Chapter 10

【10】9

“We have to conquer the world? That’s absurd!”

Chelsea shook her head as she followed behind Leo.

“Conquering the Hero’s World is hard even for students of Lumeran. How can they expect candidates to do that?”

It was true.

Even for Hero Candidates who received the best education in Lumeran, conquering the Hero’s World was not an easy task.

Yet, they were asking this impossible feat from exam hopefuls.

It was an absurd story.

But Leo thought differently.

“Right now, aren’t we being tested for the qualifications to become a hero?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then, shouldn’t we be capable of doing what heroes do? Besides, if it’s an exam, the challenges will be given within a range that can be overcome.”

At his words, Chelsea paused.

‘He’s certainly not wrong.’

“Ugh! So what’s the conquest condition then? For the type of trial that can be conquered by hopefuls, it has to be Alby’s early exploits. But there’s very little known about the activities of the wizard of the Magic Eye.”

Chelsea, folding her arms and deep in thought, was being observed with a slight smirk by Leo.

‘She’s a good one.’

She was a skilled young woman with a strong sense of pride from her esteemed family.

Typically, those types of adolescents hardly listen to their peers, but Chelsea listened to Leo, thought his reasoning was valid, and immediately pondered methods of conquest.

‘Her thinking is flexible. That’s a good trait in a wizard.’

Although still inexperienced, Leo considered her a young woman suitable for being a Hero Candidate as he spoke.

“The most probable conquest would require extermination.”

“Definitely.”

Chelsea nodded.

If the feat was accomplished in a place where monsters appeared, the possibility that something had been defeated was rather high.

And Leo had inklings of what that defeated something might be.

‘It might be a different one, depending on the circumstances, considering the timing.’

While previously clenching his fists at the sight of monster corpses, Leo now grabbed Chelsea’s wrist.

“What are you doing?”

At this unexpected action, Chelsea scowled.

Whoosh!

Leo pulled Chelsea towards himself.

Pshew!

Two arrows flew into the spot where Chelsea had been standing just moments before.

Seeing this, Chelsea stared wide-eyed.

And then…

“Eh? Eh?”

Wobble! Clunk!

“Acho!”

Losing her balance, Chelsea landed on her b*tt.

She wiped her teary eyes and massaged her behind furiously.

“You should’ve held me properly if you were going to pull me!”

“Ah, sorry. I thought you’d get mad if I held you too tightly.”

“I’m angrier falling like this!”

“And you’re thanking me?”

“Hmph! Even without you, arrows can’t cause me any harm.”

“There was Aura infused in those arrows.”

At Leo’s pointed comment, Chelsea faltered.

“My pre-prepared Shield magic would have blocked it!”

Even as she said this, Chelsea’s voice grew subdued.

“Well, uh, thanks anyway.”

At her response, Leo burst into laughter.

“Tch!”

“We could’ve taken down Chelsea LeWalyn first!”

Other examinees emerged from the bushes and glared at Leo and Chelsea.

“You two…”

When Chelsea stepped forward, the group of five examinees became tense.

“Let’s stop the fight and collaborate instead.”

“Huh?”

The group looked shocked at Chelsea’s unexpected suggestion.

“You’re just knights, right? If I, a wizard, joined your party, wouldn’t that be beneficial? It’s best if we collaborate, isn’t it?”

In spite of the attack she had just faced, Chelsea made the proposal to collaborate without any visible annoyance.

After all, it was an exam; eliminating others was a natural part of the process.

‘If the test was about disqualifying others, I would’ve attacked mercilessly. But now, we need to conquer the Hero’s World.’

As Chelsea looked to Leo for confirmation, Leo nodded his head.

“To collaborate….”

“We’re all knights but we are capable of long-range attacks, so our party is already balanced, you know?”

“Huh?”

At that moment, the apparent leader of the group sneered.

“You two are alone, right? If we fight you now, it’d be far more advantageous for us.”

“True, despite all your boasting as a Hero Family, you’re just our age!”

“You suggested collaboration out of fear, didn’t you know?”

The group grew more confident, thinking Chelsea had surrendered.

“By defeating you, one potent candidate will be eliminated. Why should we collaborate with you?”

“Yes! Yes!”

Seeing their stance, Chelsea looked exasperated and lifted her staff.

“It’s pointless. Anyway, talking more won’t help.”

“But…”

Chelsea, with her perplexed expression, felt stifled. The other examinees refusing to listen to her brilliant ideas irritated her.

As Leo drew his sword, he said,

“If they want a fight, we should fight.”

“What choice do we have.”

Chelsea sighed and lifted her staff.

As she did, Leo spoke.

“You stay back and support.”

“What?”

“Wasting mana against these rookies is foolish.”

“Are you out of your mind? They’re using Aura!”

“Leave it to me.”

“Hmph. If you get hurt, don’t blame me.”

Despite her prickly tone, Chelsea prepared to help if Leo was in danger.

‘Need to repay the favor from before anyway.’

Chelsea fiddled with her staff.

On the other hand, the other examinees glared at Leo.

“What are you, exactly?”

“You want to fight all of us alone?”

“Yeah. Please take care.”

“This son of a g*n!”

Thinking that Leo was looking down on them, the archer examinee immediately pulled the bowstring back.

Whoosh!

An arrow, without Aura for conservation against Chelsea’s battle, flew at Leo.

‘If I dodge, they will have a chance to surround me and finish it….’

Crack!

“……!”

“This is not normal! He caught my arrow bare-handed….”

Whoosh!

Before the examinee could finish his sentence, Leo rushed in.

“S, Stop!”

“Surround him and finish him!”

As swords came at him from all directions, Leo quickly assessed the situation.

But the examinees couldn’t focus solely on Leo.

‘Even if Chelsea doesn’t join the fight, her existence is enough to keep them at bay.’

Being unlike the unknown Leo, Chelsea was a named-level examinee, attracting their attention.

‘That’s good for me.’

Clang! Whoosh!

“Oof?”

Having deflected the sword, Leo drove his fist directly into the other’s chest.

“d*mn! There’s no sign of Aura usage?”

“Of course, because I fight bare-handed.”

As the opponent was surprised, Leo calmly spoke and spun his body.

The opponent aiming for Leo’s back was baffled as Leo dodged as if he had eyes at the back of his head.

Whoosh!

“Grrgh!”

Giving a kick to the ribs, Leo looked at the two remaining examinees.

“Use Aura!”

“d*mn!”

Leo alone dominated the five.

Meanwhile, Chelsea, watching from behind, opened her wide eyes.

‘Wow, how is he able to fight like this without using Aura?’

Although she was a wizard, as someone aspiring towards melee, Chelsea had trained in martial arts.

Thus, she could faintly understand how extraordinary Leo’s movements were.

‘Impressive!’

As her heart raced, Chelsea snapped herself out.

‘No, this is bad! That guy hangs around Celia Zerdinger. Get a hold of yourself, Chelsea!’

Even as she shook her head vigorously, Chelsea couldn’t take her eyes off Leo.

“Chelsea, you’re safe.”

“Of course I am, Brother.”

About two hours after the commencement of the test,

Leo successfully reunited with Celia and Abad’s party.

“Safe as expected. Though, you were with Chelsea LeWalyn?”

“I encountered her early in the test and we cooperated.”

“Huh? She’s known to be full of pride and stubbornness. She cooperated with you easily?”

“I convinced her well.”

Seeing the meaningful smile on Leo’s face, Celia muttered inside,

‘What did he do…’

After a week of life together, Celia had a firm grasp on this cousin’s cunning nature.

“You’re also walking with her, though you’ve been saying things like buttering up and her being unlucky.”

“We couldn’t fight recklessly when we didn’t know the passing criteria.”

Celia brushed her hair behind her ear and replied.

“In any case, your group is large.”

“Chelsea and I can move fast. So we ranged through the forest and collected potential collaborators. Mostly people from the Rodren Empire though.”

The two great families of the Rodren Empire,

The Zerdinger and the LeWalyns, who suggested collaboration, couldn’t be refused by anyone from the Empire.

“Good job.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“It seems like I see the passage method for this test.”

“Oh? Did you figure something out?”

Celia’s eyes sparkled.

“The world’s conquest.”

“Conquest of the world?”

Celia frowned as she heard it.

And then she nodded.

“Well, this test is strangely different. Even conquering a hero’s world wouldn’t be surprising.”

“True?”

“That’s correct.”

“So, here’s a problem. What is the conquest condition?”

The Hero’s World has a conquest condition.

It’s also an essential reason why the study of heroes is important.

Researching and investigating the deeds of heroes directly relates to methods of conquering a hero’s world.

However, while some heroes have tales, others don’t.

Particularly, living heroes’ worlds are rarely conquered.

Even when conquered, there’s no reward, and only the hero can open their own world.

The worlds of heroes from the past are the only ones others can conquer by meeting certain conditions.

“Alby is a highly famed hero but has revealed nothing about his past exploits. There’s no clue to use.”

“I also have an idea.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Leo sighed.

“The Forest of Monsters is currently in turmoil.”

“Turmoil?”

“That’s right. There are not enough monster appearances typical for the Forest of Monsters.”

“Indeed…”

Originally, it was supposed to feature relentless monster attacks.

But in Alby’s world, the frequency of monster appearances was too low.

‘As if they are scared of something…’

At this thought, Celia’s expression turned serious.

”Perhaps, a superior monster that frightens all the forest beasts has appeared.”

“Alby must have defeated it to achieve his feat.”

“That’s right.”

“What sort of superior monster could terrify the entire Forest of Monsters? There’s no record of such an anomaly.”

“That’s…”

Just as Celia was about to question Leo,

“Graaaaaahhhhhhh!”

A distant scream echoed.

“Seems like it’s appeared.”