The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 127

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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 127. Cohabitation (2)
The A Building Dormitory, where only the scions of Noble Houses from the Empire, high-ranking clergy from the Holy Kingdom, and heirs of conglomerates from the Republic gathered.
I had visited a few times to see Iris, but every time I came, the dormitory boasted an overwhelming magnificence and grandeur.
‘At this point, isn’t this a hotel rather than a dormitory?’
I circled around the massive fountain installed within the A Building Dormitory grounds and clicked my tongue in amazement.
“Sigh.”
After hesitating for a while while gazing at the A Building Dormitory, I slowly moved forward.
“Ah, Dale!”
As I arrived at the Dormitory Entrance, Yuren, who had come out early to wait, waved his hand with a bright smile.
“So it ended with just a suspension after all?”
“Yeah. Thanks for writing the petition.”
“Goodness. Do you know how shocked I was when I first heard about it?”
Yuren crossed his arms and launched into reproaches.
“But seriously, are you really okay with this?”
“Huh? Okay with what?”
“Well….”
I glanced at the pendant hanging around Yuren’s neck and continued.
“We have to live together until the break, after all.”
“Oh, right, that’s true.”
Yuren’s cheeks flushed slightly as he scratched his face awkwardly.
“But, it’s only a week! And there are spare rooms, so it should be fine!”
“Well… if you say so.”
Suppressing a chuckle, I followed Yuren into his room.
Click.
Yuren’s room, which I was seeing for the first time, was quite neat.
In the living room—which actually had a living room—a sofa and table were arranged neatly, and a subtle fragrance drifted through the space illuminated by pale ivory lighting.
“So… how is it?”
“It’s nice. Really clean.”
“Hehe. I’m relieved.”
Yuren smiled broadly, his expression somewhat excited.
I’ll pretend I didn’t hear him murmur quietly, “Thank goodness I cleaned.”
“Have you eaten lunch?”
“No, not yet.”
“Then wait a moment. I’ll make something quickly.”
With those words, Yuren headed toward the kitchen.
He was even wearing an apron, neatly fitted—I wasn’t sure where he’d gotten it.
“You cook?”
I tilted my head and looked at Yuren curiously.
In my previous life, I had never once seen Yuren cooking.
“Um… uh, yeah. A little?”
Yuren offered an awkward smile, his gaze drifting away.
“…A little?”
“Anyway! Dale just sit on the couch and wait!”
Yuren shoved me out of the kitchen.
Pushed along by Yuren, I settled onto the sofa and waited for the cooking to be finished.
Sizzzzzzle!
Soon after, the sound of something frying came from the kitchen.
“Uh, um? Is the heat too high?”
“Kyaaah! I spilled the oil!”
“Do you just throw the shrimp in with the shell on?”
“Huh, which one is the salt?”
Deeply anxious murmurs drifted out.
About ten minutes passed like that.
“…What is this?”
I stared down at something charred black sitting on the table and asked.
“It’s… it’s supposed to be gambas, but…”
“…”
“Ugh…! I’m sorry! I heard it was an easy dish for beginners to make, so I tried!”
Yuren hung his head with a sorrowful expression.
Well.
Even if his family’s fortunes had declined somewhat, there was no way Yuren, born and raised in one of the Empire’s most prominent Noble Houses, had ever actually cooked before.
“Just ask me to do it next time.”
“It’s just… Iris makes Dale lunch boxes and things like that all the time, doesn’t she?”
Yuren continued, his expression dejected, pressing his index fingers together.
“So… I wanted to make something for you too.”
“…”
That was dangerous.
If that had been Yurina instead of Yuren just now, my heart would have been shaken considerably.
“If you really want to, I’ll teach you next time. Let’s make it together.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. We’re going to be living together for a week anyway.”
“Ah… right, that’s true.”
As if suddenly remembering the fact that we were now living together, Yuren cleared his throat and quickly turned his head away.
In the end, after finishing our meal with the baguette bread we’d bought to go with the gambas, Yuren and I sat side by side on the sofa and talked about our living arrangements going forward.
“There are two rooms, but only one Restroom, so… I’ll shower after you do.”
“Thanks.”
“…Hey, Dale.”
“Yeah?”
Yuren asked with a cautious expression.
“So… they said the magical artifact you brought from outside caused an explosion and set the Dormitory on fire, right?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”
Yuren’s eyes fixed directly on me.
“I heard it from a Candidate Program student who was near the Dormitory back then. They said ash-gray flames were burning at first, then suddenly vanished.”
“….”
“That… those are the flames that appear when Dale uses mana, right?”
To be precise, they’re the flames that appear when using the ‘Primordial Flame’, not just when using mana.
I nodded quietly and opened my mouth.
“Yeah.”
“…As I thought. You were training to control that ‘flame’ inside your room and caused the fire.”
“It’s my fault, what can I say.”
Since the Primordial Flame had never gone berserk even once until now, I had grown careless.
“Why did you push yourself so hard with your training?”
“That’s….”
“Is it because of the Archbishop of Madness you met before?”
“….”
At Yuren’s words that struck the heart of the matter, I clamped my mouth shut firmly.
The reason I had driven myself relentlessly into training to control the ‘Primordial Flame’.
Of course, there were other reasons besides the Archbishop of Madness.
But if I said that the encounter with the Archbishop of Madness wasn’t part of those reasons, that would be a lie.
“I knew it.”
Yuren’s face hardened rigidly, as if she had guessed the answer from my expression.
“When I met the Archbishop of Madness… I couldn’t do anything.”
Yuren lifted her head slightly, recalling that day’s memories.
A space covered in crimson viscous fluid.
The figure of a boy approaching with a blood-red aura wrapped around his body.
The dense demonic energy was so suffocating just to witness that Yuren couldn’t even draw her sword, frozen in place.
“That’s unavoidable. There’s no way a Candidate Program student who hasn’t even graduated yet could stand against an Archbishop.”
“Hmm. By that logic, Dale is still a Candidate Program student too, isn’t he?”
“That’s….”
Unable to find a counter-argument, Yuren smiled faintly and unfastened the pendant around her neck.
Uuuuung.
Along with a blue luminescence, the brilliant golden hair transformed into a soft silver.
Returning to her form as Yurina, she gently grasped my hand and spoke.
“I’ll become stronger.”
Her voice carried unwavering resolve.
“I’ll definitely become stronger… and this time, I’ll protect Dale for sure.”
So you won’t have to struggle alone anymore.
“….”
At her following words, I found myself momentarily speechless.
Her unwavering gaze fixed upon me.
Those eyes I had beheld throughout my past life.
Never yielding to any fear.
Never trembling before any terror.
Never dimming in the face of any despair.
Eyes brimming with ‘courage’.
‘Ah.’
Yes.
That was it.
You were always that kind of person.
Then and now.
“Haha.”
A soft laugh escaped between my lips.
‘Was I the only one rushing so desperately?’
Ever since my encounter with the Archbishop of Madness recently.
I had pushed myself under the pressure to grow stronger with each passing moment.
And the result was the rampage of Primordial Flame.
‘The future continues to shift, and tomorrow remains utterly unpredictable.’
And yet.
There were things that remained unchanged.
“Thank you.”
I tightened my grip on her hand and spoke to her with sincerity.
“Uh….”
Yurina’s face flushed crimson.
Then, in an instant.
Uuuuuuuung!
A silvery radiance erupted from her left chest.
“Huh? What’s this?”
The brilliant silver luminescence flowing from her body.
This was the distinctive phenomenon that appeared when she activated ‘Moonlight’s Blessing’.
“Oh? Ah, no! This is just….”
Yurina shook her head in bewilderment, apparently having not intentionally invoked the blessing.
“Wait, hold on!”
Yurina sprang to her feet and dashed into her room.
About five minutes passed.
The door opened, and Yurina emerged with a weary expression.
“Phew. It’s settled now.”
“Why did the blessing suddenly activate?”
“Huh? That’s… ahem. You don’t need to worry about it, Dale.”
Yurina averted her gaze with a cough.
“Well… anyway. I’m counting on you for the next week.”
I didn’t press further and extended my hand toward Yurina.
Yurina glanced at my hand hesitantly, then gently pulled it up to rest on her head.
“….”
Was she asking me to pet her again?
I let out a dry laugh and stroked her hair, watching a bright smile bloom across Yurina’s face.
“I’m counting on you, Dale.”
* * *
“Phew.”
After that, I went to the Training Ground with Yurina to practice, and we finished dinner together—which I had prepared this time.
I laid out a blanket in the room she had been using as a closet and lay down.
‘It went better than I worried it would.’
I had secretly been concerned that two fully grown adults cohabiting for a week might create some kind of trouble.
Fortunately, the day passed without any significant complications.
‘Having two separate rooms really makes a difference.’
If it were a cramped studio like the C Building Dormitory, we would inevitably run into each other no matter how much distance we tried to maintain.
But since Yurina’s A Building Dormitory was a spacious apartment with two rooms and a living area that she used alone, we had relatively few encounters.
‘With these conditions, a week together should be manageable.’
Besides, after a week came the break, so I could leave the Academy and stay elsewhere.
“The break, huh….”
In my past life, I had stayed at the Academy throughout the entire break, taking on various odd jobs to cover living expenses. This time, there was no need for that.
‘I should ask Iris and Berald what they plan to do during the break.’
I was thinking of using this opportunity to help with Iris’s, Yurina’s, and Berald’s growth if possible.
“I should get some sleep.”
After planning out my break alone, I turned off my Hero Watch and lay down on the mat.
Though it was just a mat laid on the floor, Yurina had somehow procured a high-quality one, making it actually softer than the worn-out bed I used to sleep on.
Just as I was about to close my eyes for a moment.
Creak.
The door opened carefully.
I turned my head to see Yurina in her pajamas.
“Um… Dale.”
“What?”
“W-would it be okay if we slept together… just for tonight?”
“…What?”
Her unexpected request made me bolt upright on the mat.
“That’s not really….”
“It’s fine! I won’t do anything!”
That wasn’t the issue here.
“I promise, just holding hands! We’ll just hold hands and sleep!!!”
“No.”
If you say that line, what am I supposed to do.

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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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