Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 141

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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141.

“Lady Serjia. Please straighten your back gracefully.”

“Yes.”

“Please smile a little more benevolently.”

“…Yes.”

“Your voice is trembling. Is there perhaps something troubling you?”

‘Something troubling? If we’re talking about troubling things, there are plenty.’

Serjia calmed her trembling lips.

‘Because there’s this damn house drilling etiquette into me!’

Entering the dressing room, Serjia screamed inwardly.

For Serjia, no, for Runia, this moment was an absolutely terrible time.

Dozens of maids were moving solely for her sake.

They continuously brought gorgeous dresses and dressed Runia in them.

All of them were clothes that looked expensive enough to draw gasps of admiration.

Though Runia had a rough personality, she was still a girl at an age where she loved to dress up.

There was no way she wouldn’t be interested in pretty clothes and beautiful accessories.

‘But there should be some moderation!’

It had already been several hours since entering the Hero Dungeon.

When she first recognized her situation, she was tense and agreed to the situation before her to gather information.

She didn’t do anything that could be criticized even slightly.

Though Runia found elven etiquette stifling, she had still lived as the heir of a Renowned Hero Family since childhood.

Recently, as Seirun’s class representative, she had been acting like an honor student wherever she went.

Finding something stifling and being unable to do it well were separate matters.

Therefore, Runia had considerable confidence in elven etiquette.

But this was going way too far.

‘If I breathe a little deeply, they make a fuss about it! If I blink, they point out that I blinked! If I don’t smile, they complain that I’m not smiling! No! They should at least give me time to catch my breath! And right now we’re still preparing!’

Runia was on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the relentless etiquette lessons of the man before her.

Moreover, she was enduring this under the pretense of party preparation, so her irritation couldn’t help but rise to the top of her head.

Just how much more would she have to be careful when she actually went to the party?

‘I might go crazy.’

Even the etiquette teachers at Seirun, famous for being strict, were child’s play compared to this man.

‘Calm down, calm down. First I need to assess the situation.’

Runia looked at the face of the woman named Serjia, whom she had possessed, standing before the mirror.

Overall blue hair reminiscent of water and large lake-colored eyes.

She was a girl around Runia’s age.

Runia, who had been staring intently at her appearance in the mirror, smiled slightly.

‘I’m not suffering from princess syndrome, but… I can be confident about this. I’m prettier.’

Runia thought she was prettier than this girl.

‘Plus, I even have a kind heart.’

If Leo had heard this, he would have asked if her kind heart had been ground up, but unfortunately Leo wasn’t here.

‘But what era is this exactly, and what’s this girl’s status?’

In the limited space, Runia tried her best to gather information.

But among the dozens of maids, not one spoke to her in a friendly manner.

Far from speaking to her, when they made eye contact with Runia, they would startle and quickly turn their heads away.

It was as if they were extremely afraid of Serjia.

Runia found this fact very unpleasant.

‘No matter how old-fashioned the times, the maids’ reactions are abnormal.’

Even in the current era, there were plenty of authoritarian families, and she had seen enough idiots who thought they were chosen ones at Seirun to be sick of them.

But there were none who made their own kind cower in fear to this extent.

In elven society, excessive authority is a flaw.

They think that creating barriers of status is something only vulgar people do.

Runia was no different.

But now there was definitely a sense that social classes were clearly divided.

At every single gesture, the maids would flinch and squeeze their eyes shut.

It looked as if they feared being struck.

She could easily guess how hysterically tyrannical this girl she had entered must have been normally.

‘She must be a woman with completely rotten character. Just how backward is this era?’

She didn’t know for sure, but she could tell it was an unimaginably distant past.

‘But I can’t exactly ask what era this is.’

If she said something strange and aroused suspicion, the dungeon strategy could get complicated.

Right now she had no choice but to be careful with every action.

Swish-

Runia opened the dressing room curtain and stepped out, standing before the man who was currently the only one she could converse with.

The man stared intently at Runia’s appearance, then furrowed his brow.

“I suppose this one would be best after all.”

He pointed to one dress.

“That’s the outfit I wore earlier.”

It was the first outfit Runia had worn when she entered the Hero Dungeon.

“Yes. No matter how I look at it, that one seems most suitable.”

A vein bulged on Runia’s forehead.

‘Then why did you make me suffer like hell until now!’

Suppressing the urge to lunge at him, Runia went back into the dressing room to change into the dress.

When Runia came out of the dressing room and was adjusting her accessories and makeup to match the dress.

Knock knock-

“Come in.”

“Lord Ether.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a small problem…”

“What kind of problem has occurred?”

The man who entered the room looked like a knight.

Runia perked up her ears at the two men’s conversation.

Ether, who glanced at Runia, gestured with his chin and went outside the room.

‘Hmm. Must be a secret conversation.’

Click-

The door closed.

An opportunity to gather information had come.

Even if it was trivial, Runia didn’t want to miss this chance.

Perk-

She perked up her pointed ears and enhanced her hearing.

“An intruder has appeared in the underground prison.”

“An intruder?”

“Yes. The one who harmed Lady Serjia’s fiancé in today’s lesson has escaped from jail.”

“What?”

‘Hehe! I can hear everything! You fools.’

Runia made a meaningful expression inwardly.

No matter how superior an elf’s hearing, an untrained one wouldn’t have been able to hear those sounds.

But Runia, who was a Hero Cadet, was different.

Though she couldn’t handle aura, she had diligently trained to sharpen her senses using mana.

‘If I don’t do this kind of training, I won’t be able to keep up with that guy.’

Thinking of Leo, Runia continued to concentrate on eavesdropping on the conversation.

‘Looking at how carelessly they’re having this conversation, it seems this child isn’t particularly gifted in mana abilities. I should refrain from using magic or fairies in front of others. And she has a fiancé…’

Gathering clues from even trivial matters, Runia’s mind raced quickly.

“Excuse me.”

“Y-yes!”

When she spoke, the face of the maid who had been applying makeup to Runia’s cheek turned pale.

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

Watching the maid kneel and beg for forgiveness, Runia looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

‘Just how terrible a life has this child been living?’

To panic and apologize like that just from being called.

“You’ve done nothing wrong. So there’s nothing to apologize for. I just have something I’m curious about and want to ask.”

“Y-yes!”

“Is my fiancé alright? I heard he was injured.”

The maid answered, still unable to shake off her fear.

“Yes… I heard that Lord Hirukkian suffered a serious injury in an unexpected accident during class today. But he said he would be able to attend His Highness’s birthday party, so you need not worry.”

“His Highness?”

“Yes.”

Runia’s face changed strangely at the unfamiliar term.

Creak-

Meanwhile, Ether entered the room again.

With the same expressionless face as before, he bowed his head upon seeing the prepared Runia.

“You are beautiful enough to not shame the name of princess, Lady Serjia.”

‘Princess? Princess?’

Runia knew that there was once a time when elves had the status of princess.

The problem was that it was 5000 years ago. And that was before the Age of Calamity.

‘Wait! Princess? Then this is the era from 5000 years ago?’

“Let us go see His Highness before going to the party hall, Lady Serjia.”

Ether bowed his head and escorted Runia.

Even while being escorted, Runia’s mind spun furiously.

‘If this is the world before the Age of Calamity… then the world we’ve entered is one of three.’

Among the heroes recorded in Hero Record, there were only three heroes officially known to have lived before the Age of Calamity.

Risinass, the King of Wisdom.

Dweno, the Divine Blacksmith.

And Luna, the Progenitor of the Starry Skies.

‘This world is clearly connected to elves! Which means! If this is before the Age of Calamity, then this is Lady Luna’s world!’

She recalled her previous encounter with Luna.

The Progenitor of the Starry Skies whom she met for a brief moment after defeating the Skeleton King.

The appearance of the great Progenitor, who was different from what she had imagined but possessed beauty and irresistible charm beyond anyone else.

At that time, they couldn’t even have a proper conversation.

‘Ah! Here I might be able to have a conversation with the Progenitor!’

Runia’s eyes sparkled.

Having a conversation with the Progenitor!

What a dreamlike phrase that was!

‘I could discuss magic with Lady Luna! Get advice about magic from Lady Luna! Be praised by Lady Luna! That’s possible! Please let this be Lady Luna’s world!’

Runia felt her heart pounding.

Yet outwardly, she maintained perfect etiquette.

Walking down the corridor, Runia reached a massive door carved with tree designs.

Knights who clearly possessed tremendous skill stood there.

The knights paid their respects to Runia and then opened the massive door.

Creak-!

Instantly, darkness like an abyss was visible beyond the door.

Pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen ahead.

Seeing this, Runia felt her face stiffen.

‘What… what is this?’

She quickly regained her composure.

Meanwhile, the darkness disappeared and the scene of an audience hall spread before her eyes.

‘Did I see it wrong?’

She wondered if she had seen an illusion.

But Runia swallowed dry saliva.

Her instincts were telling her.

To prepare her heart firmly.

Runia took a deep breath.

“Lady Serjia.”

Ether sent her a reproachful look.

If it had been earlier, Runia would have felt annoyed, but now she didn’t even have time for that.

Ignoring Ether, Runia carefully stepped into the audience hall.

In that moment…

She felt goosebumps rise all over her body.

She quickly calmed her trembling body.

And feigned composure.

But her heart was screaming.

‘This place… what is this place!’

She wanted to quickly escape from here.

Her breath caught and cold sweat flowed.

But only Runia felt this pressure.

“Come here, my daughter, princess.”

A kind voice came from the high throne.

“I congratulate you on your birthday.”

Lifting her head to see the Elf King, Ergen, Runia spoke sparingly and acted the part of a high-born princess.

She smiled a lovely smile.

And Runia finally saw it.

She also understood why she felt primal fear in this space.

The vast audience hall was inside a giant ancient tree.

Though Runia didn’t know it, this was the very center of Barharlun, the High Elf city.

Inside the World Tree in Barharlun.

A sacred place that only opened when the Elf King visited Barharlun.

The interior of the World Tree, called the treasure of the elves, was literally vast.

This place was used as the Elf King’s audience hall.

Behind the Elf King’s throne was a huge empty space.

At least everyone present here perceived it as empty space.

Runia gripped her hands so hard that her nails dug into her palms as she looked at what was visible behind Ergen.

If she didn’t do this, her hands would surely tremble like leaves.

‘…What… what is that…’

In the empty space slept a deformed monster that Runia had never seen before.

A monster that could never be seen by the eyes of the residents of this false world.

A monster visible only to Runia’s real eyes.

She wasn’t worried about screaming.

Forget screaming, it was hard to even breathe.

She barely hid her labored breathing.

And was grateful that the monster before her eyes was in deep sleep.

‘Is it a monster from Tartaros?’

The monster instilled terror through its very existence.

A monster wrapped in black flames that seemed ready to burn everything at any moment.

Something flashed through Runia’s mind as she thought up to that point.

Suddenly, she remembered the contents of a fairy tale book she had loved so much since childhood.

The fairy tale book that made Runia admire heroes… the great Progenitor.

In that fairy tale book, there was one evil villain.

‘That evil primordial darkness shouted at the Great Heroes. “Graaah-! I’ll devour you all!”‘

‘So cliché! So cliché!’

Why was it? Why did the contents of the fairy tale book her mother used to read so playfully suddenly come to mind?

What was the reason she remembered her childhood self jeering at that incarnation of evil?

‘The Great Heroes will defeat it anyway!’

Perhaps it was her life flashing before her eyes?

Or maybe it was because she knew there were no more Great Heroes left to defeat that primordial evil?

The reason didn’t matter.

Either way, Runia had realized what this monster before her eyes was.

‘It’s too… exactly the same… as the fairy tale book.’

Runia squeezed her eyes shut.

‘Erebos.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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