Book 1 Chapter 1009
1009.
Beauty pageant waiting room.
“Where’s Leo!”
Lunia, her eyes blazing, stormed into the women’s waiting room.
Everyone looked dumbfounded at Lunia's sudden appearance.
‘Seriously, why is she looking for Leo here?’
Celia, who was talking to Nella, looked bewildered.
Leo wasn't even participating in the beauty pageant to begin with.
And for her to be looking for Leo in the women's waiting room, not the men's.
As Nella also wore a puzzled expression, Iliana, who was off to one side, shot up.
“Lunia! Why are you looking for the class president here?”
Iliana waved her hands, her eyes wary.
“And registration is already over. Shoo- shoo- go away.”
“Huh?!”
Lunia glared at Iliana, who was making a shooing gesture, with a fierce expression.
As Iliana flinched at her gaze and drew back her neck.
“Why are you looking for Young Master Leo here, Miss Lunia?”
Chen Xia approached with a bright smile.
“That’s why! That guy is disgracing the hero… Mmph?! Mmph! Mmph!”
At that moment, someone who appeared from behind clamped Lunia's mouth shut.
Startled and struggling, Lunia’s eyes met a pair of red eyes, and she looked surprised.
“Care to follow me for a moment?”
Leo smiled faintly and dragged Lunia to the private room assigned to the waiting room.
Chen Xia followed behind, smiling gently.
“Sorry for the commotion. Please don’t mind it.”
After Chen Xia also entered Leo’s room.
Iliana spoke to Celia and Nella with a serious face.
“Lunia isn’t participating too, is she?”
Iliana didn’t like the idea of more competitors.
Thump-!
As the door closed, Lunia immediately shouted.
“Leo! What kind of getup is that!”
“I have my reasons.”
“Reasons or not, what are you doing dressed like that if you get caught, it’s disgraceful!”
Chen Xia sighed softly, seeing Lunia shout, her face flushed red.
“Exactly. You should maintain your dignity.”
“Xia is right! You’re the King of Beginnings! The leader who will guide the heroes of this era! But if it gets out that you cross-dressed, it would be such a disgrace… Kyaaaaaaack?!”
“Oh dear?”
Lunia screamed and squeezed her eyes shut, watching Leo unhesitatingly throw off his top.
Chen Xia also covered her eyes with her hands, but slightly parted her fingers to get a view.
“Why! Why are you suddenly undressing!”
Leo answered, looking at Lunia, who had spun around, her ears red, at a loss for what to do.
“You said you hated cross-dressing, didn’t you? And I didn’t take everything off, I just took off my top.”
“No! Still, showing bare skin is…!”
“You’re uncharacteristically innocent.”
“Uncharacteristically innocent! What do you mean by that!”
Lunia, provoked, turned around with blazing eyes, but hastily shut them and turned back again.
Leo chuckled at Lunia’s words and said to Chen Xia.
“If you’re going to look, don’t peek, just look.”
“Yes~”
Chen Xia replied with a bright smile and lowered her hands.
Leo also took off the long skirt he was wearing.
Of course, he was wearing school uniform trousers under the skirt.
Creak-! Creak!
And he used an aura skill to revert his body shape to its original state.
The school uniform, which had been magically adjusted to his figure, also changed back to its original size.
“Phew.”
Freed from the discomfort, Leo cracked his neck left and right.
At that moment.
Chen Xia approached and poked Leo’s stomach, saying.
“Wow- it’s obvious, but you really have a well-trained body.”
“Don’t touch me.”
“It’s not like it’ll wear out.”
“It will wear out.”
Chen Xia smiled faintly at Leo’s words and pressed Leo’s abs firmly with her fingers.
“Heh! Heh!”
Then she looked at Lunia and said.
“Miss Lunia, would you like to feel it too?”
“Honestly! Do humans have no shame?!”
“Considering the books Miss Aileen reads, it’s nothing new, is it?”
“Aileen is the strange one!”
At that reaction, Chen Xia chuckled and pressed Leo’s stomach like a cat.
Thud-
Leo grabbed both of Chen Xia’s wrists.
“I said it would wear out.”
“……”
Chen Xia made a sulky face at Leo's restraint and said.
“If you feel wronged, Young Master Leo, you can touch my stomach too.”
“If I stroke your stomach, wouldn’t that be a reward for you instead?”
“Oh? I think that’s a bit overconfident, isn’t it?”
Chen Xia stuck out her tongue and pulled her wrist out of Leo's grip.
And while Leo was putting on his school shirt and buttoning it, she brought him his school jacket.
At the sound of him dressing, Lunia opened her eyes and turned her head.
And she gave Chen Xia a strange look, seeing her help Leo with his uniform.
“You’re going to be the Emperor of Shan, but you’re still serving Leo’s clothes?”
“Well, I’m in a position to serve Young Master Leo.”
Chen Xia smiled faintly, as if unconcerned.
Lunia looked at Leo.
“She wants to do it this way.”
Lunia clicked her tongue, seeing Leo sigh lightly.
“Anyway. Why did you cross-dress! And why did you participate in the beauty pageant!”
“Because some nasty girls tried to make a fool of me.”
“That’s because Young Master Leo teases them.”
“Quiet.”
Leo gave Chen Xia a rap on the head.
Rubbing her head, Chen Xia said.
“The fact that Young Master Leo changed his clothes means there’s a problem, right?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
As Chen Xia made a puzzled expression at the somewhat ambiguous answer.
Leo spread his palm.
Along with it, seven summoning circles appeared on his palm.
Pop-!
With a small puff of smoke, small mythical beasts and spirits were summoned.
-Leo!
Kirian immediately flew to Leo’s head and grabbed his hair.
-Find me a suitable mate!
“Why a mate?”
-That foolish fairy doesn’t want to be the Fairy King.
Fiora flew and sat on Leo’s shoulder.
After inheriting the White Flame from Katariu, Fiora had become more skilled at wielding her power.
Seeing Fiora, Lunia took out a few snacks from her pocket and placed them on her palm.
“Fiora, come here?”
Chirp- Chirp-!
Of course, she was still a child who couldn’t resist anything sweet.
-Leo! The Fairy King has too much to do! Quickly find a partner, get married, have children, and pass on the Fairy King's position!
Seeing Kirian whine with a tearful face, Leo slapped himself on the head with his palm.
Kirian, hit by the palm like a mosquito, plummeted to the floor.
“Gasp! Master! Please strike me so fiercely with your hand too!”
Aty pleaded, clinging to Leo’s feet.
“……”
Leo felt his head throb at the ridiculous shouts of the summoned beasts, who were now kings.
It was a headache before, but now that their status had risen, they were even noisier.
-Leo, why did you summon us?
Elsie asked, holding Kirian, Fiora, and Aty with shadows.
Even if they tried to protest, their mouths were covered, and they couldn’t move.
Seeing that, Leo said.
“I don’t know what kind of situation might arise. So I need your help.”
Having said that, Leo spoke to Undine, the Great Spirit of Water.
“Undine. You help Chen Xia.”
-Yes.
“Eastar, stick with Lil. And convey my message.”
-Understood.
“Fiora, move with Lunia. Kirian, go to Melina.”
Chirp-
“Aty. You protect Elena.”
“Understood, Master.”
Except for Aty, Leo assigned the Great Spirits and mythical beasts he had contracted with to the summoners who could wield their power.
Great Spirits and mythical beasts are inherently proud.
They do not lend their power to those with whom they have not formed a contract.
But if the one giving the command was Leo, the story was different.
The great hero who saved the world.
They could not refuse the command of such a great hero.
At Leo’s command, Lunia and Chen Xia instinctively felt that something serious was amiss.
“Leo, what on earth is going on?”
Lunia asked with a bewildered face.
“There will be an attack.”
“An attack?!”
Lunia’s eyes widened.
“Probably.”
“Probably? What does that mean?”
Chen Xia looked flustered.
“It’s a hunch.”
At Leo’s words, Lunia and Chen Xia looked dumbfounded.
But Lunia, realizing that Leo wouldn’t speak nonsense, asked.
“What about stopping the Rousse Battle?”
“That wouldn’t be a good choice.”
Lunia frowned at Leo’s words.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it, just guard with your own strength.”
“Can we do it alone?”
Leo smiled faintly, looking at Lunia’s serious expression.
“You can.”
“What?”
“You are now bona fide heroes, aren’t you?”
At Leo’s words, Chen Xia and Lunia’s eyes widened.
“I trust you.”
“Ugh… That makes me incredibly happy, but.”
“How do I put it. It feels incredibly heavy.”
“It’s not a heavy feeling.”
Leo let out a small laugh.
“It will actually be heavy.”
Leo patted Lunia and Chen Xia’s shoulders.
“Because it means that, unlike before, I trust you.”
“What? So you didn’t trust us until now?”
As Lunia frowned, Leo nodded.
“How can I trust kids?”
“Seriously!”
Lunia, with a huffy expression, snorted and left the room, exiting the waiting area.
Walking down the corridor with Chen Xia, Lunia looked resentful.
“That guy, seriously! How long does he plan to treat us like children?”
“Hmm… but.”
“Why? Did you leave something behind?”
Chen Xia, who had been glancing back repeatedly, said with a slightly unfamiliar expression.
“No. It just feels like Young Master Leo’s attitude has changed a little… I think I’m mistaken.”
***
-Trust, huh… That’s not a word that suits Leo.
Elsie smiled bitterly.
“Right. I don’t really like trusting anyone.”
At Leo’s words, Laruel tilted her head.
-Why don’t you trust them?
“Everyone I trusted died.”
-Ah…
Laruel’s face darkened, seeing Leo answer as if it were nothing.
“Don’t worry about it. Things will be different from now on.”
Leo said to Laruel, as if unconcerned.
“Laruel. Seirun has crossed into the present world. You help him.”
-Yes.
After Laruel also left, Leo opened the window and headed to the highest point in the school.
And looked down.
-By the way, Leo.
“Why.”
-Until now, you stroked our heads, but today you patted our shoulders?
“Did I do that?”
-Yes.
Leo tilted his head.
Elsie, sitting on Leo’s shoulder, dangled her legs rhythmically and said.
-Now, trusting as comrades… and your attitude changing accordingly.
Elsie smiled brightly and said.
-Indeed. It’s certainly hard to see them as just children anymore, isn’t it?
Leo chuckled at that and flicked Elsie’s forehead with his index finger.
Thwack-!
-Ouch!
“Don’t say strange things and focus.”
***
The man walking through the crowd stopped.
“How tiresome.”
The man took a black orb from his pocket.
“But that’s the end of it. I’m finally beginning to see how to conquer Leo Flove.”
The man sneered and looked back.
“Wouldn’t you agree, Princess Lena?”
“Do you remember how many repetitions it’s been?”
“I don’t know. I gave up counting after 100.”
“……”
Lena stared at the man with eyes full of hatred.
“You should give up too. As I’ve said repeatedly, I am by no means trying to destroy the world.”
“Nonsense…!”
“This is merely the first step to begin a new era.”
The man said with hatred.
“The first step to restart the era of heroes that Leo Flove ended.”
Whoosh-!
Black flames surged from the orb in the man’s hand.