Book 1 Chapter 936
936.
Zereb hunched his shoulders and nervously stared at Chen Sia, who was drinking tea in front of him.
Chen Sia, sipping her tea, tilted her head.
“Are you not drinking?”
“Oh, yes! I-I’ll gratefully drink it, it’s hot, hot, hot!”
Chen Sia covered her mouth and laughed, watching Zereb jump up as if his palate had been burned from gulping down the hot tea.
“Don't be too nervous. Even if our majors are different, I’m your senior from school. Please think of it that way.”
“Yes, y-yes.”
Despite Chen Sia’s words, Zereb still couldn’t relax his expression.
It wasn't just anyone; it was the person who would become the Emperor of Shan.
That also meant she was the Shadow King.
Zereb was from the western continent.
However, he was not a shadow cadet belonging to a specific family or organization, but a cadet raised by Shan’s shadows active in the west.
Although his official nationality wasn't Shan, he was practically affiliated with Shan.
In other words, to Zereb, Chen Sia was not the emperor of another country, but the emperor to whom he would pledge loyalty.
Normally, he would never meet such a person in his lifetime, and even if he did, he wouldn’t dare to look at someone of such noble status.
Yet, he was sitting across from such a person, drinking tea.
‘What were Shan’s etiquette rules again? My teachers would scold me terribly if they knew. No, is it even right to call her ‘senior’ in the first place? If it were until recently, maybe… but she’s about to officially become the Emperor of Shan, isn’t she?’
His eyes felt like they were spinning from the tension.
If he were a shadow cadet from another faction, like Perena, it might be different.
To Shan’s shadows, the Emperor of Shan was like the heavens themselves.
“Zereb?”
“Yes, y-yes! Your Majesty!”
Seeing Zereb’s even stiffer reaction than before, Chen Sia offered a slight wry smile.
‘It seems if I tell him to relax, he’ll find it even harder.’
Chen Sia, muttering to herself as she looked at the excessively nervous Zereb, asked,
“How are your friends from other schools? You seemed to get along well earlier.”
“I… Your Majesty…”
“Senior. We’re talking as school seniors and juniors right now, aren’t we?”
“T-then, Senior. Please speak comfortably. I’m feeling too overwhelmed…”
“…”
Chen Sia nodded, watching Zereb fidgeting, unable to even make eye contact.
“Then I’ll speak comfortably. So? Have you made many new friends?”
“Yes. I’ve become quite close with the Azonian kids. They are good people.”
He scratched his head with an awkward smile.
But soon, his eyes became a little downcast.
“But… it seems like heroes and shadows live in different worlds after all.”
“Why?”
“Many things that are natural to me are frightening to my friends.”
“…”
“I felt it even more deeply while raiding the shadow world.”
“Did Zereb think that shadows and heroes were the same?”
“Yes. I didn’t think I could become a hero… but I thought there wasn’t much difference. Your Majesty… no, because of you, Senior.”
After Chen Sia revealed her identity, many changes occurred among the shadows.
The countless shadow cadets enrolling in each hero academy was proof of this.
There were more people than imagined who yearned for light but were inevitably confined to darkness because they were shadows.
Such changes accelerated even further after Chen Sia ascended to the position of hero as Shan’s successor.
‘I wanted to let people know that shadows and heroes are not different.’
That’s why she tried to lead many shadows to the light.
But among the shadows, there were just as many who wanted to remain in the darkness as those who wished to go to the light.
Ultimately, there are things that heroes cannot do.
Things that someone must do.
‘Just as young master Leo did.’
Chen Sia had never thought deeply about it.
It was simply because she had yearned for the light since she was young.
Because she dreamed of becoming a hero, she vaguely thought other shadows would be the same.
But they weren't.
‘It’s difficult.’
She learned there were conflicts between those who wished for shadows and heroes to be the same, and those who believed shadows should remain shadows.
‘It’s difficult.’
Shadow cadets like Zereb, who want to become heroes, are also wavering.
Clearly, Zereb wasn't the only one feeling that way.
‘We live in different worlds. That much is clear.’
“Zereb.”
“Yes.”
“Your friends will accept you for who you are.”
“…”
“A day will come when people will realize that we are by no means frightening beings. So…”
Chen Sia gave a wry smile inwardly.
She felt pathetic that she could only say such words now.
But in Zereb’s struggle between light and darkness, she saw her former self.
That’s why she couldn’t say nothing.
“Follow the path you wish to take.”
At Chen Sia’s words, Zereb fell into deep thought.
And he glanced at the café entrance.
This was a café that even first-year students could use.
“Then I’ll get going first.”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
Chen Sia waved her hand at Zereb, who was about to stand up with her, and then left the café.
As Chen Sia exited, Zereb’s party friends, with whom he had just parted ways, rushed in.
“Hey! Hey! What’s up with you? You’re a magic major, how did you end up drinking tea with Senior Chen Sia?”
“Is that Chen Sia of Lumern? The Water Fairy?”
“She’s so pretty!”
Senje, a classmate from Lumern's Magic Department, made a fuss, followed by Terem and Gabram, the beastkin students from Azonia, who also jumped excitedly.
“Weren’t you guys going to have lunch with the Seirun kids?”
“They said it was supposed to be 4-on-4, and that we should eat another time.”
Senje scratched his head vigorously.
Watching him, Zereb said,
“You got rejected, didn’t you?”
“No, it’s not! It’s because you were missing!”
“But if it’s an appointment with someone like that, it can’t be helped.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
As Terem and Gabram sided with Zereb, Senje clicked his tongue.
“Okay. It really can’t be helped. So? What did you two talk about?”
Seeing the three male students clamoring, Zereb made a troubled expression.
Meanwhile, Chen Sia, who had been watching them from outside the shop, moved on.
‘I should hear the thoughts of other shadows too.’
The conflict among shadows.
When she sought advice on it, Leo, as if assigning a task, told her to figure it out herself.
She thought it was a little unkind.
However.
‘I can’t rely on young master Leo forever.’
A long, long time ago.
‘Just as my ancestor walked the path of shadow on her own. I, too, must find the answer myself. As young master Leo said, I’m not a child anymore.’
Recalling Leo, who shone like the sun, Chen Sia looked at the moon in the night sky.
‘I cannot be the sun for the shadows, but perhaps I can be their moon?’
***
Perena glared with suspicious eyes at the lollipop held out in front of her.
“What is it?”
“A gift.”
Karl answered matter-of-factly to Perena’s question.
“Hmph. Do you think a mere lollipop can win the favor of someone from the Hergin family like me?”
“This is a homemade candy I made. It’s incredibly expensive.”
“It’s just candy, no matter how expensive.”
Grumbling slightly, Perena nevertheless accepted the candy.
And put it in her mouth.
Then, a fruit flavor filled her mouth, as if she had bitten into a highly sweet fruit.
Yet, it wasn’t overly sweet and gave a refreshing feeling.
“…It’s delicious.”
Perena put the lollipop in her mouth with a grumpy voice.
‘What on earth does my sister find so good about this commoner?’
Perena made an incomprehensible expression, recalling her proud sister.
‘My sister could easily marry a king of a nation or the heir of a prestigious hero family.’
Indeed, considering the influence of the Hergin family and Eliza’s own abilities, it was entirely possible.
‘Is it my sister’s taste? It doesn’t seem so.’
Perena glanced up and down at Karl and asked.
“So? You said the student council president called you. So why are you here looking for me?”
“To get close.”
When Karl said it with an obvious expression, Perena tilted her head.
“What do you want to do by getting close to me?”
“Because we might become family after graduation?”
Perena stared intently at Karl.
Seeing Perena, Karl made an awkward expression.
“Did I get ahead of myself?”
“…It seems your feelings for my sister are sincere.”
“Of course. If you don’t like me, I’ll try to earn your favor.”
“You’re mistaken. Even if my sister marries Senior Karl, I have no particular complaints.”
“Oh? You think highly of me?”
“No. It’s just that I’m not in a position to object to my sister’s decision.”
Perena smiled sweetly.
“If Senior Karl truly comes to the Hergin family as an adopted son-in-law, well, it would be right for me to get close to Senior Karl.”
“That doesn’t sound like getting close as family.”
Karl gave a wry smile.
“Yes. I will take care of anything that might harm the family my sister will create. Senior Karl, besides anything else, is an excellent commander and strategist, aren’t you?”
“…”
“Assist my sister and make good use of me. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
She was smiling brightly, but there was something eerily chilling about her.
Watching her, Karl recalled his conversation with Eliza.
‘I wish she would aim to be a hero too. So, you do something about it.’
‘Me, do something?’
‘You’re good at encouraging others, aren’t you?’
‘Hmph. Indeed, that’s how I ended up dating my girlfriend.’
He had puffed up with pride at Eliza’s compliment and told her to trust him.
‘It won’t be easy.’
Watching Perena crunching on her candy, Karl handed her another lollipop.
Perena, silently taking the candy from Karl, put it back in her mouth.
‘I should consult Sia about this.’
Thinking to himself, Karl said to Perena,
“Alright, then, prospective sister-in-law. Shall we go?”
“…You’re truly shameless.”
Perena, though looking bewildered, extended her hand to Karl.
“…Why?”
“Escorting a lady. It’s basic etiquette, isn’t it?”
“I’m not good at things like that.”
“If you want to be our family’s prospective son-in-law, you need to be well-versed in etiquette.”
At her words, Karl escorted Perena.
“So? How do you plan to get close to me?”
“What do you like?”
“My sister.”
“Oh. We like the same thing!”
Karl put on his characteristic good-natured grin.
Perena grumbled, staring at Karl with dull eyes.
Karl smiled and kept talking, and Perena, though feigning indifference, answered him.
‘Conversation is more enjoyable than I thought.’
Perena glanced at Karl, who was smiling kindly.
“Senior Karl’s school life wasn’t smooth either, was it?”
“Why else would I have become a hero?”
Karl shrugged and sighed.
“Seriously, if you get caught up in a hero dungeon without thinking, there’s nothing more bewildering than that.”
“Aren’t you lucky, considering others want to go but can’t?”
“It’s only lucky for someone with the ability to clear it. For me, it’s a disaster. A disaster.”
Karl shuddered and looked around.
As they talked and walked, they had unknowingly arrived at the uninhabited outskirts of Leysar.
“Imagine suddenly being dropped into a place like the world of a Great Hero.”
[Hero Record Open. World of A■on. Chapter: ■■-Leysar’s Destruc■ion]
“Like this.”
“Hmm. It certainly would be bewildering.”
“Right?”
Karl’s face, which had been shaking his head, hardened.
“Huh?”
Perena’s face became similar to Karl’s.
Their gazes became entangled in the air.
“Ah, geez!”
Karl hastily pulled out a notebook from his pocket and threw it.
*Whoosh—!*
*Thud—*
The notebook Karl threw fell to the ground, and both of them vanished.