Editor : Amethyst00



Late at night

"Reina? Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, Dade. I’m fine, so don’t worry. A hot bath will make me feel better soon."

Reina’s cheerful voice came from beyond the bathroom attached to the room, and Dade looked at Leo with a worried expression.

“She used mana with a body that’s lost its aura. She’ll be fine after soaking in hot water for a bit.”

Leo gave a wry smile.

“Sorry for calling you so urgently in the middle of the night.”

“No, I should apologize. I was there too but didn’t notice anything.”

Listening to the conversation from inside the bath, Reina submerged herself in the water up to her mouth.

‘I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

The recoil from unleashing her presence earlier in the Elder’s Hall had chilled her entire body. Dade had panicked and woken Leo up.

Reina absentmindedly brushed her right chest. The scar from when she had lost her aura long ago was still clearly visible.

Bubbling—

She let out a small sigh, and air bubbles rose.

bl

Click.

“I thought you were overdoing it.”

Leo, back in his room, sighed quietly. As he was about to get into bed, he glanced toward the terrace door.

Whoooosh—!

Though the curtain blocked the view, a blizzard was raging outside.

Leo looked at the terrace for a moment, then approached and drew the curtain aside.

Shhh—!

Snow had been falling since nightfall, blanketing the terrace.

Right in front of the terrace door, someone was kneeling. Unmoved by the cold, a woman with blue hair sat still, hands clasped in a pious posture with her eyes closed.

She looked like a devout cleric from the age of gods.

Leo couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of her devout ascetic pose.

‘She’s at it again.’

She was none other than Anya, the daughter of the Northern Tower Master and heir to the Elf Shadow Lord — a half-elf.

Leo opened the terrace door.

Whoooosh—!

The blizzard blew in.

“What are you doing?”

“I was offering prayers to the great god.”

“I thought I told you not to start any religion?”

“I haven’t started a religion.”

“Then why are you praying to me?”

“Because I’ve joined an existing sect.”

“What?”

Anya pulled a neatly folded paper from her robe and handed it to Leo. As he unfolded it, he felt a headache coming on.

It was a club recruitment poster from Lumene Academy.

[ Join the Church of Kyle ]

Club Name: Church of Kyle

Club Activities: Research into the deeds of the Hero of Beginnings, Kyle

President: Eliana Raden

Vice President: Chen Xia

Treasurer: Carl Thomas

‘These guys seriously…’

Leo remembered rescuing Eliana during the Festival of Hero while disguised as Kyle. She’d taken a deep interest in the Hero of Beginnings ever since.

‘Eliana being a bit eccentric is one thing, but what are the others thinking?’

Lumene requires at least three members to form a club. Chen Xia probably joined for fun, and Carl for money.

Whatever the reason, it clearly wasn’t well thought out.

How did they even get that name approved?

As he pondered, Leo quickly figured out the culprit.

‘No doubt Elena approved it because she thought it was funny.’

Despite calling it research, with Eliana in charge, it was essentially a fan club.

“Lumene’s students are amazing. To think they created such a great organization. Princess Xia told me about it!”

Anya couldn't stop praising Lumene.

“If this counts as a great accomplishment, the world would've ended long ago. Also, I’m not Kyle. So why are you praying to me?”

“Because you’re the god-recognized successor of the Hero of Beginnings! Therefore, you are someone we in the Church of Kyle must revere!”

“You’re not even a student at Lumene.”

“Since when does faith require credentials?”

‘We’re not having a rational conversation here.’

Leo clicked his tongue at the clearly delusional Anya.

Since enrolling at Lumene, Leo had seen many people shouting the names of great heroes for strength.

‘Among us, only Luna liked that kind of cheesy stuff.’

Aside from Luna, who proudly claimed she'd be worshipped for generations, the other great heroes didn’t like being revered.

If Aaron saw this, he might’ve screamed in embarrassment.

‘I really don’t need this kind of humiliation.’

Leo sighed.

‘As if dealing with Rian wasn't enough of a headache.’

He shook his head at the memory of that fanatic who worshiped him obsessively.

“Anyway, come inside.”

“Ah! How could I share the same space as Lord Leo?!”

“So you want me to stay out here in the snowstorm?”

“Gasp! I—I didn’t realize I was being so rude!”

As she bowed toward him, Leo gave in.

“It’s fine. Just come in.”

“Ahh, your merciful forgiveness overwhelms me! But such an easy pardon for my sins is unacceptable! Therefore, I shall punish myself in your stead!”

The crazed Anya removed her robe.

Beneath the thick robe, she wore a thin white dress. She then pulled a short whip from inside and prepared to strike her own back.

Leo snatched the whip away, thinking:

‘When school starts, I need to shut that damn club down.’

bl

["What a mess this early in the morning."]

Click—click—

Elsie, serving tea, gave a troubled smile.

“Haah… haah… Look at this whip. Doesn’t it look splendid? If Master used it on me…”

In a corner, ALty was rubbing her cheek against the confiscated whip. Leo wore a grim expression.

["Why do you look so serious?']

Kiran asked curiously, and Leo replied, “I’m wondering why I’m always surrounded by weirdos.”

In both his past and current life, the people around him were all odd.

["Because you’re the weirdo."]

Chirp. Chirp.

Fiora, in her phoenix form, flapped her wings in agreement with Kiran.

The two mythical beasts seemed to get along disturbingly well.

Leo looked at them with exasperation.

‘Do they not realize they’re weird too?’

A fairy prince who got exiled after getting his powers sealed for mischief.

Fiora, who once turned into a chubby chick while mimicking chick sounds.

Needless to say, neither of them was remotely normal.

‘Even in my past life, my so-called companions were a con-artist lizard, a bad-tempered elf, a perverted dwarf, and a cowardly beastman.’

Thinking of his old teammates, Leo clicked his tongue.

‘Guess I’m just fated for this.’

He shook his head and said, “So, what brings you here?”

Anya hadn’t been officially invited by Zerdinger. She had sneaked in to see Leo.

And Zerdinger’s inner sanctum was home to countless elite knights.

Even as the Shadow Lord’s heir, sneaking in was no easy task.

For her to risk that meant she had something important to report.

After sipping her tea, Anya said, “I’ve come to report what I discovered about the Hero Dungeon rampage incident at the recent Festival of Heroes.”

“That was quick.”

“We got the culprit immediately.”

During the Festival of Heroes, a hero record inside Lumene Academy went berserk, causing Erebos’s Flame to appear in the center of campus — a massive catastrophe.

‘Rian said the berserk page couldn’t be used as an entry point by Erebos, right?’

That meant the page hadn’t been corrupted by Erebos. Unless someone had smuggled it in, having such a page inside the academy should’ve been impossible.

‘Only one group would exploit the crowded Hero’s Festival to do such a thing.’

Tartaros.

Leo suspected someone linked to Tartaros had been among the guests and instructed Mel to track whoever brought in the page.

No matter how clever the culprit, they couldn’t escape a Dragon Queen.

And Mel had captured the culprit and brought them to Leo.

The man was a royal from a small northern kingdom.

‘What should we do with him?’

‘Send him to the Northern Tower Master. The culprit likely isn’t directly connected to Tartaros.’

Just as the Elf Pureblood Society had ties to Tartaros, Leo suspected certain nobles among humans did too.

Interrogation was nothing new to Leo, who had walked through darkness since the Age of Calamity.

‘But one interrogation only yields limited info.’

It’s much more efficient to follow the connections of factions linked to the Elf Shadow Lord.

“So? Did you identify any affiliated forces?”

“No. But we did find out who gave him the Lumene page.”

“Who?”

“The Hero Slayer.”

Leo froze at Anya’s answer.

The Hero Slayer.

The traitor who killed countless heroes 500 years ago — a being synonymous with fear and evil.

“Didn’t you say you once found signs he contacted the Elf Pureblood Society and were tracking him?”

Back then, the idea that such a figure had reappeared was baffling. But in this era, where even heroes are resurrected as undead by the Necro King, it was no longer surprising.

“So how’d you link him to that kingdom?”

“Dozens of long-missing heroes’ corpses were found beneath the royal palace.”

Anya’s eyes turned cold.

“All were killed by the Hero Slayer.”

“Then… he’s been active not recently, but for decades?”

“That seems to be the case.”

Leo stroked his chin.

“But how did you know they were killed by him?”

A fair question. It’s not easy to identify a 500-year-old killer from a body.

In response, Anya pointed to her right chest.

“The Hero Slayer drives his fingers into the right chest of the heroes he kills.”

“What a twisted freak.”

“He’s not just crazy. He does it for a reason.”

“A reason?”

“Yes. His power — is to steal the abilities of others.”