The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 148

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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 148. The Consecutive Disappearance of Candidate Program Members (2)
As the war with the Demon God’s forces intensified.
The Three-Nation Allied Forces had gathered in Valhalla City for their final stand.
Boom!
Early morning.
Sophia burst through the door with a violent kick and surveyed the wreckage of the room with a scowl.
“Hey, Berald! Didn’t I tell you to drink less?!”
Sophia kicked the sprawled-out Berald repeatedly while glaring at the empty bottles scattered across the floor.
“Ugh… d-don’t touch me… blech!”
“Ugh, I can’t take this anymore! How much did you drink exactly?!”
“Hehe. Don’t worry, it’s fine. I’ll be better after a little rest.”
“Do you understand what time it is? The Demon God’s forces are practically at our doorstep, and you’re guzzling alcohol like this?!”
Sophia glared at Berald with fierce eyes and scolded him harshly.
Berald looked up at her and offered a bitter smile.
“…That’s exactly why I’m drinking.”
“What?”
“Who knows when I’ll get another chance to drink like this? Might as well get it in while I can, no?”
“You…!”
Sophia’s face twisted as she bit her lip.
“Get up right now!”
She roughly yanked the blanket covering Berald away.
And then.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
A scream pierced the air.
Sophia hastily pulled the blanket back over Berald, who had been sleeping completely naked.
“You, you, you crazy bastard! Why are you sleeping naked?!”
“Ah… well…”
Berald scratched his head with an awkward smile.
Perhaps noticing something odd in his expression.
Sophia narrowed her eyes and examined the area around the bed.
As she had pulled back the blanket, a thin black scrap of fabric fell to the floor.
A black brassiere adorned with antique lace.
And quite a large size at that.
Needless to say, Berald had no interest in cross-dressing.
“…Whose is this?”
Sophia picked up the black brassiere, which bore clear signs of use, and frowned.
Berald scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.
“It seems Amanda was a bit out of it. She left her undergarments behind…”
“Amanda? Who the hell is she?”
Sophia asked with a fierce glare.
Berald answered with an deliberately stern expression.
“How dare you! Addressing a lady with such disrespect!”
“Lady, my foot. Who the hell are you?”
Crumple.
Sophia’s face twisted into a snarl as she crumpled the bra in her grip.
“A hero from the Holy Kingdom I met not long ago.”
“You bastard! Did you put your hands on another married woman?!”
“Putting hands on a married woman?! People will think I committed adultery!”
Berald cried out as if deeply wronged.
“Amanda lost her husband to war a year ago. I merely soothed the deep loneliness that had taken root in her heart!”
“Soothed… her loneliness, you say?”
“Consider it! The grief of a woman who lost her husband! The despair! I merely embraced her wounds!”
“Oh, is that so?”
Crimson mana streamed from Sophia’s body in torrents.
“Funny how every woman you meet just happens to be married. Are wounded women the only ones who exist in this damned war? Huh? Do unmarried women not suffer wounds?”
The roaring flames of her fury heated the air in the room to a scorching intensity.
As Sophia flicked her hand, releasing waves of crimson mana, a staff taller than her own body materialized from thin air.
Mistilteinn—the legendary staff said to have been forged from a branch of the World Tree from the distant past.
The tip of Mistilteinn pointed directly at Berald.
“W-wait! Please, calm yourself, Sophia!”
Berald scrambled to his feet (thankfully, his lower half remained covered by blankets) and shouted.
“Even if you are short, stubborn, crude, and a virgin who’s never held a man’s hand in her life, we are precious comrades, are we not? If Sophia were to be harmed, I, Berald, would do anything for you!”
“Oh my, is that so? How touching—I think I might cry.”
Sophia smiled sweetly.
Crimson mana concentrated at the tip of Mistilteinn.
“Die, you perverted bastard.”
Kwaaaaaaang!
A violent explosion obliterated the barracks entirely.
* * *
From what I remembered, Sophia and Berald weren’t exactly on good terms.
I narrowed my eyes, recalling memories from my past life.
In my previous life, I remembered Sophia unleashing explosive magic on Berald more than thirty times—magic potent enough that his death would have been unsurprising.
So what was this impossibly fresh and innocent atmosphere?
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Sophia, sensing my gaze, glared at me with fierce eyes.
I shook my head with an awkward smile.
“It’s nothing, really.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t come looking for you because I like you.”
“…You said you had something to ask of me earlier?”
“Yeah.”
Sophia pulled a chair from a nearby table, crossed her legs, and sat down.
“Have you heard about the Candidate Program serial disappearance case?”
By coincidence, I’d just learned about it from Berald moments ago.
“Yes, I have.”
“I’d like you to help me find the culprit.”
“…The culprit?”
“I almost caught them this time, but they slipped away right before my eyes.”
“…!”
My eyes widened at Sophia’s bombshell revelation.
“They escaped right in front of you?”
“Yes.”
“…Could you explain the situation in detail?”
Sophia nodded lightly and continued.
“To catch the culprit behind the ‘Candidate Program serial disappearance case,’ I set up detection magic throughout the entire 4th Year Lecture Building. The perpetrator triggered it, and when I rushed to apprehend them, they fled after leaving the unconscious candidate behind.”
“What did the culprit look like?”
“Male build, but on the shorter side.”
“What about their face?”
“They were wearing a mask, so I couldn’t see it.”
“Hmm.”
A short man, then.
The information was far too sparse to identify the culprit.
“Did you see how they rendered the candidate unconscious?”
“Well… I’m not entirely certain, but it seemed like magic. There were no direct physical injuries whatsoever.”
“Magic, then… There were no traces of drugs or other magical artifacts?”
“None.”
Sophia shook her head quietly.
‘Someone skilled enough to incapacitate a 4th Year Candidate Program student instantly with magic.’
I furrowed my brow, lost in thought.
‘That’s something even most professors would struggle with.’
The current 4th Year class at Hero Academy was renowned as a generation of exceptional talent, with many candidates of outstanding ability.
Of course, “exceptional” was relative to candidate standards—the top-tier candidates aside, most fell short when compared to active heroes in the field.
‘Still, subduing someone without them even realizing they were under attack isn’t easy.’
Whoever the culprit was, one thing was certain: they possessed considerable skill.
“By the way, why are you pursuing the culprit, Sophia? And to the extent of deploying detection magic across the entire building, no less.”
If they were a school professor, that would be one thing.
There was no reason for a mere candidate to voluntarily hunt down a criminal.
“That’s…”
Sophia’s expression darkened for a moment.
“I can’t say.”
“I see… understood.”
I was curious why she was pursuing the culprit, but it seemed unlikely that pressing her now would yield any answers.
What remained was simply choosing whether to help her find the culprit or not.
‘I have to do this.’
I’d been meaning to figure out how to untangle the complicated situation with Sophia Evergreen, after all.
I’d kept putting it off because I’d been too busy with other matters in the meantime.
‘If this incident becomes an opportunity to grow closer to Sophia Evergreen, there’s no reason to refuse.’
Sophia Evergreen.
A woman who would become such an exceptional mage that she’d earn the title of “Archmage” in the future.
And among our Last Five Heroes, she was the only one who received evaluations superior to the Five Great Heroes.
‘Yuren was said to fall short of Reynald Helios, Berald was said to fall short of Iron Fist Ryu Jinseong, and Iris was said to fall short only of Grace.’
As for me, who was the weakest in terms of raw ability, there was nothing more to say.
But among them, only Sophia Evergreen was evaluated as surpassing the Great Sage Julius Bastian.
‘Well, public opinion has never been right about anything anyway.’
I had never once believed that Yuren fell short of Sun Swordsman Reynald Helios, that Berald fell short of Iron Fist Ryu Jinseong, or that Iris fell short of Grace.
Even when the world perished without our party defeating the Demon God.
‘The Demon God released from its seal was far stronger than the records from five hundred years ago.’
That was precisely why our party couldn’t defeat the Demon God.
‘Well, anyway.’
What mattered was that Sophia Evergreen would become such a skilled mage in the future.
‘Of course, I’d help even if that weren’t the case.’
What did it matter whether she’d become a skilled mage in the future or not?
In my past life, she was like family to me—a comrade. And that fact hadn’t changed even after I’d returned against the flow of time.
Even if she didn’t remember me.
Because I remember her.
“Of course. I’m not asking you to help for free. If you help me….”
“I’ll help you.”
“…Without even hearing the reward?”
“I don’t need a reward. I was already interested in this case myself, after all.”
I shrugged with a slight chuckle.
“…That’s unexpected.”
Sophia Evergreen’s eyes widened in surprise at my response.
“I thought you’d demand my underwear as compensation.”
“…What exactly do you think of me?”
“Heh. I’m joking. But are you really sure you’ll help without any compensation?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and continued.
“By the way, I’m curious too. Why did you ask me specifically to find the culprit?”
“I saw before that you handle magic at quite a high level.”
Was she referring to when I used magic to extinguish the fire on the Dormitory?
“A warrior with high-level magic proficiency and physical abilities exceptional enough to pursue a culprit. There’s no one but you.”
“….”
It was true—among the Warrior Department candidates, few possessed magic proficiency at a competitive level.
“So I can count on your help, then?”
“Yes.”
“Me too! I’ll lend my strength as well!”
Berald’s eyes gleamed as he thrust his hand upward with enthusiasm.
I glanced toward Sophia to silently ask if she approved, and she nodded without hesitation.
“Anyone capable enough to land a blow on that arrogant Laios deserves consideration. I see no reason to refuse.”
And so.
A three-person party was formed to investigate the disappearance of the Candidate Program students.

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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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