The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 40

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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 40. Consistent Bastard (1)
The Seal Festival had ended.
Due to the unprecedented calamity of the Demon attack, this Seal Festival was recorded as the worst in the history of the Hero Academy’s founding.
The only silver lining was that there were no casualties among the civilian tourists and Candidate Program members.
While many were injured, the swift response from the professors and several Candidates managed to prevent the worst-case scenario.
However, even without loss of life, could an incident involving Demons rampaging within the school be dismissed as mere happenstance?
The school declared an indefinite closure and mobilized all efforts to uncover the truth behind the incident.
Though they used grand language about mobilizing all efforts, the truth that ultimately emerged was rather limited.
Morpheus, the festival’s overseer and person in charge, was revealed to be a Demon Human.
He had disguised Demon Humans as merchants and infiltrated the school, orchestrating this disturbance.
Immediately after the chaos erupted, Morpheus fled and disappeared beyond the school’s grounds.
This was the extent of what the school announced.
Naturally.
After the incident’s overview was released, a torrent of criticism descended upon the school.
The fact that a Demon Human had disguised himself as a professor, infiltrated the school, and worked as a professor for years without anyone knowing.
The failure to uncover the true identity of the Demon Human masquerading as Morpheus or his intentions for orchestrating this disturbance.
The fact that the mastermind behind the incident ultimately escaped, among countless other issues.
Public opinion, which had been spiraling toward catastrophe due to these mounting problems, was barely calmed through the mediation of Raonel Ryu, the current principal of the Hero Academy and ranked 3rd in the Three Kingdoms Comprehensive Hero Ranking, known as the “Thunder God.”
“This incident is my fault for being away from the school. Direct your anger at me.”
Of course.
No one dared hold accountable a hero of the Ryu family, ranked 3rd in the Three Kingdoms Comprehensive Hero Ranking and known as the Holy Kingdom’s most prestigious noble house.
With Raonel Ryu’s return, the Demon disturbance was brought to a close.
The Hero Academy completed its two-week closure and was preparing to return to normal operations.
* * *
Inside the Training Ground within the School Medical Center.
It was a Training Ground used by injured Candidates for rehabilitation training.
‘So people using the Private Recovery Room also have access to their own personal Training Ground.’
Money really does make a difference.
Beep.
[Hero Candidate ‘Dale Han’. Identity confirmed.]
As I opened the door with my Hero Watch, a Training Ground roughly twenty pyeong in size came into view.
“Let me see.”
I sat in the middle of the Training Ground and closed my eyes gently.
I spread the magical power sleeping within my Sacred Mark widely through my qi channels.
‘As expected, my magical power has increased since fighting Ashtaroth.’
Of course, I hadn’t gained magical power approaching infinity like when I was engulfed in the Primordial Flame.
The magical power currently residing within my Sacred Mark was roughly half compared to the average magical power possessed by Candidates.
Compared to before fighting Ashtaroth, my magical power had increased by approximately 1.5 times.
‘What’s important is that this didn’t accumulate gradually—it increased all at once.’
Magical power was fundamentally something built up gradually each day through breathing techniques.
Of course.
Among those methods, one’s magical power could surge dramatically all at once by consuming elixirs that increased mana or achieving a certain enlightenment, but such cases were extraordinarily rare.
“So if I could wrap my body in the Primordial Flame like back then, my magical power might increase again….”
The Primordial Flame that had engulfed my entire body and burned fiercely had, after the battle with Ashtaroth ended, seeped back deep into the stigma and remained completely dormant.
‘If I could enter the Flame God state at will, I wouldn’t have to worry about magical power anymore.’
The Flame God state.
That was the name I’d given to the phenomenon where the Primordial Flame had engulfed and burned across my entire body.
‘Since I don’t even understand why I entered that state in the first place right now.’
I’d formulated several hypotheses while recalling the memories from that time.
‘The first hypothesis was experiencing multiple deaths in a short span of time.’
I knew from my daily mana training—which occurred four times a day—that the Primordial Flame responded to my ‘death,’ so I thought this was the most plausible hypothesis.
‘But even when I died repeatedly until my consciousness was depleted just like then, I never entered the Flame God state.’
I’d snuck out of the recovery room without Iris knowing and repeatedly died and resurrected without pause, but the Primordial Flame showed no reaction whatsoever.
‘The second hypothesis was attempting to expend all my magical power until it was completely depleted.’
Again, the Primordial Flame remained unmoved.
“The last, third hypothesis is….”
Honestly, I harbored doubts even as I formulated this hypothesis about whether it was correct.
‘The Primordial Flame moved in response to an intense will.’
When my mind was filled with nothing but the singular determination to save Iris.
The Primordial Flame suddenly engulfed my entire body and began burning fiercely.
“Logically, this makes the most sense….”
Yet I still wasn’t certain whether the Primordial Flame truly moved for that reason.
“This isn’t some shounen manga.”
I shook my head with a deep sigh.
In any case.
What became certain through various experiments was one thing.
‘There is currently no way for me to enter the Flame God state at will.’
Then it was right to consider the Flame God state as a power outside my full strength.
‘I cannot include a power I cannot control at will in my full strength.’
I grasped the sword while setting aside thoughts about the Flame God state.
If the Flame God state was a power outside my full strength, then was the only thing I gained from this battle an increase in magical power?
‘That’s not quite right either.’
A tingling sensation spread through the hand gripping the sword.
A strange sensation as if the sword and my hand had become one.
It was a sensation I’d never felt even while wandering the Continent for thousands of years, wielding the sword.
‘My swordsmanship has reached a new level.’
When I properly executed the techniques I’d only ever imagined in my mind, my swordsmanship—which had stagnated for ages—surged forward all at once as if a blocked meridian had been opened.
“Well… even if I properly executed them, it was only once.”
Moreover, now that the Flame God state had dissipated, these were techniques I couldn’t use again.
Yet just as an insurmountable wall exists between zero and one.
Using the ninth form of the Solar Blade—a technique accessible only upon reaching the pinnacle of mastery—had seeped into my own swordsmanship, elevating my realm to the next level.
‘Thanks to that, my martial arts prowess has improved dramatically as well.’
They called it the convergence of all paths into one.
The elevation of my swordsmanship hadn’t merely strengthened my blade technique alone.
From fundamental footwork to the martial arts Berald had taught me, every aspect had grown to a degree where the difference from before was unmistakably apparent.
“Magic, though… honestly, it’s still a bit awkward.”
I had used barrier magic when fighting Ashtaroth.
But since I’d learned magic primarily through theory, actually employing it in real combat still felt unfamiliar.
‘I need to get used to casting magic in actual fights now.’
In the past, I’d lacked the mana reserves to even attempt magic, but circumstances had changed.
If I could learn to wield magic as naturally in combat as I did swordsmanship and martial arts, I’d command far greater power than before.
“Let’s see… at this point, I think I could actually hold my own against Professor Lucas Kane without needing the stigma amplifier.”
I wanted nothing more than to rush to Professor Lucas Kane right then and challenge him to another duel.
‘But if I did that, Iris wouldn’t let it slide.’
With that wry smile, I was about to continue my solitary training in the private training ground when—
Boom!
As the saying goes, speak of the devil.
The training ground door burst open, and the saint came rushing in with an expression of barely contained excitement.
“Dale! I distinctly told you to rest quietly in bed, didn’t I? When did you come here?!”
“But sweating a little actually speeds up recovery—”
“Quiet!”
I was seized by Iris and dragged back to the recovery room.
* * *
After several days confined to the Private Recovery Room under Iris’s relentless insistence,
I finally savored the joy of my escape(?) from the recovery room, gazing up at the brilliant sunlight pouring down.
“You could stay here through the end of the school closure if you’d like…”
Iris muttered with a pouty expression, clearly displeased that I was leaving the Medical Facility.
“We agreed on just one more day. Besides, even you must be finding it difficult to spend all your time nursing me, right?”
“That’s…”
Iris trailed off, glancing back at Camilla Bediche, who was sending a sharp gaze from behind.
Camilla Bediche exhaled deeply and shook her head.
“An investigation team from the Holy Kingdom has arrived to verify that the saint’s safety remains uncompromised following this incident. You must return to the Dormitory today without fail.”
“Ugh. Can’t I just stay one more day?”
“No.”
Camilla Bediche shook her head with an unyielding expression.
Iris glanced at me with obvious reluctance, then slumped her shoulders and made her way toward the Dormitory.
“…Dale.”
“Hmm?”
Camilla Bediche approached me quietly.
“Thank you.”
She bowed so deeply before me that her waist bent nearly ninety degrees.
Though Camilla had lost most of her memories from before and after the incident due to Ashtaroth’s “Illusion,” it seemed Iris had told her that I had protected her from the Demon’s attack.
She, who usually cast disapproving glances my way, offered her gratitude with the utmost seriousness.
I looked down at the bowing Camilla and let out a soft chuckle.
“That doesn’t suit you. What are you doing?”
“Ugh… S-shut up!”
Camilla’s face flushed slightly as she averted her gaze.
“Anyway. I mean it when I say thank you.”
“Just words?”
“Hm? Do you need a reward? If there’s something you want….”
“Hey, hey, I’m joking, joking.”
What reward would I need for protecting my lover from a past life?
“No, I can’t let this end with mere words. Tell me if there’s anything you’d like as a reward.”
“Hmm.”
A reward from Camilla.
Since I hadn’t done it expecting anything in return, nothing came to mind.
“Just… give me something reasonable, something reasonable.”
“Goodness! Reasonable? This is a reward for protecting the Holy Maiden herself. I can’t choose something ordinary!”
“You certainly live a difficult life, young lady. Then give me whatever you think I’d like most.”
“Y-yes, what you’d like most…?”
For some reason, Camilla’s cheeks reddened as she took a step back.
She glanced at me repeatedly while covering her chest with her hands (as if there was anything to hide).
“Y-yes! So you finally show your true colors!”
“What?”
“Hmph. You… that is, what men like most is obvious, isn’t it!”
Camilla cried out, her face burning bright red.
“I see! So that’s it? Hehe, even if your mouth says no, your body is honest… or something like that! Or are you trying to force me into a situation where I’m first-rate with the sword but third-rate below the belt…?!”
“What are you even saying, woman?”
“Y-you… vulgar brute!”
“No.”
The vulgar one is your mind.
“Hmph…! Ah, fine! A reward worthy of satisfying a man… I-I’ll prepare something!”
With those words, Camilla dashed after Iris.
“…Sigh.”
I let out a deep sigh and turned my steps toward the Dormitory.

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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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