Chapter 261

261

“We need to find Black Rabbit first.”

“Who is Black Rabbit?”

While walking through the streets of Dweronia, Arga mumbled, and the wolf beastman female student walking beside her tilted her head in confusion.

“Who else? The Lumeran Student Council President.”

“Wow!”

“Indeed, Boss!”

At Arga’s words, the students of Azonia following her burst out with exclamations of admiration.

“Her ambition is extraordinary! Boss!”

“Indeed the top student of Azonia’s second year!”

“Planning to confront Leo Flove first, isn’t she!”

“We will confront, yes.”

Arga adjusted her Azonia school beret.

“I have to prevent pointless fights before these fools cause trouble…”

“Ar Boss is after Leo Flove’s neck! Find him!”

“My words, listen, you fools!”

Before Arga could finish her sentence, she called out loudly at the students following her.

‘Black Rabbit sees me as nothing more than an ignorant and stupid cat, but just look at these guys!’

Arga gripped her forehead tightly, her veins bulging, and clenched her fists hard.

‘Really, there are separate categories of the truly simple-minded and stupid!’

Currently, those following behind Arga were none other than the students of her faction.

Arga did not create a faction.

The reason for the formation of the faction was due to Azonia’s school ethos.

Hero Academies, wherever they are, are fundamentally meritocratic.

Lumeran teaches all students equally according to its teaching philosophy.

Those who cannot keep up must leave the school.

Seirun meticulously divides students into advanced, intermediate, and beginner classes and teaches according to class level.

And Azonia.

Azhonia’s educational philosophy has only one aspect.

The survival of the fittest.

At Azonia, there are no term-end exams to assess academic performance like in Lumeran and Seirun.

Every moment is a test.

Every day there are duels within the year groups to determine rankings.

The weak can challenge the strong at any time to seize their position.

And the privileges granted to the strong are clear.

Lower-ranked students must follow the orders of higher-ranked students.

Of course, it is not an absolute command.

Only the top five students in each year group have this absolute authority.

And these students are treated as equals.

Therefore, students naturally gather under the upper-class students according to their preferences, forming factions.

Orders cannot be issued to students of other factions.

Thus, the formation of factions was a very natural occurrence in Azonia.

Arga held her head, covering her face, and sighed deeply as she looked at the students in front of her wagging their tails like puppies.

The top student of Azonia’s second year.

Arga Tune.

Her faction’s students were particularly famous for their loyalty.

There was no other reason.

It was because Arga was strong.

Since enrolling, Arga had been continually challenged by aspirants aiming for her position.

After the establishment of the faction, other factions had also conspired systematically to overthrow her.

However, Arga had broken through all of this solely through her own strength.

Now, no one dared to easily challenge her position.

An overwhelming strength.

Beastmen admire strength as much as they look up to the strong.

Yet, Arga did not ab*se the privileges afforded to her as a top student.

Arga’s faction was equal for all.

In Azonia, where it was natural for the strong to wield privileges, Arga’s actions were quite radical.

Naturally, lower-ranked students gathered in Arga’s faction.

Other factions would often mock Arga’s faction behind her back as the “Gathering of the Weak.”

When Arga heard such stories, she did not let it go unpunished.

This was why Arga’s faction showed such high loyalty to her.

“Boss! I’ve got a good idea!”

Then, a large bear beastman male student confidently spoke up.

The cat ears under his beret twitched.

‘Surely, something strange is coming next.’

Twovan Teeg.

In the faction led by Arga, he was infamous for causing trouble without thinking.

“What is it?”

‘I’ll listen anyway.’

“This is something I accidentally overheard from Wen’s plans.”

“That bear?”

‘Even more uneasy now.’

Wern Daman.

A second-year bear beastman known for being the smartest among their lot.

Of course, being “smart” was a concept relative to other bear beastmen.

Bear beastmen were well-known for their immense strength.

Thus, the tendency to resolve everything through force was the strongest among their kind.

Not all bear beastmen were like this, but nonetheless, Wern Daman was a student who was smart but also had classic bear beastman tendencies.

Meaning, he was crafty, but didn’t consider the consequences of his schemes.

“Find a student close to Leo Flove and bring that student to our lair.”

“Rejected!”

“Why?”

“Are you suggesting we kidnap a Lumeran student?!”

“Of course not, Boss. If we kidnap, things can go sideways. Even I know that! We just need to invite them politely and treat them politely!”

“What if Black Rabbit’s friend refuses?”

“Um… We’d just need to slightly insist…”

“That’s kidnapping! You idiot!”

Arga sent a kick to Twovan’s chest, causing him to flinch.

“Wait a moment. You even thought of this d*mn plan… Doesn’t that mean you’ve already implemented it?”

“Could be.”

Arga grabbed her neck.

‘You Principal! Why do you offer such a thing as a prize?’

The reason Azonian students were fiercely aiming to defeat Leo wasn’t solely due to Leo’s fame.

The Principal of Azonia, Zephia, had declared a prize for whoever could defeat Leo.

“Whoever defeats Leo Flove in martial arts and enhances Azonian prestige will be given the chance to challenge Hero Aron’s Record!”

The brave Aron is the ultimate aspiration of all beastmen.

And Azonia’s students yearn to become the epitome of such a warrior.

For beastmen, the chance to challenge Aron’s Hero Record was an incomparable treasure beyond comparison.

With such a prize on the table, it was no surprise that the entire second year had been driven nearly mad.

“Let’s find Dion first.”

“Why Dion?”

Dion Den.

Arga’s childhood friend and the unshakable second-place student of Azonia’s second year.

The highest rival to Arga, evaluated as such.

And Wern belonged to Dion’s faction.

“Shouldn’t you stop the idiot from your faction from stirring up trouble…”

“Arga Tune!”

Just then, an urgent voice came from a distance.

Arga turned her head.

The student belonged to the Boarman faction, ranked 5th in Azonia’s second year.

“Something big has happened! Lumeran students have invaded the place we established as our stronghold, saying we kidnapped their students… Ugh, we…”

Arga looked up at the sky with exasperation.

‘That bear fool. I’ll find him and break him apart.’

*

Leo was calmly touring Dwernonia alone.

Statues of Dweno were scattered throughout the city.

And fitting its reputation as the wealthiest city in the world, these statues were all made of gold.

They were so beautifully crafted that it felt almost too grand to describe them solely as works of art.

They looked as if they could come to life at any moment.

Seeing this, Leo couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘This city worships Dweno.’

Its name alone comes from Dwernonia.

It’s clear the city was created to honor Dweno.

‘I wonder what Dweno’s reaction would have been if he saw this city?’

Reflecting on this, Leo laughed again.

Indeed, his friends were often recorded differently from reality.

Dragons talk about Lisinas as a wise and fair sage.

Certainly, she possessed such qualities, but she was also quite a con artist.

“He told many lies too.”

Luna and Aron were the ones tricked the most.

When Luna would angrily call Lisinas a con artist, Aron would timidly agree from the side.

“He also spread fake hope through lies. Though most of that hope turned out to be real in the end, so calling it a lie now is a little awkward.”

Leo thought back to Lisinas, who had deceived people for their benefit by spreading such false hopes.

In any case, she wasn’t the righteous dragon the dragons remembered.

‘And Luna.’

The gentle and benevolent progenitor.

“Ha! She was just a street-thug woman.”

No wonder Dweno once said, “She’s an artistic masterpiece if she only kept her mouth shut.”

‘And Aron…’

Brave and strong man.

In reality, he was timid and weak.

That’s why everyone was surprised in every major battle.

‘How that coward ever gathered the courage still remains a mystery.’

Thinking about Aron, Leo gave a wry smile.

Finally, Dweno.

‘Dweno’s exactly the same as how his records reflect him.’

As the elder of the group, Dweno became the spiritual pillar that supported the party members.

His steadfast will and unwavering character.

And his unfaltering steel-like mind always gave them advice without hesitation.

While Lisinas led the group, Dweno was the pillar supporting the team.

‘If Dweno hadn’t been there after Aron’s d*ath, everyone would have collapsed.’

Dweno was the one who suffered the greatest shock and sense of guilt from Aron’s d*ath.

Even in that situation, Dweno still cared for the other party members.

“Snap out of it, Lisinas! If the leader like you waver, what are you going to do?”

After barely defeating Erebus, Dweno exploded in anger.

“Luna! Throw away tears! We made a choice! Aron also prepared himself! Forget the sorrow! Forget Aron’s d*ath! Think of only one thing!”

He spoke harshly to Luna, who was shaking the most.

Hearing this, Luna was truly furious at Dweno.

But Dweno willingly took on the role of the villain.

“Kyle.”

Dweno’s resolute eyes came to mind.

“It’s because the weapon I made was inadequate, it’s not your fault.”

He took on the responsibility for Aron’s d*ath all by himself.

After calming his heart, just before the next battle, Dweno looked down at his own hands and murmured.

“Looks like… Luna, you were right. My hands… aren’t beautiful.”

Dweno always took pride in his hands.

He would boast that this was the hand that created beauty.

He even boasted that they were the prettiest hands in the group.

At which point Luna would mock him saying that they were the ugliest dwarf hands.

Hearing this, Dweno was surprised.

“Ah, no. Your hands are kind of cute!”

Hearing this, Dweno burst into laughter, and only then could they reconcile.

That was the last conversation between Dweno and Luna.

‘Looking back, that was his character.’

He always embraced everything as an adult.

Hence, the personality recorded in history closest to the truth was Dweno’s.

The big brother.

‘Well, except for the weird part.’

Leo burst into laughter.

If Dweno had seen this city, he would probably have cursed.

Dweno pursued beauty but detested lavish luxury.

Had he seen his own golden statue, he might have smashed it with his big ugly hands.

While Leo was lost in memories as he thought of Dweno, someone called out to him.

“You.”

Turning around, there was a small-statured woman standing there.

Her size barely reaching up to Leo’s waist.

Clearly, she was a dwarf.

However, something about her overall appearance was not dwarf-like.

For one, her fashion was extremely dazzling.

“A male but a beauty distinct from the standard masculine look.”

She scrutinized Leo from head to toe and then asked seriously.

“Would you consider becoming a n*de model?”

‘What, this woman is Dweno reincarnated?’