Book 1 Chapter 111
【111】110.
The next morning.
The area in front of the Colosseum was bustling with people who had come to watch Azonia's entrance ceremony.
People were being guided inside, entering one by one.
In the center of the arena, admission candidates were warming up with tense expressions on their faces.
The admission candidates starting from here would move along the track within Azrec, then advance to the Great Desert.
The reason for circling the city was to show the heroic candidates to many people.
The people who filled the Colosseum stands were sending enthusiastic cheers to the candidates.
Leo stood in the most secluded spot among the admission candidates.
Leo, who kept touching his rabbit ears that protruded awkwardly from behind his beret as if he wasn't used to them, pulled his beret down deep.
Although he was disguised as a beast-kin with polymorph magic and his hair color had changed, making his impression different from usual, it was still enough for someone who knew him to recognize him.
'Besides, there's no good in being recognized.'
“Hey, boy! Good luck!”
“Haha! You're full of confidence! I'll cheer you on!”
However, the people in the stands enthusiastically cheered for Leo, even though he was in the corner.
'Hero candidates are welcomed everywhere, it seems.'
After the Age of Calamity ended, the world welcomed peace.
Nevertheless, the world still yearns for heroes.
Is it because they are beings who achieved great feats?
Or because they are great figures who will transform the world?
'No, people know.'
Leo's eyes sank slightly.
'That the embers of calamity have not yet died out.'
Although Erebos was split into many pieces, it did not completely disappear.
Tartarus, which could be called Erebos's army, was still intact, and they were constantly plotting, hoping for the return of calamity.
'True peace will come after the Age of Heroes ends.'
An era where many heroes are no longer needed.
That was the peace the great heroes had pursued.
It was when he was recalling an old oath.
“Black Rabbit!”
Ar came striding over.
“You haven't forgotten yesterday's promise, have you? I will definitely get your approval!”
“Yeah, yeah. But why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?”
Ar smiled meaningfully and widened her eyes.
“I couldn't sleep a wink because of the excitement!”
Leo clicked his tongue, looking at Ar who was shouting proudly.
“Are you sure you're alright?”
“Of course I'm alright! So, don't go anywhere during today's test, just follow me! Got it?”
“It's a test, I can't just follow you around.”
“Don't miss even a bit of my brilliant performance! Only look at me! I said, only look at me! Only me!”
Ar chattered beside Leo like a whining kitten.
Meanwhile, other admission candidates spotted Ar and approached her.
“You're Ar Tune, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Libed, and I look forward to working with you on this test.”
“If you get admitted, could you recommend me to learn from Instructor Berga?”
“Are you thinking of teaming up with me for this entrance ceremony?”
“Huh? Huh?”
As other admission candidates flocked around, Ar made a bewildered expression.
Many people looked unfavorably upon recommended candidates, but conversely, many also acknowledged them.
Moreover, Ar was the heir of the prestigious hero family, Tune.
Naturally, there were many students who wanted to make a good impression before admission.
As the admission candidates gathered in one place, the audience's gaze naturally converged on them.
Sensing that, Leo left his spot.
Ar, who was surrounded by other admission candidates, noticed it and glared.
“Where are you going! Black Rabbit! I told you to stay by my side!”
The furious Ar apologized to the candidates who were talking to her, then quickly scampered after Leo.
The faces of the admission candidates who saw that distorted.
'What in the world is that rabbit guy!'
'What is it that Ar Tune is so protective of! Is being a recommended candidate everything?'
Unintentionally, Leo became the target of much jealousy.
***
Yura, seated in the stands, looked at the list of Azonia's recommended candidates for this year and commented.
“Tune, Den, Rual, and even Vega. Our little ones are unprecedented, but the recommended candidates for Azonia this year are also seriously impressive, aren't they?”
“That's certainly true.”
“But Kyle? It's the first time I've seen a child named after the Hero of Beginnings. And they don't even have a family name? What kind of child could they be?”
“We'll see when the time comes.”
Every year, educators from each hero academy are invited to Azonia's entrance ceremony.
To check on the students who would compete with their own first-year students in the future, each hero academy accepted the invitation.
And this year, Rumerne's first-year departmental representatives came.
Originally, Ren was supposed to come too, but he declined, citing preparations for the second semester's classes.
“That arrogant brat! All the seniors come on business trips, but he's the only one skipping out!”
“There's no need for all three of us to come. And we can't really say anything about him being busy preparing for classes.”
“Instructor Ain is surprisingly lenient in these matters. That's why Ren gets so brazen! Please show some dignity as a senior instructor.”
“I don't think that's something you should be saying?”
“Why me?”
“Professor. To be honest, you're the junior professor who talks back to Professor Ain the most.”
Carlo, sitting next to Yura, said cautiously.
Yura, who had been staring at her associate professor for a moment, brought down the edge of her hand on Carlo's Adam's apple.
“Cough! Choke! Gulp!”
Yura, ignoring her struggling associate professor, spoke.
“Anyway, that Ren fellow. He's really doing something useless. Whether he prepares hard for classes or not, Leo will choose the Summoning Department, you know.”
“What are you talking about? Leo Flobe is in the Knight Department, isn't he?”
He corrected Yura, who was making a smug expression, but Yura didn't listen.
“By the way, Senior. Weren't you close with Instructor Berga from Azonia? Aren't you going to meet him?”
“I don't particularly want to run into him this time.”
“Why?”
“Because he'll annoy me by comparing my first-year students with his admission candidates one by one.”
“That's plausible.”
Yura, who had been nodding, looked up at the sky and frowned.
Even with the shade in the stands, it was incredibly hot.
'This is why I didn't want to come.'
Yura, who detested the heat, brought her mouth to her drink to rehydrate.
Then she spotted something in the arena and widened her eyes.
“Choke? Hack! Gulp! Cough! Cough!”
“Did she choke again?”
Ain looked at Yura with a pathetic expression.
Yura, who had been coughing like crazy, grabbed Ain's head.
“What are you doing—!”
Crunch!
And twisted his head.
Carlo's face turned pale at the unusual sound from Ain's neck.
“It seems your words about me being lenient with juniors were correct, Yura Marnin.”
Crack- Crack-
Ain cracked his knuckles, preparing to punish Yura.
Yura, her choking subsided, urgently shouted.
“Ugh! Choke! Senior! That! Hack! Look at it! Cough! Cough! Leo is there!”
“What kind of ridiculous nonsense are you….”
As Ain frowned, radiating killing intent, a single rabbit beast-kin suddenly entered his sight.
Ain, who had been silent, spoke.
“Let go first.”
Ain shook off Yura's hand, rubbed his eyes a few times, and looked at the rabbit beast-kin.
Aside from the hair color and the fact that he was a beast-kin, he looked strikingly similar to Leo.
'What in the world is that guy doing over there?'
Ain, glaring at Leo with a distorted face, stood up and said.
“I'll go see that Berga fellow for a moment.”
***
“Everyone, line up!”
At the cry of the Azonia instructor standing on the platform, the admission candidates lined up in an orderly fashion.
As the candidates lined up, the officiating instructor spoke.
“Recommended candidates, step forward.”
At his words, five admission candidates came forward to the platform.
“You will represent the candidates and read the declaration. You just need to come forward and read it in the order written in the declaration.”
The officiating instructor distributed the declarations to the students.
While the other recommended candidates were reading the declaration, Leo asked.
“Do we just need to read it aloud?”
“Yes, as descendants of Lord Arion, we will place our hands on Lord Arion's Hero Record with respect and recite the mindset a hero should possess.”
'Arion's Hero Record? To see it like this.'
Leo read the declaration, surprised inwardly.
Once the recommended candidates finished checking the declaration's content, the officiating instructor checked his watch and spoke into a microphone enchanted with amplification magic.
[From now on, prior to the commencement of the entrance ceremony, the recommended candidates will take an oath. Recommended candidates, step forward.]
With those words, the audience's gaze converged on the five candidates.
When the officiating instructor signaled, a waiting instructor brought Arion's page, placed on a silk cushion, and carefully set it on the platform.
The audience murmured as they saw it.
“That must be Lord Arion's Hero Record.”
“Ohhh…!”
The spectators who saw the oldest hero's page in the world wore moved expressions, and some even offered prayers.
This Hero's Page was indeed proof that the great hero had saved the world.
[Declaration Reading.]
At the officiating instructor's solemn voice, Leo, who was on the far left, approached Arion's page.
Step-
He stood in front and looked down at the Hero Record.
Arion's page, labeled <Prologue>, was old and faded, its text barely visible.
But he could distinctly feel the presence of divine power within it.
'It's safe.'
Recalling Kyle's page fragments, which were so damaged they were almost embarrassing to call a Hero's Page, Leo let out a sigh of relief.
“What are you doing? Why aren't you reading it quickly?”
As the officiating instructor urged him, Leo placed his hand on Arion's page.
“First, I will not act cowardly in the name of the great hero.”
Hum-
At the sudden reaction from Arion's page, Leo paused.
'What is it?'
Humm-!
'This is…!'
Leo, sensing the change happening on Arion's page, urgently spoke to Ar, who was about to place her hand on the declaration after him.
“Second, I will not act shamefully in the name of the great hero…”
“Stop! Take your hand off.”
“Ugh? Wh-what are you doing?”
Leo tried to push Ar away, but Ar instinctively avoided his touch.
At that moment.
Humm-!
Arion's page emitted light.
“What is this?”
It was when the officiating instructor made a bewildered expression.
[Hero Record Open.]
“What?”
“Wa-wait!”
Ar made an astonished expression at the message that appeared before her eyes.
[Arion's World. Chapter: Prologue - Beginning]
Humm- Whoosh-!
An intense light obscured their vision.
Leo and Ar squeezed their eyes shut.
And when they opened their eyes…
The two were standing on a street.
“B-but just now, it clearly said Hero Record Open, didn't it?”
While Ar was flustered.
Leo looked up at the sky.
Following Leo, Ar also turned her gaze to the sky.
And her face hardened.
“What in the world is that? Why is the sky like that?”
For Ar, who had lived through an era of peace, it was an unfamiliar sky that she couldn't even imagine.
Conversely, for Leo, it was a sky so familiar it was tiresome.
A utterly dismal, ash-gray sky, devoid of any blueness.
Proof that the world was heading towards destruction.
Leo made a serious expression.
'The Age of Calamity.'
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