Chapter 58

【58】57

Leo looked down at the key in his hand as he stood in thought.

‘Even so, isn’t it strange to hand over the key to a granddaughter’s room to an outsider?’

According to Lur, she had locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out.

‘Rehabilitation for a reclusive loner, huh.’

He rubbed his head.

‘Will seeing me be a shock for her?’

Lumeran and Seirun are rival schools.

Still, would it really be enough of a wake-up call to introduce this reclusive Elf, who had abandoned competition, to the representative of Lumeran’s first-year students?

‘Well, even if it doesn’t work, there’s nothing to lose.’

With a casual mind, Leo arrived at the door that Lur had mentioned.

And he knocked.

There was no way he could just burst into a girl’s room without knocking, was there?

But even after knocking, there was no response.

Next, he tried turning the doorknob, but as expected, it was locked.

Leo opened the door with the key he was holding and entered.

The state of the room was a sight to behold.

Empty snack bags were scattered all over the floor, clothes were thrown into corners haphazardly, and among them were articles of underwear in plain sight.

Had Leo been a regular teenage boy, it would have been quite a stimulating scene. However, Leo’s sensibilities were far beyond the typical teenager.

In Leo’s eyes, this room was nothing more than a pigsty.

Still, there was one place that was spotlessly clean.

It was the wall covered entirely with pictures.

‘Lissinas, Luna, Aron, Dwenno?’

The photos were of his comrades who were now known as the Great Heroes.

To each race, the Great Heroes were proud figures and the most popular subjects for hero tales.

So naturally, there were many related merchandises.

‘I know there are kids who collect these, but isn’t this a bit too fanatical?’

As Leo narrowed his eyes, he noticed another clean spot.

It was a neatly hung school uniform inside the wardrobe.

‘A Seirun school uniform?’

“Grandfather, isn’t it going too far to just walk into his grown-up granddaughter’s room?”

At that moment, something under the blanket began to stir, and a face peeked out.

It locked eyes with Leo.

“Hiiiieeeek! Who, who are you!?”

The young Elf girl, shocked by the stranger, shrieked and tumbled out of bed, wrapping the blanket around herself.

Her eyes widened when she saw Leo’s ears.

“Hello. My name is Leo Flove.”

Despite Leo’s introduction, the girl remained frozen.

Watching her silently, Leo suddenly realized and looked somewhat perplexed as the girl, in a flustered manner, asked,

“W, what is a human doing here?”

For an Elf in the Elsabekia territory, it was unimaginable that a human boy could casually enter her room.

It felt almost like a dream.

Upon hearing the girl’s question, Leo offered a gentle smile.

“I came by your grandfather’s request to have a talk with you.”

“G, grandfather?”

A startled Eiran soon freed herself from the blanket and sat upright.

“I, please sit down.”

She gestured toward a guest sofa placed in one corner of the room.

The young Elf girl, dressed in her pajamas, moved toward the tea set arranged in the corner.

Directly serving tea to guests is a part of Elf culture.

As she prepared to make tea, she noticed the scattered clothes all over the room and her face turned bright red.

Hurriedly pushing them into a corner and covering them with the blanket, she prepared the tea and served it to Leo.

“I’m Eiran Ersar.”

The introverted, reclusive Elf, Eiran, with her long silver hair and clear blue eyes, shyly introduced herself.

“You mentioned that you’re your grandfather’s guest, but how did a human come to be in Elsabekia…?”

Eiran asked curiously.

“I’m a student at Lumeran. I came here as part of our school trip.”

“Lumeran?”

Eiran was startled.

“Lur said that since her granddaughter is a student at Seirun, meeting might help both of us.”

In reality, it was a plan to give a shock to reclusive Eiran, though Leo couldn’t say that outright.

Swallowing hard, Eiran looked at Leo.

‘A student from Lumeran, the human hero academy.’

Not only was this the first human Eiran had ever seen, but they were also the same age and attended a hero academy.

That thought alone sparked a great deal of curiosity in Eiran.

‘A boy of my age is in my room…!’

For a pubescent girl, having a boy of her age visit her room was quite a shock.

Besides, having visitors in her room at all was entirely new for the introverted Eiran.

‘He has snow-white hair and ruby-like beautiful eyes.’

As Eiran observed Leo’s face closely, their eyes met momentarily, causing her to blush slightly.

Meanwhile, Leo was pondering what they might talk about.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Leo pointed to a corner of the room.

“You seem to like the Great Heroes, don’t you?”

“Yes! I, I really adore them!”

Eiran clasped her hands tightly.

“Those revered individuals who saved the world! I became completely immersed in them when I read fairy tales about the Great Heroes as a child! So collecting items related to them is my hobby!”

Eiran, who had been introverted, was now shining with excitement in her eyes.

“Do you have a favorite story about the Great Heroes, Mr. Leo?”

“The Battle of Darnos.”

“The battle where the Legion Commander Tiberka of Tartarus was defeated? The first battle where the Great Heroes became comrades-in-arms!”

It was an anecdote that remained only in written records and not in the Hero Records.

“Did you also know where the forces of Legion Commander Gira were defeated?”

“Edberrick. It was the place where Luna first tested the Magic of the Stars.”

“Correct! This was the kind of record usually found only in literature!”

‘Because I was there myself.’

Leo smiled slightly to himself.

Meeting someone with whom he could converse well, Eiran’s nervous energy dissipated, and her enthusiasm soared.

Then suddenly, she regained her composure.

“My, I seem to have asked you unnecessary questions.”

“No, it’s alright. Hearing that there are fans like you, the Great Heroes would have been very pleased.”

“They would be, right? Except for Aron, all of them like being adulated.”

Upon hearing Leo’s words, Eiran wore an even brighter expression.

Afterward, Eiran introduced her collection.

The known images of the Great Heroes in the current era were all based on those preserved in the Hero Records, so the figures depicted in Eiran’s collection looked strikingly lifelike.

Looking at them, memories came flooding back to Leo.

“Especially, I cherish this one. It’s said to be the figure of the Great Heroes before they embarked on their final expedition!”

“It is. It’s very similar.”

“Similar?”

Eiran hesitated.

“Mr. Leo, you speak as if you’ve seen it with your own eyes.”

“There’s something like this in human society too. That’s what I meant by ‘similar.'”

“Ah, I see!”

The innocent girl easily accepted the explanation.

Leo chuckled humorlessly as he gazed at the drawing of his friends on the desk.

“I’ve never shown my collection to anyone else, but I’m really enjoying it.”

Eiran, who had already lost her gloomy demeanor and was smiling brightly, cautiously said,

“Just speculating here, but historically recognized Great Heroes are four, but there could have been a fifth who actually existed… what do you think about it, Mr. Leo?”

“Kayl?”

“Yes. While others dismiss it as fantasy… There are no traces in the Hero Records, but there are many documents about Kayl.”

Saying this, Eiran blushed.

“I didn’t mean to talk nonsense with Mr. Leo while having such a wonderful conversation…”

“I think the same.”

“Really?”

“I also believe that Kayl actually existed. Though I don’t collect things like you do, I plan to join a school club that studies Kayl’s activities.”

There were various things to worry about, but upon returning to the school, he intended to start the club’s activities gradually.

“Ah, so that’s why you know so much about the Great Heroes!”

Eiran clasped her hands together in admiration.

She believed that she had met someone with similar interests.

Leo glanced at Eiran, whose guard seemed to have completely dropped, with a puzzled look.

‘She doesn’t seem like someone who would refuse to attend school, does she?’

Seirun also runs on a dormitory system like Lumeran.

If she had left school and returned home in the middle of a term, it must have been for something serious.

Lur also mentioned that if Eiran didn’t return soon, she could be expelled, and that was why she entrusted Eiran to Leo, whom she had met for the first time today.

‘At first, I thought she might be unable to even converse with other people, but… she’s quiet and reserved, and she’s this okay?’

Moreover, she even had the admirable quality of believing in the possibility of Kayl’s existence, unlike the arrogant descendants of Berkia.

‘It’s hard to imagine her as the arrogant successor of Berkia. She’s rather endearing.’

“Actually, Lur is quite worried that you haven’t been attending school.”

“Ah…”

Eiran’s face darkened instantly.

“Lur said that you’re an exceptionally talented student… Why aren’t you going to school?”

Lur said that it was due to a student she could never surpass, but it didn’t seem like that from Leo’s perspective.

As soon as the subject of school was raised, Eiran’s face darkened immediately.

“Sei… Seirun might not be the place for me…”

“Why?”

“The students there are, well, everyone is putting in tremendous effort… Their passion to rise is incredible, and they’re all people seriously striving to become heroes. There wasn’t a single person like me who casually dreams of becoming a hero.”

Seeing Eiran, whose ears drooped, Leo crossed his arms.

“To casually dream of becoming a hero…”

‘Elves really do have different sensibilities from humans, indeed.’

Elves value order highly.

Hence, they meticulously plan for their future.

‘There are humans who are like this too, but it’s almost a racial characteristic for elves. But it’s strange that she would refuse to attend school just because of that.’

Looking at Eiran’s shadowed expression, Leo tilted his head.

‘Did someone say something strange to her?’

He thought it was possible that she had been hurt by someone else’s words and her spirit had been crushed.

Leo glanced at Eiran’s carefully preserved school uniform.

‘Since she’s keeping her school uniform so carefully, does that mean she hasn’t truly given up yet?’

Leo smiled faintly.

“At the moment, everyone in my class is here in Berkia with me.”

“Huh?”

“I already said we came here on a school trip. They’d probably want to meet you if they heard about you.”

At this, Eiran hurriedly hid behind the sofa.

“Are, are you going to take me with you? I don’t want to leave my room!”

“I’m not that rude of a human.”

“Um, humans are all rude at the school… Ah! No! That’s not what I meant, Mr. Leo!”

Eiran flailed her hands in panic.

Seeing this, Leo chuckled and stood up.

“We’ll be staying in Berkia for ten days. If you’re interested, you can visit our dormitory. Both the head teacher and associate professor will be at our residence.”

“…”

Eiran slowly averted her eyes.

It seemed unlikely that she’d actually come.

“There’s a friend from my class named Chelsea who collects things like your collection. You’re missing quite a few items.”

“Wh- What? A great hero collection made in human society!”

Eiran, with wide eyes full of excitement, revealed her intrigue.

“Maybe you two could hit it off.”

Leo glanced outside the window.

The sun had already set.

They had conversed about the Great Heroes for quite a while.

“I’m late so I’ll be going now.”

“Huh? Um, that is… Mr. Leo.”