Chapter 457
Chapter Title: The Hero of the Beginning
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Leo froze at Chelsea’s words.
Holding the bottle, he simply lifted his head and looked at her.
Their eyes met and tangled in mid-air.
With a tense expression, Chelsea stared into Leo’s red eyes.
After a moment of silence.
Leo reached for a new glass on the table and poured a drink.
He then offered it to the bewildered Chelsea.
“Want some?”
“Huh, what?!”
Chelsea looked slightly taken aback.
She then took the glass with both hands, hesitated for a moment, and finally brought it to her lips for a sip.
“Ugh! Bitter.”
Watching Chelsea grimace, Leo propped his chin on his hand, chuckled, and tossed back his own drink.
Then, he muttered.
“That Ar-on, always so meddlesome.”
Chelsea’s jaw dropped at Leo’s words.
Seeing Leo and Ar-on’s relationship, she had wondered, *could it be?*
She had been stunned when she later heard it from Ar-on himself.
But hearing the truth directly from Leo was a different kind of shock.
“Oh my gosh. What do I do? Does this mean all this time I’ve been… no, I’ve been disrespectful to Sir Kyle? What do I do! What do I do!”
Chelsea covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide.
Seeing her at a loss, Leo spoke.
“You don’t have to make a fuss now.”
“B-But! No, wait. But, sir!”
Chelsea, who had answered as she normally would, hastily switched to formal speech and spoke while cautiously watching Leo’s expression.
“To have treated a Great Hero so casually… wasn’t that incredibly rude of me…?”
“Nothing changes. Just treat me however you’re comfortable.”
Leo smiled warmly.
At the sight of him, Chelsea clutched the glass in her hands.
There had to be a reason Ar-on had told her Leo’s secret.
*‘Sir Ar-on wanted someone close to Leo to know his secret. He wanted him to have a space where he could rest, even just a little.’*
For Chelsea, the path Leo had walked was difficult to imagine.
Ever since she was young, her heart would pound whenever she heard stories of heroes.
Her favorites, of course, were the heroic tales of the Great Heroes.
But to Chelsea, the stories of the Great Heroes were fairy tales, tales from a bygone era of history.
It was likely the same for everyone, not just her.
But after experiencing a fragment of Erebos this time, she had come to understand a little.
She understood the true fear and despair of Erebos.
*‘If it weren’t for Sir Ar-on or Leo, we all would have died.’*
And she had come to realize just how incredible the Great Heroes were, who had fought the complete Erebos for so long and ultimately brought peace to the world.
*‘Leo is… repeating that ordeal all over again. By himself.’*
She wanted to share even a small fraction of that burden.
*‘But as I am now, I can’t possibly do that.’*
The current Chelsea was far too inexperienced.
She knew that fact all too well.
*‘In that case, I have to at least become a place where Leo can rest comfortably.’*
Ar-on must have wanted that too, which was why he revealed the secret.
It was just as Leo said.
Nothing changes.
If her attitude changed, Leo would surely feel awkward.
Taking a deep breath, Chelsea downed the drink in her glass in one go.
“Gasp? Cough! Cough! Ack!”
The burning sensation that traveled down her throat made Chelsea cough.
“Wa-ter! Water!”
Leo poured a glass of water for the frantic Chelsea.
“Hah!”
Chelsea let out a deep breath.
“Why on earth do adults drink this stuff? It doesn’t even taste good!”
Chelsea, back to her usual self, recoiled in disgust.
“Right? I wonder why they drink it.”
“No wonder you always seemed so grown-up, Leo.”
She finally understood Leo’s maturity.
At the same time, his extraordinary strength also made sense.
“Back when we first enrolled, you showed a lot of interest in the Hero of the Beginning, right, Leo? Why was that?”
“Ah, that.”
In the early days of the academy, Leo had tried to start a club to re-examine the story of the Hero of the Beginning.
Recalling that time, Leo spoke nonchalantly.
“It’s unfair.”
“Unfair?”
“Yeah. The scammer lizard, the ill-tempered pointy-ear, the cowardly beastman, and the perverted dwarf are all praised as Great Heroes, but I’m the only one treated like a fictional character.”
Realizing who Leo was talking about, Chelsea’s mouth fell open.
It was a statement no ordinary person would ever dare to make.
“Pfft.”
After gaping for a moment, Chelsea couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Hearing you say that really drives it home that you’re the Hero of the Beginning.”
Those were words only possible between the closest of friends.
“Leo! Can you tell me stories about the Great Heroes?”
“I’ll tell you those stories next time.”
“Huh? Why? There’s still plenty of time.”
“We have a guest. If I keep her waiting, she’ll start getting all sorts of strange ideas.”
“Strange ideas?”
While Chelsea tilted her head in confusion, Leo got up and walked to the door.
*Creeak—! Thud—!*
“Eek?”
When he opened the door, Eiran, who had been pressing her face against it, fell flat on the floor.
“E-Eiran?”
Chelsea was flustered.
*Did she overhear our conversation?*
The thought crossed her mind.
But seeing Leo’s calm expression, she felt a sense of relief.
*‘He must have used magic.’*
With Leo’s skill, he could have easily blocked the sound from leaving the room without anyone noticing.
Just as Chelsea nodded to herself.
Eiran, who had gotten to her feet, spoke in a voice mixed with surprise and excitement.
“Are you really Sir Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning?!”
“What?”
“Huh?!”
The unexpected turn of events left both Leo and Chelsea with stunned expressions.
Eiran’s ears were twitching.
***
Walking down the hall alone, Eiran soon arrived near Leo’s room.
*‘In the dead of night… alone, in Sir Leo’s room.’*
Eiran recalled the plot of a novel she had read before.
*‘Late at night, the maid visits the young master’s room and…’*
Blushing, Eiran shook her head vigorously.
*‘Sir Leo is a gentleman, so that’s impossible.’*
As she drew closer to Leo’s room, Eiran’s ears perked up.
She could hear voices coming from inside.
*‘Huh? A woman’s voice?’*
Eiran’s hand trembled slightly.
Swallowing hard, she suppressed her presence, crept closer to Leo’s door, and pressed her ear against it.
*‘Is that… Chelsea’s voice? N-No way! A secret late-night rendezvous?’*
Eiran’s mouth hung open.
*‘W-Well, Sir Leo and Miss Chelsea are in the same year at the same academy… and Miss Chelsea is pretty, so it wouldn’t be strange if they were dating. B-But I heard it’s not easy for human nobles to date freely. Besides, Sir Leo’s maternal family and Miss Chelsea’s family are rivals… Ah! A love that defies their feuding families?!’*
Eiran’s mind was spinning.
She pressed her ear even tighter against the door, trying to hear what was being said inside.
But the sound was muffled, as if blocked by something.
*‘Why can’t I hear anything?’*
Despite her sensitive elven hearing, the sounds from within were indistinct, and Eiran grew frustrated.
A moment later, Eiran closed her eyes and focused all her senses on her hearing.
Still, the conversation was a garbled mess, as if something were blocking it.
Eiran focused her mana even more intensely.
After a moment.
The muffled sounds gradually began to clear.
It felt as if a wall that had been blocking the sound was slowly melting away.
*‘What is this?’*
The sensation was different from usual, and Eiran was amazed.
It was a feeling as if her hearing had surpassed its limits.
*‘…Supersense?’*
The moment she realized it was the Supersense that Ar-on had taught her.
“Hearing you say that really drives it home that you’re the Hero of the Beginning.”
Chelsea’s voice snapped Eiran back to reality.
“What?!”
Just as she was reeling from the shocking revelation.
*Creeak—!*
The door opened, and Eiran tumbled into the room.
Before she even had a chance to be embarrassed about being caught eavesdropping, she hurriedly asked.
“Are you really Sir Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning?!”
And that brought them to the current situation.
Gazing at Eiran, who was now sitting with sparkling eyes, Leo muttered.
“Supersense, I see.”
“Supersense?”
Chelsea tilted her head.
“I used magic to block any sound from leaving the room, but Eiran still heard our conversation. That means there’s only one answer.”
There was no other explanation than Eiran having stepped into the realm of Supersense.
“Ah, so it was Supersense.”
Eiran’s eyes widened in admiration.
“But why did I succeed in activating Supersense? Neither Ar Tune nor the other Azonia students, nor even the Lumerne students, have managed to activate it yet.”
Seeing Eiran’s puzzled expression, Leo explained.
“It must be Verkia’s influence.”
“My ancestor’s influence?”
“Yes. Verkia also trained continuously to enter the realm of Supersense.”
However, the aura theory of that era was insufficient to perfect Supersense, which was Ar-on’s unique skill.
But Verkia’s research remained within the Ersar family’s aura, passed down through generations.
*‘So the Ersar family’s aura, which they continued to research and develop on their own, combined with Ar-on’s advice, allowed Eiran to perfect Supersense.’*
It seemed that due to her elven nature, her hearing was the first sense to awaken.
Chelsea and Eiran nodded as they listened to Leo’s explanation.
“I see! So the reason you were so amazing, Sir Leo, was because you were Sir Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning!”
Chelsea spoke to the brightly smiling Eiran.
“Eiran, let’s keep this a secret for the time being…”
“I know, Chelsea.”
Eiran looked at Chelsea and gave her a wink.
“Things would get very chaotic if Sir Leo’s identity were revealed. For now, let’s keep it a secret between the two of us.”
Chelsea nodded in agreement.
Eiran turned to look at Leo’s face.
The Great Hero who had saved the world, whom she had admired since childhood, was right before her eyes.
For Eiran, who had always looked up to Leo and wanted to watch over his exploits, it was nothing short of heart-pounding.
“I want to be of some help to you, Sir Leo. I want to lighten your burden.”
“You’ll have to grow a little stronger for that, don’t you think?”
Leo said with a gentle smile.
“Yes. I may be too lacking to share the burden you carry right now. But just as Sir Ar-on said, I can create a space for you to put everything down for a moment and rest.”
Eiran said, clenching her fists.
“So please, Sir Leo. Lean on me when you’re tired!”
“Those are kind words.”
“I’m not just saying that! I will dedicate my body and soul to comfort you whenever and wherever!”
Eiran’s voice, her face flushed, sounded somehow filled with resolve.
It was a will to become a source of strength for the Hero of the Beginning as he embarked on another ordeal to save the world.
However, contrary to Eiran’s intentions, Chelsea, who was listening beside her, felt a complex and subtle sense of secondhand embarrassment.
“Eiran. What you just said could be a little… misleading, depending on how one hears it.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Eiran, who had been looking clueless, saw her expression slowly stiffen before her face turned beet red.
“That’s not what I meant at all!”
Eiran shouted as if having a fit and began to spiral.
“I-I mean! I mean! I meant that if you… need me, you can call on me anytime… N-No, no, no! Use me? Th-That’s not it either!”
“Haven’t you been reading too many strange novels?”
“No, I haven’t!”
Looking like she was about to cry, Eiran shook her head frantically, then covered her face with her hands and curled up on the spot.
Chelsea patted her on the back, comforting her.
Watching them, Leo burst into silent laughter.
*‘Their personalities are different, but why are their reading tastes so similar?’*
Feeling amused, Leo propped his chin on his hand and gazed out the window.
He didn’t show it, but his heart felt much lighter.
*‘Not bad.’*
Feeling a sense of comfort, Leo let a small smile grace his lips.