Chapter 547
Chapter Title: Well Done, My Students
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For both Verchia and Bihar, it was truly a dreamlike time.
Their bodies had died long ago.
Verchia had closed her eyes hating the world, and Bihar had closed his, grieving that he could not stop her.
Five thousand years passed; Verchia became one of the undead, and Bihar became a heroic spirit.
The end of both their lives was undoubtedly a tragedy.
But...
Verchia looked at Eiran, who was struggling to eat.
“Eiran.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry for showing you such an unsightly side of me. You must be disappointed, aren't you?”
At her words, Eiran blinked her large eyes, then averted her gaze slightly as she answered.
“More than disappointed… I was scared.”
“...”
“Because it felt like you weren’t the Verchia I knew. And because I couldn’t imagine how much pain you must have been in… I was scared.”
She had shouldered the world alone and dedicated her all to creating a better one.
And what she received in return was betrayal.
It was no wonder that Verchia became undead out of hatred.
“Still.”
Eiran smiled brightly.
“You are still you, Verchia.”
The hero who worked harder than anyone for the sake of the world.
The fact that she was still the hero Eiran admired and loved most remained unchanged.
Watching Eiran, Verchia closed her eyes.
She could feel Eiran’s unwavering faith.
“I want to be like you, Verchia.”
She realized it anew.
This unchanging faith was a greater comfort and solace than anything else.
*‘Was Master Luna like this too?’*
Even at this moment, what kept her, an undead, bound to this land was her hatred for the world.
Even now, she was sick of it.
The fact that she had devoted herself to such a world.
The fact that her friend had stepped into darkness and strived his entire life for such a world.
The fact that the Great Heroes had sacrificed their all to save such a world.
But...
*‘Maybe I should have tried a little harder.’*
A sense of regret lingered at the young descendant's words.
It felt as if vitality was returning to Verchia’s weary soul.
Verchia approached Eiran and nuzzled her descendant’s cheek.
Just as Luna had done for her when she was young.
And she offered the same words Luna had often said to her younger self.
“You can definitely become one.”
She gave a bright smile, one that somehow resembled Luna's.
“Even after 5,000 years, some things never change.”
Verchia looked at Leo.
“The path the Great Heroes walked…”
Next, she turned her gaze to Bihar, who stood beside her.
“The path we followed…”
Finally, taking a step back, Verchia looked at the three girls.
“And now, you intend to follow it.”
Generation connects to generation.
The world saved by the Great Heroes passed to her.
The world she helped rebuild passed to the next generation.
*‘It wasn’t wrong.’*
In that moment, she had felt that everything was wrong.
But it wasn’t.
“The world was worth saving after all, Bihar.”
Verchia smiled brightly at the friend standing beside her.
Seeing her look somehow relieved, Bihar nodded.
-Yes. It’s just that the era we lived in was the dawn.
A time before the sun had risen.
A gray time where darkness and light intersected.
An era when the day was slowly beginning to break.
Nodding at Bihar's words, Verchia looked to the future generation and spoke.
“We couldn’t stand on the final battlefield.”
The time we were given was not enough.
“That fact was so infuriating.”
Verchia's eyes dimmed slightly.
“The battlefield you will stand on will likely be fierce. So please, don't let what happened 5,000 years ago be repeated.”
Verchia spoke with all her heart.
“Lean on each other as you move forward. And when all the fighting is over, make sure you all come back together. Come back and…”
Verchia looked at the table.
“Sit together like this and have a wonderful time.”
The ordinary daily life they had greeted after the end of the Age of Calamity.
They had grown so used to it, they let the peaceful days pass by without a thought.
But sometimes, when they watched the sunrise at dawn, they would feel the empty space left by the Great Heroes.
At those times, they would realize just how precious that ordinary life was.
And they felt a sense of regret.
*‘It would have been nice if we were all together.’*
If they could have greeted the morning in a bright world, without a single worry.
*‘That would have been truly wonderful.’*
It was an unattainable dream.
But in this moment, that dream was fulfilled.
For both Verchia and Bihar.
The end of their lives may have been a tragedy.
But thanks to that, they fulfilled their wish even after death.
-Master.
“What?”
-Shall we go for a walk?
“It’s a hassle.”
Leo replied listlessly to Bihar's words.
Verchia came up behind Leo and forcibly pushed his back.
“Let’s just go, old man.”
“It’s a hassle.”
Grumbling, Leo went outside as Verchia pushed, without another word.
The three who had been eating hurriedly followed.
*Creeak-!*
The sound of the door opening was heard.
The world had turned white with snow that had fallen again.
*Crunch- crunch-*
They walked through the ruined street.
Verchia and Bihar stood on either side of Leo.
“Master.”
“What.”
“We really did our best.”
“So what?”
-Don't you have anything to say?
Bihar asked bluntly.
“...”
At his words, Leo chuckled and raised both hands.
He reached out and placed them on his students’ heads.
“You both did very well.”
His words were calm.
Sincere praise that was neither understated nor exaggerated.
“Thank you so much for not letting our sacrifices be in vain.”
He offered his sincere gratitude to the students who had lived their best for the sake of the Great Heroes, himself included.
His young students had now become adults, dedicated their lives to the world as he once had, and met their deaths.
They may have gone astray,
but what did it matter?
It didn't mean their achievements would disappear.
The sun had now fully risen.
The pouring sunlight struck people and objects, shattering.
The shattered sunlight completely drove away the darkness.
A perfect morning.
This miraculous moment, too, came to an end.
Stroking his students’ heads, Leo gently pushed their backs.
Verchia and Bihar walked toward the sunlight without any lingering regret.
They cast off their regrets as an undead and as a heroic spirit.
Even the small regrets they held in life.
“Ah.”
As she walked, Verchia stopped as if she remembered something.
The gloomy, malevolent energy around Verchia had completely vanished.
Only a clear aura, like Bihar's, surrounded her.
Verchia whispered something softly in Bihar’s ear.
Bihar nodded, and then he and Verchia looked toward Leo at the same time.
Just as Leo was looking at his two students, their backs to the morning sun, with a puzzled expression,
“Keep fighting, Dad.”
the two spoke in unison, giggled at Leo’s dumbfounded expression, and then disappeared into the sunlight.
“Haa…”
Leo sighed in disbelief.
“Who are you calling Dad? Damn brats.”
Muttering softly, Leo stared for a long time at the spot where his two students had vanished.
The three girls who watched were unable to see what kind of expression Leo made in the end.
***
*Rustle- rustle-*
He walked across the campus, which was covered in fallen leaves.
The leaves crumbled under Leo’s feet.
Lunia, Eiran, and Chen Xia followed silently behind him.
“You came all the way to Lumerne, Lunia?”
“How could I just let him go after something like that?”
Lunia watched Leo’s back with a worried expression.
Gazing at his back, which looked somehow lonely, Lunia said,
“I wonder how he feels.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
Chen Xia shook her head.
The three of them found it hard to speak to Leo.
Because they were once again feeling the immense weight of the burdens he carried.
Just as the two were silently watching Leo’s back as he walked ahead,
*Tap, tap, tap-!*
“Ah? Eiran?”
“What is she doing?!”
Lunia and Chen Xia were startled when Eiran, who had been beside them, ran up to Leo.
“Sir Leo!”
“...?”
“Please start my special training today!”
Eiran raised her voice beside Leo.
“I’ll take on any training! I’ll work harder! Just like Verchia and Bihar did! Just like the other Great Heroes did, I want to be of help to you, Sir Leo!”
Watching Eiran speak with her fists clenched, Leo chuckled and roughly ruffled her hair.
“I’ll work harder than ever before, too!”
“Me too.”
Lunia and Chen Xia, who had come up from behind, said forcefully.
Just as Leo chuckled at their determined expressions,
“Oh? Isn’t that Leo?”
“Where? Where? Ah! It really is Leo!”
“Leo, Xia, Eiran, you’re back?”
“How was the mission?”
Karl, Chelsea, Chloe, and Abad spotted Leo and waved.
“Xia!”
Just then, Iliana came running over to Xia with a tearful face.
“The kids from the Knight and Magic Departments have been treating me like a bat since yesterday!”
“Well, you certainly act like a bat, Iliana.”
“Class Preeeesident! The kids are treating me like a bat! This is like treating you, the all-class president, like a bat, too! Scold them!”
At Chen Xia’s cold words, Iliana turned to complain to Leo instead.
“How pathetic.”
“It’s not like this is the first time, is it?”
Celia scoffed, and Nella shook her head.
Duran wore a cold expression.
“The student council president from Seirun is here too. Why?”
“She must have her reasons.”
Eliza and Woreden showed more interest in Lunia.
It seemed they were all moving by department.
Not just the second-years.
The entire student body seemed to be on the move.
Watching this, Leo had a slightly peculiar expression.
“President! President! Are you listening to me?”
“Stop bothering Leo, he just got back from a mission.”
“Grow up, you bat.”
Celia and Chloe grabbed Iliana and dragged her away.
Watching them, Leo chuckled.
The boisterous scene naturally brought back old memories.
His hectic days at Gardsrone, where they were always busy growling at each other, overlapped with the present.
*‘It’s the same.’*
The admiration that began 5,000 years ago.
The starting point of all existing heroes clenched his fist as he watched the hero candidates—the heroes of the future.
What will the world look like when they ascend to the rank of heroes?
5,000 years ago.
The Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, did not paint a future.
It was his friends who painted the future in his stead.
*‘I merely leaned on the future they painted and followed along.’*
Leo looked up at the sky.
There is no future to lean on anymore.
*‘So now, I have no choice but to paint it myself.’*
The feeling was not bad at all.
*‘The thought of it is exciting.’*
Imagining a future when he could one day lay down all his burdens.
The Hero of the Beginning smiled warmly.
***
The entire student body had gathered.
Amidst it all, every student’s gaze was fixed on one spot.
“What’s the student council president of Seirun doing here?”
“I don’t know. I heard she came with the president today?”
“This is a special class for our academy, isn’t it? Is a Seirun student allowed to participate?”
“If you’re going to be like that, we have exchange students too, you know?”
“Hmm… that’s true. But one thing’s for sure.”
The Lumerne students nodded.
*‘How shameless.’*
Despite hundreds of students staring only at her and whispering, Lunia didn’t even bat an eye.
On the contrary, she wore a confident expression.
“Oh my. Hello, Lunia?”
“Ugh? Miss Elena?”
Just then, Elena Jer-on, a fourth-year at Lumerne and the strongest in the Magic Department, sat down next to Lunia.
At Elena’s appearance, Lunia made an uncomfortable expression.
The two had once joined forces to conquer Luna’s world.
She was very reliable then, but at the same time, Lunia found Elena overwhelming.
Now that she had approached and greeted her, Lunia felt inexplicably intimidated.
Elena looked at Lunia and said with a bright smile,
“Lunia, why don’t you transfer to our academy?”
“I’m the student council president of Seirun, you know?”
“Yes, I know. That’s why I’m asking you to transfer. If you come, I’ll make you the vice president. You’d be vice president, but your actual power would be as strong as Seirun’s president.”
“I’ll pass.”
“That’s a shame.”
Just as Elena shrugged,
*Creeak-!*
The door to the grand lecture hall opened.
And with it, all the students fell silent.
The one who appeared was a child of such beautiful appearance it was impossible to tell if they were a boy or a girl.
Melina followed behind him, who had gray hair and gray eyes.
Sitting to one side with Karl, Leo’s eyes twitched.
“A pleasure to meet you, hero candidates who inherit the will of Lumerne, successors to the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle. My name is Rian.”
The entire student body stared at Rian with puzzled faces.
“Explaining myself in detail would complicate matters greatly, so I’ll keep it simple.”
Rian smiled faintly.
“I am a god.”