Book 1 Chapter 51

【51】50

Leo and Chloe, who had returned after conquering the Hero's World, were immediately transferred to the hospital ward.

Leo had a fractured left arm, full-body burns, and cracks in various bones.

Chloe, in her case, suffered from exhaustion due to extreme magic depletion.

The prescription from the hospital ward was absolute rest.

In the end, the two were hospitalized.

The next morning.

Chloe, who had overslept, looked at the mana-replenishing IV drip that the therapist had placed on her left wrist last night and said,

"It doesn't seem serious enough to even forbid visitors."

The two were in a situation where even visits were prohibited.

"It probably isn't just because of the injuries."

Leo, with healing patches on his face, said as he sat on a sofa in a corner of the spacious two-person hospital room.

"You think so?"

Chloe's face clouded.

Even if not for Leo, Chloe had matters to be investigated in Lumerne.

'What do I tell my family if I get expelled?'

The Müller family, belonging to the Northern Magic Tower, had a very limited standing.

Their family history wasn't long, nor were there any outstanding mages.

They were just an ordinary magic family found everywhere.

But because of Chloe, who entered as the top student, they gained attention in the Northern Magic Tower.

However, if she were to bear the dishonor of expulsion, her treatment would clearly worsen than before.

Moreover, it would be a problem even if she wasn't expelled.

The Müller family was poor.

That's why she had planned to attend school on a scholarship.

'But I made a mistake, so I have to take responsibility!'

'She's thinking about something.'

Leo rested his chin on his hand and smiled slightly, watching Chloe clench her fists as if making a resolution.

'Children at that age grow so fast.'

While that thought crossed his mind, Leo recalled what had happened yesterday.

'They said that the pages of the Hero Record had never run wild as long as history was recorded.'

But yesterday, a great anomaly occurred.

Leo, too, couldn't figure out the reason.

'The Hero Record is something that didn't exist in my era.'

But he could make a guess.

'What if the grimoire Chloe possessed influenced the Hero Record?'

Erebos, too, is a divine being if you had to categorize him.

'If a magical artifact influences the Hero Record… could it be related to my Hero Record disappearing?'

The demons still remembered and hated Leo.

There was no law saying they wouldn't secretly influence the Hero Record in such a way.

'The destruction of the Hero Record itself might be connected to Tartarus.'

Leo, who let out a light sigh, discovered a chessboard in the table drawer.

'First, should I clear my head?'

"Chloe. Do you know how to play chess? I'm bored, wanna play this?"

"Yeah, sure."

*Rustle* Chloe got off the bed and sat in front of Leo.

The chess game began, and their pieces started to move.

*Clack! Clack! Clack!*

Leo, whose moves were blocked, crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.

'She plays well.'

Though the rules were slightly different from now, chess also existed in his previous life.

Since chess was Lysinass's favorite game, they often played it together.

"Checkmate."

At Chloe's declaration, Leo moved his king.

Chloe smiled as she chased the king.

'It's really been a long time since I've played like this.'

Since the beginning of the semester, she had been engrossed in studying day and night, solely focused on catching up to Leo.

'I can play with Leo to my heart's content while I'm in the hospital.'

Chloe paused, having thought that far.

'Wait. Come to think of it, I'm sharing a hospital room with Leo now, aren't I?'

When she was admitted, she was so distraught she didn't have time to pay attention, but thinking about it now, her face flushed for no reason.

"Aren't you playing?"

"Huh? Oh? Yes!"

Chloe, flustered and with a raised voice, hurriedly moved her piece.

A moment later, Leo was checkmated, and the game ended.

"Ah-! That was fun!"

Chloe stretched and smiled brightly, when her stomach rumbled! Her belly clock rang.

"Oh, no! I mean, this is! Because I'm hungry!"

"Come to think of it, you haven't eaten anything since yesterday, have you? Isn't that too much for kids in their growth spurt?"

Leo grumbled at Chloe's urgent words, her face turning red as a beet.

Before they knew it, it was lunchtime.

*Knock knock-!*

A knock was heard at a good time, and the hospital room door opened.

Chloe, recognizing the visitor's face, was startled and straightened her posture.

"P-Principal!"

"Haha! Nice to meet you! Student Leo! Student Chloe! Did you rest well last night?"

Calian, with a kind smile, approached the two.

"I-It's an honor to meet you! I'm Chloe Müller from Class 1-1!"

"Haha! Don't be too nervous. I just came to ask a few things!"

'This person is the Sword Saint. One of the greatest heroes of this era.'

Leo's eyes sparkled.

Leo and Chloe sat in front of Calian.

"First, I want to apologize to both of you. Although it was an unpredictable situation, I apologize as a principal for putting you in danger due to the emergence of a Hero Dungeon."

Calian began, bowing his head.

Chloe hurriedly waved her hands.

"It's okay, Principal. It was a situation the school couldn't help, wasn't it?"

"I appreciate you thinking that way. Now, let's get down to business."

Calian raised his head and put on a solemn expression.

Chloe, overwhelmed by his demeanor, fell silent.

"First, Student Chloe. I have something I'd like to ask you. I'd like you to show me the grimoire you bought in the back alleys of Lumeria City. Professor Sedgen and Professor Len told me that you carried that grimoire for several months."

Chloe gasped.

Leo, who was next to her, asked,

"Why do you want to see it?"

"There's no need to hide it from Student Leo. The place where Student Ryu bought the summoning catalyst is the same place where Student Chloe bought the grimoire."

"So the source was the same after all."

"After all? What does that mean?"

"That grimoire was a magical artifact."

Calian's face turned serious.

"Can you tell me in detail what happened in the Hero's World?"

Leo began his story.

Calian, who had heard the full account, narrowed his eyes.

"Are you saying a magical artifact influenced the Hero's World?"

"Since the Hero Dungeon normalized immediately after we eliminated the magical artifact, the probability seems high for now, doesn't it?"

Calian stroked his beard.

"Then, my second question. It's about the items you brought back from the Hero Dungeon yesterday."

"Items we brought back from the Hero Dungeon? Wasn't it impossible to bring anything back from the Hero's World except for the conquest rewards?"

Chloe asked with a puzzled look.

Even if it felt real, the Hero's World was ultimately a simulation.

Whatever items were obtained, they all disappeared upon returning to reality after the conquest.

"It seems Student Chloe was unaware. Yesterday, Student Leo submitted five items. Those were the mementos of Alia's party members."

Listening to Calian, Leo fell into thought.

'Was I the only one given conquest rewards again?'

This was Leo's second time conquering the Hero's World.

Coincidentally, both times, the rules [There are no conquest rewards in a living person's Hero's World] and [Rewards related to the owner of the Hero's World] were broken.

This time, he thought Chloe might have received a reward since it was a Hero Dungeon, but she hadn't.

'I don't know why the rules keep breaking only for me, but it probably wouldn't be good if it became known.'

If it were known that he could unconditionally obtain conquest rewards in any world, he would undoubtedly get entangled in troublesome affairs.

"Those were conquest rewards."

"Conquest rewards? You shouldn't be able to receive rewards in a living person's Hero's World, should you?"

"Yes. But yesterday's Hero's World was a Hero Dungeon, wasn't it? Perhaps an anomalous situation occurred?"

Leo decided to use yesterday's incident to get out of the situation.

"Why didn't Student Chloe receive any conquest rewards?"

"Perhaps it's because Leo was the most active in the conquest?"

Chloe said.

It was true that the presence or absence of rewards differed according to contribution to the conquest.

"I see."

Calian nodded.

"Alright. Then, one last word."

Calian put on a serious expression.

"You are to keep silent about the magical artifact."

"Excuse me?"

"Chloe. Regarding you, I will speak separately to your supervising professor, Professor Sedgen, and the magic department professor, Professor Len. Corresponding measures will be taken. But beyond that, you are to keep silent."

"W-Why?"

"You may not know well yet because you are still young."

Calian smiled broadly and stood up.

"The enemy is not only on the outside."

Leaving the two behind, Calian walked to the hospital room door.

"Take good care of yourselves during the exam period and get plenty of rest. You'll be able to be discharged after that."

Calian, who was chuckling and opening the door, paused and said,

"Come to think of it, I forgot to tell you the practical exam results."

Calian turned back to the two and smiled.

"Congratulations! You two are the first first-year students in Lumerne's history to exceed the Hero's World mission achievement rate."

Chloe's eyes widened, and Leo let out a slight laugh, crossing his arms.

"I look forward to your future endeavors."

*Creak-! Thud.*

"Leo! Exceeded the mission achievement! It's the first time in Lumerne's history!"

Chloe, whose name would go down in Lumerne's history, cheered and rejoiced.

Leo smiled, watching Chloe.

***

"The exam period is over, so why do we have to go straight to class? This damn school has no humanity! No humanity!"

Karl grumbled as if fed up.

"Do you hate taking classes that much?"

"Hey! Chelsea! Honestly, who wants to take classes after exams are over?!"

"You hate taking classes regardless of exams."

The two were bickering as they headed towards the magic building.

"Did you hear that story? About Chloe."

"I heard. She said the unique magic she presented wasn't hers?"

"Yeah. She confessed it herself. So her practical exam got a 0, and she's last in the magic department exams, apparently?"

"Hehehe! She acted so cocky, serves her right."

A group of magic department students was seen walking by, chuckling.

Seeing that, Karl frowned.

"Those unlucky bastards. They used to latch onto Chloe, and now they're switching sides as if nothing happened."

"That's how underdeveloped kids usually are."

"Anyway, I'm worried about Chloe. She's secretly quite fragile mentally."

Karl scratched his head vigorously.

Just then, someone sitting on a bench in the magic building garden stretched out a leg.

A male student at the forefront of the group gossiping about Chloe tripped over the leg and fell.

"Gasp! Which bastard is this! Do you wanna die…!"

"Oh, sorry. Were you passing by? Watch where you're going."

"L-Leo Plob?"

Leo stood up and said with a completely unapologetic expression.

"Are you picking a fight with us right now?"

"Why? You guys go around badmouthing me, so I can't pick a fight with you? And what if I am picking a fight?"

Leo curled up the corner of his mouth, looking at the exasperated male student.

"If you've got a problem, how about a duel with me?"

"Ugh?!"

Until before the midterms, Leo was strongly perceived as a theorist.

But after the midterms, it became known that he was a top-class formidable opponent among the students.

Knighthood, magic, summoning.

It was safe to say that there was no chance they could defeat Leo in a duel, regardless of the subject.

"If you pick a fight like this, I'll tell Professor Len!"

But where there are many mouths, voices get louder.

One female student in the group flared up.

But Leo smiled leisurely.

"That's good. Professor Len was just looking for you guys."

"W-What did you say?"

"He said he had something to ask you about your assignment? Hurry up and go."

Their faces turned pale.

They had leached off Chloe for their assignments, so if they were asked about it, it would be a huge problem.

"Damn it! You despicable bastard!"

"Just you wait."

They spat curses and hurriedly ran towards the magic building.

Leo let out a small laugh, watching their retreating figures.

"How presumptuous."

"Brother Leo! You've been discharged!"

Chelsea approached, smiling brightly.

Karl, with his hands clasped behind his head, grinned.

"Alright! Leo's discharged, so should we ditch class today? It's obvious we won't make any progress anyway, just review theory… Ow ow ow ow!"

"Someone who got second to last in the magic department scores wants to ditch class? What kind of nerve is that?"

"C-Chloe?"

Chloe pulled Karl's ear.

"That's enough. From today, you're sitting with me right at the front of the class."

"The very front? No! I don't want to feel that pain from the beginning of the semester again!"

Chelsea giggled, watching Karl scream, then smiled brightly at Leo.

"Congratulations on your discharge, Brother Leo."

At her words, Leo smiled and patted Chelsea's head.

Chloe looked back at them and mumbled,

'Let's try. So I don't embarrass Leo, who gave me courage back then.'

Karl, who had been screaming, saw their interaction and asked,

"Your face looks much more relaxed? Are you feeling better now?"

"Thanks to you. Thanks for caring, Karl."