The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 182

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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 182. School Trip (1)
As the weather grew increasingly cold, winter drew near.
Just as the school’s celebratory atmosphere from the victory ceremony began to fade in the chill of the approaching season, I made my way to the place where Lanez and I had agreed to meet.
“Hmm?”
Despite arriving thirty minutes early, I found Lanez already waiting for me.
“Oh… D-Dale. You’re here?”
Upon spotting me, Lanez shyly waved her hand.
“How long have you been waiting?”
“Um, not that long.”
“How long is ‘not that long’?”
“A… three hours?”
“…”
Just how early had she arrived to be waiting all this time?
As I stared at her with an incredulous expression, Lanez’s cheeks flushed crimson, and she fidgeted with her index fingers pressed together.
“Don’t come so early to wait next time.”
“Y-yes. I understand.”
“Anyway…”
I gave Lanez a light once-over from head to toe.
A white one-piece dress, a thin beige cardigan, and shoes with a subtle arch.
With makeup delicately applied as the finishing touch, Lanez looked so beautiful that I could scarcely believe this was the same person who usually exuded such a dark, witchlike aura.
“You look beautiful.”
“…Really?”
Lanez bounced excitedly on her feet, her expression as delighted as a miner who had just discovered gold.
“Yes. It suits you incredibly well.”
“Hehe. Thank you.”
“But… I’m sorry, despite you dressing up so nicely.”
I placed my hand on Lanez’s shoulder and continued.
“You’ll need to change out of that outfit.”
“…What?”
Lanez’s eyes widened in shock.
She swallowed hard, her face flushing crimson as she nodded her head.
“Y-yes. If that’s what you want, Dale… I’m ready.”
Lanez began to slip off her cardigan.
“No. Don’t undress here. Go change into these clothes.”
“…Huh?”
“Here, training clothes.”
“…”
“We agreed to train in handling Gaho together today, didn’t we?”
One couldn’t very well train while wearing a one-piece dress and cardigan.
“…Tch.”
Lanez pouted as she accepted the training outfit with its tacky design.
After changing clothes in the nearby public restroom,
Lanez and I headed toward the School Back Mountain.
Normally, it was a place one couldn’t enter without a separate class schedule, but with the access permit I’d received from Elisha, we had no trouble entering the back mountain.
“Ready?”
“Y-yeah.”
Lanez nodded, her expression tense.
“Don’t worry too much. Try drawing out the power of your blessing slowly.”
“Huff.”
Lanez took a deep breath and closed her eyes gently.
The stigma blazed with light as pristine frost blanketed the surroundings.
Crack, crackle crackle.
The vegetation that froze the instant it touched the frost shattered like candy, crumbling and cascading down.
A sight that inspired awe beyond mere fear.
The power of the witch who had transformed half a continent into the Snowy Wasteland was slowly opening its eyes.
“Haah.”
Pure white breath flowing from between Lanez’s lips.
She carefully raised her arm, pointing her hand at a nearby tree.
The pristine frost that had been spreading like mist gathered at a single point, transforming into the shape of a spear.
Whoooosh!
The frost spear shot forth at terrifying speed, piercing through the tree.
And then.
Crackle crackle crackle!
The tree froze in the blink of an eye.
But that wasn’t all.
The frost spear erupted in an explosion, consuming not just the tree but all the surrounding vegetation, rocks, and small flying insects.
The blast radius extended a full twenty meters.
A land of death was created in an instant centered on the tree.
“Ah….”
Lanez let out a soft gasp as she beheld the sight she had created.
She turned to me with a frightened expression, like a child who had dropped and shattered an expensive vase.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Hmm.”
What I had aimed for was just the single tree that the frost spear had pierced through at first.
But due to the overwhelming power of her blessing, not only the tree but the surrounding earth had frozen as well.
‘Her control over the power is still immature, as expected.’
If this had been during actual combat, her party members would have been caught up in it too.
“I-I’ll do better next time!”
With that cry, she fired off several more frost spears, but the result was the same.
“Ugh….”
Lanez gazed at the frozen ground around her, her expression crumpling with dismay.
“…I’m sorry, Dale.”
I gently patted her head, which was scrunched up with fear.
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. That’s exactly why I suggested we do separate training to control your power.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. You can’t expect to get it right from the start, can you?”
Having been the slowest learner of anyone, I understood her feelings all too well.
“…Thank you.”
Lanez gripped my collar tightly and smiled bashfully.
“Alright, let’s try it this way instead.”
“Huh? How do you—kyaaah!”
I moved behind Lanez and embraced her from behind.
Due to the height difference, the back of her head rested against my chest.
“D-D-D-Dale?”
Lanez fidgeted in flustered confusion.
“Focus and try casting the blessing again.”
I gently channeled power through my arms around her, igniting ashen flames.
Whoooosh.
Gray flames blazed and wrapped around both our bodies, yet there was no searing heat, and our clothes didn’t burn.
I had carefully controlled the output to emit only a gentle warmth.
I watched as Lanez cast her blessing of extreme cold.
“Ahhh…”
Lanez closed her eyes, her face flushed red.
She slowly drew up her mana and activated the blessing’s power.
Shhhhhhhh.
Pure white frost spread throughout the surroundings.
Unlike before, when everything it touched froze solid, the vegetation touched by the thickly settling frost-like mist remained unharmed and intact.
“…Huh?”
Lanez’s eyes widened in surprise.
She pointed to a nearby tree and slowly raised her arm.
Uuuuuung!
Frost spears materialized in the empty air.
Like cells multiplying, the frost spears created in the void split and multiplied in number.
From two to four, from four to eight.
Thus, thirty-two spears were created.
“Haah.”
Lanez exhaled a short breath and opened her mouth quietly.
“Freeze.”
Shwooooosh!
The thirty-two spears flew in different directions and pierced into the tree.
The tree pierced by the spear froze in the blink of an eye, but that was all.
The surrounding ground did not freeze, nor did the flying insects get caught in the cold.
“Huh, huh?”
Perhaps even she couldn’t believe what she had accomplished.
Lanez opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, bouncing on her feet as if to say, “Look at this!”
“D-Dale! We, we succeeded! We actually succeeded!”
“Well done.”
I gently patted Lanez’s head as she bounced adorably with an excited expression.
‘As I thought, the cinders really do influence the blessing of the harsh cold.’
I had known the influence existed before, but I hadn’t anticipated such a dramatic transformation would be possible.
“Could this be… because of the fire you created, Dale?”
“That must be it.”
“Hehe. Then all I need is for you to hold me like this every time.”
“No.”
I couldn’t use the blessing while holding her every single time.
“You need to practice so you can use it like this even without me.”
“Ugh…”
Lanez’s expression grew dejected, and she squirmed slightly.
I chuckled softly and ruffled Lanez’s hair.
“Well then, shall we try again?”
“Yes!”
* * *
The blessing control training continued until darkness fell.
Training with Lanez today revealed two new things about her.
First, she possessed far more perseverance than I had expected.
Every time she used the blessing’s power, her lips turned blue from the cold, yet she focused on training without a single complaint.
And second…
“Freeze!”
Crack!
A spear of frost flew forth with her clear cry.
The spear of frost, shot at a terrifying speed, pierced through a massive tree large enough for two or three adults to encircle.
Boom!
The spear of frost exploded within the tree’s interior, instantly freezing the entire trunk solid.
Unlike when she first created and fired the spear of frost, this time she had frozen only the tree without scattering cold air around it.
“Wow, wow!”
Lanez jumped with joy at the sight of the frozen tree.
“Hehe. Dale! I succeeded!”
She trotted over to me as if asking for praise.
“Well done.”
Though not dozens of spears flying simultaneously like when I wrapped myself in cinders, the growth she achieved in just one day was almost unbelievable in its speed.
‘At this rate, I’m amazed I couldn’t control my power properly in my past life.’
The second fact I learned about Lanez.
Her talent was so extraordinary that it didn’t fall short compared to Yurina, Berald, or Sophia.
Initially, without Ashfall, she couldn’t properly control her power, but now she wielded the blessing’s strength perfectly even when I stood far away.
‘As long as her mind doesn’t break and cause the blessing to go berserk, there’s nothing to worry about.’
Lanez’s growth was unfolding at a pace that could only be described as miraculous.
“Should we call it a day then?”
I looked up at the darkening sky and asked.
“Y-yeah. Got it.”
Lanez, her lips pouting with a hint of reluctance, gently tugged at my collar.
“I made a lunch box… want to eat before you go?”
“A lunch box?”
“Yeah. I made it this morning. It’s gotten cold since then, but…”
Lanez pulled out a neatly wrapped lunch box from her bag.
“Cold food just needs reheating.”
I placed my hand on the chilled lunch box and slowly drew up Ashfall.
As Ashfall enveloped the container, warm steam soon rose from the lunch box that had grown cold.
Inside were Vienna sausage stir-fry with vegetables, rolled egg, and kimchi.
Just looking at it made my mouth water—an excellent selection.
“I-I found and made the lunch menu that people from the Republic love most.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
I was quite hungry anyway, so I eagerly emptied the lunch box.
“…Is it good?”
“It’s the best.”
“Hehe. I’m glad.”
Lanez smiled brightly as she watched me devour the lunch box.
“Oh right… Dale, did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“We’re going on a school trip next week.”
“…What?”
This was the first I’d heard of it.
“Ah… I guess they haven’t told the third-year students yet.”
“Why a school trip all of a sudden?”
In my past life, despite attending the Hero Academy for four years, I’d never once gone on a school trip.
“The school walls were damaged a lot in this recent war… so they hastily scheduled a school trip to repair them.”
“A school trip, huh…”
I’d heard that educational institutions often held them before adulthood, but a school trip from the Hero Academy was quite unusual.
“Where are we going?”
“To a region called Termal in the Holy Kingdom, apparently.”
Termal region.
It was the region where the tomb of Grace, the Light of Life and one of the Five Great Heroes, was located—a famous tourist destination within the Holy Kingdom.
‘Though, truthfully, it became a tourist attraction for different reasons altogether.’
What the Termal region was more famous for than the tomb of one of the Five Great Heroes.
That was….
“I-I heard the Termal region is so famous for its hot springs….”
Lanez turned to look at me, her lips curling into a grin.
“I wish I could go into the hot springs with Dale.”
“No.”
As if that would happen on a school trip.

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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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