The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 164

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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 164. Witch of Night (5)
‘Well then.’
I slowly turned my head, observing the gazes of those around me.
Aaron watching me with eyes full of anticipation.
Bella exhaling a sigh with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Here we go again.’
Laios crossing his arms with an arrogant smirk, and Lanez gazing at me with concern.
Thud, thud.
Bearing the weight of my seniors’ stares, I turned to face the seven-eyed lizard beast whose eyes gleamed brilliantly.
I lowered my sword until its tip touched the ground, deliberately creating an opening.
“Ssssshhhhiiek!”
The lizard beast, observing my movements, let out a piercing shriek and stamped its feet as it charged.
I thrust my blade toward the charging lizard beast.
“Shiek!”
The lizard beast used its tail as a fulcrum, rapidly launching its body upward to evade my sword.
Swift movements befitting a seven-eyed class beast.
Berald martial arts.
Sweeping leaves.
My leg swept low across the ground, striking the lizard beast’s tail with brutal force.
In an instant, the beast’s support vanished, and its body tumbled helplessly.
And in the direction the beast fell—
Crunch!
The sword I had swung earlier was waiting there, its blade raised and ready.
“Kieeeek….”
The beast’s neck was severed as it released a final death cry.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Silence descended like a curtain.
Aaron, Bella, and Laios stared at me with eyes wide in shock.
“Yo-you just… what were you….”
Bella trailed off, her voice confused.
“…Hm.”
Aaron too gazed down at the severed head of the lizard beast with a complicated expression.
He stroked his chin as if recalling the battle just now, alternating his gaze between my sword and the beast’s corpse.
“You deliberately showed an opening to lure the charge… and then you employed martial arts on top of that… ah, and when the beast charged earlier, swinging your sword was meant to make it use its tail for support, wasn’t it?”
“I was merely fortunate.”
I offered a modest deflection, and Aaron chuckled softly, shaking his head.
“No, it wasn’t luck. You had your sword positioned precisely where the fallen beast’s neck would be.”
Aaron shook his head with an excited voice, his eyes sparkling.
“So that rumor was true?”
“What rumor is that?”
“There’s been talk that you’re skilled enough to rival Yuren Helios.”
“….”
Well, that made sense.
It had been quite some time since I began training alongside Yuren, so it was natural that such rumors would spread.
“To be honest, I thought it was an absurd rumor… but it seems it wasn’t just baseless gossip after all.”
“Compared to Yuren, there are many areas where I fall short.”
“Haha! And humble too. I’m really taking a liking to our junior here!”
Aaron’s eyes gleamed as if he’d discovered hidden treasure.
“By any chance… have you thought about where you’d like to go after graduation?”
“No, not yet.”
“Haha. Then how about joining our Party? We’ve been needing one more reliable frontline member anyway.”
Aaron, who moments ago had been sizing me up with a “let’s see if this guy’s worth anything” attitude, was now openly extending a recruitment offer.
Well, that figured.
Given that the Aaron household had been receiving evaluations of declining fortunes compared to the Ryu family recently, he wouldn’t want to let slip a talented individual he’d found with such difficulty.
“If you join our Party, I could even give you personal coaching, separate from the mentoring classes.”
“…Personal coaching?”
“Yeah.”
Aaron nodded with a confident expression.
“If you learn from me, by the time you graduate you’ll become a hero even more outstanding than Yuren Helios.”
“….”
A hollow laugh escaped me at the question of who was supposed to be teaching whom.
Well, from Aaron’s perspective, he naturally had no choice but to believe his own skills were superior.
‘Since I haven’t really shown him anything.’
I hadn’t intended to hide my strength, but since my opponent had been so weak, there wasn’t much I could demonstrate.
Of course, I had no intention of joining Aaron’s Party.
‘Let me play a little hard to get here.’
I put on a thoughtful expression and let out a short sigh.
“I apologize. It’s difficult to decide right now.”
“Haha. Don’t be in such a rush. You have plenty of time to think it over.”
Aaron patted my shoulder with a refreshing smile.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you getting hungry? Classes are good and all, but let’s eat first.”
As he said this, Aaron glanced over toward Lanez.
Lanez, who had been staring at the scattered corpses of magical beasts with a frightened expression, jumped in surprise and scrambled to her feet.
“Ah, u-um! I’ll prepare the meal right away!”
Lanez opened the backpack she’d been carrying and pulled out cooking utensils.
Had her stamina not fully recovered from just sitting and resting for a while?
Deep exhaustion was evident on Lanez’s face as she prepared the food.
“Let me hel—”
Just as I was about to offer help while watching Lanez cook, sweat beading on her brow.
‘Help me?’
Suddenly.
Memories from my past life surfaced.
An endless expanse of pristine white—the Snowy Wasteland.
Howling blizzards tearing through the air.
White breath seeping between my lips.
Feet sinking deep into the snow with each step.
Silence descending like a curtain.
Pure white.
A world of absolute white.
“….”
An unbearable hatred surged within me.
Gritting my teeth, I clenched my fists.
‘Don’t pity me.’
The monster before my eyes is the witch who destroyed half the world.
Of course, that catastrophe hasn’t happened yet—it’s merely a future that may come to pass.
But that doesn’t mean I can simply overlook it as if nothing were amiss.
Even if you forget.
I remember.
That terrible calamity, the bottomless despair, the endless nightmare.
I.
Will not forget.
‘…And.’
The true danger Raneez Malam poses isn’t the dormant power within her to freeze half the world.
If that alone were the problem, what would I be—I who wield the primordial flame?
Raneez Malam is so dangerous not because she possesses the ‘Blessing of Bitter Cold’, but rather—
‘Because she cannot control it at all.’
Even when Raneez Malam betrayed humanity and became the Witch of Night, she never truly mastered her own power.
She routinely slaughtered her own allies, and the Demons’ cherished plan to liberate the Demon God nearly collapsed because of her.
A calamity to enemies and allies alike.
That is precisely who the Witch of Night, Raneez Malam, was.
‘Killing her is the right choice.’
I couldn’t leave a time bomb that could detonate at any moment unattended.
“Haha. Raneez Malam’s cooking skills are quite exceptional, so there’s reason to look forward to it, wouldn’t you say?”
“…Yes. I must admit, I’m rather looking forward to it.”
I let Aaron’s words pass over me and turned my gaze away from Raneez Malam.
Soon after, the savory aroma of soup wafted to my nose.
“Wow, it’s done! I’ll serve it right away!”
Raneez Malam ladled the soup into bowls and hurried from Party member to Party member, distributing them.
It felt less like she was a fellow Party member and more like a maid we’d brought along.
As Lanez distributed bowls of hot soup to the Party members and walked toward me with the last one.
Thud.
“Kyaaah!”
Lanez tripped over the corpse of a beast.
The scalding soup in the bowl spilled across my thighs.
Lanez stared at me with a pale, mortified expression.
“I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I got distracted for just a moment…!”
“….”
“L-let me wipe it off!”
“…No, it’s fine.”
I’d dodged before the soup spilled anyway, so only a few drops had splattered on me.
“A t-towel… where did I put the towel? Ah, um. I-I’m really sorry. I’ll clean it right away….”
“Lanez.”
Aaron flashed a gentle smile toward Lanez, who was frantically rummaging through her backpack.
Lanez’s shoulders flinched.
“Dale said he doesn’t need you to wipe it, didn’t he?”
“B-but….”
“Sit down.”
“Y-yes. Understood.”
Lanez sat down, her legs trembling slightly.
Aaron turned to look at me and asked.
“You okay?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”
“Haha. Sorry.”
“…?”
Sorry?
What could Aaron possibly have to apologize for in this situation?
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
Aaron handed me a fresh bowl of soup.
Just as he’d said, Lanez’s cooking skills were excellent.
“Well, now that we’ve filled our bellies, shall we resume hunting beasts?”
After finishing the meal.
Aaron stood up from his seat.
Lanez hastily finished cleaning up and was about to sling her backpack over her shoulders when.
“Give me the backpack.”
Aaron approached her and shouldered the backpack instead.
“Aaron…?”
“You’re exhausted too, aren’t you?”
“B-but.”
“Haha. It’s fine. I’m strong enough.”
Aaron lifted the heavy backpack with ease.
“Oh, okay. Thanks, Aaron.”
Lanez bowed her head gratefully to Aaron.
“Let’s get going.”
We walked a bit further into the Jungle.
“Grrrrrowwwl!”
The lizard beast we had fought earlier appeared again.
Just one of them.
I was about to place my hand on the hilt of my sword to deal with it quickly.
“Wait.”
Bella glanced back at Lanez and opened her mouth.
“Lanez. You fight this time.”
“Huh? Me, me fight?”
“Aren’t you a Party member too? Don’t just sit around doing nothing—you should be doing something, right?”
“That’s, that’s why I was carrying the backpack….”
“The backpack? Aaron’s carrying it right now.”
“…!”
Lanez trembled, her face turning pale blue.
“N-no. That’s… well, you see….”
“What, are you worried I’ll die fighting? If it gets dangerous, I’ll help, so do something yourself.”
“That’s….”
“Why, is it awkward because she’s your cousin?”
“C-cousin…?”
“Pfft. What? You have Demon blood flowing through you too, don’t you? Then aren’t you and the beast cousins?”
Bella’s shoulders shook with a scornful smile playing at her lips.
“…Ah.”
Lanez approached the beast, half-pushed forward by fear.
Watching her, I turned my head toward Aaron.
“….”
Aaron stood with his arms crossed, quietly observing Lanez.
“Aaron.”
“Hmm?”
“Aren’t you going to stop her?”
“Ah.”
Aaron smiled slightly.
“Lanez made a mistake with you today, didn’t she?”
“…You mean when she spilled the soup earlier?”
“Yeah, that.”
Aaron nodded and continued speaking.
“This all happens because you let your guard down.”
“….”
A strange sense of discord.
A sticky, nauseating feeling.
Crawled down my spine.
“It’s like training a dog or cat. If you don’t punish them appropriately, they always make the same mistake again later.”
“…Hah.”
At Aaron’s casual words, a twisted laugh leaked through my lips.
Suddenly.
A conversation I’d had with the witch flashed through my mind.
-Yeah…. I was cold.
Ah, I see.
That’s what it was.
-For such a long time… always, so much… I was cold.
You too.
You were living in a nightmare.
Endless.
Unbroken.
Relentlessly, long.

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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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