Chapter 156

156

“Did you call me just to confirm if I’m Kyle or not?”

“Only a few minutes ago, I started to think that you, Lord Leo, might be the Hero of Beginning. It was the first time I met you, Lord Leo.”

Melina replied respectfully.

“The moment I faced Lord Leo, the magical power of Lord Lissinas went out of my control.”

“I see.”

Dragon Lord.

She, known as the King of Dragons, was exceedingly courteous despite her outward appearance being that of a fifteen-year-old Hero Candidate. However, Leo was the Great Hero who had once saved the world.

He was the Last Hero who triumphed over Erebus all by himself.

No matter how remarkable the Dragon Lord might be, she couldn’t compare with Kyle.

“It’s still hard to believe. Of all things, who would have thought I’d be having a conversation with the Great Hero not in the Hero’s World but in reality?”

With a voice full of emotion, Melina asked Leo numerous questions, most of them related to the Great Hero.

True to her nature as a dragon who craves knowledge, Melina focused on every word that came out of Leo’s mouth.

“Ah, I’d love to just keep listening to your stories, Lord Leo.”

Melina sighed regretfully, wishing to continue their conversation.

To hear directly from the distant past’s legend, something beyond records that she herself did not know?

‘As someone who craves knowledge, could there be a greater joy?’

But she couldn’t keep Leo for too long.

Today’s meeting happened completely unexpectedly.

‘I can’t inconvenience Lord Leo just because of my selfish desires.’

Melina forced a bitter smile as she spoke.

“I will explain why I’ve gathered you here, Lord Leo.”

“Alright.”

“Lord Leo, I assume you are aware that Tartarus’ minions have infiltrated the Hero Academy. Among them are also traitors.”

Melina sighed deeply.

“It’s not easy to track them down.”

‘Indeed. Not the slightest suspicious sign, let alone suspicious energy.’

Ever since Leo had sensed Tartarus’ presence within Lumeran, everything around him had become a subject of scrutiny. But they were nowhere to be found, perfectly hidden.

‘And even for me, who has been combating Tartarus’ demons since the days of Kyle, their aura is undetectable.’

Even Leo, who could sense even a trace, had found none.

To not find any sign of betrayal in Lumeran wasn’t unusual.

“But the purpose of Tartarus is clear enough.”

“To cut down promising talents who can grow into Heroes.”

“Yes. That’s why I wanted to ask you, Lord Leo, to act as a bait to uncover these traitors.”

To Tartarus, Leo’s presence must surely have been a thorn in their side currently.

The same class as Kyle.

Combined with his incessant and unusual actions.

For them, he’s a dangerous element that needed to be eliminated at all costs.

“Not bad for bait, huh?”

Melina’s expression showed a hint of guilt as she observed Leo smiling faintly.

“Is it appropriate for me to ask such a request of Lord Leo?”

“It’s fine. Honestly, I also wanted to uncover these individuals but couldn’t due to my position as a student.”

Leo laughed quietly.

Being a student inevitably limited his actions in various ways.

Moreover, Leo had to keep hidden the fact that he was Kyle reborn.

Lumeran was full of capable individuals. Even they couldn’t uncover the traitor, so if Leo were to, it might raise suspicion.

‘Spy accusations are not something I want.’

In the middle of this, the Dragon Lord, Melina, contacted him.

Riven probably judged Leo to be a ‘reliable person’ and arranged this meeting.

‘And thanks to that, my identity was revealed unintentionally.’

Leo glanced at Melina.

Their eyes met, and Melina smiled faintly.

“I’ll be your bait. But I have one request.”

“That you don’t reveal Lord Leo’s identity to anyone else?”

“Exactly.”

Melina also seemed to have understood why Leo had chosen to keep his identity hidden.

‘Secrets are better off known by few people.’

Even if the person was trustworthy, the secrets Leo held were far beyond anyone’s capacity to bear.

‘This man is still fighting.’

There are easier paths he could have taken.

It was, after all, the age of peace.

Even if he chose to ignore and enjoy life, no one could blame him for it.

Yet, the Great Hero reborn chose to fight.

Melina touched the corner of her left eye absentmindedly.

Long ago, Melina had fought against Erebus.

‘It wasn’t the real one, but a fake.’

The unbroken Hero’s World for thousands of years.

‘The Rebirth of Great Catastrophe.’

Melina, who inherited Lissinas’ power, challenged the Rebirth of Great Catastrophe with her companions. It was a failure.

Most of her renowned companions either died or became incapacitated.

Melina, who managed to recover relatively unhurt, could no longer bring herself to challenge it again afterward.

Without her companions,

She was alone now, with no one to acknowledge her efforts.

Leo, despite being in a similar situation, was ready to fight alone.

‘This is why Leo is the Great Hero.’

The man chosen by the Great King of Wisdom.

“Lord Leo.”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t say it’s a ‘request’. I exist in the era of peace you created. If I had known nothing about you, that might have been different. But now that I know who you are, I will serve you.”

Melina bowed deeply and respectfully.

“As the Dragon Lord, as one who carries the legacy of the King of Wisdom, I am ready to give my life at any moment. When you need me, please give your orders. It’s my destiny.”

Melina spoke solemnly.

“That whole ‘destiny’ thing sounds pretty exhausting.”

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t save the world for some grand reason. I was just dragged into it by Lissinas.”

Leo chuckled.

“So I’m not fighting now for some grand cause either. I just want to fight.”

Leo tapped Melina lightly on the forehead.

“So you live as you want. That’s enough.”

Melina looked up at Leo with wide eyes and smiled faintly.

“Then I’ll do what I want.”

“Yes.”

The image of the Great Hero in person was different from what she had imagined.

‘But they are truly great nonetheless.’

People like him could save the world.

And so, the Dragon Lord pledged herself.

‘Let me alleviate some of his burdens, even slightly.’

Exiting the clock tower, Leo stepped into Lumeria City’s main street, Kurajue.

The atmosphere on Kurajue was a little different from usual.

There were students of similar age seen everywhere.

‘They must be from other academies.’

Seeing them wandering around in their school uniforms, Leo’s face brightened with interest.

The students of the third-class academy began whispering among themselves as they noticed Leo.

“Is that Lumeran uniform?”

“Is that a student from the Lumeran Academy? Doesn’t seem too great to me.”

“What class is he? A knight? A wizard? Or maybe a summoner?”

“That’s right. I heard Lumeran students wear emblems.”

Curious gazes reached Leo.

‘Still, there’s some time left until the gather time.’

Leo stroked his chin.

‘Where are the others?’

“Hey! Are you a student from the Lumeran Academy?”

Someone spoke to him.

As Leo turned his head, he saw girls standing there wearing white short-sleeve blouses with frills, black skirts, capes, and wizard hats.

Their outfits unmistakably declared, “I’m a wizard!”

They were female students from the Emerald Magic Academy.

“Anyway.”

“By any chance, do you take magic lessons?”

“I heard.”

“Great! I knew it! You totally emitted that wizard vibe!”

The girl grinned widely and clapped her hands.

“My name’s Sila. I’m a first-year from Emerald.”

“My name is—”

“Introduction’s good! Could you come over here for a sec?”

Sila rudely cut off Leo’s introduction with a friendly smile and pulled him into a nearby café.

As Leo entered the café, he paused for a moment.

The café was filled with students from Emerald Academy.

“Our students can’t quite control their thirst for knowledge. Once a discussion begins, they want to resolve it before leaving.”

Sila shrugged with a grin and pointed to a portable blackboard occupying a corner of the café.

“We were just discussing magic inscriptions. And you being from Lumeran, wouldn’t it be nice to hear your opinion?”

Sila laughed nervously.

“Sorry. Sorry.”

Leo glanced at the inscription.

‘This is an incomplete inscription.’

It was clear at first glance that it wouldn’t activate.

Moreover, it was unnecessarily complex.

‘What is this? An inscription designed just to give headaches to those who see it?’

Glancing back at Sila quickly, Leo scanned the Emerald students seated in the café.

Although they seemed serious, their eyes darted to Leo’s expression.

Sila was the same.

Leo easily understood the situation.

‘They probably want to embarrass me.’

It was common knowledge that students from the three great academies admired yet envied the students from Lumeran.

‘Maybe I’ll just play along?’

Taking a small breath, Leo opened his mouth just when he heard a noise near the café entrance.

Turning his head, Leo saw Yura and Ren standing there.

‘So they’re here for the supervision.’

The Emerald students had yet to notice their arrival.

Yura sighed quietly while scanning the café interior before heading in.

But Ren stopped her.

Gazing at Leo briefly, Ren grinned and indicated the Emerald students with a finger before making a gesture of slicing his neck, and then led Yura away.

‘To mess it up?’

Leo chuckled to himself and decided to follow Ren’s lead.

“That’s an interesting piece of magic. With a little tweak, it looks like it would activate.”

“Wow? Really?”

Sila’s eyes sparkled.

They were like a snake eyeing its prey.

“Yeah.”

Leo nodded naturally before heading toward the blackboard.

Seeing this, Emerald students stifled their laughter.

‘He’s playing it up. That inscription will absolutely not activate, you know?’

‘There’s no way to fix that inscription without completely redoing it from scratch.’

‘To fall for such a simple inscription trap? The Lumeran kids aren’t much, huh?’

As Leo turned the blackboard with his hands, he began speaking.

“My interpretation looks like this.”

*

“Hey! If there’s trouble, you’re supposed to stop it! Emerald is your responsibility, isn’t it?”

Yura smacked Renv’s back with her fist.

“Go stop it! We don’t want the kids to feel disheartened before the joint class!”

“Yes. And they will feel disheartened.”

‘You fool! You were talking about taking good care of the Emerald kids earlier, and now what? Why the sudden change?’

“Why?”

“Ho ho ho. Master Yura, how can you be so dense?”

“Well, his desire to d*e is clear, but my being dense, not so much.”

Yura’s forehead veins popped out as she tried to choke Ren.

As Ren blocked Yura, who was trying to grab his neck, he said,

“The students of Emerald need to know that Leo is not like them; he is a man of a different caliber!”

Ren burst into laughter.

“And if they are true wizards, they should savor Leo’s greatness! Witnessing Leo’s brilliance, they’ll be astounded and praise him! I’m not trying to crush them! I am broadening their horizons! As they say, to break out of the shell, one must first shatter the egg!”

“…”

Yura blinked her eyes.

She tried her best to understand Ren’s words.

But Yura simply couldn’t understand it.

“What are you saying, you lunatic?”

“Ho ho. Predictably, the vision of the confined Yura is unable to grasp my grand purpose. Therefore, I’ll kindly explain it to you as simply as possible, tailored to your level.”

“…So, you’re saying you want to d*e, right? If that’s your wish, I’ll honor it.”

Yura pulled out her whip and strangled Ren.

Even so, Ren continued his lecture about Leo’s genius.

While choking Ren, Yura thought,

‘The Emerald kids are picking on Leo because they have no one else to challenge? And their professor happens to be this guy? They have my pity.’

She gave a pitiful look towards the Emerald students.

Meanwhile, while his neck was squeezed, Ren thought,

‘Poor Skoun students. Of all people, they have this ignorant Yura as their professor!’

Two professors with equally disparaging thoughts towards each other.