Chapter 237
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*Drip-drip- Pitter-patter- Shhhhhhhhhh-!*
A steady rain began to fall.
Corpses were strewn about the rural village.
A girl walked through the center of it all.
The cold spring rain washed over the ground.
*Drip- drip-*
Red droplets fell from her body.
“Cough- hack!”
A figure cloaked in black spat up blood.
Looking down at the sole survivor, Chen Xia spoke.
“I sentence you to death for colluding with Tartaros.”
“Heheheh- How vicious.”
The man, mortally wounded, let out a sneer.
“I’m curious what makes you and your Shadows any different from us. For a young girl to be so cruel.”
“At least we don’t betray the world for our own greed.”
“Such arrogant words! In the end, you’re all just dropouts, unrecognized by the gods.”
A smirk appeared on the man’s face.
*Swish-!*
Just then, a silver flash flew from behind Chen Xia and sliced through the man’s neck.
*Splat-!*
Blood sprayed out.
Chen Xia’s body, which had been getting washed clean by the rain, was once again stained with blood.
Chen Xia turned her head.
“Your Highness. Do not dirty your ears with the empty words of this wicked rabble.”
“Yes.”
Chen Xia replied calmly and turned away.
With this, the traitors hiding in this village were finished.
‘It’s a familiar sensation.’
The other Shadows, who had revealed themselves at some point, were now mutilating the corpses as if to confirm the kills.
Watching them, Chen Xia let out a deep breath.
‘My classmates would probably frown if they saw this.’
There was no telling what sort of unexpected situation could arise from Tartaros’s dark magic.
For a Shadow, this level of kill confirmation was a matter of course.
But it was by no means a noble act.
Yet, this sight was not unfamiliar to Chen Xia.
On the contrary, she accepted it as if it were perfectly natural.
It was a scene she had witnessed since childhood.
For the past year, she had simply been living in a different world.
*Trudge- trudge-*
Chen Xia began to walk.
These people, including Chen Xia, were the Shadows of the Shan Empire.
The Shan Empire.
A powerful eastern nation boasting a long and storied history.
And the Shan Empire had a moniker: the Nation of Shadows.
The Great Heroes saved the world.
The Age of Heroes dawned.
Two thousand years passed since the end of the Age of Calamity.
After the calamities returned and the power of the Hero Record became known to the world, heroes came to dominate global affairs.
Many looked up to and admired heroes.
They praised the great deeds accomplished by heroes and dreamed of becoming heroes themselves.
Hero academies were established, numerous prestigious hero families emerged, and nations founded by heroes were born.
Many countries poured their efforts into producing heroes.
‘But not the Shan Empire.’
The Shan Empire did not foster heroes.
It wasn't that heroes were never born there, but Shan placed greater importance on its Shadows.
‘Ever since before this nation was founded… no, since before the Age of Heroes, we have been fighting.’
The official founding of Shan was 4,000 years ago, but the Shadows of Shan had existed for over 5,000 years.
Since the Age of Calamity.
For that immense span of time, they had protected the world without ever leaving their names on the Hero Record.
‘The noblest… and the most wretched of all.’
*Trudge- trudge-*
Forced to live entirely in the darkness, the Shadows upheld their own brand of justice.
Chen Xia stopped walking.
Her eyes widened as she spotted a young brother and sister hiding in an alley.
Perhaps because of the cold spring rain, the siblings were trembling.
*Splash- splash-*
“Are you okay?”
At Chen Xia’s question, the siblings hugged each other tighter.
“You must be very cold. Come with me…”
“Eek!”
Chen Xia reached out a hand to help the children.
The boy hugged his little sister and squeezed his eyes shut.
At his scream, Chen Xia’s hand froze in mid-air.
After a moment of hesitation, Chen Xia gave a bitter smile and said.
“I’m sorry. I must have scared you.”
She straightened up from her crouched position.
“Nothing scary will happen anymore. So don’t stay here, go back home. You’ll catch a cold if you stay here.”
With those words, Chen Xia left the alley.
“Brother, that pretty lady was trying to help us…”
“Shh! Hurry and follow me. That person is a witch!”
The boy covered his sister’s mouth and quickly disappeared deeper into the alley.
‘You saw it. You saw me hunting.’
Chen Xia looked down at her own hands.
They were clean, as usual.
But just moments ago, they had been drenched in blood.
It was familiar.
Killing another person.
It was familiar.
Being an object of fear for someone else.
But the reason her heart stirred was…
‘It seems… I was in a very deep dream for the past year.’
It seemed she had been momentarily blinded by the dazzling days of the past year.
‘Right.’
Chen Xia clenched her fist.
‘This is where I belong.’
She closed her eyes.
The faces of the friends she had studied with for a year came to mind.
Finally, the image of a certain boy appeared.
A person who seemed as if he were born to be a hero.
A pure white person, whose surroundings were always filled with light and hope.
‘I… can never be like Young Master Leo, after all.’
They were born of different stock.
With that thought, Chen Xia vanished into the darkness.
***
“Haaah.”
Reina let out a deep sigh.
“What a headache.”
Dressed in her uniform, she tugged at the necktie around her neck, loosening it.
“Trouble on the very first month of my term.”
With an annoyed expression, Reina retrieved a bottle of liquor from the cabinet next to her office desk.
She fell into thought as she poured it into a glass.
‘So they’re just going to do as they please, is that it?’
On her desk sat an envelope containing a letter from the Shan Empire.
The contents of the letter were simple.
It stated that the Shan princess, Chen Xia, was withdrawing from the academy.
‘It must be the Emperor’s will, not wanting to let Shan’s talent leak to the outside world.’
The Shan royals live their lives shrouded in a thick veil of secrecy.
The only one who can show themselves to the world is the Emperor.
Even the next in line for the throne cannot reveal themselves to the world until they become Emperor.
A tradition of Shan that has been passed down for thousands of years.
And among the Shan royals, those with talent who do not become Emperor live their lives not as heroes, but as Shadows.
That was the tradition of Shan.
‘I just don’t understand that country.’
Reina herself had lived half her life as a Shadow of Lumerne.
At first, she too had been a student at Lumerne.
But as she neared graduation, the Shadows of Lumerne made her an offer.
She accepted that offer and began to live the life of a Shadow.
‘If it were me, I wouldn’t make my own children do such dirty work. I’d let them live in the bright light!’
If the Emperor were standing before her right now, she wanted to scream at him.
She didn't regret her life as a Shadow.
She had walked a blood-soaked path, but she never once thought it was wrong.
Even if she could go back in time, she would choose the life of a Shadow again.
However…
‘It’s not right to deliberately push children down such a path.’
Judging by her first-year grades alone, Chen Xia was an excellent hero candidate.
To push someone with the talent to walk the path of a hero down the path of a Shadow.
‘That country is definitely not in its right mind.’
Reina let out another deep sigh.
‘The biggest problem is that Chen Xia herself seems willing to quit being a hero candidate.’
She couldn't just drag someone back against their will.
Moreover, her counterpart wasn't just some prestigious hero family, but the imperial family of the Shan Empire.
And her status was that of a princess.
‘For now, I have no choice but to go see her myself…’
Just as Reina was thinking this.
*Knock, knock-*
“Come in.”
The door opened with the knock.
Seeing the visitor to the headmaster's office, Reina wore a quizzical expression.
“What brings the student council president here at this hour? Shouldn’t you be in class?”
“I skipped.”
“They call you the greatest honor student in Lumerne’s history, but you have a surprisingly rebellious streak, don’t you?”
“You’re drinking in the middle of the day, Headmaster.”
At Leo’s words, Reina, who had been swirling her glass, set it down with a *thud*.
“There’s a reason for it.”
Reina got off her desk and pointed to the guest sofa.
“Sit. The student council president must have a reason for seeking me out.”
Leo sat on the sofa.
“So, what is it you came to see me about?”
“It’s about Chen Xia.”
“Chen Xia.”
Reina leaned back into the sofa and said.
“You heard from the Sera Dormitory’s housemaster, right? That she might withdraw due to family circumstances.”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s nothing you can do, even as the student council president. Lumerne is no different. As an educational institution, we teach students who are qualified. We cannot teach those who are not.”
“By qualification, do you mean her own will? Or are you referring to her disposition?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a feeling that Chen Xia is trying to withdraw because she is a Shadow.”
“…”
At Leo’s words, Reina’s expression changed subtly.
“Did Chen Xia tell you that?”
“No. I just had a vague feeling.”
“Impressive. The youngest student council president is certainly different.”
Reina stroked her chin in admiration.
“Then I understand even less. You know very well that while heroes and Shadows share the same goal, their ideologies can never mix, don’t you?”
Reina smiled darkly.
“And there are plenty of hero candidates who dislike Shadows.”
He was right.
Among the hero candidates, there were students with a sense of purism who detested Shadows.
Because the work Shadows did was far removed from that of a hero.
“The extremists, in particular, are a big problem. They don’t hesitate to commit acts like torture and massacre. In the name of thoroughly rooting out traitors, they often cause harm to the innocent.”
Letting out a sneer, Reina looked at Leo.
“The way I see it, Leo Flove, you’re a kid who was born to be a hero, you know?”
Reina propped her chin on her hand and crossed her legs.
“Are you interested in Chen Xia because she’s your friend? There’s no need for you to get involved in matters concerning Shadows. You can just remain a noble hero.”
“A noble hero…”
Leo wore an amused expression.
“For someone who says that, you’ve readily accepted Shadow candidates into Lumerne.”
Reina’s cold gaze fell upon Leo.
“I noticed it when I was escorting the new students. That some of the underclassmen were being raised as Shadows.”
Reina let out a short laugh.
“There are extremists among heroes as well. There have been many heroes who have massacred innocent people. It’s just a matter of whether they had a justification or not. To me, they seem the same.”
“The same?”
Reina looked amused.
“Yes. Heroes or Shadows. What’s the difference?”
“What an interesting way of thinking.”
Reina chuckled.
“Right. In the sense that they both fight Tartaros, heroes and Shadows are the same. But…”
Reina’s eyes narrowed.
“There is a decisive difference between the two.”
“A decisive difference?”
“Yes.”
Getting to her feet, Reina picked up the glass she had placed on her desk and tossed back its contents.
Then, she looked at Leo and said.
“No matter how great their deeds, a Shadow can never have their name recorded in the Hero Record.”
Reina let out a deep sigh.
“The gods praise the deeds of heroes, but they offer no praise for the deeds of Shadows.”
*Thud-*
Setting down the glass, Reina gave a bitter smile.
“It means that Shadows are beings abandoned by the gods.”