The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 156

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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 156. Be Young (1)
The interrogation of Serpente yielded precious little information.
Serpente herself was merely a puppet dancing to Mephistopheles’ commands, and she had no knowledge of what exact ‘plan’ he harbored.
As for other trivial details about Mephistopheles, she couldn’t answer—as if bound by some prohibition.
I found it regrettable.
I had thought this an excellent opportunity to glean information about Mephistopheles, the most unsettling of the Six Archbishops—or rather, the four who remained now.
Yet I had gained nothing of substance.
Now the question remained.
I gazed down at Serpente, unconscious after the interrogation, my eyes narrowing to slits.
What should I do with her?
Ordinarily, the cleanest solution would be to end a Demon’s life on the spot.
But discarding a card that might prove useful against Mephistopheles felt wasteful.
Though I carried memories from my past life, I knew almost nothing about Mephistopheles.
The extent of his power, his true purpose, why he vanished so abruptly during the war in my previous existence—all remained shrouded in mystery.
Among all the Archbishops, Mephistopheles was surrounded by the most questions.
“I suppose I should consult with Professor Elisha first.”
This wasn’t a decision I could make alone.
I hoisted the unconscious Serpente onto my shoulder and turned my steps back toward the Academy.
* * *
Three days later.
After receiving brief treatment from Iris and finishing my visit to Professor Jade Bastian in the Intensive Care Facility, I made my way to Professor Elisha’s office.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
I opened the door to find Professor Elisha seated in her chair, one slender leg crossed over the other.
I lowered my gaze to the remarkably clean desk and tilted my head in puzzlement.
“When did you stop smoking cigars?”
“…Ahem.”
Professor Elisha let out a brief, awkward cough and averted her eyes.
“I’ve been quitting recently.”
“Quitting? What sudden wind blew that idea into your head?”
Professor Elisha, who had always kept a cigar in her mouth, was quitting smoking?
As I stared at her in surprise, Professor Elisha scratched her cheek sheepishly and asked.
“Does… Dale dislike the smell of cigars?”
“…”
Surely not.
Had she decided to quit smoking because of me?
I suppressed a chuckle and shook my head.
“Well, it’s true I’m not fond of it, but there’s no need to force yourself to quit. It’s not particularly harmful to your health.”
A Hero’s body possessed exceptional detoxification abilities compared to ordinary people, so smoking cigars wouldn’t damage her health.
“However…”
“And Professor Elisha, who doesn’t smoke cigars—doesn’t that feel like flat beer to you?”
“…How exactly are you looking at me?”
Professor Elisha narrowed her brows with a sullen expression.
“In any case, if that’s your reason, there’s no need to quit. Cigars suit you quite well, Professor Elisha.”
Even if cigars weren’t harmful to health, I didn’t harbor particularly positive feelings toward them in general, but I couldn’t deny that the combination of Professor Elisha and cigars was undeniably striking.
“Is… that so?”
Professor Elisha opened a drawer with a flushed expression, as if she’d been holding back for quite some time, and retrieved a cigar.
She placed the cigar between her lips, closed her eyes, and tilted her head toward me as if seeking a kiss.
Whoosh.
I struck a light spark and ignited the tip of the cigar, and Professor Elisha drew deeply on it.
“Ahh. Now the stress from these past three days is finally melting away.”
“You’ve been quite busy?”
“Is that even a question?”
Professor Elisha continued, her eyes narrowing as she recalled events from three days prior.
“Honestly, when you first showed me that video—where you’d kidnapped a woman you’d never met and forcibly recorded her—I felt utterly lost on what to do.”
“No.”
Hearing it phrased that way made me sound like some kind of criminal scoundrel.
As I looked at Professor Elisha with an exasperated expression, she smiled mischievously and shrugged her shoulders.
“I was joking. Anyway, the matter regarding that Demon Human has been settled to some extent.”
“What did you do with her?”
“I’ve locked her away in the Demon Human detention facility in Valhalla City. That way, we can use her as a negotiation card whenever necessary.”
The Demon Human detention facility in Valhalla City, then.
‘Will that be safe?’
I knew the security at the detention facility was thorough, but Serpente wasn’t a Demon Human who could be confined so easily.
“Is it because of Whisper’s Blessing?”
“Yes.”
“You needn’t worry about that. She won’t be able to use it.”
She won’t be able to use the blessing?
Professor Elisha continued with a cold smile playing at her lips as I regarded her with questioning eyes.
“Whisper’s Blessing can only be used by producing sound with one’s voice, can’t it?”
“Well… yes, that’s correct.”
“With her mouth sewn shut, she won’t be able to use Whisper’s Blessing either.”
“….”
At words that sent a chill down my spine just hearing them, I clamped my mouth shut firmly.
The thought of how she’d manage meals with her mouth sewn shut flashed through my mind, but I didn’t press the matter.
What mattered was that we’d secured Serpente as a useful card.
‘How Mephistopheles will move forward remains uncertain.’
Since I couldn’t predict how the future would shift, having as many usable cards as possible was always preferable.
“Dale.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been extraordinarily busy these past three days.”
Elisha crushed out her cigarette in the ashtray and fixed me with a weary stare.
“I’ve been pulling all-nighters since the semester began, drowning in meetings.”
“Just when I thought things were finally settling down, you waltz in with this bombshell about a fallen Archbishop and carelessly toss it at my feet.”
“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to handle matters of this magnitude discreetly, without letting the Academy’s upper echelon catch wind of it?”
Elisha vented her accumulated frustrations in a torrent of complaints.
“I… I’m truly sorry.”
Though circumstances had left me no choice, the truth remained that I’d dumped everything onto Elisha’s shoulders.
“Are you genuinely sorry?”
Elisha’s lips curved into a sly smile, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
She rose from her chair, draped herself across the guest sofa in the center of the Professor’s Office, and turned to face me.
“Then, would you use your own hands to relieve me of my exhaustion, Dale?”
“…Are you asking me to give you a massage?”
“Hehe. If that weren’t the case, why would I be lying on this sofa like this?”
Elisha swayed her slender legs teasingly as she lay prone on the sofa.
I exhaled a long sigh and approached her stretched across the couch.
As I crouched beside the sofa to begin the massage, Elisha grabbed my hand and pulled.
“Straddle my waist.”
“That’s a bit…”
“Wouldn’t that position be uncomfortable for you as well?”
A reluctant groan escaped me.
I awkwardly positioned myself astride her waist.
I placed my hands on her spine, barely visible through the white shirt.
“Mmph…”
Press. Press.
I applied pressure with my thumbs around her spine.
Unlike her delicate waist that seemed it might snap with a single tap, firm muscle tensed beneath my fingertips.
“Ah… Hah… Ahhh…!”
“Please don’t make strange sounds.”
“But… I can’t help it… the sounds just come out…?”
“If you keep doing that, I’ll stop.”
“Mmph…”
Elisha bit her lip hard, stifling her voice.
But it was only temporary.
As I began working the knotted muscles in earnest, moans spilled from her lips once more.
“Dale…! You’re… you’re too strong! If you press there like that…! Ahhh!”
“No.”
“I… I can’t hold back… Ugh!”
Why are you doing this to me?
‘I should’ve cast a soundproofing barrier on the door before coming in.’
I stopped my massage and stood up to open the Professor’s Office door.
Thud!
I felt something heavy collide with me, pushing me backward.
“…Albert?”
My eyes met those of Albert, sprawled across the floor.
Albert, clutching a stack of documents in one hand, scrambled to his feet and stammered.
“I-I came on an errand for Professor Lucas Kane… th-that is to say!”
“Wait, calm down Albert. It’s a misunderstanding.”
“I-I-I-I didn’t hear anything, Dale!”
Albert shook his head desperately, his face flushed crimson.
No matter how one looked at it, he clearly had heard everything.
“D-don’t worry! I won’t tell anyone!”
“No, that’s not what I—”
“S-sorry for interrupting your time!!!”
Before I could stop him, Albert spun around and bolted down the Corridor.
“….”
Well…
So much for that.
‘The Huber Family really is the Empire’s largest information Guild, isn’t it?’
I’m done for.
* * *
“…sigh.”
After leaving Elisha’s Professor’s Office.
I sat on a bench, pulling at my hair in frustration.
“Why do you look so pathetic?”
At that moment, a familiar voice reached my ears.
I looked up to see Sophia looking down at me with her arms crossed.
“…it’s nothing.”
“For something that’s nothing, your sighs sure carry far.”
“….”
I kept my mouth shut and avoided Sophia’s gaze.
“Well, if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. It seems like you’re hiding more than one thing anyway.”
“…what brings you here?”
The building used by fourth-year students was quite far from here.
“I came looking for you.”
“For me?”
“I have things I want to say, and favors I want to ask.”
Sophia bowed her head toward me as she spoke.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to clear up several misunderstandings.”
Her expression was noticeably softer than when I first met her, as if she had shed a heavy burden from her heart through this incident.
“So now I’m allowed to talk to you, senior?”
“Hm? What do you mean… oh.”
Sophia seemed to recall our first meeting, letting out a small exclamation at the end.
“Well, do as you please. We’ll be running into each other often in the Laboratory from now on.”
“In the Laboratory?”
“I’ve agreed to help with Jade Bastian’s research this time.”
“Ah.”
A collaborative research project between the future Archmage and the heir of the Great Sage.
‘I’m curious what they’ll end up creating.’
I stifled a laugh and nodded my head.
“What was it you wanted to ask me about earlier?”
“Oh, that….”
Sophia’s face flushed slightly as she twisted a strand of her hair between her fingertips.
“You… you said you were close with Berald Ryu, right?”
Ahem.
Sophia cleared her throat and continued.
“W-would you happen to know his contact information?”
“….”
Autumn was reaching its full bloom.
A fresh breeze of youth was beginning to blow.

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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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