Chapter 51
Editor : Amethyst00
Leo and Chloe, who had cleared the Hero’s World and returned, were immediately transferred to the infirmary.
Leo had a fractured left arm, full-body burns, and cracks in several bones.
Chloe, on the other hand, was suffering from extreme exhaustion due to severe mana depletion.
The prescription given by the infirmary was absolute rest.
In the end, both of them were admitted.
The next morning.
Having overslept, Chloe glanced at the mana-replenishing IV drip that the healer had attached to her left wrist the night before and said.
“It doesn’t seem serious enough to forbid even visitors.”
But indeed, visitors were prohibited for both of them.
“It’s not just because of the injuries.”
Leo, with healing patches stuck to his face, sat down on the sofa in their spacious two-person ward.
“I suppose so?.”
Chloe’s expression clouded.
Leo might not, but Chloe still had an account to settle with Lumene’s investigation.
'What will I even tell my family if I get expelled?'
The Müeller family, to which Chloe belonged, affiliated with the Northern Tower, had very little standing.
Neither a long history nor any outstanding mages.
Just an ordinary, unremarkable mage family.
But thanks to Chloe’s top-ranking admission, their family had been placed under the Northern Tower’s attention.
If she were to be expelled, however, it would bring undeniable disgrace, dragging their reputation even lower.
And even if she wasn’t expelled, the problem remained.
The Müller family was poor.
She had planned to continue her schooling on a scholarship.
'But since I’m the one at fault, I have to take responsibility!'
‘She’s thinking something.’
Leo rested his chin in his palm and smirked slightly as Chloe clenched her fist and wore a determined expression.
'Kids really do grow up fast at that age.'
At the same time, he thought back to what had happened yesterday.
'They said never once in recorded history had a page of the Hero Record ever gone berserk.'
Yet yesterday, a great anomaly had occurred.
Leo himself didn’t know the reason.
'The Hero Record didn’t even exist in my time.'
Still, he had his suspicions.
'If that grimoire Chloe carried influenced the Hero Record…?'
Erebos, after all, could be considered a divine being in its own right.
'If a Demonic Artifact could influence the Hero Record… might it not be tied to the disappearance of my own Hero Record?'
The demons still remembered Kyle and hated him.
Who’s to say they weren’t secretly meddling with the Hero Record this way?
'Maybe even the destruction of Hero Record is linked to Tartaros.'
Exhaling a small sigh, Leo opened the desk drawer and found a chess set.
‘Let’s just organize my thoughts a bit.’
“Chloe. Do you know how to play chess? I’m bored—want a game?”
“Sure.”
Rustle—Chloe climbed down from the bed and sat across from Leo.
The pieces began to move.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
When his moves were blocked, Leo crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.
She’s good.
The rules were a bit different now, but chess had existed in his previous life too. Since it was Rishinas’s favorite game, he’d often played.
“Checkmate.”
At Chloe’s declaration, Leo moved his king.
Chloe laughed as she chased his king down.
'It’s been ages since I’ve played around like this.'
Since the start of the term, she had devoted herself to studying day and night with the single goal of catching up to Leo.
'While I’m in the infirmary, I can finally have fun with Leo.'
But then she froze.
'Wait. I’m sharing a ward with him right now, aren’t I?'
When she was admitted, she’d been too flustered to notice, but now the thought made her cheeks flush.
“Aren’t you moving?”
“Huh? Oh! Y-yeah!”
Her voice pitched higher as she scrambled to move her piece.
Moments later, Leo was trapped in a checkmate, ending the game.
“Ah—! That was fun!”
Chloe stretched and grinned wide—just as her stomach growled loudly.
“N-no! That’s not—! I mean, I was just hungry!”
“Come to think of it, you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, have you? That’s too much for a kid your age, especially while you’re still growing.”
Blushing bright red, Chloe stammered while Leo muttered in annoyance.
By now, it was lunchtime.
Knock, knock—!
Right on cue, a knock came at the door, and it opened.
When she saw who it was, Chloe quickly straightened up in shock.
“P-principal!”
“Hoho! Good to see you! Leo, Chloe! Did you rest well last night?”
Kalian approached them with his usual kind smile.
“I-it’s an honor to meet you, sir! I’m Chloe Müeller, Class 1-1!”
“Hoho! No need to be so nervous. I’m only here to ask a few things.”
'So this is the Sword Saint. One of the greatest heroes of this era.'
Leo’s eyes sparkled.
The two sat across from Kalian.
“First, I want to apologize. Though it was unforeseen, the appearance of the Hero Dungeon put you in danger. As principal, I am sorry for that.”
Kalian bowed his head.
Flustered, Chloe waved her hands.
“It’s alright, Principal. It wasn’t something the academy could control.”
“I appreciate you saying so. Then, let’s move on to business.”
Kalian straightened with a solemn expression.
Intimidated, Chloe shut her mouth.
“First, Miss Chloe. I’d like to see the grimoire you purchased in the back alleys of Lumeria City. Professors Sedgen and Ren told me you’ve been carrying it around for months.”
Chloe inhaled sharply.
Leo, beside her, asked,
“Why do you want to see it?”
“No need to hide it from you, Leo. The place Liu bought his summoning catalyst was the same place Chloe purchased her grimoire.”
“So the source really was the same.”
“Really? What do you mean by that?”
“That grimoire was a Demonic Artifact.”
Kalian’s expression darkened.
“Tell me in detail what happened in the Hero’s World.”
Leo began recounting the story.
After hearing everything, Kalian narrowed his eyes.
“So a Demonic Artifact could affect the Hero’s World…”
“Since the Hero Dungeon normalized immediately after destroying it, I’d say that’s most likely.”
Kalian stroked his beard.
“Then my second question. About the items you brought back yesterday from the Hero Dungeon.”
“Item brought back from Hero Dungeon? But in the Hero’s World, aside from clear rewards, you can’t bring anything back, right?”
Chloe asked, confused.
The Hero’s World, no matter how real it seemed, was ultimately false.
Anything obtained there would vanish upon returning.
“Seems you didn’t know. Yesterday, Leo submitted five items. They were keepsakes of Aliah’s party members.”
LAt Kalian’s words, Leo fell into thought.
'Again, am I the only one receiving clear rewards?'
This was his second time clearing the Hero’s World.
And in both cases, the established rules— no clear rewards for the living and rewards tied to the world’s owner —had been broken.
He thought Chloe might have gotten something this time since it was a Hero Dungeon, but she hadn’t.
'I don’t know why the rules only break for me, but nothing good will come from others finding out.'
If people knew he could always obtain rewards from any world, it would surely drag him into messy trouble.
“They were conquest rewards.”
“Conquest rewards? But supposedly, we can’t receive rewards from the Hero’s World of living Hero.”
“Yes. But yesterday’s Hero’s World was a Hero Dungeon. Maybe the abnormal situation caused it.”
Leo decided to use yesterday’s anomaly as an excuse.
“And the reason Chloe didn’t receive any rewards?”
“Probably because Leo contributed the most during the clear.”
Chloe answered.
It was true—rewards varied by contribution.
“I see.”
Kalian nodded.
“Alright, then I have one last thing to say.”
His face grew serious.
“You are not to speak of the Demonic Artifact to anyone.”
“Huh?”
“Miss Chloe, I’ll inform your advisor Professor Sedgen and Professor Len from the Department of Magic. Measures will be taken accordingly. But beyond that—keep silent.”
“B-but why?”
“You may be too young to understand, but…”
Kalian gave them a faint smile as he rose from his seat.
“The enemy isn’t only outside.”
Leaving those words behind, he walked to the door.
“Take care of yourselves during the exam period. You’ll be discharged afterward.”
With a hearty laugh, he opened the door—then suddenly stopped.
“Ah, I nearly forgot to tell you your practical exam results.”
Turning back, Kalian grinned.
“Congratulations! You two have become the first 1st-years in Lumene’s history to exceed the Hero’s World mission completion rate.”
Chloe’s eyes widened, while Leo chuckled and crossed his arms.
“I look forward to seeing your future achievements.”
Creak—slam.
“Leo! Did you hear? We overachieved! First time ever in Lumene’s history!”
Chloe jumped in joy, thrilled at having made history.
Leo simply smiled at her excitement.
“Why do we have to attend class right after exams? This school has no heart! None at all!”
Carl grumbled as though fed up.
“You hate classes that much?”
“Hey, Chelsea! Who in their right mind wants to sit in class right after exams?!”
“You hate classes regardless of exams.”
As the two bickered their way to the Magic Hall…
“Did you hear? About Chloe?”
“Yeah. Turns out the unique magic she presented wasn’t hers.”
“Uh-huh. She confessed herself. They gave her a zero for the practical, so she’s dead last in the Magic Department.”
“Heh! Served her right, acting all high and mighty.”
A group of magic students snickered as they passed.
Carl scowled at them.
“Damn bastards. They used to cling to Chloe, and now they switch sides like nothing happened.”
“That’s how idiots are.”
“Still, I’m worried about Chloe. She’s tougher than she looks, but her heart’s fragile.”
Carl scratched his head.
Just then, someone stuck out a leg from a bench in the Magic Hall garden.
One of the leading boys in the gossip group tripped and fell flat.
“Ugh! Who the hell—?! You wanna die…!”
“Ah, my bad. You were passing by? Watch where you’re going.”
“L-Leo Plov?”
Leo stood, face showing no remorse.
“Are you picking a fight with us?”
“Why? You can talk behind my back, but I can’t pick a fight with you? And what if I am?”
Leo’s lips curled as the boy seethed.
“If you don’t like it, duel me.”
“Urk?!”
Until midterms, Leo had been known as a theory type.
But since then, word had spread—he was top-class among students.
Swordsmanship, magic, summoning.
None of these students could hope to beat him in a duel.
“If you keep this up, I’ll tell Professor Len!”
One of the girls flared up.
But Leo just smiled calmly.
“Perfect. As it happens, Professor Len was looking for you lot.”
“W-what?”
“He said he had questions for you about your assignments. Better hurry.”
Their faces went pale.
They had relied on Chloe for their assignments—if asked, they were doomed.
“Damn it! You bastard!”
“We’ll remember this!”
Cursing, they scrambled toward the Magic Hall.
Leo chuckled at their retreating backs.
“Pathetic.”
“Leo! You’re out of the infirmary!”
Chelsea ran up with a bright smile.
Carl, hands clasped behind his head, grinned slyly.
“Alright! Since Leo’s back, let’s skip class today! They’ll just review theory anyway—ow ow ow ow!”
“The guy who scored second-to-last in Magic Theory wants to skip class? Bold of you.”
“C-Chloe?”
Chloe had seized Carl by the ear.
“That’s it. From today, you’re sitting with me in the very front.”
“The very front? No! I don’t want to relive that torture from the start of the term!”
As Carl shrieked, Chelsea giggled, then turned to Leo with a bright smile.
“Leo oppa, congratulations on being discharged.”
Leo smiled and patted her head.
Watching, Chloe murmured to herself,
'I’ll work hard—so I won’t shame the Leo who gave me courage back then.'
Carl, still yelping from Chloe’s grip, glanced at her and asked,
“Your face looks lighter now. You feeling better now?”
“Thanks to you. I appreciate it, Carl.”