Chapter 134

134.

The first year students’ mission practice day had finally arrived.

During the week of the mission practice, classes would not be held.

Because of this, students who finished the mission practice early could return to school to enjoy free time.

Additionally, some students who participated in the mission practice with their seniors started a little later.

In front of the warp gate, the first years who were about to embark on their mission practice were chatting with each other.

“Seems like you’re the only one heading to the Garan region.”

“Looks that way.”

“I know you’re capable, but I still don’t get why you’re doing this mission practice when it doesn’t offer many points.”

Celia made a face as if she couldn’t understand.

Then, when it was her turn, she waved her hand.

“Well, see you after the mission practice is over.”

“Take care and come back safely.”

“Who do you think I am? Don’t worry about me.”

With a grin, Celia confidently brushed her hair back as she always did before stepping onto the warp gate.

One by one, the students boarded the warp gate.

Leo was the last to step onto the warp gate.

With a bright flash of light, his surroundings changed.

Arriving at the Garan region’s warp gate, Leo saw the empty interior of the gateway.

No matter where you went, warp gates were usually ornate.

However, since the Garan region itself was a backward area, it seemed even the warp gate hadn’t been maintained properly.

“What brings someone to use the warp gate in this region?”

An elderly wizard looked surprised but then recognized Leo’s uniform and let out an exclamation.

“Wow! Are you by any chance a student from Lumeran?”

“Yes.”

“What brings the great Hero Candidate to such a remote place?”

With a smile, Leo replied to the old wizard’s curious expression.

“I’ve come to deal with the Garan region’s request.”

“Request? Ah! You must be talking about those bandits!”

The elderly wizard’s face brightened.

“Good timing! The townsfolk have suffered a lot because of those troublesome guys!”

Located between the western and southern parts of the continent, the Garan region is a neutral area governed by a lord who doesn’t belong to any kingdom.

Though the lord of Garan claims to rule a kingdom, in reality, it’s far from deserving that title.

Because of this situation, when large bands of bandits arose, the region lacked the national capacity to wipe them out.

The old wizard’s reaction confirmed to Leo what he had already guessed.

‘Seems like the bandits are worse than I expected.’

His purpose for coming to Garan Region was to investigate the ancient ruins of Guardstron, but he had no intention of handling the mission request carelessly.

‘I’ll completely destroy those bandits once and for all.’

Leo hated bandits.

In his past life, as the world was on the brink of destruction, there were people who had tried to save and help others no matter what, and then there were those who ruthlessly trampled others for their own benefit.

To Leo, bandits fell into the latter category.

The elderly wizard showed him the way to the Lord’s Castle in detail.

With thanks to the wizard’s hospitality, Leo left the warp gate.

As he stepped out, the cityscape unfolded before him.

As expected of a rural area, there was a distinct feeling of backwardness.

‘This place used to be all Guardstron.’

Leo murmured to himself while gazing at the cityscape.

Guardstron, known as the last great fortress of the land, was once beyond imagination in scale.

As Leo headed towards the Lord’s Castle, the gazes of those around him began to gather.

Since outsiders were rare, everyone stared at Leo with curious eyes.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the castle, the gatekeepers looked at Leo strangely.

“Who are you? We don’t recognize you.”

“Looks like you’re from out of town. What’s your business with the Lord?”

“I’ve come to see Lord.”

Hearing this, the gatekeepers looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“Why would an outsider want to see the Lord?”

“Do you even think the Lord is someone you can casually meet?”

Leo took out the request letter from his pocket in response to their reaction.

“I’ve come to eliminate the bandits.”

“Eliminate bandits? Ha! Who do you think you are—a little kid, saying you’ll exterminate bandits?”

“What’s this piece of paper, anyway, claiming to be some bandit extermination…”

As the gatekeepers looked at the request letter Leo had handed over, their faces began to pale.

Their bodies trembled as they saw the phrase written in the letter.

“L-Lumeran Academy?”

“Hero Candidate?”

With wide eyes, they alternated their gaze between the request letter and Leo.

“Will you please call Lord?”

“P-please wait!”

One of the gatekeepers hurried inside.

The other, his face pale, stuttered.

“T-terribly sorry! Didn’t realize you were from Lumeran Academy!”

“It’s not something you have to this much for. If you didn’t know, it’s understandable. Just, in the future, don’t judge people solely by their appearance.”

Leo said nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, a servant ran over in a panic.

“Greetings, Great Hero Candidate!”

Seeing their exaggerated reaction, Leo sighed internally.

‘Being a Lumeran student really does make an impression, huh.’

Given that all the people around him were extraordinary figures, Leo hadn’t truly felt the status of being a Lumeran student until now.

But since he was out here on his own for the mission practice, it was abundantly clear.

Guided politely by the servant, Leo headed toward the Lord’s office.

“Oh! Great Hero Candidate of Lumeran Academy visiting such a humble place! What an honor!”

The emaciated Lord rubbed his hands together while bowing repeatedly to Leo.

“Come, come! Student of Lumeran! Please sit here.”

The Lord indicated a guest sofa near the window.

Once Leo sat, the Lord moved up quickly and began.

“Tired from your long journey? We’ll make sure you get rest right away…”

“No, that’s fine. Just tell me where the bandits are.”

At Leo’s words, the Garan Lord paused.

Then, he gave a signal to the waiting servant.

Following that, the servant brought out a map and spread it on the table.

Familiar terrain immediately caught Leo’s attention.

The remnants of the ancient massive city were gone, but the terrain hadn’t changed.

“The bandit’s location is an ancient fortress.”

“Ancient fortress?”

“Yes. We don’t know exactly from which era, but there’s an ancient fortress at the eastern end of Garan region. Of course, it’s mostly in ruins now.”

The Lord pointed at the location on the map.

Leo’s eyes sparkled as he stared at it intently.

‘This is the defense line of Guardstron.’

The defense line built to repel Tartarus’s army.

It was the place where Kai had spent the most time and also where Kai and Lissinas had met outside this castle wall.

While Leo was concentrating on the map,

Burst!

“A-Ah! Lord! Something has happened!”

“What is it? I’m in the middle of entertaining an important guest!”

“S-Someone has arrived to see you!”

“Someone? Who?”

‘Someone more important than a Lumeran student? Impossible!’

The Lord, whose face distorted with confusion, was told by the servant.

“T-Students from Seirun have come to see you!”

In that instant, the Lord failed to immediately understand.

‘Seirun students? The Elven Hero Academy? No, why would Seirun come to a place as rural as this? Then who on earth are these Seirun students?’

He thought for a moment but couldn’t think of any other “Seirun” outside the Elven Hero Academy.

Leo rose from his seat and looked out of the office window beside the sofa.

“They’re really from Seirun.”

“Eh?”

With an expression of bewilderment, the Lord looked out the window.

When he noticed the five elves at the mansion entrance, his face turned pale.

“W-Why is Seirun here!”

“Well, they probably have their reasons. You should go greet them.”

Leo, with a faint smile, rolled the map and put it in his pocket.

“I know where the bandits are roughly located. I’ll leave to deal with them.”

There was really no reason for him to stay at the Lord’s Castle.

Leo’s reason to come to this region was to explore the ruins of Guardstron.

This was the place where Leo and Lissinas once stationed themselves, the land where the old heroes lived and breathed.

With a small hope, he came here to find something related to those days.

The mission practice had to be completed within a week, so Leo wanted to finish the task as quickly as possible and start exploring relics of Guardstron.

With Leo’s words, the Lord looked flustered.

He wanted to build a relationship with Leo, the Hero Candidate, but seeing how busy Leo seemed while diving straight into the matter at hand left him in quite a quandary.

‘This boy doesn’t intend to stay here any longer!’

The Lord’s eyes darted around.

‘Maybe I should try to please the Seirun students instead!’

Despite the difference in species, they were still from the Hero Academy, and building connections would surely be beneficial.

“Understood! Please deal with those bandits!”

‘This Lord switches attitudes quickly.’

Leo chuckled internally.

‘Well, it’s better than annoyingly clinging, isn’t it?’

With that thought, Leo left the office.

“Prepare to greet our Seirun student guests! Hurry up!”

As he heard the hurried shouts from inside, Leo headed toward the mansion entrance.

The gatekeeper who had apologized earlier for misjudging Leo was even more panicked now with the sudden appearance of Seirun students.

After all, it was rare to see even normal elves, let alone students from Seirun, in these countrysides.

Elves usually don’t prefer to come to human territories.

The townspeople also gathered and buzzed with excitement when the elves appeared.

As this was happening, Leo stepped out of the mansion door.

“Eh?”

An exclamation of surprise came from the Seirun group.

Leo turned his head and, upon recognizing a familiar face, made a similar expression.

“Leo?”

“Lunia?”

Surprise flickered across both the representative first-year students of Lumeran and Seirun.

The other Seirun students noticed Lunia’s reaction and directed their gazes toward Leo.

“Lumeran student?”

“Miss Lunia, you clearly called him Leo a moment ago, didn’t you?”

Leo Flove.

Though it hadn’t been officially announced yet, in the circle of Seirun students, Leo was already famous for interpreting the celestial magic of the founder of Star Cloud that made flowers bloom.

Hardin sent a chill gaze in Leo’s direction.

‘Is this human Leo Flove?’

“What brings you here, Leo?”

Lunia smiled while asking.

Leo, looking into Lunia’s eyes and stealing quick glances at her companions, had a peculiar expression.

No members of his or her year group could be found among them.

‘Guess I need to pretend, huh.’

Leo smiled back at Lunia.

“Act as usual.”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand, Leo.”

“Suppressing your nature might cause sickness.”

Crack!

For an instant, a vein bulged on Lunia’s forehead as she saw Leo mocking her.

“Hohoho- Leo. You certainly have a playful side, don’t you?”

‘Ugh! If only there weren’t so many onlookers, I’d grab you by the collar and shake you!’

“So, Leo, what brings you here?”

“I’m here for the mission practice. I have to exterminate the bandits in this region.”

At that, Lunia’s eyes gleamed.

‘This is it!’

Thinking this, Lunia said,

“Oh my! Bandits? That’s a serious matter!”

Hiding her mouth elegantly, Lunia let out an exclamation that seemed forced. Leo sighed upon seeing this.

That reaction almost made Lunia lose it, but she managed to contain herself.

She then adopted a worried look.

“The residents here must be having a tough time.”

Everyone who saw her, pretending to be a fragile but good-hearted flower that was far from Lunia’s true character — a typical performance of a Seirun female student — exclaimed in amazement.

“Leo, I will assist you.”

“Miss Lunia, what do you mean?”

“But, seniors! The locals here are suffering because of these bandits, right? As Seirun students, we can’t just watch on idly!”

With firmness, Lunia spoke while making eye contact with Leo.

“Leo, thus, I will help you!”

‘Please take me! Please take me! Please! Just take me!’

Feeling something desperate in Lunia’s gaze, Leo chuckled and replied.

“If you’re willing to help, sure.”

‘Yes!’

Lunia celebrated in her mind while looking at her seniors.

‘Goodbye to this oppressive group!’