The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 74

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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 74. Interlude – A… A Monster!
A 24-hour bathhouse in the heart of Valhalla City.
The dilapidated wooden structure, crumbling with age, lay shrouded in profound silence.
Creak.
I pushed open the bathhouse door and stepped inside.
“Huh? We’re the only ones here?”
“It is quite late, after all.”
“True, we did drink for quite a while.”
It was already past midnight—1 a.m.
Even in a sprawling bathhouse that could accommodate hundreds, it was rare to find patrons at such an hour in this weathered neighborhood establishment.
“Oh, but look—they even have an outdoor bath!”
I pushed open the glass door leading outside, revealing a modest outdoor bath with wisps of steam rising gently from its surface.
“By the way, where is Yuren?”
“He said he was going to the restroom earlier.”
“Hmm. Surely he didn’t run off…”
“Heh heh. Who do you think I am? I already hid Yuren’s clothes in a different locker.”
“Oh! You’re brilliant!”
I did wonder if I’d been too forceful dragging someone so reluctant along.
‘But this is necessary for Yuren’s sake.’
In my past life, I’d spent ten years with Yuren, becoming his closest friend and something like family.
Yet I always sensed a certain ‘wall’ between us.
It was as though he harbored a deep-seated fear of drawing close to others.
‘It wasn’t simply that he preferred solitude.’
I recalled how Yuren would watch Berald and me playing together, his eyes filled with longing.
Yet I never fully understood why he kept his distance from others, even as that yearning flickered in his gaze.
‘I won’t let him rebuild that wall as he did in my past life.’
This time, I intended to chip away at the barrier that existed within Yuren’s heart, even if only slightly.
Creak.
As I waited for Yuren with these thoughts, the bathhouse door opened.
Yuren stepped inside, his body wrapped modestly in a towel.
“A… are there no other people?”
He glanced nervously around, fidgeting like a cat placed near water.
“Nope. We have the whole place to ourselves.”
“R… really?”
Yuren’s expression softened slightly, relieved at the worst-case scenario being averted.
I led him along with Berald toward the outdoor bath.
“Ahh, this is wonderful!”
As I submerged myself in the steaming water, an exquisite tingle rippled through my spine.
My lower half enveloped in warmth as though wrapped in thick quilts, while my upper body remained exposed to the cool night air.
Being cradled in such comfort beneath the open sky created an indescribable sense of luxury.
“Ahh! All this fatigue is melting away!”
“Well, you worked the hardest this time.”
Everyone in the Party had fulfilled their respective roles faithfully.
But among them, Berald, who had taken on the vanguard position, occupied the most physically demanding role.
“Heh. What are you talking about? The one who worked hardest was our senior Yuren. Isn’t that right?”
“Huh… what? Me?”
Yuren, who had been huddled in the corner of the outdoor bath (though calling it a corner was generous given how cramped the bathhouse was—it was practically right beside us), suddenly lifted his head.
“Didn’t you practically handle everything from combat to command all by yourself?”
“Ah… well, I was leading the charge.”
“If we’re counting it that way, you and I were both at the front.”
Berald grinned widely and extended his fist toward Yuren.
“Thank you. I feel like I’ve learned so much thanks to you seniors.”
“…Yeah.”
Yuren carefully extended his fist and bumped it against Berald’s.
“By the way, Senior Dale. Were you perhaps part of a different Party before?”
“A different Party?”
“Looking at what you taught us this time, it seems like you came from a Party with a lot of experience.”
“….”
An experienced Party, huh.
Well, if you put it that way, I did belong to the greatest Party before coming here.
I swallowed a bitter laugh internally and shook my head.
“I just taught you what I learned from textbooks.”
“…I don’t find that convincing at all coming from you, senior.”
“Quit your yapping.”
I waved my hand dismissively, evading the question.
“Hehe. Well, I’m really glad you’re here, senior.”
“Glad?”
“Who else would take someone like me into their Party? …A worthless fool who’s studied magic for over ten years but can’t even properly use mana control.”
Berald let out a self-deprecating laugh mixed with a sigh.
“What do you mean you can’t use magic?”
“Hm?”
“You used magic just fine this time too—what was it, Stone Arrow or something.”
“That’s….”
“Sufficiently advanced physical force is indistinguishable from magic, after all.”
I repeated back to him the very words I’d heard from Berald long ago.
“Heh.”
Berald suppressed a quiet chuckle, his shoulders trembling with laughter.
“…Thank you, senior.”
Berald grinned widely and clenched his fist.
“Alright! Now that I’ve received your recognition too, I’ll work hard to master my own ‘magic’ from here on out!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
This dejected, wilted state didn’t suit Berald at all.
At least the Berald Ryu I knew was a hero who never stopped, always pushing forward even in the most desperate circumstances.
“Hmm. Well… setting that aside for now.”
Berald suddenly narrowed his eyes and stared directly at me.
“Brother, your physique has gotten incredibly impressive lately, hasn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, during the expedition you were wearing clothes so I couldn’t tell for sure… but what exactly have you been eating to build a body like that?”
Berald let out continuous exclamations as he gazed at my exposed upper body.
He’d likely recognized my newly reconstructed physique from becoming the “Furnace.”
“Just the result of rigorous training, I suppose.”
“Hmm. A body like that couldn’t possibly be built through training alone.”
“What’s with all the questions…?”
Perhaps Berald’s reaction had sparked my curiosity.
Yuren, who had been avoiding looking at me since entering the outdoor bath, slowly turned his head.
“…Whoa!”
Yuren’s eyes widened as he looked at me.
His face flushed crimson as he let out continuous gasps of “Wow.”
He even swallowed hard in the middle of his exclamations.
‘This is a bit uncomfortable, honestly.’
Having other men stare at my body with such intensity—no matter how I tried to frame it positively—wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
‘…Hm?’
While looking around for a way to change the subject.
A pendant hanging around Yuren’s neck caught my eye.
“What’s that pendant?”
“…Huh? This, this one?”
For some reason, Yuren hurriedly covered the pendant around his neck with his hand.
Yuren continued speaking with an awkward smile.
“It’s… a keepsake from my younger sister.”
“…I see.”
By Yuren’s younger sister, he must be referring to Yurina Helios, who died in an accident eight years ago.
The fact that he still cherished his sister’s keepsake even now, nearly ten years later, was a touching story that could move one to tears.
‘But something’s off.’
As someone who knew Yuren’s future, I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.
‘I’ve never seen Yuren wearing a pendant before.’
I spent ten years together with Yuren in my previous life.
During all that time together, I never once saw Yuren wearing that “keepsake from his sister” around his neck.
‘Did he lose it before we formed a Party?’
There was a ten-year gap between graduation and when we formed a Party, so it was possible he lost it during that time.
‘But knowing Yuren’s personality, that doesn’t seem likely…?’
Yuren is the type of person who carefully preserves even the uniform he wore during his Candidate Program days, never discarding anything.
And now this same Yuren had lost something precious—something as dear to him as a memento from his younger sister?
From my perspective, it made absolutely no sense.
‘Well… asking Yuren about it now won’t get me any answers anyway.’
I pushed the nagging question from my mind and settled leisurely into the outdoor bath.
As I soaked there, melting away the accumulated fatigue,
“Oh, that’s right, Dale. I noticed they were selling roasted eggs before we came in here. Would you like some?”
“Oh, so the owner of this place must be from the Republic.”
“…Roasted eggs?”
Yuren, who had been listening to our conversation, tilted his head in confusion.
“Why would a bathhouse be selling roasted eggs?”
“Heh heh. You Empire country boy, once you try them, you’ll be hooked, I’m telling you.”
I grinned and turned to Berald.
Berald, as if he already knew what I was about to say, quickly scrambled out of the outdoor bath and shouted,
“I’ll be right back with them, so just wait!”
“And bring three cups of sikhye too.”
“Heh heh. Of course!”
Berald rushed back moments later, carrying a tray with a basket of roasted eggs and three cups of sikhye.
Normally, eating while soaking in the bath would be inconsiderate to others,
‘but since it’s just us anyway, what does it matter.’
And so began our impromptu late-night snack time.
“Wow, this is delicious!”
“Right?”
“Yeah! It’s so chewy, totally different from boiled eggs! And this sikhye drink is incredibly sweet.”
Yuren’s eyes gleamed as he savored the roasted eggs and sikhye.
‘I guess I’m still a Republic person after all.’
I recalled that around this time, there had been a trending content format in the Republic where people would serve local dishes to visitors from the Holy Kingdom or Empire and observe their exaggerated reactions.
Now I understood a little better why Republic citizens had been so obsessed with that trivial content.
“Should we head out soon?”
We’d eaten our fill and warmed ourselves thoroughly.
It was time to return to our lodgings and get some rest.
“Heh heh. Understood, sir!”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Yuren nodded eagerly, as if desperate to escape this place as quickly as possible.
Seeing his reaction, I felt the urge to tease him, but I held back.
‘Pushing too hard all at once wouldn’t be good.’
If walls of the heart could be torn down so easily, why would anyone use the word “wall” to describe them in the first place?
“Well then.”
I rose from the bath.
“Huff…!”
At that moment, Berald suddenly let out a gasp of astonishment.
I tilted my head in confusion, and noticed his gaze was fixed on my lower body.
“I, it seems like it wasn’t just your body that improved, hyung-nim…”
“No.”
What the hell are you staring at?
“Ahem! This is… I thought I was competitive anywhere, but it seems the martial world truly has many hidden masters.”
“Master my ass.”
I gave Berald, who was spouting nonsense, a refreshing middle finger salute, then casually looked him up and down as he rose from the bathhouse following me.
‘Hmm.’
Yeah, well.
Mine’s bigger anyway.
“Ahem.”
Feeling oddly embarrassed, I turned my body away from Berald toward Yuren.
“…Ah.”
Yuren stood there with his eyes wide open and his mouth agape.
“…Yuren?”
I called his name, but Yuren remained frozen like a statue, trembling violently.
“What’s wrong?”
“Eek!”
Yuren covered himself with a towel and stumbled backward with a terrified expression.
“D, don’t come near me!”
“What?”
“Don’t come any closer!”
Yuren shook his head frantically, his face pale as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Why are you suddenly…”
“Ah, uh. Ahhh.”
Concerned about Yuren’s state, I approached him, and he let out a fragmented scream, his eyes rolling back white.
“M, monster! …Gluuugh.”
With that, Yuren collapsed with a splash into the water.
“Hey! Yuren! Snap out of it!”
Moonlight cascaded down upon the outdoor bath.
The sun was sinking beneath the water.

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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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