The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 87

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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 87. The Maid’s Dress Suits the Wearer (1)
Yurina’s Private Training Ground.
In a training ground so expansive it felt embarrassing to call it “private,” Yurina and I changed into our training clothes and completed our warm-up exercises.
“Dale, want to spar for the first time in a while?”
“Sounds good.”
I’d been wanting to move my body anyway.
‘I’m curious how much Yurina has grown too.’
She had been powerful enough to rank among the five strongest heroes of humanity even without a Blessing—if she awakened one, I wondered just how far she could ascend.
Even I, who had watched over her through both my past life and this one, couldn’t fathom her limits.
“We’ll use the black training swords, right?”
“No, let’s use real blades.”
At our current level, the lethality would be the same whether we used training swords or genuine steel.
In fact, using a training sword with poor durability was more dangerous—the blade might shatter under the strain of our mana mid-combat.
“Got it.”
Yurina drew her real blade, clearly understanding the reasoning.
A sword forged from the horn of a Unicorn, earned as a reward for placing first in the mid-term evaluation.
Silver aura bloomed along the razor-sharp edge.
“Then, let’s begin!”
The blade wreathed in silver aura became a single flash of light, streaking toward me.
I drew my sword and parried the silver flash with terrifying speed.
Rummmble!
The training ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
A dizzying recoil transmitted through my palms.
“Hgh!”
Yurina had always boasted an absurd amount of mana, but since awakening her Blessing, that power had grown even further.
‘It’s not just the mana that’s increased.’
I narrowed my eyes as I received her savage sword strikes.
The level of her Sun Sword technique itself had transformed since our first sparring match.
‘She must have mastered the Seventh Form by now.’
The gap between the Sixth and Seventh Forms of the Sun Sword was only one step numerically, but the difficulty was a different tier entirely.
‘Even Rosanna, who had devoted her entire life to the Sun Sword, never reached the Seventh Form.’
It wasn’t a matter of lacking talent.
She was actually among the more talented family heads in the Helios Family’s history.
‘The Seventh Form onward is simply that absurdly difficult.’
Even I, who had learned the Sun Sword directly from Yurina in my past life, took over three hundred years to properly execute the Seventh Form.
When I fought the Demon God in that final battle, I could barely manage the Sixth Form—it took three centuries just to climb one more step.
Though my talent had been garbage, even accounting for that, the Seventh Form was a realm few geniuses could reach.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang! Clang!
The silver flashes rained down relentlessly.
Though my own realm had risen sharply of late, holding my ground against Yurina—who had awakened her Blessing and elevated her sword mastery—was proving difficult.
“Ugh!”
Crash!
Unable to withstand the torrential barrage of sword strikes, my body was sent flying backward and slammed against the wall of the Training Ground.
“Hey, are you alright, Dale?”
Yurina approached with a worried expression.
I staggered to my feet and waved my hand dismissively.
“Sorry. I’m still not used to controlling my strength.”
Yurina smiled awkwardly and scratched her head.
“Then shall we end the sparring here…?”
“No.”
I shook my head and gripped my sword again.
“Let’s continue.”
“But…”
“Scared?”
“…”
Yurina’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Silver aura blazed once more from her blade.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Heh.”
I let out a low chuckle and gripped my sword.
Yurina had undoubtedly achieved great progress this time.
She had awakened a blessing she never managed to awaken in her past life, and transcended the “wall” to reach a new realm.
Contrary to my concerns.
She had grown even more rapidly than in her previous life.
‘But.’
She was not the only one growing more rapidly than before.
“Bloom.”
Sizzzzle!
Accompanied by the sound of searing flesh, ashen smoke billowed forth.
“Huh…?”
I planted my feet forward toward her, her eyes widening in shock.
Boom!
A savage sword strike, wreathed in ashen mist, bore down upon her relentlessly.
“Gah…!”
Yurina, who had been pressing me without respite just moments before, swallowed hard and retreated.
Flames flowing along the blade’s edge.
The flames mixed within the ashen aura began to gnaw away at her silver aura.
“Kyaaah!”
Crash!
Unable to withstand the erosion of her aura by the “Primordial Flame,” Yurina was sent flying backward.
“Haa, haa. Dale… what exactly is that fire?”
Yurina stared at me in disbelief, breathing heavily.
“Well, it’s something like my own finishing move.”
I shrugged and leaned my back against the wall of the Training Ground.
After ‘Ignition’ ended, I endured the deep exhaustion that washed over me and waited for my body to recover.
Once I’d recovered somewhat, I approached Yurina, who sat with a tired expression, having lost the sparring match.
“Ugh… if you hadn’t been my opponent, my ‘Blessing’ would have shown more of its power.”
Yurina grasped my hand with a sullen expression, clearly disappointed about losing the match, and pulled herself up.
“Oh, by the way, what’s the name of the Blessing you awakened this time?”
“It’s called the Blessing of Moonlight.”
“I see.”
If this were the days when I was still ‘Yuren’, things would have been different, but this name suited Yurina perfectly now.
“What kind of ability does it have?”
“…That is…”
Yurina suddenly flushed and averted her gaze.
“I’ll… tell you later.”
“…?”
I tilted my head and looked at her, but no answer came back.
“Ah… that, rather than that! You know that swordsmanship you use, Dale? I’ve felt it for a while now, but it seems really… similar to the ‘Sun Sword’?”
“…Is that so?”
At her words that my technique was ‘similar to the Sun Sword’, my shoulders flinched involuntarily.
“Yeah. Well… even if they’re similar, when you look closely, they’re quite different.”
Yurina continued speaking, stroking her lips with her index finger as she recalled our sparring match.
“Ah, but… um… I’m not sure if I should say this…”
“What is it?”
“Your swordsmanship, Dale. It just doesn’t seem to suit you very well?”
“What?”
The swordsmanship I currently use was perfected over thousands of years, working alone based on the ‘Sun Sword’.
Except for the basic framework, I’d modified every aspect to suit me—so how could it not suit me?
“Ah, to be more precise, it’s not that it doesn’t suit you, but rather… how should I put it? It feels inefficient.”
“…Inefficient?”
“Yeah.”
Yurina nodded and continued.
“Hmm… if I had to compare it, it’s like a wealthy person with a million gold trying to save a bit of gold by traveling by carriage instead of a warp gate? You don’t seem to lack mana, Dale, but it feels like you’re just trying too hard to conserve it.”
“…!”
It felt like I’d been struck on the back of my head with a hammer.
‘Not lacking in mana’, she said.
I’d never heard those words in all my life.
‘Now that I think about it, my mana has increased tremendously recently.’
And it wasn’t mana artificially inflated by elixirs or stigma amplifiers like in my previous life, but pure mana accumulated through the Primordial Fire.
“Ha.”
It was only natural.
Conserving mana unconditionally paled in comparison to unleashing it decisively at the right moment—the difference in power was staggering.
‘I had enough mana, yet I was hoarding it out of habit.’
If Yurina hadn’t pointed it out, I never would have noticed the absurdity myself.
Having always struggled with mana scarcity in my past life, conserving it had become as natural to me as breathing.
‘Did my previous life’s experience become a curse instead?’
The unexpected realization left my mind reeling.
“Um… was I being too presumptuous in front of my master?”
Yurina smiled awkwardly, watching my rigid expression.
“Presumptuous, yes. But it helped me tremendously.”
I wasn’t being polite.
Yurina’s advice had delivered a considerable shock to me, someone who had been trapped in the inertia of my ‘past life’ all this while.
‘I never thought I’d learn something new like this.’
A hollow laugh escaped me at my own arrogance—thinking I had already learned everything worth learning in my previous life.
“Hehe. I’m glad it helped.”
Yurina nodded with a beaming smile, delighted by something.
“Phew. Shall we rest for a bit?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Still bearing the aftereffects of ‘Ignition’, I sat down on the floor with my back against the Training Ground wall.
“Um, hey… Dale.”
“Hm?”
“Wait, I have something to show you.”
“What is it?”
“Well…”
Yurina swallowed hard, her expression tense with nervousness.
“J-just wait here!”
With that, Yurina hurried into the Changing Room inside the Private Training Ground.
About five minutes passed.
Click.
The Changing Room door opened cautiously.
“…Yurina?”
The outfit Yurina wore as she stepped out was a Maid uniform—the same kind worn by the servants of the Helios Family.
It was identical to the one I had made her wear to humiliate Rosanna.
Yurina’s silver hair twirled around her fingers as her face flushed crimson.
“You… you made Mother wear a Maid uniform, didn’t you?”
Wait.
“H-how did you even know about that…?”
“I was unconscious then, but I retained some awareness.”
“…!”
She retained her consciousness.
That meant she remembered everything that had transpired between me and Rosanna!
“Dale, you like maid outfits, don’t you?”
“Ah, no, that’s… it’s not that I like maid outfits….”
“Liar. Then why did you force our mother to wear one?”
“That was….”
How could I possibly explain this?
That I’d forced your mother into a maid outfit and worked her like a slave simply because I wanted to see that arrogant woman drowning in humiliation.
“A-anyway! I don’t like maid outfits or anything, so hurry up and go change!”
“Hmm.”
Yurina’s eyes narrowed with amusement as she lifted the hem of her skirt slightly.
Between the gently raised fabric, her pristine white ankles and pale socks peeked through.
Without thinking, my gaze drifted downward.
“For someone who doesn’t like them, your eyes seem awfully honest, don’t they?”
Yurina approached me with a mischievous smile playing at her lips.
“There’s no need to hesitate. Dale, you saved my stigma—you’re my benefactor. If it’s something you desire… I can grant anything.”
She grasped my hand gently, her voice ringing with conviction.
“Come on, give me any command you want, Dale! You can work me like a slave just like you did with our mother!”
“No.”
First her mother, and now her daughter wanted to be enslaved by me.
‘The way she’s saying it makes me sound like an absolute scoundrel.’

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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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