The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 105. Interlude – The Thunder God
A translucent sphere composed of lightning tore through the wall of electric current and shot forward.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!”
Boom!
Laios’s body, struck by the mana bullet, soared through the air and crashed violently against the wall.
Screeeech!
[Warning.]
[An abnormality has been detected in the impact mitigation barrier. Please cease sparring immediately.]
Red lights flashed throughout the Training Ground in sync with the alarm.
“Ugh, uuuugghhh!”
Laios, collapsed on the ground, writhed like an insect and retched violently.
“…Oh.”
Berald stared at the fallen Laios with a bewildered expression.
He had merely applied the “Martial Arts of Magic” that Dale had taught him, intending to fire the mana bullet with maximum force, yet the result far exceeded what he had anticipated.
“Huh.”
Berald was not alone in his shock.
I, too, watching the sparring match, could not help but gasp at Berald’s single strike.
‘It wasn’t simply a forceful swing of a mana bullet.’
True to Berald’s Martial Arts of Magic—which could only reach the “pinnacle” through harmony with magic—something extraordinary occurred the moment his fist made contact with the mana bullet.
‘An aura had formed around the mana bullet.’
It should have been impossible, of course.
Aura, which primarily drew its power from the “Inner Realm,” could not be layered upon magic, which was created by releasing mana into the “Outer Realm.”
‘Yet Berald succeeded in wrapping an aura around magic.’
I clenched my fists tightly, recalling Berald’s strike from moments before.
Outer Realm and Inner Realm.
Magic and martial arts.
Martial Arts of Magic—merging two domains that should never touch into one.
‘So this was the path you sought, Berald.’
The concept of wrapping an aura around magic was something I had never conceived of before.
‘If an aura can be wrapped around magic….’
I felt a thirst scratching at my throat and kindled a small flame of “Ash Fire.”
‘Then Ash Fire can also be wrapped with an aura.’
The moment I grasped this truth.
A tingling sensation surged through my spine and spread across my entire body.
It was similar to the feeling when Yurina told me my swordsmanship was “inefficient.”
A thunderbolt of enlightenment struck the crown of my head.
“…Hah.”
Just as it had been with Yurina.
‘Are you still trying to guide me?’
I had thought that in this life, I would be the one leading them forward.
Before I knew it, I came to my senses to find them standing before me, extending their hands.
This path, they seemed to say.
There exists a new landscape here that you have yet to witness.
“Hm.”
Suppressing the tremor that set my entire body ablaze, I turned my gaze toward Berald and Laios.
I could contemplate this newfound enlightenment later.
For now, I needed to focus on their sparring match.
‘Well, it seems the outcome is already decided.’
I watched Laios, sprawled on the Training Ground floor, retching violently.
“Hack, hack, hack!”
After expelling the contents of his stomach, Laios rose unsteadily, breathing heavily.
“You, you bastard… Ugh!”
Laios, who had been glaring at Berald with fierce, gleaming eyes, collapsed onto his own vomit as his legs gave way.
“Are you alright?”
“Shut… up…!”
Laios bit his lip, his expression twisted with shame.
The pain of his entire insides writhing made it impossible even to rise.
“I… I lost to that rascal….”
Laios trembled faintly, unable to accept his own defeat.
Berald approached Laios and asked.
“I trust you will honor your promise.”
“Promise…? Ha, what nonsense are you spouting?”
Laios ground his teeth and lifted his head.
“I clearly told you to defeat me with ‘magic’!”
“And so I did not use magic.”
“Stop spouting lies! Is that even magic?”
Using magic to strike a mana bullet with his fist and send it flying like a cannonball—such a thing.
I had never heard of it anywhere on the Continent.
“I cannot accept that as magic!”
“…Senior.”
Berald’s expression began to harden.
“Enough.”
With a low voice, a man entered the Training Ground.
Hair mixed half black and half blue.
Despite eyes that gleamed with considerable depth, his appearance was remarkably youthful.
The current principal of Reynald Hero School and a hero ranked third in the Three-Nation Hero Rankings.
It was Raonel Ryu, the ‘Thunder God’.
“Ha, grandfather… how did you…?”
Laios’s eyes widened as if he were seeing a ghost.
Raonel, who had slowly walked to the center of the Training Ground, channeled mana into the Hero Watch on his wrist.
“So Berald sent me this photo.”
On the screen floating in mid-air was an image of Laios and Berald locked in combat.
“When… when did you take that?!”
“…Don’t tell me.”
Berald’s gaze turned toward me.
I shook the Hero Watch I’d received from Berald before entering the Training Ground, shrugging my shoulders with a slight smile.
“So… what exactly were you two doing here?”
The Thunder God’s eyes, now cold and piercing, fixed on Laios.
“G-Grandfather, that was…”
“I distinctly remember telling you two to get along.”
“S-Sparring! We were sparring! And… I was teaching Berald magic as part of it…!”
Laios shouted, gesturing frantically toward Berald.
“Hmm. So you were sparring, were you?”
Raonel surveyed the Training Ground with narrowed eyes.
Battle scars scattered throughout the facility.
For such damage to remain in a Training Ground equipped with impact-dampening barriers, one would need to use exceptionally powerful magic.
Magic potent enough to cause serious injury if one weren’t careful.
“From where I stand, it doesn’t look like teaching magic was the intention at all.”
“That’s… well…”
“Or have these old eyes finally failed me?”
“…”
Laios avoided his gaze, cold sweat dripping down his face.
“Berald.”
“Y-Yes! Grandfather!”
Berald snapped to attention, his expression rigid with tension.
Raonel frowned slightly at the sight.
“What’s with the formality? Didn’t I tell you to call me grandfather?”
“But… that is…”
“Even as a branch family member, never forget that you are part of the Ryu clan. We are one family.”
“Ah, understood… grandfather.”
A faint smile crossed Raonel’s lips.
“So… when were you planning to tell me what happened between you two?”
“That is…”
Berald and Laios exchanged glances.
Laios was sending desperate signals with his eyes, his face drained of color, silently pleading with Berald not to say a word.
“May I explain on their behalf, sir?”
“And you are…?”
“I am Dale Han, a third-year Candidate in the Warrior Department. I am a close senior-junior with Berald.”
“Ah, so you’re the Candidate that Professor Elisha mentioned.”
Hm?
“Did Professor Elisha say anything about me?”
“Hehehehe. She told me you’ve already marked your territory, so don’t even think about coveting it.”
“That’s not it.”
What on earth is that woman telling the Academy headmaster?
“Anyway… was it you who sent the photo?”
Raonell glanced down at Berald’s Hero Watch, which I held in my hand, as he asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
I nodded and explained to Raonell everything that had transpired.
“Sigh… cutting off the branch family’s funding, no less.”
Raonell exhaled a sigh, his eyes narrowing.
“Laios.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Since when did you have the authority to decide whether to give or withhold funding to the branch family?”
“W-well, that is to say…”
“The funding given to the branch family is money I’ve been deliberately providing. You dare cut it off on your own whim after I’ve decided to give it?”
“N-no, you misunderstand!”
Laios spoke with a pallid face.
“I was merely trying to teach my younger brother a lesson through a bit of intimidation…”
“Education? You call that education?”
Raonell let out a dry chuckle.
“What could Berald possibly learn from a wretch like you?”
“…”
“Pathetic.”
Raonell continued, his eyes sharp.
“Haven’t I told you countless times that it’s not about how fast you go, but about never stopping?”
“…That’s…”
Laios’s lips trembled as if he had something to say.
Raonell clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.
“What? Do you think the ramblings of an old codger are nonsense?”
“N-no! I would never think such a thing!”
“Don’t forget this, boy.”
A single, casual step forward.
Boom!
Laios, who had struggled to rise to his feet, was slammed back down into the vomit.
“Gahhh, ugh, ugh, ah.”
A terrifying surge of mana crushed him.
It wasn’t magic, nor was it the power of a ‘blessing’.
Merely pure mana discharge.
With that alone, Laios crawled across the ground like a trampled insect.
“Who your grandfather is.”
Raonel Ryu, the Thunder God.
A formidable hero who shines at rank three among thousands of heroes across the Three Kingdoms.
If there was one unique aspect to his past, it was that he was the hero who entered the rankings ‘latest’ of all.
Only after passing forty did he barely crack the top hundred, yet in a mere five years, he ascended to rank three—a feat that astounded everyone.
A hero who walked the path later than anyone, yet climbed higher than anyone else.
That was Raonel Ryu, the Thunder God.
“I-I’m s-sorry… I apologize…”
Laios spoke without even being able to breathe properly, crushed beneath the weight of magical power.
“Hmm.”
“Ha… ha… ha!”
Only when Raonell withdrew his magical pressure did Laios finally gasp for breath in ragged heaves.
“From now on, your allowance will be redirected to support the branch family, so remember that.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“If you ever speak another careless word to Berald about this matter… then even this grandfather won’t stay silent.”
“I-I’ll keep that in mind.”
Laios nodded repeatedly, his voice trembling with barely suppressed tears.
“And Berald.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Raonell patted Berald’s shoulder and sighed.
“I apologize for suggesting you two get along. I simply hoped that children so close in age would develop a good relationship…”
“No, no! It’s my fault for being disrespectful to my senior!”
“You rascal. Is there no one else to deceive, so you try to fool this old man?”
Raonell chuckled and turned his head away.
He gazed at the deeply gouged wall of the Training Ground and asked.
“By the way… did you do that?”
“Ah… y-yes, I did.”
“Hmm. What kind of magic did you use to shatter even the impact-dampening barrier?”
“That was…”
Berald smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
“A m-mana bullet.”
“A mana bullet? How could you possibly…?”
“I applied the martial arts techniques Dale taught me to magic.”
“…Martial arts techniques?”
In that instant, Raonell’s expression stiffened.
He seemed lost in thought, his lips pressed firmly together, before he shook his head.
“Surely it’s not… no, it couldn’t be.”
“Sir?”
“No, never mind.”
Raonell turned and approached me.
“Dale.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Thank you for looking after Berald so well.”
“No, well… I’m receiving help from him too.”
It wasn’t mere flattery.
I’d genuinely gained new insights thanks to Berald during these past days.
“Tsk tsk. Still, it would be nice if you could manage your own grades a bit better as well.”
“Huh.”
Why was he suddenly bringing up grades?
“Haha! Just kidding.”
Raonell laughed heartily—his laughter was a dead ringer for Berald’s—and left the Training Ground.
“Ugh.”
As I watched Raonell’s retreating figure and swallowed hard, Berald approached me.
“Dale! Did you see that at the end? I just punched the mana bullet—boom!”
“Yeah. Good work, kid.”
“Hehe. I never would’ve succeeded without the combat techniques you taught me!”
Berald’s excited voice suddenly shifted to a more serious tone.
“…Dale.”
“Hm? Why the sudden mood change?”
“Thank you.”
Berald bowed respectfully.
“You are my benefactor.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
I lightly flicked Berald on the head as he wore that unusually serious expression.
“Comrades suit us better than benefactor and beneficiary.”
“Comrades… comrades… hehe, I understand.”
Berald grinned and nodded.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“Hm? What else is there?”
“Your father—you mentioned he’s showing signs of dementia from battle aftereffects, right?”
“Ah… yes.”
“Once the semester ends and I have some free time, I’ll ask Iris to help, and we can visit your place.”
Even with Iris being who she was, I couldn’t be certain she could treat dementia symptoms.
“But if she’s a saint blessed by the Seven Gods, maybe something different could happen, right?”
“…Dale.”
Berald’s eyes reddened as he looked at me.
“Daaaaaaaleeeeee!!!”
“Whoa! What, what are you doing, you crazy bastard!”
Berald wrapped his muscular arms around me and wept openly.
“You really are my benefactor!!!”
“Ugh! You bastard, you’re insane! You reek of sweat!”
“Berald! From this moment on, I swear to follow your lead for the rest of my life!”
The arm muscles of Berald, who was embracing me, swelled as if they might burst.
Crack.
A sound that should never come from a human body echoed through the air.
“Ahhhhh! I’m breaking! My bones are shattering, you fool!”
Pop.
“Oh.”

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