Book 1 Chapter 473

473.

It was some time after the party of Great Heroes was complete, following Dweyno's joining.

The regions where the Great Heroes had been active gradually began to regain stability, emerging from despair and chaos.

Among them, the first place to regain stability was Gardeslon, which the Great Heroes had made their base.

It was also around that time that Lisinas, who had long been ridiculed as a fool, was appointed as the lord of Gardeslon.

One day, while busy stabilizing the administration,

Kyle came to Lisinas and made a request.

"You want me to teach you spirit summoning magic?"

Lisinas, who was processing documents, looked at Kyle with a surprised expression.

"Why all of a sudden?"

"I felt it when I saw your spirit summoning magic during the last battle. If I could use it, it would be a great help in future battles."

"Hmm?"

Lisinas propped his chin on his hand at Kyle's words, narrowed his eyes, and made a slightly crooked expression.

"You said you didn't need it when I offered to teach you summoning magic, but now you're asking?"

Lisinas snorted.

"Because I couldn't understand the concept of summoning magic you were explaining."

"What about Luna and Arion? Isn't their explanation harder to understand than mine?"

Kyle had already sought to learn from Luna and Arion.

But even before that, Lisinas had once offered to teach Kyle elemental magic.

However, it was rejected at that time.

'Your explanation is too difficult, I don't need it.'

Kyle spoke to Lisinas, who was frowning as he recalled that time.

"Indeed, their explanations are full of incomprehensible things. So I'm learning them physically and forcibly stuffing the spell formulas into my head. That way, I understand them to some extent. But your summoning magic concept isn't something that can be understood just by memorizing it. Before that, I was already using your elemental magic, even if only superficially, so I didn't feel the need."

"Oh, is that so?"

Lisinas responded coolly but acknowledged that part.

Kyle had tried to mimic Luna and Arion's martial arts without learning, but failed.

Conversely, Leo often copied Lisinas's elemental magic well.

"Why can't you copy Luna and Arion, but you can copy my elemental magic?"

"I've watched you the longest, and among my colleagues, I watch you the most."

"Oh, really?"

Lisinas replied indifferently, turning his gaze from Kyle and looking out the window.

At that indifferent reaction, Kyle sighed softly.

Lisinas seemed to have no intention of teaching Kyle spirit summoning magic at all.

'He watched me a lot?'

But Lisinas felt a little…

No, he was quite pleased.

Kyle couldn't see it, but his leg was happily tapping under the desk.

In fact, Lisinas had recently been feeling a little upset with Kyle.

'He's with Luna the most, learning magic.'

When he first became lord, Kyle visited often, but after he started training with Luna and Arion, it became difficult to see his face.

Of course, he didn't blame him for that.

'It's certainly a good thing that Kyle has become motivated. Still, we're founding partners of the subjugation team. He could pay a little attention, couldn't he?'

He wanted to teach him spirit summoning magic.

So he wanted to spend time alone with Kyle.

But before that, he also felt like playing a trick on him.

"Even if I wanted to teach you, I'm too busy right now and don't have time."

"If you're okay with it, late at night is fine. Shall I come to your house? If you don't like me intruding into your space, you can come to my house."

'At night? To my house?'

"Hee-hee-hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~"

Lisinas, feeling even better, hummed a tune.

But to Kyle's eyes, he looked like he was being evasive.

Just as Kyle narrowed his brows even more at that sight.

"Teaching him might not be so bad."

Lisinas smiled faintly.

"Come to my house when you have time at night. I'll teach you the spell to unlock the door."

"Do you need to teach me the unlock spell?"

"It's troublesome to unlock it every time you come. Oh, and of course, if you sneak in when I'm not around, I'll kill you."

"Do you think I'd do something like that?"

"It's fine to come when you're bored or have worries. I'll be your conversational partner or drinking buddy anytime."

"That's appreciated. Oh, by the way."

"Yes?"

"Do I even have talent for spirit summoning magic? I should probably know that before I learn."

At that remark, Lisinas winced inwardly.

'Kyle has no talent for spirit summoning magic.'

He recalled what Luna had said to him some time ago, amazed by Kyle, who was an All-Class.

'Lisinas, can he also use spirit summoning magic?'

'Kyle has no talent for spirit summoning magic. He probably wouldn't get it unless he died and was reborn.'

'Oh? So he's not omnipotent after all.'

As she said, Kyle had no talent for spirit summoning magic.

Therefore, it was impossible for him to use spirit summoning magic even if he learned it.

Lisinas simply wanted to spend personal time with Kyle.

Crucially, he was envious of Kyle and Luna, who had become as close as siblings.

"Well, you can't know that. Your All-Class potential is limitless. I think there's a possibility."

"I see."

Kyle nodded.

"Then I'll go tonight."

"Tonight?"

'My study is messy. Should I tidy it up a bit? No, more importantly, do I have any decent clothes?'

While Lisinas was pondering various things inwardly.

"Hello!"

Luna entered Lisinas's office.

"Kyle! Tonight, I'll give you special tutoring! Consider it an honor!"

"No need. Are you planning to come to my house again, drink, and make a mess? Don't ever come to my house again."

Kyle scowled intensely.

"What kind of attitude is that towards your teacher! How insolent!"

"Teacher, my ass. I'm helping you make your magic spells too. It's a give-and-take relationship, isn't it?"

Kyle irritably pushed away Luna's face, who was grabbing and shaking him.

Luna pinched Kyle's hand hard.

"Anyway, I have a prior engagement tonight."

"A prior engagement? Do you have a drinking appointment with the perverted old man and Arion?"

"No, with Lisinas."

"Lisinas?"

Luna looked slightly flustered, glancing back and forth between Kyle and Lisinas.

"Kyle asked me to teach him summoning magic, you see."

"Really? Then I'll learn too."

Luna smiled brightly.

She was also a summoner who had contracted with a fairy.

Lisinas was flustered by Luna's reaction.

"Luna, I'll teach you separately next time."

"Yes. You learn separately next time. I'm going to learn spirit summoning magic today."

Luna's eyes widened at Kyle's words.

"You're bothering Lisinas and forcing him to teach you, aren't you? Dream on."

"What?"

"Lisinas said before. That you'd only be able to use spirit summoning magic in your next life."

Luna crossed her arms with a triumphant expression.

"Stop messing around and learn magic from me!"

At Luna's words, Kyle narrowed his eyes and looked at Lisinas.

"Hey, you fraudulent lizard. You were trying to play a trick on me, weren't you?"

"No, I was just thinking about your potential that might…"

"Isn't it because your usual behavior is bad that Lisinas is being malicious towards you?"

Luna clicked her tongue, looking at Kyle with a pitying expression.

Kyle grabbed one of Luna's cheeks and pulled.

"What are you doing?!"

Luna, with wide eyes, pulled Kyle's hair.

Lisinas looked at Luna with a slightly resentful gaze.

After that, there was no opportunity to learn spirit summoning magic.

***

Recalling the past, Leo pondered.

'Was that just an auditory hallucination?'

Neither in his previous life nor in this life did he possess the talent for spirit summoning magic.

'But for an auditory hallucination, it was excessively vivid.'

It was as if Lisinas had really spoken to him.

It was when Leo was frowning.

"Master, is something wrong? Your expression is serious."

Lil, who had approached, asked in a small voice.

"I was thinking about spirit summoning magic."

"Spirit summoning magic?"

Lil's eyes widened.

"Isn't that completely the realm of talent? Master, are you perhaps capable of spirit summoning magic too?"

"No."

'If I could have handled spirit summoning magic, I might have completely finished off Erebus.'

Leo made a complex expression.

'The reason I couldn't completely finish him off in the first place was because I was lacking.'

When subjugating Erebus.

The essence of power accumulated by his comrades was all contained in the vessel that was Kyle.

Kyle defeated Erebus based on that power.

But it was only borrowed power, after all.

Kyle could not fully make that power his own.

'It was merely that the vessel was filled, and the power became stronger. The vessel that was 'I' did not become stronger.'

In terms of pure combat power.

Kyle's martial arts skills could never reach Arion's.

It was impossible for his magic to reach Luna's realm, and his summoning magic could never keep up with Lisinas's.

'Nor could I play the role of a shield instead of Dweyno.'

If he had reached the ultimate realm that even one of his comrades had reached, it wouldn't have ended with just sealing Erebus.

Leo looked down at his hands.

'As an All-Class, I had to gather all abilities to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.'

In a sense, that too was not achieved purely by his own strength.

'I merely followed the path they pioneered.'

He did not have the ability to pioneer unknown realms himself.

'Was it always them who created paths for me to pioneer new realms whenever I hit a limit?'

He had always been good at observing and imitating.

Even in the final battle with Erebus, Leo merely imitated his friends.

For example, Arion's true power comes from supersenses.

Arion's ultimate supersenses reached a state where he could even glimpse fragments of the future, but Leo still hadn't stepped into that realm.

Likewise, to perfectly understand Lisinas's summoning magic, one must be able to use spirit summoning magic.

'If that wasn't an auditory hallucination, but truly Lisinas's voice.'

Some time ago, as a reward for conquering Lisinas's world, Leo had obtained Lisinas's mana essence.

If that power awakened and he gained talent as a spirit summoner.

'Doesn't that mean I could reach the same realm as Lisinas?'

While Leo was pondering.

"We've arrived."

Jeremin stopped speaking.

The ruins called the Tomb of the Vanquished.

What was once an old fortress long ago, these ruins had an area surrounded by vast city walls.

As they entered, many boys and girls were shouting battle cries, clutching spears in the open space.

It was like military training.

Leo and Lil looked at Jeremin with puzzled expressions.

"These children are all war orphans. They are the darkness of this country, having lived their entire lives being deprived."

Jeremin made a stern expression.

"Those who hold military power in this country have operated orphanages for a long time."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Lil tilted her head.

"On the surface, it's a good thing."

Jeremin's face showed disgust.

"But their orphanages were a kind of military facility."

"What?"

"They are training centers for raising strong soldiers. The reason they gather young orphans is to send them to the battlefield when they reach an age where they can fight."

Lil's expression vanished from her face.

Leo crossed his arms.

"I will tell you the terms of the deal."

Jeremin took a deep breath and stood before Leo and Lil, saying.

"Please stop those children from going to war."

"That's easy. Just smash the heads of the higher-ups right away!"

As Lil growled, Leo opened his mouth.

"It won't end with that."

"What?"

Lil paused.

"Those children will voluntarily want to go to war."

"Why?"

"Because that's how they would have been taught and raised."

Leo, who answered the bewildered Lil, looked at Jeremin.

"Crown Prince Jeremin, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Has this plan to raise war orphans as soldiers been ongoing for several years?"

"It would be five years ago."

"Are these children the first generation?"

"How do you know that fact?"

Leo had seen this scene before.

5000 years ago, in the refugee city of Leisar.

And he knew well whose work this was.

'Grand Duke of Funerals, Artkan.'