The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 227

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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 227. The Spider and the Empress (4)
“What on earth were you thinking saying something like that!”
“Something like what?”
I shrugged nonchalantly at Elisha, who was visibly flustered, and her violet eyes flashed dangerously.
“Are you really asking because you don’t understand? Not only did you reject the Empress’s proposal, but you even called her ‘you’!”
Well, I suppose I did.
But here’s the thing.
“Hmm. Do you have the right to say such things, Professor Elisha?”
“What….”
“Didn’t you yourself defy the Empress’s orders and say whatever you pleased?”
“That’s….”
Elisha averted her gaze, her expression flustered.
Well, if we’re being honest about who caused the bigger incident, it was definitely me for casually speaking informally to the Empress herself.
But Elisha had provided the opening for it.
“…I’m sorry.”
Elisha lowered her head, her expression deflated.
I suppressed a chuckle and took her hand.
“But why did you suddenly do that?”
“…What do you mean.”
“You said scout proposals were forbidden according to the Three Nations agreement and all that.”
I hadn’t expected Elisha to step in at that moment either.
“…I was simply stating the facts.”
“Hmm. But you knew the Empress wouldn’t follow that, didn’t you?”
“That’s….”
Elisha clamped her mouth shut, unable to find words.
Her gaze wandered to some distant place.
“Could it be that you were jealous?”
“Je, je, jealous! What are you talking about, Dale!”
Ah, I knew it.
She’d gotten so heated hearing that the Empress wanted me to become her servant or whatever that she’d rushed out.
“Hehe… hehehehe.”
“D, don’t laugh!”
Elisha stomped on my foot with an angry expression.
Clang, clang!
The metallic sound rang out.
“Well, it’s fine. It’s not like a major problem has occurred, is it? I haven’t been expelled from the Imperial Palace after all.”
“…A major problem hasn’t occurred?”
She narrowed her eyes and looked down at the source of the metallic sound.
Large shackles binding my ankles.
Naturally, thick manacles were fastened around my wrists as well.
Yes.
After that incident, we….
“If being locked in the Imperial Underground Prison isn’t a big deal, then what exactly is?”
Elisha exhaled a deep sigh as if her head were throbbing.
I tilted my head leisurely, my back against the cold stone wall.
Faint lamplight filtered through the dense iron bars, accompanied by a stench that assaulted the nostrils—the reek of decay.
It was difficult to believe this dreary, oppressive place was the same location as the magnificent Imperial Palace I’d seen from outside.
“I’m not locked in.”
“…Not locked in?”
“There aren’t even guards posted outside, are there? And….”
I lifted the shackles binding my wrists to show her.
These restraints, forged by the power of the Seven Star Protection, couldn’t be broken by ordinary means.
Whoosh! Clang!
As ash-white flames consumed the Seven Star Protection, the shackles split cleanly in two and clattered to the floor.
“Why would she only place shackles that can be broken so easily?”
“…There’s probably no one but Dale who could break them so effortlessly.”
“And Camelia surely knows that as well.”
I stifled a chuckle and proceeded to unlock all of Elisha’s restraints.
“…So, are you suggesting we escape together?”
“No.”
There was no need to escape.
‘If I wait a bit longer, she’ll come release us on her own.’
I leaned back against the cave wall and gazed toward the barred door.
Tap, tap.
Faint footsteps echoed from somewhere down the corridor.
“Hmm.”
Camelia, dressed not in her usual nightwear but in an elaborate gown, narrowed her eyes beyond the bars.
“So you truly do possess the power to nullify the Empress’s Protection.”
Camelia clicked her tongue softly as she gazed at the shackles scattered on the floor.
She sighed briefly and turned to regard both Elisha and me.
“I apologize for confining you. It was necessary—otherwise Melina would have made a fuss.”
“Melina? You mean that particular Maid?”
“Yes. My most loyal attendant.”
Camelia smiled faintly as she recalled Melina.
“When I destroyed Gehenna City, I personally took her in from the ruins.”
The Empress’s assault on Gehenna City.
It was the decisive incident that had made Camelia an instant hero, ranking first in the rankings.
But still.
She took in a child directly from Gehenna City’s ruins?
“Then could it be….”
“Gehenna City is not inhabited solely by Demons, just as Valhalla City is not inhabited solely by heroes.”
“….”
There was nothing I could say to that.
“Melina was one of the children kidnapped to Gehenna City. Had it not been for her, she would have been subjected to all manner of experiments at the hands of the Demons and killed most brutally.”
So from Melina’s perspective, Camelia was her savior—the one who had given her life back.
“…Now I understand why she looked at me as if she wanted to kill me.”
“At times, that loyalty of hers becomes so excessive it causes problems.”
Click.
As Camelia made a light gesture, the prison door that had been firmly locked slid open smoothly.
“Did you come to this place pursuing the Eternal Order?”
“…Did you know?”
“Hehe. There exists no truth in this world that can escape my eyes.”
I spoke quietly to Camelia, who was puffing herself up with pride.
“It seems you heard it from Raonel.”
“…Tsk.”
Camelia clicked her tongue, struck by my accurate guess.
“That one has not a shred of cuteness about him.”
“Hmm.”
“…Do you have anything to say to me?”
Camelia turned to look at Elisha with sharp eyes.
“Well.”
Elisha continued speaking, a leisurely smile playing at her lips.
“I believe Dale has quite a bit of cuteness about him, actually.”
“Ho. Are you daring to contradict my words?”
“What if I am?”
Their gazes crossed.
Just as sparks were about to ignite once more between the spider and the Empress.
“Both of you, that’s enough.”
“Ahem.”
“Cough.”
Elisha and Camelia, who had been glaring fiercely at each other, both cleared their throats awkwardly.
“In any case, returning to the main point.”
Camelia gestured with her chin toward the outside of the prison as she continued.
“If you wish it, I shall help you pursue those who call themselves the Eternal Order.”
“Weren’t you uninterested in the Eternal Order?”
“That is true.”
“Then why….”
“My interest was not in the Eternal Order or whatever mongrels they are, but in you.”
Camelia’s eyes sparkled like a child who had discovered a wrapped gift.
“I wish to see. Just how capable you truly are.”
“….”
So she wasn’t interested in the Eternal Order itself—she wanted to see my ability to hunt them down.
‘Though Elisha would probably shine more in that regard.’
Well, regardless of the reason.
If I could receive the Empress’s assistance in pursuing the Eternal Order, there was no better support to be had.
“Wait, stay right there.”
Camelia extended her hand toward us.
A seven-colored luminescence flowed from her palm.
The seven-hued aura enveloped both Elisha and me.
“What is this…?”
“With the Empress’s aura imbued within you, you shall be able to move freely throughout the Imperial Palace.”
It was like a sort of free passage permit.
“Now then, be on your way.”
“By the way, if we encounter that Maid called Melina during our investigation, what should we do?”
If the reason we were confined here was because of this Maid named Melina, then meeting her while investigating the Imperial Palace would surely cause trouble.
“There is no need to worry about that. Melina is currently outside the Imperial Palace on an errand.”
“I see.”
I tilted my head, looking toward Camelia.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“No, I just found it unexpected.”
Given Camelia’s nature, I thought she wouldn’t show any consideration even to her most cherished attendant.
Yet seeing her now, she seemed quite concerned about this Maid named Melina.
“The Empress is infinitely generous to those who have sworn their loyalty.”
“….”
She seemed quite far removed from the word “generous” in terms of personality.
“Should you ever become the Empress’s servant, you too would come to feel her generosity.”
“…I believe I’ve already answered that proposal.”
“Fufu. It seems you still don’t understand the Empress well.”
Camelia smiled leisurely, her eyes gleaming.
“What the Empress desires will inevitably fall into her hands.”
“Ah, yes.”
I’m sure it will.
‘Once entangled with her, things definitely become troublesome.’
I swallowed a bitter smile and stepped out of the prison.
Elisha, who had been glaring intently at Camelia, followed in my footsteps.
When we had emerged from the underground prison and walked far enough that Camelia was no longer visible.
“Dale.”
“Yes?”
“Give me your hand.”
Elisha, who had been following behind, suddenly grabbed my hand.
Elisha carefully interlaced her fingers with mine, her gaze averted.
“….”
We weren’t indulging in some sweet dating event—we were in the midst of pursuing the Eternal Order that had infiltrated the Imperial Palace.
“What? Are you dissatisfied?”
“No. It’s not that I’m dissatisfied, but….”
“Then stop complaining and hold on.”
With those words, Elisha walked briskly ahead.
Though I couldn’t see her face, the flushed tips of her ears made it abundantly clear that she felt embarrassed by the situation.
‘Honestly.’
The professor certainly had her adorable moments.
“Now then, let’s begin the investigation in earnest.”
Elisha withdrew two glass vials filled with crimson liquid from her pocket.
“What are those?”
“The blood of Wolf Mask and Fox Mask. I collected them just in case, though I never expected to use them here.”
Indeed.
She intended to maximize the power of her Insight blessing by consuming blood.
The Insight blessing, when enhanced through bodily fluid consumption, had proven capable of uncovering even the bombs the Archbishop of Madness had desperately concealed—it would certainly prove useful in tracking down the Eternal Order’s trail.
Gulp.
After Elisha drank the blood from the vial, her pupils transformed into reptilian yellow eyes.
With her Evil Eye gleaming, Elisha surveyed the surroundings.
“For now… I don’t sense any traces that resemble the Eternal Order.”
“Let’s continue searching.”
As we wandered through various sections of the Imperial Palace with Elisha.
“Wait.”
Elisha’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
She pointed to the wall where a large frame hung, her Evil Eye gleaming.
“Beyond that wall… I sense something suspicious.”
Elisha approached the wall and created a web from her fingertips, sending it behind the frame.
And then.
Click.
Whirrrrrr.
With a vibration, the wall bearing the frame rotated, revealing a hidden passage.

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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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