Editor : Amethyst00



As he followed Bihar toward Kyle's house, Carl carefully called out to Velkia.

"Miss Velkia."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Shouldn't Lady Luna be going home with you?"

At those words, Luna, who had been glancing at Carl and Freyna with some discomfort, smiled gently.

"What are you talking about? You're an official guest invited by Lysinas, aren't you? I should be the one treating you properly."

"You really don't have to go out of your way for us."

"Oh, don't be so modest."

Luna smiled brightly.

Seeing the intellectual curiosity in her eyes, Carl thought to himself.

'She's planning to experiment.'

Carl was well aware of Luna's immense intellectual curiosity, her passion for magic, and her unrelenting desire for exploration.

That's exactly why he had been so frightened when she mentioned dissection.

'If it's Luna, she could actually go through with it.'

Of course, it wasn't as if his life would be in danger.

But still, being dissected wasn't exactly a pleasant thought.

Shuddering, Carl desperately searched for Kyle in his heart.

'Please hurry, please hurry.'

As the group arrived in front of Kyle's house, they suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Sniffle— sniffle—

In front of Kyle's house, an elf with silver hair was crouched down, face buried in her knees.

Luna, looking at the silver-haired elf, asked Velkia,

"Who is she? Do you know her?"

"No."

"Bihar, do you?"

"If even Lady Luna and Velkia don't know her, there's no way I would."

"Eiran?"

At that moment, Carl stepped forward and spoke to the silver-haired elf.

Hearing his voice, Eiran lifted her head, her lake-like blue eyes widening before she burst into tears of relief.

"Sir Carl!"

'How did Eiran get into the Hero's Dungeon? Don't tell me she found the entrance herself?'

If that was the case, it meant someone outside had discovered the existence of the dungeon.

'That's a bit of a relief.'

Carl handed Eiran a handkerchief, his expression calm.

"I thought I was the only one left. Sniffle I didn't know what to do.

Sniffle"

"There, there. But calm down for now."

"Is she with you?"

Luna peeked her face over Carl's shoulder.

"Lady Luna, please don't just pop your head in like that. It's bad for the heart."

"Why?"

"Because you're so breathtakingly beautiful."

"Oh? So you know how to flatter?"

"Gasp?! Lady Luna?"

Eiran, startled, quickly wiped her face with the handkerchief Carl gave her.

"Ah, hello."

Luna, who had been staring closely at the bowing Eiran, smiled warmly and hugged her.

"Look at you. So cute. You look a lot like Velkia."

"I'm prettier."

Velkia spoke in a sulky voice.

"Our little Velkia, are you jealous?"

Luna let go of Eiran.

"Anyway, Carl. So you know this girl?"

"Yes. She's a friend."

"Oh ho?"

'Is she from the future too?'

Luna's eyes sparkled.

Seeing that, Carl thought,

'Perfect. I'll just throw Eiran to Lady Luna.'

Carl, having found a scapegoat, gave a meaningful smile.

After a short conversation, the group entered Kyle's house.

"This house is… really tidy."

Seeing the interior, Freyna spoke in a slightly bewildered voice.

"Right? It's clean like he has an obsessive-compulsive disorder."

At Luna's words, Freyna muttered to herself,

'This goes beyond OCD.'

Freyna felt a chill in the house.

As a Shadow candidate, she could tell.

The owner of this space, Kyle the Hero of Beginnings, was someone always ready to die.

This was different from just being prepared for death.

'He seems to have no attachment to life.'

People like that don't usually live long.

Yet Kyle had saved the world in its final moment as the last remaining person.

Freyna was feeling the irony of it all when—

Luna went into the kitchen and began preparing food as if it were the most natural thing.

"Everyone, sit down. Since the host isn't here, I'll handle the guest service."

At her words, Velkia and Bihar hesitated, looking around nervously.

"Oh no. Even if you're letting us stay and feeding us, it's not right to do nothing. I'll cook."

"Lady Luna, the guest says she'll cook."

"Please, Lady Luna, sit down and rest."

With Carl's perfectly timed support, Velkia and Bihar quickly pushed Luna toward a chair.

"Huh? I can cook. I've been practicing lately, so it's not that bad."

Though Luna looked reluctant and disappointed, Carl swiftly donned an apron and entered the kitchen.

Seated, Luna glanced around the interior of the house and clicked her tongue.

'This room always puts me in a foul mood.'

She knew why there was nothing in Kyle's house.

That's why she didn't like it.

'Should I just drag him to my house?'

Sighing, Luna glanced at Eiran and Freyna, who were quietly sitting and observing.

'Kids from the future.'

Carl had never directly said he was from the future.

But Luna was certain that he and the others were.

She had figured it out while investigating Carl's magic system.

'It's not from this era.'

Nor was it from a distant past.

It was a clearly advanced magical system.

'Lysinas seemed to have noticed after talking with that girl, too.'

Luna glanced at Freyna, then turned to look at Velkia and Bihar.

She couldn't tell those two yet.

'Just knowing they're from the future would cause huge confusion.'

Even though Luna had joked about dissecting them, she didn't really plan on doing anything beyond that.

'Influence from the future could mess with the timeline. Or worse—split it.'

Thinking about various theories, Luna indulged in pleasant speculation.

Then suddenly, she had a thought.

'What does our future look like?'

She wasn't surprised to learn they had saved the world.

Luna had always believed in the hope that Lysinas had spoken of.

She had firm belief in herself and her comrades, and had no doubt they'd save the world in some form.

So what she really wondered about was what had become of herself.

'Did Kyle and I get married and have kids? Hmm. I wonder how many?'

As Luna dreamed about the future—

Bang—

The door opened and Kyle entered.

Seeing Carl in the kitchen, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god. Luna didn't cook."

"What's that supposed to mean, you damn bastard?"

Luna laughed as she grabbed Kyle by the collar.

"What the—? There's one more now?"

"Ah, hello! I'm Eiran."

Seeing Eiran bow in greeting, Kyle chuckled.

"You look a bit like Velkia, but unlike her, you're cute."

"I'm cuter!"

"You're not cute."

Velkia glared at Kyle with full annoyance.

Seated, Kyle asked Luna,

"By the way, have you heard from Aaron, who went to Raysar?"

"No. Looks like he's still searching for the Guardian of the Azure Sky."

"Really?"

"Speaking of which, Kyle, didn't you say you investigated Raysar's internal situation during your last support trip?"

"I did."

"How was it? Lysinas seemed uneasy lately, debating whether or not to accept refugees from there."

'How was it?'

Kyle poured water into a cup and recalled Raysar's situation.

Last time…

He remembered the condition inside Raysar.

'It was rotten to the core. Better to cut it out entirely.'

Even Kyle hadn't expected Raysar to be in such a state.

'It's basically half under Tartaros's control.'

If they carelessly accepted refugees, defectors might slip in with them.

But Kyle couldn't tell his comrades this.

Because if they knew, Lysinas would undoubtedly try everything to save Raysar.

'Right now, just managing Godthrone is overwhelming.'

Though acting composed, Lysinas was under immense strain.

The damages from the Giant King's invasion had been too severe.

It wasn't just Lysinas.

Luna, Dwenno, and Aaron were all feeling intense pressure.

'We're at our limit.'

In such a situation, they couldn't take on more.

'Raysar won't fall immediately anyway.'

Kyle decided it was best to observe for now and said,

"There wasn't anything serious."

"I see."

Luna nodded, trusting his words.

Meanwhile…

Cooking while listening in, Carl fell into thought.

'Lord Aaron is alone in Raysar?'

Carl's mind raced.

'This world belongs to Lord Aaron. And our goal is to ensure someone survives.'

Having reached that point, Carl arrived at one conclusion.

'Could it be… that our objective is to keep Lord Aaron alive in Raysar?'

With a potential clue in hand, Carl glanced at Kyle.

'But Leo… no, Lord Kyle said there wasn't anything wrong in Raysar?'

Suddenly, their eyes met.

Carl smiled awkwardly and focused on the cooking.

'Was that a lie?'

It might have been.

'I should talk to Eiran about it later.'

bl

Meanwhile.

"What is going on here?"

Damien looked at the students of the Hero Academy with a blank expression.

Drianna answered calmly.

"We're all working together to devise a strategy for Lord Aaron's world."

Spearheaded by the third-years, students of each Hero Academy were brainstorming how to overcome [The Fall of Raysar].

"I can tell that without you saying it."

Damien frowned.

"What I'm asking is—why are you trying to prevent the fall of Raysar?"

He had a point.

The students weren't merely strategizing to survive the world.

They were trying to go above and beyond.

They were discussing how to save Raysar—something that didn't happen in history.

"According to known information, Raysar is the city of traitors."

"Right."

"And Erebos was summoned despite it being a situation where that shouldn't have been possible."

"Correct. If you're careless, you could end up facing a fully summoned Erebos."

Damien said,

"With your current abilities, you can't even take on the legion commanders from that time, let alone Erebos. Don't do anything reckless—"

"Then shouldn't we just prevent Erebos from being summoned?"

"What?"

"If Erebos, who shouldn't have been summoned, was summoned, then it must be tied to the traitors. So if we stop the summoning, it solves the problem, right?"

Damien burst out laughing.

His sudden laughter made the students fall silent and look at him.

Scanning the group, Damien spoke.

"Lord Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, abandoned Raysar because that was the best option at the time."

"I know."

Drianna responded calmly.

"Then why try to save it?"

Damien's voice turned cold and precise.

"Are you planning to throw your lives away on a hopeless cause?"

"Wow, that's so rude. Who does he think he is, talking like that?"

Eliana muttered quietly.

When Damien turned his gaze to her, she quickly hid behind Chloe.

Looking at Drianna again, Damien said, "Know your limits. You can't save Raysar."

"Maybe not."

Drianna smiled.

"But we all studied the Hero's World to achieve above-average results in school."

"……"

"It was a precious goal left behind by the Heroes of Dawn when they established the academy."

She looked Damien in the eyes.

"He told us Dwarves to 'pursue possibility.'"

"That's because Damien himself couldn't pursue possibility."

Damien's voice was cold.

"And not just him. Lumene despaired at his limits and gave up. Seiren couldn't trust herself. Azonia was stuck in the past and couldn't move forward. The Heroes of Dawn were just people who pushed what they couldn't do onto the next generation."

It was a denial of the legacy of the Heroes of Dawn.

Unforgivable words to the academy students.

Tension grew thick in the room.

"That may be."

Drianna said evenly.

"But if the next generation still hopes—then it means those Heroes sincerely wished it would be so."

Drianna spoke firmly.

"Lord Kyle abandoned Raysar. I'm sure it was the best choice back then. But this is a different time, isn't it?"

Her resolve was unwavering.

Seeing her believe in her own potential without doubt, Damien clenched his fist.

At that moment—

"What's going on?"

Leo appeared.

Drianna looked at him and said with a bright smile,

"It's nothing much."

"We're just drawing up a strategy to save Raysar."

"I thought I told you not to."

To that, Drianna shrugged.

"Kids never listen to adults anyway."