Book 1 Chapter 918

918.

Rustle-

The sound of turning pages echoed quietly.

Leo, who remained alone in the student council room late at night, was silently reading the Shadow Tome.

With each page turned, a new page with records appeared.

And the turned page disappeared.

"You must be proud."

Elsi, sitting on Leo's shoulder and reading the Shadow Tome with him, spoke.

"What's there to be proud of in a damn student who doesn't listen at all."

Leo replied gruffly, but his hands as he turned the pages held a hint of affection.

"Damn kid."

-……

Elsi gave a wry smile.

Someone had to do what Bihar had done.

If Kyle had survived, he would have thought he could just do it himself.

But through Bihar's records, he could see.

He hadn't chosen it simply because someone had to do it.

Bihar had never once regretted it.

'Don't feel sorry for the shadows…'

Recalling Emperor Shaou's words, Leo closed the Shadow Tome.

Just then, the door opened, and Chen Xia poked her head in.

"The student council room light was still on, so I thought you might still be here. What have you been doing so late?"

"Working."

Chen Xia giggled at his answer.

"Why are you laughing?"

"No. I just thought you must be having a hard time since Senior Elena and Kai are gone. You used to leave all the bothersome tasks to Senior Elena, didn't you?"

"Anyone would think I play around every day."

Chen Xia, who snickered and covered her mouth while watching Leo grumble, left the student council president's office.

A moment later, she returned with a tray holding warm teacups.

Click-

Chen Xia placed the teacup in front of Leo and said,

"This is a tea drunk by the imperial family of the Shan Empire. It dispels fatigue and clears the mind."

At her words, Leo took a sip of the tea.

The tea was clear, and he could sense neither fragrance nor taste.

However, he definitely felt his mind clearing and his fatigue dissipating.

"Ho? What is this? Is it a tea made with alchemy?"

"It's a tea brewed with poison."

"……"

Leo took his mouth off the teacup and looked at Chen Xia with a face demanding an explanation.

"There are many kinds of poisons. Some of them have beneficial effects on the body."

"Of course, as they are called poisons, most of those beneficial effects are either hidden by the poison or even enhance its toxicity. However."

"However?"

"You know the saying, 'fighting poison with poison,' right? Sometimes there are poisons that neutralize each other's toxicity. When the toxicity is neutralized, only the beneficial effects remain. This tea is made that way."

"Even so, you're feeding poison to people?"

"It's a tea that the emperors of Shan have enjoyed while handling state affairs for generations. I guarantee its effects."

Leo shook his head as he watched Chen Xia smile cutely, sticking out her tongue, and took another sip of the tea.

"You're drinking it even though it's poison."

"Because you wouldn't give me anything bad."

Chen Xia smiled proudly at Leo's words and said,

"Do you still have a lot of work left? I'll help you."

"Did you get permission to go out?"

"No. I came out secretly."

Leo let out a hollow laugh at Chen Xia's confident words and said,

"I've finished all the work I needed to do."

"Then what were you doing?"

"I was reading the Shadow Tome."

Leo placed the Shadow Tome on the desk.

"Have you informed the first-year students that this practical assignment is to conquer the Shadow Tome?"

"Yes."

"What was the reaction?"

"Everyone seems confused."

"What about the reactions of those from Shadow?"

"……"

"Did something happen?"

Leo asked with a puzzled expression, seeing Chen Xia's face slightly cloud over.

"I suddenly realized how lucky I was."

"What?"

"Becoming a hero was something that seemed like a dream until just two years ago."

Chen Xia said, looking down at her hands.

"I took the hand offered by Lord Leo and emerged into the bright light. I think that moment will be unforgettable for the rest of my life."

Leo offered his hand and told her she would become a beloved hero.

Chen Xia sensed at that moment that her destiny had changed.

Thus, she obtained the title of hero, which she had thought was just a dream.

"I think I wandered a bit after my name was entered into the Hero Record."

Becoming a hero was not Chen Xia's final destination.

She still had many things left to do.

The duty of a hero.

And the responsibility to help Leo on his journey to save the world.

The path she had to take as a hero was long.

However, the path Chen Xia herself wanted to take disappeared the moment she became a hero.

Leo, resting his chin on his clasped hands, asked,

"So? Have you decided on a new path?"

At his question, Chen Xia looked into Leo's red eyes.

'Lord Leo looks like he already knows everything.'

Chen Xia pouted her lips.

She felt a little hurt that he looked at her as if she were commendable for finding her path again, as if he were still treating her like a child.

"I realized it after seeing the first-year students today. That just because I came into the light doesn't mean all shadows have escaped from the darkness."

She thought of Ferena, whom she had met earlier.

Her appearance reminded her of herself in the past.

She also thought about the gazes of the first-year students as they looked at her.

Some looked at her with pure admiration, while others had eyes mixed with fear and strange hostility.

Some looked at her with awe.

Under the myriad of crossing gazes, Chen Xia realized.

The weight of the hero title she bore.

Although she had become the hero she so admired, Chen Xia had no intention of denying that she was a shadow.

Just like Leo.

She would build great achievements as both a hero and a shadow.

'Except for Lord Leo, I am the first.'

One who ascended to heroism as a shadow.

It was the first in the era of heroes.

Therefore, she set her goal.

"I want to extend my hand to the shadows still trapped in darkness, just as Lord Leo did for me."

"……"

"So that they can openly reveal their shadow status. I will let people know that shadows and heroes are the same."

Chen Xia smiled faintly.

"I think that's why I became a hero."

"That's a great goal."

Leo, who had stood up, patted Chen Xia's head.

Looking up at Leo, Chen Xia laughed joyfully.

"Let's get going now."

"Yes."

Leo and Chen Xia left the student council room and locked the door.

Then, after leaving the Hero Tower, they headed towards the Clock Tower dormitory.

"The moon is beautiful tonight. And the stars are shining."

As they walked, Chen Xia looked up at the night sky and said.

"It is."

"By the way, whose Shadow Tome are you planning to open? I'll bring the key once it's decided."

To open the world of heroes, hero relics are needed.

The mementos left behind by heroes in their lifetime.

Similarly, to open the world of shadows, their mementos are needed.

And deep within the Shan treasury, the mementos of shadows who dedicated themselves to the world are secretly kept.

At Chen Xia's words, Leo said,

"I don't need a key."

"What?"

"You know I'm the owner of the Hero Record, don't you?"

"You told me before."

"I can open the Hero Record if I wish."

Although the Hero Records kept in each Hero Academy are damaged and have limitations, the Shadow Tome is a complete Hero Record newly written by Leo.

As such, he could open the world without any restrictions.

"That's good. So? Have you decided on the assignment?"

While Kai and Elena discussed with representatives from other Hero Academies to form parties, Leo was in charge of selecting the assignment.

To Chen Xia's question, Leo nodded.

"I have something in mind."

***

A week later.

Above the heart of the southern desert on the continent.

A giant ship flew through the sky.

"Wow! This is the Dragon Ship of Dragonia I've only heard about!"

Luke, the second-year representative from Lumern, exclaimed in admiration.

Luke had been selected to assist the seniors supervising the exam and was participating.

Besides Luke, other selected second-year students were on the deck of the Dragon Ship.

On deck, there were also selected second-year students from other Hero Academies, not just Lumern.

"It's amazing."

Aina, standing next to Luke, also marveled with sparkling eyes.

"Luke Elda!"

At that moment, a sharp voice was heard from Seirun's side.

Leah, the second-year representative of Seirun, glared at Luke with her arms crossed.

"Hello, Leah! How have you been?"

As Luke greeted her with a bright smile and a wave, Leah smiled coldly.

"Such leisure ends today."

"Huh?"

"Because this time, I'm going to crush you."

"Um… This time, we're here to help our seniors, so we won't have to fight."

"Who cares! Wash your neck and wait!"

Leah declared and suddenly left.

"Luke. Did you do something wrong to Leah?"

"I didn't do anything wrong."

Aina asked with a puzzled expression, and Luke scratched his cheek with a troubled look.

Meanwhile.

Arre wore a confident expression in front of the third-year students from other schools.

"Hehehe- I'm sorry, but it seems our Azonia will take first place?"

Lunia, who smiled coldly at Arre, retorted,

"Don't make me laugh. Seirun is first place."

Driana shook her head, watching their bickering.

"Don't you ever get tired of it? Are you fighting through your juniors now?"

Driana spat and looked at the deck.

"By the way, Leo's idea is certainly unconventional."

"What is?"

"Didn't he come up with the idea of borrowing a Dragon Ship to make the first-years complacent, and then forcibly dropping them in the middle of the desert?"

"Hmm. That's true. Does he always think of making students work hard?"

Lunia nodded in agreement.

"You must be having a hard time too."

Driana said, looking at Lumern's side.

At her words, Abad, who was avoiding the sun in the shade, smiled faintly.

"I like it because it's not boring."

"Hmm…"

Driana stared intently at Abad.

"Abad Lewallin, have you ever thought about becoming a nude model?"

"It's a glorious offer, but it's too much for me."

"Hmm. Considering your appearance, I don't think it's too much at all?"

"Heh heh."

As Abad refused with a relaxed smile, Iliana, who was nearby, giggled lecherously and said,

"Abad. Taking off your upper body is fine, right… Ow!"

Celia elbowed Iliana, who was teasing Abad.

"It feels like a picnic."

Aeran, who was watching the situation, laughed joyfully and said.

Just then.

The moving Dragon Ship suddenly stopped.

Then, the first-year students began to murmur.

"Huh? Aren't we still a little way from our destination?"

"What is it?"

The first-year students looked confused, but the second and third-year students, who had been told there would be a surprise exam, had relaxed expressions.

"It seems like it's starting now."

"I can imagine the first-years' surprised faces."

Lunia and Driana looked at the first-years with expressions of slight pity.

Now, the first-year students, who would be forcibly dropped, would take an exam to find their way to the exam site in the middle of the desert.

All of this was Leo's idea.

At that moment, Arre looked towards Lumern with a puzzled expression.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Preparing for freefall."

Iliana replied indifferently.

"Why?"

Even with that answer, Arre seemed unable to understand.

Iliana added an explanation to Arre.

"Of course. Because we're going to freefall."

"No, I mean, why? We're not exam subjects."

"What are you talking about? If you're abandoning students in the middle of the desert, the class president wouldn't abandon only the first-years, would he? That's common sense, isn't it?"

Hearing Iliana's words, Arre looked dumbfounded.

"No, that's not common sense."

At Arre's words, Iliana looked envious.

"Your Azonia must have a really easy school life?"

At that remark, Arre made a strange expression.

'No, Azonia's school life, which is a series of struggles, can't possibly be easy.'

Flash-!

At that moment, the Dragon Ship disappeared.

And as Iliana had predicted, all the students from the Hero Academies on board were thrown into the air.

"No! Wait, flight magic isn't working! And I can't summon spirit beasts!"

As Lunia shouted while falling due to gravity, Iliana said indifferently,

"If the class president is forcibly making us freefall, they wouldn't let us use our abilities freely, would they? That's common sense."

"Seirun doesn't have that kind of common sense!"

"Seirun must also have a really easy school life."

Seeing Iliana with a genuinely envious expression, Lunia thought.

'What kind of school life do the Lumern kids have?'