The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 238

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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 238. Mayday (3)
Darkness settled over the Dormitory Room.
Lanez, draped in the night like a curtain, extended her pale hands and pulled my body into an embrace from behind.
“…Lanez?”
“….”
I called her name with an anxious tremor in my voice, but no answer came.
‘No.’
Say something, anything.
This is terrifying.
“…Dale.”
“Huh? Y-yeah?”
“*Sniffle*.”
“…Yeah?”
The sound of sniffling echoed from behind me.
Lanez tightened her arms around my body with renewed force.
“Don’t… d-don’t abandon me.”
“…What?”
What is she talking about all of a sudden?
“I’ll… I’ll do better. *Sniffle*… I’ll do everything you ask. I won’t bother you, Dale. So… please… don’t abandon me.”
“No, no, no.”
What has she been saying this whole time?
“What did Lanez do wrong?”
Even if there were unavoidable circumstances, the fault was on my end.
“Huh? Y-you… you didn’t cut off contact because of me, did you?”
“The reason I couldn’t contact you for a while was something else entirely.”
“Oh. I… I thought it was because I contacted you too much.”
“….”
Now that I think about it, I haven’t turned on the Hero Watch since getting it back.
Just how many messages did she send?
*Click*.
I turned my head slightly and powered on the Hero Watch, revealing a red notification window with the count of unread messages displayed.
[Sender: Raneez Malam.]
[Unread Messages: 7731.]
[Missed Calls: 487.]
“….”
Well.
Now I understand why Lanez was so worried.
“*Sigh*.”
“*Hic*….”
At the sound of my sigh, Lanez flinched and let out another sniffle.
She continued speaking in a trembling, frightened voice, stumbling over her words.
“I’m, I’m sorry, Dale! Y-you disappeared because I was being a bother, right? Ah, I promise I’ll never do that again! I, I was wrong….”
“That’s not it.”
The sigh I’d just released wasn’t directed at her—it was a lament directed at myself for failing to contact her even once while she was in such a state.
“I’m sorry. For not reaching out.”
I turned around to face Lanez, who had been clinging to my back.
I carefully wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and gently stroked her hair.
“…Dale?”
“Something came up.”
“S-something?”
Lanez’s shoulders trembled slightly as she glanced furtively downward at my lower half.
“….”
No.
Why are you looking there, you silly girl?
“The reason I couldn’t contact you this time was….”
I slowly explained to Lanez everything that had happened in the Empire.
As my explanation continued, Lanez’s face grew progressively brighter.
“Ah… s-so that’s what happened.”
Lanez released a deep sigh of relief, realizing that the communication gap wasn’t because of her.
“I thought… th-that you didn’t like me anymore, Dale… and I didn’t know what to do….”
“So that’s why you were in my room?”
“Y-yes. I thought that if I stayed here… s-someday you’d come back.”
Sigh.
So that’s how it had come to this.
“You don’t need to worry about that anymore.”
I pulled Lanez close, trembling like an abandoned puppy, and carefully patted her back.
“There’s no way I could ever stop caring for you.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
At first, I’d been by her side simply to prevent her protection from spiraling out of control.
But as time passed, her presence gradually transformed from a ticking bomb into a beloved companion.
When I think about it, it makes perfect sense.
How could I not love a woman so beautiful, so devoted to me, and so earnest in everything she does?
“B-but I’m… d-dark, and… troublesome… and jealous….”
“I’ve come to love all of those aspects too.”
Iris’s kindness is wonderful, Yurina’s sincerity is admirable, and Elisha’s reliability is reassuring.
But Lanez’s darkness held its own unique charm.
‘Wait, am I the strange one here?’
To be honest, if I had to pick the cutest among my companions, I’d say Lanez takes the crown.
Watching her tremble and quiver, I can’t help but want to embrace her and soothe her.
‘Sometimes I do feel afraid.’
But still.
My affection for Lanez hasn’t changed.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Lanez stood there with her face flushed crimson, stamping her feet restlessly.
Swish.
I gently brushed aside the curtain of hair that fell across her forehead.
Beneath the dim light, her lovely face was revealed.
I leaned down and pressed my lips briefly against her forehead.
“Hyieeeek!”
A strange cry burst from Lanez’s mouth.
Poof.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, Lanez’s body went limp.
“Huh?”
Wait.
“Lanez?”
There was no response.
“…Heh.”
I let out a hollow laugh and carefully carried the unconscious Lanez to my bed, laying her down gently.
A few minutes passed like that.
With a rustling sound, Lanez stirred and began to sit up.
“Huh? Where am I…?”
“You’re awake?”
“Ah… D-Dale.”
Upon spotting me, Lanez murmured to herself, “Oh, it wasn’t a dream after all.”
“Here, water.”
“Y-yes. Thank you.”
I watched Lanez gulp down the water, my eyes narrowing slightly.
“By the way, Lanez… how many days has it been since you last slept?”
I hadn’t noticed in the darkness earlier, but now I could see her face was gaunt, like that of an office worker who’d endured thirty consecutive all-nighters.
“Um… a w-week?”
“…”
Could it be she hadn’t slept at all since contact was lost?
Even if a hero possessed a superhuman body, going without sleep for more than a week would make it difficult to maintain proper control.
“Sigh. For now, go back to your room and rest.”
“N-no!”
At my suggestion, Lanez firmly shook her head in refusal.
“I’m… staying here… today.”
She clung tightly to the blanket as if she had no intention of leaving the bed.
“…Ugh.”
Looking at that expression, it seemed wrong to send her back to her room no matter what I said.
“Sigh. Fine. Then I’ll just sleep on the floor….”
“Oh, no.”
Lanez lifted the blanket slightly.
“L-lie down here.”
“….”
…She wanted us to sleep together?
“U-uh.”
As I stood there dumbfounded, Lanez bit her lip with an anxious expression.
“…D-Dale.”
Lying on her side in the bed, Lanez tapped the empty space beside her with what she thought was a seductive expression.
“C-come here and lie down, won’t you~.”
“Pfft!”
Ah.
I couldn’t hold this in.
“W-why are you laughing!”
“Oh, n-no… *snicker* pfft.”
Watching Lanez—who moments ago had been shriveled like a dried anchovy—attempt such a seduction(?) was more than I could bear without laughing.
“Whimper.”
“Stop crying now that you understand.”
As I lay down on the bed, Lanez quickly used my arm as a pillow and rested her head.
“Ehehe. It’s warm.”
Lanez smiled contentedly.
I chuckled softly and stroked her hair.
“…Dale.”
“Hmm?”
“Um….”
Lanez hesitantly tugged at my collar.
She leaned her body toward me, offering her lips.
“N-not on the forehead… h-here… kiss me.”
“….”
Yes.
This was a seduction worthy of Lanez.
“Mmph… ah.”
Lying in bed, I stole a kiss from her lips.
Excited breaths tickling the tip of my nose.
The delicate touch of her tongue, careful as a young bird, teased the inside of my mouth.
“Hah.”
After that lingering kiss finally ended.
Lanez gazed at me with a hazy expression, as though intoxicated.
“Dale… I like this.”
A soft squeeze.
Lanez nestled deeper into my embrace.
“I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I love it so much.”
She rubbed her cheek against my chest, whispering her affection over and over.
“Dale… I’ll do anything you want me to.”
I’ll breathe for you.
I’ll dream for you.
I’ll live my life for you.
So please.
“Stay by my side….”
Forever.
“Yeah.”
I gave a soft nod.
A gentle smile bloomed across Lanez’s lips.
“Mmm… kiss.”
Our lips met once more.
This time, Lanez initiated the kiss first.
She savored my lips with ravenous hunger, as if she’d discovered an oasis in a desert.
“Ah.”
A tremor, then another.
Lanez’s body quivered.
“…Mmph!”
Lanez, who had been trembling with her legs clenched, suddenly scrambled to sit up.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, well, it’s just….”
“Hm? Something feels wet….”
“Kyaaaaa!”
Thwack.
Lanez shrieked and swung a pillow at me.
“I-I need to wash up real quick!”
Lanez bolted into the Shower Room.
The sound of rushing water.
Water cascading from within.
I lay in bed waiting for her return, and soon the door clicked open—Lanez emerged wrapped in a single towel.
“…Dale.”
A flick.
With a light snap of her fingers, the water droplets clinging to her body and hair transformed into ice crystals that scattered down like snow.
“Warm me… warm me up.”
A soft rustle.
Lanez lifted the quilt and slipped beneath it.
It wasn’t difficult to discern what she wanted.
“…Yes.”
I nodded and drew her into my embrace.
I stroked her hair—perfectly dry and fluffy without a trace of moisture—as our bodies intertwined.
And then.
“Haaah.”
Pff.
A wide yawn escaped her, and she collapsed onto the pillow as if losing consciousness entirely.
“…Lanez?”
I gently touched her cheek, but she gave no response whatsoever.
Soon came the soft, rhythmic sound of her breathing.
“….”
What?
Had she really fallen asleep in this moment?
“…Sigh.”
It wasn’t incomprehensible, really.
After a week without a single moment of sleep, a hot shower, and the softness of a proper bed beneath her, succumbing to slumber was only natural.
The problem was.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
I glanced down at my lower half—already in full readiness—and exhaled deeply.
But I couldn’t very well wake Lanez from her peaceful sleep.
Eventually, as I lay down beside her, she clung to me like a koala wrapped around a tree, her body tangling with mine.
The soft sensation that a single towel couldn’t conceal stimulated my body in countless places.
‘Wait, hold on.’
So I had to endure this state until Lanez woke up?
“….”
Mayday, mayday.

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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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