Book 1 Chapter 371

371 At Elsi's question, Raruel made a bewildered expression for a moment.

"What? The era you had to live in? What are you talking about?"

He couldn't understand what the spirit in front of him was saying.

Elsi, who flew up to Raruel's face, made a slightly prim expression.

"-Even while saying you've given up on this world, not passing it on to future generations and not disappearing, no matter what, isn't it because you still have lingering attachment?"

Elsi grumbled in a sulky voice.

"-As if you had seen all the darkness in the world."

Elsi pouted her lips and wore a dissatisfied expression.

It wasn't like the usual Elsi.

But Elsi, in her own way, found the great spirit in front of her frustrating.

While possessing more dazzling light than anyone else, she seeks darkness.

She could shine brighter. It seems like she's killing her own light.

Taking on darkness is not the role of a light spirit.

Illuminating the lamp of hope and leading people.

That was exactly what a light spirit was.

"I don't know what you saw,"

Raruel frowned.

"You can't understand my darkness."

"-Then first, please show me the darkness you saw."

"You're saying you can understand my darkness?"

"-Of course."

Elsi smiled brightly.

'For a spirit of darkness, her brightness…!'

Raruel reached out a hand to Elsi.

On Raruel's hand, a small cluster of light was sparkling.

"Even if your mind collapses, I won't be responsible."

It was the darkness that even a great spirit had suffered from.

Spirits, being spiritual entities, sustain fatal injuries if their minds crack.

At Raruel's words, Elsi, smiling, reached out her hand to the cluster of light.

Flash-!

A bright light burst forth.

It was just for a moment.

But from Elsi's perspective, it was a very long time.

Elsi opened her eyes.

Obsidian-like eyes, black as the night sky without even starlight, reflected Raruel's face.

Elsi smiled bitterly.

The moment Raruel made a bewildered expression, seeing such an Elsi.

"-You must have had a very hard time."

Elsi, extending her hand, gently patted Raruel's head with her small palm.

Seeing Elsi comforting her as if she understood everything, Raruel's face contorted.

"What on earth is this?"

Was the darkness she harbored so light that it could be understood so easily?

"Who are you to understand me so easily!"

"-Hmm."

Elsi, as if troubled, cupped her cheeks and fell into thought.

"-It's not a competition, but it's probably because I've experienced more than you."

Elsi, who smiled bitterly, reached out her hand.

Darkness shimmered.

"-Would you like to see?"

Raruel looked at Elsi's darkness and reached out a hand.

Darkness enveloped Raruel's body.

A moment later, Raruel, with a pale face, staggered backward.

"You… what on earth are you?"

The era of Elsi that Raruel saw was filled only with despair.

"How did you live through the era of calamity?"

"-I am a great spirit from the past."

Elsi introduced herself.

"-Born in the era of calamity and extinguished in the era of calamity, I am Elsi, the great spirit of darkness, the shadow spirit."

Seeing Elsi formally introduce herself once again, Raruel's eyes wavered.

"How can a great spirit that vanished 5000 years ago be in this era?"

"-I borrowed the power of the Hero Record."

Raruel couldn't deny Elsi's words.

The scenery in the memories she saw was clearly the era of calamity.

As Lodia's sworn partner, having together challenged the Hero Records of the great heroes, she clearly remembered the scenery of that era.

But experiencing a part of that era through the Hero Record and the despair of one who had to live through it firsthand were completely different.

Raruel's hand trembled.

After seeing Elsi's memories, she could understand what her feelings were.

"On earth… how can you smile like that?"

In a trembling voice, Raruel, who barely managed to speak, looked at Elsi.

"How can you move forward towards the light?"

Despite having lived through such a desperate era, Elsi did not let go of the thread of hope.

"-Well."

Elsi tilted her head.

"-That's probably… because light is that beautiful."

Elsi's brightly smiling appearance captivated Raruel's eyes.

Watching that sight, Leo smiled bitterly.

Leo knew another Elsi.

If the current Elsi was the Elsi before she became warped.

The Elsi Leo originally knew, more than anyone else, was a spirit who harbored skepticism towards the world.

'And yet, she sacrificed herself for the world.'

For the starlight of a night sky she had never once seen, Elsi willingly gave her life.

Elsi, born as the darkest being in the darkest era, was such a spirit.

"-So don't give up on this world."

Gently stroking Raruel's cheek, Elsi smiled brightly.

"-Don't give up on your sworn partner. If you just don't give up, you'll surely be able to save everyone. Just as this world, which had lost its light, has regained its light once again."

Raruel's face contorted as if about to cry.

For Raruel, who had been trapped in deep darkness, those few words were like salvation.

***

Raruel had transformed into a small, palm-sized form, just like Elsi.

"-So."

Raruel looked at Leo.

"-Leo Flobe, what on earth is your true identity?"

A hero candidate who has a spirit from the era of calamity as a sworn partner.

At Raruel's question, Elsi said.

"-In front of Leo, you absolutely mustn't say things like 'I had a hard time' or anything similar."

"-Huh?"

"-If you make a mistake, you'll hear nagging like, 'Have you fought Erebos? Or have you seen the world end?' You heard it earlier, didn't you? When he called them 'kids these days'?"

"What do you take me for?"

Leo, who let out a small sigh, glanced at Raruel.

"I am the reincarnation of the Hero of Beginnings."

"-T-The Hero of Beginnings?"

Raruel widened her eyes at Leo's unimaginable true identity.

"Why? Don't you believe it?"

"-Uh, if you consider Elsi-nim's true identity… it's not impossible, but."

Before she knew it, Raruel's tone towards Elsi had changed to honorifics.

It couldn't be helped.

Elsi was a great spirit who was with the great heroes in the era of calamity.

For Raruel, she was in a position like a grand senior.

'Leo Flobe is All Class. On top of that, he has continuously shown unusual actions.'

5000 years since Hero Records existed and the era of heroes began.

Even after the existence of the hero's world was revealed, no one with abilities like Kyle existed.

To begin with, even the heroes of creation did not have anyone inheriting Kyle's power.

Looking at Leo, Raruel, who was hesitant, carefully asked.

"-That… if you really are the Hero of Beginnings."

Raruel, who was carefully observing, gathered her courage and asked.

"-Did the King of Wisdom really not know that he had feelings for you?"

"…"

Leo, with an expressionless face, looked at Raruel.

At Leo's gaze, Raruel unknowingly flinched and made a timid expression.

"Do you really think I didn't know? Because I had to embark on a journey to save the world, I simply had no choice but to ignore it."

Elsi looked at Leo with a bewildered expression, and Raruel sighed in relief.

"-I knew it, right? Lodia said so! She said Lysinas-nim was so pitiful, teaching him the etiquette of the dragon tribe, which he didn't even need to learn so openly, and if he didn't notice it, he was truly an idiot."

Leo simply just smiled.

'These damn guys, really.'

Seirun called him an imbecile, and Lodia called him an idiot.

Leo, who thought he should punish them first before nagging, said.

"Then I'll ask. Spirit of Brilliance."

Leo, who approached Raruel, said.

"Will you make a sworn pact with me?"

Raruel looked up at Leo.

Traditionally, the great spirits of light have taken those who would lead the world as their sworn partners.

At the time of the era of calamity.

The one who would lead the world to salvation was Lysinas, the King of Wisdom.

And at the time of the calamity's re-emergence, that role was taken by Lodia, the Dragon of Creation.

"-If Kyle-nim once again faces the primordial evil… he will have to bet everything he has once again. Do you think this world is worth that much?"

"Worth, you say."

Leo burst out laughing.

"Long ago, Elsi also asked me something similar."

Without her knowing, at the words spoken by another self of hers, Elsi smiled bitterly.

"I also used to think that way. I know well that the world we tried to save… the world we saved, wasn't only beautiful."

'We will save the world.'

He recalled the words delivered by a friend who had cruelly left first.

'Why do we have to save it? Is this world worth that much?'

He also recalled his own words, which he had answered rebelliously to that.

"But in this world, flowers bloom fully, and children also smile brightly; it's also a beautiful world."

Leo looked down at the cityscape visible outside.

Before he knew it, the sun was setting.

'It's not something to judge by whether it has worth or not.'

"It's not something to judge by whether it has worth or not."

Behind Leo, who had turned his back, a red sunset poured down.

'The world my precious people cherished and loved, and the world they will live in. That one reason is enough to risk everything I have.'

"The world my precious people cherished and loved, and the world they will live in. Some guy taught me that one reason is enough to risk everything."

"-Is that one reason truly enough?"

"It's a fact taught by the most foolish yet wise person in the world, so it's certain."

Seeing Leo answer without hesitation, Raruel respectfully bowed her head.

"-Kyle-nim, no. Leo Flobe-nim. I will become your sworn partner, become the sword and shield that opens the path you will advance on, and I promise to lend my strength."

Raruel raised her head and reached out her hand.

On the back of Leo's hand, the crest of the pact appeared.

"-Once again, please save the world."

"Alright. I look forward to working with you, Spirit of Brilliance."

***

Late at night, the sun having set.

Leading the way, Iliana, who was walking down the alley, said with a face flushed crimson.

"I'm telling you. I clearly saw the class president entering that shady street with my own eyes!"

At Iliana's words, Chelsea narrowed her eyes.

"Leo oppa wouldn't possibly go to such a strange alley."

Seeing the Chelsea full of disbelief, Iliana made a frustrated expression.

"Right! If it were the class president's usual image, there's no way he would! But the class president is also a boy, you know!"

At Iliana's words, Chloe, making a pathetic expression, asked Karl.

"Karl, what do you think?"

"Well, Leo hasn't really shown interest in that kind of thing."

"That's right, he's a mature Leo, isn't he?"

"These kids don't know anything."

Iliana raised her index finger and wiggled it.

"The class president is very mature."

"That's right."

"Adults do amazing things."

"What are those amazing things?"

As Chelsea squinted her eyes, Karl, who was next to her, smiled slyly.

"Why ask when you already know everything? When two people enter a room, it's the amazing magic that turns into three people."

"No! It's also magic that could become four people!"

Thwack-!

"Cough!"

"Choke!"

Chelsea struck Karl and Iliana's necks with both arms.

"Enough with the vulgar jokes."

Seeing Chelsea making a pathetic expression, Chloe clicked her tongue.

"He probably went for investigation purposes."

Thus, the four people arrived at the entrance of the pleasure district.

"Grandma!"

"It's the little lady who screamed and ran away earlier, it is."

Late at night.

The old woman, chuckling, said.

"This street, you can see even more amazing things at night. Did you come because you're interested?"

"I'm not interested in such things!"

As Iliana shrieked, Karl next to her smiled mischievously.

"Really?"

Thud-!

"Cough!?"

Karl, who was hit in the solar plexus, collapsed.

"The boy who went in earlier. Do you happen to know where he went?"

"Since I didn't see him leave, he must still be in the pleasure district."

At those words, Iliana flinched and said.

"Look at this! He wouldn't investigate for this long! The class president clearly got lost in the adult world here!"

Chloe and Chelsea also, hearing that Leo had been here for a long time, made bewildered expressions.

Karl opened his mouth wide.

"Wow, it's Leo, as expected. He's incredibly bold, isn't he?"

"Leo oppa wouldn't do that!"

As Chelsea yelled with a flushed face, Karl flinched.

"Ah, no! Even if you yell at me."

"What are you guys doing here?"

At the entrance, Leo appeared.

Iliana quickly scanned such a Leo up and down.

It was when Chelsea and Chloe slightly hesitated.

"Class president, tell me honestly."

"What?"

"You came from playing around here, didn't you? You experienced the adult world, didn't you? That's it, right?"

At those words, Leo pulled Iliana's cheek.

"What are you talking about?"

"H-Hey, stop it!"

"You're so impudent. I've known you since you hid a bunch of unhealthy magazines and novels in the dorm."

"Ack! Ack! Ack!"

Iliana, with a flushed face, screamed to stop Leo's words.

"We agreed not to talk about it!"

"Because you read so much of that stuff, isn't that why you're only making such strange imaginations?"

"Don't say it!"

Iliana urgently protested, but while being scolded by Leo, only her dark history was revealed.

"I sometimes have this thought when I see Leo scolding kids."

Chelsea looked at Karl.

"Doesn't it remind you of when you got scolded by your parents?"

"Yeah, I agree."

Chelsea nodded her head.

Karl looked at Chloe.

"Your expression is fierce, isn't it?"

"I'm going to scold Iliana a bit."

Chloe, the dorm president, was angry at Iliana for bringing in prohibited items.

"Are you her mom?"

Thud-!

"Cough!?"

Having said something unnecessary, he got hit in the side and was Karl, rolling on the floor.