Chapter 402

Book 1 Chapter 402

402.

The sanctuary settlement of Ellehem, Uarguela.

The immense desert spring situated in the heart of Uarguela bore a striking resemblance to a grand shoreline.

It functioned as a sandy waterfront for the oasis and stood out as one of Uarguela’s premier landmarks for travellers.

At this location, pupils from both Lumerne and Azonia were splashing about and enjoying the water.

“Everyone seems completely without a care.”

Celia, having made her way down to the lakeside sands, ran a hand through her hair.

Characteristically a diligent, high-achieving scholar, she observed the Lumerne second-years and first-years indulging in their aquatic recreation with a slightly critical gaze.

Standing directly behind her were her junior pupils, Aina and Martina.

“There is nothing wrong with this, Lady Celia. After all, the hands-on training operation has concluded.”

At present, the scholars from Lumerne had practically finished their scheduled training tasks.

The inkling that Ellehem was concealing a legendary hero dungeon had turned out to be entirely accurate.

Just as everyone had dreaded, the hidden hero dungeon had triggered a colossal, irregular phenomenon that nearly spelled ruin for Dobela, but owing to the intervention of the Lumerne and Azonia pupils, the initial assault was halted without catastrophic losses.

Subsequent second and third waves of attacks broke out later, but by that point, senior students from both Lumerne and Azonia had already arrived on the scene to provide backing.

In the aftermath, Ellehem found itself caught in the middle of a global conflict.

They were guilty not merely of masking a single labyrinth, but multiple hero dungeons, and proof of their secret dealings with Tartarus had come to light as well.

Confronted with the undeniable confirmation of the Hero Hunter’s presence, the leaders of Ellehem could no longer maintain their innocence.

Every race and kingdom across the globe united in their fierce denunciation of Ellehem.

The international landscape was in complete disarray.

Global politics are invariably a web of competing agendas and mutual benefits.

Even so, amidst all the shifting alliances of the world, there remained one crime that could never be condoned: conspiring with Tartarus.

As a consequence of this scandal, Ellehem entered a period of extreme peril, where it would surprise no one if the city faded silently out of existence.

“Wasn’t there talk of a global summit being convened at Lumerne to decide what becomes of Ellehem?”

“That is correct.”

Celia gave a nod of assent.

Following those events, master dungeon conquerors from Lumerne, Seirune, Azonia, and Demian had been deployed to suppress the violent, overflowing hero dungeon.

“We hoped to resolve the crisis entirely through our own efforts.”

“Even so, you lent aid to countless citizens within Ellehem, didn’t you?”

Martina remarked, observing the somewhat bitter expression on Celia’s face.

While the veteran dungeon raiders were executing their duties, the first and second-year pupils of Lumerne dedicated themselves to assisting the struggling populace of Ellehem.

The sovereign of Ellehem along with the central leadership had mostly been taken into custody on indictments of secret pacts with Tartarus and masking the hero dungeons.

Had the Ellehem crown remained in power, offering aid and saving citizens might have been deemed an unlawful intrusion into their internal governance, but with the utter downfall of the Ellehem monarchy, those rules no longer applied.

“True, heroes are destined to steer civilization toward the light. Providing succour and rescuing those in jeopardy is a vital duty.”

Celia let out a quiet sigh.

“Indeed. Everyone pushed themselves to the limit, which is why after the practical drills concluded, Young Master Leo utilized his privileges as the student council president to grant us forty-eight hours of recreation, correct?”

Leo was the primary reason the Lumerne pupils were able to frolic so lightheartedly.

“Be that as it may, as representatives of Lumerne, we are obligated to uphold our decorum.”

It was precisely as Celia was surveying her classmates, joyfully splashing around in their swimsuits with an air of disapproval, that someone approached.

“Celia, so you made it down here?”

“Greetings, Senior Nella!”

“Hello there.”

With Nella walking up, Martina offered a spirited greeting, while Aina offered a quiet welcome in a hushed tone.

“Nella, please tell me you aren’t joining in on this too.”

Celia rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

Nella was likewise dressed in full beach attire, completely prepared to plunge into the water.

“The summer season has arrived, after all. We’ve all pushed through immense hardships, so isn’t it perfectly fine to enjoy ourselves before we head back to the academy?”

“Precisely, precisely. If your only plan is to cast a shadow over everyone else’s good time, you ought to just retreat to the living quarters.”

Chelsea, stepping out from behind Nella, chimed in.

“I am not criticizing the act of recreation itself. My point is that we should act as proper role models as second-year upperclassmen. Though, I suppose you find yourself right at home among the first-years, Chelsea.”

“What are you implying by that?”

“Still acting like a child, are we?”

“There is a mere single year of difference between the two of us!”

Hearing this, Celia cast a downward glance at Chelsea, let out a dismissive scoff, smirked, and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

It was true that Chelsea possessed a remarkably youthful look when compared to others her age.

Chelsea, who had been glaring at Celia with an annoyed grimace while Celia kept her eyes shut in an attitude of smug composure, aimed the plaything in her grasp directly at Celia’s countenance.

Swerve-!

A stream of water shot forth from the toy, drenching Celia’s face.

“Haaa.”

Celia inhaled deeply to steady herself.

She then fixed an intense glare upon Chelsea and lunged forward to seize her.

“You absolute pest!”

Chelsea turned on her heel and bolted instantly.

“Don’t you dare run away!”

“Do you take me for a fool? As if I would engage in physical combat against a knight major like you!”

Chelsea glanced back at Celia, pulled down the lower lid of her eye with a finger, and stuck her tongue out mockingly.

Observing the spectacle, Nella burst into laughter and called out.

“Activating magical or physical techniques is strictly prohibited on the oasis beachfront!”

After yelling her warning, Nella turned her attention toward Aina and Martina, remarking with a smile.

“Hehe, look at those two. Don’t they seem incredibly close knit?”

“Ah… perhaps so?”

Martina could only manage a strained, hesitant chuckle.

Meanwhile, a short distance away on the sandy shore of the oasis.

“Step right up! Get them while they last! The hottest items that even top-tier second-year scholars love to play with! Water-shooting staves! Hydration explosives! We also have freezing ice cream and refreshments to beat the scorching desert climate!”

Cal had erected a temporary vending booth and was conducting brisk commerce.

Trade was absolutely thriving.

With the onset of the hot season, the pupils’ eagerness for aquatic amusement had reached a fever pitch, and once Chelsea, Iliana, Nella, and Teide began frolicking with the gadgets Cal had distributed for publicity, the interest in Cal’s merchandise went through the roof.

On top of that, he offered chilled confections and beverages to counteract the blistering heat of the wastes.

There was simply no scenario where his goods wouldn’t be snatched up.

“Upperclassman! Please give me one of those water-shooting staves!”

“I want one as well!”

“Coming right up!”

Cal beamed with delight as he distributed the aquatic toys.

Watching the currency accumulate rapidly inside his pouch, Cal broke into a massive grin.

“Ahahaha! Juene! Success is ours! Wealth is within our grasp!”

Hearing Cal’s exclamation, Juene adopted a thoroughly unamused expression.

“Senior Cal, aren’t you going to join in on the swimming?”

“What are you talking about? I am currently enjoying myself to the fullest!”

“Doesn’t it feel a bit miserable to be running a business while everyone else is out there relaxing?”

“It certainly has its moments of misery. But the instant my eyes look upon these profit margins, all of that melancholy vanishes into thin air!”

Juene simply shook her head in disbelief, staring at Cal who was radiating genuine ecstasy.

“By the way, those water-spraying toys utilize the legally protected magical inscriptions belonging to the Southern Magic Tower, correct?”

“That is true! I am profoundly grateful for the privilege!”

The novelties Cal had manufactured were items built by adapting the precise runic sequences utilized in Juene’s personal casting implement.

“Senior Cal’s business acumen—turning such sophisticated principles into inexpensive amusements and selling them at an exorbitant markup—truly is something to behold.”

“Naturally.”

“You haven’t forgotten that eighty percent of your earnings must be forwarded to the Southern Magic Tower as a licensing fee, right?”

Freeze—

The smile instantly vanished from Cal’s features.

With an expression on the verge of tears, Cal threw himself downward, grabbing Juene by the ankle and pleading desperately.

“Show some charity! Surrendering eighty percent of the revenue means absolute ruin for me! Have pity, I beg of you!”

“P-Please release your grip!”

Juene looked utterly disconcerted, kicking her leg in an attempt to dislodge Cal from her ankle.

“Pah, amusing themselves with such low-quality novelties. Truly miserable.”

Eliza, lounging upon a reclining chair beneath the shade of a canopy with dark lenses shielding her eyes, uttered a mocking laugh upon witnessing the scene.

Iliana, who happened to be strolling past, countered.

“It actually provides quite a bit of amusement.”

“Hmph, what manner of entertainment could possibly be derived from such an unrefined gadget?”

“Observe.”

Splatter—

Iliana, who had previously dialed down the nozzle to minimize the discharging force, squirted a stream directly onto Eliza’s visage.

Eliza silently blotted the moisture from her skin with a nearby cloth, then reached down to grasp a leather implement, stating coldly.

“If your goal was to rouse my ire, you have succeeded beautifully. Shall I decorate that pristine complexion of yours with a few whip lashes?”

“Eeek?!”

As Iliana let out a panicked yelp and shielded her body, Chen Sia stepped into the space between them to halt Eliza.

“Keep the peace. No aggression.”

Chen Sia was virtually the sole individual among the student body whose commands Eliza would actually heed.

Confronted by Chen Sia’s intervention, Eliza clicked her tongue in annoyance.

She then snatched the water-shooting staff right out of Chen Sia’s grip and emptied the entire reservoir directly onto Iliana’s face.

“Gargle! Splutter!”

“Hmph.”

Eliza sneered at Iliana, who was frantically shaking the water from her head, and prepared to return the magical toy back to Chen Sia.

Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-pitter-patter—!

Chelsea could be seen sprinting madly across the waterfront terrain.

Chelsea launched a hydration explosive directly at Celia, who was pursuing her closely.

Celia, scoffing at the attempt, caught the fluid projectile mid-air and tossed it aside casually as though it were mere refuse.

Tumble-tumble-thud—!

The rolling fluid explosive came to a stop right against Eliza’s foot.

“…What is the meaning of this?”

Eliza’s gaze turned incredibly sharp, causing Chen Sia and Iliana to instantly leap clear of the area without a second thought.

Kaboom—!

The liquid charge erupted, discharging an immense torrent of water.

It was a basic enchantment designed to condense fluid, yet the explosive force it generated was formidable.

The sun canopy and lounging chair were completely thrown back by the hydraulic impact, and Eliza’s face was driven straight down into the coastal sand.

“…”

“…”

The surrounding onlookers swallowed hard in anxiety.

Eliza rose to her feet, brushed away the sediment clinging to her skin, and spat out the grains that had managed to slip into her mouth.

She tracked the ongoing pursuit between Chelsea and Celia with an ominous, silent stare, then marched directly toward Cal’s vending area.

Cal and Juene stood completely frozen, staring blankly at Eliza’s approach.

“Cal Thomas. Give me something with far greater destructive output than these common staves or liquid explosives. Cost is irrelevant.”

Hearing Eliza speak with an unsettlingly placid tone, Cal swallowed nervously and presented her with a massive cylindrical device.

“This is a experimental hydraulic launcher, but its output is extremely high and highly volatile…”

“Those two aren’t fragile enough to perish from a device like this, so it is of no consequence.”

Eliza, hoisting the hydraulic launcher onto her shoulder, spun around.

An audible grinding of teeth could be heard coming from her jaw.

“Your time is up.”

The peaceful shoreline quickly began to undergo total devastation.

Farther down the center of the coastal sands.

Leo reclined upon a beach chair beneath a sun umbrella, gazing out across the expanse of the desert spring.

Right alongside Leo, Chloe occupied an adjacent chair, completely absorbed in the pages of a volume she held.

Chloe, embodying the perfect image of someone enjoying a holiday retreat, periodically shifted her attention toward Leo.

This particular zone was quite isolated from the busier parts of the oasis waterfront.

Out within the center of the deep waters, continuous streams of air bubbles kept breaking the surface.

“Phew—!”

A short while later, Arr broke through the surface of the water.

Chloe, who had been stealthily watching Leo, immediately snapped her eyes back down to her reading material.

Arr scrambled frantically onto the dry shoreline, vigorously shaking her body to rid herself of the clinging moisture.

Then, drawing short, ragged breaths, she whined.

“Black Rabbit, I am completely exhausted! I wish to bring an end to this immediately!”

Observing Arr voice her complaints with tears welling in her eyes, Leo pushed himself up from his lounge chair.

Leo strolled over toward Arr, his boots sinking slightly into the sand, and replied.

“You were the one who explicitly requested advanced vocalization training.”

During their previous engagement, Arr had unlocked the capability to activate the hidden sign language attributes of fellow demi-humans solely through her vocal cries.

An unmapped power that even Leo possessed no prior knowledge of.

‘Furthermore, that was precisely the miracle Arreon had so desperately sought to realize.’

Arreon had harbored the deepest desire for his unique sign language legacy to be inherited by the rest of his demi-human brethren.

Had that been achieved, his people would undoubtedly have enjoyed a much higher survival rate upon the fields of conflict.

Yet, in the final accounting, Arreon passed away without realizing that dream.

Not just Arreon, but every generation that followed him failed to manifest the ability to employ sign language without constraints.

It required five millennia following Arreon’s passing for a demi-human to emerge who fully inherited Arreon’s unique sign language capability.

‘It appears that Tartarus managed to replicate the sign language function by exploiting remnants of Arreon’s heroic chronicles… but such a feat is impossible without utilizing a counterfeit Brave, so that can be dismissed for now.’

Furthermore, based on the accounts of those who engaged them in combat, that replicated sign language capability appeared to be flawed and incomplete.

In any event, Arr had unexpectedly unlocked the very gift Arreon had yearned for throughout his existence.

Arr herself had initially been overjoyed upon discovering this hidden truth.

However, once she recognized her inability to properly regulate the power, and after considerable internal debate, she had turned to Leo for guidance.

The very first action Leo took regarding Arr’s training was to submerge her within the lake.

His primary justification was that her loud vocalizations would create a disturbance for others, and his secondary reasoning was that mastering breath control beneath the surface made modulating her cries far simpler.

Be that as it may, Arr, possessing the traits of a feline demi-human, harbored a deep-seated hatred for being drenched.

Naturally, Leo was never the sort of instructor to alter his methods based on personal preferences.

“I utterly despise the water now! I refuse to go back!”

“Your personal feelings on the matter are irrelevant. Submerge yourself.”

Faced with Leo’s unyielding, detached response, Arr’s eyes darted around frantically as she calculated her options.

‘Since things have turned out this way!’

Arr resolved to make a break for it.

Snatch—!

Predictably, her tail was instantly snared by Leo’s hand, causing her to fall flat on her face in the sand.

“Ughyaaaaah!”

Arr thrashed around wildly in protest.

Leo let out a quiet sigh, moved closer to the struggling girl, and dropped into a crouch beside her.

“Arr, you have crossed the threshold into a territory that even the legendary Hero failed to conquer.”

Arr ceased her struggling and shifted her gaze upward to look at Leo.

“As the rightful inheritor of the Hero’s legacy, you have accomplished a feat that remained out of reach even for the Hero himself.”

“Sniff—!”

Arr tightened her hands into small fists.

“And yet, your choice now is to turn and flee?”

“I do not!”

“Arreon would likely feel profound sorrow if he were to witness your current conduct. Is that the outcome you desire?”

“Not in the slightest!”

Witnessing Arr’s sudden burst of resolve, Leo offered a gentle grin and softly stroked her pale locks.

Arr narrowed her eyes and leaned into the touch, looking very much like a content feline.

Leo eventually withdrew his hand from Arr’s head, reached down to place his hands beneath her arms, and hoisted her entirely off the ground.

Arr, her ears twitching with alertness, fixed her round cat-like eyes directly onto Leo.

Seeing her expression, Leo let out a soft chuckle.

“In that case, Arr.”

“Yes?”

“Return to your station.”

Heave—!

“Hey! You absolute villain of a Black Rabbit!!!”

Splash—!

Leo, having unceremoniously hurled Arr right back into the lake, folded his arms across his chest.

Observing the entire sequence from her chair, Chloe let out a weary sigh.

“At last, I fully comprehend why Celia and Chelsea tremble whenever they deal with you.”