The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 13

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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 13. Limit Test (1)
After successfully completing our first Party lesson, I received something I had never obtained in my previous life: bonus points.
A full two points, no less.
“A third-tier magical beast is worth one point, a fourth-tier is worth three points.”
“Then why only two points?”
“Because you destroyed the restraint magical artifact.”
“I didn’t destroy it, though.”
“Don’t you understand that a Party shares collective responsibility?”
Damn it.
“If we’re talking responsibility, doesn’t Professor bear some too?”
“My responsibility? What are you talking about?”
“You never said we couldn’t kill it.”
“Do you not understand the meaning of ‘capture’? It costs a fortune to raise a single training magical beast—of course you can’t kill it.”
“I have nothing to say in return, which only irritates me more.”
A low groan escaped me as I slouched back against the chair in the Professor’s Office, my spine pressed against its frame.
“Anyway….”
Professor Lucas Kane’s gaze turned toward me.
“Why do you waltz in and out of here like it’s your own home every free period?”
“Well, with all these rumors going around lately, I’d rather not draw attention while I’m out there.”
In that sense, Professor Lucas Kane’s office was the perfect sanctuary to escape the Candidates’ watchful eyes.
“Ha, look at this insolent brat. Am I your friend or something? Huh? Am I?”
Just as Professor Lucas Kane was about to launch into a tirade about how I dared use his sacred office as a refuge, I spoke.
“Last autumn’s cultural festival.”
“Huh? What about the cultural festival?”
“You held a poetry competition with the premise that heroes need at least a minimum of literary and artistic refinement.”
“…And?”
“Since participation was sparse, it didn’t gain much fame, but the winner of that poetry competition was a touching love poem submitted by an anonymous Candidate.”
“….”
“A beautiful poem filled with tender, wistful emotions directed toward an unrequited love….”
“R-really? I’m so far removed from poetry that I didn’t even know such a competition existed.”
“Is that so? That’s strange….”
I slowly rose from the chair and withdrew a book titled ‘Advanced Combat Studies’ from the Professor’s Office bookshelf.
More precisely.
A single white sheet of paper that had been secretly hidden between the thick pages.
“How is it that someone who didn’t even know the competition existed is keeping last year’s winning poem?”
“Y-you, you bastard, how did you…!”
“Hmm. But aren’t you curious? About the identity of that Candidate who suddenly appeared, submitted a poem anonymously, and won the competition?”
“Kgh!”
“Hmm. But aren’t you curious about who it is? The identity of the Candidate Program member who suddenly appeared, submitted a poem anonymously, and won the competition.”
“Crack!”
“Professor Lucas Kane.”
I unfolded the white paper with a gentle smile.
Inside the white paper was a poignant love poem written in Lucas Kane’s handwriting.
“You write poetry quite well, don’t you?”
I recited the beautiful verses inscribed within the unfolded paper.
“You whom I have loved so dearly.”
“S-stop!”
“Throughout my entire life, I cannot bring myself to forget you.”
“Stop it!”
“Though I know this love shall never be mine.”
“I said stop, you bastard!”
“Still, I shall think of you always.”
“Arrrrrgh!”
Boom!
With a roar like that of a wild beast, Lucas Kane charged at me.
The speed was incomprehensible for someone of his nearly two-meter frame.
In an instant, Lucas Kane reached toward the white paper clutched in my hand.
“Whoosh.”
I pivoted my body to evade his grasp, but—
“Not so fast!”
As if he had anticipated my dodge, Lucas Kane instantly changed direction and snatched the white paper from my hand.
‘He’s fast.’
Though I hadn’t been moving at full speed, I hadn’t expected to lose it so easily.
It made sense why Lucas Kane was counted among the most skilled instructors at the Academy.
“Huff, huff! You little bastard… how did you even find this?”
“I discovered it by chance while cleaning this place during last winter break.”
Well, to be precise, I’d discover it during the third-year winter break nine months from now, but—
Finding it while cleaning was the truth.
“Cleaning? Why would you clean my office… oh.”
A soft exclamation escaped Lucas Kane’s lips as he furrowed his brow, abandoning his interrogation.
During school breaks, most Candidates either returned to their hometowns or traveled to resorts, but those like me—orphans receiving government support—were exceptions.
During breaks, our living stipends were cut off, so we had to remain at school doing odd jobs like cleaning and facility maintenance to cover our living expenses.
“…Tch.”
With nothing left to interrogate me about, Lucas Kane let out a quiet sound and crumpled the paper in his hand.
“Hmph. Whether you found this by chance or not, without evidence, no one will believe you….”
“Ah, of course, what you’re holding is just a copy. I’m keeping the original safely elsewhere.”
“Damn it.”
Lucas Kane cursed roughly and threw the crumpled paper into the trash bin.
Sigh.
A deep breath escaped from between the professor’s lips.
“Yeah, yeah. Got it, kid. Whether you come and go like it’s your own place or set up house here—do whatever you want!”
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Thank me? Like hell.”
“In that case, would it be possible to ask one more thing?”
“You shameless bastard…!”
“Would you be willing to spar with me?”
“…What?”
Professor Lucas Kane’s eyes widened in disbelief.
He looked me up and down, his expression one of utter absurdity as he opened his mouth.
“Spar? You want to spar with me right now?”
“Yes.”
“Well… if it’s a spar without using mana….”
“No. I’d like you to go all out.”
“….”
Professor Lucas Kane’s gaze fixed upon me.
The meaning in his eyes could be interpreted as something like, ‘Has this kid lost his mind?’
‘Fair enough.’
It was a natural reaction—a mere Candidate requesting a full-strength spar from a professor.
And not just any professor, but Professor Lucas Kane himself.
‘Blood-hungry hunting dog, Lucas Kane.’
He was a hero strong enough to rank within the top hundred among thousands upon thousands of heroes.
Needless to say.
The ‘ranking’ spoken of here didn’t refer to the ‘comprehensive evaluation ranking’ that distinguished the superiority of Candidates.
The Three Kingdoms Comprehensive Hero Ranking—crafted by those connoisseurs who loved nothing more than arranging people in order, pooling their heads together.
It was a genuine ranking of an entirely different caliber from the Candidate comprehensive evaluation ranking, which hadn’t even received official Hero credentials yet.
‘Of course, its accuracy falls far short of the Candidate comprehensive evaluation ranking.’
Unlike Candidates, whose rankings were determined through standardized tests, this ranking was compiled from various rumors and achievements, so its accuracy wasn’t particularly high.
But no matter how low the accuracy, ranking within the top hundred among tens of thousands of heroes meant proving one’s skill and mastery as a hero.
A Candidate who had only just begun practical training was hardly a suitable opponent for such a request.
‘Which is precisely why this test is perfect.’
Nine days had passed since my regression from the future.
Over more than a week, there remained something I hadn’t yet confirmed.
And that was.
‘What exactly is my current level?’
Before the regression, after all my comrades died, I wandered the Continent alone for thousands of years.
I had taken the swordsmanship I learned from Yuren and the martial arts from Berald, the magical theory from my senior Sophia, and developed them in my own way.
One might question the point of continuing to train alone in a world already destroyed.
‘But if I hadn’t done even that, I think I would have truly gone mad.’
Even in that bitter loneliness, whenever I trained in the swordsmanship, martial arts, and magic my comrades had taught me, I could feel as though they were with me.
‘The problem is.’
The question was whether I had truly “developed” what I learned from my comrades.
‘I, who am selected as the worst fool since the founding of Reynald School, developed it… how much better could it have become?’
To put it bluntly, there was even a possibility that I had regressed rather than progressed.
As evidence, despite continuing my training for hundreds, thousands of years, hadn’t I failed to even grasp the edge of the “ultimate” that Yuren constantly spoke of?
‘So, I need to know.’
After the world perished.
Whether the hundreds, thousands of years of struggle I undertook to forget loneliness truly developed me.
What level of “full power” I could currently display.
‘To know that much.’
I needed a strong opponent whose abilities were proven, like Professor Lucas Kane.
“A full-power match… between you and me?”
Professor Lucas Kane let out a scoff and glared at me fiercely.
“I thought you’d changed lately, but have you really lost your mind, Dale?”
“I’m aware. That my proposal is absurd.”
“Then why?”
“Because it’s something I absolutely need right now.”
….
Had he read the sincerity in my eyes?
Professor Lucas Kane turned his fierce gaze away and released a deep sigh.
“Fine. I was curious anyway. Just how much power have you been hiding?”
Screech.
The professor pushed back his chair and rose to his feet.
In an instant, the atmosphere in the Professor’s Office changed as if a beast had awakened from slumber.
“You understand, don’t you?”
Professor Lucas Kane lifted two axes hanging on the wall of the Professor’s Office.
Not practice axes—a pair of twin axes with keenly sharpened blades gleamed with an eerie glint.
“The meaning of a full-power match.”
A thick, bloody killing intent washed over me.
I let out a soft laugh, drew the real sword I had prepared beforehand, and nodded.
“Of course.”
* * *
The Training Ground located within the Academy.
“Five minutes.”
Professor Lucas Kane, holding only one of the two axes, drew a perfect circle on the ground with his toe.
The diameter of the circle drawn by his foot was approximately one meter.
“Do whatever it takes to force me outside this circle.”
“…Didn’t you say this would be a full-power match?”
“Before going all out, I need to see if you’re even worth that effort.”
Ah.
So that’s how you’re going to play it?
“Very well.”
I nodded and drew the sword hanging at my waist.
“Hssss.”
I inhaled slowly, concentrating my spirit on my left chest.
A radiant aura erupted from the stigma, enveloping my body.
“Here I go.”
After my return.
An all-out attack—something I was using for the first time.
Whether such an assault would prove effective against Professor Lucas Kane, even I couldn’t say with certainty.
‘My physical conditioning and mana reserves still fall far short of my previous life.’
It didn’t matter.
I possessed the legacy of my comrades, honed across centuries and millennia in solitude.
“Huuuh.”
I exhaled the breath I’d drawn in.
Thud!
My foot planted against the ground.
Solar Blade.
Second Form, Lunar Severance.
Kaaaaaaang!!!
A metallic shriek tore through the air.
“…you absolute madman.”
Professor Lucas Kane, who had barely managed to block the blade strike with his axe raised, was sent skidding backward across the circle drawn on the ground.
His eyes, wide with shock, fixed upon me.
“How was that?”
I watched Professor Lucas Kane, pushed beyond the circle in an instant, and let a smirk spread across my face.
“Was I worthy of your full strength?”
It had all transpired in less than five seconds—far less than the five minutes we’d discussed.
*The poem featured in this chapter is partially quoted from “Such a Poem” by poet Yi Sang.

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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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