Editor : Amethyst00



Swaaahhh—

Drizzle fell from the sky.

"Of all times, it had to rain."

Carl clicked his tongue while looking up at the sky.

Though the rain came suddenly, the second- and third-year students calmly took out and wore their raincoats like it was routine.

"Why is it raining!"

"Ugh! My socks are all soaked!"

However, among the first-years, complaints were pouring out.

Students admitted to Lumene are born with exceptional talent in various fields from a young age.

As such, many of them are treated like precious gems by their countries and noble families.

Even if they have great skills and field experience from monster subjugation, it's rare for them to experience such rapidly changing field conditions before enrollment.

Therefore, new students complaining in situations like this was a yearly tradition.

Especially since they were in the mountains, the ground was turning to mud.

"Everyone, calm down."

Luke stepped forward to soothe the younger students.

"But! Luke-sunbae! Our uniforms are getting dirty!"

First-year girls from the Knight Department whined to Luke.

Juen stood next to Luke and crossed her arms.

"This kind of thing happens all the time at Lumene. Don't act spoiled!"

The first-years flinched at Juen's words.

Watching this, Eliana stifled a laugh.

"Second years, who were all pouty during their first field class, are now acting like senior mentors?"

"You're one to talk, Eliana. Didn't you get scolded by Professor Harrid during our first field class in the rain?"

"Hey! Carl! That's—!"

"What happened?"

Chloe tilted her head, curious, and Carl chuckled.

"During our first-year combat practice, a sudden downpour hit. Eliana ran straight to Professor Harrid and suggested moving the class indoors."

Chloe looked at Eliana with disbelief.

"When the professor asked her why, her answer was priceless!"

"Don't! Stop!"

Eliana, her face bright red, clamped her hand over Carl's mouth.

Chloe, who had been listening with interest, glanced at Leo.

Leo responded casually.

"She said she'd just bought new shoes and didn't want them getting dirty."

"Class rep!"

Eliana glared at Leo with a mix of betrayal and embarrassment, and Chloe burst out laughing.

"That is so Eliana."

While Eliana poked Leo repeatedly in frustration with her finger—

Carl walked up to the first years.

"Well, as your senior, shall I extend some kindness? Hey, first-years. Line up. I'll hand out raincoats now."

At those words, the first years quickly formed a line in front of Carl.

"You see those raincoats Leo and Chloe are wearing? It's the same as those."

Carl pointed to Leo and Chloe.

In fact, nearly half of the second- and third years were wearing the same raincoats.

The logo on the raincoats showed a summoning circle engraved alchemy cauldron with a sword stuck into it.

They were items Carl had made.

"I'll lend them to you. Make sure to return them later, alright?"

"Thank you!"

The first years accepted the raincoats one by one.

"Wow! It's so comfortable!"

"It doesn't even feel like I'm getting wet."

"No wonder you're always prepared! So thorough!"

The first years marveled and moved around excitedly.

"Surprising you're lending them for free."

"Heh. It's a kind of promotion."

Carl replied to Leo, sounding nonchalant.

"Promotion?"

"These are pretty expensive. Do you think they'd just buy them if I told them to? They have to try them out and see how good they are before they're convinced."

"You're thorough."

"Heh. You think I worked my bones off for two years for nothing? I even bought a building in Lumeria City with the money I made."

"A student's duty is to study."

Chloe narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms, and Carl wagged his finger.

"Running a business is also part of life education."

"You sure talk smooth."

Chloe shook her head, and Carl gave her a thumbs up.

After confirming the first years had put on the raincoats, Leo gathered the students.

"The orc settlement subjugation will be divided into three teams. First, Team One."

Leo glanced at Carl.

"Team leader is Carl. The team members are first- and second years."

"First- and second years, gather around me."

The students quickly lined up in front of Carl.

"Team Two's leader is Hyllui."

A third-year girl from the Summoning Department nodded.

Leo then called out the names of the third years assigned to Team Two.

"Team Three will be Chloe and me."

"What about me, class rep?"

"Eliana, stay here and oversee the first years."

"Okay. Got it."

As the team assignments ended, murmurs spread among the first years.

"Leo-sunbae and Chloe-sunbae are moving alone?"

"Even if it's just orcs, if it's a full settlement, their numbers won't be small."

"Will they be alright?"

One first-year cautiously approached Eliana.

"Um… Eliana-sunbae. It seems like there aren't enough people for the subjugation. Maybe we should suggest to the student council president to recruit some first-years?"

"Not enough people? That's not possible."

Eliana shook her head.

"If anything, we have more than enough."

"Huh? But Team Three only has the student council president and Chloe-sunbae, right?"

Looking at the confused student, Eliana smiled gently.

"If I may give you one piece of advice as your senior. It's best to quickly forget whatever common sense you brought with you, if you plan to stay at Lumene."

"Excuse me?"

"Those who continually challenge their limits far exceed the common sense of ordinary people. Especially—"

Eliana glanced at Chloe.

"Chloe is even more special. Calling her a monster wouldn't be a stretch. Honestly, a settlement of orcs? She could wipe them out alone."

The first years held their breath at Eliana's words.

They wondered if it was a joke, but there wasn't a trace of humor on her face.

"Is that… really possible?"

"Of course. The heroes you aspire to be are people who create miracles. As such, even hero candidates must create miracles."

"Then… what about Leo-sunbae?"

Leo, the youngest student council president and already hailed as Lumene's strongest since his second year.

If hero candidate Chloe had such overwhelming strength, what level was Leo at?

"Hmm… the class rep?"

Eliana clicked her tongue.

"He's basically a demon king."

bl

Swaaahhh—!

Rain fell in the mountains.

The area assigned to Leo and Chloe was near the mountain's summit.

"The orc settlement—think it's Tartaros's doing?"

"Most likely."

Mount Luderwa was a fairly large mountain.

Its terrain was rugged, and it lacked resources like mana stones or minerals.

Not even spirit beasts or elementals inhabited it—there was little value to it.

Naturally, it had become a land abandoned by humans.

And in mountains untouched by humans, monsters tend to appear.

However, Mount Luderwa was not far from Lumene.

It was a place Lumene regularly sent students to for subjugation missions.

The Hero Academy has a 3,000-year history.

Normally, a monster ecosystem would have long since disappeared.

But Mount Luderwa had seen continuous monster appearances for 3,000 years.

Even after Lumene conducted massive subjugations, monsters still returned.

"The Cursed Land."

Leo looked up at the mountain and murmured to himself.

There are places like Mount Luderwa all over the world, where monsters endlessly appear.

To understand how these cursed lands came to be, one must go back to the Age of Calamity.

These cursed lands are where Erebos was summoned.

Erebos—the nemesis of the gods.

The gods vanished from the world due to Erebos's unquenchable flame of destruction.

But that didn't mean the gods allowed Erebos to act freely.

When Erebos appeared 5,000 years ago, the gods trapped him at the easternmost edge of the world—the final destination of the Great Heroes and the place where Leo had his last battle.

The reason Erebos used Tartaros to destroy the world was to expand his range of movement.

If he burned and corrupted lands occupied by Tartaros's legion, Erebos could freely move through those areas.

The lands where Erebos had been summoned retained his aura and eventually became known as cursed lands.

"There's no way to lift the curse for now."

It was fundamentally the same as the Forest of Monsters, Luna's homeland, which had been cursed by Sillatna for 5,000 years.

That forest was freed from its curse after Sillatna was defeated.

Likewise, cursed lands would be freed only if Erebos were completely destroyed.

Normally, cursed lands weren't too problematic.

They were treated as just troublesome areas.

Because of the constant monster activity, people didn't live nearby.

And countries with cursed lands conducted regular subjugations to disrupt the monster ecosystems.

But sometimes, like now, large-scale monster outbreaks occurred.

This happened whenever Tartaros intervened.

"But don't you think something's off?"

Chloe's words made Leo nod.

"It is strange."

The world now stood at a turning point in history.

The return of the Great Heroes.

The appearance of gods.

The subjugation of Erebos's fragments.

As if the hands of time, halted since the upheaval, had begun to move again—

A series of astonishing miracles had occurred.

In response, Tartaros's movements became more covert.

Yet in such a time, a massive orc settlement suddenly formed in a cursed land.

There's no way Tartaros didn't know this would raise alarm.

"That's why we came to investigate."

Leo stopped walking.

Chloe stood behind him.

In the distance, a massive orc settlement came into view.

Even at a glance, it looked like there were hundreds of orcs.

Leo activated his heightened senses to observe the settlement's activity.

"Orc Shaman King."

"There's a Shaman King?"

Chloe's eyes widened in shock.

Ordinary orcs are classified as low-level monsters.

But they boast overwhelming numbers.

As such, powerful mutated orcs often appear.

Among them are shamans who use dark magic.

Those shamans with powerful dark energy are given the title Shaman King.

And an Orc Shaman King can be stronger than many high-ranking demons.

It's said only one appears every 100 years—no wonder Chloe was surprised.

"Prepare your magic."

Leo drew his sword, and Chloe nodded.

She summoned her staff.

Tap—

She touched the ground with her staff and closed her eyes.

Gooooo—!

Cold air began to surge.

Swaaah— Tck-tck-tck-tck—

The rain around Chloe began to freeze, turning into ice pellets that fell to the ground.

And Chloe began to expand her magical domain.

As her immense mana swirled, the orcs sensed something was wrong.

But Chloe completed her spell faster than they could react.

"Fimbulvetr."

Crack-crack-crack—

An irresistible cold swept across the area.