The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 254

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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 254. Summit Meeting (1)
The second floor of the Party House.
A chill as sharp as a winter night settled within the rest room.
“Ugh.”
Lanez sat beside me, arms wrapped around herself, glaring fiercely at Camelia.
Her eyes brimmed with murderous intent, radiating an aura as cutting as frost.
Fortunately, she seemed to be exercising some measure of restraint, for the worst-case scenario—launching a direct assault on Camelia—had not occurred.
“Hmm. So the intelligence about you maintaining romantic relationships with multiple women appears to be true after all.”
Camelia glanced toward Lanez and offered her characteristic languid smile.
“It is only natural—the more fragrant the flower, the more bees it attracts. Truly, you are a man worthy of my attention.”
“….”
I exhaled softly, regarding Camelia.
“I believe I gave you my answer back then.”
“Hehe. I remember it well.”
Camelia shrugged in response.
For a moment, something bittersweet flickered across her gaze, but it was fleeting.
She quickly returned to her characteristic arrogant expression and glanced around the room.
“Still, is it customary to invite a guest without offering them refreshment?”
“…You were never invited, if I recall correctly.”
“Hmm. And yet I have deigned to visit this cramped little room myself. You intend to offer nothing?”
“Sigh. Very well. Please wait a moment.”
I rose with a sigh and rummaged through the cabinet.
I retrieved instant coffee from the Republic, which I kept stocked for breaks, and poured it into a cup.
“D-Dale….”
Lanez followed close behind me and withdrew a mysterious vial of liquid from her bosom.
“S-should I… slip this in without her noticing?”
“….”
What is that?
“It’s… a s-sleeping draught….”
“Why on earth are you carrying something like that?”
“I w-was planning to use it on you l-later….”
“….”
Right.
Thank you for your honesty, Lanez.
“Let’s dispose of this for now….”
“No, wait!”
I forcibly took the sleeping draught from Lanez and poured it down the sink.
“It wouldn’t work anyway.”
What use would a sleeping draught have against a hero who had touched the realm of demigods?
“W-well, then maybe a happiness potion… Ah, n-no, I shouldn’t put that in either.”
“No.”
Where does she keep pulling out these drugs from?
“Lanez. Your opponent is the Empress of the Empire. I understand how you feel, but you absolutely cannot cause trouble.”
“Ugh… Ah, I understand.”
Lanez nodded, biting her lip firmly.
Leaving her behind, I poured instant coffee and handed it to Camelia.
It was cheap coffee that wouldn’t suit her palate, accustomed as she was to only the finest brews.
“…Thank you.”
Camelia took a sip of the coffee and a faint smile graced her lips.
“By the way, is it alright for you to wander about without an escort like this, Your Majesty?”
“Hehe. Who would dare escort me?”
“….”
She wasn’t wrong.
“You mentioned coming here because of the summit meeting earlier….”
“The reason I came was more to see your face again than for that summit.”
“….”
No.
Please restrain yourself, Your Majesty.
If you keep this up, I won’t be able to control Lanez.
“Hehe. I was only joking.”
Camelia sipped her coffee leisurely, savoring my reaction.
“Sigh. So, what exactly is this summit meeting?”
“A gathering where the top five heroes in the Three-Nation Hero Rankings—commonly called ‘Masters’—convene in one place.”
“…Masters?”
Masters.
A title bestowed upon the top five in the Three-Nation Hero Rankings, and the current members are as follows.
1st: ‘Empress’ Camelia Padshah.
2nd: ‘Pope’ Marian.
3rd: ‘Thunder God’ Raonel Ryu.
4th: ‘Sword of Holy Nation’ Johan Basillio.
5th: ‘Falling Blossom Blade’ Kalid Han.
It wasn’t a position one could reach simply by being strong; one had to possess the power to move an entire nation to earn the title of ‘Master’.
‘Camelia rules the Empire, Marian and Johan Basillio rule the Holy Kingdom, Raonel Ryu rules the Republic… and.’
Kalid Han, who held the 5th position as the Falling Blossom Blade, was said to be the commander of the Continent’s largest mercenary company.
‘It’s certainly worthy of being called a summit meeting.’
Wasn’t this a gathering of only the highest powers on the Continent?
“The meeting is being held here?”
“The Hero Academy is located in the center of the Continent, making it the most convenient place to gather, is it not? And one of the Masters is currently serving as the Academy’s Headmaster.”
“Well… that’s true.”
In any case, the Masters are converging on the Hero Academy.
There were similar incidents in my past life as well.
“What is the reason for everyone gathering?”
“It’s classified, but… I suppose I should tell you anyway.”
Camelia continued, shrugging her shoulders.
“The reason the Masters gather is to establish the Three Nations Alliance.”
“…I see.”
The Three Nations Alliance.
In my past life, it was an alliance formed only after the Demons launched a massive invasion.
‘The future has changed.’
With Camelia’s assassination plan failing, the formation of the Three Nations Alliance must have been accelerated significantly.
“Are all your questions answered now?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for explaining.”
“Hehe. Aren’t you and Yuri quite close?”
“….”
What exactly is there between the two of us?
“By the way….”
Camelia, who had been sipping her coffee, turned her gaze toward Lanez.
“Your name is Lanez, correct?”
“Hiss…!”
Lanez glared at Camelia with wary eyes, like a wildcat caught by the tail.
She hugged my arm as if it were her most precious treasure and ground her teeth audibly.
“If you’re thinking of taking Dale away from me… no matter if you’re the Empress, I, I won’t let you!”
“Hmm?”
Camelia widened her eyes and tilted her head in confusion.
“Why would I take Dale away from you?”
“Huh…?”
It was an unexpected response.
Lanez turned to look at Camelia with a bewildered expression.
“B-but before… didn’t you tell Professor Elisha to break up with Dale?”
“Ah yes, I did.”
Camelia shook her head with a bitter smile.
“I was confused by emotions I had never experienced before. It may sound like an excuse, but… I regret that action even now.”
“Then….”
“I have no intention of taking Dale from you, so rest assured.”
“…Hiss.”
Lanez’s expression softened for a moment.
But her suspicion hadn’t fully dissipated, and she narrowed her eyes fiercely, tightening her grip around my arm.
“Do you really think I’d fall for such words?”
Though Lanez had been born and raised in a border city of the Holy Kingdom, she had heard many rumors about Camelia.
The Empress Camelia.
The current top-ranked hero, known to have touched the realm of demigods—the strongest of all.
A woman who reigns supreme over all, called the most powerful ruler in the Empire’s history.
She was also famous as a greedy woman who would stop at nothing to obtain whatever she desired.
“Whatever rumors you may have heard about me, I am not the shameless plunderer you imagine.”
It was true that I had obtained everything I ever wanted.
But that was not because of a greedy nature—rather, my ability and power were so formidable that I could seize all I desired and still have more to spare.
“B-but….”
Lanez bit her lip hard and cried out.
“Dale said it before!”
“Hmm? Said what?”
“That… the Empress is, um, really beautiful!”
In truth, Camelia’s appearance was so stunning that even another woman’s jaw would drop at the sight of her.
Platinum hair like melted gold, and captivating eyes.
Even dressed in plain casual wear rather than an elaborate gown, her nobility could not be concealed.
And above all….
“U-ugh.”
A tall, willowy frame rivaling even Elisha’s, with a slender waist and long, elegant limbs.
Compared to Camelia, I felt like a mere child from the neighborhood, so overwhelming was the physical difference between us.
In summary, then.
In strength, in power, in beauty.
I could not surpass Camelia in any single regard.
“S-so unfair….”
Lanez irritably gnawed at her nails, her eyes narrowing sharply.
She had felt similar emotions when seeing Iris, Yurina, or Elisha, but Camelia was something else entirely.
And yet.
“…What?”
The very object of that jealousy, Camelia, widened her eyes as if she had heard something utterly unexpected.
“Ho. Hmm. Hehehehe. Is that so? Did Dale really say such a thing?”
Camelia’s shoulders trembled as she desperately suppressed the corners of her mouth from rising.
But that lasted only a moment.
Camelia, regaining her composure, hastily cleared her throat.
“C-cough! Then… you rejected my offer to become my consort?”
“Well, whether the Empress is beautiful and whether I become her consort are separate matters, aren’t they?”
A romantic relationship is not formed by appearance alone, after all.
“Hmm. Yet it would be difficult to say they are entirely unrelated, would it not?”
“That is….”
She was not wrong.
Appearance exerts far greater influence on human relationships than one might think.
If it plays such a significant role even between people of the same gender, there is no need to elaborate on its importance between those of opposite genders.
“Hehe. I wish to hear it directly from your own lips, not through another.”
“…What do you mean?”
“That you are beautiful.”
“….”
Camelia gazed at me with sparkling eyes, her face brimming with anticipation.
“I must refuse—”
“Now that I think about it, for all the boasting that Raonel did, the Party House facilities seem rather shabby.”
Sigh.
“Surely you’re not trying to buy me off with money?”
If so, you’ve misjudged your target.
“The Rest Room could use a complete renovation… and that space below—is that a Training Ground? It could use some work as well.”
I will absolutely not succumb to—
“Ah, Raonel was bragging about how he built a Hot Spring in the basement here… but calling it a Hot Spring is generous—it’s just a bathhouse, really. If you wish, I shall construct a proper Hot Spring beside the Party House for you.”
I won’t… succumb….
“Of course, one where men and women can bathe together.”
“Camelia, you are radiant beyond measure.”
“Hmm.”
Camelia closed her eyes slowly, savoring the words she had just heard.
The corners of Camelia’s mouth twitched upward, and then her entire body trembled with delight.
“Yes… I am… yes, beautiful….”
Camelia smiled with an entranced expression unlike anything I had witnessed before, her face glowing with bliss.

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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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