Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 704

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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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704.

Drip-

The sound of water droplets formed from steam rising from the hot spring and condensing on the cave ceiling falling back into the hot spring echoed refreshingly.

Crackle crackle-

The campfire brightly illuminated the interior of the cave.

Chloe, who had hung her school uniform and underwear around it, approached the hot spring and carefully dipped her foot in.

A moderate temperature that was neither too hot nor lukewarm traveled up from her toes.

Having been exposed to the cold for so long, as the warmth spreading up from her toes permeated her entire body, a naturally pleasant sigh escaped from her lips.

After savoring the warmth of the hot spring once, she carefully immersed her entire body in it.

“Ahh. As expected, there’s nothing better than soaking your body in warm water on a cold day.”

Chloe made a languid expression and hummed a tune.

“Mm~ah~ It feels so good being warm~ Hot springs are the best~ The best~”

“Does it feel that good?”

“Kyaa?”

Splash-

Startled by the voice that came from the other side of the cave, Chloe unconsciously pressed herself against one side of the hot spring and let out a scream.

“D-did you hear that?”

When she asked with a completely red face, Leo’s laughter could be heard.

“How could I not hear it?”

Splash!

‘Ah, seriously!’

Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Chloe dunked her face into the hot spring water.

She had felt so relaxed that she momentarily forgot this was a cave.

Trembling with embarrassment, Chloe slightly poked her face out.

“You’ve been full of gaps since enrollment, so I really don’t understand why the kids call you the Ice Queen or whatever.”

Even at their first meeting, Leo had found and returned Chloe’s student ID that she had dropped.

Though Chloe tried to be a flawless honor student, she surprisingly had many absent-minded aspects when you looked closely.

At Leo’s words, Chloe, with her mouth submerged in the water, made a sulky face and blew bubbles.

Crackle- crack-

Amid the sound of burning firewood.

Chloe, who had been silent, opened her mouth.

“Leo.”

“What.”

“Are you okay? It must be quite cold.”

No matter how much of a stamina monster Leo was, if he was directly exposed to the cold wave, he must be quite exhausted.

Moreover, since his whole body was wet, his body temperature had dropped and was continuously draining his stamina.

‘Right now, mana itself isn’t moving.’

She didn’t know what kind of curse it was, but it was definitely an eerie curse.

Not only magic power, but also aura and spiritual power.

Nothing could manifest.

“I can manage to endure it.”

At Leo’s answer, Chloe submerged her mouth in the water again.

After making bubbles once more, Chloe spoke with a determined expression.

“Leo. If you keep staying in that state, won’t it be physically difficult even for you? Um… I’m not saying this with strange intentions. How about coming into the hot spring?”

She spoke with a slightly trembling voice, but with an infinitely serious tone.

Thud- thud-

The sound of Leo’s footsteps could be heard.

Leo’s large shadow appeared on the cave wall and began to grow smaller.

Seeing this, Chloe pressed herself tightly against the hot spring.

Leo, who had come to the front of the hot spring, asked seriously.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“Right now it’s an emergency situation.”

Leo, who had been watching Chloe maintain her composure as much as possible while avoiding eye contact, let out a small sigh.

“Turn around.”

At those words, Chloe turned her head to look in the opposite direction.

Swoosh- plop-

The sound of wet clothes falling to the ground could be heard.

Her heart beat like crazy at the sound of clothes being removed.

‘Empty mind. Empty mind. Runic symbols are…!’

With a bright red face, Chloe began frantically reciting runic symbols in her head.

Splash-

Ripples formed in the water.

As the small waves of hot spring water hit her back, Chloe’s body stiffened.

Every single flow of water was stimulating.

‘Wait. Now that I think about it, this is mixed bathing, isn’t it? Am I not doing something completely outrageous right now?’

Chloe’s mouth gaped open and closed.

She had made this suggestion just thinking it was an emergency and that Leo shouldn’t be left exposed to the cold, but if she thought about it even a little, it was truly outrageous behavior.

‘He doesn’t think I’m some strange girl, does he?’

She was confident that Leo wasn’t the type to do anything inappropriate.

But more than that, she was worried about Leo’s evaluation of her.

Her head began spinning with various thoughts.

“Thanks for being considerate.”

Then Leo spoke up.

Hearing those words, Chloe exaggerated her composure and said.

“It’s because we’re in an isolated situation. We can’t waste stamina. So don’t turn your head this way or anything.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, it’s a bit narrow for two people to get in.”

The hot spring wasn’t small, but it wasn’t spacious enough for two people to be comfortable.

“If you’re okay with it, lean against my back. That should be more comfortable.”

Chloe’s shoulders trembled slightly.

Chloe, who had been cautiously gauging the situation, carefully leaned her back against Leo’s.

She felt it had become more comfortable, but her heart beat like crazy.

Leo’s warmth, clearly different from the temperature of the water.

Being unnecessarily conscious of it, she also hugged her knees and wiggled her toes.

“Chloe.”

“Yes?!”

At Leo’s call, Chloe was startled.

“Do you like hot springs?”

“Yes. Most people from the Northern Continent like them. Since it’s a cold region.”

“Then come visit Duncun during winter break.”

“Ah. Come to think of it, Duncun became your country, didn’t it?”

Thinking of the famous tourist hot spring city, Chloe smiled.

“How are the hot springs in Duncun?”

“I went in and played with Chelsea, and it was nice.”

“Ah. Chelsea… what? You went into a hot spring and played with Chelsea?!”

“We went in wearing swimsuits, so don’t have strange thoughts.”

At Leo’s words, Chloe submerged her mouth in the water and made bubbles.

Though it was awkward, feeling that not saying anything would make her more conscious of this situation, Chloe spoke.

“By the way, you called this mana freezing phenomenon a curse, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What exactly was that Sorcerer King to cause such a powerful curse?”

“…”

Other than the fierce blizzard beginning to rage, there was no particular danger.

However, if this were a combat situation, having their abilities sealed would be an extremely critical crisis.

“Leo. You said you experienced this kind of curse before, right? When was that?”

“Briefly when I fought Erebos.”

Unable to tell the complete truth, Leo mixed in a slight lie.

“Back then, all the mana in the surrounding area was burned away in an instant.”

“…Now it’s frozen.”

Chloe fell into deep thought.

‘And that snow.’

Chloe recalled what had happened earlier.

Snow that wouldn’t melt.

She had collected it in an empty potion bottle to investigate, but now it had melted.

‘What remained after the snow melted was ordinary water.’

The medium, water, had nothing special about it.

That meant the power that froze the water was what was special.

“A phenomenon similar to the curse that occurred during the battle with Erebos. And ice that wouldn’t melt.”

Chloe, who had been piecing together the keywords, spoke seriously to Leo.

“Leo, could this be related to a fragment of Erebos?”

“That possibility is almost zero.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think that monster is called the Calamity Flame?”

An evil god who hates the world and seeks to burn everything to bring about destruction.

The absolute Calamity Flame.

That was Erebos.

Erebos used all kinds of powers.

But until the moment he was defeated by Leo’s hand, Leo had never seen Erebos use abilities related to freezing.

‘However.’

The attribute was certainly different.

As Chloe said, this current phenomenon was displaying characteristics of Erebos.

‘I’ll have to ask Rian when we return to the Academy.’

Regarding Erebos, the god Rian knew the most.

“By the way, how’s that ice clone research you mentioned at the entrance ceremony?”

“Yeah. There hasn’t been much progress, but I feel like I’ve found a clue!”

Chloe’s eyes sparkled.

“Your advice to approach it through many-worlds interpretation really helped! The many-worlds interpretation itself suggests that at every moment of choice, there’s a branching point where worlds split…”

Excited Chloe began rattling off her magical theories.

‘…Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.’

Watching the excited Chloe, Leo scratched his cheek.

He had momentarily forgotten that this spirited girl’s passion and love for magic was no less than Luna’s.

The realm of magic wasn’t limited to just combat.

Exploration and research.

The desire to satisfy intellectual curiosity.

From that perspective, Chloe was much more of a mage than Leo.

For Leo, magic was a tool to defeat enemies, essentially a weapon, while for Chloe, magic was an endless realm of study.

And in that academic talent, Chloe could rightfully be called a genius.

Since their fundamental attitudes were different, it might have been different in their 1st and 2nd years.

But now in their 3rd year, watching Chloe discuss complex magical theories often reminded him of Luna.

‘She resembles Risinass too.’

As one called the King of Wisdom, Risinass also had a strong desire for knowledge.

Such a Risinass was a good discussion partner for Luna, who knew only magic.

‘If Luna’s curiosity was purely limited to magic, Risinass’s curiosity encompassed all things.’

And Chloe’s curiosity wasn’t simply limited to magic alone.

Chloe, who enjoyed learning through voracious reading, had quite a few similarities to Risinass.

‘She’s good at chess too.’

Leo was recalling his two companions when—

“Leo?”

Whoosh—!

When Leo was lost in other thoughts, Chloe grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to look at her.

“Are you listening to me?!”

Chloe protested with a face full of dissatisfaction.

Leo’s red eyes and Chloe’s blue eyes met in the air.

She seemed to have momentarily forgotten the situation, absorbed in talking about magical theory.

Leo closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

Understanding the situation from that action, Chloe’s mouth gaped open.

Heat rushed to her face.

An embarrassment incomparable to anything before overwhelmed her entire body.

Her reason was paralyzed and all her senses became sharply alert as Chloe stood frozen, mouth agape.

Drip—

A cold water droplet that had formed on the ceiling from steam fell onto Chloe’s back.

“Eek?!”

Splash—!

When the suddenly cold water droplet fell on her back, Chloe shrieked and bounced forward.

And unintentionally ended up in Leo’s arms.

Chloe, whose thoughts had stopped, froze for a moment before backing away in shock.

“S-sorry! Sorry! Leo!”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. Oh, my mana’s back.”

Leo spoke calmly.

“R-right! Th-thank goodness… Th… thank good… Hauuuu!”

Chloe covered her face with her hands, and Leo chuckled at her reaction as he stood up.

“Let’s just think of it as an accident.”

“Right, an accident! An accident! Ahahaha!”

Chloe laughed awkwardly.

Leo used magic to dry the moisture from his body.

He also dried and put on the clothes by the campfire.

Until then, Chloe had entered the hot spring to calm her wildly beating heart, then cautiously spoke up.

“Leo. I’m saying this out of concern. You absolutely can’t tell anyone else about this, okay? Especially not Cal.”

“I won’t, so don’t worry.”

At those words, Leo breathed a sigh of relief.

“By the way, Chloe. Your size is bigger than I thought…”

“Say one more word and I’ll turn even you into human sherbet.”

“How fierce. Let’s hurry and get ready to leave.”

Leo chuckled and moved away from the spot, while Chloe buried her face in the hot spring.

‘I’m so embarrassed I could die.’

Bubble bubble bubble bubble.

After struggling to shake off her thoughts for a while, Chloe took a deep breath and emerged from the hot spring.

And put on her clothes.

As Chloe was shaking off distracting thoughts, she unconsciously recalled what had just happened.

‘By the way, while Selia and Sia were on the soft side, Leo is definitely firm because of his muscles.’

Chloe, who had been standing there dazedly comparing herself with the Knight Department female students without realizing it, suddenly banged her forehead against the wall.

Thud-!

‘Ah! Seriously! What kind of comparison am I making! Chloe Muller! This makes me look like a real pervert!’

Shaking her head vigorously to dispel the stray thoughts, Chloe neatly tied her necktie ribbon and headed toward where Leo was.

“Let’s go, Leo.”

The snowstorm had also stopped.

Leo, who had been waiting outside the dungeon, stared intently at Chloe who had returned to her usual appearance, then spoke.

“Chloe, you’re bleeding.”

“What?!”

Chloe was startled and wiped her nose.

“… No, I mean your forehead is bleeding.”

“Ah!”

Chloe hurriedly cast healing magic on her forehead.

Watching this, Leo clicked his tongue.

“Kids these days, honestly.”

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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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