Book 1 Chapter 669

669.

The next morning.

Ar, who had been sleeping in a sleeping bag, instinctively began to flare her nostrils.

A moment later.

Ar's eyes snapped open, and she let out a scream, suddenly sitting up.

"Uwaaaah!"

Ar, who screamed, squirmed her body to get out of the sleeping bag.

"What happened?"

Illiana, who was sleeping next to Ar, asked with a disheveled face.

"I smell something delicious!"

After starting the exploration, they had been replacing meals with simple foods like jerky and bread.

As such, Ar had a desperate craving for a proper meal.

"Aren't you guys going?"

"The class president said we could sleep as much as we want. I prioritize sleep."

Illiana burrowed deeper into her sleeping bag.

The other female students seemed to feel the same, showing no intention of moving.

During the exploration period, they had minimized sleep and kept moving.

As all the hero candidates possessed strong physical and mental strength, they weren't fatigued to the point of exhaustion after two days of little sleep.

Nevertheless, the desire to sleep soundly when possible was an unavoidable human urge.

"Lazy bums!"

"Who are you calling lazy, you gluttonous cat."

"Leave her be. She's an animal, isn't she?"

Driana chimed in, agreeing with Illiana's grumbling.

Regardless, Ar went out of the tent.

"Ar is making such a fuss, yet these three are sleeping soundly."

Illiana looked curiously at Chelsea, Eliza, and Aina, who were sleeping soundly with their eyes closed in their sleeping bags, then muttered quietly, as if it were an opportunity.

"Chelsea and Eliza. Dumb idiots. Personality wreckers."

As soon as she finished speaking, Chelsea and Eliza extended their hands from their sleeping bags.

Chelsea's hand was open, while Eliza's hand was clenched into a fist.

Eliza, who lost at rock-paper-scissors, emerged from her sleeping bag with an annoyed face, approaching Illiana with a clenched fist.

"W-wait! I wasn't referring to you guys… Aaaah!"

Eliza, after punishing Illiana, returned to her sleeping bag.

Just then, Ar came back into the tent.

Then, without a word, she tucked Driana and Illiana, still in their sleeping bags, under her arms and went out of the tent.

***

"You beast! Put me down!"

"What kind of thing is this, not letting us sleep!"

Despite Driana and Illiana's protests, Ar paid no attention, dragging the two outside and throwing them to the ground.

"I brought them! Black Rabbit!"

"Yeah, good job. Here, eat."

"Wow!"

Ar smiled brightly, accepting the bowl of stew Leo handed her.

"Is it because they're young? They're full of energy from morning."

"Wow, you're a good cook."

"H-huh! Lord Dweno! Teacher!"

Driana was startled and hastily emerged from her sleeping bag.

"Ugh! Class president?!"

Illiana gasped and crawled back into her sleeping bag.

Driana reached into Illiana's sleeping bag, trying to forcibly pull Illiana out.

"What rudeness! In front of Lord Dweno and the teacher!"

"Wait! I just need to wipe off my drool… Aaaah! Let go! Hey! Let go! You ignorant dwarf!"

"Ahahahaha!"

Enniha laughed, holding her stomach, watching the two girls squabble.

Soon, looking at the two, Enniha formed a rectangle with the index fingers and thumbs of both hands, placed Illiana within it, and said.

"Hmm~ Looking at you like this, Illiana, your proportions are quite good, aren't they? Want to be my model?"

"Model? Should I take them off right away?"

"Are you going to let go of this?! You perverted dwarf!"

Illiana gasped, seeing Driana clutching at her clothes.

Leo rested his chin on his hand, watching the scene.

'Was that incessant talk about nude models learned from this elf?'

"Hmm, it would be good if you took them off. But if you don't want to, what can I do?"

Enniha shook her head.

At Enniha's reaction, Leo stared intently at Dweno.

"What is it? That unpleasant gaze."

Leo spoke at Dweno's puzzled question.

"I knew a dwarf who insisted he was an artist."

"And?"

"He spouted nonsense about needing a nude model in the name of art… I ended up wondering if he was just a pervert."

"But why are you looking at me?"

"Just saying."

Leo shrugged his shoulders, looking at the frowning Dweno.

"By the way, why was I dragged out?"

"Driana was told to be brought out by Lord Dweno, and you by Black Rabbit."

"The class president? Why?"

"It's nothing much. First, shouldn't we eat?"

Leo smiled gently and kindly served stew.

Illiana nodded and received the bowl of stew.

"Mmm! This is delicious! It's my favorite taste!"

"I made it to your liking."

"Really? Class president! You even remembered my taste! I'm so touched!"

Illiana jumped up and down, delighted.

"Want to eat this too?"

When Leo served a grilled sausage from a skewer onto her plate, Illiana quickly speared it with her fork and ate it.

Then, she cupped her cheeks and smiled happily.

"It's delicious."

"Eat a lot."

"Yes! Yes!"

Ar, who was watching from the side, subtly moved her butt back, creating distance from Leo.

'Suspicious.'

Ar's eyes narrowed.

Her wild instincts told her to stay as far away from Leo as possible.

"By the way, Illiana."

"Yes! Yes!"

"When we were exploring this time, I noticed Duran caught up to your speed, didn't he?"

"Oh! That?"

Illiana said, eating her stew as if it were nothing.

"Duran is so relentless, you know? He must not have liked losing to me in speed, so he trained insanely hard. Not just Duran, but Chelsea and Eliza also seemed to have caught up to my speed."

"Hmm. Didn't you do the unique magic training Luna made for you?"

"I did it, but… for Flash Step Blade to get faster, my physical body needs to get stronger."

The unique magic Luna created and Illiana named.

Flash Step Blade, being a magic that accelerates the body, placed a great burden on the user's physique.

In other words, a strong physique was essential for achieving greater speed.

"Is it a lack of fundamentals?"

"Yep! So time will solve everything! I'm still growing!"

Hahahaha! Illiana laughed, then poked a sausage with her fork.

"So. You slacked off during the break, didn't you?"

"That's right! Huh?"

Illiana, who had been answering nonchalantly, suddenly felt something strange and turned her head.

There, Leo was giving an endlessly kind smile.

'Did the class president know how to smile so warmly?'

For a moment, such a question arose, but Illiana thought optimistically.

'Hehehe. It's nice when he smiles like this! The class president has now moved beyond being a handsome boy to having the feel of a handsome young man.'

Illiana had no thoughts at all, even looking at an expression that Chelsea would have shrieked at to run away from, turning pale.

'…Is her danger perception ability absent?'

It was when Ar was sweating coldly and muttering to herself.

"Illiana."

"Yes!"

"Starting today, you and I need to do some special training."

"Yes! Huh? What?"

Illiana's eyes, which had been answering without thinking, suddenly flashed open.

"None other than the Progenitor of the Nebula was so impressed by your talent that she created unique magic for you."

The expression vanished from Leo's face.

Illiana's face turned pale.

"But you are letting that magic rot. Are you even human doing that? This is just a pearl necklace on a pig's neck, isn't it? I will make a human out of you."

"N-no, I'll be a pig!"

"No. If you eat that, you're going straight into training."

"…"

At that, Illiana trembled and put down her spoon.

It was a trick to start training as late as possible.

"Oh, are you done eating? Then let's start…"

"Oh, not yet!"

Illiana started eating again, looking like she was about to cry.

"And Driana."

"Why?"

"I was going to train you too."

Leo subtly glanced at Dweno.

"I had a brief conversation with this friend, Leo, at dawn. And the conclusion I reached is that I will take charge of your training."

"R-really?!"

Driana's face brightened.

"Yes. From what I heard, this friend plans to train you in the ability to handle powerful flames. I was thinking of teaching you blacksmithing skills, but to do that, you absolutely must be able to handle strong flames. Since I heard that his training method is similar to mine, I decided to take you on."

Driana wore a moved expression.

"I will work hard!"

Dweno nodded with a satisfied face, watching Driana answer with vigor.

Seeing that, Ar approached Leo.

"What kind of training is Lord Dweno planning for Driana?"

"Do you remember the Howling vocalization training Arion and I made you do?"

"How could I forget that! You put me in water and waterboarded me!"

"Waterboarding? It was strictly training. Look, water knew the answer in the end."

"Ugh."

Ar shivered.

Leo said, looking at Ar.

"It's the opposite version of that."

"What?! That's so comfortable! It's unfair!"

Ar flared up.

Leo said, looking at Ar.

"You were happy, Ar."

"Huh?"

***

Ar, who came to observe Driana's training session, was lost for words and muttered.

"…What is this hell?"

Fwoosh-!

"Kyaaaah! It's too hot! Lord Dweno!"

"Endure! Endure! The more you withstand the hot fire, the stronger the steel becomes! The same goes for the body!"

"Aaaah! I'm going to die like this!"

"Dwarves don't die easily! So don't come out, endure!"

Driana was burning in a large furnace.

Dweno forcibly pushed Driana back in as she tried to leap out of the furnace.

"Now, pick up the hammer!"

"How can I pick up a hammer in this situation… Aaaah!"

Driana's desperate scream echoed.

'The opposite of putting me in water and waterboarding was putting her in fire and fireboarding?'

The current location was Dweno's workshop.

And in the open space outside Dweno's workshop…

"Aaaah!"

A golem with a giant greatsword swung it at Illiana with incredible speed.

Illiana shrieked and barely dodged the attack.

"Black Rabbit. What happens if she can't avoid that?"

"She dies."

Illiana, wearing shackles with weight magic on her wrists and ankles, was frantically moving to avoid the golem.

Leo shouted at Illiana.

"Move if you want to live!"

"Hey! Leo Plov! You're really gonna get it! Heeeek!"

Illiana, who was shouting Leo's full name unlike usual, dodged the golem's attack again.

'That's also hell.'

Ar was dripping cold sweat and stealthily tried to leave the place.

She felt that if she stayed here, she, for some unknown reason, would also experience hell.

"Ar."

Ar gasped at Leo's voice from behind and slowly turned around.

"Come here."

Ar cautiously glanced around and approached Leo.

"Could you take out Brave?"

"Ah…!"

Ar perked up her ears and hastily pulled Brave out of her subspace.

"Dweno."

"Hmm? Why are you calling?"

Dweno turned around.

Leo pointed at Brave and said.

"Can you fix this sword, by any chance?"