Book 1 Chapter 402
402.
The oasis city of Ellehem, Uarguela.
The giant oasis in the center of Uarguela resembled a massive beach.
It was a kind of oasis sandy beach and one of Uarguela's main tourist attractions.
There, students from Lumerne and Azonia were playing in the water.
"Everyone's so carefree."
Celia, who had arrived at the oasis sandy beach, brushed her hair back.
Usually a meticulous top student, she looked at the Lumerne sophomores and freshmen enjoying water activities with a slightly displeased expression.
Behind her stood her mentees, Aina and Martina.
"This is good too, Lady Celia. The practical training mission is also over."
Currently, Lumerne students had almost completed their mission training schedule.
The suspicion that Ellehem was hiding a hero dungeon was revealed to be true.
As feared, the hero dungeon they had hidden caused a massive abnormal situation, almost leading to the destruction of Dobela, but thanks to the students of Lumerne and Azonia, the first invasion was concluded without major damage.
Later, there were second and third invasions, but by then, upper-class students from Lumerne and Azonia had already arrived as reinforcements.
Afterward, Ellehem was embroiled in an international dispute.
Not only had they concealed not one, but several hero dungeons, but evidence of their collusion with Tartarus was also discovered.
With the undeniable evidence of the Hero Hunter's appearance, Ellehem could no longer deny it.
All races and nations across the world rose to condemn Ellehem.
The world situation was chaotic.
International relations are a place where various interests are intertwined.
However, even amidst such global affairs, there is one thing that is absolutely unforgivable: collusion with Tartarus.
Because of this incident, Ellehem faced a crisis where it would not be strange for them to quietly vanish from history.
"Didn't they say a world conference will be held in Lumerne regarding Ellehem's disposition?"
"Yes."
Celia nodded.
Subsequently, expert dungeon raiders from Lumerne, Seirune, Azonia, and Demian were dispatched to conquer the rampaging hero dungeon.
"We wanted to finish the work with our own strength."
"But you still helped a lot of people in Ellehem, didn't you?"
Martina said, looking at Celia who had a slightly resentful expression.
While the dungeon raiders were active, the first and second-year students of Lumerne helped the struggling people of Ellehem.
The King of Ellehem and the core powers were mostly arrested on charges of colluding with Tartarus and concealing hero dungeons.
While the Ellehem monarchy was in power, aiding and rescuing those in need could be seen as interference in internal affairs, but now that the Ellehem monarchy has collapsed, that is not the case.
"Yes, heroes are beings who lead the world to the right place. Helping and saving those in need is also important."
Celia sighed.
"Yes. Everyone worked hard, so after the practical training was over, Young Master Leo used his student council president authority to give two days of free time, right?"
Leo was largely responsible for the Lumerne students being able to play carefree.
"Still, as Lumerne students, we must maintain our dignity."
It was while Celia was looking at her fellow students, happily playing in their swimwear, with a slightly displeased expression.
"Celia, you're here?"
"Hello, Senior Nella!"
"Hello."
As Nella approached, Martina replied energetically, and Aina greeted softly in a small voice.
"Nella, not you too."
Celia pressed her temples.
Nella was also in full swimwear, ready for water activities.
"It's summer now, too. We all worked hard, so isn't it good to play before returning to school?"
"Exactly, exactly. If you're just going to be a wet blanket when everyone's having fun, just go back to the dorm."
Chelsea, who appeared from behind Nella, said.
"I'm not saying anything about playing. I meant to set an example as a second-year senior. Well, I guess you'd get along well with the first-years, Chelsea."
"What do you mean?"
"Still a kid?"
"You and I are only one year apart!"
At that, Celia looked down at Chelsea, let out a "Hmph," laughed, and brushed her hair back.
Indeed, Chelsea had a youthful appearance even compared to her peers.
Chelsea, who had been looking at Celia with a grumpy expression, while Celia closed her eyes and wore a relaxed look, aimed the toy in her hand at Celia's face.
Splash-!
Water sprayed from the toy and wet Celia's face.
"Phew."
Celia took a deep breath.
Then she glared at Chelsea and lunged at her.
"You really!"
Chelsea ran away without looking back.
"Aren't you going to stop there?!"
"Am I crazy? To engage in hand-to-hand combat with you, a knight major?"
Chelsea looked at Celia, pulled down the skin under her eye with her index finger, and stuck out her tongue.
Watching that, Nella laughed and shouted.
"Using special abilities is forbidden on the oasis sandy beach!"
Having said that, Nella looked at Aina and Martina and said.
"Hehe, those two. Don't they look really close?"
"Um… Is that so?"
Martina only gave an awkward laugh.
Meanwhile, on the oasis sandy beach.
"Come and get 'em! Come and get 'em! Hit products that even second-year top students enjoy playing with! Water gun staffs! Water bombs! And delicious ice cream and drinks to cool you down in the hot oasis!"
Cal was setting up a stall and doing business.
Business was booming.
As summer approached, the students' desire for water activities surged, and when Chelsea, Iliana, Nella, and Teide played with the toys Cal had given them for promotion, the demand for Cal's products skyrocketed.
Add to that ice cream and drinks to dispel the desert heat.
It was impossible for them not to sell.
"Senior! A water gun staff, please!"
"Me too!"
"Here you go!"
Cal smiled broadly and handed over the water gun toys.
Watching the money pile up in his pocket, Cal grinned widely.
"Hahaha! Juene! We're going to be rich!"
At Cal's words, Juene made a sour face.
"Senior Cal, aren't you playing?"
"I am playing right now, aren't I?"
"Doesn't it get depressing doing business while everyone else is playing?"
"It does get depressing. But when I see the sales, that depression completely vanishes!"
Juene shook her head, looking at Cal, who was genuinely happy.
"By the way, those water gun toys are made with the patented magic formulas of the Southern Magic Tower, right?"
"Yes! I'm grateful for it!"
The toys Cal made were objects created by applying the magic formulas used in Juene's magic staff.
"Senior Cal's discernment, to make cheap toys out of such things and sell them for a fortune, really seems amazing."
"Right."
"You know that 80% of the profits have to be paid to the Southern Magic Tower as royalties, right?"
Crunch-
Cal's face hardened.
Cal, with a tearful expression, grabbed Juene's ankle and clung to it.
"Have mercy! 80% of the profits means I'm bankrupt! Have mercy!"
"L-Let go of me."
Juene looked flustered and struggled to shake Cal off.
"Hmph, playing with such shoddy toys. How pathetic."
Eliza, lying on a sunbed under a parasol with sunglasses on, scoffed when she saw them.
Iliana, passing by, said.
"This is quite fun."
"Hmph, what's so fun about such a crude toy?"
"Watch."
Splat-
Iliana, who had adjusted the water gun to lower the water pressure, shot Eliza in the face.
Eliza, who silently wiped her face with a towel next to her, picked up a whip and said.
"If your intention was to displease me, it was an excellent choice. Shall I engrave whip marks on that fair skin?"
"Eeek?!"
As Iliana shrieked and recoiled, wrapping herself, Chen Sia approached and restrained Eliza.
"No violence."
Chen Sia was almost the only student Eliza would listen to.
At Chen Sia's appearance, Eliza clicked her tongue.
Then she snatched the water gun staff from Chen Sia's hand and poured it all over Iliana's face.
"Gulp! Gulp!"
"Hmph."
Eliza scoffed at Iliana, who was wildly shaking her head, and was about to hand the staff back to Chen Sia.
Pat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-!
Chelsea was seen running across the sandy beach.
Chelsea threw a water bomb at Celia, who was chasing her.
Celia, scoffing, snatched the water bomb and threw it aside as if discarding it.
Roll-roll-thump-!
The rolling water bomb hit Eliza's foot.
"…What is this?"
Eliza's eyes narrowed, and Chen Sia and Iliana dove away without hesitation.
Boom-!
The water bomb exploded, spilling an enormous amount of water.
It was a simple formula that compressed water, but the bomb's power was strong.
The parasol and sunbed were blown away by the water pressure, and Eliza's face was slammed into the sandy beach.
"…"
"…"
Those nearby gulped.
Eliza stood up, brushed the sand from her face, and spat out the sand that had gotten into her mouth.
She watched Chelsea and Celia's chase with quiet eyes, then approached Cal's stall.
Cal and Juene gawked, looking at Eliza.
"Cal Thomas, don't you have anything more powerful than water gun staffs or water bombs? The price doesn't matter."
Seeing Eliza speak in an astonishingly calm voice, Cal gulped and handed her a large cylinder.
"It's a prototype water cannon, but its power is strong and dangerous…"
"Those two won't die from this, so it doesn't matter."
Eliza, holding the water cannon, turned around.
A grinding sound was heard from her mouth.
"You're dead."
The sandy beach began to be devastated.
***
In the middle of the sandy beach.
Leo sat on a sunbed under a parasol, looking towards the oasis.
Next to Leo, Chloe sat on a sunbed, reading a book.
Chloe's gaze, exuding a resort atmosphere, occasionally turned to Leo.
This was a rather secluded spot on the oasis sandy beach.
And in the middle of the oasis, bubbles kept rising.
"Whoosh-!"
A moment later, Arr appeared from the water.
Chloe, who had been glancing at Leo, quickly turned her gaze back to her book.
Arr hastily scrambled onto the shore and shook off the water clinging to her body.
Then, panting, she said.
"Black Rabbit, I'm so tired! I want to stop now!"
Seeing Arr speak with a tearful face, Leo stood up from his seat.
Leo walked towards Arr, treading on the sand, and said.
"You're the one who said you wanted special howling training."
In the last battle, Arr had gained the ability to awaken the sign language abilities of other beast-folk through howling.
An unknown ability that even Leo didn't know about.
'And that was also the ability Arreon so desperately wanted.'
Arreon had wished for his sign language ability to be passed on to other beast-folk.
If so, his kin might have survived more on the battlefield.
But in the end, Arreon couldn't achieve it.
Not only Arreon, but no one after him gained the ability to freely use sign language.
It was 5000 years after Arreon's death that a beast-folk who fully acquired Arreon's sign language ability appeared.
'It seems Tartarus gained the sign language ability using fragments of Arreon's hero record… but that's impossible without a fake Brave, so let's set that aside.'
And according to the testimonies of those who fought, the sign language ability doesn't seem to be complete either.
Anyway, Arr inadvertently gained the ability Arreon had so longed for.
Arr, too, was initially thrilled when she learned that fact.
But realizing she couldn't properly control it, and after much deliberation, she reached out to Leo for help.
The first thing Leo did to Arr was to put her in the water.
The first reason was that howling would disturb others, and the second was that regulating her breathing underwater made howling easier.
However, Arr, being a cat beast-folk, detested water.
Of course, Leo was not one to care about such circumstances.
"I hate water now! I hate it!"
"You can't help it even if you hate it. Get in."
At Leo's cold words, Arr quickly rolled her eyes.
'Since it's come to this!'
Arr chose to flee.
Grab-!
Of course, her tail was caught by Leo, and she fell forward.
"Ughyaaaaah!"
Arr struggled.
Leo sighed, approached Arr, and squatted down.
"Arr, you've stepped into a realm that even the Hero couldn't achieve."
Arr paused and looked up at Leo.
"As the Hero's successor, you've achieved something even the Hero couldn't."
"Sniff-!"
Arr clenched her fists tightly.
"But do you want to run away?"
"No!"
"Arreon might be disappointed if he saw you like this. Is that okay?"
"Absolutely not!"
Seeing Arr like that, Leo smiled gently and stroked her white hair.
Arr made a cat-like expression in response.
Leo took his hand off Arr's head, reached out, put his hands under Arr's armpits, and lifted her.
Arr, with perked ears, stared intently at Leo with cat eyes.
Seeing Arr like that, Leo smiled.
"Then, Arr."
"Huh?"
"Go back in."
Whoosh-!
"Hey! You darn Black Rabbit!!!"
Splash-!
Leo, who ruthlessly threw Arr into the water, crossed his arms.
Watching that, Chloe sighed.
"Now I understand why Celia and Chelsea shudder."