Alia watched Leo from a distance as he spoke with Chloe.
'He reminds me of my brother.'
His personality and atmosphere were different, but the feeling he gave off was remarkably similar.
"Isn't this a little strange?"
A boy holding a spear, Thead, furrowed his brows.
"What is?"
"They said they were the rescue team, right? But there are only two of them?"
"That is kind of odd."
"Could it be a trap set by Tartarus?"
The party's magic swordsman, Dina, and summoner, Louis, agreed with Thead.
However, Velak from the Knight Department shook his head.
"If they were enemies, they wouldn't have fought alongside us against the demons."
"Yeah, they’re not enemies."
Alia spoke with confidence, making Thead ask in a doubtful tone,
"How can you be so sure?"
"Don’t they feel strangely familiar? And also…"
"And also?"
"They're kind of cool."
Thead was taken aback as Alia’s face turned slightly red.
"Cool? Hey! Hey! Alia! Get a grip! You've never even looked at a guy since you enrolled!"
"Well, who among our classmates could possibly match Alia? Besides, she’s Albi’s sister, so she must have high standards."
"Still! What’s so cool about that guy?!"
"Honestly, he is kind of cool."
"Dina? Not you too!"
Thead clutched his head in frustration.
As they bickered, Leo and Chloe finished their discussion and approached them.
"Quite the commotion."
"Ah! Sorry! We got carried away in a critical situation!"
"I wasn’t scolding you. First-year students are always noisy, no matter the generation."
"No matter the generation? Are you a student from our school?"
Alia’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, but Chloe answered instead.
"We were. Not anymore."
"Ah!"
Alia mistakenly assumed they were former students who had dropped out and looked flustered.
"I’m so sorry! That was insensitive of me…!"
"It’s fine."
"Let me explain the current situation first."
"Is that necessary? Demons have appeared in this forest, haven’t they?"
Thead replied bluntly to Leo’s words.
"If it were just a simple demon attack, there’d be no need for an explanation. But there’s a demon here that none of you can handle."
"How strong is this demon that you're making such a fuss?"
"It’s Level 3."
"What?!"
"L-Level 3?"
"That’s not something first-years can deal with!"
Dina asked urgently,
"What about the others? Are the other parties safe?"
"They're fine. As long as you make it out of this forest, everything will be okay. That’s why I need you all to follow my lead."
Dina sighed in relief, but Thead asked,
"Do you have the strength to defeat a Level 3 demon?"
Level 3 demons.
Threats capable of annihilating an entire battalion.
"I can’t say with certainty that I can take down a Level 3 demon on my own."
"Then why should we follow your orders?"
"Because I have a reason."
Leo answered with a relaxed smile.
"And what would that reason be?"
"Because I can get you all out of here safely."
"What kind of baseless confidence is that…?"
"Alright, I’ll follow your instructions."
"Hey, Alia!"
Thead looked bewildered.
"You saw how he fought earlier. And he understands the situation much better than we do."
Alia tried to convince her teammates.
"A Level 3 demon is far beyond our abilities right now. So as the party leader, I think it’s best to follow the experienced rescue team instead of acting recklessly."
Her teammates exchanged glances and then nodded.
"If Alia says so."
"We've never regretted following your decisions before."
"Ugh! Seriously!"
Thead scratched his head roughly before glaring at Leo.
"But! If I find the slightest reason to doubt you, I won’t follow your orders."
"I'll make sure to meet your expectations, so don’t worry."
***
"Find any records of Hero Dungeons forming from the Hero Record!"
At the Hero’s Tower, which oversaw Lumerne Academy’s administrative operations, professors and assistants were moving frantically.
The recent summoning beast incident during the practical summoning exam had left everyone on edge.
And now, an unprecedented event—a Hero Dungeon forming from the Hero Record—had occurred, throwing Lumerne into a state of emergency.
In the Headmaster’s office at the top of the Hero’s Tower, Kalian pressed his temples as if he had a headache.
In front of him, the Hero Record was spread open.
"The fact that we still can’t enter… should we take that as a good sign?"
"Yes."
Albi looked down at his own Hero Record, which was running rampant, and answered.
Hero Dungeons didn’t allow additional entries once someone was already inside.
Which meant that Leo and Chloe were still alive.
"It’s already been three hours since those two entered the Hero Dungeon. It should be nighttime inside Hero’s World. Albi, what time did you defeat Chubarn thirty years ago?"
"Around midnight."
"So we have no choice but to entrust everything to your past self."
Kalian let out a deep sigh.
Just then, his secretary, Elena, entered the office.
"Headmaster, we found the person who sold the summoning catalyst to student Liu."
"Who is it?"
Albi’s eyes sharpened.
Elena, who had come to report, turned pale.
Her left eye was bloodshot, and a complex magical formation had appeared in her pupil.
It was fairy magic.
Thirty years ago.
Albi, who had lost his younger sister to demons, was the man who harbored the strongest hatred toward Tartarus.
"Calm yourself, Albi."
Kalian’s words made Albi’s eyes return to normal.
"I need to clear my head. I’ll step out for a bit."
Leaving those words behind, he exited the Headmaster’s office.
"Lord Albi is always a dangerous man to be around."
"Albi became a hero fueled by hatred."
Thirty years ago.
After facing the death of his sister—without even a body or a keepsake left behind—he dropped out of Lumerne and devoted himself entirely to hunting demons.
As a result, he became a hero recognized by the gods.
However, his relentless destruction of anything related to Tartarus caused significant collateral damage.
Because of this, Albi was feared rather than revered by the public.
"I still can’t believe Lord Albi accepted a professor’s position."
"Well, he does at least listen to me."
Kalian gave a bitter smile, but his expression quickly hardened.
"So, who is it?"
"A fence who recently set up shop in the backstreets of Lumeria City. He’s not well-known among the upper-year students, but he's quite popular among first-years. Several first-year students bought items from him, and among them was a summoning catalyst for demonic beasts."
"Does that mean a Tartarus spy has infiltrated Lumeria City?"
"We investigated, but he’s not directly connected to Tartarus. However, it’s clear that Tartarus funneled a few items through him."
"…I don’t understand. Why would they do that?"
"I don’t know the reason either. This is his transaction ledger."
Kalian took the ledger and flipped through the pages.
Flip—! Flip—!
His hand suddenly stopped.
'Chloe Muller: Black Grimoire.'
Staring at that entry, Kalian spoke.
"Elena, bring Professors Sedgen and Len to my office immediately. Tell them I need to ask about student Chloe."
"Did you find something?"
"No. But I have a feeling."
"A feeling? Are you going to act based on intuition?"
Elena looked startled, but Kalian smiled gently.
"Elena, I am old. The title of Sword Saint is nothing more than a relic of the past now. But you see…"
The old Sword Saint's eyes gleamed sharply.
"The instincts I’ve honed after surviving countless life-or-death battles are still as sharp as ever."
***
The sun had fully set, and darkness blanketed the forest.
The group, having just finished a battle, was breathing heavily.
"Let’s rest for a bit."
At Leo’s words, groans of exhaustion erupted from all around.
'They’re all near their physical limits. It’s been about three hours since we entered Hero’s World.'
Considering that the other groups had cleared their exams in about an hour, they had taken three times as long.
But there was no helping it.
Other groups only needed to rescue the endangered parties to fulfill the clearing conditions. Leo and Chloe, however, were different.
Chloe believed that ensuring the [safety] of Alia’s party meant completely escaping Chubarn’s threat.
So, they were taking the shortest route out of the forest.
Unlike before, when Leo and Chloe had avoided combat to conserve mobility, they now had no choice but to fight frequently.
'We’re almost there.'
Leo sighed, feeling a sharp pain in his head as his vision blurred.
'Damn, have I been using Hyper Sense for too long?'
Hyper Sense was a technique that overloaded the brain with several times more information than usual by maximizing sensory perception.
As a result, it caused rapid mental fatigue.
'Just a little longer.'
Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Alia’s party clicked their tongues in disbelief.
"How does he not look exhausted at all?"
"He must be insanely skilled."
"Pfft! Thead, you actually asked him, 'Do we have a reason to follow your orders?' I’d be too embarrassed to even show my face!"
"Shut up!"
Thead shouted, his face bright red as his teammates teased him.
Meanwhile, Chloe sat under a tree, looking down at a Black Grimoire she had taken from her coat.
Just then, Alia approached her.
"Miss Chloe. Can we talk?"
"What about?"
"About Lord Leo."
Alia smiled and sat down beside her.
"What’s your relationship with him?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you two… lovers?"
"No, we’re not!"
Chloe frantically shook her head, flustered.
"From your reaction, I guess you really aren’t!"
Chloe let out a short laugh.
'Even though she enrolled thirty years ago, a first-year is still a first-year.'
It felt like she was chatting with the girls from her own class.
Most of the girls in her class loved talking about romance.
"Why do you ask? Are you interested in Leo?"
"I suppose I am. My heart races when I see him."
"Sounds like love at first sight."
Chloe chuckled, thinking that even the honor students from thirty years ago weren’t immune to such things.
"I don’t know if it’s love. My heart races, but… it feels like he reminds me of someone."
"Who?"
"My brother."
"You mean Albi Jeron?"
"Yes. Of course, if I compare Leo to my brother, Leo is much cooler. My brother is clumsy and makes mistakes all the time."
For a moment, Chloe thought she had misheard.
'Clumsy and prone to mistakes? Who? The Mage of the Evil Eye?'
That description didn’t fit the only hero the world feared.
"But he’s like a hero from a fairy tale. He challenges things that seem impossible and always manages to achieve them. That’s why I admire him."
"Challenges the impossible without hesitation… Yeah, that does sound like Leo."
Chloe’s eyes darkened.
"Leo is amazing. He always leads people well. He gets top grades and accomplishes things that seem impossible with ease. You’re right, Alia. Leo really is like a hero."
Chloe let out a bitter laugh.
"What’s my relationship with Leo? At first, I thought we were friends and rivals. But now…"
"Now?"
"I’m jealous of him."
End Of Chapter
