Book 1 Chapter 2
【2】1
A frontier kingdom. Delan, the capital of Dellard.
“Everyone! Now is truly the age of heroes!”
‘That story again?’
Leo, who turned fifteen this year, sighed deeply as if bored.
“5000 years since the Hero Record appeared in the world! During that time, the Lower World has undergone many transformations. At their center were always those called heroes!”
Jayden, a heroics teacher at Delan Royal Academy, raised his voice.
“Any student who knows the definition of a hero?”
Students raised their hands.
Professor Jayden pointed at one student.
“Gulliver. Please answer.”
“A hero refers to someone who has left their name in the Hero Record. Only those who have accomplished deeds recognized by the gods are permitted to leave records in the Hero Record.”
“That's right! As expected of Gulliver.”
Gulliver sat down with a triumphant expression.
“Next up… Leo?”
Even though he hadn't raised his hand, Leo stood up when his name was called.
“Do you remember last time's homework? What kind of ritual had to be performed 5000 years ago to be called a hero?”
“Roughly, if you made a name for yourself, people just revered you on their own.”
“You've done your homework roughly again, in that manner!”
Professor Jayden frowned.
“Our Delan Royal Academy is the most prestigious school in our country! Haven't I repeatedly told you that you must maintain the decorum befitting such a prestigious institution? Moreover, this year our school has been selected as one of the venues for the Rumerun entrance examination!”
Professor Jayden's eyes sharpened.
“Numerous talented individuals will visit our school! At a time like this, you should be setting an example as a Delan student, but what kind of attitude is that?!”
This time too, with a displeased expression, he spoke to Gulliver.
“Gulliver, would you like to answer this question?”
“In ancient times, there were no means to receive divine recognition! So, heroes were selected through sacred rituals! A prime example is the Blood Ritual!”
“Yes, that's exactly right!”
Leo made a nonchalant expression.
‘Back then, how easy it was to meet gods, yet there were no means of recognition?’
5000 years ago was a time when gods freely descended to the Lower World.
‘And sacred rituals? Were there such things?’
Clicking his tongue, Leo looked at his textbook.
‘Hero Record.’
The origin of the record was a great catastrophe that occurred 5000 years ago.
Erebos, the primordial evil that drove the world to the brink of destruction.
The five heroes who confronted Erebos.
[Progenitor of the Nebula] Elf Luna.
[God's Blacksmith] Dwarf Dweno.
[Brave One] Arion.
[King of Wisdom] Lysinas.
Lastly, [Hero of the Beginning] Kyle.
A miracle gifted by the gods to the Lower World to praise them forever.
‘But why am I the only one treated as if I don't exist?’
The records of his comrades still remained, serving as proof that they existed and saved the world.
However, Kyle's record alone could not be found!
What an injustice was this?
It was when Leo was lamenting his fate.
Ding-dong-
The bell signaling the end of class rang.
Professor Jayden closed his textbook and spoke.
“In another week, the preparations for the Rumerun entrance examination will be complete. At that time, talented individuals from all over the world will visit our school.”
He looked over the students and said.
“Interact with them and strive for greater heights. That is all.”
***
As soon as class ended, Leo headed straight home.
The Flobe family.
A relatively ancient ducal family in the Kingdom of Dellard.
“Young Master, Madam is waiting in the training ground.”
“Ugh? Again?”
Leo frowned.
“I'm not going.”
“Madam said that if you miss swordsmanship practice just one more time, she will cut off your allowance from now on…”
“Haa! Seriously.”
At the butler's words, Leo let out a deep sigh.
He changed out of his uniform and headed to the training ground.
Normally, this would be the time for knights to sweat and devote themselves to training.
However, on the training ground stood a beautiful woman.
Rayna Flobe.
She was the mistress of the household.
“Mother, I'm home from school.”
“Welcome home, son. But son, why do you always address your mother as ‘Mother~ Mother~’ and treat me so formally?”
Rayna's red eyes, identical to her son's, narrowed slightly.
“I hear children from other families call their mothers ‘Mom’ just fine. But this mother, you see, feels a sense of distance from her son, and it makes me sad.”
Leo, who had stepped onto the training ground holding a wooden sword, said.
“I'm intentionally trying to keep some distance.”
“Oh? Why? Is it puberty?”
Rayna's face filled with sadness.
Swoosh-!
At the same time, her body rushed towards her son at an incredible speed.
Thwack-!
“Because of this.”
A mother who just swings a wooden sword at her son, in this world!
What son wouldn't want to keep some distance?
Watching her son speak, Rayna grinned.
“You don't understand your mother's feelings… Today, I'll have to go a little harder.”
Rayna's wooden sword moved with rapid changes.
Leo responded to Rayna's ever-changing swordsmanship.
The knights exclaimed in admiration.
“As expected of the Madam! Such skill, befitting someone from the renowned hero family, Gerdinger!”
“But the Young Master is amazing too, as expected!”
Normally, swordsmanship instruction for noble offspring is handled by the family's knights.
However, in the Flobe family, the mistress, Rayna, personally took charge.
No one had any complaints about that.
A great nation bordering the Kingdom of Dellard.
In the Rodren Empire, there is a renowned hero family, Gerdinger.
Rayna was none other than a member of that Gerdinger family.
Clang-! Clatter-clatter-! Thwack-!
Watching her son parry the attacks, Rayna's eyes shone.
‘Leo is a genius, as expected.’
Although retired, Rayna was once a formidable knight.
Even though she wasn't using Aura and wore bracelets enchanted with weight magic on her limbs.
Still, it was an unequal sparring match.
This was because the difference in skill was so great.
However, Leo was responding to Rayna's swordsmanship.
‘He quickly picks up my techniques with each sparring session.’
Watching her son grow day by day, she couldn't help but feel proud as a parent.
Thus, the offense and defense continued for ten minutes.
Rayna became engrossed in the sparring.
Seeing Leo instinctively read the sword path and react, she unconsciously twisted her wrist.
‘Oops!’
Rayna was flustered.
An irregular move she used without realizing it!
It was a technique too difficult for her son to handle.
Rayna hastily tried to withdraw her sword.
‘Too late…’
Thwack-!
“!”
Rayna's eyes widened.
Leo, having parried the sword aimed at her neck, quickly lunged into Rayna's space.
The tip of the wooden sword pointed at Rayna's neck.
Rayna wore a bewildered expression.
Leo, having withdrawn his sword, sighed.
“Aren't you being too hard on your son?”
“For someone who says that, your reaction was excellent.”
She said it with a smile, but Rayna felt goosebumps all over her body.
‘This child… has surpassed the realm I can handle.’
The irregular move from a moment ago, if it had been a real sword, was a technique so threatening that even a skilled knight would have found it difficult to preserve their life.
It was not an area that could be handled by mere talent.
Yet Leo handled it well.
Of course, she did withdraw her sword midway.
But even so, what's amazing is still amazing.
‘Ugh, should I have just taken the hit?’
Watching his mother whose eyes were shining, Leo sighed.
Leo was not just a simple fifteen-year-old.
He was a great hero who saved the world in his previous life.
Responding to irregular moves was not that difficult.
Watching Leo scratch his head, Rayna asked.
“Leo. Are you still set on going to Rumerun?”
“Yes.”
Rumerun Academy.
One of only four hero academies in the world.
And it was the place where the ‘Hero Record’ was kept.
‘I need to find out what happened after I died.’
After subjugating Erebos, Kyle died from exhaustion.
But Erebos was an immortal being.
The subjugation was successful, but they failed to completely destroy him.
Furthermore, Erebos's army, Tartaros, was also still intact.
5000 years had passed since then.
Over such an immense span of time, the stories of that era remained only as legends. What happened after Kyle's death was not properly recorded.
He might be able to find out what happened since then by accessing the Hero Record.
That was why Leo intended to enroll in Rumerun Academy, the world's most prestigious institution.
“So that's how it is.”
Rayna smiled.
“Alright, I understand. Your mom will pull some strings. So, leave it to Mom.”
“What?”
“Tomorrow, people from the Gerdinger family will visit Delan. So, they've decided to stay at our mansion.”
“From your maternal family?”
The renowned hero family Gerdinger was Leo's maternal family.
But they had never been in contact.
This was because Rayna had cut ties with her main family when she got married.
‘They said they didn't part on bad terms, and it seems that's true.’
Normally, one might get excited if their maternal family was a renowned hero family.
However, Leo wasn't interested in any renowned hero family.
‘There's no one greater than me in this world.’
“Yes. Your uncle, Zis Gerdinger, will be leading them. I plan to ask him for a favor.”
Rayna said seriously.
“To let you inherit Gerdinger's Aura Cultivation Method. If that happens, by next year, you'll grow enough to be at the level to enter Rumerun.”
Rayna taught Leo swordsmanship but not the Aura Cultivation Method.
This was because the Aura Cultivation Method Rayna practiced could not be taught to anyone without the family's permission.
To be able to learn the Aura Cultivation Method of a renowned hero family!
It was something anyone aspiring to be a knight dreamed of!
But Leo was nonchalant.
‘Now I'll be able to learn the Aura Cultivation Method.’
Rayna had been postponing teaching the Aura Cultivation Method, hoping her son would learn a high-level one.
Of course, Leo could have learned the Aura Cultivation Method much earlier.
But for now, he had decided to follow his mother's lessons.
Though it was frustrating, training together like this was also enjoyable.
Still, since Rayna had made up her mind, the frustration would end today.
Leo didn't particularly care if it wasn't Gerdinger's method.
As long as he learned an Aura Cultivation Method, everything would be resolved.
‘Mother seems to be thinking about next year.’
Leo grinned.
‘But I'm planning to enroll this year?’