Chapter 430

430.

That evening.

The second-year students were staggering along, appearing utterly exhausted.

Thud-

Kal collapsed onto the ground.

“Every day is this hard… How are we supposed to survive for an entire month?”

“I’m going to throw away all my stuffed animals when I get home.”

The second-year students were in utter disarray, panic-stricken.

As soon as the sun set, the second-years were warped to a single location and were now moving toward their accommodations according to the signs.

“I’m starving.”

“Of course you’re starving. We’ve been fasting all day.”

“I wonder what’s for dinner.”

“I want to wash up with warm water quickly after dinner! I’m a mess!”

“I just want to lie down in bed~”

Various hopeful statements were bursting out here and there.

“Kal, stop slouching there and let’s go.”

Chelsea poked Kal, who was sitting on the ground, with her staff.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Why not?”

“Because all I see in my future is darkness. Wah wah wah.”

Watching Kal sob, Chelsea furrowed her eyebrows.

Grabbing the back of Kal’s neck, she dragged him along, saying,

“Still, where’s Leo-nim?”

“Maybe he’s already cleared whatever trials we’ve faced and is resting back at the accommodation?”

“True. It is Leo-nim after all.”

Chelsea nodded in understanding.

They finally arrived at where they would be staying for a month.

In the large clearing were a few log cabins.

Although not as luxurious as they had hoped, the students were still satisfied with these decent accommodations.

“Wow! This is perfect.”

“It kind of feels like we’re on vacation at a cabin, doesn’t it?”

“Let’s eat!”

“We should bathe first!”

As the students excitedly made their way to the log cabins, suddenly a voice called out.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Leo, who was sitting by a bonfire at one corner of the clearing, looked at them curiously.

“Ah! Leo-nim!”

Chelsea ran over to Leo with a bright smile while Kal, sighing deeply, slowly made his way over and collapsed beside him.

Seeing Leo, Lunia approached and asked, looping her arm around his,

“Why aren’t you going inside?”

“Inside where?”

“Our accommodations.”

“Our accommodations are here.”

Leo gestured vaguely towards the wide-open clearing.

“What?”

Lunia’s face momentarily looked perplexed, then she blanched as she understood the situation.

“Wait a minute! Are you saying that no proper sleeping quarters are provided and we’re expected to sleep outdoors with no equipment?”

“That’s right.”

At Leo’s answer, screams erupted from various places.

Seeing this reaction, Arga crossed her arms and smirked.

“Hoohoo! You’re too weak! This is why the pampered young masters and misses can’t cut it!”

She flicked her white cat tail and puffed out her chest.

“The Azonia students are unaffected by something trivial like sleeping outdoors…”

“We have to procure our own food too.”

“Such places don’t even exist!”

Arga bristled her cat tail.

“Idiot! If they don’t provide sleeping places, why would they provide food?”

“Ugh!”

At Lunia’s words, Arga was slightly taken aback.

“What’s all this commotion about?”

At that moment, someone appeared as the log cabin door opened.

Everyone’s gaze fell on the lady.

A woman with black hair tinged with pale red stood out.

She was an impressive beauty, with striking arms and legs. The most peculiar detail was her ears – she was a rabbit beastman with black rabbit ears.

“Senior Vanir!”

Indeed, this was Vanir, who had graduated from Azonia last year.

The Azonia students, overjoyed to see her, flocked around her.

“Senior! Have you been well?”

“We’ve heard about your exploits!”

“It’s an honor to meet you again!”

Vanir observed the clamorous juniors with a cold gaze.

“You brats are too noisy. Sh-sh-shut up.”

The menacing tone in Vanir’s voice made all the Hero Academy students shiver.

However, the second-year students from Azonia straightened up in military posture and loudly replied, “Yes!”

At this, Vanir massaged her temples as if she had a headache.

“So, what grievance do you have?”

A student from Seirun raised their hand.

At Vanir’s nod, the student spoke.

“We wanted to know why sleeping accommodations and meals aren’t provided. To improve our skills, shouldn’t we train in optimal condition for maximum efficiency?”

“Are you under the impression that this place is an extension of your academic schedule?”

“Well, naturally…”

“The looks of it are that you’re arrogantly thinking you’ve been chosen because you received an invitation from the Dragon Lord.”

Vanir flicked her bangs.

“The Dragon Lord hasn’t chosen you. You’re being tested.”

Vanir’s fierce tone made the Seirun student tremble.

Not only that, but other students also flinched.

“Do you know the reason your sleeping accommodations and meals aren’t provided? It’s to see how well you can perform under extreme conditions. If anyone here complains about this, leave immediately. No one is stopping you.”

Several students clenched their teeth and bowed their heads deeply.

Watching them, Vanir sneered and headed back inside, closing the door.

As the atmosphere grew subdued, Chen Sia spoke up.

“Let’s divide the tasks, then? Preparing sleeping spaces and finding food must be prioritized, so let’s decide now.”

“You’re so calm in this situation.”

“It’s because I’m used to it.”

Chen Sia smiled faintly.

The Shadow, Chen Sia, was indeed used to such situations.

With their weary bodies, everyone began preparing sleeping spots and gathering food.

Leo silently observed.

“Black Rabbit, what’s on your mind like that?”

Arga tilted her head curiously.

“Just reminiscing.”

Leo gave a wry smile.

“Thinking about the past.”

The tragic incident where the orphans all passed away marked the beginning of everything.

Aron’s teacher, known as the Guardian of the Sky, called it an accident.

Aron wanted to know the truth, but the teacher wouldn’t reveal it.

‘Aron, since the day you were born, you have yet to see a clear sky.’

Agon painfully smiled, his face weary.

‘I don’t want to tell someone like you who has never seen a clear sky the truth. Forgive me as the Guardian of the Sky… I selfishly want to protect your pure heart more than anyone else… Forget about your younger siblings.’

‘Yes, master.’

Aron had always relied on his teacher since he was young.

So even with many doubts, he followed his teacher’s words.

However, after the tragedy, he wondered.

‘If only I had been a little braver, could my younger siblings have been saved?’

He didn’t know the exact details of the incident.

Even with great power, he was always filled with fear.

But he thought that if he had been just a little braver, he could have prevented his teacher from falling into despair.

He could have prevented his younger siblings from leaving before him.

The tragedy had happened when he had left home for half a year due to his fear of fighting.

Then, one day,

Three people came to him.

They came to recruit Agon, the Guardian of the Sky, to save the world.

“Lord Agon, the Guardian of the Sky, your strength is needed.”

“Is it you, Lissinas?”

Agon spoke in a weary voice.

“I’m sorry… but I can no longer fight for the world. I cannot take the battlefield for people. My spirit… has already broken.”

With a foolish request from the dragon renowned as “The Fool,” Agon gently declined.

“Instead… take my disciple. This child will surely be much stronger than me. He’ll be different from me. He won’t hate people or hate the world like I do. His heart is clear like the blue sky.”

Agon smiled at Aron.

“A child who will go forward without hesitation to protect others.”

“Is this the child who looks so timid?”

The Elf perked her ears and curiously leaned in close to Aron’s face.

Unconsciously, his face turned red.

‘Yes, she is beautiful.’

“Aw, so innocent! His face turns red! He’s cute!”

“Stop interrupting the conversation.”

“Ah-yaaah! Let go! Let go! No way! Aghhh!”

“Ahh! This annoying elf!”

Of course, in less than three seconds of thinking she was beautiful, the thought was erased when the human male pulled his ears, and he bit him fiercely in return.

Thinking these were scary people, Aron trembled with fear when the dragon known as “The Fool” approached him.

“Arōn, will you come with us?”

Lissinas softly smiled.

“If you were born with great power… then surely there must be a reason.”

“The reason I was born?”

“Exactly. What do you wish to do now?”

“…I want to create a world where children can laugh freely under the blue sky.”

Upon hearing this, Lissinas’ eyes widened before he beamed with a radiant smile.

“Then, will you come with us? Because we’re also on a journey to reclaim the blue sky.”

Even though a difficult journey awaited…

Even though he was surely going to face a despair deeper than his own, he was captivated by the hopeful smile on Lissinas’ face.

Inspired by that smile, Arōn stepped forward into the world for the first time in his life.

Then came the strange dwarf, Dwenno.

There were also many days when he was too frightened to fight.

But his companions… his friends believed in Arōn.

And Arōn, in return, squeezed the courage out of himself to live up to that trust.

Thus, the world began to recover its hope.

And on the final journey, on the last night in Guardstron,

“Kyle, is there nothing you truly desire or still wish to achieve?”

“I don’t feel any desire right now.”

Kyle smirked as he sipped his liquor and countered,

“And you? Don’t you have anything you want?”

“I want to create a world where children laugh.”

“You mean aside from that?”

“Huh?”

“Look, Luna’s goal is to have her name widely known by future generations, and Dwenno’s ambition is to leave behind an artistic masterpiece. These are wishes for themselves.”

“You think Lissinas wants to save the world simply because he’s noble-hearted.”

“That’s just because he’s an idiot.”

Kyle bluntly remarked.

“You don’t need to be like him and shoulder the world’s burdens all on your own.”

Kyle looked at Arōn and said,

“Find what you truly desire.”

And thus, they embarked on their final journey.

As they ascended the mountain, Arōn gazed up at the sky.

Beyond this mountain… the malefactor who had brought the world to this state waits.

Though they had crossed paths several times, they had never fought face-to-face.

Shaking…

His hands trembled, as they always did.

It was terrifying enough to make anyone want to flee, just like now.

At that moment,

Suddenly, Arōn’s extrasensory perception activated.

A transcendental sense akin to precognition.

Arōn’s face paled.

‘In this fight, we will lose.’

“Lissinas!”

“Hm? What is it?”

“This fight, we—”

Before he could urgently speak,

That accursed extrasensory perception revealed something he didn’t want to know.

He doesn’t know what is happening.

The future extrasensory reveals is nothing but “the result.”

But in this moment,

He felt a result from the future with crystal clarity—a clarity he’d never experienced before.

His gaze turned toward Kyle and Luna.

‘If we flee, they will d*e.’

Kyle and Luna, who were like a brother and sister to him… who were family.

‘What should I do? What should I…?’

A fear beyond anything he’d ever felt washed over him.

It felt as though his breath was being squeezed from his chest.

‘What should I do?’

As Arōn tightly shut his eyes,

His extrasensory perception momentarily revealed a way.

“Arōn?”

Lissinas called out to Arōn with a slightly startled face.

“Lissinas, let’s not run from this fight.”

“Huh? Of course not.”

Arōn smiled at Lissinas.

Just like the first time they met, a hopeful smile given by Lissinas that had inspired him to step out into the world.

“Surely, victory is within our grasp.”

In this fight, they would lose.

But…

‘If we don’t run and face the fight instead… Kyle and Luna won’t d*e.’

Arōn moved to the forefront.

The fear vanished, and tranquility set in.

‘If only I should end.’