Chapter 136

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on April 8, 2025

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136.

The time it took for Leo and Lunia to wipe out all the bandits in the surrounding area was half a day.

As they were just a bunch of country bandits, they were no match for Leo and Lunia, and their extermination was truly instantaneous.

“Stress relief!”

Kadak- Kadak-

As the sun set and darkness descended, Lunia, who made a bonfire, stretched with a groan.

“Tomorrow, we can sweep away the remaining ones, right?”

Utcha- Lunia, sitting in front of the bonfire, fell into deep thought.

‘Leo. You said you were in the middle of a mission practice, right? Does that mean you’ll return to Lumeran immediately after wiping out the bandits?’

That thought made her feel a little sorry.

‘I finally got to see you after a long time.’

With her free-spirited personality, Lunia found it comfortable and enjoyable to be with Leo, who could interact without any reservations or awkwardness.

‘Maybe I should ask him to explore the Hero Dungeon with me? No, it’s not something I can decide alone. Moreover, the seniors would surely dislike Leo if we were to explore together.’

Leaning her chin on her hand, Lunia groaned in deep contemplation and suddenly looked towards the ruins.

‘What is he doing over there since a while ago?’

With a curious expression, she got up from her seat and entered the ruins where Leo was.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just checking out the ruins a bit.”

Upon hearing Leo’s words, Lunia looked at the portion of the Guardstron citadel ruins and tilted her head.

“There’s nothing particularly special here.”

Hero-related ruins were important as they could yield relics that could be activation conditions on the Hero Page.

However, the conclusion about this area’s ruins was that there was nothing special beyond its antiquity.

‘Where Guardstron existed has probably been forgotten by now.’

While the current people know that Guardstron actually existed, its existence has only been confirmed through documents or the Hero’s World, and nothing else about Guardstron is known.

‘This is probably Tartarus’s doing.’

To Tartarus, Guardstron’s castle walls must have been a target of hatred.

It was because Guardstron didn’t fall and held out until the end that the races of the earth were able to launch the first phase of their counterattack.

And after the era of peace arrived, they would have been reluctant to leave this place, a symbol of hope.

‘This area wasn’t a good place for people to live even before the Era of Catastrophe.’

After the Era of Catastrophe ended, the people left Guardstron, looking for new settlements.

‘The Guardstron that people left must have been attacked by Tartarus and buried underground.’

The faint dark magic flowing in this land is likely a remnant of that influence.

‘Has the city itself been buried in the soil?’

Leo felt a sense of discomfort at the fact that the location where traces of his former comrades remained had completely disappeared.

“Let’s rest now in preparation for tomorrow. You can investigate the ruins in the morning as well.”

At Lunia’s words, Leo nodded his head and headed towards the bonfire.

“Huh?”

Lunia, who noticed two figures warming themselves by the bonfire, was a little startled.

“Elder Elena?”

“Elder Hardin?”

The names of the two came out of Leo and Lunia’s mouths simultaneously.

“Are you two spending the night together? We didn’t interrupt a date, did we?”

“Not at all!”

In response to Elena’s question, Lunia shouted in a flustered tone.

“Do any of the bandits remain?”

“Some fugitives remain. And who might you be? You seem to be a Lumeran student?”

“Hello. My name is Elena Zeruon.”

Slightly lifting the hem of her school uniform skirt, she made a graceful bow, which surprised Lunia when she saw her.

“Representative of the third year at Lumeran?”

Elena was especially well-known even among Lumeran students.

She was number one on the list of threats to the Seirun students since she had proven capable of dealing with even the higher grades at the Ruse Tournament.

So, it was only natural for Lunia to be shocked by her sudden appearance.

“You’re here? I thought you were going to explore a dungeon in another region?”

“That? I entrusted it to other party members.”

Watching Elena answer as if it were nothing, Leo had a bewildered expression on his face.

Elena was the leader of the Blue Moon Party.

That the leader would step out and come here made no sense.

“I became more interested in you than dungeon exploration.”

Elena’s pink eyes sparkled.

“What about the other seniors?”

“I tried to teach your seniors about manners since they lack them.”

“Huh?”

Though Lunia wore an expression of not understanding what was happening, Leo could roughly imagine what she had done.

Hardin adjusted his glasses and spoke.

“Did you not think your methods were excessive, Elena Zeruon?”

“I distinctly gave them a chance to apologize. It was your juniors who rejected the chance.”

As Elena answered with a dry tone, Hardin sighed deeply.

This incident could lead to problems between schools.

“Anyway, Leo. Let’s postpone the bandit extermination for later! You know there might be a Hero Dungeon here, right?”

“Weren’t the students of Seirun searching for it first?”

“What’s the problem with that? A Hero Dungeon belongs to whoever finds it first.”

Elena pushed Leo’s back and headed towards the ruins.

“Come on, come on! A junior should follow the senior’s advice! I’ll teach you about exploring Hero Dungeons.”

Watching her retreating back, Hardin spoke.

“Lunia, follow.”

“What? What about the other seniors?”

“They’re currently injured and collapsed. They are not yet in a state to conduct reconnaissance. I can’t lose to that fox-like woman.”

Hardin revealed his competitive spirit.

Hardin Deretian, the top student of the 3rd year at Seirun.

He was one of the top students not just in the 3rd year but in the entire school.

Yet, no matter what, Hardin had suffered a thorough defeat at the hands of Elena each year at the Ruse Tournament.

‘This year, I cannot lose.’

Hardin clenched his fist as he glared at Elena’s back.

‘So suddenly, a competition arose.’

Until a few moments ago, Lunia was working together with Leo, but she couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.

‘There’s no way I can lose either.’

As the representative of her grade at Seirun, Lunia stepped forward with determination and followed Leo and Elena.

*

“Leo-kun, it’s really impressive! You don’t seem like a first-year at all!”

Since starting to explore the Hero Dungeon, Elena had been bustling around with excitement, busy praising Leo.

It wasn’t mere flattery. Leo was indeed conducting the dungeon exploration with surprising proficiency, quite unlike a first-year.

A Hero Dungeon is an anomalous space caused by the rampage of a Hero’s Page.

Therefore, it had to be explored with great caution.

First-years, who inevitably have many inadequacies, only study the Hero Dungeon exploration theories. No practical sessions are conducted.

Despite that, Leo didn’t seem at all troubled. He smoothly scanned the surroundings through his mana sensing.

Seeing him, Leo wore a peculiar smile.

“Hm? What’s the matter?”

“You seem like a completely different character.”

“What kind of character do you see me as?”

“You had this regal-like vibe at school.”

“Ah? Did you really see me that way? That’s impressive.”

Elena laughed and pat Leo’s white hair.

“How do you see me now?”

“Troublesome.”

“Not a heartwarming senior who cares for her juniors?”

“Yeah.”

Elena opened her eyes wide.

It was a sight that would have made her juniors and peers panic, yet Leo didn’t blink.

Elena put her arm around his shoulders and spoke.

“Leo-kun. Look over there.”

She pointed her finger at Hardin.

“Hardin is the type who takes everything seriously, so someone like that is fun to tease.”

“How do you tease him?”

“Watch.”

Elena grinned and deliberately said aloud.

“Our first-year representative is way better than Seirun’s, isn’t it?”

“That is unacceptable.”

As expected, Hardin immediately reacted.

Hardin strode toward Elena, who had let go of his shoulder.

“What’s the problem?”

“LuNiA is in no way inferior to Leo Flove.”

“Our Leo-kun has interpreted the magic of the Star Cloud’s founder and has also played a big role in the Gigantes extermination. Does your junior have any achievements that surpass my junior’s?”

“One should not evaluate people solely by achievements. LuNiA, although only in her first year, is an outstanding student who’s considered a candidate for the student council president. Do you think someone like Leo Flove could ever be a candidate for the student council president at that age?”

“Student council president? Me?”

LuNiA, who asked in a startled voice, saw Elena smile.

“It’s the first time the main character has heard this, isn’t it? Moreover, aren’t you the next student council president candidate for Seirun? I understand your desire to compete with our Leo-kun, but you shouldn’t make things up to that extent. A first-year student council president? That’s absurd.”

“Indeed, LuNiA is immature. But, she still has more potential than me. I personally recommended her, so LuNiA is certainly a candidate for the student council president. She hasn’t built up enough achievements yet, but Eiran, Lu, and this person—these three will grow into famous students of Seirun in the future.”

Hearing Hardin’s words, Elena narrowed her eyes.

And LuNiA looked surprised.

‘Does this person not dislike me?’

LuNiA, along with Eiran and LuCa, who were the current representatives of the first year at Seirun.

Whenever they were in view, Hardin used to point out their flaws with an irritable expression.

Yet here he was, vouching for them in front of rival students from Lumeran.

‘Moreover, recommending me for the student council president?’

First-year student council president.

Unprecedented in Seirun’s history.

It wasn’t a remark made in the heat of the moment.

For someone as meticulous as Hardin, he was not one to joke or say meaningless words.

While LuNiA was still surprised, Elena, who had been looking serious, gave a faint smile.

“Then our Leo-kun is also a candidate for the next student council president.”

“Now see here. Don’t make up stories.”

“Just recommend him when we go back.”

Watching the seniors engage in a meaningless pride contest, Leo sighed and suddenly turned his head.

He then headed towards a place where a subtle fluctuation in mana was felt.

“Did you find something?”

Lunia approached Leo with a puzzled expression.

Leo, kneeling down, examined the ground.

Seeing him, Lunia also wore a puzzled expression and concentrated.

After a little while, a faint magical fluctuation was felt.

‘Did you sense this magical fluctuation?’

It was truly faint, more like a lingering echo of mana. One would only be aware of it upon realizing that Leo sensed something; Lunia alone would have never noticed it.

Impressed by Leo’s sensitive senses, Lunia went over to Elena and Hardin.

“Hey. It seems Leo discovered something.”

“Indeed! Worthy of being a first-year representative of Lumeran!”

“Urgh!”

Elena smiled satisfactorily while Hardin looked frustrated.

Seeing them, Lunia had a subtle expression on her face.

“Why are you acting like this?”

“Didn’t you dislike me? You kept giving me lectures every time I saw you.”

“I did it because I hoped you would maintain proper conduct as the representative of the Seirun’s grade.”

With his unique strict expression, Hardin adjusted his glasses.

“I’ve never disliked you.”

“You could’ve been a bit kinder. Until now, I’ve hated you for nothing.”

Watching Lunia mutter, Hardin smirked.

“Did you really hate me?”

‘……This my-own-pace nature must be inherent.’

Letting out a hollow laugh, Lunia shook her head.

The three gathered around Leo.

“Unique magical fluctuations.”

As Hardin adjusted his glasses, Elena appeared puzzled.

“It seems like a magical spell matrix is established, but I can’t decipher it. It must be ancient magic from several thousand years ago.”

Magic from several thousand years ago, where the spell matrix structure is entirely different from the present.

It’s not something a non-specialist in ancient magic could easily decipher.

Naturally, it was impossible to decipher the matrix, so the magic couldn’t be activated.

Elena, Lunia, and Hardin showed difficulty but Leo remained different.

‘Portal gate, hmm.’

Interpreting the spell matrix and calculating coordinates, Leo widened his eyes in surprise.

The coordinates pointed to a place he had in his memories.

‘The Guardstron’s portal gate.’

There was no doubt that a portal gate was beneath them.

‘So the portal being active means that Guardstron beneath the ground hasn’t collapsed?’

Thinking the city was buried underground and disappeared, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

If the city was buried, there was no way the portal gate would still be active either.

After pondering for a moment, Leo summoned mana.

Woooom-!

The three watched in amazement as Leo instantly constructed a temporary gate connecting to the opposite portal gate.

Woooom-! Woooom-!

“Portal gate?”

Hardin revealed a shocked expression.

Elena narrowed her eyes.

“How did you construct it?”

“I just interpreted the spell matrix, and it seemed to be a portal gate, so I tried making a temporary gate. It appears the entrance on the other side is alive.”

Leo said composedly.

Constructing a new portal gate is difficult, but creating an entry that connects to an already installed gate isn’t really a challenging task for a Hero Academy student standard.

The others here were also capable of doing it.

‘But deciphering ancient magic spell matrices is a different story. Without being an expert, to understand the matrix so quickly… indeed, it seems Professor Rend and Senior Toruah were right to highly commend him on matters related to magic matrices.’

“Which portal gate is it connected to?”

“Why don’t we just go and see?”

Elena stood on the gate, smiling.

Hardin and Lunia also stepped onto the gate.

“Leo, hurry up and get on.”

Following Lunia’s words, Leo nodded.

‘Really, is Guardstron beneath us still intact?’

Recalling memories of a place where he spent time with his friends in his previous life, Leo felt his heart tremble.

As Leo stepped onto the temporary portal gate, Elena summoned mana.

Flash-!

With a bright light, the portal gate activated.

And …