Chapter 237

237

Splash— Thud— Whoosh—!

The patter of rain began.

Corpses were scattered throughout the quiet countryside.

In the middle of it all, a girl walked steadily.

The cold spring rain washed over the ground.

Drip— drip—

Crimson droplets fell from her body.

“Kehck— Gurggh!”

A figure cloaked in black was coughing up bl**d.

Chen Sia looked down at the lone survivor and said, “You shall be executed for conspiring with Tartarus.”

“Kukhukh— how cruel.”

The man, with wounds near d*ath, spat out a sarcastic laugh.

“What is the difference between your shadows and us? It’s almost laughable that a young girl could be this ruthless.”

“At the very least, we don’t betray the world for our own greed.”

“Show-off! Even so, you’re nothing but rejects who aren’t recognized by the gods.”

An ironic smile appeared on the man’s face.

Swish—!

At that moment, a silver flash flew from behind Chen Sia and severed the man’s neck.

Pfft—!

bl**d splattered.

Chen Sia’s body, which had just been cleansed by the rain, was once again stained with bl**d.

Chen Sia turned her head.

“Your Highness, do not soil your ears with the lies of the wicked.”

“Yes.”

Chen Sia replied calmly and turned her body.

The traitors hiding in this village have finally met their end.

‘It has been a while since I’ve experienced this sensation.’

The figures that had appeared by now began to mutilate the corpses one by one, confirming their deaths.

At the sight, Chen Sia let out a deep sigh.

‘My peers might have frowned if they saw this.’

Due to Tartarus’ black magic, anything could happen.

For the shadows, these executions were standard procedure.

However, they were by no means noble acts.

But Chen Sia found them familiar.

In fact, they felt so normal to her that she accepted them without question.

The landscape she’d witnessed since childhood.

The past year was merely spent in a different world.

Trudging-Trudging

Chen Sia took a step forward.

Chen Sia and her company were the shadows of the Shan Empire.

Shan Empire.

The ancient eastern superpower boasting a long history.

This Shan Empire had one particular alias—the Land of Shadows.

In the age of heroes that arose after great heroes saved the world,

In the Age of Catastrophe, 2000 years before the present time,

After the calamities reappeared and the power of the Hero Records became known, it became the era where heroes dominated the world’s politics.

Many admired and dreamed of becoming heroes.

Praising the achievements of heroes, many aspired to be like them.

Hero academies were established, numerous hero families emerged, and countries founded by heroes appeared.

Many countries put effort into nurturing new heroes.

‘But not the Shan Empire.’

The Shan Empire did not nurture heroes.

Heroes did emerge, but Shan placed much more importance on the shadows.

‘This country had been fighting even before its founding… In fact, even before the Age of Heroes.’

Shan’s official founding is marked 4000 years ago, but records of Shan shadows exist even 5000 years ago, during the Age of Catastrophe.

For that long span of time, they have been protecting the world without even leaving a name on the Hero Records.

‘The most noble… and the most grotesque of them all.’

Trudging-Trudging

Chen Sia halted her steps.

She spotted a pair of young siblings hiding in the alley and opened her eyes wide.

Was it because of the cold spring rain? The siblings were shivering.

Slosh-Slosh

“Are you okay?”

In response to Chen Sia’s question, the siblings clung to each other tighter.

“Are you very cold? Come with me…”

“Hiiik!”

As Chen Sia extended her hand to help them, the boy tightly hugged his younger sister and squeezed his eyes shut.

At the sound of his scream, Chen Sia’s hand hung suspended in the air.

After hesitating for a while, Chen Sia finally let out a wry smile.

“Sorry, I seemed to have frightened you.”

She straightened her bent body.

“There won’t be any more scary events. So, please don’t stay here, go back home. You’ll catch a cold if you stay.”

With that, Chen Sia turned and left the alley.

“Big brother, the pretty older sister was trying to…”

“Shhh! Hurry up and follow me! She’s a witch!”

The young boy covered his sister’s mouth and hurriedly hid deeper into the alley.

‘You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The hunting I do.’

Chen Sia looked down at her own hands.

They appeared as clean as ever.

But just moments ago, they were soaked in bl**d.

It was familiar.

Killing others.

It was familiar.

Becoming a figure of fear to someone.

The only reason her heart was fluttering…

‘During the past year… I must have been dreaming deeply.’

Blinded temporarily by the bright days of the past year.

‘That’s right.’

Chen Sia clenched her fists tightly.

‘My place is here.’

She closed her eyes.

The faces of her friends who studied together for a year came to mind.

Finally, the figure of a young boy appeared.

Someone who seemed born to become a hero.

A person with an aura of light and hope surrounding him at all times, a pure white presence.

‘I… Ultimately, I will never be like Lord Leo.’

Different by birth.

Thinking this, Chen Sia disappeared into the darkness.

*

“Hmph.”

Rina exhaled a weary sigh.

“Headache.”

The woman in uniform loosened her tie and pulled it away from her neck.

“An accident has happened right from the first month of my term.”

With an agitated expression, Rina reached into a cabinet beside her desk and retrieved a bottle of liquor. Pouring some into a glass, she lost herself in thought.

‘Do they plan on doing everything their own way?’

On her desk sat an envelope containing a letter from the Shan Empire.

The contents of the letter were straightforward.

It notified of the impending resignation of the Shan Empire’s princess, Chen Sia.

‘The emperor must have decided against allowing Shan’s talents to leak outside.’

The royal family of Shan lives shrouded in mystery.

The only person allowed to show themselves to the world is the emperor himself.

In fact, even the individual destined to be the next emperor cannot reveal themselves until they have ascended the throne.

A tradition maintained over thousands of years by the Shan Empire.

And those of the royal family who do not become emperor but possess talent, live their lives as shadows, not as heroes.

That’s the Shan tradition.

‘But the nation is beyond understanding.’

Even Rina had spent half her life as a shadow of Lumeran.

She too had once been one of Lumeran’s academy students.

But when she was nearing graduation, the shadow faction of Lumeran extended an offer to her.

Accepting that offer, she embarked on the life of a shadow.

‘Were it me, wouldn’t it be better to keep my children away from dirty work and let them live in the light!’

If only the emperor were right in front of her, she’d shout at him.

She didn’t regret choosing the life of a shadow.

She had walked the bloody path and had no regrets, even if history could rewind, she would still choose the shadow’s life.

But…

‘Deliberately pushing children towards such a life isn’t right!’

Considering only her first-year academic performance, Chen Sia was a fine candidate for a hero.

To push talent that could have walked the path of a hero towards the path of a shadow…

‘That country is definitely not sane.’

Rina let out another deep sigh.

‘The biggest problem is that Chen Sia herself seems to have the intention to leave behind her status as a hero candidate.’

She can’t forcibly bring someone unwilling to cooperate.

Let alone when the other party is not just any hero family, but the royal house of the Shan Empire, and the individual in question is the princess.

‘I have no option but to confront her directly…’

While Rina was deep in thought,

Knock-knock.

“Come in.”

At the knock, the door opened.

Seeing the visitor who entered Rina’s office, she displayed a curious expression.

“What brings the student council president to my door at this hour? Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

“Dismissed.”

“Such an excellent student of Lumeran history, yet you have some delinquent tendencies?”

“The principal is drinking during the day as well.”

At Leo’s words, Rina, who was swirling her glass of wine, loudly placed it down on the table.

“Only for special reasons.”

Rina stepped down from her desk and gestured towards the guest sofa.

“Sit, there’s probably a reason why the student council president came to see me.”

Leo sat down on the sofa.

“So, what is it that brought you here?”

“Regarding Chen Sia.”

“Chen Sia.”

Rina, reclining against the sofa, spoke.

“Have you not already heard from Dormitory Head Sena? There’s the possibility that she might be leaving due to family reasons.”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s nothing the student council president can do about it. Lumeran isn’t special either. As an educational institute, we teach those who qualify. Those who don’t qualify, we can’t educate.”

“Does that qualification mean personal will? Or inclination?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m sensing that Chen Sia is considering resignation because of her role as a Shadow.”

“…”

Leo’s words caused Rina’s expression to change slightly.

“Did Chen Sia tell you that?”

“No, I just have a vague feeling.”

“Remarkable. As expected, the youngest student council president is different.”

Rina stroked her jaw, impressed.

“And yet it’s even more incomprehensible. Don’t you know well enough that heroes and shadows might share the same goal but ideologically can never co-exist?”

Rina chuckled deeply.

“There are even hero candidates who despise the shadows among them.”

That was true.

Among hero candidates, there are those who suffer from an obsessive need for cleanliness and they despise the actions of shadows.

The deeds of shadows are far from what heroes stand for.

“Particularly the radicals are a major issue. They carry out torture, massacres, and often harm the innocent under the guise of rooting out traitors.”

Smirking, Rina locked eyes with Leo.

“In my opinion, Leo Flove, you’re a boy destined to become a hero.”

Resting her chin, Rina crossed her legs.

“Your interest in Chen Sia is out of friendship, isn’t it? It’s unnecessary to involve yourself in matters related to the shadows. Simply remain as a noble hero.”

“Noble hero…”

Leo wore an amused expression.

“You, who utter such words, have surely accepted quite a few shadow candidates.”

A cool gaze from Rina met Leo.

“I’ve noticed from their first inspection; some of the juniors were being trained as Shadows.”

Rina gave a faint laugh.

“There are also extremists among heroes. Many heroes have committed mass killings of innocents in the past. It’s simply a matter of whether they had a valid pretext or not. But to me, they’re the same.”

“Same?”

Rina wore an amused expression.

“Yes. Either way, there’s really no difference between heroes and shadows, is there?”

“Fascinating thoughts you have.”

Rina chuckled.

“True. In fighting against Tartarus, heroes and shadows are the same entity. But…”

Rina narrowed her eyes.

“There’s a decisive difference between the two.”

“Decisive difference?”

“Exactly.”

Rising from her seat, Rina held the glass on her desk, gulped down its contents, then spoke to Leo.

“A Shadow, no matter how great the accomplishment, cannot be inscribed in the Hero Records.”

Rina sighed deeply.

“The gods celebrate the feats of heroes but do not praise the accomplishments of shadows.”

Clack—

Rina placed the glass down and gave a wistful smile.

“The Shadows are forsaken beings in the eyes of the gods.”