The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 169

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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 169. Blessing of Bitter Cold (2)
Main Building Cafeteria.
A dining establishment primarily frequented by nobility from the Empire, high-ranking clergy from the Holy Kingdom, and heirs of conglomerates from the Republic—it boasted the finest quality and prices among all the Candidate Program cafeterias within Hero Academy.
Within that Main Building Cafeteria lay a Private Room.
It was no ordinary space accessible to anyone with sufficient wealth; only Candidate Program students backed by exceptional grades could utilize this exclusive venue.
At a spacious table easily accommodating ten people, I sat with Lanez, Iris, and Yuren gathered around.
“So….”
Iris’s gaze turned toward Lanez.
Lanez flinched like a lamb confronted by a wolf, then averted her eyes hesitantly.
“This is the senior Lanez you became close with during the mentoring class, correct?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Lanez… a fourth-year named Lanez, then surely….”
Yuren’s expression hardened distinctly, as if he’d heard rumors about Lanez.
“Don’t worry about those rumors. Lanez has no connection to the Demons whatsoever.”
“D-Dale….”
Lanez’s eyes glistened as she watched me shake my head firmly.
Yuren observed her with narrowed eyes, then exhaled a long sigh and nodded in agreement.
“Sigh. Fine. If you say so, Dale, I’ll trust you.”
“So will I.”
Both of them seemed unable to completely lower their guard toward Lanez, but they nodded as if willing to defer to my judgment for now.
“Then Senior Lanez invited you to the Main Building Cafeteria?”
“No, it’s the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
Iris looked at me with startled eyes.
“I invited Lanez.”
“You invited her, Dale?”
In that instant, Iris’s eyes sharpened.
She crossed her arms, let out a small “hmm,” nodded, and cast a sidelong glance toward Lanez.
Lanez hiccupped with a frightened expression.
“There were circumstances.”
I explained how Lanez had been ostracized among the fourth-year Candidate Program students and how she’d never been able to use the cafeteria even once because of the surrounding scrutiny.
‘It’s probably something Lanez would prefer to hide.’
But considering our future relationship, I couldn’t keep concealing it indefinitely.
‘And frankly, what reason is there to hide it?’
She was the victim, not the perpetrator.
Why should a victim be unable to hold her head high, forced to hide her past as though she were the guilty one?
“Such a thing….”
The sharp light in Iris’s eyes as she glared at Lanez softened.
She understood that children of Demons wouldn’t be welcomed at Hero Academy, but she never imagined that these so-called adults—supposedly “hero” Candidate Program students—would torment her so insidiously, despite not being mere thoughtless children.
“That’s too much.”
Iris exhaled a sigh and shook her head.
Yuren’s expression hardened as if he hadn’t expected such a situation to arise.
“It’s fine. Dale saved me, after all.”
Lanez turned toward me with a faint smile.
Iris clicked her tongue as if she understood the situation well enough.
“Anyway, Dale really is… consistent, aren’t you?”
Iris turned to look at me with a grin.
Her lips curved upward in a smile, but her narrowed eyes gleamed with a sharp, predatory glint.
I coughed awkwardly and turned my head away from Iris’s gaze.
“Anyway. Since she was coming here anyway, I thought it’d be better to bring her somewhere nice.”
“So that’s why you came to the Main Building Cafeteria instead of the Annex Cafeteria.”
Yuren nodded and looked between me and Lanez.
“By the way… you call Lanez by her first name?”
“Ah, well…”
“I-I told him to call me casually!”
Before I could respond, Lanez spoke up urgently.
“Lanez?”
“Y-yes. Dale is… my benefactor, after all.”
“I see.”
Yuren narrowed his eyes as he observed Lanez.
I could see the tips of Lanez’s ears flushing red as she kept her head lowered.
Yuren sighed with an expression that said “I knew it” and shot me a pointed glare.
“W-well then, should we eat first?”
“Fine.”
“I’ll go get the plates.”
The Main Building Cafeteria operated on a buffet system.
As I stood up to fetch plates for four people.
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“Not necessary?”
“In the Private Room, once you select your desired menu, they bring it directly to the room.”
“…There’s something like that?”
This was something I hadn’t known either.
“Yes. Just a moment.”
When Yuren pressed a button on one side of the table, holographic menus materialized in front of each of our seats.
The menu was divided by category into dishes from the Empire, Holy Kingdom, and Republic.
“Once you order here, they prepare it fresh and bring it to you.”
“It’s like ordering room service at a luxury hotel.”
I could understand why they’d designed it so that even with vast wealth, one couldn’t access the Private Room without grades to back it up.
‘At least Yuren is the top student of the year.’
Normally, Lanez and I wouldn’t have been permitted entry, but as the year’s top student, Yuren could bring additional companions regardless of their grades, allowing us access to the Private Room.
“Wow, wow.”
Lanez let out exclamations of wonder as she gazed at the menu filled with dishes.
“Look at this, Dale! There are so many dishes I’ve never seen before!”
Lanez cried out in a voice brimming with excitement.
Watching her bounce on her feet while pointing at the menu with her finger, I couldn’t help but smile warmly.
“Order whatever you’d like to eat.”
“O-okay.”
Lanez browsed through various dishes, moving between categories as if uncertain what to order.
“You’re from the Empire, aren’t you, Lanez? I think it would be good to choose from Empire cuisine.”
“But I’m also curious about Republic food….”
“What about Holy Kingdom food then?”
“W-well, Holy Kingdom food is a bit….”
Lanez trailed off, her gaze shifting away awkwardly.
No.
Even Lanez, who said she’d eat dog food if I was the one paying for it, was avoiding this cuisine.
‘What on earth did they do to the food?’
It was a moment that made me truly feel the reputation of the Holy Kingdom.
“What will you have, Dale?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Republic cuisine?”
“Hmm… no.”
Since I usually ate Republic food, I felt like having Empire cuisine today for a change.
“Since we’re already at the Main Building Cafeteria, I thought I’d try cutting into a steak.”
“I-I’ll order the same thing as you, Dale!”
“Really? How would you like it cooked?”
“Cooked? I get to decide how it’s cooked?”
“…I’ll just go with medium.”
After ordering the steak through the menu, an evenly cooked steak arrived in the room not long after.
Lanez’s eyes widened as she cut into the steak and took a bite.
“Uuuuugh!”
Lanez exhaled excitedly through her nose, her legs fluttering with joy.
Watching her beam with happiness as if she held the entire world in a single piece of steak, both Iris and Yuren wore complicated expressions.
“Sigh. There’s nothing we can say now.”
“Right?”
Iris and Yuren exchanged glances and offered wry smiles.
Lanez, who had been devouring the steak hurriedly, suddenly lifted her head and glanced around.
“S-sorry. I got too excited….”
Lanez’s face flushed red as she spoke, sauce smeared around her mouth.
Iris smiled brightly and handed a napkin to Lanez.
“Wipe your mouth with this.”
“…Thank you.”
Lanez wiped the corner of her mouth with the towel Iris handed her, breaking into a bright smile.
After that luxurious lunch concluded.
Yuren, Iris, Lanez, and I took a leisurely stroll through the Academy to settle our stomachs.
With Lanez in mind, we chose the Back Mountain path—the area with the fewest Candidates in the entire Academy.
“That’s when Dale appeared out of nowhere and incinerated the demonic beast!”
“Is that so?”
“Hehe. Yeah!”
Lanez recounted the mentoring lesson incident to Iris with an excited voice, their rapport having grown closer.
Though Lanez was a year older by age, the atmosphere made Iris feel more like the elder sister.
‘It’s the same with appearance.’
While not quite as striking as Sophia, Lanez possessed a petite frame and delicate build.
“I understand that feeling.”
“You do, Iris…?”
“Yes. The person I’m dating now also saved me when I was in danger.”
“Huh. I see….”
Lanez nodded and glanced back at Iris and Yuren.
“You two… ah, you and Yuren seem to match really well together.”
“Pardon? Match well?”
“…Huh? Aren’t you two dating?”
“Ah.”
Iris burst into laughter at the unexpected remark.
“The person I’m dating isn’t Yuren.”
“Oh, I, I see? Sorry. I didn’t know.”
Having assumed Iris and Yuren were dating based on how they appeared together, Lanez’s expression turned flustered.
“The person I’m dating is….”
Iris smiled faintly and pulled my arm close.
“Wait….”
Before I could even open my mouth at the ominous premonition, Iris continued.
“Dale.”
“…What?”
Lanez’s face went rigid.
“Dating… Dale?”
“Huh? Didn’t Dale tell you?”
“….”
Lanez’s complexion drained to a sickly pallor.
“Dale and Iris are… lovers…?”
Lanez’s shoulders trembled violently.
“Lanez. This is….”
“A lie… a lie, a lie, a lie, a lie, a lie.”
Lanez collapsed into a seat and irritably tore at her hair.
Whoooosh!
Intense light erupted from her holy mark, and the surroundings began to freeze solid.
A fierce, biting cold swept through as a pristine blizzard raged.
“Ah, I see. Yes. So… someone as good as Dale… it doesn’t make sense that he doesn’t have a girlfriend…”
Ha, haha.
Lanez’s shoulders trembled as she released a broken laugh.
“Why was I… getting my hopes up alone? Dale would never… love someone like me…”
“Lanez!”
“Ah, haha. Hahahaha!”
Crack, crack, crack!
The pristine blizzard raged on.
Towering trees, firmly rooted boulders, scattering leaves.
Everything froze solid and shattered.
“This is insane.”
I ground my teeth as I watched Lanez laughing with hollow, vacant eyes as though her soul had vanished.
‘Why! Why is she doing this!’
I saved her from being tormented!
I warmed her with embers when she said she was cold!
I even obtained and fed her a holy mark stabilizer!
I did everything! Everything for her!
‘So why did she awaken the Blessing of Extreme Cold in less than a day!!!’
A silent scream echoed through the depths of my heart.

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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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