Chapter 289

289

The center of Guardstron.

Leo stood by the window in the drawing room of a mansion building that overlooked the view of Guardstron, gazing out at the city’s night scenery.

“……Didn’t think I’d ever see this view again.”

It wasn’t much different from the last view he’d etched into his memory before setting off on the final expedition to eradicate Erebus.

“Completely dark, huh.”

Kal approached Leo and clicked his tongue.

“This huge city and yet… it’s so dark?”

“It was that kind of era.”

Leo calmly replied.

“It wasn’t an age where things could shine as brightly as they do now.”

“True. The Era of Catastrophe.”

An age when the world was on the brink of extinction.

Kal felt a chill as he looked at the red moon floating in the night sky.

“Anyway… At least we were guided here.”

Kal glanced around the drawing room.

Seeing Lunia and Ar, his neck stiffened.

“Intimidating.”

“Hold your confidence. Why so grim expressions?”

As Drina crossed her arms, Lunia who had her hand on her forehead darkened her expression.

“Our adversary is none other than Lord Dwenno. That you’ve dared to fight against him is already remarkable. I couldn’t even move I was so scared.”

“Still… The Black Rabbit fought alone against Lady Aron.”

With potion patches on her cheek and forehead, Ar clenched her teeth as she spoke.

“We couldn’t even properly resist Lord Dwenno with the two of us together.”

Seeing Ar’s somewhat frustrated expression, Kal awkwardly chuckled.

“Come on. Leo’s just an absurdly strong guy…”

“Are you implying that was due to your overconfidence?”

Drina coldly countered, causing the two girls to lower their heads.

Kal cupped his face and approached Drina, whispering.

“Excuse me, could you at least try to console them a bit?”

“I simply gave them the harsh truth they appeared to need.”

Drina gently pushed Kal’s face away from her ear.

“One needs to understand the difference between those above and oneself when aspiring to reach higher levels.”

“Good advice.”

Leo smiled faintly as he took a seat.

“I didn’t properly engage with Aron as she didn’t counterattack. Conversely, it seems Dwenno wanted to test you two.”

“Test?”

Lunia looked up, her expression slightly bewildered.

“What kind of test?”

“I don’t know that much myself.”

Crash—!

The drawing room door opened, and Eiran entered.

“Everyone!”

“Eiran! Are you alright?! No injuries?”

Lunia stood up and approached Eiran, inspecting her from all angles.

“Yes, I’m fine. But it appears Lunia and Ar have been more severely injured than me.”

Eiran looked astonished as she inspected Lunia and Ar’s wounds.

“I’m fine.”

Ar said matter-of-factly.

Seeing this, Eiran summoned fairy magic and cupped Ar’s cheek with her palm, quickly reducing the swelling.

Eiran hastily went on to heal Lunia and Ar’s wounds from the battle against Dwenno.

At that moment, two figures entered the drawing room.

Dwenno and Depeser.

Except for Leo, the others tense up seeing Depeser, recalling his intimidating aura from when he took Eiran earlier.

Seeing his friends’ reactions, Leo mumbled internally.

‘Seems obvious. Probably caused a big upheaval related to Berkiya.’

Depeser, being a close confidant of Lissinas, was a dragon Leo knew well.

Eiran looked fearful.

Depeser adjusted his glasses and swiftly glanced around the drawing room.

His emotionless golden eyes scanned each person present one by one.

“Forgive me.”

Apologizing, Depeser approached Eiran and knelt on one knee, bowing his head.

“Noble child of the forest. Through a minor misunderstanding, I placed you in trouble. I’m uncertain how to make amends…”

“Oh, no need. I’m relieved the misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

Depeser’s courteous apology left Eiran flustered.

His drastically changed attitude compared to moments ago also surprised Lunia, Ar, Kal, and Drina.

‘It’s nice seeing you again.’

Depeser’s greatest achievement managing the internal affairs of Guardstron was founding an orphanage for orphans—believing the young shoots represented the future’s hope and truly cherishing Guardstron’s children.

He must have genuinely been enraged at the possibility of Berkiya being harmed.

With Depeser’s courteous demeanor somewhat easing the atmosphere, Dwenno spoke.

“The charges against you all have been dropped. So, may I ask, where do you originate from?”

Hearing this, the party except for Leo trembled.

“Each of you wears clothes woven from mana with similar designs.”

Dwenno narrowed his eyes.

“Also, skills that aren’t ordinary for your ages.”

Examining each member closely, Dwenno stroked his beard.

“You’re bound to be somewhat renowned.”

‘Bruh, this is bad.’

‘How do we explain?’

One of the cardinal rules in strategizing in Hero’s World was not revealing to those within that the current world was false.

While the world of heroes might be a fabricated one to the strategists, it’s the real world to its inhabitants.

Those who revealed themselves as strategists to the citizens of Hero’s World were marked as failures, regardless of intention, resulting in a failed dungeon raid.

In the Hero Dungeon, a failed raid equaled d*ath.

Thus, they couldn’t mention anything like, “We come from 5000 years in the future.”

However, there weren’t many plausible answers to divert this inquiry either.

Hero cadets study various historical contexts to naturally blend into whichever era of Hero’s World they are sent into.

But the Era of Catastrophe’s data mostly perished by the present day.

So even in Hero Academy’s history lessons, the Era of Catastrophe couldn’t be properly taught.

Something needed to be fabricated quickly.

Even if the suspicion had subsided, failing to answer correctly could send them back to jail.

But fabrications required foundational knowledge.

While they deliberated, Leo stepped up.

“We’re from the slums of Leisar.”

Dwenno’s gaze turned towards Leo.

“You slum kids look quite well-mannered.”

“Because we were capable; hence, we were taken under the Leisar lord’s tutelage and trained.”

Leo looked directly into Dwenno’s eyes.

“To eradicate Erebus.”

The story about the Leisar Lord gathering orphans from the city to train them against Erebus and Tartarus was well-known.

‘Of course, he was a traitor ultimately.’

The orphans were gathered and harshly trained merely to secure his own position.

Regardless of the reasons, it was true that the Leisar Lord gathered orphans and gave high positions to the more promising ones.

After hearing Leo’s explanation, Depeser spoke.

“I cannot see any reason why the Leisar Lord would send talents like you all away to Guardstron.”

Adjusting his glasses, Depeser continued.

‘To think Aron mentioned Ar, Lissinas, and Luna are absent?’

Aron had stated that those three had gone to support Leisar.

Dispatches or supports to other cities were common, so it wasn’t suspicious.

But…

‘Ar, Lissinas, and Luna are currently absent. From what I’ve gathered, the Leisar Lord seems alive. Depeser still lives. And Berkiya’s age is 17.’

Leo consolidated the information collected since entering Hero’s World.

‘The Giant King is here in this world as well.’

Why did the Giant King venture here?

In Luna’s Hero’s World where Erebus’s fragment was found earlier, only the underlings of the Legion Commanders intruded, not the Commanders themselves.

‘If the cautious Giant King’s personally moved…’

‘Either this world is significant enough for Commanders to act, or it’s personal grudge for that monster.’

Based on information up until now, Leo reached a conclusion.

‘The Giant King holds a deep grudge against Dwenno. The event that triggered this grudge can only point to the time when he was utterly defeated by Dwenno. This era fits perfectly.’

The creator of Demon Tools also famously suffered a thorough defeat against Dwenno in some battle—not just in strength but even as a blacksmith.

‘Dwensron Siege Battle.’

The moment it struck him,

[Chapter: Drwenno’s World – Middle Chapter: Dwensron Siege Battle]

[Mission Objective: Repel the Giant King’s invasion.]

“Wha-”

“Whaat?!”

“Huh??”

The group let out cries resembling screams.

“Why are they suddenly reacting like that?”

As Dwenno curiously questioned, Leo shook his head.

“Bad memories surfaced.”

Identifying the exact present situation, Leo said,

“The Leisar Lord… was simply insurmountable. That’s why we came to Guardstron.”

“You mean… Fled to Guardstron?”

Depeser’s sharp gaze questioned, and Leo nodded.

“Exactly. Commander Kyle’s suspicions were correct.”

With a lethal gaze, Depeser adjusted his glasses.

During this era.

Kyle left Guardstron for one reason only.

‘To punish and eliminate the treacherous Leisar Lord.’

Lissinas and Luna went to support Leisar, but Kyle was originally supposed to remain in Guardstron.

However, he left together with them as Shadow to eliminate the Leisar Lord.

‘Ultimately a bait by the Giant King to leave Guardstron’s defenses lax.’

Leo clenched his fists.

Depeser’s face was clouded with sorrow.

“Having endured such hardships under that sinister person… Despite being so young… Aaah!”

Clutching his mouth and with difficulty swallowing his tears, Depeser spoke.

“Lord Dwenno! These children are definitely the great hopes of the future! They’ve surely been mistreated and suffered under the cruel Leisar Lord!”

“…I see them as somewhat overly well-raised myself.”

“Unjust! How cruel to make such callous remarks about children who’ve suffered!”

With Leo’s input, Depeser, building his narrative, took the group’s side.

Too young to truly understand these machinations, Depeser dove into the story.

“Didn’t you notice the fear in these children when the Leisar Lord was mentioned?”

Based on the Mission Objective and their earlier reactions, Depeser took it upon himself to defend them.

Seeing this, Kal let out a pained expression.

“It was tough… Every day was full of grueling competition.”

As Kal spoke, Lunia and Ar swiftly adopted pained expressions.

“If we didn’t step on other children, we couldn’t survive!”

“Agonizing! It was torment!”

‘What a performance!’

Kal internally wailed in his mind.

The performance was so exaggerated it was obvious to anyone, yet Depeser, having already bought into it, wholeheartedly believed it all.

“Forgive me for doubting you! I didn’t know you all had such tragic pasts!”

Sighing deeply, Dwenno witnessed the scene.

“Ah. Though suspicious, it seems clear these kids aren’t dangerous or harmful to the city. They will be great assets in saving the world with their remarkable skills.”

“Yes!”

“Provide them with lodging.”

“Understood!”

With Dwenno’s order, Depser nodded.

“The only available place now… ah.”

Dwenno pulled a pipe from his bosom and placed it in his mouth.

“Lending Kyle’s house should suffice.”

“Kyle’s house? Though certainly vacant, I doubt he’ll be pleased upon knowing.”

“That’s my responsibility. It’s not as if Lissinas or Luna keep any big secrets there. In fact, Kyle is an All-Class.”

Dwenno’s gaze fell upon Leo.

“Depeser, introduce them first when Kyle returns.”

“Ah, understood.”

With respectful nod, Depeser bowed.

And thus, the group would be staying in the residence of a Great Hero.

A Great Hero whose name and origins of this era were hardly known.

The First Hero’s residence.

Even the thought of directly visiting a place where a Great Hero once lived was enough to quicken their hearts.

Leo himself was immersed in a strange emotion.

‘My… home.’