Chapter 290
Chapter Title: The Great Hero's Home
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“What is this… To think we’d get to visit the Great Hero’s home!”
Karl said in a nervous voice.
“Sh-shouldn’t we buy a gift or something?”
“We probably should, right? Is there anything good to buy?”
“But we’re broke.”
Eiran, Ar, and Lunia also wore tense expressions.
Watching the excited group, Driana spoke.
“Sir Kyle isn’t here anyway, is he?”
As she said this, Driana pulled a sketchbook from her coat.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“What are you going to use that for?”
“If there’s a portrait or something in Sir Kyle’s house, I plan to sketch it.”
“With your hopeless skills, don’t you think Kyle would hate it if you drew something like that?”
“Leo, unlike someone as emotionally barren as you, Sir Kyle would understand my artistic sensibilities.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Leo replied with a scowl.
Watching the group, Depesere smiled faintly.
“It seems you hold Sir Kyle in very high regard.”
“I respect Lady Luna the most, though.”
“Hmph. Sir Ar-on is the best, of course.”
“No matter what anyone says, Sir Dweno is the greatest hero.”
Lunia, Ar, and Driana said in turn.
Then they glared at each other.
Depesere chuckled at their words.
“Many children admire them, just as you do. It’s only natural. They are the ones who showed the world that hope exists in this age of despair.”
After hearing Depesere, Eiran asked cautiously.
“Could you please tell us a story about Sir Kyle’s heroic deeds?”
Though she recalled Depesere’s menacing appearance from a moment ago, Eiran mustered her courage.
Eiran, who loved heroic tales, had eyes that were already sparkling.
For Eiran, just being able to hear stories about Kyle, who was considered an unknown Great Hero in her era, was a great joy.
“A tale of Sir Kyle’s heroism…”
Depesere smiled faintly.
“My favorite is the story of him fighting alone against the legion of death led by the Necro King, Hell Kaiser. But it’s a very famous tale.”
“The story of fighting the Necro King’s legion alone…? Are you perhaps talking about the Battle of Deriolana?”
When Eiran asked with wide eyes, Depesere nodded.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“What? The Battle of Deriolana was Lady Luna… Eek?!”
Eiran, who had been looking puzzled, yelped in surprise and glanced to her side.
Leo, who had approached without her noticing, had poked her in the side.
Eiran’s eyes met Leo’s, and she realized her mistake.
In this era, the Battle of Deriolana was known as a battle where Luna played a major role, but in truth, it was a battle Kyle had fought alone.
It was one of Kyle’s most famous achievements during the Age of Calamity.
Bringing up Luna in this situation would obviously arouse unnecessary suspicion.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I love that heroic tale, so I’d like to hear it again.”
“Hmph. Then I shall tell you.”
The dragons of this era sometimes took on the role of conveying the heroes’ deeds they had witnessed to the people.
As Depesere’s story began, the party members, excluding Leo, focused on it.
Lunia, who was listening and comparing it to the Battle of Deriolana she knew, asked cautiously.
“You speak as if you saw it yourself… Did you witness this battle in person, Lord Depesere?”
“Yes.”
At Depesere’s words, everyone held their breath.
‘This battle was even more incredible than what was in the storybooks.’
“After annihilating the Skeleton King’s legion in a single blow, Sir Kyle shouted, ‘This place will be your grave, Necro King.’”
Leo let out a hollow laugh at Depesere’s words.
‘I didn’t say that.’
It seemed they had embellished the stories of him and his friends with white lies when recounting the tales to children.
Just as Leo was feeling a renewed sense of gratitude toward Depesere and chuckling…
“That’s not right. He said, ‘I’m gonna kill you for good today, you son of a bitch bag of bones.’”
A somewhat sullen voice came from somewhere.
Everyone who had been focused on Depesere’s story turned their heads with startled expressions.
The group had arrived in front of a log cabin without realizing it.
And there, in front of a desolate empty lot that was embarrassing to even call a garden, an elf girl was standing by a chair.
“Oh my, we were so engrossed in the story that we’ve arrived already.”
At Depesere’s words, Karl scratched his cheek.
“This is Sir Kyle’s house? It’s a little different from what I imagined.”
Karl, looking at the very ordinary house, glanced at the elf girl and asked.
“By the way, who is she?”
“That is Verchia, Sir Kyle’s disciple.”
“Gasp!”
“Hah!”
Everyone stared at the elf girl with wide eyes.
After the end of the Age of Calamity.
The great leader who led the elves.
Just as everyone was shocked by the appearance of such an unimaginably important figure.
“Lord Depesere. Who are they? Are they the kids who trespassed into the spirit domain?”
“That’s right, Lady Verchia. And they will be staying at Sir Kyle’s residence for the time being.”
At those words, Verchia’s eye twitched.
“Why are they staying at Master Kyle’s house? There must be plenty of other places to stay.”
“I do not know the reason myself. It is, however, Sir Dweno’s order.”
“Sir Dweno’s?”
Unable to defy Dweno’s command, Verchia made a sullen face but didn’t protest any further.
“Well then, it’s getting late, so please rest well. I will come for you tomorrow.”
Depesere bowed and then departed.
Just as Leo’s group and Verchia were left alone.
“You have your own house, don’t you? Go on, get out.”
Verchia replied to Leo’s words.
“I have to tidy up Master’s house.”
“Tidy up?”
‘What is there to tidy up in this house?’
Finding Verchia’s sudden comment odd, Leo headed for the entrance.
‘Home…’
Entering his own home, which had vanished in the distant past, Leo felt a strange emotion.
*Creak-*
Opening the door and stepping inside, Leo glanced at the interior, which was as messy as a pigsty, then turned his gaze to Verchia.
“Wow… this is a bit much.”
“It seems Sir Kyle wasn’t the tidying type.”
“Still, how should I put it... It’s fascinating to see his human side.”
Karl clicked his tongue, and Eiran laughed awkwardly.
Lunia smiled faintly.
“My goodness. Master Kyle is really something else. To leave the house in such a mess.”
Verchia crossed her arms and entered the house as if to say, “He’s hopeless.”
“Well, we have guests, so it can’t be helped.”
Verchia said, planting her hands firmly on her hips.
“You’re all going to be staying here too, right? Why don’t you help clean up?”
“Yes, of course, Lady Verchia.”
Eiran bowed politely.
Eiran kept glancing at Verchia’s face, her own expression tense.
Her revered, great ancestor was right before her eyes.
As someone who had admired Verchia since childhood after hearing her heroic tales, Eiran was more nervous now than ever before.
Just as Eiran was about to start cleaning the house.
Leo raised a hand to stop her.
Then he stared intently at Verchia and said.
“Hey.”
The entire party was horrified by Leo’s word.
“Hey! Leo!”
“How rude!”
“You’re talking to Lady Verchia! Black Rabbit!”
“Watch your mouth.”
Karl urgently tried to stop Leo, and Lunia’s eyes flashed open.
While Ar and Driana were also flustered, Leo spoke.
“You clean up your own mess.”
“Th-this is all Master Kyle’s mess!”
“Kyle’s?”
Leo narrowed his eyes, then picked up something from among the clothes strewn on the floor.
“There’s an item of clothing here that doesn’t seem to match Kyle’s gender.”
“G-give that here!”
Verchia lunged at Leo.
Reaching out, Verchia’s face was beet red, as if embarrassed by the object in Leo’s hand.
Leo tossed it, and Verchia scrambled to catch it and hide it behind her back.
“And that book over there is clearly not something Kyle would read. ‘Secret Tryst in the For…’”
“Agh! Agh! Agh!”
Verchia screamed, her face flushed red.
“Should I call Dweno and Ar-on? I wonder how they’d react to the state of this house.”
At Leo’s words, Verchia’s ears drooped.
“I’ll clean it.”
Verchia’s grand plan to use her guests to clean up the room she had thoroughly messed up had crumbled.
Watching Verchia start cleaning, her ears drooping, the rest of the group wore dumbfounded expressions.
The three most revered heroes in elven history.
Luna, the Progenitor of the Stars; Seirun, the Comet Sorcerer.
And Verchia, the Fairy Knight.
Having witnessed the disgraceful behavior of one of them, Lunia covered her face with both hands and whimpered.
“My image of Lady Verchia has been tainted.”
“Get over it.”
Leo said mercilessly.
Then he glanced at Eiran.
Eiran seemed a little surprised.
But she was looking at Verchia with a somehow warm gaze.
“You don’t seem as shocked as I expected.”
Ar asked, wagging her tail, and Eiran gave an awkward laugh.
“Yes. She’s certainly different from the image I had… but somehow? I think I like her even more. She feels familiar, somehow.”
“Familiar?”
“Yes.”
“You two are quite similar.”
Leo chuckled and crossed his arms.
“Really? In what way?”
Eiran asked with a bright smile, and Leo replied.
“Messing up your room like a pigsty, or having strange delusions.”
Eiran, on the verge of tears, rushed at Leo to cover his mouth.
Stopping Eiran, Leo looked at Verchia.
‘Right. She used to come over and make a huge mess before leaving.’
Just as Leo let out a hollow laugh, recalling memories from the past.
“By the way… this place is excessively bleak. To the point where it lacks any human touch.”
Driana said, looking around the room, and Karl responded.
“Seeing this mess, I’d say otherwise.”
“Isn’t that Lady Verchia’s doing?”
Driana glanced at the furniture in the room.
“There’s only the bare minimum of necessary furniture. Everything else is organized in a bland, almost empty way.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. It seems a bit different from just being neat.”
As Ar tilted her head, Driana stroked her chin.
“Perhaps he never allowed himself to get attached to this space.”
“Why? It’s his own house, isn’t it?”
“…Perhaps he always kept everything perfectly organized because he never knew when he might lose his life.”
Leo’s expression turned bitter at Driana’s muttering.
‘Even kids can sense that, huh.’
Whenever Leo left Gardsrone, he always cleaned everything spotlessly.
It was because he was always thinking that he might never be able to return.
‘Because I had nothing worth leaving behind for anyone.’
Leo gazed at the bleak scenery of the room.
Those who had so much to leave behind… and so many things they wanted to do, had forced everything onto him and left first.
‘Come to think of it, I’m still the only one left.’
Just as Leo wore a bitter smile.
“Um… Lady Verchia. Would you like some help?”
“Really?”
Lunia said cautiously.
Although she had declared she would become a delinquent at Seirun, Lunia was, after all, a top student.
No matter what, she couldn’t just stand by and watch a great hero of her race cleaning all alone so pathetically.
“I-I’ll help too!”
“You’ll really help?”
Verchia asked, her ears perking up, and Eiran smiled brightly.
“Yes!”
Just as Verchia was about to give a sly grin at the innocently smiling Eiran.
“Don’t help her. You’ll spoil her.”
Leo spoke mercilessly, and Verchia shot him a fierce look.
“Who do you think you are! Are you Master Kyle or something?”
Leo responded not with words, but by flicking Verchia on the forehead.
“I’m going to tell Master Ar-on everything tomorrow!”
“Go ahead.”
Not batting an eye, Leo smacked Verchia’s head one more time.
Watching this, Karl clicked his tongue in amazement.
“That guy is really something else sometimes. How can he treat a historical figure so casually?”