Chapter 009
Chapter Title: A World to Conquer
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“We have to conquer a world? That’s absurd, isn’t it?”
Chelsea shook her head as she walked behind Leo.
“Conquering a World of Heroes is difficult even for Lumerne students. Why would they make prospective students do it?”
She had a point.
Conquering a World of Heroes was no easy feat, even for the hero candidates who had received the best education at Lumerne.
And yet, they were asking examinees to do something that difficult.
It was ridiculous.
But Leo thought differently.
“We’re being tested on our qualifications to be heroes, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then shouldn't we be able to do what a hero does? Besides, if this is a test, the trial will be within a range we can overcome.”
Chelsea paused at his words.
*He's not wrong.*
“Hmm! Then what’s the condition for conquering it? If it’s a trial on a level that examinees can handle, it must be related to Albi’s early exploits. But almost nothing is known about the actions of the 'Sorcerer of the Evil Eye'.”
Leo smirked as he watched Chelsea cross her arms and rack her brain.
*She's a sharp one.*
She was a skilled girl with the strong pride of a noble family.
Kids like that usually don't listen to what their peers have to say.
But Chelsea heard Leo, found his reasoning sound, and immediately started thinking about how to conquer it.
*She's flexible in her thinking. That's a good trait for a mage.*
Thinking she was still immature but fitting for a hero candidate, Leo spoke.
“It’s likely a subjugation quest.”
“That makes sense.”
Chelsea nodded.
If it was a feat accomplished in a place teeming with monsters, there was a high probability it involved defeating something.
And Leo had a good idea of what they had to defeat.
*Though, given the time, it could be something else.*
Leo, who had been clenching and unclenching his fist while looking at the monster corpses earlier, grabbed Chelsea's wrist.
“What do you think you're doing?”
Just as Chelsea's face soured at Leo's sudden action.
*Whoosh-!*
Leo pulled Chelsea toward him.
*Thwack-thwack-!*
Two arrows flew and struck the spot where Chelsea had been standing.
Chelsea's eyes widened at the sight.
And…
“Huh? Huh?”
*Stumble-! Thud!*
“Oof!”
She lost her balance and fell on her butt.
Tearing up slightly, Chelsea rubbed her backside and glared.
“If you're going to pull me, you should at least catch me so I don't fall!”
“Oh, sorry. I thought you'd get mad if I just hugged you.”
“Making me fall like this is even more infuriating!”
“So, what about a 'thank you'?”
“Hmph! Even without you, arrows like that couldn't have hurt me anyway.”
“They were imbued with Aura.”
Chelsea faltered at Leo's point.
“M-My pre-memorized shield magic would have blocked them!”
Though she said that, Chelsea soon muttered in a sullen voice.
“W-Whatever, thanks.”
Leo burst out laughing at her reaction.
“Tch!”
“We could have taken down Chelsea Llewellyn first!”
Other examinees emerged from the bushes, glaring at Leo and Chelsea.
“You guys.”
As Chelsea stepped forward, the group of five examinees tensed up.
“Let's not fight. Cooperate with us.”
“What?”
They looked bewildered by Chelsea's sudden proposal.
“Your party is made up of only knights, right? It wouldn't hurt to have a mage like me join, would it? So isn't it better to cooperate?”
Despite just being attacked, Chelsea offered to cooperate without any sign of being upset.
It was a test, after all. Eliminating others was to be expected.
*If this test was about eliminating others, I'd attack without mercy, but right now, we need to conquer the World of Heroes.*
When Chelsea turned to him as if seeking his opinion, Leo nodded too.
“Cooperate and…”
“We may be all knights, but we have ranged attacks, so our party balance is fine.”
“Huh?”
Just then, the student who appeared to be the leader sneered.
“There are only two of you. If we fight now, we have the clear advantage.”
“Yeah, you may be from a famous hero family, but you're the same age as us!”
“Who do you think you're fooling? You're just offering to cooperate because you're scared.”
Thinking Chelsea was backing down, their spirits rose.
“Taking you down means one less strong candidate for admission! Why should we cooperate with you?”
“Yeah! That's right!”
Seeing them take a combat stance, Chelsea was about to say something.
“Stop. There's no point in talking to them anymore.”
“But.”
Chelsea looked frustrated.
This brilliant girl found the other examinees, who refused to even listen to her, stifling.
Leo drew his sword and said.
“If they want a fight, we should give them one.”
“I guess we have no choice.”
Chelsea sighed and raised her staff.
Looking at her, Leo said.
“You support me from the back.”
“What?”
“It's a waste of mana to use it on small fry like them.”
“Are you serious? They use Aura.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Hmph. Don't blame me if you get hurt.”
Though she spoke coldly, Chelsea intended to help Leo if he was in danger.
*I have to repay my debt from a moment ago.*
Chelsea fiddled with her staff.
Meanwhile, the other examinees' faces twisted as they looked at Leo.
“Who are you?”
“You're going to take us on alone?”
“Yeah. Let's get this over with.”
“You bastard!”
The examinee with the bow, thinking Leo was mocking him, immediately drew his bowstring.
*Fwoosh-!*
An arrow without Aura flew at Leo.
They had decided to save their Aura arrows, which wasted Aura, for the fight against Chelsea.
*If he dodges, he'll leave an opening! Then we can surround him and finish him off...*
*Snatch-!*
“…!”
“This isn't the time to be conserving your strength.”
Leo, having caught the arrow, said indifferently as he snapped it.
“N-No way! He caught my arrow with his bare hands…!”
*Whoosh-!*
Before the examinee could finish, Leo charged.
“S-Stop him!”
“Surround him!”
His eyes darted around, taking in the swords coming from all directions.
But the examinees couldn't fully focus on Leo.
*Even without participating in the fight, her mere presence is a check.*
Unlike the unknown Leo, the famous examinee Chelsea was there, so their attention was naturally drawn to her.
*Works for me.*
*Clang-! Thud!*
“Ugh?”
After parrying the sword, Leo drove his fist straight into the student's solar plexus.
“This guy! I didn't see any sign of him using Aura!”
“Of course not. This is just me.”
Leo replied nonchalantly to his mistaken opponent and spun his body.
The opponent aiming for Leo's back was stunned as Leo dodged as if he had eyes on the back of his head.
*Wham-!*
“Agh!”
After landing a kick to his side, Leo turned his attention to the two remaining examinees.
“Use Aura!”
“Damn it!”
Leo overwhelmed the five of them by himself.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, watching from behind, had her eyes wide.
*Wow, how can he move like that without using any Aura?*
Though a mage, Chelsea aspired to be a battle mage and had trained diligently in martial arts.
That's why she could vaguely understand just how godlike Leo's movements were.
*He's so cool!*
Feeling her heart pound, Chelsea was startled.
*No! He's the guy who hangs out with Celia Jerdinger! Get a grip, Chelsea!*
Shaking her head vigorously, Chelsea couldn't take her eyes off Leo.
***
The examinees were eliminated quickly.
It was the result of moving too aggressively to eliminate their competitors.
*They probably think they were being proactive.*
Albi observed a few students.
He could see some of them proudly boasting about how many people they had eliminated.
Of course, that had nothing to do with the test.
About an hour into the test.
Of the 569 examinees, only about fifty remained.
“Lord Albi. All those examinees are…”
“Failed.”
Seeing Albi's cold declaration, the aide dispatched from Lumerne looked flustered.
“B-But, Lord Albi. They are all perfectly capable individuals. And on average, we select about a hundred students from one exam…”
Albi's chilly gaze fell upon the aide.
The aide gasped at the look in his eyes.
“When the headmaster appointed me as the proctor, i told him That if I were appointed, anyone who didn't meet my standards would be failed without exception. And yet, he still entrusted the position to me.”
“Urk!”
“As the proctor, it is my prerogative to decide which students pass. So, do not speak of this matter again.”
Albi stated flatly and turned his gaze to the magic mirror.
His eyes landed on none other than Leo.
*It seems he's noticed the anomaly in the forest.*
Albi toyed with his left eye.
*Can he really conquer that world?*
***
“Chelsea, you're safe.”
“Of course, brother.”
About two hours after the test began.
Leo had safely joined up with Celia and Abad's party.
“I knew you'd be fine. But you were with Chelsea Llewellyn?”
“We met early in the test and decided to cooperate.”
“Huh? She's got quite the pride and stubborn streak. She willingly cooperated with you?”
“I persuaded her.”
Seeing Leo's meaningful smile, Celia muttered to herself.
*You did something, didn't you.*
After living with him for a week, Celia had a good grasp of her cousin's ruthlessness.
“You were calling him cheesy and annoying, yet you two were traveling together.”
“We couldn't just fight recklessly without knowing the passing criteria for the test.”
Celia replied, brushing her hair back.
“Anyway, you have a lot of people with you.”
“Abad and I can move quickly. So we went through the forest gathering people to cooperate with. Most of them are from the Rodren Empire, though.”
The two great houses of the Rodren Empire.
No one from the empire would refuse an offer of cooperation from the Jerdinger and Llewellyn families.
“Good job.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I think I know how to pass this test.”
“Oh? You figured it out?”
Celia's eyes lit up.
“It's to conquer the world.”
“Conquer the world?”
Celia tilted her head.
Then she nodded.
“It's true, this test is too unconventional. It wouldn't be strange if it was about conquering a world.”
“Right?”
“Then that raises a problem. What exactly is the condition for conquering it?”
The World of Heroes has conditions for its conquest.
This was also why the study of Heroics was so important.
Investigating and researching a hero's deeds was directly linked to the method of conquering their world.
But just as there were heroes with well-known tales, there were also those without.
In particular, the worlds of living heroes were rarely conquered.
Even if one did, there was no reward, and only the hero themselves could open their world.
The only Worlds of Heroes that others could open by meeting the conditions belonged to heroes of the past.
“Albi is a famous hero, but his past deeds are almost entirely unknown. There are no clues for a conquest.”
“I have a guess about that, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Leo sighed.
“Right now, an anomaly is occurring in the Forest of Demons.”
“An anomaly?”
“Yeah. For the Forest of Demons, don't you think there are too few monsters appearing?”
“You're right…”
Normally, there should be a more relentless stream of monster attacks.
But in Albi's world, the frequency of monster appearances is too low.
*As if they're scared of something?*
As that thought crossed her mind, Celia's expression turned serious.
“There's probably a high-level monster that's scaring all the other monsters in the forest.”
“So Albi achieved his feat by subjugating it?”
“Exactly.”
“What kind of high-level monster could scare the entire Forest of Demons? I've never seen any records of such an anomaly.”
“That would be…”
Just as Leo was about to answer Celia's question.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh-!”
A scream echoed from the distance.
“Looks like it's finally shown up.”