Book 1 Chapter 924
924.
“W-we’ve arrived….”
The first-year students who had been wandering through the desert arrived at the campsite one by one.
Since crossing the Ajo Desert had been difficult even for the second and third-year students, the first-year students who arrived at the campsite were naturally in a terrible state.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Lunia, who remained at the campsite to help guide the students, looked after the Seirun students.
“H-head of the student council!”
Just then, Redius, the first-year representative of Seirun, rushed towards Lunia.
Redius was a first-year student who treated Lunia with great difficulty.
Although he was a class representative, he admired Lunia, who was recognized as Luna’s successor, and believed he should not approach her carelessly.
Lunia remembered him as a student who strived not to lose the traditional elf etiquette and dignity, even as human culture was prevalent throughout elf society.
And yet, he was also a proper student who did not disparage the cultures of other races.
When such a student crawled towards her and grabbed her ankle, Lunia was flustered.
“Redius. What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”
Looking at Lunia who asked with a worried face, Redius spoke in a dying voice.
“I-I’m hungry…. I’m thirsty too….”
At his words, Eiran hurriedly brought bread and water and gave them to Redius.
Redius gulped down the bread in a hurry, then coughed, *cough-cough*, as if he was choking.
And he quickly drank water.
“Gulp.”
Redius, who barely swallowed the bread stuck in his throat, quickly ate the bread again.
“You, you’ll get indigestion, so eat slowly.”
“Yes, y-yes! *Cough*!”
“You don’t have to answer.”
Eiran patted her junior’s back.
Lunia’s eyes sank as she watched the scene.
‘Even a child so dignified and well-mannered is reduced to a beggar in a few days.’
Lunia shuddered at Leo’s malevolence.
Then, she glanced at the Lumerun side.
Unlike other hero academies, where many students had not yet arrived, most of Lumerun’s first-year students had already made it.
Lunia stroked her chin as she watched them.
“Lunia! What are you thinking so hard about?!”
Ar, who was leading the Azonia students, approached and asked with a puzzled face.
Lunia replied,
“Nothing. It just seems like most of the Lumerun kids have arrived.”
“Hmm? Now that you mention it, they have.”
Ar’s eyes widened.
“It’s not like the Lumerun kids seem stronger than ours.”
Lunia looked at the Seirun students who were hugging each other and crying, relieved to have survived.
Ar also looked at the Azonia students, who were drooping, their motivation lost.
“Seirun student council president, what are you talking about?”
Digness, who was leading Damian’s third-year students with Driana, asked with a puzzled expression.
“Nothing. I was just wondering what the difference is between our kids and Lumerun’s.”
“Hmm. Their combat abilities themselves are probably quite similar, no? However.”
“However?”
“Perhaps the Lumerun students are better at dealing with extreme situations like this?”
At his words, Lunia and Ar fell into deep thought.
Just then, Driana approached.
Under Driana’s arm was the roster of Damian’s first-year students.
“Digness. Please comfort our children a bit.”
“Alright. But Driana. Can’t you change your way of speaking?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong with my way of speaking?”
“You sound like an old man. It doesn’t suit you at all.”
“Oh dear! I am imitating Dwenno-nim’s speech, and you say I sound like an old man!”
“If you think about it, Dwenno-nim is an old man, in a way.”
“Such an irreverent fellow!”
Driana swung the roster she was handing to Digness.
“Ouch?!”
Digness, whose head was hit by the corner of the book, rubbed his head and grumbled.
“You’re cute too! Would it kill you to speak like your peers, something that suits you?!”
“Why do you obsess over my manner of speech?”
“Because it’s embarrassing! It’s embarrassing! You go around grabbing just anyone and talking about nude models in an old man’s tone all the time!”
Digness pounded his chest as if his temper was flaring.
Of course, Driana ignored him and waved her hand as if dismissing a guest.
“Stop talking nonsense and go check the numbers of our juniors.”
Digness grumbled and walked towards where the Damian students were.
“Oh? What? You even said she’s cute? Is this it, perhaps?”
As Ar’s eyes sparkled and she raised her pinky finger, Driana said,
“Digness has a fiancée. Do not speak of such dangerous things.”
“Then it’s really because you’re embarrassed, isn’t it? Well, if I were you, I’d be embarrassed if you were the student council president too.”
Ar held her stomach and burst into laughter.
Of course, she collapsed after being hit in the side by Driana’s fist.
“By the way, what were we talking about?”
“Well, we were wondering if we should push our kids as hard as Leo does.”
Lunia said with a sigh.
When they first met in their first year, she felt a competitive rivalry with Leo.
But now that she knew Leo’s true identity, she no longer felt any particular rivalry.
For Lunia and Ar now, Leo was the one who led them as a leader.
Because of that, Lunia and Ar wanted to grow quickly and do their part properly.
‘That way, we can reduce Leo’s burden.’
“We can’t have Leo worrying about students from other hero academies as well.”
“So, in your opinion, is there a significant difference between the Seirun students and the Lumerun students? To me, it doesn’t seem like there’s much difference apart from experience.”
“The Lumerun kids are calm even after going through the same ordeal.”
“…To me, they just look resigned.”
Driana tilted her head.
And then she said,
“Well, isn’t it natural for there to be a difference not only in heroic capability but also in leadership capability?”
“…That’s true, but.”
“We just need to find our own way. If Leo had needed it, he would have intervened in the growth of other hero academy students long ago.”
Driana, with her arms crossed, spoke earnestly to Lunia and Ar.
“The fact that he didn’t means he trusts you.”
“Hmm…”
“Dwarves and humans, elves and beast-folk are all different. It is right for us to find our own way rather than follow the human Leo’s method. Leo would want that too. So don’t be impatient.”
Lunia and Ar were impressed by Driana’s advice.
“Driana. You give surprisingly good advice, don’t you?”
“Wasn’t Dwenno-nim’s role in the Great Hero’s party that of an advisor? Shouldn’t I also be a reliable advisor to you?”
As the sun began to set.
All first-year students from every school had arrived, except for one person.
“Perena is missing?”
Leo, who received the attendance report, furrowed his brows.
Chen Sia, who was assisting Leo, also widened her eyes.
“Yes. All first-year students from all hero academies have arrived, but only Perena is missing. Other first-year students said she acted alone?”
As Elena nodded, Leo called someone’s name.
“Anyas.”
After calling the name, a moment later.
Water pooled in Leo’s shadow, and Anyas emerged from it.
“You called, Leo-nim.”
“There’s a straggler.”
“Who is it?”
“Perena Hergin.”
Anyas paused.
At her reaction, Leo asked,
“Do you know something?”
“Yes. She was on the verge of dropping out midway, but I saw her being helped by a Damian student who was also acting alone, like Perena.”
“Help from a Damian student?”
“That’s strange, isn’t it? They say there was no Damian student who even made contact with Perena? Let alone one who acted alone.”
At Elena’s words, Leo asked,
“Any other unusual observations?”
“Student Perena instantly recognized that I was a shadow. She even managed to approach me by deceiving my senses.”
“Hmm…”
“However, it was clearly a Damian student. Among my subordinates, there is someone named Thea who has the mana characteristic of ‘Truth and Lies’.”
Hearing Anyas’s words, Leo asked,
“Is Truth and Lies almighty?”
“…That is not the case.”
Anyas bit her lip.
“I was complacent. I will dispatch my subordinates immediately to…”
“Anyas, if they can evade your senses and render the mana characteristic of Truth and Lies useless, even deploying the shadows won’t make it easy to find them.”
Leo nodded at Chen Sia’s words.
“Chen Sia is right.”
“Then how…”
“I’ll go.”
Leo said calmly.
Anyas was flustered.
“Leo-nim doesn’t need to move for such a matter…”
“It was I who pushed ahead with the test even when an abnormal situation arose. I must take responsibility.”
“And if Young Master Leo goes, we might find her quickly.”
Chen Sia smiled faintly.
“I will assist you, Young Master Leo.”
At her words, Leo nodded.
“Elena. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Alright. Go.”
Elena smiled faintly.
Melina was currently looking for the entrance to the hero dungeon.
Therefore, only Elena could take Leo’s place at the moment.
“Shadows, prepare for any contingencies.”
“Understood.”
Leaving those words, Leo headed into the desert.
Chen Sia followed him and asked,
“For what purpose did they abduct Young Miss Perena?”
“I don’t know. But they must have had a purpose to abduct her. It’s not the worst-case scenario yet.”
Hearing Leo’s words, Chen Sia nodded.
Just then, Leo lifted the pitch-black cloak draped around him.
Chen Sia then stepped inside.
Looking down at Chen Sia who was hugging him tightly, Leo said,
“You don’t have to hug me that tightly.”
“Young Master Leo will be moving incredibly fast, won’t you? I might fall, so I have to hold on tight like this.”
Leo chuckled at Chen Sia’s words and bent down.
*Swoosh-!*
Leo galloped across the desert at an incredible speed.
***
*Clack-clack-*
The night desert.
Eiran, standing in front of a campfire, said with a worried face,
“A student has disappeared. Should we really proceed with the test?”
All the first-year students were currently on their way to Reisard.
The shadows had gone to guard the surroundings, so only five people remained at the campsite.
To Eiran’s question, Elena said,
“Since Leo didn’t say anything special, we should proceed as scheduled.”
Having said that, Elena’s eyes sparkled.
“Speaking of which, where did our cute Ar go?”
Elena had been very fond of Ar when they met in Seirun last time.
“She went to the campsite entrance to wait for Leo.”
“She really acts like a cat.”
As Elena giggled, Lunia tilted her head.
“Waiting for someone in front of the house is what dogs do, isn’t it?”
“Cats do that a lot too. They’re very lonely animals.”
Lunia made a curious expression at Elena’s words.
Meanwhile.
Ar, sitting cross-legged near the entrance, was swaying her body from side to side.
Then, as a scorpion passed by, her eyes rolled.
*Whoosh-! Thwack-!*
She struck the scorpion with her tail.
Ar, who had been yawning languidly, widened her eyes as she watched the scorpion fly away from the tail strike.
*Sniff-sniff-sniff-*
Ar’s head, twitching her nose, snapped up.
“Beast-kin?”
With that remark, a hooded figure appeared in the distance.
Ar’s eyes narrowed as she saw the figure.
‘What is that? It’s a smell I’ve never encountered before.’
It was definitely the smell of a beast-kin.
But it didn’t have the unique scent that beast-kin races usually possessed.
‘It smells similar to a wolf-kin, but subtly different.’
From their appearance, the atmosphere they exuded, and their scent.
Many things seemed suspicious.
Soon, the beast-kin also stopped walking and stared intently at Ar.
“Annoying. A cat smell.”
The beast-kin woman muttered irritably.
At that, Ar’s tail became ‘!’.
“And that darned coward’s smell is mixed in too, isn’t it? What are you? An attacker of the Hero’s World?”
“Darned coward…?”
Ar’s expression suddenly changed.
“Are you talking about Arheon-nim?”
At that, the beast-kin woman tilted her head askew and said,
“Yes, I am.”
“This woman, how dare she speak such insolence!”
Ar, her eyes glaring, lunged at the beast-kin woman.
Suddenly-!
‘Huh?’
She flinched when she saw the beast-kin woman’s fist right in front of her nose.
‘Fast!’
Horrified, she crossed her arms to block the attack.
*Crash-bang-boom-!*
With a tremendous sound, Ar was flung backward.
‘She reacted to my attack?’
The beast-kin woman’s eyes, hidden beneath her hood, twitched.
‘Moreover, an attacker of the Hero’s World.’
Just as the beast-kin woman, clenching and unclenching her fist, was about to take a step.
*Swoosh-!*
Driana swung a massive axe.
Eiran’s longsword shot out with a sharp sound.
The beast-kin woman, watching the attacks aiming for her waist and neck, swung her hand.
*Thump-!*
“…!”
“…!”
Driana and Eiran’s eyes widened when their attacks were caught.
‘This dwarf has Dwenno-nim’s scent. Strange. They’re clearly children, and with this level of skill, how could Rodia not know about them?’
*Groooooowl-!*
At that moment.
The scent of a huge flame was detected.
Azonia, sensing Luna’s scent within it, let out an ‘Hmm-’ breath.
‘I see. It’s outside the Hero’s World.’