The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 180

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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 180. Interlude – Escape (1)
After the Beast Legion’s sudden assault came to an end.
The Hero Academy was filled with an atmosphere of celebration, as if a festival had just taken place.
One might wonder how such festive spirits could arise after a large-scale attack.
But consider this.
Thousands upon thousands—no, over ten thousand demonic beasts had assaulted the Academy, yet the professors and candidates had united their strength and successfully repelled the invasion without a single casualty.
Certainly, there were those who suffered minor wounds, and others hospitalized at the Medical Facility with serious injuries, but the fact remained that not a single life was lost in defending against the Beast Legion’s assault—a triumph worthy of celebration for the Academy.
And so began the victory ceremony.
Though “victory ceremony” might sound grand, it was nothing more than the Academy’s Headmaster presenting awards to the candidates who had distinguished themselves in this battle, followed by a day of feasting and merriment.
“Third-year Warrior Department Candidate Yuren Helios. Fourth-year Warrior Department Candidate Aaron Baek, Third-year Support Department Candidate Iris, Fourth-year Magic Department Candidate Sophia Evergreen, Second-year Magic Department Candidate Berald Ryu. And finally….”
Raonel Ryu, Headmaster of the Hero Academy, turned his gaze toward one candidate.
“Third-year Warrior Department Candidate Albert Huber.”
“Y-yes, sir!!!”
Albert responded with a tense voice.
“These candidates have responded to this sudden calamity with courage and wisdom, and thus I hereby present them with commendations.”
Following Headmaster Raonel’s words, the candidates ascended the podium.
“Wow! That’s amazing, Albert!”
“Sigh… Yuren really is incredibly handsome….”
“Really? I’m more into that… Berald, was it? The second-year.”
“My, I didn’t know you had such tastes.”
“Ugh… I’m so jealous! I went out and fought the beasts too!”
“You only defeated one and got injured so badly you had to be carried away.”
“Hehe… but the Saint really was beautiful….”
Thunderous applause erupted, and the candidates ascending the podium were showered with admiring gazes.
“Quiet.”
Headmaster Raonel raised his hand lightly to calm the crowd, then presented each candidate on the podium with their commendation.
“It would take too much time for everyone to share their thoughts, so let us have just one representative speak on behalf of all.”
Headmaster Raonel surveyed the candidates standing on the podium and approached one of them.
“Candidate Albert.”
“Me? Y-you mean me?”
“Please share your thoughts as the representative of the awardees.”
“M-me as the representative?! Surely it should be Senior Aaron or Yuren instead….”
“Guffaw guffaw guffaw!”
Headmaster Raonel smiled with satisfaction as he watched Albert’s pale face desperately decline.
“Just as Professor Lucas said.”
“Pardon?”
“You have quite the impressive impact—no, rather, you are a remarkably upright and sincere young man.”
“What did you just say, sir?”
“As you all know, Candidate Albert served as the representative of Class C during this war, and he gathered the candidates and fought the demonic beasts with unparalleled valor!”
Headmaster Raonel moved behind Albert and placed his hand on the young man’s shoulder as he continued.
“True heroism lies in the courage to stand firm in times of crisis! Everyone, lend your ears to Candidate Albert Huber’s words!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“Albert! Albert! Albert!”
“….”
Albert gazed down from the podium, his face drained of all color.
Hundreds of candidates looked up at him in unison.
“I… th-that is… w-well….”
Albert stammered, his expression crumpling.
“Y-you all must have been so frightened… th-thank you for fighting alongside me….”
“Uuuuh!”
“Speak louder!”
“Hah.”
Albert squeezed his eyes shut and bellowed with all his might.
“W-we have seized a magnificent victory today! Some say the title of ‘hero’ has faded over the past five hundred years, but….”
He clenched his fist and thrust it skyward.
“From this day forward! We shall restore greatness to the name of hero!”
“Ooooooh!”
“Albert! Albert! Albert!”
“Albert! I’m your fan!!!”
The curtain rose on the victory celebration amidst thunderous cheers that seemed ready to tear the hall apart.
* * *
Victory celebration.
I had gathered my comrades in a Private Room of the Main Building Cafeteria, a venue I had used once before.
Yuren, Iris, Berald, and Sophia—those who had walked with me since my past life—alongside Camilla and Elisha, whose bonds I had forged anew after my return, and finally Lanez.
The long table felt cramped with so many companions gathered, and an unexpected warmth bloomed in my chest.
‘I wish I could have invited more people.’
Albert had become the centerpiece of the victory celebration and was being called away in all directions, while Juliet had been summoned back to the Republic by her family due to the assault.
‘Professor Lucas is probably meeting with Professor Bianca right about now.’
Professor Jade couldn’t attend because he was organizing the laboratory that Berald had essentially abandoned.
‘Well, in a way, this group is more comfortable for candid conversation.’
Unlike others, these companions gathered here knew each other’s ‘secrets’ to some degree.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
Clink.
We each raised our glasses and clinked them together.
“Many were injured, but… thankfully, no one died.”
“Krr! Surely this is all thanks to Yuren’s… no, Yurina’s outstanding efforts, yes?”
“No. Berald worked harder than anyone.”
“Hehe. I merely gathered magical reagents from Professor Jade’s laboratory—hardly worth mentioning, really.”
“Hmm. For ‘hardly worth mentioning,’ I’ve seen several hundred beasts fall to your fists alone.”
Yurina and Berald continued their cheerful banter, raising their glasses in turn.
Iris, who had been watching the scene unfold beside her, opened her mouth with a mischievous smile playing at her lips.
“But did you know, Berald?”
“Hm? Know what?”
“That Yurina is actually one year younger than you in real age?”
“Gasp. N-now that you mention it….”
“Ah, Iris, you…! We promised not to bring up age!”
“Oh my~ How strange~ I don’t seem to remember that?”
“Ugh….”
Yurina swallowed hard and began gulping down her drink in rapid succession.
Watching her, Sophia and Lanez wore complicated expressions.
“Sigh. I still can’t believe it. That Yuren Helios was actually female….”
“Y-yeah. Me too.”
The two of them, who had only recently learned of Yuren’s true identity, still wore awkward expressions, clearly not yet accustomed to the revelation.
“Hehe. Your magic was incredible too, Senior Sophia.”
“…Really?”
“Absolutely! Honestly, to my eyes it looked even stronger than Professor Bianca’s magic!”
“Well… if we’re talking purely about firepower, I don’t fall short compared to Professor Bianca.”
Sophia twirled a strand of her hair around her fingertip and casually averted her gaze.
Judging by the way her leg was bouncing beneath the table, Berald’s compliment had clearly pleased her.
Just as a warm atmosphere was beginning to form between them.
“Haha! So while other aspects show quite a difference, firepower is where you don’t fall short… truly, the world of magic is profound!”
“…What?”
No. You absolute idiot, Berald.
What are you even saying?
“Huh… Other aspects show a big difference? What specifically?”
“Eh? That… surely you know too, Senior?”
“No, I have absolutely no idea?”
Sophia rose from her seat with a sinister smile and approached Berald.
“So, shall we go over there and have you explain in detail what’s so different?”
“Aaaah! Ow, ow, ow!”
Sophia roughly grabbed Berald by the ears and dragged him out of the room.
“….”
“….”
An awkward silence descended upon the room after Berald and Sophia left.
“That was… Berald really lacked tact there.”
“Yeah. He was like Dale.”
“No.”
Why am I getting caught in the crossfire too?
“Hehe. Just joking. Dale isn’t really the tactless type.”
“If anything, it’s the opposite that’s the problem.”
Yurina nodded and continued speaking.
“You’re so perceptive that you go around flirting with everyone, don’t you?”
“No, I’ve never done anything like that….”
“Scratch that—you’re not perceptive at all.”
Yurina squinted her eyes and stomped hard on my foot beneath the table.
“You toy with people’s hearts and then claim you’ve never done such a thing?”
“That’s right! There’s a limit to how shameless you can be!”
Thud!
Perhaps she’d been holding back her emotions for too long, or perhaps the alcohol was loosening her tongue.
Iris struck the table roughly, her voice trembling with indignation as she launched into her tirade.
“You wagged your tail first! And now you come back claiming you didn’t know?!”
“No.”
Wait.
Please calm down, Saint.
“It’s your fault for being so provocative in the first place!!!”
Her anguished cry hung in the sudden silence that followed.
Camilla tore at her hair and drank heavily without a word, while the others turned away to avoid Iris’s gaze.
“….”
No matter how unpredictable the future might be.
I never imagined I’d hear such words from the Saint of the Holy Kingdom—my lover from my past life.
“Um… yes.”
As if to clear the awkward atmosphere, Yurina turned to me and asked.
“Anyway, what were you doing during the war, Dale?”
There seemed to be an unspoken agreement to forget Iris’s outburst entirely.
Everyone quickly shifted the conversation and focused their attention on me.
“That’s right. I tried to find you too, but I couldn’t see you anywhere.”
“R-right! I even activated the tracking spell I’d placed on Dale, but the signal cut out midway!”
“Hm?”
“…A tracking spell?”
“Gasp. Oh, n-no! I mean, that’s not…!”
Lanez shook her head frantically, her face turning pale.
“….”
I’d have to dispel that tracking spell she’d placed on me later.
“I was….”
“Dale was with me,” Elisha said casually, crossing her arms.
“We were spending some intimate time together.”
“Intimate time….”
“…together?”
In an instant, Yurina’s and Iris’s eyes turned menacing.
In an instant, Yurina and Iris’s eyes turn fierce.
But what’s truly problematic is….
“Ah, I see… yes… how could I have missed it? If three is possible, then four must be possible too… ah, haha.”
Lanez laughed with a sound like a broken machine, creaking and grinding.
Lanez nervously gnawed at her fingernails, her leg bouncing rapidly.
“A-at this point… before it spreads further… there’s no choice but to… divide it….”
“Pardon?”
Divide it?
‘…What do you mean?’

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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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