The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 69

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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 69. In Search of the Demon Sword (1)
“You want to explore the Ruins?”
Despite the professor’s appearance suggesting he lived in the wilderness under a tent, his office was surprisingly well-organized.
A giant with hair as coarse as a lion’s mane fixed me with a fierce gaze.
“Yes. I’d like to obtain a temporary Hero Certificate and a three-day, two-night leave permit starting from Friday afternoon.”
“Hah….”
Lucas Kane let out a quiet sigh.
He furrowed his brow as if his head ached.
“Do you have any experience exploring Ruins?”
“No, I don’t.”
In truth, I had experience clearing hundreds of Ruins, but I couldn’t say that aloud.
“You want to explore Ruins without any experience? Do you even know what Ruins are, kid?”
“Of course I do.”
Places called Ruins or Dungeons.
Created long ago—far before the Demon God War five hundred years ago—these spaces had been transformed by the power of the Demon God and various other transcendent beings.
In some places, time flowed differently.
In others, gravity worked in reverse.
In still others, lava and glaciers flowed together in chaotic torrents.
Ruins were places where phenomena defying the laws of physics occurred.
‘Of course, only a tiny fraction were twisted to that degree.’
Most Ruins simply had a few wandering beasts and some traps—nothing more.
“Which Ruins are you planning to explore? Naturally you know this, but undiscovered Ruins are off-limits with a temporary Hero Certificate.”
“I’m planning to go to the Red Tears Cave, west of Valhalla City.”
“Ah, that place.”
Lucas Kane nodded as if he was already familiar with it.
Despite its ominous name, it had received a C-rank danger rating in the Ruins hazard assessment—an ordinary place.
“But that place was discovered decades ago, so even if you go, there will probably be nothing but a few beasts.”
“That’s exactly why I’m going—to hunt those beasts. Didn’t you say before that experience is the most important thing in actual combat?”
“Hmm.”
Lucas Kane swallowed and regarded me with suspicious eyes.
“You… you’ve got some ulterior motive, don’t you?”
“….”
Damn it.
This guy only has sharp instincts at times like these.
‘Looks like he won’t give permission so easily.’
Just as I was considering whether to seek out Elisha instead.
“You know that Candidate Program Ruins exploration applications require a party of at least five people, right?”
“…Yes, I’m aware.”
“Who are you planning to bring in your party?”
“Well. Probably Iris or….”
“That’s what I thought, you bastard!”
Lucas Kane sprang to his feet, bursting into raucous laughter.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with Iris lately. You’re planning to use the Ruins exploration as an excuse to go on an overnight trip together, aren’t you?”
“….”
So much for being perceptive.
“Hehe. Well, you certainly live up to your reputation as a man. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? Even back in my Candidate days, they called me the Casanova of Valhalla….”
“Speaking of which, how are things with Professor Bianca these days?”
“W-wait, why are you suddenly bringing up P-Professor Bianca?”
Lucas Kane stammered, his expression flustered.
“Oh, nothing. Your plans for a cozy date during the Seal Festival fell through because of that demon incident, didn’t they?”
“Ugh…!”
“Haha. Don’t make that face. Another opportunity will come around soon enough.”
“….”
Lucas Kane clamped his mouth shut and abruptly turned his head away, avoiding my gaze.
That sullen expression told me his relationship with Professor Bianca wasn’t going smoothly lately.
I suppressed my laughter and opened my mouth.
“So, will you issue the permit?”
“Well… it’s not exactly a high-risk Ruins site, so there’s no real reason to stop you. However….”
Ruins exploration was already a mandatory component of the “Practical Combat Training” course for third and fourth-year Candidates.
Going for some advance preparation made perfect sense—there was no legitimate reason to forbid it.
Of course, there had been cases where Candidates exploring Ruins together suffered casualties.
“You understand, I’m sure, that the Academy bears no responsibility for any casualties that occur outside school grounds.”
This was no ordinary educational institution—it was the Hero Academy, cultivating heroes to fight on humanity’s frontlines.
Regardless of being mere Candidates, we were transcendents blessed with stigmata by the Seven Gods.
The responsibility for our choices rested with ourselves alone.
“I understand.”
I met Lucas Kane’s sharp, gleaming gaze directly and answered quietly.
Lucas Kane nodded and pulled several sheets of paper from his drawer.
“Good. Then submit consent forms from all your Party members.”
“Yes.”
I took the consent forms from Lucas Kane and left his office.
* * *
Several days after collecting and submitting all the consent forms.
I stood before the School Gate on Friday afternoon, waiting for my Party members to arrive.
When there was still about thirty minutes until our scheduled meeting time.
“Ah, you’re already here, Dale.”
Yuren, spotting me, waved and approached.
I waved back at Yuren in greeting.
“I just got here too.”
“Haha. Were you so excited you came early, Dale?”
“Well, it’s not really like that…”
When the person who organized the Ruins exploration party shows up late, it certainly doesn’t look good.
“Anyway, a Ruins exploration all of a sudden… I honestly never imagined Dale would suggest something like that.”
“Is this your first time exploring Ruins?”
“Hmm… I went with my family before I enrolled, but it’s my first time since coming to the Academy.”
That made sense.
Unless it was part of a class, it was rare for a Candidate Program member to voluntarily sign up for a Ruins exploration, given that you never knew what might happen.
“Don’t be too nervous.”
“Haha, nervous? If anything, I’m so excited I can barely contain myself that I get to go on my first Ruins exploration with Dale!”
Yuren flashed a bright smile like an excited child before a school trip.
‘Well, from Yuren’s perspective, the Red Tears Cave probably feels like a casual outing.’
Yuren possessed strength greater than most professors, so there was no reason he’d fear a Ruins site with only a C-rank danger rating.
‘But no matter how strong you are, you can never let your guard down in a Ruins exploration.’
There was no need to instill pressure on him before we’d even entered the Ruins yet.
“…By the way, Iris is coming today too, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course I invited her.”
“….”
Yuren’s expression turned displeased, his eyes narrowing slightly.
But it was only momentary.
Yuren let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“Well, I suppose we do need someone from the support class.”
“Who needs support?”
As the saying goes, speak of the devil and she appears.
Iris, who had arrived without notice, turned to look at Yuren and smirked slightly.
“I’m glad you at least understand that a support-class member is essential to party composition.”
“That’s something they teach in first-year classes.”
Yuren, having already sensed Iris’s approach, turned his body toward her without hesitation and continued speaking.
“But there’s a difference between being essential to party composition and actually being useful. Especially in low-rank Ruins like this, support-class members tend to become what you might call ‘dead weight.'”
“My, my. It seems you never learned that parties that treat support-class members as dead weight don’t last long before being wiped out?”
“That’s just a figure of speech. Surely that oh-so-great ‘Saint’ isn’t planning to just ride along without doing anything?”
“Hehehehe.”
“Hahaha.”
No.
Why do you two always end up bickering the moment you meet?
As I watched Yuren and Iris exchange their sharp banter, I could only shake my head.
“…Sigh.”
I noticed Camilla with dark shadows under her eyes, letting out a weary sigh.
“Did you not sleep well last night?”
“Tch… This is all because of you!”
“No.”
What did I do?
“Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through because you suddenly spouted nonsense about exploring the Ruins?”
Camilla glared at me with eyes that looked ready to tear me apart on the spot.
“The Saint insisted she had to go no matter what… The Holy Kingdom side said they absolutely couldn’t permit it… Sigh. I’m the only one stuck in the middle….”
“Ah, um.”
Now that I thought about it, I had done something I should apologize for.
“So how did you get approval from the Holy Kingdom?”
“I barely managed to convince them that it was just a preparatory visit to a regular curriculum class.”
“Well done.”
“Sigh. What a hassle this is….”
Camilla exhaled another weary sigh, her expression exhausted.
“Well, it’ll actually be helpful, so don’t be like that.”
The reason I deliberately brought Iris and Yuren on this Ruins exploration was to give them ‘practical’ experience.
‘Training alone has its limits when it comes to improving skills.’
This Ruins exploration had another purpose beyond searching for the Demon Sword—to elevate my companions’ abilities to the next level.
“We just need one more person to arrive.”
I glanced at Yuren, Iris, and Camilla while checking the time we’d agreed to meet.
One minute remained until the appointed time.
It was almost time for the last party member to arrive.
“By the way, who’s the other person you called?”
Yuren tilted his head and asked.
Before I could answer, Iris spoke first.
“Isn’t it Juliet Kang?”
“Juliet?”
“She’s Dale’s friend. I’ve met her once before.”
“Ah, right. The young master from that successful family in the Republic—a Candidate, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Hmm. From what I heard, her reputation isn’t very good.”
Yuren frowned, recalling the rumors about Juliet he’d heard in passing.
“Something about harassing newly admitted female Candidates….”
“Ah, that’s actually a misunderstanding, so there’s no need to worry.”
Iris shook her head with an awkward smile.
“Actually, what she likes isn’t women but… ahem. Anyway! She’s definitely not the type to bother female Candidates.”
“Is that so?”
I opened my mouth as I watched Iris and Yuren chatting away as if they’d never fought.
“Everyone seems to be misunderstanding something, but the last party member isn’t Juliet.”
“Huh?”
“Then who is it?”
Yuren and Iris stared at me with their eyes wide open.
Before I could reveal the name of the last party member I’d assembled.
“Haste!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth trembled beneath the thunderous footsteps of a giant towering over two meters tall, sprinting at full speed toward us.
“Hahahaha! Sorry for being late, brother! I had so much to pack that it took forever to get ready!”
Thud!
Berald dropped his backpack—so bloated it looked ready to burst at any moment—onto the ground with a hearty laugh.
“…What the hell did you stuff in there?”
“Oh, you know—food, drinks, sleeping gear, and basically everything else I could think of!”
“You absolute madman. That backpack alone must weigh over a hundred kilos. You’re seriously planning to carry that into the Ruins?”
“Ah, don’t worry! I cast Levitation magic on it, so weight is no issue!”
Berald effortlessly lifted the backpack—which appeared to weigh well over a hundred kilos—with just his pinky finger, grinning widely.
“See? Light as a feather, isn’t it?”
“….”
I turned to look at Yuren, Iris, and Camilla, who stood frozen with dumbfounded expressions, and opened my mouth.
“You all saw that, right?”
This guy is our fifth party member.

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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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