Book 1 Chapter 289

The heart of Gardsron.

Leo stood by the window in the reception room of a mansion overlooking the panoramic view of Gardsron, gazing at the night view of Gardsron through the window.

'…To think I'd see this view again.'

It was not much different from the scenery he had imprinted on his eyes before embarking on the final expedition to subjugate Erebus.

"It's so dark."

Kal came up beside Leo and clicked his tongue.

"For such a huge city… it's too dark?"

"That was the era."

Leo said calmly.

"It was an era that couldn't be as brilliant as it is now."

"True. It's the era of calamity."

An era when the world was ending.

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

"By the way… we were guided here, but."

Kal looked around the reception room.

Then he flinched as he looked at Lunia and Ar.

"It's intimidating."

"Have some confidence. Why do you all look so down?"

As Dryadana said, putting her arms behind her back, Lunia, who had been touching her forehead, wore a dark expression.

"The opponent is none other than Lord Dwenno. It's amazing that you all fought back as much as you did. I was so scared I couldn't even move."

"…Black Rabbit fought Lord Arion alone."

Ar, with potion patches made by Kal on his cheeks and forehead, gritted his teeth and said.

"The two of us couldn't even resist Lord Dwenno properly."

Kal gave an awkward laugh, looking at Ar with a slightly indignant expression.

"Hey, hey. Leo is unbelievably strong…"

"Does that mean you were being overconfident?"

Dryadana said coldly, and the two girls bowed their heads.

Kal covered his face and approached Dryadana, whispering softly.

"Hey, you should be comforting them, not saying something like that."

"I just said it because they seemed like they wanted to hear a harsh truth."

Dryadana pushed away Leo's face, which was close to her ear, with her small hand.

"If you aim higher, you must know the difference between yourself and those above you."

"That's a good point."

Leo chuckled and sat down in a chair.

"I didn't fight Arion properly. Arion didn't counterattack. On the other hand, Dwenno seemed to want to test you."

"Test?"

Lunia, who had lifted her head, looked a bit bewildered.

"What kind of test?"

"I don't know about that."

*Creeaak!*

The reception room door opened and Eiran entered.

"Everyone!"

"Eiran! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?"

Lunia, who had stood up, approached Eiran and examined her all over.

"Yes, I'm fine. But Lunia and Ar seem more seriously injured than I am?"

Eiran looked at Lunia and Ar's wounds with surprised eyes.

"I'm fine,"

Ar said in a calm voice.

Looking at Ar like that, Eiran invoked her fairy magic and cupped Ar's cheek with her palm.

Instantly, the swelling subsided.

Eiran quickly healed the wounds Lunia and Ar sustained in their battle with Dwenno.

Just then, two people entered the reception room.

It was Dwenno and Depesir.

Upon Depesir's appearance, everyone except Leo wore tense expressions.

They remembered the ferocious and menacing aura when he had taken Eiran away earlier.

Seeing his friends' reactions, Leo muttered to himself.

'I don't even need to look to know. He must have caused a huge fuss regarding Berquia.'

Depesir was a dragon Leo knew well, as he was Lysinas's right-hand man.

Eiran looked frightened.

Depesir, adjusting his glasses, scanned the reception room.

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

"My apologies."

After apologizing, Depesir approached Eiran and knelt on one knee, bowing his head.

"Noble of the forest tribe. I have put you in a difficult situation due to a small misunderstanding. How can I make amends for this…"

"Oh, no. I'm just glad the misunderstanding has been cleared up."

Eiran was flustered by Depesir's sincere apology.

Lunia, Ar, Kal, and Dryadana were also surprised by his sudden change in demeanor from just a moment ago.

'It's nice to see you again.'

Depesir, who was in charge of Gardsron's internal affairs, had his greatest achievement in establishing an orphanage for orphans.

He always said that young sprouts were the hope of the future and truly cared for the children of Gardsron.

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

While the atmosphere had somewhat eased due to Depesir's polite attitude.

Dwenno spoke.

"The charges against you have been dropped. So, I'm asking, where are you from?"

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

"You're all wearing clothes woven from the threads of mana, and the designs are similar."

Dwenno narrowed his eyes.

"And unusual skills that don't match your age."

Dwenno stroked his beard, looking intently at each member of the group.

"You must be quite famous."

'This is bad.'

'How do I explain this?'

One of the cardinal rules of conquering a hero's world was not to reveal that the current world was fake to the inhabitants of that hero's world.

From the perspective of a conqueror, a hero's world was fake, but to the people within it, it was real.

Those who revealed themselves as conquerors to the residents of a hero's world had their conquest automatically fail, regardless of their intentions.

And failure in a hero's 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, there was no answer that could circumvent this question either.

Hero candidates studied and learned about the circumstances and common sense of each era so that they could naturally adapt to any hero's world they entered.

But most of the materials from the era of calamity had been lost by the current time.

Therefore, even in the history classes at the Hero Academy, the era of calamity was not taught properly.

They had to come up with something.

Their suspicions had just been cleared, and if they remained silent or gave a strange answer here, they might be sent back to prison.

But to make something up, they needed to know something.

It was then, as they fumbled and couldn't find their way.

"We're from the Leysar slums."

Dwenno's gaze shifted to Leo.

"For slum kids, you look quite well-fed."

"We were taken in and trained by the Lord of Leysar because of our skills."

Leo looked directly into Dwenno's eyes.

"To subjugate Erebus."

"……"

It was a well-known story that the Lord of Leysar had taken in orphans from the city and trained them to counter Erebus and Tartaros.

'Of course, that guy was a traitor.'

He took in orphans and subjected them to harsh training, ultimately to preserve his own position.

Regardless of the reason, it was true that the Lord of Leysar had taken in orphans and given high positions to those who excelled.

Depesir, upon hearing Leo's words, said.

"I don't see why the Lord of Leysar would send such outstanding talents like you to Gardsron."

Depesir said, adjusting his glasses.

Leo narrowed his eyes at his words.

'Come to think of it, Arion and Berquia said that Arion, Lysinas, and Luna are currently absent?'

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

It was not unusual for people to go to other cities for support or dispatch.

But…

'I, Lysinas, and Luna are absent. From what I've heard, the Lord of Leysar seems to be alive, and Depesir is also alive. And Berquia is 17 years old.'

Leo combined the information he had gathered since entering the hero's world.

'And the Giant King is currently in this world.'

For what reason did the Giant King come here?

In Luna's hero's world, where there were fragments of Erebus, his subordinates, not his commanders, had appeared.

'If the cautious Giant King himself is making a move…'

Leo narrowed his eyes.

'This world is important enough for a commander to act, or… it's a personal grudge of his.'

Having gathered that much information, Leo reached one conclusion.

'The Giant King must hold a strong grudge against Dwenno. The only event that could have caused such a grudge is the incident where he was completely crushed by Dwenno. This is the perfect time.'

The Giant King, also the creator of demon machinery, had suffered a thorough defeat at the hands of Dwenno in a certain battle.

He was not just defeated by Dwenno in terms of strength, but was completely broken as a blacksmith.

'The Gardsron Siege Battle.'

The moment his thoughts reached that point.

[Dwenno's World. Chapter: Major - Gardsron Siege Battle.]

[Objective: Prevent the invasion of the Giant King.]

"Hah!"

"Ugh?!"

"Kek?!"

The group let out screams close to groans.

"Why are you all acting like this?"

Dwenno asked with a puzzled expression, and Leo shook his head.

"A bad memory came to mind."

Leo, accurately grasping the current situation, said.

"The Lord of Leysar… was utterly untrustworthy. So, we came to Gardsron."

"In other words… you ran away to Gardsron?"

Depesir asked with a sharp expression, and Leo nodded.

"Indeed. It seems Lord Kyle's prediction was correct."

Depesir, adjusting his glasses with a murderous gaze.

At this time.

Kyle had left Gardsron for one reason.

'To punish the traitorous Lord of Leysar.'

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

However, he left together to eliminate the Lord of Leysar as a shadow.

'In the end, it was a decoy by the Giant King that weakened Gardsron's defenses, but…'

Leo clenched his fist.

Depesir's face was etched with sadness.

"How much hardship you must have endured under such a wicked man… you are still so young… *sob*!"

Depesir, covering his mouth and struggling to hold back tears, said.

"Lord Dwenno! These children will surely be a great hope for the future! They must have suffered from abuse and hardship every day by the wicked Lord of Leysar!"

"…From what I see, they look like they've been pampered too much?"

"You are cruel! How can you say such cold words to children who have suffered!"

Depesir, who had fabricated a story based on Leo's words, sided with the group.

Depesir doted on children.

"Didn't you see how frightened these children were when the story of the Lord of Leysar came up!"

Depesir, mistaking their fear of the objective for something else, stepped in to defend them.

Seeing that, Kal put on a strained expression.

"It was tough… we had to compete fiercely every single day."

At Kal's words, Lunia and Ar also quickly adopted strained expressions.

"Ah! If we couldn't step on other children, we wouldn't survive."

"It's agonizing! It's agony!"

'What is that acting?!'

Kal screamed inwardly.

Although their acting was exaggerated, it was very effective on Depesir, who was already smitten.

"I'm sorry for suspecting you! I didn't know you had such a sad past!"

Dwenno sighed deeply, watching the scene.

"Well. Although they are suspicious, they don't seem to be dangerous or harmful to the city, so there's no need to lock them up. They have incredible skills, so they will be of great help in saving the world."

"Yes!"

"Prepare accommodations for them."

"Understood!"

Depesir nodded at Dwenno's words.

"The vacant ones now are… yes."

Dwenno took out his pipe from his pocket and lit it.

"We can lend them Kyle's house."

"What? Lord Kyle's house? It's certainly empty, but Lord Kyle wouldn't like it if he knew."

"I'll handle that. It's not like there's a big secret in that friend's house like Lysinas or Luna, is there? Besides, I heard that friend is an all-rounder."

Dwenno's gaze shifted to Leo.

Depesir looked at Leo with surprised eyes.

"I want to introduce them to him as the first person he meets when Kyle returns."

"Ah, understood."

Depesir bowed politely.

Suddenly, to the house of a great hero.

The group, who was going to the house of a hero known little in this era, looked surprised.

Just going to the place where a great hero lived was enough to make their hearts flutter.

Leo too, was filled with a strange feeling.

'My… home.'