Chapter 402

402.

The oasis city of Uargela in Alehem.

The massive oasis at the center of Uargela resembled a gigantic beach resort.

It was a kind of sandy beach oasis and one of the main tourist attractions in Uargela.

There, students from Lumeran and Azonia were playing around in the water.

“Everyone seems so peaceful.”

Celia, having arrived at the oasis beach, flicked her hair back.

The usually meticulous top student looked slightly dissatisfied as she watched the second and first-year students from Lumeran having fun in the water.

Behind her stood her mentees, Aina and Martina.

“This is good too, Miss Celia. We’re also practically done with this practical training mission.”

Currently, the Lumeran students had nearly completed their practical training schedule.

It had been revealed that Alehem truly was hiding a Hero Dungeon.

As expected, the concealed Hero Dungeon caused a massive anomaly, nearly leading to the destruction of Dobella, but thanks to the students from Lumeran and Azonia, the first invasion concluded without serious casualties.

Though there were subsequent second and third invasions, by that time, senior students from both Lumeran and Azonia had already arrived to provide support.

Following this, Alehem became embroiled in an international controversy.

It wasn’t just about hiding one Hero Dungeon — they were found to have concealed multiple ones. Moreover, evidence surfaced indicating collusion with Tartarus.

The appearance of the Hero Hunter provided concrete proof, leaving Alehem with no way to deny the allegations.

All races and nations around the world came out to denounce Alehem.

The global political landscape was chaotic.

International relations involve intricate web of interests, but even in such a turbulent world situation, there was something utterly unacceptable — the act of colluding with Tartarus.

Due to this incident, Alehem faced a crisis where it wouldn’t be surprising if it quietly disappeared from history.

“Didn’t they say that there’s going to be a world conference in Lumeran regarding Alehem’s punishment?”

“Yes.”

Celia nodded.

Subsequently, to tackle the rampant Hero Dungeon, specialized dungeon raiders from Lumeran, Seirun, Azonia, and Demian were dispatched.

“I wish we could’ve resolved everything with our strength.”

“But we still helped a lot of people in Alehem, right?”

As Martina spoke, she noticed a hint of dissatisfaction on Celia’s face.

While dungeon raiders were in operation, the first and second-year students from Lumeran helped the struggling people of Alehem.

The king and the core power holders of Alehem were mostly arrested on charges of colluding with Tartarus and concealing the Hero Dungeon.

Although intervening to help struggling people could be considered internal interference when Alehem’s ruling power was still in place, now that the monarchy had collapsed, that wasn’t an issue.

“That’s right. A hero is someone who leads the world to a better place. Helping and rescuing those in difficulty is an important task.”

Celia sighed.

“Yes, everyone has worked hard. Since the practical training is almost over, Young Master Leo used his position as the Student Council President to give us two days of free time.”

It was largely due to Leo that the Lumeran students could relax and enjoy themselves.

“We should still maintain our dignity as Lumeran students.”

As Celia watched her schoolmates happily playing in the water with swimsuits, her face slightly contorted in annoyance.

“Celia, are you here?”

“Senior Nella, hello!”

“Hello.”

Nella approached, and Martina replied with enthusiasm while Aina softly greeted her with a small voice.

“Nella, even you?”

Celia pinched her temples as she noticed Nella also in full-on swimsuit attire.

“It’s summer now. We’ve all worked hard, so it’s good to have fun before heading back to school, right?”

“Right, right. If you’re just going to criticize people for having fun, then just go back to your dorm.”

From behind Nella, Chelsea spoke up.

“I’m not criticizing your fun. I was saying, as a second-year senior, you should set an example. Though I guess playing with the first-years suits you well, Chelsea.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re practically a kid yourself?”

“I’m only one year younger than you!”

Celia chuckled and flicked her hair as she glanced down at Chelsea.

Indeed, Chelsea had an exceptionally youthful appearance compared to her peers.

While Celia stood leisurely with her eyes closed and a calm expression, Chelsea, with a sour look, pointed a toy at her face.

Zzzt-!

The water from the toy splashed across Celia’s face.

“Hmm.”

Celia took a deep breath.

Then, her eyes widened as she lunged toward Chelsea.

“This is serious!”

Chelsea bolted without looking back.

“Are you just going to stand there?!”

“Am I crazy? Go fight a flesh-and-bl**d battle with a knight?”

Chelsea glanced at Celia, pulled down the corner of her eye with her finger, and stuck out her tongue.

As everyone watched, Nella laughed and called out.

“Using abilities is prohibited on the oasis beach!”

Nella then turned to Aina and Martina and said with a soft laugh.

“Those two really don’t seem to get along well, do they?”

“Um… is that so?”

Martina could only give an awkward laugh.

Meanwhile, on the oasis beach,

“Come on! Choose! Choose! A hit product even top-performing second-year students are enjoying! Water wand! Water bombs! And to cool down in this hot oasis, we’ve got delicious ice creams and refreshing drinks!”

Kal had set up a kiosk and was doing brisk business.

As summer approached, the students’ desire to play in water surged. With Chelsea, Iliana, Nella, and Teid playing around with toys Kal had given them for promotion, the demand for his products skyrocketed.

And with the scorching desert heat, the ice creams and cold drinks were irresistible.

Impossible not to sell.

“Senior! A water wand, please!”

“Me too!”

“Here you go!”

Kal handed out the water toys, beaming with happiness as his pouch filled up with money.

“Juun! We’re going to be rich!”

Kal exclaimed to Juun.

Upon hearing this, Juun frowned.

“Senior Kal, aren’t you playing around?”

“Am I not playing around?”

“Everyone’s having fun; don’t you feel a little down selling stuff here?”

“I do feel down, but when I see the earnings, all that sadness disappears!”

Watching Kal’s genuine happiness, Juun shook her head disapprovingly.

“By the way, those water toys use a spell pattern from the Southern Magic Tower, don’t they?”

“Yeah! I’m grateful for that!”

Kal’s toys were crafted using a magic spell pattern adapted from Juun’s magic wand.

“That’s impressive. Senior Kal really knows how to capitalize on things like turning that into popular cheap toys and making a big hit.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you aware you have to pay 80% of the profits as royalties to the Southern Magic Tower?”

Kal’s face stiffened.

“Krr-!”

Kal frowned, grabbed Juun’s ankle, and pleaded.

“Help me out! 80% profit share means I’ll go bankrupt! Help me!”

“That… let go!”

Juun struggled, looking flustered as Kal clung to her.

“Heh, how pathetic. Playing with such trivial toys.”

Eliza, who was lounging in a sunbed under a parasol with sunglasses on, sneered at the scene.

As Iliana passed by her, she said,

“This is actually quite fun.”

“Hmph, what’s so fun about those cheap toys?”

“Look.”

Zzzt-!

Iliana fired the water g*n at Eliza’s face, with reduced water pressure.

Without a word, Eliza wiped her face with a towel on the side and picked up her whip.

“If that was an intentional provocation, it was a very successful choice. Should I leave a whip mark on that white skin of yours?”

“Y-yikes?!”

Iliana, covering her body, panicked and retreated as Chen Sia stepped forward and restrained Eliza.

“Violence is not allowed.”

Eliza was one of the few students who actually listened to Chen Sia.

When Chen Sia appeared, Eliza clicked her tongue.

Then she grabbed the water wand from Chen Sia’s hand and splashed Iliana’s face.

“Huff! Huff!”

“Hmph.”

Eliza smirked at Iliana, who shook her head violently, and handed the wand back to Chen Sia.

At that moment,

Tu-dada-dada-!

Chelsea came racing through the sand.

Chelsea lobbed a water bomb at Selia who was chasing her.

Selia caught the water bomb with a smirk and casually tossed it aside.

Roll-roll-thud!

The water bomb rolled towards Eliza and made contact with her foot.

“… What’s this?”

Eliza slowly opened her eyes as Chen Sia and Iliana immediately jumped into action without hesitation.

Boom!

The water bomb exploded, spraying a massive amount of water.

The compressed water spell packed an extraordinary punch.

The parasol and sunbed were blown away, and Eliza’s face was smashed into the sand.

“…”

“…”

The surrounding people audibly swallowed.

Eliza stood up, shaking sand off her face and spitting it out of her mouth.

She quietly watched Selia and Chelsea’s chase before walking towards Kal’s booth.

Kal and Juun looked at her approaching, their mouths agape.

“Kal Thomas, don’t you have anything stronger than water wands and water bombs? Price isn’t an issue.”

Eliza spoke in an eerily calm voice.

Kal, gulping nervously, handed her a large tube prototype.

“This is a water cannon, but it’s powerful and dangerous…”

“It won’t matter since those two won’t d*e from this, right?”

With the water cannon in her hand, Eliza turned around.

A crunching sound came from her teeth grinding.

“They’re dead.”

The beach started to be devastated.

*

In the middle of the beach.

Leo sat on a sunbed under the parasol, looking at the oasis.

Next to him, Chloe sat on a sunbed, reading a book.

Every now and then Chloe’s leisurely gaze turned toward Leo.

This area of the oasis beach was rather secluded.

In the heart of the oasis, bubbles continued to emerge — “gurgling-gurgling-gurgling.”

“Pfffuuuuhh!”

A moment later, Ar emerged from the waters.

Celia, who had been glancing at Leo, quickly returned her attention to her book.

Ar hurriedly climbed onto the shore, shook off the water from her body, and said out of breath,

“Black Rabbit, I’m exhausted! I want to stop now!”

Ar’s sad plea caused Leo to rise from his seat.

He approached Ar, stepping on the sand, and said,

“You were the one who wanted to undergo the Howling Special Training, right?”

Ar had gained the ability through Howling to awaken other Beastmen’s sign language skills in the previous battle — an unknown ability even to Leo.

“And it’s also the ability Aron sought so desperately.”

Aron had wished for his sign language ability to be passed on to other Beastmen so that fewer of his kin would perish in battle.

But Aron could never accomplish this.

Not Aron, and not anyone else afterward, was able to freely use sign language until a Beastman appeared 5000 years after Aron’s d*ath.

“Though it seems like the Brave Replica is a necessary condition for this in the Tartarus dungeon, so that part’s off-topic.”

And according to the testimony of those who fought, it seems that the sign language ability isn’t fully realized either.

Nevertheless, Ar inadvertently obtained the ability Aron had long desired.

Ar was thrilled when she first realized this.

But upon understanding that she couldn’t properly control it, she fell into contemplation before seeking Leo’s help.

The very first thing Leo did was to throw Ar into the water.

The first reason was that using Howling nearby caused inconvenience, while the second reason was that regulating breathing underwater made using Howling easier.

However, Ar, being a cat Beastman, detested water completely.

Of course, Leo, knowing this, didn’t care much.

“Water is enough! I don’t want to! I don’t!”

“Even if you don’t want to, you have to. Get in.”

At Leo’s cold tone, Ar quickly thought for a moment.

‘If it’s this, then…!’

Ar chose to flee.

Graak-!

Of course, her tail was caught by Leo, and she fell forward.

“Arrrrggghhh!”

Ar thrashed around.

Leo sighed, then approached Ar and crouched down.

“Ar, you’ve stepped into a realm that not even heroes could achieve.”

Ar paused and looked up at Leo.

“As the successor of the Hero, you’ve done what heroes couldn’t.”

“Waahh-!”

Ar clenched her fists tightly.

“Yet you choose to run?”

“No!”

“If Aron sees you, he might be disappointed. Do you like that?”

“Absolutely not!”

At the sight of Ar, Leo smiled softly and gently caressed her white hair.

At this touch, Ar’s face showed a kitty-like expression.

Leo then withdrew his hand from Ar’s head and lifted her by slipping his hand under her armpit.

Ar’s ears perked up, and with cat-like eyes, she stared at Leo blankly.

Looking at her like that, Leo’s lips curved into a grin.

“Then, Ar.”

“Hm?”

“Back in.”

Whoosh-!

“Yyou! You black rabbit, you devil!”

Plop-!

Without mercy, Leo tossed Ar back into the water and crossed his arms.

Watching this, Chloe sighed audibly.

“Now I understand why Celia and Chelsea are scared of him.”