Chapter 137
Chapter Title: Barharun Academy
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“Ah, Teacher Akint! Um! You see, this is…”
Luna stammered, looking at Leo in a flurry.
Hearing her words, the frozen Leo came to his senses.
‘Akint?’
Leo’s eyes darted around as he tried to grasp the situation.
“It’s true I skipped class, but…! It was for, uh, magical research? That’s why I skipped!”
The young Luna hastily made her excuse.
Listening to her, Leo stroked his chin and happened to glance at the large windowpane in the hallway.
He saw his faint reflection and finally understood.
‘I see. It’s a possession-type.’
The Worlds of Heroes came in many forms.
The one Leo had entered was a type where he possessed the body of a real person from history.
In other words, Leo’s soul had entered the body of a man named Akint.
And fortunately, Akint was someone Leo knew of.
‘Akint Rubesha. One of Luna’s magic teachers.’
He had never met him during his time as Kyle.
By the time Kyle met Luna, Akint was already long dead.
He was a figure Luna often mentioned when she told stories of her past.
Remembering how Luna had missed him, calling him her benefactor and a father figure, Leo knelt down.
He helped her stack the books she had dropped.
Seeing this, Luna’s eyes widened.
“Where are you going?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked where you’re going.”
“You’re not going to scold me?”
“It’s not like this is the first or second time you’ve snuck out of class.”
“Ugh.”
Luna flinched at Leo’s words.
Leo chuckled at the sight and effortlessly lifted the heavy pile of books that would have been difficult for Luna to carry.
“I’ll help you.”
Luna was flustered by Leo’s willing assistance, but she soon grew cheerful at not being scolded and started humming a tune.
‘Simple-minded then, simple-minded now. She hasn’t changed.’
A smile broke out on his face as he saw this side of Luna from a time he’d never known.
The Luna who was now known as the benevolent progenitor of the Nebula.
‘Benevolent? She was just an eccentric tomboy.’
Her personality was also very straightforward, and she had a quirky side to her.
‘The elves of today would be so shocked if they saw the real Luna.’
Leo shook his head, thinking of the image of Luna portrayed in storybooks and historical records.
But when she set her mind to something, her drive to charge forward without hesitation was incredible.
The magic of the stars was a product of her fervent desire to become a great mage.
Leo smiled wryly at the sight of Luna’s back as she bounced along with a light step, seemingly in a good mood.
‘I want to talk with her, but…’
He couldn’t have a deep conversation.
This was the Luna from long before she met Kyle.
Leo knew Luna, but she didn’t know him.
Despite finally meeting her like this, even if it was within a World of Heroes, Leo felt a pang of bitterness at the fact that they had no stories to share.
Before long, Luna arrived in front of a room.
It was a shabby storage room.
“Here it is, Teacher Akint. Please give me the grimoires. I’ll be studying here.”
At her words, Leo handed over the grimoires he was holding.
The stack was so high it blocked Luna’s view.
Leo opened the door to the storage room for her.
“Thank you, Teacher Akint!”
Luna grinned and stepped inside.
“Aah!”
Then she tripped and fell flat on her face.
Leo burst out laughing at the sight and closed the door.
He wanted to stay with her a little longer, but he had things to do.
‘Right now, my priority is to understand this Hero Dungeon. And I need to find the other three who came with me.’
*Step. Step.*
Leo walked down the hallway.
‘I definitely passed through the warp gate to Gardsrone, but I ended up directly in a Hero Dungeon, right?’
Leo narrowed his eyes, recalling the moments just before entering the dungeon.
He remembered what he had learned about Hero Dungeons at Lumerne.
‘Hero Dungeons are a phenomenon caused by the Hero Record going rampant, wasn’t that it?’
At first, a Hero Dungeon only encroached upon a certain part of reality, creating just an ‘entrance.’
But if the rampage continued, the Hero Dungeon would distort reality itself.
It would be fine if it was cleared quickly, but a Hero Dungeon left unconquered would turn into a catastrophe.
‘Monsters from the Hero Dungeon could cross over into reality, and things like that would happen.’
Besides that, it could also completely engulf the surrounding area.
‘This world is Luna’s world.’
Though the name had been erased when he entered the Hero Dungeon, he was certain.
Barharun.
This was the name of an elven city that existed before the Age of Calamity.
‘To be precise, it was a giant academy.’
An academy where only the chosen elves could enroll.
In this era, graduating from Barharun was considered an acknowledgment of becoming a High Elf.
And like the Seirun of today, Barharun was also a place of learning to groom certain candidates.
‘The Elf King.’
The king of the elves was not succeeded by bloodline but was chosen from among the most outstanding High Elves.
The position of Elf King vanished during the Age of Calamity.
And with it, Barharun was also forgotten by history.
‘She said this was around the time she was about fifteen, right?’
The period when Luna was at Barharun was before the Age of Calamity.
‘What on earth was the great deed Luna accomplished at this time?’
Even Leo couldn’t be sure what feat Luna had achieved during this period.
A magical genius, Luna was an elf whose very existence was a great deed.
‘She always bragged about how amazing she was back in her school days.’
Leo tried to recall the academic achievements Luna had proudly boasted about.
Each one was so remarkable that it only made his head spin more.
Leo scratched his head.
‘First, I need to meet up with Lunia, Elena, and Hadin.’
Just as Leo had possessed Akint’s body, the other three must have possessed someone else’s as well.
‘If that’s the case, their appearances will be different, so it’ll be hard to find them.’
“Teacher Akint! What are you doing here?”
“Huh?”
Leo turned his head at the sound of someone rushing over.
He looked at the male elf in his early twenties standing there and said.
“Who are you?”
“This is no time for jokes! You’re late for class! All the students are protesting, it’s chaos!”
At those words, Leo scratched his head.
‘Right, I’m a teacher.’
His mind had been so preoccupied with the Hero Dungeon that he had forgotten.
‘To properly conquer this World of Heroes, I need to faithfully perform the duties of the person I’m inhabiting.’
In a possession-type World of Heroes, one had to become the person they possessed.
As such, he couldn’t be lacking in his role as a teacher at Barharun.
If anything went even slightly wrong, the entire conquest of the World of Heroes could go up in smoke.
‘This is a lot more complicated than the other worlds I’ve experienced so far.’
Sighing, Leo followed the male elf who had come to fetch him to the class location.
The place they arrived at was none other than a massive training ground.
Elves were lined up in formation in the yard.
“Sorry I’m late.”
At Leo’s words, an elf who seemed to be the representative voiced his complaint.
“This isn’t something that can be explained away by being late, Teacher Akint!”
At his shout, the other elves nodded in agreement.
“We are all candidates for Elf King! We are here with the pride of our families and our race! But for our teacher to be so negligent! How can we possibly trust and follow you!”
Leo asked in response to the firm declaration.
“So, what is it you want?”
“We request a change of teacher!”
“We request it!”
As he shouted as their representative, the other students echoed him.
Leo looked dumbfounded at their reaction.
‘They want to replace a teacher just for being a little late to class? Are these kids out of their minds?’
Besides, according to Luna, Akint was an excellent teacher.
“You, what’s your name?”
“...? That’s a strange question. It’s Hirukian Vesron.”
‘Hirukian? This bastard?’
Leo’s eyes turned icy cold.
He had never met him.
But he was a figure Kyle knew of.
An elf who had gained notoriety during the Age of Calamity.
‘The Kinslayer, Hirukian Vesron.’
Vesron was a prestigious elven family that existed before the Age of Calamity.
It was a family that had produced many Elf Kings over generations and wielded immense influence in elven society before the calamity.
‘The Vesron family became a disaster for the elves.’
The reason Barharun disappeared from elven history wasn’t simply because it was old.
It was because the surviving elves hated Barharun.
‘Not only did they foolishly squander the mighty elven forces during Tartaros’s first invasion, but later, Barharun itself surrendered to Tartaros.’
The High Elves, who so loudly proclaimed their own pride, were the first to betray their race and the world, turning their blades against their own kind.
‘Though not all High Elves were traitors.’
There were also fiercely proud High Elves, led by the Fairy Knights, who protected their race to the very end.
But the fact that the High Elves, who could be called the pride of their race, had abandoned them was a shocking event.
Thanks to that, the name ‘High Elf’ became a slur among elves during the Age of Calamity.
The title of Elf King also became an object of ridicule.
Ultimately, in the aftermath, Barharun and the Elf King faded into the annals of history.
The one who stood at the forefront of that betrayal was right in front of him.
Brimming with self-importance, he was trying to use his family background to control even a teacher at Barharun.
“I don’t understand replacing a teacher for being a little late to class.”
Leo said coldly.
“What’s the real reason?”
Hirukian flinched at Leo’s frigid tone.
But he quickly lifted his chin as if he couldn’t lose.
“It is because I believe you, Teacher Akint, lack the qualifications to be a proud teacher of Barharun.”
“And the reason for that?”
“Isn’t it because you’re showing favoritism to ‘Luna Rubinance,’ who can only be called a disgrace to our race?”
A murderous aura flickered in Leo’s eyes.
As the one who had saved the world, Leo could never tolerate hearing Luna called a disgrace to her race.
And it was even more unforgivable coming from Hirukian.
‘To hell with the Hero Dungeon, I’m going to tear him to shreds…’
Just as Leo was grinding his teeth.
“How dare you call her a disgrace to our race.”
A voice filled with killing intent flowed out.
Everyone’s gaze turned to a single male student.
The student, who had a small and frail build, was emitting a bloodthirsty aura that didn’t match his appearance.
“How can an elf say such a despicable thing! Do you even know who she is!”
Seeing the male student instinctively erupt in a fierce rage, Leo instantly knew his identity.
This era was long before Luna became a great hero of the elves.
For him to react like that could only mean one thing.
‘Lunia… no. That third-year from Seirun, Hadin.’
***
In a tower located on the outskirts of Barharun.
A man atop the high structure known as the Tower of God was looking up at the sky with a bored expression.
“How curious.”
His bored face came to life.
“Souls under divine protection.”