The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 66

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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 66. Elixir (2)
The day after I received the Mana Stone from Elisha.
I contacted Iris and asked for her help.
Without even hearing what I was about to request, Iris rushed to my Dormitory room without hesitation.
“You want me to purify a Mana Stone?”
“Yeah.”
I showed Iris the Mana Stone inside the box.
From the fist-sized Mana Stone emanated an aura of light suffused with the characteristic dark and ominous energy of demonic power.
“This seems to be a quite high-grade Mana Stone.”
Iris sensed the dense demonic energy flowing from the stone and furrowed her brow slightly.
“It’s a superior-grade Mana Stone.”
“A superior-grade Mana Stone? Where on earth did you obtain something so precious?”
Iris’s eyes widened as she looked at me.
“I helped Elisha with something personal once, and I received this as compensation.”
“What kind of work could possibly warrant a superior-grade Mana Stone as payment? Wait!”
Iris’s face went pale as she gripped both my shoulders.
“D-Dale! You didn’t… receive this by engaging in c-carnal relations with Professor Elisha, did you?!”
“No.”
What nonsense is this woman suddenly spouting?
“It’s nothing like that.”
“Answer me properly! Look me in the eyes!”
“I’m telling you it’s not.”
I held Iris’s gaze directly and shook my head firmly.
“Hmm.”
Iris stared intently into my eyes as if scrutinizing me.
Apparently that wasn’t enough for her.
Iris leaned in closer and began running her hands over my body here and there, as if kneading dough.
‘What will touching me reveal?’
I looked at Iris with an expression of bewilderment, and she let out a slightly quickened breath as she murmured.
“Y-you have more muscle than you look… and your shoulders are so broad… y-your chest too.”
“Excuse me?”
Miss Iris?
“A-ahem! A-anyway, you didn’t do anything improper with Professor Elisha, right?”
“I swear by the heavens that nothing of the sort occurred.”
“Well… I’ll trust you.”
Iris nodded and carefully removed the Mana Stone from the box.
“So I just need to purify this Mana Stone for you, correct?”
“I’d be incredibly grateful if you would.”
“Hehe. Understood.”
“…Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I heard that Mana Stone purification is quite a complex technique.”
In my past life, she performed Mana Stone purification as easily as breathing, but that was merely the past.
Whether she could use Mana Stone purification during her time in the Candidate Program was something I didn’t know well myself.
“Hehe. Who do you think I am? I’m a saint, a saint.”
Contrary to my worries, Iris tapped her chest with a confident expression.
My trust in Iris surged dramatically as I watched the dynamic movement created by her chest, brimming with divine grace(?)
“I haven’t done it many times, but Mana Stone purification isn’t difficult.”
“Really? Then I’ll count on you.”
“Just trust me.”
Iris exhaled a powerful breath through her nose, burning with enthusiasm.
Iris placed the Mana Stone on the table and slowly closed her eyes.
“O Seven Divine Ones, shining high in the heavens.”
Iris began reciting a prayer while making the sign of the cross with graceful movements.
“Grant your blessing and purify the unclean aura.”
Whoooooosh!
Pure white light burst forth from Iris’s body.
A power so pure and pristine that merely witnessing it inspired awe.
Iris drew upon her divine power further, her hands clasped together in prayer.
The pure white light flowing from her body took the form of a ‘Holy Mark’.
‘The Holy Mark of the Heavenly Divine.’
It was the Holy Mark that Iris possessed and the one most frequently used by Candidate Program members belonging to the Support Department.
‘It’s been a while, but it’s incredibly vivid.’
The Holy Mark of the Heavenly Divine that naturally manifested whenever Iris used ‘Prayer’ shone with such clarity and radiance that it differed entirely from those used by priests of the Holy Kingdom.
‘Seeing that, the purification should proceed without issue… wait?’
Then.
An unexpected phenomenon began to unfold.
“Haah.”
Iris exhaled a shallow breath and opened her eyes that had been closed.
Her irises sparkled with rainbow hues.
As the ‘Seven Eyes’ activated, the number of Holy Marks created in the air increased.
Sun, Star, Moon, Sky, Earth, Sea, Forest.
Seven Holy Marks materialized in the air, intertwining as if dancing together.
‘This is… the power of the Seven Eyes.’
I let out a soft exclamation and gazed at Iris.
I had witnessed her use ‘Prayer’ countless times in my past life, but never had I seen all seven Holy Marks manifest like this.
‘Of course this would be my first time seeing it.’
In my past life, she had been robbed of the ‘Seven Eyes’ by Ashtaroth, the Archbishop of Illusion, and thus could not use the power of any Holy Marks except the Heavenly Divine Mark she originally possessed.
‘I changed that.’
Every time I beheld the rainbow radiance gleaming in her eyes, an indescribable surge of emotion filled my chest.
‘This isn’t the end.’
Rather, this was where the true beginning commenced.
Beyond Iris, there remained countless futures I needed to reshape.
‘Strangely, the burden isn’t diminishing—it’s only multiplying.’
A bitter smile crossed my face as I recalled Elisha’s visage.
With each new connection I forged—bonds that never existed in my past life—the weight grew heavier, yet it mattered not.
I had resolved to live this way.
Not a life dragged along by another’s will, but one where I would lead the charge.
‘To achieve that, I need to grow stronger, and far more swiftly.’
Truthfully, my current rate of growth was already unprecedented in recorded history.
Yet my aspirations soared so high that even this velocity left my thirst unquenched.
“Haah, haah. Ugh….”
Iris continued her purification work, beads of cold sweat glistening on her skin.
In response to her dedication, the mana stone—which had been radiating an ominous black luminescence—gradually began to emit a clear, transparent azure glow.
Another five minutes or so elapsed.
“Phew! It’s finally complete!”
Iris released her concentration, her breath coming in gasps as perspiration drenched her form.
The brilliant white radiance that had filled the room dissipated, and her eyes—which had been shimmering with iridescent light—returned to their natural hue.
“You did well.”
I offered her a glass brimming with cool water.
Iris, apparently parched, seized the cup and drained it eagerly.
“Ahh! Please check if it worked properly.”
“Right.”
I channeled a trace of mana into the purified stone, and the faint azure luminescence intensified noticeably.
‘Huh? What is this?’
My eyes widened as I sensed the mana contained within the stone.
‘The purity of the mana has increased?’
The mana stone, which had possessed considerable quantity but somewhat lacking purity, now exhibited heightened purity after the purification work concluded.
“This is absurd….”
Just as polishing rust does not transform it into steel, purification work and elevating mana purity were originally unrelated processes.
‘In my past life, Iris couldn’t raise the purity of mana stones through purification either.’
What the past Iris—vastly superior in skill—could not accomplish, the current Iris had achieved.
‘Is it the influence of the Seven Eyes?’
In that moment, I understood why Ashtaroth had burned with such fervent obsession over the Seven Eyes.
“What do you mean it’s absurd?”
Iris, having caught her breath after drinking, posed the question.
“Ah, well… upon inspection, the mana purity has risen.”
“What? The mana purity increased?”
Iris’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly unaware of this development.
“You didn’t do that intentionally?”
“Ah, no. I didn’t know that ‘Seven Eyes’ had the power to increase mana purity. I just thought purification would be cleaner if I used up to Seven Eyes, so I tried it….”
“….”
Now that I thought about it, Iris had mentioned she didn’t know much about ‘Seven Eyes’ either.
‘Well, regardless.’
Good results are good results.
Looking at the outcome alone, this couldn’t have gone better.
‘Since I originally received a high-grade rating due to low mana purity… I might be able to get a supreme-grade rating now?’
Even a high-grade mana stone cost over five million gold—a supreme-grade mana stone was unimaginable wealth.
‘If I craft elixirs with this….’
Gulp.
A dry swallow traveled down my throat.
A thrilling sensation coursed through my spine and spread across my entire body.
“Saint, you’re amaziiing!”
I seized both her hands and shook them up and down enthusiastically.
“Oh. D-Dale….”
Iris flushed, her words trailing off.
Once my excitement had subsided, Iris waited patiently before opening her mouth with a radiant smile.
“I’m glad the work turned out well.”
“I’m really grateful.”
“Hehe. I’m happy I could be of help to you, Dale.”
“Ugh.”
How does our saint manage to speak so beautifully!
“By the way, Dale.”
“Hmm?”
“Surely you weren’t planning to settle this with just a thank you?”
Iris gazed at me, her eyes sparkling.
A mischievous smile had formed at the corners of her lips.
“Is there something you want? I’ll do anything I can.”
After she’d transformed a high-grade mana stone into a supreme-grade one, how could I refuse any request?
“Really? You just said you’d do anything, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll really do absolutely anything I ask?”
“Y-yeah.”
What’s this.
A bad feeling suddenly washed over me.
“Hehe. In that case….”
Iris rummaged through her bag and pulled out a headband with puppy ear ornaments attached.
“Ta-da!”
“Wait.”
Why in the world does she carry something like that in her bag.
“Hehe. These are the dog ear headbands I gave to everyone during the Seal Festival.”
“No, but why are you carrying those around?”
“I thought an opportunity like this might come up someday!”
An opportunity like this…?
Wait. That favor you mentioned… surely not….
“Please put on these headbands and imitate a puppy for me!”
“Fine. This magic stone is getting disposed of.”
“Aah! W-what are you doing!”
Of course, I wasn’t actually destroying the magic stone.
“You’re asking me to wear this and imitate a puppy?”
“Yes!”
Iris nodded with a radiant smile.
‘Ah.’
A memory from my past life suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Now that I think about it, this was always her taste.’
It was one of the requests—or rather, “games”—she’d often made during our nights together in my previous life.
Back then, since she couldn’t see, I hadn’t worn the headbands, but I never imagined a situation like this would arise.
“You promised you’d do anything I asked, didn’t you?”
“Ugh.”
“Or did you perhaps lie to me?”
“….”
Damn it.
Sensing I had no escape, I accepted the dog ear headbands she offered me.
* * *
“…Dale hasn’t been coming lately.”
A private training ground accessible only to those ranking in the top fifty of the overall grade evaluation or those making substantial donations.
In one of these premium facilities, a blonde youth stood gazing blankly into empty space.
“Sigh.”
Yuren let out a deep sigh as if the earth itself might collapse, then activated his Hero Watch to review the message history he’d shared with Dale.
Two days ago.
[Let’s train together today.]
[I have something else to do, so it’ll be difficult today.]
One day ago.
[Are you busy today too?]
[Elisha called me in. I need to go there. Sorry.]
And today.
[So… what about today?]
[Oh, sorry. I have a prior engagement with Iris today, so it’ll be difficult.]
“….”
For the past few days, Dale had been too busy to train with him, whatever he was occupied with.
“…You praised me for doing well.”
Yuren absently pressed the Training Ground floor with the tip of his shoe.
Spending time idly without practicing sword techniques.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through his mind.
‘Should I visit Dale’s room?’
He’d mentioned having an appointment with Iris today, but unless he was staying overnight somewhere, wouldn’t he eventually return to his room?
“Ahem. Y-yes. I’m just going to see his face! Friends can do that, right?”
Yuren headed toward Dale’s dormitory room with eager steps.
“Let’s see… He definitely said C Building Dormitory, right?”
It was a cheap dormitory primarily used by Candidate Program students receiving government support.
“…It’s quite run-down.”
Compared to the A Building Dormitory where he currently stayed, it looked like a building in a slum.
‘There it is.’
He found the room number Dale had mentioned before and stood at the door.
“Now I’ll wait here until he returns… Huh?”
Then.
A barking sound coming from inside the room.
‘A dog?’
Obviously.
Keeping pets in the dormitory was a violation of school rules.
‘Could it be a dog Dale is secretly raising?’
If someone else happened to pass by and heard this sound, it would put Dale in an awkward position.
In the worst case, he could receive penalty points for violating school rules.
‘And he already got a zero on this exam!’
He couldn’t let things go into the negatives.
Yuren opened the door to take Dale’s secretly kept dog outside before anyone noticed.
And what he saw was.
“Woof woof.”
Dale, wearing a dog ear headband and imitating a dog.
“….”
The reunion with his friend was a disaster.

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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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