The Legendary Hero is an Academy Honor Student

[As expected, things like this are happening in the northeastern part of the continent.]

Melina let out a deep sigh.

[The situation with Justice is my failure. Because I failed to manage them properly, I have sullied your eyes and ears, Leo-nim.]

“That’s not something you need to apologize to me for,” Leo said calmly.

It was early dawn.

Leo was in communication with Melina.

The autumn dawn air was quite cold.

Leo took a sip of the tea he had brewed with herbs he had gathered in the forest.

[Shall I mobilize the other Hero Guilds or Lumene?]

“No. If we’re careless, it could trigger a civil war. In any case, Justice is a massive force. It’s not something we should move against officially.”

Leo had more than enough power to dismantle the Justice Guild.

If he wanted to, a single word from Leo could move the shadows of the entire world.

Furthermore, the Dragon Lord was effectively Leo’s spokesperson.

Even so, that did not mean there would be no collateral damage.

Especially when dealing with people who could not think rationally.

'As long as the Death King is still active, it’s best not to end up stabbing ourselves.'

“Just exposing their true nature will already be enough of an achievement.”

Melina nodded at Leo’s words.

“What’s most urgent right now is dealing with the Hero’s tombs scattered across the world.”

[Yes. If it becomes known that the Death King is resurrecting heroes as Undead, the world will be thrown into immense chaos.]

“I suppose so.”

Leo let out a deep sigh.

Since ancient times, the Undead had been objects of disgust and contempt to the living.

But what if a hero whose name was recorded in the Hero Record became an Undead?

'That hero’s honor would be dragged through the mud.'

If that hero had left behind no ties to the world, then that would be the end of it.

But if that hero’s descendants had formed a faction, then the problem would grow much larger.

The honor of their ancestor would be ruined.

'That alone would cause enormous division throughout the world.'

Leo sighed heavily.

'I need to find a way to protect the honor of the heroes who became Corpses.'

Leo narrowed his eyes.

“If we assume the worst-case scenario, which hero would be the most dangerous enemy?”

[The worst would be Tamuss, the Nether Knight. Especially since the land you are currently standing on, Leo-nim, is the land he once ruled... the Death King’s goal may very well be to resurrect him as a Corpse.]

A puzzled look appeared on Leo’s face at Melina’s grim tone.

“Is the Nether Knight really that amazing? I heard he was just some guy who refused to cooperate because he was jealous of the Genesis Heroes.”

Leo looked confused.

“And there’s barely anything left of his Hero Record.”

Since there were countless heroes of the past whose records had been lost, it was not strange for nothing to remain in the Hero Record.

Leo, who did not know exactly what kind of hero Tamuss had been, could not help finding Melina’s serious reaction strange.

[Surely you know, Leo-nim, that before the Genesis Heroes rose to prominence, he was the most powerful hero in the world.]

“Yeah.”

[He was such an exceptional hero that Rodia actually considered him as a candidate for the Genesis Heroes. In fact, he was a hero who accompanied Rodia when she conquered Lysinas’s Hero Record.]

“Rodia did?”

Dragons were beings who chose heroes.

And the Rodia Leo had met personally had been extremely intelligent.

She was a wise dragon worthy of being called Lysinas’s successor.

If someone like Rodia had chosen to move alongside him, then his skill must have been real.

[It is recorded in Rodia’s memoirs that he was a hero with power equal to the Genesis Heroes during the Return of the Calamity.]

“Then how did a hero like that end up turning his back on the world’s crisis?”

[It is said that although the Nether Knight conquered many Great Heroes’ Hero Records, he never obtained a single [Conquest Reward].]

“He stood by and watched the world’s crisis for a reason like that?”

[...That wasn’t the only reason.]

“Then what was it?”

Melina hesitated for a moment before opening a small Warp Gate and sending Leo a single book.

It was one of Rodia’s memoirs from the library of Dragonia, which only the Dragon Lord was allowed to view.

'This is different from the memoir I saw before. Is this more like a diary?'

The memoir Rodia had written before had felt more like a formal record, full of deliberate effort.

'It was overflowing with pretension. That arrogant lizard.'

Thinking of the Rodia he had met before, Leo clicked his tongue and opened the memoir.

Then he quickly began reading through it.

Soon, the story related to Tamuss, Emperor of Tarim, appeared.

'A Necromancer? And one who handled countless Spirits at that.'

Before he had been a knight, he had been a powerful Necromancer who led a knight order made of Spirits, using the Artifacts wielded by heroes in life as mediums.

'A power similar to Lysinas’s.'

Leo was impressed.

It seemed that was why Rodia had considered Tamuss as a candidate among the heroes who would save the world.

However, aside from the parts describing his power, there were also many passages filled with concern.

[Just as Lysinas first accepted Kyle as a companion, I too happened to accept a human as my first companion. However, he was different from Kyle. Kyle also had a rough temperament, but... Tamuss possesses arrogance and a cruel disposition. Will I be able to guide him down the right path?]

What Rodia worried about most was the temperament of the hero named Tamuss.

The ones who joined Rodia afterward were Azonia the Great Warrior, then Seiren the Comet Mage.

After that came Damienne the Unbreakable.

Unlike the troubling temperament of the Nether Knight, Rodia’s party only grew stronger as they conquered many Hero Records.

However, while the others received [Conquest Reward]s from the Great Heroes’ Hero Records, Tamuss failed to obtain even one until the very end.

Then, in the midst of that, a decisive event occurred.

[Today, I met a human named Lumene. He is a hero who conquered Kyle’s Hero Record all by himself.]

Rodia had reacted to her first meeting with Lumene with unusual excitement.

More so than when she had met any of her other companions.

“Wait.”

Having noticed a certain emotion in her writing, Leo took his eyes off the memoir and looked at Melina.

“Does that brat Rodia like Lumene, by any chance?”

[Yes. It seems she fell in love at first sight.]

“Really? Did Lumene know?”

[The memoirs of the Genesis Heroes are preserved in Dragonia. Judging from Lumene’s memoirs, he seems to have known about Rodia’s feelings. That is why he found the situation very awkward.]

“Why was he awkward?”

[Seiren also had feelings for Lumene. Isn’t it romantic?]

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

“He must’ve really been in a difficult spot. Knowing Rodia and Seiren’s personalities, they probably would’ve come at him pretty aggressively.”

[No, the two of them did not court Lumene.]

“Did they act fake and shy, unlike themselves? Well, I guess the fraud lizard and the tomboy elf on our side also put on quite an act.”

[The thing is... Rodia and Seiren did not seem to understand their own feelings for Lumene very well. Only Lumene noticed.]

“...”

Leo’s expression turned vicious.

[Leo-nim?]

Melina looked flustered.

'So those two, who didn’t even understand their own feelings, let alone anyone else’s, had the nerve to call me an idiot and a moron?'

Leo ground his teeth, remembering the two of them giving him reproachful looks for failing to notice Luna and Lysinas’s feelings.

“Those damn girls, I swear—! The next time I see them, I’m shaving their heads clean.”

Melina shrank back slightly as she watched Leo growl.

Calling the Genesis Heroes “girls” and threatening to shave their heads was an outrageous thing that only another Great Hero could say.

Still grinding his teeth inwardly, Leo continued reading the memoir.

The contents that followed were as follows.

'The Nether Knight had feelings for Rodia and grew jealous of Lumene. And in the end, because of that, he drifted away from the party, was expelled, and then refused to help in the final battle against Erebos?'

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

'Isn’t this bastard completely insane?'

It meant that when the fate of the world hung in the balance, he turned his back on everything simply because he was blinded by jealousy.

'Just how selfish can one person be?'

With a look of disbelief, Leo closed the memoir.

[It is said that after the fame of the Genesis Heroes completely eclipsed his own and people began to mock him, the Nether Knight fell into a rage. In the end, he challenged Lumene to a duel in an attempt to kill him, but he was beheaded and lost his life. The Tarim Empire concealed the truth in order to hide the shame of its founding emperor and requested that Dragonia erase the Hero Record entries related to the Nether Knight’s death.]

It seemed that the Genesis Heroes, too, had wanted the Nether Knight, who had once been their companion, to be remembered by later generations as at least somewhat honorable.

'Well, at this point, he’s nothing more than a complete laughingstock.'

Leo recalled the image of the Nether Knight.

He remembered hearing Lumene’s students mockingly call him the “Twisted Nether Knight.”

In this era, he was nothing more than a coward who possessed great power but turned his back on the world for the sake of self-preservation.

In a way, it was only natural.

'But with a personality like that, it really is plausible that he’d fall and join hands with the Death King.'

Leo narrowed his eyes as he thought of the Nether Knight.

At that moment—

Vwooooo—!

An ominous presence surged up.

Leo tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.

'The Death King’s energy.'

The moment he realized what that aura was, Leo narrowed his eyes and stood up.

[Leo-nim?]

Melina called out to him in confusion.

“It looks like a guest has arrived.”

“To be precise, he probably thinks of you as the guest.”

Leo turned his head at the voice from nearby.

“Archduke of Funeral.”

“It has been a long time, Leo Plov-nim. No…”

Atkan bowed his head deeply toward Leo.

“Hero of Beginning, Kyle.”

Leo raised a hand.

“The fact that you showed yourself in front of me must mean you want to die, right?”

Vwooooo—!

An ominous energy flowed from Leo’s body.

Atkan narrowed his eyes at the terrifying bloodlust.

'I came here under Lord Hell Kaiser’s orders to gauge the current strength of the Hero of Beginning, but...'

Leo’s current power felt extraordinary.

'He could easily subjugate the current generation’s Legion Commanders.'

Even if a Legion Commander who had not obtained Divine Authority was merely a powerful Demon with many subordinates, they were still beings who made the world tremble in fear.

Atkan bowed his head.

“I would like to accompany you, Lord Kyle... but today, I am merely a guide.”

“A guide?”

“There is someone else who wishes to meet you. You may think of him as a very distant hubae.”

[Hear me, all who dwell in this land.]

At that moment, an immense voice echoed over the capital.

[I, Tamuss, master of Tarim and your lord, have returned. Bow your heads at once and offer your worship!]

That voice, thick with intimidation, shook the entire capital.

Leo looked up at it and said,

“I’ve never had a hubae like that.”

***

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