Chapter 371
Chapter Title: A Pact of Light and Shadow
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At Elsie’s question, Laurel wore a momentarily baffled expression.
“What? The era you had to live in? What are you talking about?”
She couldn’t understand what the spirit before her was saying.
Elsie flew up to Laurel’s face and put on a slightly prim expression.
-You say you’ve given up on this world, yet you haven’t passed it on to the next generation or simply vanished. Doesn’t that mean you still have some lingering attachment, no matter what it is?
Elsie grumbled in a disgruntled voice.
-Acting like you’ve seen all the darkness in the world.
Elsie pouted, her lips jutting out in a dissatisfied expression.
This wasn’t like the usual Elsie.
But in her own way, Elsie found the Great Spirit before her frustrating.
To possess a light more brilliant than anyone, yet pursue darkness.
She could shine so much brighter, but it seemed she was snuffing out her own light.
It wasn't the duty of a Spirit of Light to bear the darkness.
To shine a beacon of hope and lead the people.
That was what a Spirit of Light was meant to be.
“I don’t know what you’ve seen.”
Laurel’s face scrunched up.
“But you can’t understand my darkness.”
-Then first, show me the darkness you have seen.
“And you think you can understand my darkness?”
-Of course.
Elsie smiled brightly.
‘For a Spirit of Darkness, she’s so bright…!’
Laurel extended a hand toward Elsie.
A small cluster of light shimmered on her palm.
“Don’t blame me if your mind shatters.”
This was a darkness that had tormented a Great Spirit.
For a spirit, a being of consciousness, a crack in the mind was a fatal wound.
At Laurel's words, Elsie just smiled and reached for the cluster of light.
*Fwaaah-!*
A brilliant light erupted.
It was only for an instant.
But from Elsie’s perspective, it was a very long time.
Elsie opened her eyes.
Her obsidian eyes, as black as a starless night sky, reflected Laurel’s face.
Elsie smiled bitterly.
Just as Laurel’s expression turned to one of confusion at the sight of her…
-That must have been so difficult for you.
Elsie reached out and patted Laurel’s head with her small palm.
As she watched Elsie console her as if she understood everything, Laurel’s face contorted.
“What in the world are you.”
Was the darkness she harbored so trivial that it could be understood this easily?
“What are you to understand me so easily!”
-Hmm.
Elsie cupped her cheek as if troubled and fell into thought.
-It’s not a competition, but it’s probably because I’ve experienced something even worse than you have.
Elsie smiled wistfully and extended her hand.
Darkness swirled.
-Would you like to see?
Laurel stared at Elsie’s darkness, then reached out her hand.
The darkness enveloped Laurel’s body.
A moment later, Laurel stumbled back, her face pale as a sheet.
“You… What in the world are you?”
The era Laurel saw in Elsie’s memories was filled with nothing but despair.
“How did you live through the Age of Calamity?”
-I am a Great Spirit of the past.
Elsie introduced herself.
-I am Elsie, the Great Spirit of Darkness, the Shadow Spirit, born in the Age of Calamity and extinguished in the Age of Calamity.
Laurel’s eyes trembled as she watched Elsie formally introduce herself once more.
“How can a Great Spirit who vanished 5,000 years ago be in this era?”
-I borrowed the power of the Hero Record.
Laurel could not deny Elsie’s words.
The scenery in the memories she had seen was unmistakably from the Age of Calamity.
As Rodia’s contractor, she had conquered the Hero Records of the Great Heroes and remembered the scenery of that era vividly.
But there was a vast difference between experiencing a part of that era through the Hero Record and the despair of someone who had actually had to live through it.
Laurel’s hand trembled.
Having seen Elsie’s memories, she could understand how she felt.
“How… How can you smile like that?”
Laurel managed to ask, her voice trembling as she looked at Elsie.
“How can you still move toward the light?”
Despite having lived through such a desperate era, Elsie had not let go of the thread of hope.
-I wonder.
Elsie tilted her head.
-It’s probably because… the light is just that beautiful.
Elsie’s bright smile captivated Laurel’s eyes.
Watching the scene unfold, Leo smiled bitterly.
Leo knew another Elsie.
If the current Elsie was the one before she had become warped…
The Elsie that Leo originally knew was a spirit more cynical about the world than anyone else.
‘And yet, she sacrificed herself for the world.’
For the starlight in the night sky she had never seen, Elsie had willingly given her life.
Born in the darkest of times as the darkest of beings, that was the kind of spirit Elsie was.
-So please, don’t give up on this world.
Stroking Laurel’s cheek, Elsie smiled brightly.
-Don’t give up on your contractor. As long as you don’t give up, I’m sure you can save everyone. Just like this world, which had lost its light, found its brilliance once more.
Laurel’s face crumpled as if she were about to cry.
For Laurel, trapped in deep darkness, those words were like salvation.
***
Laurel had transformed into a small, palm-sized figure, just like Elsie.
-So.
Laurel looked at Leo.
-Leo Flove, what is your identity?
A hero candidate who has a spirit from the Age of Calamity as his contractor.
At Laurel’s question, Elsie spoke up.
-In front of Leo, you must never say things like ‘I had it so hard’ or anything of the sort.
-Pardon?
-If you’re not careful, you’ll get an earful like, ‘Have you ever fought Erebos? Or watched the world end?’ You heard him earlier, right? Calling us ‘kids these days’?
“What do you take me for?”
Leo let out a small sigh and glanced at Laurel.
“I am the reincarnation of the Hero of the Beginning.”
-The, the Hero of the Beginning?
Laurel’s eyes widened in shock at Leo’s unimaginable identity.
“What? You don’t believe me?”
-W-Well, considering Lady Elsie’s identity… it’s not impossible.
At some point, Laurel’s way of speaking to Elsie had shifted to using honorifics.
It was only natural.
Elsie was a Great Spirit who had stood with the Great Heroes during the Age of Calamity.
To Laurel, she was a grand senior.
‘Leo Flove is an All-Class. And he’s consistently shown an unusual path.’
In the 5,000 years since the Hero Record came into existence and the Age of Heroes began…
Even after the existence of the World of Heroes was revealed, no one with abilities like Kyle’s had ever existed.
In the first place, not even the Heroes of Genesis had inherited Kyle’s power.
Hesitating as she looked at Leo, Laurel cautiously asked.
-Um… if you really are the Hero of the Beginning.
Laurel, glancing around, mustered her courage and asked.
-Did you really not know that the King of Wisdom had feelings for you?
“…”
Leo stared at Laurel with a blank expression.
Under his gaze, Laurel flinched involuntarily.
“Did you really think I didn’t know? I had to embark on a journey to save the world, so I had no choice but to look away.”
Elsie stared at Leo with a dumbfounded expression, while Laurel let out a sigh of relief.
-I knew it, right? Rodia said so! She said Lord Lisinas was so pitiful, and that if you couldn’t notice her going so far as to teach you the etiquette of the Dragon Tribe, which you didn’t even need to learn, you’d be a real idiot.
Leo simply smiled serenely.
‘These goddamn brats.’
Seirun called him a fool, and Rodia called him an idiot.
Leo decided that before any lectures, punishment was in order.
“Then I’ll ask you this, Spirit of Radiance.”
Leo approached Laurel and spoke.
“Will you form a pact with me?”
Laurel looked up at Leo.
For generations, the Great Spirit of Light had chosen the one who would lead the world as their contractor.
During the Age of Calamity…
The one who would lead the world to salvation was the King of Wisdom, Lisinas.
And during the Second Coming of Calamity, the Genesis Dragon Rodia took on that role.
-If Lord Kyle is to face the Primordial Evil once more… you will have to risk everything again. Do you believe this world holds such value?
“Value, you say.”
Leo burst out laughing.
“A long time ago, Elsie asked me the same thing.”
At the mention of words her other self had spoken, Elsie smiled bitterly.
“I’ve had those thoughts myself. I know all too well that the world we tried to save… the world we did save, isn’t only beautiful.”
‘We’re going to save the world.’
He recalled the words his friend, who had cruelly left him behind, had told him.
‘Why do we have to save it? Is this world really worth that much?’
He also remembered his own cynical reply.
“But this world is also a beautiful place where flowers bloom in abundance and children laugh brightly.”
Leo looked down at the city scenery visible outside.
The sun was already setting.
‘It’s not something to be judged by whether it has value or not.’
“It’s not something to be judged by whether it has value or not.”
As Leo turned around, the red sunset poured over his back.
‘It’s the world my precious people cherished and loved, and the world they will live in. That alone is reason enough to risk everything.’
“It’s the world my precious people cherished and loved, and the world they will live in. Some guy taught me that that alone is reason enough to risk everything.”
-Is that one reason truly enough?
“It’s a truth taught to me by the most foolish yet wisest person in the world. So I’m certain.”
Watching Leo answer without a hint of hesitation, Laurel respectfully bowed her head.
-Lord Kyle, no. Lord Leo Flove. I promise to become your contractor, to lend my strength as the sword and shield that will open the path before you.
Laurel raised her head and extended her hand.
The crest of a contract appeared on the back of Leo’s hand.
-Please, save the world once more.
“Yeah. I’m counting on you, Spirit of Radiance.”
***
Late at night, after the sun had set.
Iliana, walking ahead through an alley, said with a thoroughly flushed face.
“I’m telling you. I saw the class rep enter a shady-looking street with my own two eyes!”
At Iliana’s words, Chelsea narrowed her eyes.
“There’s no way Leo would go into a strange alley like that.”
Seeing Chelsea’s disbelief, Iliana wore a frustrated expression.
“Right! The usual class rep wouldn’t! But he’s a guy too, isn’t he?!”
At Iliana’s words, Chloe shot her a pathetic look and asked Karl.
“Karl, what do you think?”
“Well, Leo’s never shown interest in that sort of thing.”
“Right, he’s so mature.”
“You guys just don’t get it.”
Iliana raised her index finger and wagged it.
“The class rep is very mature.”
“He is.”
“And adults do amazing things.”
“And what amazing things are those?”
As Chelsea squinted, Karl, who was next to her, grinned slyly.
“You know what. The amazing magic where two people go into a room and three come out.”
“No! It’s magic that can even make four people!”
*Whack-!*
“Gah!”
“Ack!”
Chelsea swung her arms, striking both Karl and Iliana in the neck.
“Enough with the crude jokes.”
As Chelsea gave them a look of disdain, Chloe clicked her tongue.
“He probably just went for investigative purposes.”
And so, the four of them arrived at the entrance to the pleasure district.
“Granny!”
“Well, if it isn’t the little lady who screamed and ran away earlier.”
Late at night.
The old woman cackled and spoke.
“This street has even more amazing things to see at night. Did you come because you’re interested?”
“I’m not interested in that kind of thing!”
As Iliana shouted back, Karl smirked beside her.
“Really?”
*Thwack-!*
“Gak?”
Karl collapsed, clutching his solar plexus.
“The boy who went in earlier. Do you happen to know where he went?”
“I didn’t see him leave, so he must still be in the pleasure district.”
At those words, Iliana flinched and then said.
“See! There’s no way an investigation would take this long! The class rep must have gotten lost in the world of adults in here!”
Chloe and Chelsea also wore flustered expressions upon hearing that Leo had been here for so long.
Karl’s jaw dropped.
“Wow, that’s Leo for you. So daring, isn’t he?”
“There’s no way Leo would do that!”
Chelsea shouted with a red face, making Karl flinch.
“H-Hey! Don’t yell at me.”
“What are you all doing here?”
Leo appeared at the entrance.
Iliana’s eyes darted up and down, sizing Leo up.
While Chelsea and Chloe hesitated slightly…
“Class rep, be honest.”
“About what?”
“You were just having fun in there, weren’t you? You experienced the world of adults, didn’t you? That’s it, right?”
At her words, Leo pinched Iliana’s cheek and pulled.
“What are you talking about?”
“S-Stop it!”
“Look at you, getting so bold. I knew it ever since I found out you were hiding all those unwholesome magazines and novels in the dorm.”
“Ack! Ack! Ack!”
Iliana shrieked, her face beet red, trying to stop Leo from talking.
“You promised you wouldn’t tell!”
“This is what happens when you read all that stuff, you start getting these weird ideas, don’t you?”
“I told you not to tell!”
Iliana protested frantically, but all it did was reveal her embarrassing history while getting scolded by Leo.
“You know, whenever I see Leo scolding the others, I always think…”
Chelsea looked at Karl.
“Doesn’t it remind you of being scolded by your parents?”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Chelsea nodded.
Karl looked at Chloe.
“You look murderous.”
“I’m just planning how I’m going to scold Iliana.”
As the dorm head, Chloe was angry that Iliana had brought in prohibited items.
“Are you her mom or something?”
*Thwack-!*
“Gah!?”
For his unnecessary comment, Karl took a blow to the side and ended up rolling on the ground.