Book 1 Chapter 289

289

The heart of Guardslon.

Leo, standing by the window of the mansion's reception room overlooking the entire view of Guardslon, gazed out at Guardslon's nightscape beyond the window.

‘…To think the day would come when I would see this landscape again.’

It was not significantly different from the landscape he had etched into his memory before embarking on his final expedition to subjugate Erebus.

“It’s completely dark.”

Kyle came over to Leo’s side and clicked his tongue.

“For such a massive city… it’s too dark, isn't it?”

“Because it was that era.”

Leo said indifferently.

“Because it was an era that couldn't be as brilliant as the present.”

“Right. It’s the Age of Calamity.”

An era when the world was on the verge of destruction.

Looking at the red moon floating in the night sky, Kyle felt a chill run down his spine.

“By the way… we’ve been guided here for now.”

Kyle looked around the reception room.

Then, looking at Lunia and Ar, he hunched his shoulders.

“It’s chilling.”

“Be confident. Why do your expressions look so bad?”

As Driana spoke, crossing her arms, Lunia, who had a hand on her forehead, made a dark expression.

“Our opponent was none other than Lord Dweno. It's amazing that you fought against him as much as you did. I was too scared to even move, wasn’t I?”

“…The Black Rabbit fought against Lord Arion by herself, they said.”

Ar, with potion patches made by Kyle on her cheeks and forehead, grit her teeth and said.

“The two of us couldn’t even properly resist Lord Dweno.”

Seeing Ar's somehow resentful expression, Kyle chuckled awkwardly.

“Hey, hey. Leo is unbelievably strong, so…”

“Does that mean you were overconfident?”

When Driana spoke coolly, the two girls bowed their heads.

Kyle cupped his face in his hands, approached Driana, and whispered softly.

“Hey, how can you say that when we should be comforting them?”

“I only did it because it seemed like they wanted to hear harsh words.”

Driana used her tiny hand to push away Kyle's face, which he had thrust near her ear.

“If you aim higher, you must understand the difference between yourself and those above you.”

“Well said.”

Leo chuckled, came over to a chair, and sat down.

“I didn’t properly fight Arion. Because Arion didn’t retaliate. On the contrary, Dweno seemed to want to test you.”

“Test?”

Lunia, who had raised her head, looked a little flustered.

“What kind of test?”

“I wouldn’t know that much.”

Bang—!

The reception room door opened, and Eiran entered.

“Everyone!”

“Eiran! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?”

Lunia stood up, approached Eiran, and checked her all over.

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. But Miss Lunia and Miss Ar seem to be more seriously injured than I am?”

Eiran examined Lunia’s and Ar’s injuries with surprised eyes.

“I’m fine.”

Ar said in an indifferent voice.

Seeing Ar, Eiran activated her fairy magic and cupped Ar's cheek with her palm.

Immediately, the swelling subsided.

Eiran hurriedly treated Lunia’s and Ar’s injuries sustained in the battle with Dweno.

Just then, two people entered the reception room.

It was Dweno and Defesser.

At Defesser’s appearance, everyone except Leo looked tense.

The chilling and menacing aura he had when he took Eiran earlier came to mind.

Seeing his friends’ reactions, Leo muttered to himself.

‘I don’t even need to see it to know. He must have caused a huge fuss regarding Berkhia.’

Defesser was a dragon Leo knew well, being Lysinas’s trusted subordinate.

Eiran wore a frightened expression.

Defesser, adjusting his glasses, subtly scanned the reception room.

His emotionless golden eyes gazed at each person's face.

“I apologize for my rudeness.”

Apologizing, Defesser approached Eiran, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head.

“Noble race of the forest. I put you in a difficult situation due to a small misunderstanding. I don't know how to apologize for this…”

“Oh, no, it's fine. I’m glad the misunderstanding has been cleared.”

Eiran was flustered by Defesser’s polite apology.

Lunia, Ar, Kyle, and Driana also looked surprised by his sudden change in demeanor compared to a moment ago.

‘It’s good to see him again.’

Defesser's greatest achievement, as the one who oversaw Guardslon’s internal affairs, was the creation of an orphanage for orphans.

He always said that young sprouts were the hope of the future and truly cherished the children of Guardslon.

That's why he must have been genuinely enraged by the possibility that Berkhia might have been harmed.

As the atmosphere somewhat eased due to Defesser’s polite demeanor.

Dweno spoke.

“The suspicions against you have been cleared. So, I must ask. Where are you from?”

At those words, the party, excluding Leo, flinched.

“All of you are wearing clothes woven from mana threads, and their designs are similar.”

Dweno narrowed his eyes.

“Even your extraordinary skills, unbefitting your age.”

Dweno stroked his beard, scrutinizing each member of the group.

“It seems impossible that you wouldn't be famous.”

‘Oh, no, we’re in big trouble.’

‘How should we explain this?’

One of the iron rules for conquering the Hero’s World was that one must not inform anyone within the Hero’s World that the current world was fake.

From the conqueror's perspective, the Hero’s World was a fake world, but to the characters within the Hero’s World, this world was real.

Those who revealed themselves as conquerors to the residents of the Hero’s World had their conquest marked as failed, regardless of their intent.

And failure to conquer a Hero Dungeon meant death.

Therefore, they could not say things like, ‘We came from 5000 years in the future,’ to the great heroes of the past.

However, no answer came to mind that could resolve this question either.

Hero candidates study and learn the situations and common knowledge of each era so that they can respond naturally no matter which Hero's World era they enter.

But most of the data from the Age of Calamity has been lost by the present era.

Therefore, even in the history classes at the Hero Academy, the Age of Calamity could not be properly taught.

They had to make something up.

Their suspicions had just been cleared; if they couldn't answer or gave a strange answer here, they might end up back in prison.

But making something up was only possible if they knew something.

It was then, as they floundered, unsure of what to do.

“We are from the Leysar slums.”

Dweno’s gaze turned to Leo.

“For slum children, your complexions are quite fair.”

“We were taken in by the Lord of Leysar because of our skills and received training.”

Leo looked straight into Dweno's eyes.

“To subjugate Erebus.”

“…”

It was a well-known story that the Lord of Leysar took in orphans from within the city and trained them to counter Erebus and Tartarus.

‘Of course, he was a traitor, but…’

Taking in orphans and subjecting them to harsh training was ultimately for the sake of preserving his own position.

Whatever the reason, it was true that the Lord of Leysar took in orphans and gave high positions to those who excelled among them.

Defesser, having heard Leo's words, spoke.

“I don't see any reason for the Lord of Leysar to send such remarkable talents as yourselves to Guardslon.”

Defesser said, adjusting his glasses.

At those words, Leo narrowed his eyes.

‘Now that I think about it, Arion and Berkhia said that Lysinas, Luna, and I were currently absent, didn't they?’

Arion had said that the three of them had gone to Leysar for support.

It was common to go to other cities for support or dispatch, so there was nothing strange about it.

However…

‘Lysinas, Luna, and I are absent. From what I've heard, the Lord of Leysar seems to still be alive. Defesser is also alive. And Berkhia is 17 years old.’

Leo synthesized the information he had gathered since entering the Hero's World.

‘On top of that, the Giant King is now in this world.’

For what reason did the Giant King enter this place?

Previously, in Luna’s Hero’s World, where a fragment of Erebus was, it was their subordinates who had entered, not the Legion Commander himself.

‘If that cautious Giant King is moving himself…’

Leo narrowed his eyes.

‘Either this world is important enough for the Legion Commander to move… or it's a personal grudge of his.’

Having gathered information up to that point, Leo reached a conclusion.

‘The Giant King must hold a strong grudge against Dweno. The only event that could have caused such a grudge is when he was utterly crushed by Dweno. It must be this time.’

The Giant King, who was also the creator of demonic machines, suffered a complete defeat at the hands of Dweno in a certain battle.

He was not only defeated by Dweno in terms of strength but also completely broken as a blacksmith.

‘The Siege of Guardslon.’

The moment his thoughts reached that point—

[Dweno's World. Chapter: Major-Siege of Guardslon.]

[Conquest Objective: Stop the Giant King's invasion.]

“Gasp!”

“Huh?!”

“Gah?!”

The group let out cries almost like screams.

“Why are they acting like that all of a sudden?”

When Dweno asked with a puzzled expression, Leo shook his head.

“A bad memory came to mind.”

Leo, having accurately grasped the current timeline, said.

“The Lord of Leysar… he was completely untrustworthy. That’s why we came to Guardslon.”

“Does that mean… you ran away to Guardslon?”

When Defesser asked with a sharp expression, Leo nodded.

“Indeed. It seems Lord Kyle’s prediction was correct.”

Defesser, adjusting his glasses, his eyes filled with killing intent.

At this time.

There was only one reason Kyle had left Guardslon.

‘To punish the traitorous Lord of Leysar.’

Lysinas and Luna had gone to support Leysar, but Kyle was originally supposed to remain in Guardslon.

However, he left with them to punish the Lord of Leysar as a shadow.

‘Ultimately, it was a bait for that Giant King, designed to weaken Guardslon's defenses.’

Leo clenched his fist tightly.

Defesser’s face was tinged with sorrow.

“How much hardship did you endure under such a wicked man… You are still so young… *hic*!”

Defesser, covering his mouth and struggling to swallow his tears, said.

“Lord Dweno! These children are clearly children who will become a great hope in the future! They must have been abused by the wicked Lord of Leysar and endured difficult days!”

“…From what I see, they seem to have grown up too comfortably?”

“You are cruel! How can you speak such cold words to children who have suffered!”

Defesser, who had fabricated a story based on Leo’s words, took the party’s side.

Defesser was someone who absolutely adored children.

“Didn’t you see how frightened these children looked when the topic of the Lord of Leysar came up?!”

Defesser, having splendidly mistaken their fear upon seeing the conquest objective, stepped forward to defend them.

As soon as he saw that, Kyle put on a pained expression.

“It was difficult… we had to endure harsh competition every day.”

At Kyle's words, Lunia and Ar also hastily put on pained expressions.

“Ah! We couldn’t survive unless we stepped on other children.”

“It’s painful! It’s painful!”

‘What in the world is that terrible acting?!’

Kyle screamed inwardly.

It was an exaggerated act that anyone could see through, but it worked well on Defesser, who was already smitten.

“I apologize for my suspicions! I had no idea you had such a sad past!”

Dweno watched them and let out a deep sigh.

“Alright. Even if they are suspicious, they don't seem like children who are dangerous or would harm the city, so there's no need to lock them in prison. They possess formidable skills, so they will be a great help in saving the world.”

“Yes!”

“Give them lodging.”

“Understood!”

Defesser nodded at Dweno’s words.

“The vacant place right now is… yes.”

Dweno took out a long pipe from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

“We can lend them Kyle’s house.”

“What? Lord Kyle’s house? It’s certainly vacant, but Lord Kyle wouldn’t like it if he knew, would he?”

“I’ll handle that. It's not like that friend's house holds some big secret, like Lysinas's or Luna’s, is it? Besides, that friend is said to be an All-Class.”

Dweno’s gaze turned to Leo.

Defesser looked at Leo with surprised eyes.

“When Kyle returns, I want him to meet this person first.”

“Ah, understood.”

Defesser bowed politely.

Suddenly, to the house of a great hero.

The group, who were to stay in the house of the Hero of the Beginning, of whom almost nothing was known in their current era, wore surprised expressions.

Just the thought of going to the very place where a great hero lived was enough to make their hearts pound.

Leo too was immersed in a strange feeling.

‘My… home.’