Book 1 Chapter 529

529.

Thump- Thump-

Leo walked down the hallway, looking around.

The bodies had already been taken care of, but the bloodstains everywhere told of the tragedy that had occurred here.

Leo silently stared at the bloodstains splattered on the floor and walls.

Behind Leo stood Chen Xia.

Normally, outsiders were not allowed here.

But Leo, with Melina's authority, had no difficulty investigating the place.

After completing his on-site investigation, Leo returned to the entrance.

Shhring-!

And drew his sword.

It was then that Chen Xia looked at Leo with a puzzled expression.

Whoosh-!

Leo slowly swung his sword through the air, advancing.

Swish! Swish-!

It was slow, but the sound of the sword cutting through the air was sharply audible.

Chen Xia made a surprised expression upon seeing this.

'He's recreating what happened here.'

Where Leo's sword swept past, blood was splattered.

Leo's sword, which had moved through the hallway and reached inside the conference room, suddenly stopped.

And with his sword lowered, he closed his eyes.

It goes without saying, but Leo knew all of Berchia's swordsmanship.

'Because I taught her.'

Arion and Luna created the framework for Berchia's swordsmanship and magic, but it was none other than himself who guided her to make that framework her own.

That's why he immediately knew who was responsible for this tragedy.

'It's Berchia.'

"Young Master Leo, please give us a command. Shall I call the Shadows?"

The Shadows are tasked with finding, tracking, and eliminating traitors.

Therefore, they were skilled at pursuit.

"No."

Leo shook his head at Chen Xia's words.

"Not only can't they find her… even if they do, it'll be dangerous."

Chen Xia bit her lip at Leo's words.

Chen Xia also vaguely knew.

Who caused this tragedy.

"For now, let's go to the Ersar family and join Eiran."

"To Young Lady Eiran!"

Chen Xia said urgently at Leo's words.

"Shouldn't we tell Young Lady Eiran?"

"…"

At that, Leo closed his eyes tightly.

Like Lunia, Eiran was also a hero candidate chosen by Leo.

The one who would inherit Luna's will and a comrade who would fight alongside him in the future.

Also, a girl with strong will.

But because of that, he hesitated even more.

'Eiran resembles Berchia.'

It wasn't simply because she was an ancestor and a descendant.

In fact, the two had nothing in common.

As thousands of years had passed, her physical appearance was not inherited.

Nor were their personalities similar.

Although she inherited the swordsmanship and magic passed down through the family, that was merely an acquired trait.

The only common points between Eiran and Berchia were that they were elves and sword-mages.

But despite that, the reason Leo thought of Berchia when he saw Eiran was because she looked at the world with pure, clear eyes.

Should he really tell such an Eiran?

'That the ancestor she most respected has been resurrected as a vengeful spirit consumed by hatred?'

Until recently, if it were Leo, he would have told her this story.

Because he would have believed that Eiran could overcome it.

But seeing Berchia in such a state.

Leo, too, hesitated.

Leo, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

"Not now."

***

Tatata-tash-!

Eiran ran down the hallway of the Ersar family mansion, her face pale.

'Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa.'

Even as she ran, Eiran's hands trembled.

Eiran had lost both her parents to demons long ago.

Runia was her only remaining blood relative.

Moreover, her grandfather was a kind person who understood Eiran, who had childishly left school after entering Seirun and lived as a recluse at home.

'While I was being childish and only thinking about myself again…!'

Eiran, with her eyes tightly shut, arrived in front of Run's door.

The retainers guarding it bowed their heads.

Eiran roughly opened the door, barely acknowledging their greetings.

Bang!

"Grandpa!"

As she opened the door and entered, the first thing she saw was familiar red hair.

Eiran's best friend, Lunia, was sitting in front of Run's bed, looking helpless.

Seeing Lunia like that, Eiran's face turned pale.

"Lu, Young Lady Lunia. Grandpa…?"

"Eiran? Has Eiran come?"

Run, who was lying with his back against the bed's headboard, called for Eiran in a heavy voice.

"Yes! Grandpa! I'm here! How are you feeling? Are you all ri—"

Eiran's face, hurrying towards the bed, stiffened.

She had found several books in Run's hand.

"Eiran, I have no intention of interfering with your reading tastes, but it's quite extreme—"

"Kyaaaaaak!"

Eiran, her face red, shrieked and rushed to Run, frantically snatching the books.

Run made a serious expression watching Eiran.

"This old man understands everything. Your mother also read books like these often. Though her tastes were different. Anyway, that's why you came along at such an early age—"

"Aaack! Aaaack! Aaaack!"

Eiran screamed like crazy, drowning out Run's voice.

Lunia awkwardly averted her gaze.

Eiran, now relaxed, sank to the floor and said.

"W-weren't you very sick? I was sure you had a serious injury—"

"What kind of old wound would be life-threatening? The injury has healed. But at my age, I'm just suffering from the after-effects. Oh dear. Old people should just die."

Run tapped his waist, saying.

If he were human, with Run's youthful appearance, people might not have adapted well to such an attitude.

But to Lunia and Eiran, who were elves, it simply looked like an old man's grumbling.

At his nonchalant demeanor, Eiran made a face as if her soul had left her body.

"How did you find those books?"

"An old grandpa can tidy his granddaughter's room, can't he?"

"Don't! I have a private life too!"

"Don't worry, I didn't read your diary."

"That's a given!"

Eiran, who had been flustered by Run's words, took a deep breath and calmed down, then looked at Lunia.

"By the way, Young Lady Lunia, why are you at our house…?"

"The headmaster called me for an interview."

"Ah, I interrupted you then."

"No, it's okay. We were talking about you anyway?"

"About me?"

"Yes, they asked about your peculiar reading tastes… *cough*? *Cough cough*!"

Eiran, with a tearful face, throttled Lunia as if in a fit.

***

After a commotion, a calm Eiran asked Run.

"Why didn't you tell me immediately what happened?! Do you know how worried I was!"

Run smiled faintly at Eiran's words.

"Eiran, you know very well that my position within the elves is by no means low."

Run Ersar was the chairman of the Elsarbic Parliament and, albeit temporarily, held the position of headmaster of Seirun.

"Currently, Seirun is in a chaotic internal situation. If news of my attack were to spread in such a situation, Seirun, no, the race itself would be thrown into internal turmoil. Please understand me."

Eiran bit her lip tightly at Run's words.

Eiran knew that too.

Not just Seirun, but the entire elven society was experiencing too much change in a short period of time.

Until last winter, that change clearly seemed to be for the better.

'Luna-nim's descent was the beginning.'

It was an unprecedented event that no one could have imagined.

It couldn't be anything else.

The descent of a great hero who saved the world 5,000 years ago?

Who could have imagined it?

Thanks to this, the elves, who had a strong racial pride, became even more arrogant.

Why had only Luna, among the great heroes, returned to the present world?

Perhaps it was because elves were special?

Elves who witnessed the miracle naturally came to such thoughts.

Accordingly, the position of pure-blooded supremacists, who were elven supremacists, strengthened.

Eiran witnessed this firsthand at Seirun.

It was around that time.

The 'Introduction to Star Magic' appeared, making star magic, which was thought to be an exclusive property of elves, easily accessible to everyone.

That grimoire, written by Len, was immediately designated as a forbidden book among elves and condemned as soon as it appeared in the world.

For thousands of years, elves were called the race of magic.

The reason for that was the star magic left behind by Luna.

And Len's magical theory challenged the authority of the elves that had been passed down for thousands of years.

Most elves had no intention of accepting the Introduction to Star Magic.

Elves, who had originally refrained from external interactions, showed even more signs of building a wall against other races.

It was then.

The second miracle occurred.

The descent of Seirun, the Comet Mage.

That great elven figure, called the successor of the progenitor of the nebula, reappeared.

It was a major event that would normally have greatly inflated the arrogance of the elven supremacists.

But that historic moment was shattered by Seirun, who denied the current elven society.

He recognized a student from Lumerne, not students from Seirun Academy who could be considered his descendants, as his 'successor'.

Accordingly, the upheaval in elven society turned into chaos.

Those with a broad perspective moved quickly to adapt to the changes.

But many could not.

Stunned by the fact that their great ancestor did not recognize them and anxious that they might have been wrong all this time, the elves wandered aimlessly.

In the midst of this, the progenitor of the nebula reappeared once again.

And as eyewitness accounts of a clash between Luna and the Pureblood Society continued, elven society faced even greater confusion.

Fortunately, there were certainly heroes who could sort out this confusion and lead the race forward.

And one of them was Run Ersar, the elder of the Elven Council.

If it became known that he was found in the blood-soaked meeting hall of the Pureblood Society, it was obvious that elven society would be turned upside down.

Given the situation, it took a considerable amount of time for the news to reach Eiran, Run's granddaughter.

"Still, still, you could have told me! Do you know how worried I was!"

Her trembling voice contained resentment.

But her eyes welled up with tears from worry for Run.

"So, who is the culprit?"

A rare murderous intent appeared in Eiran's tear-filled eyes.

Seeing that, Run's face hardened.

He knew who the culprit was.

But should he tell his granddaughter?

Run, after a moment of contemplation, quickly changed the subject.

"Let's talk about the culprit later. Didn't Student Leo come with you? I'm sure I asked him to come along."

"If you mean Lord Leo, he said he had somewhere to stop by?"

"Somewhere to stop by?"

Run tilted his head, puzzled.

"Yes, he said he was going to the crime scene."

"The crime scene, you say."

It was then that Run muttered softly.

Knock knock-

"Master of the household, a guest has arrived."

"Let them in."

With Run's words, the door opened, revealing Leo and Chen Xia.

"Lord Leo!"

"Oh, you've… Ah. No. You're here? Leo?"

Eiran greeted Leo warmly, and Lunia smiled awkwardly as she greeted him.

Run stared intently at Lunia.

The moment Run's eyes met hers, Lunia quickly averted her gaze.

Run asked Leo.

"Did you see the crime scene well?"

"Yes."

"Indeed. Unfortunately, it was her doing."

"Her?"

"Grandpa, do you know who the culprit is?"

Lunia and Eiran's eyes widened at Run's sudden words.

Chen Xia also looked surprised and flustered.

Leo stared silently at Run.

His expression remained unchanged.

But the elder elf before him had clearly realized something.

Run's eyes, full of deep wisdom, shone sagaciously.

"I need to speak with Student Leo alone for a moment, so the other students, please step out."

Run smiled gently and said to the three girls.

At the sudden words, the three girls looked at each other, then left the room.

Creak- Thump-!

As the door closed, Run stood up.

Run, having risen, used magic to block any sound from leaking out of the room.

Having finished the preparations, Run knelt before Leo and bowed respectfully.

"Run Ersar, 38th head of the Ersar family, greets the Great Hero of the Beginning."