Book 1 Chapter 570

The day after the Hero Festival schedule was finalized.

Students from the Hero Academy headed towards the warp gate, accompanied by the farewell cheers of the dragons in the main street of Dragonia.

"The one who chases the nebulae!"

"Wow… she's so pretty…"

Amidst it all, Lunia naturally garnered the most attention.

The dragon children let out exclamations every time Lunia passed by.

Her vibrant red hair and beautiful face.

Her neatly worn Seyrun academy uniform.

She was, to anyone's eyes, the perfect Seyrun honor student.

Furthermore, along with Leo, she had her name recorded in the Hero Records as a student, making it odd, in a sense, to be called a 'hero candidate'.

"For some reason, I feel like I'm getting the most attention, don't you think?"

Lunia asked with a puzzled expression as she waved with a smile.

Leo had also made it onto the Hero Records.

In addition, he had been active with Arion when the third fragment of Erebus was resurrected.

Not to mention being an unprecedented all-class.

Even in such circumstances, the dragons paid far more attention to Lunia.

"Of course."

Hardin adjusted his glasses and said at that moment.

"Leo Flov is certainly ahead of you in every aspect. But people don't care about those internal things as much as you might think."

"Huh?"

"I realized it when I came to Dragonia this time. Dragons aren't fundamentally different from us."

Except for the dragons who lead heroes for the world, like Wisdom students.

Most of the dragons living in Dragonia lived ordinary lives.

"The public's attention is drawn to outwardly apparent fame. And in that sense, Lunia, you are being talked about more than any hero of this era."

"It's because of my title, isn't it?"

"Yes."

The one who chases the nebulae, Lunia El Lundia.

The first hero recognized as the successor to a great hero.

Although the heroes of creation are viewed as a lineage of successors to a great hero, Lunia was the first to be directly recorded as such in the Hero Records.

Therefore, the public's gaze towards Lunia was bound to be special.

"It's a title too grand for me."

Lunia muttered, looking at her palm, and Hardin chuckled.

"You just need to become someone worthy of that title."

"…Yes."

"The dragons are still cheering for you, aren't they? How about standing next to Leo Flov?"

"…"

At Hardin's suggestion, Lunia looked at Leo with an indescribable expression.

The great hero who saved the world, the man loved by Luna, the progenitor of the nebulae, and the man loved by Lisinas, the King of Wisdom.

'Please keep all of this a secret for now.'

Melina had urged those present to do so earlier while handing out the oath forms.

Currently, Kyle and Luna are known to be lovers in the world.

If Lisinas were added to that, revealing the love triangle would undoubtedly cause an uproar in the world.

There was a risk of damaging the reputation of all three.

'Moreover, it wasn't just a simple romantic relationship with Lisinas…'

Lunia's face turned red, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

'She was seeing two people? She was playing with Luna?'

She hadn't fully resolved the misunderstanding earlier because she was too flustered.

As all sorts of thoughts raced through Luna's mind.

'How is it? Much better than Lisinas, right?'

She recalled the scene of Luna grabbing Leo by the collar and kissing him by surprise.

'Kyle, I love you.'

Luna, who had confessed her feelings.

'So marry me.'

'I…'

'No need to answer.'

The image of Luna declaring to the world without hearing Leo's answer flashed through her mind.

'Goodness. Luna only confessed her feelings after she closed her eyes…'

She must have had feelings, but couldn't bring herself to intrude between Kyle and Lisinas.

That's why she only confessed after she died.

Lunia, recalling the sad love story, wore an expression of pity.

As such misunderstandings intertwined to create new ones, the Hero Academy students arrived at the gate.

"Why have you been glancing at me?"

"Huh? Well, um…"

Leo asked with a sigh in front of the gate, and Chelsea looked flustered.

She fidgeted with her fingers and said cautiously,

"It just feels strange to hear that Leo oppa was married."

Hearing that, Leo felt a twinge in the back of his neck.

'What should I do with this damned scamming lizard?'

He thought he should clarify before more unnecessary misunderstandings arose, and just as Leo was about to open his mouth.

"Leo, why didn't you answer Luna-nim's proposal back then?"

Lunia, who had approached unnoticed, said in a sad voice.

"What are you talking about? Explain it in detail."

Chelsea asked with wide eyes, and Lunia, biting her lips, explained the situation.

"Oh my… I didn't know there was such a story."

Chelsea gasped and covered her mouth as she heard the story.

Seeing that, Leo grabbed the back of his neck.

'I'm going crazy, really.'

He had inadvertently become the guy who hadn't answered a confession made only after death, having hidden his feelings during his lifetime.

"You two, come here for a moment."

Leo called the two over.

He put his arms around the two approaching girls and pulled them closer.

Lunia and Chelsea, suddenly in close proximity with Leo, gaped.

"Listen carefully, Lisinas and I are not like that."

"What? Melina-nim said it was a marriage contract, didn't she?"

Lunia asked in a lowered voice.

Leo clicked his tongue.

"Yes, that's what it would seem like. But I wrote my name without even knowing it was a marriage contract."

"Really?"

"Yes. That damn lizard scammed me."

Leo gritted his teeth.

At that answer, Chelsea tilted her head.

"Then, what about Luna-nim?"

"I'm not involved with Luna either."

"So Leo oppa didn't know their feelings in his past life?"

Leo pondered for a moment at Chelsea's question.

How should he answer?

If he said Luna spoke openly, but he didn't understand because it was the elf way, and Lisinas didn't speak openly but hinted, and he didn't notice?

'I really am an idiot.'

He heard the voice of the damned elf who had kicked him in the butt in his mind.

'You don't need to be so obvious, even teaching you the customs of the dragon race that you don't need to learn, if you don't notice, you're truly an imbecile.'

'Stop with the ridiculous lies.'

He also heard the voice of the damned lizard who had smacked him on the head.

Recalling Seyrun and Rhodia, who spoke recklessly to their seniors with their oversized heads, Leo gritted his teeth.

'Next time I see them, I'm going to shave off all their hair.'

"It was a different era. We pretended not to know each other's feelings."

"Ah…"

Chelsea nodded innocently at Leo's lie.

However, Lunia narrowed her eyes.

"Is that true?"

Leo asked, emphasizing the question by pulling her head close with his hand against her neck, as Lunia asked suspiciously.

"Do these eyes look like they're lying?"

Their foreheads touched slightly.

Leo's red eyes were visible right before her.

At that, Lunia's stiffening face began to turn red.

"What are you two talking about so secretly?"

"Hmph!"

Arga suddenly squeezed between them.

"I understand perfectly, so let go now."

Chelsea said in a disgruntled voice, separating the two.

Lunia, turning her head sharply, coughed repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the warp gates to each school were activated.

Watching them, Leo said,

"As I said yesterday, we ask for the active cooperation of each school in preparing for the Hero Festival."

"Since it's already happening, making it spectacular wouldn't be bad."

Marigold nodded.

"Don't worry about that."

Hardin adjusted his glasses.

Hearing their conversation, Dorberman smirked.

"Our Azonia will win."

At that, Marigold and Hardin looked at Dorberman.

"Through this Hero Festival, we will let the world know. That we have arrived."

Hardin's lips curled upwards.

"That's a fine ambition. But unfortunately, Seyrun will win."

"You're saying strange things. Demian will win."

The three schools, as representatives of their species and representative hero academies, activated their pride and made threats.

Watching them, Chelsea said,

"Lumen will win! Right? Leo oppa?"

"Does it matter who wins?"

"Huh?"

Chelsea looked surprised at Leo's words.

"Let's all do our best and work hard."

Seeing Leo smile, Chelsea felt a sense of unease.

'What is Leo oppa planning?'

***

Leo and Chelsea returned directly to Lumen via the warp gate.

"Leo! What happened with the inter-school competition?"

"The schedule hasn't been set yet, right? Other schools couldn't match the schedule!"

As they went to the student council, the busy student council members swarmed them with questions.

Their faces held a sliver of hope.

"The date has been set."

"No!"

"How is that even possible!"

Screams erupted from various places at Leo's words.

"Oh my? You have time to scream? Then perhaps we could increase today's workload…"

"No!"

"It's already plenty difficult!"

"We apologize for screaming!"

At Elena's words, who had recently come to be called a tyrant, the student council members wailed and quickly dispersed to their work.

Leo immediately went to the student council president's office with Elena.

Kal was sleeping in a sleeping bag in the president's office.

Chelsea approached Kal and nudged him with her foot.

"What? Why are you sleeping here? Go to your dorm."

"Ugh… I'll work harder when I wake up, so please let me sleep a little."

Kal writhed in agony.

Chelsea saw Elena, who smiled brightly.

"I made him work without any hiccups for every task, so I pushed him a bit. Kal-kun was more high-performing than I expected."

'This is why being unnecessarily competent is bad.'

Chelsea shook her head, watching Kal being thoroughly exploited for his labor.

'Chelsea, about Kal. How about recruiting him into our family after graduation?'

'Kal? That sly guy?'

'Yes, I'm sure of it now. He will be a great help to the Rwalin family.'

Lumen is also a path to a good job in the future.

Heroic noble families actively recruited talent through the connections built in Lumen.

'Kal would probably come running if I just asked him, right?'

'I don't think that will be easy. Duran's gaze towards Kal has been unusual lately. But still, Kal is your best friend.'

Chelsea looked at Kal with some pity, recalling Abad who was delighted, thinking Kal would likely come to Rhwalin, having been close since their first year.

Meanwhile, Leo told Elena about the Wisdom students.

"That's great. We were already in need of more labor."

Elena, who had heard everything that happened in Dragonia, was truly pleased.

For Elena, the dragons of Wisdom were excellent labor.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"So, is everything done with this?"

"Yes. Now we just need to prepare diligently."

***

Autumn passed, and winter approached.

BEEP-! BOOM-! BOOM-!

Fireworks exploded relentlessly in the skies above Lumeria City.

"Wooooooow!"

Finally, today, the celebratory gunfire signaling the start of the Hero Festival began to ring out.