Editor : Amethyst00



“The good thing is, we can at least sleep comfortably!”

Carl smiled brightly as he entered the tent.

The craftsmen of Ivaldi had rebuilt the ruined fortress.

However, that didn't mean the interior of the fortress was completely restored.

Main buildings, like government facilities, were properly reconstructed, but the rest remained in ruins.

As a result, the residents of Ivaldi were still living in tents like this.

"There's no one around us."

"Of course not. We're outsiders after all. We've probably shaken off suspicions of being spies… but that doesn't mean we're completely trusted either."

Carl answered while taking off his shoes at Luke's comment.

The tent of the Arhi party was set up not far from the fortress walls.

It was away from the residential area of the Ivaldi locals, in a spot convenient for the wall guards to keep an eye on them.

Haviden sighed lightly at Carl's words.

"Being under suspicion isn't exactly pleasant."

"We can't help it, right?"

Carl shrugged his shoulders and tidied up his shoes.

"This era was full of traitors."

"…"

Luke and Haviden fell silent at Carl's remark.

Even now, 5,000 years after the Age of Calamity ended, there are still those who betray the world. Those known as Hero Hunters. So how bad must the Age of Calamity have been?

"The Hero of Beginnings had to eliminate countless traitors."

Duran said calmly.

It's a well-known story that Kyle buried countless traitors in the shadows.

"If there's suspicion, we just need to clear it. And we're not here to mess around. Being close to the wall is actually a good thing."

Duran clenched and unclenched his fists with a grin.

"Because it means we can be deployed to battle at any moment."

"That's true."

"We'd better stay in top condition."

Haviden stroked his chin, and Luke, clenching his fists, revealed his firm resolve.

"Ugh. I just want to rest comfortably."

"Excuse me!"

Just then, the tent flap opened and Eliana walked in carrying a sleeping bag under her arm.

Seeing her, Carl stepped in front of the sleeping bag placed at the corner of the tent.

“Don’t even think about it. Go back.”

"What do you take me for? I don’t mean it that way!”

"Then why'd you come into our tent with a sleeping bag?"

"Uh… to sleep here?"

"You're kidding me."

"Tch!"

Eliana clicked her tongue.

"Don't be stingy! Just swap with me! There's a big hole in mine! The wind blows right through it!”

Luke gave an awkward laugh as he watched her.

"Should I switch mine with yours?"

"No, Luke. Don't spoil her."

Carl said coldly, and Eliana placed her hands on her waist with a snap!

"I'm not asking you to just give it to me! Let's decide with rock-paper-scissors!"

“From the look of it, you already lost.”

"Yeah."

“I refuse. Don’t drag our tent into your tent’s problems.”

"Ah! Duran! You're so stingy!"

As Eliana pouted, Luke spoke.

"Then I'll sew it for you."

"Huh?"

"I'm good at that kind of thing."

Luke pulled out a needle and thread from his belongings like it was second nature.

"You're pretty self-sufficient, huh?"

Carl scratched his head at Luke's remark.

"It's nothing. I even made dolls for kids in my village when I was young."

With a soft smile, Luke began mending Eliana's sleeping bag.

"Carl, can I come in?"

Just then, Chelsea's voice came from outside the tent.

"Come in."

At Carl's words, the tent flap opened and the girls entered.

"What? You were here?"

"Loser."

Chelsea gave a dumbfounded look while Aru covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Who are you calling a loser!"

"You, of course."

Eliza mocked her, and Eliana shouted.

“One more match! Double or nothing for dinner!”

"Sunbae, please calm down."

Aina tried to calm the agitated Eliana.

"You did lose, didn't you? You should know how to accept defeat…"

"Waaah!"

Eliana got even more riled up.

"Aina, are you trying to provoke her instead?"

Carl said, making Aina flinch.

"Huh? Me?"

"You're not even aware?"

"Pathetic."

Chelsea shook her head.

"Chelsea, you act like the oldest here."

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Even though you're the smallest."

"Huh? You want your arm twisted?"

"Okay, enough chatter! Let's organize the situation before the Professor Artienne, Leo, and Drianna arrive."

Carl quickly changed the subject.

Currently, Leo, Artienne, and Drianna had gone ahead to meet the outsiders who arrived before them.

They needed to confirm whether the unconscious individuals in the infirmary were the advanced scouting team that preceded Leo's group.

"First off, the current time period….Well, Leo already confirmed it through Lord Dweno, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Before joining the Great Hero's party."

At Chelsea's words, Eliana scratched her head.

"This is troublesome."

Everyone nodded at her remark.

"Why is that?"

Luke asked, puzzled. Aina replied.

"There are no clues for the conquest."

"Ah!"

In general, conquering the Hero's World relies on retracing the steps of past heroes.

That's why Hero Studies, which focuses on analyzing heroic histories, has become the most important field for heroes.

In that sense, all the Hero Academy students were deeply familiar with the stories of Great Heroes. They've been exposed to countless tales of Great Heroes since childhood. Even if there were discrepancies from actual history, it was possible to piece things together to find clues for conquest.

The problem was that there were no records of Dweno's actions before joining Lysinas's party.

And unfortunately, they encountered Dweno in that unknown period.

"It's not just Lord Dweno. We know nothing about this place, Ivaldi. Other than the fact that this is Dweno's world, we have no clues for conquest."

'Well, Leo probably knows, so it's not a huge issue.'

At Carl's remark, Haviden spoke.

"But we can't just sit on our hands. Let's gradually look for clues."

"Right. For now, let's try to guess the conquest objective. If it's Dweno's world…"

Carl trailed off, and Aru crossed her arms.

"There's a high chance it's related to the Giant King Giath."

"Hmm… Make sense. Seeing that it's a fortress, we may have to fend off the Giant King's attack like last time."

Leo's party put their heads together, trying to assess the current situation.

The defensive capacity of the fortress. The conditions of the people inside, observed over a short time.

They were discussing everything they had seen and felt.

"But you know… this world… are we sure it's the Hero's World?"

Luke cautiously spoke up.

"If it's not the Hero's World, then what?"

"Well… maybe the Legion World or something…"

Everyone's expressions changed instantly at those words.

"You're right, that's a real possibility!"

Leo had already concluded it was the Legion World when he saw Dweno didn't remember him, but the others hadn't.

"Then the Legion World has gone berserk? But didn't Leo say the Legion Records are unstable and unlikely to go berserk?"

"Well, Leo doesn't know everything either. The Legion Record was something he hadn't predicted at all, remember?"

"Hmm!"

"Carl is right. Even the Black Rabbit isn't omniscient."

After listening to the conversation, Aina spoke after some thought.

"There are two methods to conquer a berserk Hero Dungeon, right?"

Once the Hero's World created by the Hero Record starts invading reality, it becomes unstable.

That means there are two possible conquest options.

One of them is to destroy the world entirely.

At Aina's words, Duran chimed in.

"The first method is to achieve a valid conquest objective. The second—"

"Destroy the Hero Record fragment, which is the core of the world."

Eliza added, trimming her nails.

"If this is the Legion World, then the second method might be the easiest, right?"

Originally, the group had ruled out the second method entirely. Even if it had gone berserk, the fragment belonged to Dweno, so recovering it was the top priority. The second method was the absolute last resort.

But if this is the Legion World, the situation changes.

At Eliza's words, Chelsea nodded.

"Yeah. All we need to do is find the dungeon entrance, enter the Legion World, and retrieve the record fragment. That's the simplest approach."

"For now, I think this is as far as we can go. We'll need the Black Rabbit to determine our next move."

Everyone nodded in agreement at Aru's words.

"Alright, time to rest. Back to your tent."

"My sleeping bag's not done yet."

"Even if we go, there's nothing to do. Carl, got any snacks?"

"Did you left snacks with me?"

"Yeah. You started that snack delivery service at the Magic Department dorm. I'm a VIP, remember?"

"Oh, right."

Carl pulled out a bag of cookies from his subspace.

"You carry that kind of thing in your subspace?"

Aru looked dumbfounded. Carl chuckled smugly.

"This Carl's subspace has everything, except what it doesn't."

Eliza looked at Carl with pity.

"Hmph, what's there to brag about, doing chores for others?"

"Aw, don't be like that."

Carl smiled sheepishly.

[System Error: An unauthorized being has invaded the world.]

"Wha?!"

Carl flinched in surprise.

He wasn't the only one.

Everyone's expressions changed at the message that popped up before their eyes.

But that wasn't the end of it, two more messages followed.

[Conquest Objective: Repeat the glorious history of victory. Massacre all the residents of Ivaldi.]

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Leo was on his way, guided by Enniha, along with Drianna and Artienne, to see the outsiders who had supposedly arrived earlier.

The rest of the party had gone ahead to the lodging where they'd be staying during their time here.

"Are the outsiders who arrived before us in very bad shape?"

Artienne asked with concern. Enniha gave a bitter smile.

"Yeah. It's a miracle they're even alive."

At Enniha's words, Drianna clenched her fist.

It wasn't confirmed yet whether they were the advance scouting team, but the timing made it almost certain.

The team had been led by Noren, who was also Professor Damien's colleague. And Drianna had taken Noren's classes herself.

[System Error: An unauthorized being has invaded the world.]

[Conquest Objective: Repeat the glorious history of victory. Massacre all the residents of Ivaldi.]

The three of them suddenly saw three messages pop up in front of them.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Enniha looked at them, confused.

"Ah, it's nothing…"

"Just got startled, teacher."

Artienne and Drianna awkwardly smiled, trying to act natural. But Leo just stared intently at the final message.

"Leo?"

Artienne called out carefully.

'What kind of sick joke is this?'

A killing intent flickered in Leo's crimson eyes.

[Conquest Objective (Hidden): Capture the disgraceful Dweno who survived alone.]