Book 1 Chapter 430

430.

That evening.

The second-year students walked unsteadily, their appearances depleted.

*Thud-*

Kal collapsed onto the ground.

"It's this hard again today… How are we supposed to last another month?"

"When I get home, I'm throwing away all my stuffed animals."

The exhausted second-year students reacted in panic.

As soon as the sun set, the second-year students, who had been warped to one location, were making their way to the accommodation following a signpost.

"I'm hungry."

"Of course you're hungry, you've been starving all day."

"What's for dinner?"

"I want to eat and then wash with hot water quickly! I'm a mess!"

"I just want to lie down in bed quickly~"

Hopes and wishes burst out from all around.

"Kal, stop lying there and get up."

Chelsea poked the prostrate Kal with her staff.

"I don't want to go."

"Why?"

"The future I predict is nothing but darkness. *Sob sob sob.*"

Seeing Kal weeping, Chelsea frowned.

Grabbing Kal by the scruff of his neck and dragging him along, Chelsea said,

"By the way, I don't see Leo Oppa?"

"He probably cleared the trials we went through long ago and is already resting at the accommodation."

"Right. Leo Oppa."

Chelsea nodded as if convinced.

They arrived at the accommodation where they would stay for a month.

Several log cabins stood in a large clearing.

It wasn't as luxurious as they might have imagined, but the students looked satisfied seeing the decent accommodation.

"Wow! This is perfect."

"Doesn't it feel like we're visiting a vacation home?"

"Let's eat soon!"

"We should wash first!"

The students headed towards the log cabins with excited reactions.

"Where are you all going?"

Leo, who had built a bonfire in one corner of the clearing, asked with a perplexed expression.

"Ah! Leo Oppa!"

Chelsea ran towards Leo with a bright smile, while Kal sighed deeply and approached Leo, collapsing next to him.

Seeing Leo, Lunia approached, linked arms with him, and asked,

"What are you doing out here instead of going in?"

"Go in where?"

"The accommodation."

"Our accommodation is here."

Leo gestured towards the vast clearing.

"What?"

Lunia's expression showed confusion for a moment.

After a while, understanding the situation, her face turned pale.

"Wait, just a moment! You're saying there's no place to sleep provided at all? We have to camp without any equipment?"

"That's right."

Upon Leo's answer, screams erupted from various places.

At their reaction, Arga folded his arms and put on a smug expression.

"Heh! How weak! This is why young masters and ladies raised in greenhouses won't do!"

Arga puffed out his chest, his white cat tail swaying.

"For us students of Azonia, sleeping outdoors is hardly an obstacle…"

"We have to find our own food too."

"How can that be!"

Arga's cat tail shot straight up.

"You idiot! If they're not providing a place to sleep, do you think they'll provide meals?"

"Ugh!"

Arga flinched at Lunia's words.

"What's all the commotion?"

Just then, a wooden door opened, and someone appeared.

Everyone's gaze shifted to the woman.

She was a woman with black hair and a faint reddish tint.

She was a beautiful woman with impressive long limbs, but the most unusual feature was her ears.

A rabbit beastkin with black rabbit ears.

"Vanir Senpai!"

It was Vanir, who had graduated from Azonia just last year.

The students of Azonia eagerly gathered around Vanir with happy expressions.

"Senpai! Have you been well!"

"We've heard about your accomplishments!"

"It's an honor to see you again!"

Vanir, who had been looking at the juniors with a cold gaze as they greeted her with booming voices, said,

"Stop chattering, you brats."

At Vanir's voice, filled with a chilling aura, all the students of the Hero Academy trembled.

However, the second-year students of Azonia snapped to attention and responded with a resounding "Yes!"

Vanir pressed her temples as if her head hurt.

"So, what are your complaints?"

A student from Seirun raised a hand.

At Vanir's nod, he opened his mouth.

"We want to hear the reason why sleeping and dining are not provided. We came here to improve our skills, and wouldn't our training be more efficient if we were in optimal condition?"

"Do you perhaps think this is an extension of your department's curriculum?"

"Yes? Of course…"

"You seem to be arrogant, thinking you were chosen when you received an invitation from the Dragon Lord."

Vanir brushed her bangs back.

"The Dragon Lord didn't choose you. They are testing you."

The Seirun student shivered at Vanir's chilling words.

Not only him.

Other students also flinched.

"The reason you are not provided with sleeping quarters and meals? It's to see how well you perform in extreme situations. If you're going to whine about such things, you can leave right now. No one will stop you."

Some students gritted their teeth and lowered their heads.

Vanir scoffed at them and entered the accommodation, closing the door.

In the somber atmosphere, Chen Xia said,

"Shall we divide the tasks for now? Preparing sleeping arrangements and meals is the priority, so let's decide on it."

"You're so calm even in this situation?"

"I'm used to it."

Chen Xia smiled faintly.

Chen Xia, like a shadow, was accustomed to such situations.

Everyone, dragging their weary bodies, began preparing for sleeping arrangements and meals.

Leo watched them silently.

"Black rabbit, what are you thinking so hard about?"

Arga asked with a perplexed expression.

"Just…"

Leo smiled bitterly.

"Reminded me of old times for a moment."

***

In the territory of the Flove family, there is a dense mountain.

It is land where no monsters inhabit.

It was a normal, large mountain that could be found anywhere in the countryside, lacking any significant underground resources.

'That's why it's a perfect training ground, though.'

Melina had already blocked off this mountain from the outside using magic.

And by using the Dragon Lord's power, she had transformed it into the ultimate training ground.

'In the end, no student passed the first stage today.'

The first and second-year students are currently separated.

However, not a single person had passed the first stage of training on the first day of the training camp.

It wasn't that the hero candidates lacked skill.

The training designed by Melina was that brutal.

'First, I need to pass the first stage to begin individual training.'

As Melina pondered the schedule for the next month, she spoke,

"What is it?"

"Greetings, Lord."

A man with blond hair knelt and bowed his head from behind.

It was Akatis, Melina's trusted subordinate.

He was in charge of searching for the hero records of Great Heroes and Epoch-Making Heroes in the western part of the continent.

When he came to her directly, Melina instinctively knew something had happened.

"A hero dungeon has occurred in Delan, the capital of the Delad Kingdom."

"If you came to me directly, it must be the hero record of a Great Hero or an Epoch-Making Hero, right?"

Melina stood up abruptly and asked.

"It hasn't been precisely identified yet, but…"

"But?"

"There have been reports of black flames erupting from Delan."

"Black flames…!"

Melina's expression turned grim.

"Where exactly is the location?"

"The Royal Palace's Magic Research Institute in Delan."

"You lead the dragons there first and wait. I will finish tidying things up here and will be there soon."

"Yes."

Akatis disappeared.

Melina took a deep breath and called out to him.

"Lord Leo. A problem has occurred."

***

The tragedy of all the children in the orphanage perishing was the beginning of everything.

Arion's teacher, known as the Guardian of the Azure Sky, called it an unfortunate accident.

Arion wanted to know the exact details, but his teacher did not tell him.

'Arion. You have never seen a clear sky since you were born.'

Argon smiled weakly, his face haggard.

'I don't want to tell you the truth, who hasn't even seen the clear sky. Forgive me. As the Guardian of the Azure Sky… it is my selfishness to protect your heart, which is clearer than anyone else's… forget about your younger siblings.'

'Yes, teacher.'

Arion had depended on his teacher since he was young.

Therefore, despite having many questions, he followed his teacher's words.

But after that tragedy, he thought,

'If only I had a little more courage, could my siblings have lived?'

He did not know the exact incident.

Despite having immense power, he was always terrified.

But he thought that if he had just a little courage, his teacher would not have despaired and been frustrated.

His siblings would not have left before him.

Arion had left home for half a year because he was afraid of fighting, and that's when the tragedy occurred.

Then, one day.

They came.

Three people who came to recruit Agon, the Guardian of the Azure Sky, as a comrade, saying they would save the world.

"Guardian of the Azure Sky, Agon. Your power is desperately needed."

"Was your name Lisinas?"

Agon said in a weary voice.

"I'm sorry… I can no longer fight for the world. I can no longer go to the battlefield for people. My heart… is already broken."

Arion politely refused the request of the dragon, called a fool.

"Instead… take my disciple. This child will be much stronger than me. They will be different from me. They don't hate people or the world like I do. This child's heart is as clear as the blue sky."

Arion smiled looking at Arion.

"This is a child who will go forward without hesitation to protect others."

"This timid-looking child?"

The elf's ears perked up, and they curiously pushed their face close to Arion.

As the incredibly beautiful elf gazed at him intently, he involuntarily blushed.

'Wow, so pretty.'

"Oh my, how innocent. Blushing! So cute!"

"Don't interrupt the conversation."

"Ouch! Let go! Let go! Don't let go! *Chomp!*"

"Aargh! You damned long-ears!"

Of course, less than three seconds after thinking she was pretty, the thought vanished as he bit the hand of the human man who was pulling his ear.

Thinking they were scary people, and as Arion was overcome with fear, the dragon called a fool approached him.

"Arion. Won't you come with us?"

Lisinas smiled gently.

"If you were born with immense power… there must be a reason."

"The reason I was born?"

"Yes. What do you want to do now?"

"… I want to create a world where children can smile with peace of mind under the blue sky."

At that answer, Lisinas's eyes widened, and he smiled brightly.

"Then won't you come with us? We are also on our way to regain the blue sky."

Even though a difficult journey awaited him…

Looking at the hopeful smile, which surely felt more despair than he did, Arion was captivated.

With the strength of that smile, Arion took a big step forward into the world for the first time in his life.

Later, the strange dwarf, Dwenno, joined them.

There were many days when he was too scared to fight.

But his comrades… his friends believed in Arion.

Arion, too, mustered his courage to live up to that trust.

And so, the world regained hope.

Then, on the last night before embarking on their final journey, at Guardsron.

"Kyle, is there anything you really want to do or achieve?"

"Not really, right now."

Kyle chuckled and took a sip of his drink as he asked.

"What about you? Don't you have anything you want to do?"

"I want to create a world where children smile."

"Not something like that."

"Huh?"

"Luna's goal is to make her name widely known to future generations, and Dwenno's goal is to leave behind works of art. Those are desires for themselves."

"Lisinas just wants to save the world."

"That's because he's an idiot."

Kyle said indifferently.

"You don't have to do everything for the world like him."

Kyle said to Arion.

"Find what you want to do."

And so they set off on their final journey.

As they climbed the mountain, Arion looked up at the sky.

Beyond this mountain… lies the culprit who made the world this way.

They had faced him many times, but had never fought him head-on.

*Tremble, tremble-*

His hands were shaking.

It was the same as always.

He was so scared at this moment that he wanted to run away.

At that moment.

Suddenly, Arion's super-sense activated.

An extraordinary sense, close to precognition.

Arion's face turned pale.

'In this fight, we will lose.'

"Lisinas!"

"Huh? Why?"

"This fight! We…!"

Just as he tried to speak urgently.

Again, curse-like, his super-sense told him what Arion didn't want to know.

He couldn't know what was happening.

The future that his super-sense revealed was only the 'result'.

But at this moment.

He felt a clear future result, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Arion's gaze turned to Kyle and Luna.

'If I run away now…'

Arion squeezed his eyes shut.

'Kyle and Luna will die.'

The two people who were like a brother and sister… like family, will die.

'What should I do? What should I do…?'

Fear, incomparable to anything before, washed over him.

It felt like his breath was being choked.

'What should I do…!'

As Arion squeezed his eyes shut, his super-sense momentarily revealed a method.

"Arion?"

Lisinas called out to Arion with a slightly bewildered expression.

"Lisinas, let's not run away from this fight."

"Huh? Of course."

Arion smiled at Lisinas.

It was a hopeful smile, just like the one Lisinas had given him on their first meeting, the smile that gave him the courage to face the world.

"Surely, we can win."

They would be defeated in this fight.

But…

'If we fight back without running away… Kyle and Luna won't die.'

Arion walked at the very front.

The fear subsided, and peace returned.

'It ends with just me.'