The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 214

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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 214. Interlude – Spiders Are Cute
A hot spring prepared in the underground of the Party Training Facility.
Though it’s called a hot spring, it’s not actually drawing real hot spring water—just heated water with a hint of sulfur scent added, a counterfeit hot spring.
But what did it matter whether it was real or fake?
“Ahhhh.”
I sank into the steaming water and exhaled a languid breath.
Water heated to just the right warmth and a subtle sulfur aroma tickling my nostrils.
Being an underground hot spring, it lacked the spectacular vistas I’d seen when I visited the Termal Region before, yet simply being able to immerse myself in such luxury within the Academy was itself quite indulgent.
Of course, there were luxuries incomparably more decadent than this hot spring.
*Click.*
“I’m coming in.”
The sound of the door opening was followed by the soft splash of footsteps.
*Gulp.*
I swallowed hard and turned my head, and what I saw was…
“Hehe. I brought some alcohol too—care for a drink?”
Elisha, her body concealed by a single towel, swayed a bottle of liquor in her hand.
“…”
Pristine white shoulders exposed above the towel.
A voluptuous chest whose presence was unmistakable even through the thick towel.
A slender waist and graceful legs that seemed incapable of supporting such generous curves.
Combined with a height that exceeded most men’s, for a moment I found myself not looking at a person but at a sculpture meticulously carved by a master artisan.
“Hm. Your gaze is quite heated.”
Elisha, noticing my stare, curved her lips into a knowing smile.
She waded carefully into the bath, her footsteps splashing softly.
“Ahhhh. Wonderful.”
“Y-yes, it is.”
“I find it quite satisfying to see Dale so flustered.”
Elisha drew slightly closer, a faint smile playing at her lips.
“Will you have a drink?”
“…Yes.”
*Glug.*
I downed the drink Elisha handed me in one gulp.
The sharp bite of alcohol scorched my already heated mind even further.
“What are your impressions of the Party Training Facility?”
“It’s so impressive that our Party alone feels embarrassed to use it.”
“That’s merely evidence of the important role Dale plays within the Academy, so accept it without reservation.”
“An important role…”
Honestly, those words still didn’t feel quite real to me.
In my previous life, I was treated as a problem child within the Academy, let alone playing any important role.
‘And perhaps that hasn’t changed even now.’
I let out a soft chuckle, recalling the Candidates whispering about me in the Central Plaza.
“Well, those unfamiliar with Dale might think that way. But I know better.”
Elisha held out her wine glass.
“I know just how much Dale has accomplished… and what he will accomplish going forward.”
Clink.
The clear, resonant sound rang out.
“Frankly speaking, three Archbishops have already fallen by Dale’s hand, haven’t they?”
“Well… yes, that’s true.”
The Archbishop of Illusion, the Archbishop of Desire, and the Archbishop of Beasts.
Half of the Six Archbishops who stand at the apex of the Demons have fallen by my hand.
And all within less than a year since my regression.
“If Dale hadn’t hidden that fact, word would have spread among the gossipers, and one of the ‘Master’ titles would surely bear Dale’s name by now.”
Indeed.
There’s no way one who killed half the Archbishops wouldn’t earn the title of ‘Master’.
“If we could draw such a hero to our side with just one Training Ground, wouldn’t that be an exceptionally profitable deal?”
“Haha. You’re not wrong when you put it that way.”
I hadn’t experienced such treatment often in my life, so it didn’t feel quite real.
But objectively speaking, if the Academy could employ me as a “Special Candidate” with just one building, it would be the better bargain for them.
‘Well, it’s a win-win for both sides.’
From my perspective, I could accomplish what I would have done anyway, now with the Academy’s full support—that was good.
From the Academy’s perspective, they’d strengthened their bond with me and gained the finest talent to discreetly handle troublesome matters while hiding behind the derisive label of “small fry”—that was good for them too.
It was a mutually beneficial relationship in every way.
“And there’s one more thing.”
Splash.
Elisha moved close enough that our shoulders nearly touched.
A soft warmth transmitted through the contact of our skin.
A faint scent of flesh pierced through the sulfurous smell, tickling my nostrils.
“Now that I’ve taken on a ‘Special’ position like mine, the time I spend with Dale will only increase from here on.”
“…Aren’t our assigned duties somewhat different?”
“Duties are merely a pretext, after all.”
Elisha continued with a playful wink.
“What matters is that Dale and I have been granted the authority to move freely within the Academy, unbound by its established rules.”
She was right—there would be considerable overlap in our missions, so opportunities to move together with Elisha would certainly increase.
“Is it… possible you dislike moving with me?”
Elisha looked at me with slightly anxious eyes.
The contrast between this vulnerable expression and her usual confident demeanor made a smile naturally bloom across my face.
“How could that be?”
“Phew. I’m relieved.”
Elisha slowly rose, still holding the towel wrapped around her body.
“Follow me.”
“Hm? Leaving already?”
“Not at all. Since we’ve come to the hot spring together, I intend to wash Dale myself.”
“Ah, no. There’s really no need for that….”
“Tsk. Come along quietly.”
Elisha grasped my hand and pulled me along, her expression stern.
I had no choice but to exit the bath and move to the washing area.
“Now then, let me start with your hair.”
Elisha approached from behind as I sat on the bathhouse stool.
She generously poured shampoo into her palm from the shelf above, then slowly began washing my hair.
“Ahh.”
A sigh escaped unbidden.
The soft sensation against my scalp spread languidly across my entire body through the crown of my head.
“Feels good?”
“…Yes.”
Why was there such a vast difference between washing one’s own hair and having someone else do it?
The simple act of hair washing, something I’d done countless times without thought, now induced an addictively pleasurable sensation.
And beyond that.
A subtle warmth.
The exquisite sensation transmitted from the fruit pressing against my back.
A sensation that a thin towel alone could not conceal gnawed at my reason as it traced down my spine.
‘Hm? But something….’
During my struggle against reason, a fleeting thought crossed my mind that the sensation against my back felt slightly odd.
But it vanished from my thoughts at Elisha’s next words.
“Next, I’ll wash your body.”
Elisha carefully washed my body with a foam-covered towel.
Her fingertips brushed against my skin.
“Ho. Now that I see it… Dale is quite muscular, isn’t he?”
“Ahem.”
“Hm? What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed?”
A playful voice reached my ears.
Elisha seemed to find teasing me irresistibly delightful, her shoulders trembling as she stifled her laughter.
“When I look at Dale, I find it hard to believe you’re actually older than me.”
“Does that mean I’m not dependable?”
“No, it means you’re cute. Very much so.”
Elisha pinched my cheek lightly and offered a faint smile.
“….”
Why was it?
Even knowing her words held no malice, my heart stirred inexplicably.
“There, all done now.”
“…Well, not quite done yet.”
I turned to glance at Elisha with a slight smile playing at my lips.
“Now it’s my turn.”
“Hmm? You’re going to wash my body?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t just passively accept everything she did to me.
“Hm.”
Elisha regarded me leisurely before rising smoothly to her feet.
“Then I suppose I should remove the towel first.”
“Ah, no! There’s no need to remove it right now…!”
Whoosh.
Before I could finish speaking, Elisha unwrapped the towel that had been covering her body.
As the towel fell away, what was revealed was….
“Huh?”
A black swimsuit without shoulder straps.
“…A swimsuit?”
“Hahaha! Did you really think I walked in here naked with just a towel?”
“….”
Now that I thought about it.
When her chest had pressed against my back earlier, I’d felt a strangely unusual sensation.
So that was because she’d been wearing a swimsuit under the towel all along?
“Hehe. As expected, Dale is quite adorable in his reactions.”
Elisha laughed, shaking her shoulders as she watched me stand there dumbfounded.
“How about it? If you don’t like the swimsuit, why don’t you try removing it yourself, Dale?”
“…Remove it myself?”
“That’s right.”
She interlaced her fingers behind her head, striking a pose like a model, and continued in a playful tone.
“It’s simple. Just untie the strings at the back and it comes right off. All you have to do is untie them yourself and remove it, Dale.”
“….”
Elisha struck a provocative pose.
I swallowed hard as I gazed at her.
I was conflicted about whether to succumb to her provocation.
“Pfft!”
Elisha released her interlaced fingers and burst into laughter.
“I was joking.”
“…Joking?”
“Yes. Given your personality, Dale, there’s no way you’d actually….”
I took a step forward toward Elisha.
One deliberate step.
“Mm?”
….
“Why, why are you acting like that, Dale? Your eyes look a bit frightening.”
“….”
“Oh, don’t come closer! Ugh! W-what are you doing!”
“What do you mean, what am I doing?”
I told her to take it off herself.
“Kyaaah!”
The moment her swimsuit strap came undone, Elisha hurriedly covered her chest with her arms and stumbled backward.
A scream unlike anything I’d heard from her before burst from her lips.
“W-wait. No, it was a joke! A joke!”
“A joke?”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at Elisha.
“You teased me all this time, and now you’re saying it was a joke?”
“Ugh… I-I’m sorry. I went too far.”
Seeing Elisha trembling as if she were pitiful, I felt a strange sense of cognitive dissonance coming on.
“Are you still teasing me?”
“What?”
“This doesn’t seem like the Elisha I know.”
That’s right.
Wasn’t she the one who always initiated physical contact whenever she got the chance?
This must surely be a continuation of that ‘joke’ she mentioned earlier.
“I’m not falling for it this time.”
“Ugh…!”
Elisha bit her lip tightly and threw a towel at my face.
“What do you take me for! I have shame too!”
The moment I saw Elisha’s face flushed as red as a tomato, I understood for certain.
‘Ah.’
She really is embarrassed—this isn’t a joke.
“I see. So what you’re saying is…”
High offense, but terrible defense, right?
“Could it be that you drank alcohol right after arriving to hide your nervousness?”
“….”
“This is something. I feel like I’ve discovered a new side of you today, Elisha.”
“Ugh….”
“It’s cute.”
“Dale, you…!”
Elisha bit her lip and spun around, rushing out of the hot spring.
“I-I’ll remember this humiliation!”
She fled with quick steps, spouting lines like a defeated villain.
Watching her retreating figure, I finally let out the laughter I’d been holding back.
‘Come to think of it, who said something like that about spiders before?’
To the naked eye, they appear to be fearsome predators with nothing to fear in this world, but spiders are actually timid, endearing creatures.

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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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