Book 1 Chapter 681
681.
With Leo and Chelsea leading the way, the party of Luke, Aina, and Habitden continued their reconnaissance mission.
Their destination was to the south, beyond the territory of Tartaros.
“Doesn’t it seem like the frequency of demons, magical beasts, and monsters appearing is higher than when we came?”
After annihilating over 200 orcs.
Luke asked, catching his ragged breath, and Chelsea, who had pulled out a short magic staff, replied.
“It has increased.”
The unique stench of orcs, combined with the smell of corpses and blood, was tormenting their sense of smell.
Chelsea, lightly frowning, gently swung her staff.
Whoosh-
Wind blew, carrying away the foul odor.
Chelsea took a deep breath of the now fresh air and made a refreshed expression.
“That’s a bit better. Though the scenery still isn’t to my liking.”
Luke intently watched Chelsea, who was grumbling lightly.
“Why?”
“Oh, nothing. It just occurred to me after seeing Aina’s Klesis. Senior Chelsea, isn’t your staff also an incredible item?”
“Yes. Flamen. It’s an heirloom of the Rwallyn family. Well, Aina’s Klesis, as it is a sword made by Lord Dweyno, doesn’t quite measure up to Klesis.”
Chelsea shrugged.
Though she acted as if it was nothing special, a magic staff of Flamen’s caliber was extremely rare.
Divine-grade items were only those born from Dweyno’s hands.
Even among those, divine artifacts that functioned properly were exceedingly rare to see.
And Flamen was of Legendary grade, directly below the Divine grade.
In the long history of the Age of Heroes, only a very small number of Legendary-grade armaments had ever been crafted.
Even Lightning Storm, Duran’s armament and a national treasure of the Moira Kingdom, which was broken on this journey, was an armament of Heroic grade, just below Legendary grade.
“Wow.”
Luke’s eyes sparkled.
“Do you want a good armament?”
“Well.”
At Chelsea’s question, Luke made an awkward expression.
While one shouldn’t rely too heavily on powerful armaments, not preparing at all was also a problem.
A hero’s armament was also a legitimate part of a hero’s combat power.
Chelsea smiled faintly.
“Even if Legendary or Heroic grade armaments are difficult, shall I teach you a way to get a top-tier item among Magic grade items?”
“Haha. I don’t have the funds.”
As Luke scratched his head with an embarrassed look, Chelsea gave a mischievous smile.
“You can get it for free.”
“Uh, how?”
Magic-grade armaments could only be made by 4th or 5th year students at Damian.
Hearing that such an armament could be obtained for free, Luke couldn’t help but be tempted.
“You just have to become Dyriana’s model.”
“Whaat?!”
Luke flushed bright red.
“L-Lord Dyriana’s model? That…”
“Yeah. A nude model. She’d probably make it for you happily, wouldn’t she?”
“Awwwoooh…”
Luke’s mouth gaped, and his ears turned red.
Just then, Aina reached out her hand.
“No, Luke. Value yourself.”
Luke gave an awkward laugh, watching Aina, who spoke with a serious and feignedly flustered expression.
“Come on, Aina. Even so…”
“Hoo? Willing to go to any lengths to get a strong armament. A splendid attitude, Luke.”
“Habitden. You know I wouldn’t do that.”
Luke and Habitden had become quite close, now even exchanging jokes.
Of course, Aina, who wasn’t very good at reading the mood, widened her eyes.
“Why? It’s not like it’ll wear out if you show it…”
Thwack-!
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Aina smacked Habitden on the back of his head with her scabbard.
“Don’t say weird things to Luke. I’ll stop him from doing anything like that.”
“No, I mean, I have no intention of becoming a nude model.”
Watching her boisterous juniors, Chelsea held her stomach and burst into laughter.
‘Her personality is quite naughty, after all.’
Leo, watching her, shook his head and looked ahead.
In the distance, a thick fog lay spread.
Seeing it, Leo frowned.
“Ah! That was fun! Luke and Aina are so innocent, it’s enjoyable to tease them!”
Chelsea, who had sown discord among the second-years, approached Leo.
“By the way, the fog is thick.”
“That’s a curse.”
“Huh?”
At Leo’s words, Chelsea’s eyes widened.
“It seems like someone of Legion Commander rank cast it.”
“Was it cast by the Necromancer King or the Giant King?”
Seeing Chelsea’s alarmed expression, Leo shook his head.
“If those guys cast it, it wouldn’t be such a crude level.”
At Leo’s reply, Chelsea clicked her tongue in amazement.
She hadn’t even discerned that the fog was a curse.
As such, it was an intricate and powerful curse.
‘If a Legion Commander used it, it makes sense.’
Yet, Leo called that curse crude.
“It’s a curse cast by the rookie Legion Commanders born in this era.”
“Sometimes, Brother Leo, your standards seem ridiculously high.”
To call Legion Commanders, known as the strongest demons, rookies.
“Because the era is different.”
Leo chuckled and looked at the cloud of curses.
“It’s a curse related to illusions. It’s blocking external access.”
“Is it because of that curse that communication magic isn’t working?”
“Probably.”
The reason Leo had formed a party for reconnaissance was that communication magic with the outside had been cut off.
That’s why he had set out with a small group to request support.
“Brother Leo, can you dispel that curse?”
“I can.”
Leo approached the cloud of curses.
“Originally, curses don’t work on me.”
Leo had experienced countless curses in his previous life.
As such, even a demon’s curse he’d never seen before, he could interpret its spell formula and easily dispel it.
It wasn’t immunity, but an abnormally fast response.
An ability acquired through literally overwhelming experience.
Leo, who had been moving forward, suddenly stopped.
And he stepped back a few paces.
“What’s wrong, Brother Leo? Is there… Gak?!”
Chelsea, who had passed Leo with a puzzled expression and was going forward, screamed, clutched her face, and stumbled backward.
“W-what? A wall?”
Chelsea made a flustered expression.
Then the second-years also reached out their hands into the air around Chelsea.
An invisible wall was blocking their path.
“Is it a barrier?”
“If so, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed it.”
Chelsea frowned and swung her staff.
A strong gust of wind blew, hit the wall, and naturally dispersed.
Seeing that, Chelsea narrowed her brow.
“Brother Leo, surely this is…”
“Your guess is probably right.”
Leo ran his hand over the invisible wall.
“It’s the Wall of Restriction.”
The Hero’s World, an ability of the Hero Record, allowed those in the present to experience events that heroes had gone through in the past.
It literally perfectly recreated past eras.
However, no matter how perfectly the past was recreated, the Hero’s World was ultimately a false world.
The space that was recreated was only the space recorded on that particular page of the Hero Record.
If one went beyond a certain range, they would be blocked by this Wall of Restriction.
“It seems the communication interference isn’t due to the curse after all.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“We’re trapped here.”
***
It was night when they returned from the reconnaissance mission.
Leo headed towards the tent where the party members were staying.
Five people, including Artian, were seated in front of the campfire.
“You’re back, Leo student!”
Artian showed a welcoming expression.
Leo sat down in front of Artian.
The group who had gone on the reconnaissance mission with Leo also gathered around the campfire to rest.
“You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? I’ve prepared dinner.”
Artian smiled faintly, pointing to a pot of stew on the campfire that was emitting a delicious aroma.
“Wow! We’ll eat well! Professor Artian!”
“I will eat well.”
“Thank you for thinking of us.”
Luke, Aina, and Habitden expressed their gratitude and began dinner.
Before eating the stew, Chelsea first glanced at Karl.
“Karl, how many children would you like?”
“I told you I’m not thinking about marriage, didn’t I?”
“This older sister is just asking, aren’t I?”
Kana, a half-dwarf who looked short and young, was actually older than Karl.
“We came back after suffering, but you’re living it up.”
As Chelsea said this with half-closed eyes, Karl replied with hollow eyes.
“My lot wasn’t all that great either, doing alchemy, you know?”
Chelsea shook her head at Karl’s words and glanced at Eliza.
Eliza was enjoying herbal tea with her eyes closed.
Although she was drinking tea from a common thick mug cup due to the absence of fancy teacups, her elegant demeanor exuded the dignity of an heir to a prestigious hero family.
Though called a delinquent student due to her uncooperative attitude, her conduct was that of a perfectly refined noble.
‘That lump of pride likes Karl?’
Chelsea tilted her head.
She recalled Illiana, who had been making a fuss after the incident two days ago.
‘I knew it! I knew it! Eliza liked Karl!’
‘Wipe your blood and talk.’
‘I’m going to report it to the newspaper club right away! Hehehe! Since I’ve reported such a scandal, I’ll get a hefty…’
‘Oh, it’s Eliza’s beeper.’
Crunch-!
‘Aaaahhh!’
Illiana, who had nearly been swallowed while teasing Eliza, and who, unable to learn her lesson, had made a fuss again and been chewed by the Wind Wyvern once more.
Even then, she was still in disbelief.
‘Eliza’s reaction was definitely strange, but still, *her* liking Karl?’
No student was unaware that the two had grown closer since the Hero’s Festival last year.
But many thought they had merely become friends.
This was because Eliza Helgin was one of the 3rd-year students with a strong sense of authority.
She wouldn’t even treat students she deemed worthless as students.
As the heir to the Helgin family, it was in some ways a natural attitude.
It was already surprising that such an Eliza recognized Karl, a commoner, but to even have romantic feelings for him?
‘Absolutely not.’
Even if Karl became a hero at a young age, it was unimaginable.
For a family like Helgin, the title of ‘hero’ wasn’t all that appealing.
‘What’s so good about that annoying guy?’
The next master of the venerable Helgin family and a commoner.
It was a scandal that would only appear in novels.
“How about having a child first, before marriage?”
Crack-!
An unusual sound came from the mug cup touching Eliza’s lips.
A scene witnessed only by Chelsea, who had been focused on Eliza.
Eliza spit out the thick mug cup, which she had broken with her teeth, and her eyes met Chelsea’s, who was momentarily gaping.
“What are you looking at?”
“O-oh, nothing.”
Eliza’s tone was completely different from usual.
Her attitude was also several times more menacing.
Even Chelsea, who had a personality that wouldn’t back down to Eliza, flinched for a moment, recoiled her neck, and avoided eye contact.
Eliza stood up, picked up the mug cup, and went somewhere else.
‘Wow! Wow! Amazing! Truly amazing!’
Chelsea, now certain of Eliza’s feelings, clicked her tongue as she looked at Karl, who wore a troubled expression.
‘How on earth did he charm her?’
***
“So, the Wall of Restriction has appeared… It seems the dungeon’s erosion rate is higher than imagined.”
“Yes.”
The appearance of the Wall of Restriction meant that the real-world space had been assimilated into the Hero’s World.
“External support will be difficult, then.”
“Yes. There’s no other way than to make their strategy fail… or destroy the Legion’s Record.”
“Hmm.”
“From tomorrow, I plan to ask Dweyno to explore the area around the fortress.”
Usually, the Hero’s Record that maintains a Hero Dungeon is located in the deepest part of the Hero Dungeon.
And to reach that deepest part, one had to go through the recreated past space.
In other words, they had to return to the Hero’s World.
The same would be true for the Legion’s Record.
In this case, they would return to the past Ivaldi.
And as long as this place was a dungeon.
There would likely be an entrance somewhere that led to the past, which served as the stage for this page.
“The demons of Tartaros would be guarding that entrance, right?”
“…There’s a high probability that the Giant King is guarding it.”
“…”
Artian’s face turned serious.
“Can you defeat the Giant King, Leo student?”
“With Gias, there’s no need to worry.”
Leo reassured Artian, as if to say not to worry.
“Because we have the God of Blacksmiths.”
***
Whoosh-!
Clang-! Clang-!
Golden flames raged.
His hammer struck the broken sword.
Enniha watched the scene from a distance.
Sizzle-
Dweyno, who had put the broken sword into cooling water, put down his hammer and caught his breath.
“What are you staring at so much, Enniha?”
“It’s my first time seeing you handle armaments so seriously.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. You don’t really like making weapons, do you?”
Dweyno, who possessed blacksmithing skills superior to anyone else, did not enjoy making armaments.
This was because the powerful armaments he created brought about destruction.
For Dweyno, who in the past couldn’t control his own power and turned everything around him into ashes, the act of creating items that brought destruction was not a pleasant one.
Even if it was to save the world.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“…Because I’ve found a goal.”
“A goal?”
“Yes.”
Dweyno nodded heavily.
“My goal is to allow the residents of Ivaldi to enjoy even a little bit of complete peace. Trust me, Enniha.”
“…”
Enniha made a surprised expression.
“You… you seem to have changed a little since coming here.”
“Is that so?”
Dweyno chuckled heartily.
Watching Dweyno, Enniha said.
“But why did you set up your workshop in this corner? In Ivaldi, you set it up in the center of the city, didn’t you?”
“I just happen to like this place.”
Dweyno plopped down onto the hard ground and said.
“When I quietly gaze at the starlight like this, good inspiration comes to me.”
“Why do you need inspiration?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve become interested in art as well. I’ll show you the painting I drew soon.”
Dweyno smiled gently.
“So, Enniha. Don’t die.”
“I won’t die. Not until I see the sun.”
“Just trust me. I’ll take you to the future, no matter what it takes.”
Dweyno’s tightly clenched fist trembled slightly.
“…Absolutely.”