Chapter 050
Chapter Title: Aftermath
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After conquering the World of Heroes, Leo and Chloe were immediately taken to the infirmary.
Leo had a fractured left arm, burns all over his body, and several hairline fractures in his bones.
Chloe, on the other hand, was suffering from exhaustion due to severe mana depletion.
The infirmary's prescription was absolute rest.
In the end, the two of them were admitted.
The next morning.
Chloe, who had overslept, looked at the mana-replenishing IV drip the healer had placed on her left wrist the night before and spoke.
“It doesn't seem serious enough to ban visitors.”
The two were indeed forbidden from having visitors.
“It's probably not just because of our injuries.”
Leo, with a healing patch on his face, said as he sat on a sofa in the corner of the spacious two-person hospital room.
“You think so?”
Chloe's expression clouded over.
Unlike Leo, Chloe still had matters to be investigated by Lumerne.
‘If I get expelled, what will I tell my family?’
The Müller family, part of the Northern Magic Tower, had a very precarious position.
Their family history wasn't long, nor had they produced any outstanding mages.
They were just an ordinary magic family, the kind you could find anywhere.
But because Chloe had entered as the top student, they had gained some attention from the Northern Magic Tower.
However, if she were to bear the disgrace of expulsion, their treatment would surely worsen.
Besides, it would be a problem even if she wasn't expelled.
The Müller family was poor.
That was why she had planned to get through school on a scholarship.
‘But this is my fault, so I have to take responsibility!’
‘She's deep in thought.’
Seeing Chloe clench her fists with a determined expression, Leo rested his chin on his hand and smiled slightly.
‘Kids her age grow up so fast.’
As he thought this, Leo recalled the events of the previous day.
‘They said a Hero Record page has never gone rampant in all of recorded history.’
But yesterday, a major anomaly had occurred.
Even Leo couldn't figure out the reason.
‘The Hero Record didn't exist in the era I lived in.’
But he could make a guess.
‘What if the grimoire Chloe had influenced the Hero Record?’
Erebos, after all, was a divine being.
‘If a demonic artifact could influence the Hero Record… could it be related to how my own Hero Record disappeared?’
The demons still remembered and hated Leo.
There was no guarantee they hadn't been secretly influencing the Hero Records in this way.
‘The destruction of the Hero Record itself might be connected to Tartaros.’
Leo let out a light sigh and discovered a chess set in the table drawer.
‘I should organize my thoughts.’
“Chloe. Know how to play chess? I'm bored, want to play a game?”
“Yeah, sure.”
*Rustle-* Chloe got out of bed and sat down across from Leo.
The chess game began, and their pieces started to move.
*Clack! Clack! Clack!*
Blocked, Leo crossed his arms and clicked his tongue in amazement.
‘She's good.’
The rules were a little different from today, but chess existed in his past life too.
Chess was Lisinas's favorite game, so they had played it often.
“Checkmate.”
At Chloe's declaration, Leo moved his king.
Chloe smiled as she pursued the king.
‘It's been so long since I've just played like this.’
Ever since the beginning of the semester, she had been singularly focused on catching up to Leo, studying day and night.
‘I can play with Leo to my heart's content while we're in the infirmary.’
As she thought that, Chloe paused.
‘Wait. Come to think of it, I'm sharing a hospital room with Leo, aren't I?’
She had been too out of it when she was admitted to notice, but thinking about it now made her face flush.
“Not making a move?”
“Huh? Oh? Right!”
Flustered, Chloe's voice went up a pitch as she hastily moved her piece.
A moment later, Leo was checkmated, and the game ended.
“Ah! That was fun!”
As Chloe stretched and smiled brightly, her stomach rumbled!
“Ah, no! I mean, that's just! I'm hungry!”
“Come to think of it, we haven't eaten anything since yesterday, have we? Isn't this too harsh for growing kids?”
Leo grumbled in response to Chloe's urgent words, her face turning red as a beet.
Before they knew it, it was lunchtime.
*Knock, knock!*
Just in time, a knock sounded, and the door to the room opened.
Chloe, recognizing the visitor, was startled and straightened her posture.
“He-Headmaster!”
“Haha! Good to see you! Student Leo! Student Chloe! Did you rest well last night?”
Kalian approached them with a benevolent smile.
“I-It's an honor to meet you, sir! I am Chloe Müller from Class 1-1!”
“Haha! Don't be so nervous. I've only come to ask a few questions!”
‘So this is the Sword Saint. One of the greatest heroes of this era.’
Leo's eyes gleamed.
Leo and Chloe sat before Kalian.
“First, I want to apologize to you both. Although it was an unforeseen situation, you were put in danger by the appearance of a Hero Dungeon. As the headmaster, I offer my apologies.”
Kalian began, bowing his head.
Chloe frantically waved her hands.
“It's alright, Headmaster. It was a situation the academy couldn't control, right?”
“I'm grateful you think so. Now, let's get to the main point.”
Kalian raised his head, his expression solemn.
Overwhelmed by his presence, Chloe fell silent.
“First, Student Chloe. I have something to ask you. I'd like you to show me the grimoire you purchased in the back alleys of Lumeria City. I heard from Professor Sedzen and Professor Ren that you've been carrying it for several months.”
Chloe gasped.
Leo, who was beside her, asked.
“Why do you want to see it?”
“I suppose there's no point hiding it from you, Student Leo. Student Liu purchased his summoning catalyst from the same place Student Chloe bought her grimoire.”
“So the source was the same.”
“So? What do you mean by that?”
“That grimoire was a demonic artifact.”
Kalian's face grew serious.
“Could you tell me in detail what happened in the World of Heroes?”
Leo began to explain.
After hearing the whole story, Kalian narrowed his eyes.
“A demonic artifact can influence the World of Heroes, you say?”
“The Hero Dungeon returned to normal right after we destroyed the demonic artifact, so for now, it seems highly probable, doesn't it?”
Kalian stroked his beard.
“Then, my second question. It's about the items you brought back from the Hero Dungeon yesterday.”
“Items we brought back from the Hero Dungeon? I thought you couldn't bring anything back from the World of Heroes except for the conquest reward?”
Chloe asked with a puzzled look.
Even if it seems real, the World of Heroes is ultimately an illusion.
Whatever items you obtain, they all disappear when you return to reality after the conquest.
“It seems you weren't aware, Student Chloe. Student Leo submitted five items yesterday. They were the mementos of Alia's party members.”
Hearing Kalian's words, Leo fell into thought.
‘Did I get the conquest reward all to myself again?’
This was the second time Leo had conquered a World of Heroes.
Coincidentally, on both occasions, the rule stating that [no conquest reward exists in the World of Heroes of a living person] was broken. The same went for the rule about [rewards related to the master of the World of Heroes].
He thought that since this was a Hero Dungeon, Chloe might have received a reward too, but that wasn't the case.
‘I don't know why the rules keep bending just for me, but it wouldn't be good for this to get out.’
If it became known that he could obtain a conquest reward from any world, he would surely get caught up in troublesome affairs.
“That was the conquest reward.”
“Conquest reward? But you're not supposed to get rewards from the World of Heroes of a living person.”
“Yes. But yesterday's World of Heroes was a Hero Dungeon, wasn't it? Perhaps an anomaly occurred?”
Leo decided to use yesterday's incident to get out of the situation.
“And the fact that Student Chloe didn't receive a reward?”
“Perhaps it's because Leo contributed the most to the conquest?”
Chloe said.
It was true that the presence of a reward could differ based on one's contribution.
“I see.”
Kalian nodded.
“Understood. Then, I have one last thing to say.”
Kalian wore a serious expression.
“Regarding the demonic artifact, you are to keep silent.”
“Pardon?”
“Miss Chloe. Regarding your case, I will speak separately to your supervising professor, Professor Sedzen, and the magic department professor, Professor Ren. Corresponding measures will be taken. But beyond that, you are to say nothing.”
“Wh-Why?”
“You two are still young, so you may not understand, but.”
Kalian smiled faintly and rose from his seat.
“Enemies are not only found on the outside.”
Leaving the two behind, Kalian walked to the door.
“Take good care of yourselves and rest well during the exam period. You should be able to be discharged after that.”
Kalian, who was laughing heartily as he opened the door, paused and said.
“Come to think of it, I forgot to tell you the results of your practical exam.”
Kalian turned back to them and smiled.
“Congratulations! You are the first first-year students in Lumerne's history to exceed the mission completion rate for a World of Heroes.”
Chloe's eyes widened, and Leo chuckled, crossing his arms.
“I look forward to your future accomplishments.”
*Creeak-! Thud.*
“Leo! We exceeded the mission completion rate! A first in Lumerne's history!”
Chloe, having made her mark on Lumerne's history, cheered with joy.
Watching her, Leo smiled.
***
“The exam period just ended, so why do we have to go straight back to class? This damn school has no humanity! None!”
Karl grumbled as if he were fed up.
“Do you hate classes that much?”
“Hey! Chelsea! Be real, who wants to go to class right after exams end!”
“You hate classes regardless of exams.”
The two were bickering as they headed toward the Magic Wing.
“Did you hear? About Chloe.”
“I heard. The unique magic she presented wasn't actually hers?”
“Yeah. She confessed it herself. I heard she got a zero on the practical exam, so she came in last for the magic department exams.”
“Hehe! Serves her right for being so arrogant.”
A group of magic department students could be seen walking by, snickering.
Seeing this, Karl's face soured.
“Damn bastards. They were the ones sucking up to Chloe, and now look at them, acting like they never did.”
“That's just how pathetic people are.”
“Anyway, I'm worried about Chloe. She's surprisingly fragile.”
Karl scratched his head vigorously.
Just then, someone sitting on a bench in the Magic Wing's garden stuck out a foot.
The male student at the front of the group badmouthing Chloe tripped over the foot and fell.
“Ugh! Who the hell was that! You wanna die—!”
“Ah, sorry. Were you passing by? You should watch where you're going.”
“L-Leo Flove?”
Leo stood up and said with a completely unapologetic face.
“Are you trying to pick a fight with us?”
“Why? You guys go around talking behind my back, but I can't pick a fight with you? And what if I am?”
Seeing the infuriated male student, Leo curled his lip into a smirk.
“If you've got a problem with it, why don't you duel me?”
“Ugh?!”
Before the midterms, Leo had a strong reputation for being all theory.
But after the midterms, it became known that he was one of the top-class fighters among the students.
Knightsmanship, magic, or summoning.
No matter the subject, it was safe to say they had no chance of beating Leo in a duel.
“If you keep picking fights like this, I'm telling Professor Ren!”
But with more mouths comes a louder voice.
A female student in the group retorted angrily.
But Leo just smiled leisurely.
“Perfect. Professor Ren was just looking for you.”
“Wh-What?”
“He said he had something to ask you about the assignment. You should hurry.”
Their faces turned pale.
They had relied on Chloe for the assignment, so it would be a disaster if they were questioned about it.
“Damn it! You coward!”
“Just you wait.”
They spat curses and hurriedly ran toward the Magic Wing.
Watching their retreating backs, Leo scoffed.
“Don't mess with me.”
“Leo! You're out of the hospital!”
Chelsea approached with a bright smile.
Karl grinned, lacing his fingers behind his head.
“Alright! Since Leo's out too, should we skip class today? We're not gonna learn anything new anyway, just review theory… Ow ow ow ow!”
“The person who came in second to last in the magic department exams wants to skip class? Where do you get that kind of nerve?”
“Ch-Chloe?”
Chloe was pulling Karl's ear.
“This won't do. From today on, you're sitting with me in the front row.”
“The front row? No way! I don't want to feel that pain from the beginning of the semester again!”
Watching the screaming Karl, Chelsea giggled and then smiled brightly at Leo.
“Congratulations on being discharged, Leo.”
At her words, Leo smiled and patted Chelsea's head.
Chloe, turning to see this, muttered to herself.
‘I have to work hard. So I won't be a disappointment to Leo, who gave me courage back then.’
Karl, who was still screaming, saw her expression and asked.
“You look a lot more at ease. Are you doing better now?”
“Thanks to you guys. Thanks for worrying about me, Karl.”