the academy.

But Juen still felt sorry for him.

By Lumene’s standards, his reserve of Magic Power was pitiful.

His talent for magic was not particularly impressive either.

His alchemy was exceptional, but as a Magic Department student, he was riddled with shortcomings.

Outside academics, however, Carr was exceptionally capable.

'Isn’t there any way I can help Carr Sunbae?'

Juen fretted over the problem.

Meanwhile, Eliza also stared intently at Carr’s back.

===

After thoroughly browbeating the Merchants’ Association representatives who had rushed over, Elena murmured with a serious expression,

“He completes everything I ask him to do, doesn’t he? He really is capable of anything.”

Elena’s eyes gleamed as she stroked her chin.

“Leo-gun. How can I work Carr-gun even harder?”

Elena asked the question with a serious expression in the Student Council President’s office.

Leo continued reviewing the documents before him as he answered.

“That’s a problem Carr must solve himself.”

“There’s an easy solution. I also hold the authority of the acting director.”

Leo smiled faintly at Elena’s cheerful smile.

“No.”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be nice to keep attending school with your best friend?”

Elena furrowed her brow, and Leo answered calmly.

“If Carr were destined to remain nothing more than a convenient junior for you to exploit, that might not be so bad.”

“Are you saying he isn’t?”

“You need to get better at judging people.”

“What?”

Elena bristled at Leo’s words.

She was always composed, but often lost that composure in front of Leo.

After staring at him for a moment, Elena let out a “Hmph!” and twirled a lock of her hair.

“Are you saying Carr-gun can make it into the third year on his own?”

“There’s no way to know. But Lumene’s motto is ‘Surpass your limits!’ Isn’t it?”

Leo grinned.

“Carr will surpass his limits and achieve something that everyone can acknowledge.”

***