The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 76

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 76. Observation Class (2)
Time passed, and the day of the observation class arrived.
From early morning, the Academy bustled with activity, and I sprawled across my bed, gazing out at the commotion from my Dormitory window.
“Sigh.”
A languid breath escaped between my lips.
‘There’s really nothing to do at times like this.’
True to its name as a “Parent Observation Class” event, the schedule consisted primarily of activities centered around Candidates and their parents, which meant that Candidates like me—those without parents coming to visit—often found themselves with gaping stretches of free time throughout the event.
Since it was essentially a free day off, some Candidates actually welcomed their parents’ absence.
‘I used to absolutely despise observation class days.’
Now I felt nothing about the absence of parents coming to visit, but in my past life, I had lived with profound inferiority about being an orphan without parents.
Watching them laugh happily with their parents, I had secretly wished they would become unhappy.
“God, thinking about it now is genuinely embarrassing.”
I shook my head at the mortifying memories of my past life.
‘Maybe I should go watch the observation class.’
In the past, even if I had reason to go outside, I would deliberately avoid the areas where the observation class was taking place, but now I had no such reason.
The void left by my parents’ absence had already been filled to overflowing by others.
“Fine.”
Lying in bed killing time wouldn’t change the fact that I had nothing to do anyway.
It would be better to watch the “observation class”—something I wouldn’t have even considered looking at in my past life.
“Hup.”
I rose from bed, changed into my uniform, and headed outside.
Parents had already begun arriving, and the Academy was crowded with people.
“My son~ how have you been? How’s school life treating you? Are the classes worth attending?”
“Mom, please don’t hug me in front of everyone. I’m not a little kid.”
“Oh, listen to this brat talk! It was just yesterday I was changing your diapers.”
“I’m twenty years old now. What do you mean ‘just yesterday’?”
Parents bickering affectionately with each other.
“What’s this about your midterm evaluation results? Huh? Are you even thinking about becoming a hero?”
“Well… it was my first real combat, so I was a bit nervous.”
“Hmph. Then what exactly have you learned over the past two years? Did you think I sent you here to play around?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Anyway. With grades like that, I won’t be able to write you a recommendation letter for your father’s guild, so remember that.”
“No, that can’t be! I absolutely have to get into that guild!”
Parents launching into a barrage of complaints the moment they saw their children’s faces.
‘How peaceful.’
Before the Demon God’s forces began their full rampage, the heroes’ lives were so tranquil it was almost laughable.
‘How much longer can days like this last?’
Who knows.
Even I, having lived through my past life, couldn’t say for certain.
The future had already begun shifting in directions I could no longer predict.
“Let me see…”
I wandered through the bustling School Plaza, glancing around at the gathered crowd.
I searched for familiar faces, but no one particularly stood out.
‘Now that I think about it, Iris mentioned she came from the Orphanage too.’
I wasn’t sure if Camilla was also from the Orphanage, but given her position as the Holy Maiden’s escort knight, her parents likely wouldn’t have come even if she were.
‘Berald said his parents weren’t coming either.’
Berald, known as the “black sheep of the Ryu Family,” had apparently fallen so deeply out of favor with his main family that he’d personally requested his parents not attend.
The main branch of the Ryu Family would certainly be present today, after all.
‘Where is Yuren?’
I scanned the area around the plaza looking for him, but he wasn’t anywhere nearby.
“Sigh.”
After wandering aimlessly through the Academy for a while, thirst began to creep up on me.
‘It’s not even June yet, but it’s scorching hot.’
I headed toward the back of the school building with the intention of grabbing a drink from a vending machine.
“…Was your journey here inconvenient in any way?”
I heard Yuren’s voice from a distance.
“Hm?”
I tilted my head curiously and walked toward the direction of his voice.
There stood a blonde woman in an elegant, antiquated dress that immediately evoked the word “noblewoman,” and behind her, a man with sharp eyes who stood like a shadow, surveying the surroundings vigilantly.
‘Is this Yuren’s Mother?’
I’d heard that Yuren’s father had passed away when he was young, so this man was likely an escort knight attending to her.
‘Yuren’s mother’s name was definitely Rosanna Helios.’
Rosanna of the Flash.
I’d never seen her directly in my previous life or heard her speak, but I’d heard that name a few times.
‘She was the hero who barely managed to keep the declining Helios Family alive, or so I’d heard.’
She was quite a renowned hero during her active years.
As I recalled those old memories, Rosanna’s voice continued.
“Yes. You’ve come well.”
“Why… did you suddenly come?”
“Am I not allowed to visit my son’s face?”
Rosanna regarded Yuren with cold eyes.
Yuren shook his head urgently, looking flustered.
“No, that’s not it… It’s just… Mother, you’re usually so busy with family matters.”
“I came because there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“Something to discuss…?”
Yuren looked at her with a tense expression.
“Before that.”
Rosanna’s gaze shifted toward me.
“Who is that person over there?”
“….”
I wasn’t particularly hiding my presence, yet I’d been discovered so easily.
I shrugged and strode toward Yuren with confident steps.
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Dale Han, a friend of Yuren’s.”
“D-Dale? What are you doing here…?”
Yuren’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of me.
“…Friend?”
Rosanna Helios fixed me with a sharp gaze before letting out a scoff of disbelief.
“Yuren, you didn’t actually associate yourself with this Republic mongrel, did you?”
“…”
Republic mongrel.
It was a derogatory term primarily used by Empire nobility to demean Republic citizens—a slur with its own peculiar history, coined roughly three hundred years ago when the Republic officially abolished its old currency system and naming conventions, embracing the cultural practices of the Continent with fervor.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve heard that.’
When the Republic first opened its borders and changed its naming convention from the original ‘surname-given name’ order to the Continental style of ‘given name-surname,’ the slur had been remarkably common.
But three centuries had passed, and it had long since become a dead language—abandoned by all but the most obstinate Empire aristocrats.
‘Now I understand why Yuren rarely spoke of his mother in the previous life.’
Rosanna Helios was the quintessential embodiment of the “obstinate Empire aristocrat” that Yuren had despised most in his past life.
“Mother! How could you say such a thing to my friend?”
As expected.
Yuren, who had appeared withdrawn throughout, suddenly stepped forward with a fierce expression contorting his face.
“…What?”
Rosanna’s expression turned incredulous as Yuren positioned himself before me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Ugh…”
Yuren’s shoulders trembled at his mother’s cold voice.
Like a frog frozen before a serpent, he had gone rigid.
Those legs that had not wavered even before the Demon God now trembled pitifully like aspen leaves.
“I-I mean, that is…”
“Sigh. This is exactly why I said the Dormitory system should be abolished…”
Rosanna exhaled deeply, her gaze fierce upon Yuren.
“Where did you pick up such insolent speech patterns?”
“…”
“Did that Republic mongrel teach you?”
“Ugh…!”
Click.
Yuren, whose legs had been trembling pitifully, clenched his teeth and glared at Rosanna.
“Within the Hero Academy, no statements discriminating against other nations are permitted! Surely you’re aware of this, Mother?!”
“Ha, are you lecturing me now?”
“It’s not a lecture—I’m simply reminding you of the regulations of this ‘neutral ground’!”
Yuren spoke with measured clarity, trembling with fear yet refusing to back down.
“Violating the regulations will tarnish the honor of the Helios Family!”
“Honor? Did you just say honor?”
Rosanna Helios’s expression twisted savagely.
Her stigma blazed with light as golden mana enveloped her body.
“How dare you…! How dare you speak the name of the Helios Family’s honor before me?!”
Whoosh!
Her arm sliced through the air with vicious intent.
Before Rosanna Helios’s palm could strike Yuren’s cheek.
Crack!
I caught her swinging arm with a sharp grip.
“If I just stand here watching, you’ll keep throwing a fit like this.”
I hadn’t intended to meddle in Yuren’s personal family affairs, but seeing this spectacle, I couldn’t remain idle.
I pulled the captured arm forward and stepped between them.
“Dial it back a bit, ma’am.”
“…What?”
Rosanna Helios stared at me with her mouth agape and eyes wide.
“Did you… did you just call me ma’am?”
“Well, what else would I call you? You’re not my senior, are you?”
A person ought to have some shame—hoping to be called “senior” when you have a twenty-year-old son was a bit much.
“How insolent…!”
The blunt term “ma’am” seemed to have dealt her quite a blow.
Her face flushed crimson and purple as she yanked her arm away from my grip.
Or rather, she tried to.
“Ugh?!”
When her arm wouldn’t budge despite her desperate efforts, Rosanna Helios’s expression contorted further.
Even though she’d retired from active duty, she was once called “Rosanna of the Flash” and had been a hero of considerable skill, so she likely had confidence in her abilities.
‘Clumsy.’
If she was a hero who once made a name for herself, then in my previous life, I was counted among the Last Five Heroes.
Moreover, I had now achieved far superior accomplishments in terms of power than I possessed back then.
Compared to the realm I had attained, her level was nothing more than a firefly beneath the sun’s rays.
“Hiss!”
Rosanna Helios twisted her expression savagely and surged with even greater mana.
True to her nature as Yuren’s Mother, she possessed far more raw mana than I did when measured purely by quantity.
But power ultimately depends on who wields it and how they do so.
As I subtly shifted my center of gravity while keeping her arm pinned, Rosanna Helios’s expression grew increasingly strained.
“Robert!”
At Rosanna Helios’s sharp cry, the man standing like a shadow behind her reached for the sword at his waist.
As the blade began to slide halfway from its sheath.
“Hey.”
Shing, thunk!
I struck the sword hilt with my palm, and the half-drawn blade slid back into its scabbard.
The man called Robert stumbled backward, his face contorted with alarm.
“Don’t draw it. Please.”
If you do, you’re dead.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————