Chapter 441
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Challenge
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441.
Looking up at Ar-on, who was smiling and patting her head, Chen Xia replied, her voice tinged with a pout.
“I’m older than Young Master Leo, you know?”
“O-Oh, are you?”
Ar-on wore a slightly flustered expression.
Grumbling, Chen Xia stood up.
“Still, your advice has given me a lot to think about, Instructor Akan.”
Chen Xia bowed her head deeply.
“You shouldn’t blame yourself so much either, Instructor Akan. I’m sure your friend wouldn’t want that.”
“You’re right.”
“Even if you had given up back then, I’m sure there will be another chance.”
“Another…?”
“Yes. Young Master Leo taught me. He told me not to despair and hang my head just because I’m in the dark.”
Chen Xia smiled brightly.
“That if I lift my head, move forward, and reach out… a light will surely be waiting for me.”
“…That sounds like Leo.”
“Right? I have no idea what he takes me for, treating me like a child.”
“What did Leo say?”
“Can you believe he told me to just dream like the kid I am? Good grief. And he’s two years younger than me.”
Ar-on chuckled at Chen Xia’s words.
“Those are good words.”
***
“How are the kids doing?”
Torua asked while reading a grimoire in the instructors' lounge.
“Perfectly.”
Jamua smiled with satisfaction.
“Students from every academy are following my systematic training flawlessly.”
“Systematic, my ass. You just beat the kids up with your fists and feet. Brute force.”
Jamua replied to Torua’s pointed remark.
“Punches and kicks require more finesse than you think. It's the same principle as how forging weapons requires skillful hammering.”
“Spoken like Li Jamua. Truly the manliest man at Lumerne last year.”
As Derou, the former vice president of Azonia, nodded with his arms crossed, Torua shook her head.
“What are you talking about? Lumerne's manliest man until last year was Lis.”
“No, Lis’s manliness was third.”
“Then who was second?”
“You.”
“I’m a woman, you beast.”
“Hmph, you should be proud! Torua Yan! You are a woman more manly than most men!”
Watching Derou give her a thumbs-up, Torua seriously contemplated which spell she should use to roast him.
He seemed to mean it as a compliment, but from Torua's perspective, it was anything but.
While Torua was deep in thought, Jamua spoke.
“And what about you, Torua? Are you training your juniors properly?”
“Of course. I’m having the kids with weak magical resistance experience a variety of spells.”
“You mean you’re not just using them for magical experiments?”
“Hmph. Isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?”
The students Torua was in charge of were primarily those with poor resistance to magic.
“I've recently been researching a spell that uses the nervous system to create a curse effect, and they're perfect test subjects.”
“Just like Lumerne’s madwoman.”
“Why am I the madwoman?”
Torua snapped at Banir’s comment.
“You have to ask? When it comes to magic, you often do some insane things, don’t you? What was it recently? You said you wanted to dissect Leo Flove and Lunia El Lundua, right?”
“It’s all for the sake of magic. And I’d stitch them back up nicely afterward, so what’s the problem?”
“That’s why they call you a madwoman.”
“Hmph. And what about you? You’re tormenting the kids by throwing them off cliffs, aren't you? You crazy rabbit.”
Torua and Banir glared and growled at each other.
Watching them, Jamua muttered.
“Those two never change.”
“Back in school, Banir was more competitive with Torua than with Lis.”
Just as Jamua and Derou were shaking their heads,
“Hmm, there’s a lack of love.”
Ulta, who had been observing the situation, spread his arms wide.
Looking at Ulta, Jamua said.
“Ulta, you only have two students in your charge, right? I hear it’s not going well.”
“I am spreading love. Love is, by nature, difficult to realize.”
“…Uh, right.”
Deciding it was impossible to have a conversation with him, Jamua shook his head.
Riennia, the former student council president of Seirun who had been watching, spoke up.
“Aren’t you all taking your instructor duties too lightly? Just having fun yourselves, or pursuing your own selfish interests.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Giving them some weird training from hell.”
“You’re the one who enjoys tormenting your juniors, you sadist.”
As protests erupted from all sides, Riennia cupped her cheeks.
“It’s fun when the kids scream.”
“…No matter how I look at it, I think Seirun is the most abnormal of all the hero academies.”
“Yeah, they act all prim and proper, but they’re the weirdest bunch.”
“Isn’t that girl Lunia, the next student council president candidate, a total thug?”
The graduates whispered amongst themselves, but Riennia didn’t bat an eye.
Just then, the door opened and a young man with black hair entered.
“Lis, how are the first-years?”
“They’re all well-behaved. This generation of first-years seems especially nice. They get along well with each other, too.”
At Lis’s words, Banir spoke.
“They get along even though they’re from different academies?”
“This year’s first-years seem to interact frequently with students from other schools and become friends easily.”
“Oh? They’re quite friendly, aren’t they?”
The hero academies fundamentally foster a strong sense of competition between schools.
Especially in the first year, this competitive spirit often manifests as hostility.
The second-years, too, had only managed to get along because they’d bonded over the Smith exclusive contract at the beginning of the semester.
If not for that, they wouldn’t have even spoken to one another.
In fact, during the contract period, there was almost no interaction between the schools.
In contrast, this year's first-years seemed to be befriending each other very quickly.
“This year’s first-years are also above average, though not quite on the level of the second-years. Usually, the more talented a generation is, the more arrogant they are, making it hard for them to get along in their first year.”
“Like us?”
“Exactly.”
The graduates chuckled.
They were friendly enough now to joke around, having graduated and clashed countless times throughout their fifth year, but back in their first and second years, they had been sharp and hostile toward one another.
“Why do you think that is?”
“Isn’t it because their seniors, the year above them, are so formidable? It’s hard to be arrogant when you’re constantly intimidated.”
“True, if they were my seniors, I’d probably be so intimidated I’d become humble by default.”
The current second-years were regarded as a legendary generation, regardless of the academy.
“I’ve realized it this time. The top students of that year don’t seem to be at a second-year level of skill.”
“At that level, you’d expect them to become a little complacent, but there’s no sign of that.”
“Why won’t our terrifying juniors ever let their guard down? It’s scary for us seniors to watch.”
The hero academies were a gathering of only the best.
Every student was considered a genius.
And among those geniuses, it was natural to become arrogant upon reaching the top.
But the second-years showed not a hint of it.
“There’s a monster among them,”
Lis said with a smile, and Riennia narrowed her eyes.
“Leo Flove. He’s a second-year, but he’s already beyond the scope of a student. The strongest of the second-years. No, it would be more accurate to call him the strongest student in all the hero academies combined.”
Everyone here was close to becoming a hero, and some were even evaluated as potential candidates to have their names recorded in the Hero Record.
To receive such an evaluation less than half a year after graduation was a rare feat in the long history of heroes.
But even they felt it instinctively.
That Leo was a powerhouse who stood above them.
“Was he that strong in his first year?”
“He was inhuman in his first year too, but not to that extent.”
Everyone eventually hits a wall as they grow.
But not Leo.
‘If anything, the pace at which Leo is getting stronger is only accelerating.’
Lis thought of Leo.
“What in the world is he?”
At Derou’s question, Jamua crossed his arms and grinned.
“I’d say he’s a monster.”
“I’m guessing he might be a sixth race,”
Torua added.
“Leo is simply overflowing with love.”
Ulta spread his arms and smiled.
“Whatever he is, if Leo’s presence helps our juniors—who will one day share the responsibility of the world’s future with us—grow stronger, then there’s nothing better.”
At Lis’s words, Banir asked.
“Are you just going to let them win?”
“Of course not.”
Lis shook his head.
“We have to work hard so our juniors don’t catch up to us.”
As everyone nodded in agreement at Lis’s words,
“By the way, what about that man, Akan?”
Lis asked.
Since he was in charge of the first-years, Lis hadn’t had much contact with Ar-on.
At Lis’s question, Torua crossed her arms and tilted her head.
“He’s an incredible person. It’s strange that someone like him is completely unknown.”
“He’s not one of the Shadows, is he?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What information do we have on him?”
Seeing Torua shake her head, Banir said.
“For one, he bears a striking resemblance to Lord Ar-on.”
“Hmph, who knows. He might actually be Lord Ar-on.”
Everyone froze at Ulta’s words.
Then, they looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“No matter how you look at it, that’s not possible.”
“A miracle did happen at Seirun, but it was only for a brief moment, wasn’t it?”
“It’s already been two weeks since he appeared, right? And he hasn’t disappeared.”
If he were Ar-on, brought to the present through a miracle of the Hero Record, it wouldn’t make sense for him to still be around.
And crucially.
“He always seems so timid whenever I see him.”
“Mhm! Mhm! Not manly at all.”
“He was like… a frightened herbivore.”
They each shared their impressions of Ar-on.
‘Instructor Akan.’
Lis was lost in thought.
‘My first impression of him was similar to Leo.’
Their appearances, personalities, and races were completely different.
But the bottomless depth in their eyes was similar.
‘Just what kind of person is he?’
***
In the dead of night.
Lis quietly left his quarters.
“Going to train?”
Seeing Lis, Riennia, who was already outside, asked with a smile.
“How did you know?”
“We’ve competed as representatives of Lumerne and Seirun for years, haven’t we? I know you like the back of my hand.”
Riennia winked and said.
“Watching your cousin all the time has made me antsy for a fight. Care to be my opponent?”
“I’m not Leo’s substitute.”
Just as Lis let out a dry laugh at Riennia’s words,
“If you’re going to warm up, I’m coming too.”
Banir emerged from the darkness.
“I’ve been wanting to fight you two for a while now.”
Lis, Riennia, and Banir.
All three were knights and warriors who wielded powerful Aura.
“With the crazy rabbit as an opponent, I don’t think I can hold back.”
“Were you planning to hold back against Lis?”
Banir narrowed his eyes, and Riennia chuckled.
And so, late at night.
The three were preparing to spar in a place where they wouldn’t disturb others.
“Are you perhaps fighting?”
*Step- step-*
“…!”
The three of them stiffened as Ar-on, revealed by the moonlight, approached with quiet footsteps.
“This is perfect. I just came out to warm up myself. I was in need of a partner. Would you care to be my opponent?”
“That sounds great.”
Lis smiled.
“We were just wondering what kind of person you were, Instructor Akan.”
“Is that so?”
“Who would you like to spar with first?”
At Lis’s question, Ar-on smiled gently.
“All three of you.”
“What?”
“I’d like to fight all three of you.”