Chapter 239
Chapter Title: The Emperor's Summons and a Traitor's Ambition
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“My fault?”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Fritz adjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes.
His violet eyes stared directly at Jane.
“Walking the path of a hero is one’s own choice. So why would that be Sir Leo’s fault?”
At Fritz’s cold words, Jane whipped her head around.
“He must have his reasons for saying that.”
As if unbothered by Jane’s accusation, Leo spoke as he walked ahead.
“In any case, what's important now is that we have to bring Chen Xia back to Lumerne.”
“How?”
Jane asked, gritting her teeth.
It seemed that, as much as she believed Chen Xia was suited to be a hero, she agreed with the need to bring her back to Lumerne.
At Jane's words, Leo crossed his arms.
“First, we'll have to meet Chen Xia.”
“That won't be easy.”
Jane's shoulders slumped.
“Shan's royalty aren't allowed to engage in external activities. They must live their lives completely behind the shadow of the Imperial Palace.”
“I figured. Still, Chen Xia is a student of Lumerne.”
Leo said calmly, walking toward the warp gate.
“If we can't meet her, I'll have to negotiate with the Emperor of Shan.”
Jane flinched at his words.
“With His Majesty, the Emperor?”
“Yes.”
Leo said, patting his chest.
“I have a letter from the Headmaster, after all.”
Leo grinned.
“I doubt he'll be able to ignore it.”
Leo stepped into the warp gate.
Fritz followed behind him.
After a moment of hesitation, Jane had no choice but to step into the warp gate with them.
The mages stationed at the warp gate wore slightly odd expressions.
A mission requiring the warp gate at this late hour?
Of course, such cases weren't unheard of.
But while it was understandable for a second-year like Leo, the presence of what appeared to be first-years, Fritz and Jane, made it feel strange.
‘A mission with the student council president already.’
The gatekeepers looked on with curiosity but didn't let it show as they opened the warp gate.
*Fwoosh-!*
With a bright flash of light, the three of them vanished.
***
Leo's group arrived via the warp gate in the outskirts of Sing, the capital of Shan.
Seeing the warp gate, Leo paused.
The unique architectural style of the Shan Empire caught his eye.
Looking at the exotic architecture, Leo murmured.
“It certainly feels like I've come to a different culture.”
Hearing his murmur, Jane, who had already stepped out of the warp gate, straightened her uniform and spoke.
“Welcome. This is Sing, the capital of Shan.”
Though slightly aloof, Jane showed a very polite attitude.
She was just like Fritz, who stood beside Leo.
Seeing her, Leo looked puzzled.
“Your attitude is completely different from a moment ago.”
“From this moment on, I will not be a student of Lumerne, but a Shadow candidate of Shan, guiding the hero candidate, Sir Leo Flove.”
“Hmph.”
Fritz narrowed his eyes.
“For someone who was so impudent just moments ago, you talk a good game.”
“Are you trying to pick a fight?”
Jane glared at Fritz with sharp eyes.
Looking at her, Fritz gave a cold smile.
“I am the one who assists Sir Leo.”
Leo glanced at Fritz.
Fritz, who was taller than Leo, bowed his head to him with an elegant gesture.
“Sir Leo. I will serve you without any inconvenience during this mission.”
Watching Jane, whose attitude had changed in the blink of an eye upon arriving in Shan, and Fritz, who was trying to compete with her, Leo looked up at the sky and sighed.
‘Now I see why the Headmaster assigned these two to me.’
Just as there were many kinds of heroes, there were also many kinds of Shadows.
They could be broadly divided into three types.
Reapers, hunters who pursued and eliminated Hero Killers and traitors.
Guardians, who defended specific regions to ward off invasions from Tartaros.
And Shadows, who assisted and protected heroes from their side.
A key characteristic of a Shadow was their willingness to throw away their lives for a hero without a second thought.
While Reapers and Guardians were often scouted from among hero candidates, Shadows were mostly educated to be Shadows from birth.
And Fritz and Jane were precisely that—Shadows.
Especially in Lumerne.
Fritz, a Shadow from the Jer-on family, and Jane, a Shadow from the Shan Empire, shared a strange sense of rivalry.
‘They’re both at the top of their class among the first-years. They must be the top two among the Shadow candidates who enrolled this year.’
The Shan Empire was the most famous when it came to Shadows.
However, the Shadows of Lumerne, which possessed the Hero Record and nurtured hero candidates, were no less skilled than those of Shan.
In skill, and in background.
They were bound to compete with each other.
‘The problem is that they’re trying to compete as Shadows.’
Reina had accepted the first-years to offer the Shadow candidates a path to becoming heroes.
But these two had not the slightest interest in being heroes.
Hero or Shadow, it didn't matter.
But from Leo's perspective, the way they lived their lives prioritizing the lives of others was not something he could approve of.
“Let me make this clear. Right now, your status is not that of Shadow candidates, but hero candidates.”
At his words, Fritz and Jane looked at Leo.
“And our relationship is that of a senior and his juniors at the academy.”
“But Sir Leo, since I was young, I have lived to become a hero’s Shadow…”
“Do you think I need an escort from rookies like you?”
“...!”
“...!”
Fritz and Jane’s eyes widened at Leo’s indifferent remark.
“Hmph! Fine. If you insist, I’ll treat you as a senior.”
Jane responded tartly.
Fritz placed a hand on his chest, closed his eyes, and his shoulders trembled.
Seeing this, Jane scoffed.
“What? Is your pride hurt from being look—.”
“Sir Leo! No, Senior! I understand your profound intentions perfectly!”
“Huh?”
Seeing Fritz’s moved expression, Jane let out a dumbfounded sound, and Leo wore a look that said, ‘What is it now….’
“You mean that I am lacking as a Shadow and must strive harder, don’t you? I understand! I will devote myself to training until the day I am acknowledged as a Shadow by you, Senior!”
“Doesn't that hurt your pride at all?!”
Jane shouted in disbelief, and Fritz looked back, uncomprehending.
“Why should my pride be hurt?”
Watching Fritz, who had shed his cool-headed image and was now responding to his words with unconditional positivity, Leo looked on in utter bewilderment.
‘Seriously, when has this guy ever even seen me before? Why is he so devoted to me?’
He stared at Fritz with an exasperated expression.
Then he shook his head and stepped out of the warp gate.
“Which way do we go to get to the Shan Imperial Palace?”
“We can’t go today.”
“Why?”
“Sing is divided into four major districts.”
Jane explained.
Sing was one of the oldest cities in the world.
As such, its scale was immense.
“The First District, where the Imperial Palace is located, cannot be entered after sunset. This is a law that applies to everyone, regardless of status.”
The warp gate was in what she called the Third District.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We’ll have to stay at an inn near the warp gate for today. We must head to the palace early tomorrow morning.”
Leo nodded at Jane’s explanation.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes.”
Jane took the lead and headed toward a nearby inn.
Leo and Fritz followed behind her.
Leo gazed at the exotic streets of Sing.
The majority of people had foreign features and wore clothes with voluminous sleeves.
There were some outsiders who had come for trade, but not many.
Most of the people walking the streets stared with curiosity at Leo’s group, dressed in their Lumerne uniforms.
It was then, as the three of them walked through the crowd.
*Thud-!*
Suddenly, three people appeared before Jane.
She flinched, her shoulders tensing as she lowered her stance.
*Sssk-!*
Seven more men appeared, surrounding Leo.
Seeing this, Fritz raised his right hand and clenched it.
*Crack-*
An unsettling sound came from his knuckles.
*Step- step-*
The man who appeared to be the leader of the group blocking their path stepped forward.
He then bowed his head respectfully to Leo.
“Sir Leo Flove. I am the captain of the Shan Imperial Guard. I have come to escort you under the orders of His Majesty, the Emperor.”
Jane wore a surprised expression at his words.
As Fritz remained on high alert, Leo asked.
“As I recall, the academy didn't inform you that we were coming to Shan.”
At Leo’s question, the man in the lead bowed his head even lower and said.
“Sir Leo. Shan is the nation of Shadows. Shadows exist everywhere.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed at the blatant remark.
‘So they know the reason I'm here.’
Leo let out a chuckle and said.
“Looks like I won't have to wait until tomorrow.”
***
*Splurt-!*
Blood splattered.
*Trudge- trudge-*
A man dressed in pure white clothes swung a long sword.
“They never change, the Shadows of Shan.”
The man with black hair and black eyes smiled faintly as he walked, avoiding the corpses strewn at his feet.
Despite having built a mountain of corpses, not a single drop of blood stained the man's clothes.
“They're pointlessly persistent.”
The man shook his head and flicked his wrist slightly.
*Flick-! Swish-!*
“Gurgle?”
The sword energy that shot out from the tip of his blade sliced the throat of a Shadow who had been holding his breath, waiting for an opportunity.
“You think a method like that would work on me? These are all things I learned myself.”
A bitter smile on his face, the man stopped in his tracks.
*Splash-*
Standing on the earth soaked with pools of blood, the man took something out from his coat.
He pulled out a black crystal orb and infused it with mana.
*Gwoooo-!*
A pitch-black space opened in the air.
With it, a massive black eye flashed open.
[Sian, is that you.]
“It has been a while, Giant King.”
Sian greeted the black eye politely.
[Yes. What is it?]
“I heard something interesting from the Necro King. I contacted you to confirm it.”
Sian stroked his chin.
“There is an old sword that has been passed down through generations of Shan emperors.”
Sian’s eyes glittered.
“I heard that sword is an item related to the Hero of the Beginning.”
[That is an unpleasant name I have not heard in a very long time.]
“A long time? Wasn't it just a few months ago that the Monster Queen was subjugated by the Hero of the Beginning, who descended upon this world, and the Progenitor of the Nebula?”
[The insolent ones who came to deliver that news all died before they could mention that name.]
Watching the Giant King express his strong displeasure, Sian nodded.
“I see.”
[If you mean that old sword, then yes, it is related to the Hero of the Beginning. Why do you ask? Did you not sever your ties with Shan?]
“I did sever them. And I have no intention of returning.”
Sian laughed nonchalantly.
“But an item related to the Hero of the Beginning... now that is a coveted prize, is it not?”
[A coveted prize… I see. So now you wish to inherit the power of the Hero of the Beginning?]
“Yes. That is why I am using all of you.”
[You are mad.]
A look of disgust filled the Giant King’s massive eye.
[No matter how foolish the gods may be, you will never be able to register your name in the Hero Record.]
“What does something like that matter? All I have to do is become a great hero myself.”
Sian smiled.
“I will subjugate all of you and become a hero acknowledged by history, so you need not worry about that.”
The Giant King, looking at Sian who openly displayed his hostility, cut off the communication as if he couldn't bear the sight any longer.
Despite his massive size and brutally immense power, the Giant King’s personality was more serious and cautious than anyone else’s.
To such a king, Sian, who claimed to have betrayed the world and to be using Tartaros to become a hero, was nothing but a mad dog that could turn at any moment.
But Sian didn't care.
“It's been a while. I suppose I'll be meeting my father soon.”