Book 1 Chapter 868

868.

The next day.

Leo and his party arrived at the Hergin family's main house.

As soon as Eliza arrived at the main house, several retainers approached her to discuss the family's schedule.

"We are scheduled to head north on the continent. Please clear the Grand Duke's entire schedule."

"Yes, understood."

The Hergin family's retainers bowed their heads at Eliza's words.

"Ooh~ future Grand Duke!"

It was at this moment that Kal whispered softly next to him and gave a thumbs up.

"Lord Kal! Where in the world have you been!"

"There's a huge backlog of paperwork!"

"The Merchant's Guild is looking for you this time!"

"Lord Kal! Regarding Hirsia's finances this summer…"

"No! More importantly, we need approval for the family event…!"

"Huh? Huh? Uh-huh?"

A crowd, incomparable to Eliza, swarmed Kal.

They were all Hergin family retainers, who flocked together and formed a circle around Kal.

The party had no choice but to quickly distance themselves from Kal with bewildered expressions.

"Wait, just a moment. O-one by one…!"

"There's no time for that!"

"Hurry and take Lord Kal to his office!"

"H-hey! Someone save me!"

The retainers lifted Kal and dragged him away.

It was at this moment that the party stood dumbfounded, as if a storm had swept through.

"It seems that Kal has had a big influence on Hirsia's development."

Leo said, crossing his arms and marveling.

"Is Kal's ability that outstanding?"

Chelsea asked with a surprised look, and Leo replied,

"It's an ability even our notoriously picky vice president of the student council acknowledged."

The vice president of Lumerne.

Elena was famous for perfectly organizing a party to clear the Hero Dungeon even when she was a delinquent.

It was difficult for a third-year to surpass fourth and fifth-year students as a party leader.

This was possible not only due to her personal abilities but also her keen eye for people.

However, due to her own exceptional abilities, she rarely batted an eye even when seeing considerable talent.

What seemed just passable to Elena was considered an amazing talent by others.

It was Kal's administrative ability that Elena praised as 'all-around'.

He was so competent that they even tried to recruit him into the school as a special hire before he reached the rank of Hero, with the authority of the acting chairman of the Lumerne board.

Leo had also seen through Kal's abilities and assigned him tasks as the acting student council president, and was surprised by his talent, which exceeded his imagination.

"But Kal hasn't learned anything about managing a large organization, has he?"

Chelsea said, sounding surprised.

She had known about Kal's business acumen for a long time, but she hadn't expected him to be this capable.

"It's innate. And on top of that, he naturally grew while being overworked by Elena."

At Leo's words, everyone let out an "Ooh-" of admiration.

"It's no wonder my older brother wants to recruit him after graduation."

Abad, who was in the same dormitory as Kal in his second year, had been watching Kal closely.

And Duran was the same.

The reason Duran wanted to match his sister with Kal wasn't solely due to his potential as a Hero.

*Thump- thump-*

Leo walked past Eliza and said,

"Watch him carefully. Kal will become even more popular."

"Eek?!"

Eliza flinched as she looked down at Leo, who was speaking so softly that only she could hear.

Eliza was also surprised by the developed city of Hirsia.

She had wondered what had happened, but now she finally understood that Kal had influenced Hirsia's advanced future.

Leo smiled faintly at the flustered Eliza and said,

"Kal has been dragged away, so let's finish our preparations amongst ourselves for now."

Leo's party decided to use the Hergin family's armory.

As a renowned heroic family, the Hergin family's armory housed not only items related to summoners but also items for various classes.

The party entered the armory with Eliza's permission and armed themselves according to their inclinations.

"Wow, this dagger is imbued with the blessing of the water spirit."

Chen Xia held and swung a dagger hanging on one side of the armory.

"Wow! Wow! This is a magic staff imbued with the hair of the Great Spirit of Wind! The Hergin family had this?!"

Chelsea exclaimed in surprise and picked up the magic staff.

"Now that you mention it, we do have something like that."

"Would you like to trade it for the summoner-exclusive staff in our family's treasure vault?"

"Hmm. A trade for an item befitting that staff wouldn't be bad."

Eliza also showed interest in Chelsea's words.

"Uh, Eliza. Isn't this armament a bit too much?"

"No. Senior Lil has to perform missions at the very front."

Eliza took Lil and gathered the best treasures from the Hergin family's armory to heavily arm her.

As it was for a summoner's armament, there were many artifacts.

Normally, it would be unthinkable to open the armory to an outsider.

Furthermore, taking the treasures from the armory was even more out of the question.

It was something even the Grand Duke could not do lightly.

If the Elder Council found out, they would be furious, and the Grand Duke's position could be jeopardized.

However, Eliza didn't care and went ahead with it.

'What does it matter? They're guests.'

If not now, when else would she be able to take items from the armory out so boldly, like shopping?

Eliza also generously took what she liked.

It was a bonus to sweep even the precious potions, which made the Elder Council tremble, into her spatial dimension.

Even Melina, the Dragon Lord, showed interest and took a few items.

Leo silently looked around the armory.

"Leo Flob, aren't you taking anything?"

"This is enough for me."

Leo took out Kai's cloak, the Obsidian Cloak, from his spatial dimension and showed it.

At his words, Eliza nodded.

There was no reason to force him if he said he didn't need anything.

Moreover, Leo was not someone who would say frivolous things.

As Leo was looking around the armory, he suddenly stopped in one spot.

It was a place where old items were gathered.

Weapons that could not be used in actual combat.

They were carefully preserved, but had no value beyond ornamental.

No.

They were items that could hardly be called ornamental.

Two items among them caught Leo's eye.

A faded and rusted necklace and a spear.

The two worn-out items captivated Leo's gaze.

As Leo stood there blankly, Eliza tilted her head.

"What's wrong?"

"…A divine artifact."

"A divine artifact? Made by Dweno?"

Eliza asked in surprise.

At that, everyone's attention was instantly focused.

"…"

Leo wordlessly reached out towards the spear displayed on silk and protected by a glass case.

After stroking the glass case, Leo said calmly,

"To be precise, it's a true divine artifact."

"What? What do you mean…?"

"Dweno's craftsmanship is on par with a god's. That's why they're called divine artifacts… but that's strictly an item from the mortal realm."

"Then what is the true divine artifact you're talking about?"

"Literally, a weapon made by a god."

Leo looked silently at the old spear.

An old spear that seemed useless.

However, there was a reason it was in the Hergin family's armory.

"I feel the power of Pegasus."

"…"

"And from this necklace, I feel the power of the Phoenix."

It was as Melina said.

These items were related to Pegasus and the Phoenix, two divine beasts.

Items imbued with the power of the three great divine beasts are rarely found.

This is because something imbued with the power of the three great divine beasts can be used as a medium for summoning.

"Do you know how these items were obtained?"

At Melina's question, Eliza shook her head.

"I don't really know. The Hergin family has been collecting items related to the three great divine beasts for many years. Whether they are useful or not."

It must have naturally flowed into the Hergin family in the process.

"…"

Leo stroked the glass case.

"Leo Flob, do you know what these items are? I know there have been several attempts to summon the Phoenix and Pegasus using these as a medium, but none have ever succeeded."

If they had succeeded, they wouldn't be stored in a corner of the treasure vault like this.

These items here, although their purpose was unknown, were placed in a corner because it was judged that they might be useful someday.

"And you said they were made by gods, are there such things?"

"A prime example would be the staff symbolizing the progenitor of the nebulae, Polium."

At Leo's words, everyone's eyes widened.

"And if there are items made by gods that remain to this day, there are the Hero Records, but we'll exclude those for now."

Leo removed his hand from the glass case.

"Another one is the Ring of Life, which the Fairy King possesses."

Everyone fell silent.

The Ring of Life.

An item symbolizing the Fairy King.

"They are symbols of the gods, a gift from the gods to the Fairy King. And they are also a medium for summoning the Fairy King."

Everyone looked surprised.

It was the first time they had heard this story.

That's why.

This story was not recorded in history.

After the Age of Calamity ended.

The lineage of the Divine Beast Kings, except for the Fairy King, was severed…

Even the Fairy King did not respond to anyone's summon, and stories about the divine artifacts of the Divine Beast Kings disappeared into the annals of history.

Only summoners who lived in that era knew the story.

"Wait a minute. Why are you telling that story now?"

As Eliza's expression turned flustered, Leo extended both his hands.

*Fzzzt- Hwaruruuk-*

Gray mana and pure white lightning flickered in his left hand, and black mana and pure white flames flickered in his right.

The ownerless necklace and spear reacted to the mana of those who were their soul companions.

"The Spear of Punishment and the Necklace of Purification."

Leo clenched both hands.

*Flash! Groooowl!*

Before they knew it, the spear and necklace that were in the glass case were in Leo's left and right hands.

"They are symbols of the Pegasus King and the Phoenix King."

Leo looked bitterly at the mementos of his former companions.

Items that he couldn't take with him at the time finally returned to Leo after 5000 years.

"The reason summonings couldn't be done with these… was because the targets were absent."