Editor : Amethyst00



“You still haven’t found a way to undo the Hero’s World?”

“There’s nothing we can do! It’s a Hero Dungeon, there’s no way to control it!”

“Damn it!”

A flicker of impatience crossed Verga’s eyes, his composure slipping.

It had already been an hour since Aaron’s World had opened.

The fact that it still hadn’t dissolved meant Leo and Aru were holding out well—but that didn’t mean he could relax.

‘Aru… Kyle…!’

“Find a way to control it! Now!”

“Uwaaaah! I–Instructor Verga!”

Just as everyone froze in panic at Verga grabbing his assistant by the collar—

“Calm yourself, Verga.”

A cool, composed voice rang out.

Verga turned his head and saw a human man walking toward him. At that, he released the assistant’s collar.

“Ain.”

Following behind Ain was Yura, wearing a grim expression.

“What brings the professors of Lumene here?”

At Verga’s question, Ain replied evenly.

“It’s a matter concerning the Hero’s World. Sharing our experience would be best. Our school also had several unfortunate incidents this semester.”

Yura poked Ain sharply in the side, her face twisted.

The midterm’s Hero Dungeonization.

The end-of-term inter-departmental tournament.

Though both incidents had been resolved, they were treated by outsiders as Lumene’s disgrace.

The fact that Ain brought it up so casually left Yura mortified.

“Azonia is not Lumene! This is just an accident!”

“Even so, combining our efforts can’t hurt. You and Azonia’s instructors haven’t gone through what my junior and I have. We won’t get in your way.”

Hearing that, Verga closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Ain’s calm words cooled his heated emotions.

“My apologies. I lost my temper.”

“It’s fine.”

Yura waved her hand.

“Still, how many years has it been since a Great Hero’s new page last opened?”

“I heard one opened at Lumene earlier this year?”

“Yes, but it opened and closed almost instantly.”

“How was it when it opened?”

“It was a sudden rampage as well. We couldn’t identify the cause.”

Verga’s expression grew grim.

Bzzmmm—!

Suddenly, Aaron’s page began to shine.

Everyone’s faces stiffened.

A Hero’s Page reacted in only two situations—

when the Hero’s World had been conquered, or when it was forcibly closed by the death of the challenger.

As tension filled the air, two figures were thrown out of the page—Leo and Aru.

“Aru!”

“Father!”

Crying tears of relief, Aru threw herself into Verga’s arms.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, Father! I… I conquered Lord Aaron’s World!”

“That doesn’t matter! Aru, my daughter! Do you know how worried I was?”

Holding his daughter tightly, Verga’s face overflowed with joy.

It was true he had trained her harshly when she was young—to forge her into a hero.

But it had never been out of cruelty; it was so she could grow strong enough to survive hardship.

And Aru, knowing that, had never hated or resented him.

Meanwhile, Leo looked confused.

‘Hey! What the—why are you here?’

Leo could sense Elsie’s presence emanating faintly from the Light Jewel.

And when he saw the conquest reward list, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

How could Elsie—the elemental from the past—be a conquest reward?

Even the contract he’d formed with her just moments ago remained valid.

It was, quite literally, as if the dead had returned.

‘Elsie?’

['…']

Even when Leo called her, Elsie stayed silent—as though asleep.

As Leo scratched his head—

“Father! If it weren’t for the Black Rabbit, we couldn’t have done it!”

“……”

Verga’s gaze turned toward Leo.

Feeling that stare, Leo rubbed his cheek awkwardly.

Verga, having regained his usual imposing air, stood before Leo with a solemn expression.

“Kyle.”

Verga’s form of address had changed—from “Reyna’s son” to his name.

That meant Verga acknowledged him.

“How remarkable. To have conquered Lord Aaron’s Page.”

“I didn’t do it alone.”

“Hmph, modest, are you?”

Verga chuckled and clenched his fist.

“Whatever the reason, you and Aru conquered Lord Aaron’s World! That alone proves you’re worthy of being students of the Hero Academy, Azonia! I’m pleased!”

He folded his arms and declared in a powerful voice,

“I, Verga, shall personally teach you so that you may walk the path of the conqueror!”

At Azonia Academy, students were required to choose their supervising instructor.

Naturally, the most renowned instructors drew the most students— and Verga was among the very best.

For him to publicly declare that he would personally take Leo as his student was an incredible honor, practically guaranteeing his place at the school.

“Black Rabbit! Let’s do our best together!”

Aru beamed brightly—

Grab!

A woman’s hand suddenly seized Leo’s rabbit ear.

“Pardon the interruption, but—”

Yura, after apologizing to Verga, smiled sweetly down at Leo.

“Grade representative? What are you doing here?”

“Who are you?”

Leo spoke shamelessly.

He didn’t know why Yura was here, but one thing was clear—if he got caught, this would get messy.

“‘Who are you?’ ‘Who are you?’—you brat! You can’t even recognize the professor who’s been teaching you all semester? Or do you think you can fool the faculty just because you can cast a few spells?”

Yura’s eyes flared as she tightened her grip.

“Hey! Why are you here, huh? What do you think you’re doing? Tell me straight. Are you spying for Lumene? Or Azonia? Do you have a death wish?”

Crack—!

The veins in her hand bulged as she effortlessly lifted Leo off the ground.

He dangled helplessly, just like a rabbit caught by the ears.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Verga asked in bewilderment.

Ain sighed.

“It seems one of our students caused a bit of trouble. I’m not sure how he ended up at Azonia’s entrance ceremony, but… allow me to introduce him.”

Realizing there was no longer any point in hiding, Leo canceled his polymorph spell.

A faint glow surrounded his body.

The rabbit ears vanished, and his hair turned pure white.

Seeing him transform back into human form, Verga and Aru both gaped.

“This is Leo Plov, first-year class representative of Lumene.”

“Hello. I’m Leo Plov.”

bl

Once Leo’s identity was revealed, chaos erupted.

“Even if he’s Lumene’s grade representative, it doesn’t matter! Azonia’s doors are open to him! Kyle—no, Leo Plov—join our academy!”

“What nonsense are you spouting to my Knight Department student?”

“Knight Department? It’s clearly Summoning Department!”

Ain and Yura bickered as Verga shouted over them.

Aru looked shocked beyond words.

Leo tried to apologize, but the scene was far too hectic.

‘Leo, please. I beg you. Stop causing trouble. We’re exhausted!’

Associate Professor Carlo nearly cried as he pleaded with Leo.

Even before this, the debate over which department Leo belonged to had professors on edge daily— and now another academy had gotten involved.

It was the assistants and sub-instructors who were paying the price.

So Leo explained how he ended up attending Azonia’s entrance ceremony.

Since there was nothing illegal about it, it was officially treated as a “minor incident.”

Still, the Azonia faculty couldn’t hide their regretful looks.

A new student conquering Aaron’s World before even enrolling was unheard of.

Aru had done so as well—but it would’ve been far more impressive if both conquerors had entered the academy together.

“You’re the first in Lumene’s history to cause a scandal like this during vacation!”

Yura smacked Leo’s head sharply.

“Well, since no serious problems came from it, it’s fine.”

Ain responded calmly.

He seemed to view Leo’s visit to observe rival Hero Academies in a positive light.

“Though you couldn’t attend your own entrance ceremony.”

Leo had missed the Desert Crossing Marathon.

“Of course! If you had gone to that ceremony, they might’ve forced you to enroll at Azonia right then!”

“I suppose that’s true.”

Leo laughed.

“But the conquest rewards are a bit disappointing.”

Aru’s reward was Aaron’s Breath— a legendary ability said in ancient records to be his Flame-controlling power.

Since revealing such information would cause massive uproar, a gag order had been issued.

If word got out, Aru’s school life would become impossible.

So the only ones who knew about it were those present at the scene and the two conquerors.

“You wouldn’t be able to use such a reward anyway—you’re human.”

“Conquering Aaron’s World is enough for me.”

“That fact itself can’t be revealed, you know?”

Yura narrowed her eyes.

Even though the incident had been swept under the rug, nothing good would come from it being public.

Outwardly, it seemed like Leo had gained nothing.

But in truth, his reward was beyond imagination.

‘Elsie… what’s really going on with her?’

Usually, rewards tied to summoning were catalysts or summoning rights— never the summoned elemental itself.

‘Well… I’ll think about that later. Right now, I’m more worried about Aru. She didn’t seem to have full control over Aaron’s Breath.’

Clicking his tongue, Leo recalled how Aru had struggled to contain the overwhelming power.

No one could master such strength overnight.

‘If I could stay by her side, I might be able to help…’

“Anyway! No more trouble during vacation, got it?”

Yura warned as they arrived at the warp gate.

Ain and Yura had followed him all the way here, unwilling to let the unpredictable grade representative out of their sight.

‘Not that I planned to cause more trouble anyway…’

But considering he’d already been caught after making a colossal mess, any excuse would sound hollow.

“I’ll see you next semester, Professors.”

“Yeah! See you after break!”

“Rest well, Leo Plov.”

After bowing to the professors, Leo stepped into the warp gate.

With a flash of light, he vanished from Azrek.

“Why does he behave so normally during the semester, only to cause disasters like this?”

Yura sighed wearily.

“Well, since Azonia let it go, I don’t think it’ll cause further issues.”

“If only that were true. The fact that I’ve been receiving monthly letters asking me to transfer as a full-time instructor doesn’t concern you?”

Yura’s face darkened.

“Come on, even if that’s true, he’s doing fine at our academy. He wouldn’t transfer, right…?”

“You can’t be sure. Azonia’s a Hero Academy equal to ours.”

Ain exhaled a long sigh.

“According to Professor Harrid, even Seiren made an offer to transfer him.”

“……”

Yura’s expression grew even more serious.

The two professors exchanged a look.

‘This…’

‘…might not be a simple rivalry anymore.’

In a situation where outside forces were joining the competition for students, the two could only sigh wearily.