Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 175

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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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175

Click-

Leo, who had returned to his dormitory room, sat down at his desk.

Before he knew it, the sun had set.

‘Is summer finally coming to an end?’

Feeling the cooler weather, Leo looked up at the sky where moonlight was streaming down.

Then he took out an old journal from his chest.

Swoosh-

He carefully stroked the leather cover.

From the first moment he met Risinass.

He had often seen him writing here every evening.

Leo took a light breath and opened the journal.

Just like he had seen earlier in the Forbidden Library, blank pages with nothing written appeared.

Seeing this, Leo channeled mana into his fingertips.

A faint light emanated from the page, and Risinass’s neat handwriting emerged.

The journal began from before meeting Kail.

To be precise, it started from when the Age of Calamity began.

Flip- Flip-

‘These are all stories I heard from Risinass long ago.’

Flip-

Stories his past friend had told him came to mind.

Leo’s hand paused as he reminisced about the conversations he had shared with his friend.

[Today I met the ‘Surviving Hero’. He’s as twisted in personality as the rumors say. His abilities are solid, but how do I fix this pessimistic personality? How exactly should I lead this guy?]

‘This guy. He was planning to drag me into the expedition force from the very beginning?’

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

His first meeting with Risinass in Gardstron came to mind.

‘Our first meeting was at the Mercenary Guild.’

Risinass at that time was called a fool.

To the people of that time, Risinass, who went around boasting that he would defeat Erebos in a world full of despair, must not have seemed sane.

‘It was such a desperate era after all.’

A desperate time when people spent each day just hoping that Erebos and Tartaros wouldn’t invade.

Kail too was busy drinking at the Mercenary Guild as usual.

‘You’re the Surviving Hero Kail, right?’

‘Then you’re that lizard called a fool? What business do you have with me?’

‘You. Won’t you become my companion?’

He had been surprised by the sudden proposal.

The ‘Surviving Hero’ of that time was a symbol of misfortune.

No one wanted to become companions with Kail.

A hand extended to him who was accustomed to being alone.

But for Kail, Risinass’s proposal was unwelcome.

‘Sorry, but I’ll have to decline. I’m not interested in suicide.’

“The first meeting was the worst.”

Even after that, Risinass persistently came looking for Kail for several weeks.

The journal, which had been sparsely written, was recorded daily during that period.

‘He wrote a ton of curses. Well, it couldn’t be helped. I was quite snappy back then.’

Tsk- Even as he clicked his tongue, Leo recalled the memories of those days.

Even when it would have been reasonable to give up, Risinass didn’t give up.

Then one day.

Tartaros launched a massive invasion of Gardstron.

To stop that invasion, Kail and Risinass formed a party for the first time.

And on the plain piled with corpses, Risinass said.

“No matter how I think about it, my choice wasn’t wrong.”

Risinass said while looking at the gray sky.

“As I thought, it can only be you. Kail.”

Risinass smiled brightly.

Kail saw some inexplicable light in that smile.

“You are the beginning.”

The white, delicate hand that had been extended countless times without giving up.

“Come with me, Kail. I need you.”

A world filled only with despair.

In that world, Risinass smiling so hopefully was initially irritating.

Kail of that time was no different from other people.

The world’s destruction was not far off.

It was a time when he spent his days in debauchery, saying let’s just live today as happily as possible, endlessly falling.

Perhaps it was natural that Risinass was irritating.

If Kail was stepping toward darkness… Risinass was stepping toward light.

“Why me?”

“Because you’re strong. You’ll survive to the end, and.”

“And?”

“Even though you’ve given up and despaired, your eyes are still alive.”

Risinass smiled faintly.

“They’re shining in the darkness.”

It was the first time in his life.

The first moment someone had seemed so noble.

“What you desire is such a foolish wish. It’s impossible.”

But until the end, Kail denied Risinass’s wish.

But even with such denial, this foolish woman remained consistent.

“You’re right, Kail. My wish is indeed a foolish wish.”

Without thinking to withdraw her extended hand, she said.

“But Kail. We will save the world.”

That heart that wouldn’t give up.

That consistently noble appearance.

“Come with me. You won’t have to see companions dying before your eyes anymore. Because I’m strong too.”

Saved Kail.

When he took that extended hand, Kail had thought.

He wanted to fulfill this impossibly foolish wish.

[Finally this disobedient damn bastard joined the expedition force. He’s a guy who absolutely won’t listen. But still, he’s taken one step forward now. This meeting will surely change the fate of the world.]

The journal continued after that.

The day Luna joined.

The day Arron joined.

And the day even Dweno gathered.

The expedition force took shape.

Just as Risinass had boasted, the world began to regain its light.

[Tomorrow the final expedition begins. All preparations are complete. I’ve done everything I could. Now only defeating Erebos remains. I hope I can achieve my ideal.]

With that, the journal ended.

In the last expedition, Risinass had left this journal behind and departed.

Leo, who had read the entire journal, flipped through the blank pages with a flutter.

Then he paused at the last page.

[To Kail]

Leo swallowed his breath.

It was clearly a letter that Risinass had written to Kail.

‘This is a letter Risinass left for his companions… The reason I can see the letter meant for me is because it reacted to my mana.’

He took a deep breath at his friend’s letter and turned the page.

[If you’re reading this letter instead of me… it means the world has been saved, but I died in the final expedition.]

Clench-

Leo’s hand tightened with force.

[You’re a twisted guy. Always being sarcastic and cursing. There were many times I really wanted to punch you hard in the solar plexus, but I held back each time.]

‘…No. What about all those drop kicks you landed on my solar plexus? Doesn’t count because it wasn’t a punch?’

He let out a hollow laugh while continuing to read the letter.

[But… my choice wasn’t wrong. If you’re reading this letter, it means the world could be saved because you were there.]

“…I couldn’t do anything alone.”

He denied Risinass’s words.

[Kail. Thank you for following me on my reckless expedition.

And I’m sorry.

I hoped you wouldn’t become a hero who survives alone.

But in the end, I showed you the sight of a friend dying.

I promised it wouldn’t happen like that… I’m truly sorry for not keeping that promise.

So I hope your future will be happy. That you won’t be left alone anymore.

I hope you won’t be someone who survives alone anymore.

It was fun being together.

If the world becomes peaceful… I really hope you’ll be happy. Kail]

Drip- Drip-

May blessings be upon you as you begin a new era. From Risinass.]

The contents of the letter became blurry.

Tears that had begun flowing down his cheeks moistened the letter’s contents.

“You damn lizard… you said you wouldn’t show me your death…”

He had never turned away from his companions’ deaths.

But he hadn’t overcome or gotten past them either.

He just thought he had become numb to it.

But the tears wouldn’t stop.

How could he not shed tears at a letter from a friend who worried about him even after death?

Leo composed his emotions while thinking of his dear companion who had left first.

[P.S.: I really wasn’t going to say this, you know? But I just can’t hold it in.]

He read the text at the bottom of the page with a puzzled expression and turned the page.

[Bastard. Idiot. Moron. Dimwit. Stop breathing. Go die. Stick your nose in water and drown.]

Leo momentarily wore an absurd expression at the curses and profanity written large enough to fill the page, completely ruining the touching atmosphere.

Unlike the neat handwriting before, this was very irritated.

“What the hell, suddenly…”

Feeling his tears stop, he turned the page with a bewildered face.

[I liked you. You never knew until the end, did you?]

“…”

Leo blinked at Risinass’s final words.

He mulled over the text several times.

Still, he couldn’t understand it.

‘So this is a letter Risinass wrote, so I am Risinass. This is a letter written to be visible only to me, so “you” means me, right? Then “I liked you” means Risinass liked me?’

“Huh?”

Leo made an uncharacteristically stupid sound and brought his face close to the manuscript.

“Huuuh?”

Still with a stupid expression, he looked at the manuscript from a distance, then finally understanding the content, Leo let out a shocked cry with a reddened face.

“What the hell!!!”

***

Whooooooo-

A foul-smelling wind blew.

It was the smell of corpses.

If it had been an ordinary living being, they might have suffocated and died from the poison and stench the moment they smelled it.

This place was truly the most terrible place on earth.

It was the stronghold of Tartaros’s supreme commander, the Overlord King.

“It’s been a while. Hel Kaiser.”

At the Monster Queen Silatuna’s words, Overlord King Hel Kaiser curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Has it been 100 years?”

For humans, it was long enough for a generation to pass.

But for monsters who had lived for thousands of years, it wasn’t such a long time.

“I heard all about what happened in Lumern this time. It seems you lost all your subordinates.”

“Not just subordinates. The Curse King was completely annihilated as well.”

Silatuna crossed her arms.

“I had ‘brought him out’ at quite a cost too.”

Silatuna’s plan to revive the Curse King.

It had all been ruined because of this incident.

Thanks to that, she had lost everything she had infiltrated into Lumern for so long.

“I’m in such a bad mood that I was thinking of destroying a country or something.”

“Which country?”

“What was that All-Class brat’s name? Leo Flobe? That guy’s country is a small border kingdom.”

Silatuna spoke as if stepping on a passing ant.

“I was thinking of crushing that country.”

“That place is on the frontier, but it’s in front of the Rodren Empire. It’s not a place you can strike lightly.”

“But I’m bored.”

Legion Commanders.

They were terrifying monsters who could destroy a small kingdom overnight if they set their minds to it.

At Silatuna’s words, the Overlord King said.

“We’re still lacking too much to rampage freely. Silatuna. It’s already been a long time since we started raising successor Legion Commanders.”

“Yes. That’s right. We had raised them well 3000 years ago, but they were subjugated by those damn bastards.”

Irritation appeared on Silatuna’s face.

When the seven Legion Commanders were subjugated at that time, half of the earthly races’ forces were also annihilated.

But considering just the level of damage, Tartaros suffered even greater losses.

“Since then, we’ve been repeatedly subjugated… in the end, we’re just marking time.”

To the earthly races, ‘Legion Commanders’ were a terrifying horror.

But from the Overlord King and Monster Queen’s perspective, they were still just youngsters.

“So I conducted a certain experiment recently.”

“What kind?”

“‘Bringing out’ our old comrades.”

“Isn’t that impossible?”

“Our god’s power is growing stronger and stronger.”

Hel Kaiser grinned, baring his teeth.

Dark red light flashed as a skull was revealed.

An appearance like a large ruby embedded in a white skull.

“Then it’s not impossible either. Of course, it would be impossible in a complete state.”

“It seems worth trying. So how far has that plan progressed?”

At Silatuna’s question, Hel Kaiser laughed click- click- click-.

“Soon.”

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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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