Book 1 Chapter 661
“What is this, a scene of hard labor?”
Iliana gazed down at the mining village below with a displeased look.
The second-year students from Rumern and Demian were gathered in a huddle at the mine entrance, their faces smudged with soot as if they had just finished work.
Without bothering to wash or clean themselves, they held their meal trays, eagerly awaiting dinner.
“The kids look like beggars after just two days,” Iliana muttered, sending a sympathetic glance towards her juniors.
Chelsea sighed, watching her. “We’re not much better off, are we?”
Leo’s party had just finished exploring the Tartarus region for two days.
They had come to this mine, located in the border region with Tartarus, for some rest.
A safe base was essential for exploring the Tartarus region.
This place was also very safe, as the second-year students from Rumern and Demian were gathered here for their exclusive contract with Smith.
“I never dreamed we wouldn’t be able to wash for two days,” Arga sniffed, pressing her nose to her arm.
“What are you doing?”
“Nyeok?!”
Arga jumped when Leo approached her.
“Black rabbit. Don’t come near me right now, you smell.”
With a swish, Arga distanced herself from Leo, who chuckled.
“Everyone smells the same right now.”
The party had been fighting non-stop for two days.
It was unavoidable that the smell of sweat and blood would mix on their bodies.
“Is that so?”
Arga crossed her arms and tilted her head, standing next to Leo.
“Speaking of which.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve become quite skilled at using beast transformation and hyper-senses, haven’t you?”
Arga’s ears perked up at Leo’s words.
“Arion might have been happy if he saw it.”
Leo’s praise made Arga scratch the back of her head and grin sheepishly.
“No, no, I’m still lacking a lot!”
“No, really, I was surprised.”
“Hehehe.”
“In that case, would you like to receive some special tutoring from me?”
“Goo……”
Arga, about to answer with a relaxed expression, suddenly put a huge distance between herself and Leo, adopting a wary look like a hissing cat.
“What kind of torture are you planning now!”
“Torture, you say.”
Arga couldn’t help but be horrified, having undergone near-torturous training from Leo before.
Chelsea, watching them, murmured softly, “Indeed, Leo-oppa has many victims.”
“I know. Being noticed by the class representative doesn’t seem like a good thing. In that sense, I feel really lucky.”
“Still, even though it’s hard, your skills definitely improve quickly when you train with Leo-oppa.”
Iliana chuckled at Chelsea’s words.
“That’s worlds away from my life philosophy! My life goal is to become moderately famous! And then, using that fame! Enjoy life!”
“……Is that what the successor of a great family should say?”
“Of course!”
Chelsea looked at Iliana, who spoke with such confidence, with a look of pity and said, “Leo-oppa said he’ll be training you soon too.”
“Huh?!”
“He said he’d make you into a true ‘speedy sword’!”
“Why!”
“Because you kept talking about being a ‘speedy sword,’ he decided he wanted to make you one.”
“Hiiik!”
Iliana screamed, clutching her head.
Chelsea smirked with satisfaction as she watched Iliana.
“Ou! Leo! You’re here?”
At that moment, Kal, who had spotted Leo’s party approaching the dormitory, greeted them with a happy expression.
“Wow, you can tell everyone worked hard.”
They had already discussed making this place a base for exploration, so Leo’s party’s arrival wasn’t met with surprise.
“What’s that, Kal?”
“This? It’s the kids’ dinner. If you haven’t eaten yet, you can join us.”
Kal pushed the cart laden with meals towards Leo and the second-year students.
“Ooh! Food!”
“Food! Food!”
Cheers erupted from various places.
“It seems we’re not on their radar,” Chelsea’s expression turned slightly displeased at the thought of being overshadowed by the food.
“Ah, everyone, welcome. How was the exploration?”
Artian greeted them with a bright smile.
Leo looked at Artian and said, “I have something to tell you about that.”
“Yes?”
Artian tilted his head slightly at Leo’s words.
***
“Based on our exploration of the initial entrance to the Tartarus region for two days, the existence of an Heroic Dungeon seems certain.”
“If we encountered demons from the Age of Calamity, that would certainly confirm it.”
Demons from the distant past.
There was only one way for them to appear in the present world:
Through an Heroic Dungeon.
“After the battles with the demons, as we ventured deeper, we encountered a large horde of Gigantes.”
Those Gigantes were also creatures that had appeared during the Age of Calamity.
‘I can tell by their armament.’
Leo looked at his palm, recalling the weapons used by the Gigantes.
“We’ll need to devise tactics and proceed with the assumption of fighting Gigantes.”
“Yes.”
As this was an exploration mission to penetrate deep into the Tartarus region, they needed to gather as much information about the current Tartarus region as possible from the entrance.
That was the reason for the past two days of exploration.
“However, one question arises,” Artian said with a serious expression.
“Why, with so many Gigantes appearing in the present world through an Heroic Dungeon, is this area near the border so peaceful?”
The very reason Demian had organized an exploration team was because they had sensed unusual activity in the border region.
After the exploration team sent by Demian went missing, it didn’t take long for Leo’s party to explore the Tartarus area again.
And according to the report from the previous exploration team, there had been no such unusual activity in the initial part of the Tartarus region before.
‘This means the situation has deteriorated rapidly in the past few days.’
And if such a large number of Gigantes had appeared, it wouldn’t be strange for them to cross the border and invade the Dwarf territory.
It was literally a hair-trigger situation.
Yet, this area remained peaceful.
Of course, being a border region, it wasn’t entirely peaceful.
Monsters from the Tartarus region crossed over constantly.
Monsters would appear at this mine multiple times.
Without the students from Rumern and Demian, the work would have been impossible.
But that was all.
Given that the clear anomaly of an Heroic Dungeon invading the present world had been confirmed, it was excessively peaceful.
“We’ll have to go deeper to find out about that,” Leo replied.
Artian nodded at Leo’s words.
The request given to Leo was to confirm the existence of an Heroic Dungeon, but that wasn't all.
Once the existence of an Heroic Dungeon was confirmed, it was necessary to know which era and which Hero it belonged to.
‘Given the current situation, it feels like a fragment of a Hero Record from one of the Great Heroes….’
The discovery of a Great Hero’s Hero Record was undoubtedly great news.
However, if that Hero Record had become an Heroic Dungeon, the story was different.
It meant that the monsters emerging from the Heroic Dungeon were from the Age of Calamity.
‘Furthermore, high-ranking demons from that era have appeared.’
Thinking that far, Artian said earnestly,
“As a professor from Rumern, I will speak to Leo, the leader of the Arhi party.”
At those words, Leo straightened his posture.
Professor Rumern was not just an educator.
He also held the authority of a commander, capable of issuing orders to students in emergencies.
Even though Leo was the student council president and was here for a request, he had to obey if Artian exercised his command authority.
“It seems there’s a need to reinforce the party. Student Kal.”
“Yes.”
“Join Leo’s party.”
“Excuse me?”
“And by the authority of a professor, I will also have students Luke, Aina, and Haviden from the Knight Department’s second-years join the party. I, myself, will also join the Arhi party.”
Hearing that, Chelsea’s eyes widened.
“Then will Professor Artian be the party leader?”
“No. Leo will be the leader. I merely judged it necessary to strengthen the party’s combat power as a professor. As a leader, Leo will be more excellent than I.”
Luke, Aina, and Haviden.
Adding the Knight Department’s trio was also to match Leo’s existing party composition.
All three, the top 3 of the second-year Knight Department, were fundamentally specialized in speed.
While Shasha from the second-year Summoning Department was also fast, it would be overwhelming if she had to keep up with the third-years who possessed the highest speed.
“What about the exclusive Smith contracts for the second-years?”
“We’ll proceed as planned. The professors from Demian will be overseeing them.”
Kal sighed at Artian’s words.
“Ah. So we’re being dragged into a death trap again.”
Kal muttered with a devastated expression, covering his face, and asked, “But how can I keep up with you guys? Unlike you monsters, I’m weak.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Iliana smiled faintly and handed Kal a rope.
“Kal, this is a special rope used for tying up the luggage you carry.”
“……You’re not seriously thinking of hanging me with this rope, are you?”
“You guessed exactly!”
Iliana gave a thumbs-up and said, “Tie it around your waist. I’ll drag you along.”
“Do you want to see someone’s waist get broken?”
Kal scowled and looked around the group.
‘Whoever it is, except for one person, motion sickness is guaranteed.’
It was obvious they would be running at tremendous speed, and there was no way they would consider his comfort.
Thinking that far, Kal moved closer to Eliza, who seemed to be the most comfortable to travel with.
“Eliza-nim.”
“No.”
“Oh, come on. Please? Huh? Huh?”
“Kneel and beg.”
“Oh? Really? Will you take me if I just do that? I can kneel and beg all I want!”
Eliza frowned as she looked at Kal’s beaming face.
“It’s unpleasant.”
And so, after the party was reinforced, Leo said,
“Then let’s rest for a day and depart tomorrow morning. I’ll tell the second-years who are joining the party. Dismissed.”
At those words, the party members dispersed to take their rest.
Leo stood up and looked at his palm.
‘……Whose world is this?’
He tried not to think about it, but Leo’s eyes trembled slightly at the thought of an old friend’s Hero Record.
Would they be able to meet again?
‘Are they thinking about the past again?’
Whoever it was, his comrades in the Hero’s world now knew his true identity.
As Leo’s heart stirred,
“Um… Student Leo?”
“Yes, Professor Artian.”
After the other students had left, Artian cautiously called out to Leo.
“Would you like to stay for a moment, Student Leo? I have something to ask.”
“Yes.”
Leo sat back down.
The others thought they were going to discuss what would happen tomorrow and left first.
Only Leo and Artian were left in the room.
Artian, sitting in front of Leo, hesitated before opening his mouth.
“Leo-kun, I’ve wanted to ask you this for a while.”
“Yes.”
“Did you happen to have a lover?”
“Excuse me?”
Leo, uncharacteristically, showed a flustered expression at the sudden question.
“Why are you asking that?”
“I felt the aura of a heroic spirit around you, Leo.”