Chapter 529
Chapter Title: A Proper Greeting
-----------------------------------------------------------------
529.
Step— Step—
Leo walked down the corridor, looking around.
The bodies had already been collected, but the bloodstains splattered everywhere spoke of the gruesome tragedy that had occurred.
Leo silently gazed at the blood on the floor and walls.
Behind him stood Chen Xia.
Ordinarily, outsiders were forbidden here.
However, with Melina's authority, Leo had no trouble investigating the scene.
After completing his on-site investigation, Leo returned to the entrance.
Shing—!
And he drew his sword.
Chen Xia watched him with a puzzled expression.
Swoosh—!
Leo advanced, slowly swinging his sword through the empty air.
Swish! Swoosh—!
Though the movements were slow, the sound of the blade slicing through the air was sharp.
Seeing this, Chen Xia's expression turned to one of surprise.
‘He’s reenacting what happened here.’
Blood was spattered in the places his sword traced.
After passing through the corridor and into the meeting room, Leo’s sword came to a halt.
He let the blade drop and closed his eyes.
It was only natural, but Leo knew all of Verkia's swordsmanship.
‘Because I was the one who taught him.’
Ar-on and Luna had created the framework for Verkia's swordsmanship and magic, but it was Leo himself who had guided him to make that framework his own.
That was why he knew at once who was responsible for this massacre.
‘It was Verkia.’
“Young Master Leo, please give the order. Shall I summon the shadows?”
The shadows were tasked with finding, pursuing, and eliminating traitors.
As such, they were skilled trackers.
“No.”
Leo shook his head at Chen Xia’s words.
“Not only will they be unable to find him… it would be dangerous even if they did.”
Chen Xia bit her lip at his words.
She, too, had a faint idea.
She knew who had caused this carnage.
“For now, let’s go to the Ersar family and join Eiran.”
“To Miss Eiran!”
Chen Xia said urgently at Leo’s words.
“Shouldn’t we tell Miss Eiran?”
“……”
Leo slowly closed his eyes.
Like Lunia, Eiran was a hero candidate he had chosen.
A successor to Luna's will and a comrade who would fight alongside him in the future.
And a girl with a strong will.
But that was precisely why he hesitated.
‘Eiran resembles Verkia.’
It wasn't simply because they were ancestor and descendant.
In fact, the two shared little resemblance.
After thousands of years, the physical similarities had not been passed down.
Nor were their personalities similar.
Although she had inherited the swordsmanship and magic passed down through the family, those were acquired traits.
The only things Eiran and Verkia had in common were that they were both elves and magic swordsmen.
Yet, the reason Leo was reminded of Verkia when he looked at Eiran was that she viewed the world with impeccably clear eyes.
Could he really tell her?
‘That the ancestor she respects most has been resurrected as an undead being burning with hatred?’
Not long ago, Leo would have told her.
He would have believed that Eiran was strong enough to overcome it.
But now, having seen what Verkia had become…
Even Leo hesitated.
After a moment of silence, Leo spoke.
“Not right now.”
***
Thump, thump, thump—!
With a deathly pale face, Eiran ran down the corridor of the Ersar family mansion.
‘Grandfather, Grandfather, Grandfather.’
Even as she ran, her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Eiran had lost both her parents to demons long ago.
Run was her only remaining blood relative.
Moreover, her grandfather had been a kind man who understood her when she, after enrolling in Seirun, had childishly left school to become a recluse at home.
‘While I was selfishly thinking only of myself again…!’
Squeezing her eyes shut, Eiran arrived at Run’s door.
The retainers standing guard bowed their heads.
Eiran barely acknowledged their greetings as she roughly threw the door open.
Bang!
“Grandfather!”
The first thing she saw upon entering the room was a familiar head of red hair.
Eiran’s best friend, Lunia, was sitting by Run’s bed, looking helpless.
Seeing Lunia, Eiran’s face went white.
“Lu-Lunia. Is Grandfather…?”
“Eiran? Is that you, Eiran?”
Run, who was lying back against the headboard, called out to Eiran in a heavy voice.
“Yes! Grandfather! I’m here! How are you feeling? Are you all righ—.”
Eiran, who had been rushing to the bed, froze.
She had spotted several books in Run’s hands.
“Eiran, I have no intention of meddling with your reading tastes, but this is quite radic—.”
“Aaaaaah!”
Her face turning beet red, Eiran shrieked and lunged at Run, snatching the books away.
Run looked at her with a serious expression.
“This old man understands everything. Your mother used to read books like this, too. Though her tastes were different. Anyway, that’s why you were born at such an early….”
“Aaah! Aah! Aah!”
Eiran screamed frantically, drowning out Run’s voice.
Lunia looked away, embarrassed.
Her tension finally broken, Eiran collapsed to the floor and said.
“W-Weren’t you seriously hurt? I heard you were gravely injured….”
“How could a wound from that long ago be life-threatening? The wound is all healed. But I’m getting on in years, so I’ve been suffering from the aftereffects. Oof. When you get old, you should just die.”
Run said, patting his lower back.
If Run had been human, his youthful appearance would have made such an act seem out of place.
But to the elves Lunia and Eiran, it just looked like an old man’s grumbling.
At his nonchalant demeanor, Eiran looked as if her soul was about to leave her body.
“How did you find those books?”
“A grandfather can tidy up his granddaughter’s room, can’t he?”
“Don’t! I have my privacy, you know!”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t read your diary.”
“Of course you didn’t!”
Eiran, who had been having a fit at Run’s words, took a deep breath to calm herself, then looked at Lunia.
“By the way, Lunia, why are you at our house…?”
“The headmaster called me in for a meeting.”
“Ah, I must have interrupted.”
“Yes, but it’s fine. We were talking about you, too?”
“About me?”
“Yes, he was asking about your peculiar reading habits… Gahk? Gack!”
With a tearful face, Eiran began to frantically choke Lunia.
***
Only after the commotion died down did a calmer Eiran ask Run.
“Why didn’t you tell me what happened right away?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”
Run smiled faintly at Eiran’s words.
“Eiran, you know well that my position among the elves is by no means low.”
Run Ersar was the council chairman of Elsalvekia and, though temporarily, the headmaster of Seirun.
“Seirun is currently in a state of internal turmoil. If news of my attack were to spread in such a situation, not just Seirun, but our entire race would fall into internal chaos. Please try to understand me.”
Eiran bit her lip at Run’s words.
She knew that much.
It wasn't just Seirun; the entirety of elven society had undergone immense changes in a very short period.
Until last winter, those changes had seemed to be for the better.
‘It all started with Lady Luna’s descent.’
It was an unprecedented event that no one could have ever imagined.
And how could they?
The descent of the Great Hero who had saved the world 5,000 years ago?
Who could have possibly foreseen it?
Thanks to this, the elves, a race with strong pride, became even more haughty.
Why, among all the Great Heroes, did only Luna return to the present age?
Could it be because the elves were special?
The elves who witnessed the miracle naturally came to think this way.
Consequently, the standing of the pure-bloods, the elven supremacists, grew stronger.
Eiran had witnessed this firsthand at Seirun.
It was around that time.
The ‘Introduction to Star Magic,’ a book that made Star Magic, once thought to be the exclusive domain of elves, easily accessible to anyone, appeared.
The grimoire, authored by Ren, was immediately designated a forbidden book among the elves and condemned.
For thousands of years, elves had been called the race of magic.
The reason for this was the Star Magic left behind by Luna.
And Ren’s magical theory was a challenge to the authority the elves had held for millennia.
Most elves had no intention of acknowledging the ‘Introduction to Star Magic.’
The elves, who had always eschewed interaction with the outside world, showed signs of building even higher walls between themselves and other races.
It was then.
The second miracle occurred.
The descent of Seirun, the Comet Sorcerer.
That great elven hero, known as the successor to the Progenitor of the Nebula, had once again appeared.
Ordinarily, this would have been a major event that could have greatly inflated the egos of the elven supremacists.
But that historic moment was shattered when Seirun himself disavowed the current elven society.
He had acknowledged a student from Lumerne, not the students of Seirun Academy who could be called his own descendants, as his ‘successor.’
With that, the upheaval in elven society turned to chaos.
Those with a broader perspective moved quickly to adapt to the changes.
But many were not so capable.
Shocked that their great ancestor had not acknowledged them and anxious that everything they had believed might have been wrong, the elves wandered aimlessly.
In the midst of this, the Progenitor of the Nebula descended once again.
And when eyewitness accounts emerged of a clash between Luna and the Pure-blood Society, elven society was thrown into even greater turmoil.
Fortunately, there were heroes who could quell this chaos and lead the race forward.
And one of them was the elder of the elven council, Run Ersar.
If it became known that he had been found in the Pure-blood Society's meeting room, which had become a sea of blood, it was as clear as day that elven society would be turned upside down.
Given the circumstances, it took a considerable amount of time for the news to reach even his granddaughter, Eiran.
“Still, you could have told me. I was so worried!”
Her trembling voice was laced with resentment.
But her eyes were welling up with tears of concern for Run.
“So, who was the culprit?”
A rare glint of killing intent appeared in Eiran’s tear-filled eyes.
Seeing this, Run’s expression hardened.
He knew who the culprit was.
But could he tell his granddaughter?
After a moment of deliberation, Run changed the subject.
“We’ll talk about the culprit later. Didn’t student Leo come with you? I believe I asked him to come as well.”
“Sir Leo said he had to stop somewhere first?”
“Stop somewhere?”
Run tilted his head, looking puzzled.
“Yes, he said he was going to visit the crime scene.”
“The crime scene.”
Run murmured softly.
Knock, knock—
“My lord, a visitor has arrived.”
“Let them in.”
At Run’s words, the door opened to reveal Leo and Chen Xia.
“Sir Leo!”
“Oh, you’ve arri— Ah. No. You’re here? Leo?”
Eiran greeted Leo warmly, while Lunia gave an awkward smile.
Run stared intently at Lunia.
The moment their eyes met, Lunia hastily looked away.
Run asked Leo.
“Did you get a good look at the crime scene?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Regrettably, it was his doing.”
“His?”
“Grandfather, you know who the culprit is?”
Lunia and Eiran’s eyes widened at Run’s sudden statement.
Chen Xia also looked surprised and flustered.
Leo silently stared at Run.
His expression was unchanged.
But it was clear that the elder elf before him had realized something.
Run’s eyes, filled with deep experience, shone with wisdom.
“I have something to discuss with student Leo in private, so the rest of you students may leave.”
Run said to the three girls with a gentle smile.
At the unexpected request, the three girls looked at each other before leaving the room.
Creak— Thud—!
Once the door closed, Run rose from his seat.
He used magic to prevent any sound from inside the room from leaking out.
After finishing his preparations, Run knelt before Leo and bowed respectfully.
“Run Ersar, the 38th head of the Ersar family, greets the great Hero of the Beginning.”