Frondier, with a cold gaze, briefly looked at Aster before turning his head to the side and asking, "By the way, why didn't Senior Ellen appoint a successor?"
Ellen had temporarily taken on the role of student council president when Constel was struggling with a vacancy. Now it was official.
It was unexpected that Ellen, who was like that, hadn't thought about a successor.
"She's been accepting successors. But I guess there wasn't anyone Senior Ellen liked," Elodie said.
Aten, who was next to her, spoke as if suddenly remembering something.
"Come to think of it, I think I heard about the conditions for Senior Ellen to entrust the student council president position."
Aten nodded and raised a finger.
"That's what she said."
Everyone fell silent for a moment at Ellen's words conveyed by Aten.
"That's Aster's fault."
Lunia agreed. She shook her head and said, "Talent is talent, but there's no one else who can match our Aster's diligence and effort."
"Why did I become your 'our'?"
"If there is anyone," Lunia ignored Aster's quip and thought for a moment. Then she looked at Frondier.
"It's only you. Frondier."
Frondier, who hadn't expected Lunia to point to him, asked back. He pointed to himself and said, "Me, the human sloth?"
"Now he's saying it himself."
"It's not even a derogatory term anymore."
Everyone chided Frondier's words in disbelief.
Elodie let out a hollow laugh.
"Thinking back, it's ironic. The kid who was called Constel's human sloth actually lived more diligently than anyone else."
At those words, Aster put his hand on his chin with a hum.
Aster prided himself on working harder than anyone else. Whether during the semester or vacation, he always diligently worked on his tasks.
However, was that diligence as 'desperate' as Frondier's? To that question, he couldn't say yes.
Aster finished his thoughts and looked at Frondier.
"Do you want to be the student council president after all? If it's you, my sister..."
Dier Aigar was feeling the same sense of elation that sophomores feel around this time.
It had been a year since he became Frondier's disciple and learned. Finally, he was moving up to the next grade and he would have juniors.
He hadn't met a single junior yet, but the important thing was that he had them.
"I wonder if Pielott is feeling the same way right now."
Muttering to himself, Dier went to find Pielott.
With the new semester, Dier and Pielott had promised to visit Frondier together.
They hadn't been able to meet properly since the war, and they needed to check their condition and get new training assignments.
"Class 3, Class 3... it's this way."
Unfortunately, they weren't in the same class. But since they used the same building, it wasn't difficult to meet.
When they arrived at the hallway in front of Class 3, Pielott was easy to find.
"Oh, he's still the same."
Dier grinned at the sight of Pielott.
Pielott was surrounded by several people, receiving a barrage of gifts and questions. Seniors and juniors alike crowded around him.
Although not as much as Frondier or Aster, Pielott was also quite famous. And his popularity was growing day by day.
Dier raised his hand lightly. Pielott spotted Dier and his face literally lit up as if he was 'saved.'
Pielott said to the people around him, "I, uh, my friend is here, so I'll..."
With a suitable excuse, Pielott was finally able to escape from the crowd.
Of course, with both arms piled high with gifts.
"Just because we haven't seen each other during the break, you're getting this kind of welcome. I'm envious."
"...Well, there's that, but..."
"About half of these are for Senior Frondier."
"Senior Frondier is in really bad shape right now. So, they couldn't give him the gifts themselves and asked me to deliver them instead. Since I'm his disciple. So, they're mixed with my gifts right now." R𝘢ɴǑ𐌱Ɛꞩ
"...Senior's in bad shape...?"
Dier's expression changed instantly. Pielott waved his hand.
"No, his face has become like a steamed bun."
"They were saying, 'What kind of strong enemy did he fight to get his face like that?' The hero of the war, you know."
That was something Dier was curious about too.
A strong enemy who could mess up Frondier's face? It was hard to imagine.
Did Senior pick a fight with God or something?
Dier looked at the gifts piled up in Pielott's arms with a renewed gaze.
"From other people's perspective, you're the closest person to Senior Frondier."
"Well, we trained together every day. Training that involved getting beaten up, but still."
It was something Dier hadn't thought of.
Dier and Pielott, being around Frondier, knew most of the people who were close to him. Seniors like Aster, Elodie, and Aten.
However, it was Pielott who actually received the gifts to be delivered to Frondier.
Of course, Pielott, being Frondier's disciple, wasn't without a close relationship, but it was difficult to surpass those who had been with him since his first year. Moreover, he heard that Senior Elodie was Senior Frondier's childhood friend.
There was quite a difference between how people on the outside saw things and how things actually were.
'...No, well, that could be true. Why am I even worrying about this?'
It was very common for the situation inside to be different from how a third party sees it. This was even more true when it came to human relationships.
It wasn't that strange that Constel students now thought Pielott was the closest person to Frondier.
Everyone would have seen Frondier and Pielott together at the training ground or the sports field every day.