The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 126

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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 126. Living Together (1)
“So what you’re saying is….”
Lucas Kane’s Office.
In the heavy silence that had settled over the room, Lucas Kane, who had been resting his chin on the table and listening quietly, slowly opened his mouth.
“During an external assignment with Elisha, you accidentally acquired a magical artifact that suddenly malfunctioned and exploded?”
“During an external schedule with Professor Elisha this time, a magical artifact that was accidentally acquired suddenly malfunctioned and exploded?”
“….”
“Is what he’s saying correct, senior?”
Lucas Kane’s gaze shifted toward Elisha, who sat beside me.
Elisha extinguished the cigarette she’d been holding between her lips by crushing it into the ashtray, then nodded.
“That’s right. I confirmed it myself.”
“Hmm….”
Lucas Kane’s eyes narrowed with an expression of suspicion.
But only for a moment.
Upon receiving Elisha’s piercing gaze—the kind that said, “Well, if that’s what I’m saying, do you have a problem with it?”—Lucas Kane exhaled deeply.
“Dale.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Bringing unauthorized magical artifacts into the Academy from outside is a clear violation of school regulations. Do you understand?”
“I understand….”
“Wait.”
Elisha cut me off.
“I was the one who instructed Dale to bring the magical artifact. So this is my responsibility….”
“Senior.”
Lucas Kane continued in a low, measured voice.
“I understand your desire to defend Dale, but if you’re implicated in this matter, the situation becomes far more serious.”
There was a vast difference between a candidate smuggling in unauthorized magical artifacts and a professor doing so.
Which would cause greater controversy was hardly worth debating.
I shook my head at Elisha and spoke up.
“Professor Elisha has no connection to this matter. It was entirely my decision to secretly bring the magical artifact into the Academy.”
“…Dale.”
In truth, she had already given me more than enough defense by attributing this incident to the magical artifact itself.
“Sigh.”
Lucas Kane pressed his forehead with his hand as he exhaled deeply.
“Dale.”
“Yes.”
“This is a case where you’d have no grounds to object even if you received expulsion.”
“….”
At the word “expulsion” from Lucas Kane’s lips, my shoulders flinched.
“However.”
Lucas Kane picked up several documents from the table and continued.
“First, there were no casualties.”
Lucas Kane glanced at the documents in his hand before continuing.
“And the fact that Candidate Dale actively worked to extinguish the fire after it broke out.”
Of course, it was Sophia’s magic that actually put out the fire, not mine, but it was true that I had also attempted to use water magic to extinguish it beforehand.
“Finally, after reviewing the petitions written by the candidates and conducting an internal meeting with the professors, we have decided not to expel you.”
“…Petitions?”
“That’s right.”
Lucas Kane waved the documents in his hand.
“Candidate Iris, Candidate Yuren, Candidate Berald, Camilla, Juliet, and Candidate Albert—all of them wrote petitions on your behalf.”
“….”
“The Saint of the Holy Kingdom, the descendant of the Sun Swordsman, the bloodline of the Ryu Family, the next Sword of Holy Nation, a young master from one of the Republic’s most prominent wealthy families, and the son of the ‘Huber’ family who operates the Empire’s largest information guild… No, looking at it laid out like this, it’s absolutely insane. When exactly did you become so well-connected?”
Lucas Kane stared at me with an expression of utter bewilderment, documents still in hand.
‘They all wrote petitions the moment they heard the news.’
I felt a surge of emotion welling up in my chest and clenched my fists tightly.
In any case.
I had managed to avoid the worst possible outcome.
“Oh, and one more person.”
Lucas Kane pulled out another sheet of paper and held it out before me.
“Candidate Sophia Evergreen also wrote a petition for you.”
“…Senior Sophia?”
At the unexpected name, my expression shifted to one of confusion.
On the day of the incident, Sophia had glared at me with cold eyes and demanded, “You did this, didn’t you?” I never imagined she would actually write a petition on my behalf.
“Yeah. Anyway, when did you become close with that ‘Crimson Calamity’?”
“…Crimson Calamity?”
“I’m talking about Candidate Sophia Evergreen.”
“….”
Wait, Sophia’s nickname during her candidate days was the Crimson Calamity?
“Candidate Sophia was known for being cold toward other candidates… Anyway, she’s quite talented.”
Lucas Kane shook his head and clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“…Ugh.”
I swallowed hard, holding the petition that Sophia had supposedly written.
In my previous life, perhaps it would have been different.
But in this life, we were not close enough for her to do something like this.
‘If anything, the last time we saw each other, the first thing I heard was her telling me to get lost.’
I continued to wonder why she had written the petition, but ultimately, no answer came to me.
“Well, anyway. For that reason, we have decided to impose a one-week suspension on you until the break begins.”
“…Is that meaningful at all?”
Since we’re currently in the final evaluation period and there are no classes anyway, what difference would a suspension make?
“Hmm. Well… is it really meaningless?”
Lucas Kane trailed off with a somewhat meaningful expression.
I tilted my head, uncertain why he was making such a face, but soon moved on to another topic.
“By the way, were any of the Candidates injured in this incident?”
“Hoo. Still worried, I see?”
“It happened because of my mistake.”
Regardless of the reason.
I couldn’t deny that I was the cause of this fire incident.
“Well, fortunately there were no injured Candidates. Though there are some whose belongings burned inside their rooms.”
“Would it be acceptable for me to personally compensate those Candidates?”
“That doesn’t really matter… but the Academy should have already issued damage relief funds anyway, right?”
“Still, I’d like to provide compensation within my means. Of course, I’ll visit them in person to apologize as well.”
Since it was my mistake that caused this, I didn’t want to simply let it pass without any sign of apology.
Lucas Kane’s eyes gleamed with interest as he crossed his arms.
“But do you have the gold to cover compensation?”
“Well… that should be fine.”
I did manage to collect some byproducts from Behemoth’s corpse this time.
Of course, since it was crushed so thoroughly that it was nearly unrecognizable, not a single horn, scale, or fang remained intact.
But it was still a byproduct from a Rank 12 demonic beast, wasn’t it?
If I sold it through Elisha, I could make quite a substantial sum.
‘If I’d only gotten a magic stone from Behemoth, I could have made much more.’
What could I do about it?
Magic stones weren’t something easily obtained.
Especially not from demonic beasts of higher Ranks.
‘Ah, and I need to repay the money I borrowed from Juliet this time too.’
In truth, I had treated her somewhat harshly due to memories of being mocked and bullied by Juliet in my past life, called a “doormat.”
But hadn’t Juliet changed so drastically that one could say the past Juliet and the current one were entirely different people?
‘I can’t treat her the same way as before when she’s changed so much.’
Of course, Juliet herself had asked me to treat her as I normally would, but I couldn’t bring myself to be as harsh as I used to be.
‘I thought the only person I could call a friend in my life was Yuren.’
I suppressed a quiet laugh and shook my head.
“Anyway, have you found a place to stay?”
“A place to stay?”
“Yeah. There’s a week until break, but you can’t sleep on the streets until then, right?”
“Ah.”
I had caused such a major incident that I hadn’t even thought about accommodation.
“The Academy prepared temporary lodging for the other Candidates, but… if you went there, the atmosphere would be rather awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“…That would be the case.”
If the person who burned down the Dormitory showed up at the temporary lodging, I’d definitely face cold stares from all directions.
“Hmm. Then there’s no help for it.”
Elisha, who had been sitting beside me listening quietly, let out a soft cough and glanced back at me.
“I’ll take care of Dale Candidate for a while….”
“Professor dormitories are off-limits to Candidates, ma’am.”
“Tsk.”
Professor Elisha clicked her tongue and lit a cigarette, placing it between her lips.
Professor Lucas Kane snapped his fingers as if struck by a brilliant idea.
“Oh, that’s right—you said you’re close with Candidate Yuren, didn’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“How about you spend a week living together with Candidate Yuren? Besides, the A Building Dormitory has plenty of space anyway.”
“….”
Live together with Yuren for a week?
“Well… that is….”
“It’s not like you’re different genders or anything.”
“No… you see….”
But I wasn’t the same gender as him.
I forcibly swallowed the words rising to my throat and desperately racked my brain for an excuse.
“Ahem, well. Isn’t Yuren the son of a noble family? So he doesn’t really like being around others, you see.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. When we went on that Ruins expedition before, he slept alone in a private tent.”
“Hmm.”
Professor Lucas Kane, arms crossed and nodding thoughtfully, activated his Hero Watch.
“Well, I’ll just ask him directly.”
“Please do.”
Yuren—or rather, Yurina—would surely decline politely.
‘No matter what, two grown men and women sharing a room is just… inappropriate.’
Even if it was only a week, cohabitation was cohabitation.
From sleeping arrangements to showers to bathroom use, there were far too many potential complications.
“Oh, Candidate Yuren? This is Professor Lucas Kane. Actually… oh, yes. Right. So here’s the thing…. Huh. Got it. I’ll hang up now.”
After finishing his call with Yurina on the Hero Watch, Professor Lucas Kane turned to face me.
“She said it’s fine.”
“What?”
“No, more than fine—she was practically cheering and thrilled about it.”
“….”
And so.

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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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