LHAHS Chapter 382
Leo's words made Aru clutch her face, while the expressions of the four beastmen hardened.
"Did you just call us… call Aaron a coward?" Dion's voice dropped dangerously.
Beastmen firmly believed that Aaron's courage had changed the fate of the world. For 5,000 years, they had revered him, taking pride in sharing his lineage. They had devoted themselves to inheriting his courage for thousands of years.
To them, courage was their pride and the ultimate virtue they pursued.
For a beastman, being called a coward was the greatest insult imaginable.
"…I won't deny that we look like cowards right now," Dion growled. "We're panicking, terrified of exposing our disgrace. It's true that we lowered our tails before Aru. From your perspective, we must look pathetic."
A murderous aura radiated from Dion.
"But take back what you said about Aaron, Leo Plov."
"Sorry, but Aaron was a coward."
Fwoosh—!
Dion's fist flew toward Leo, packed with genuine fury, but before it could land, Aru intercepted it.
Dion's face twisted in anger as he saw his punch blocked by a childhood friend. "What the hell are you doing, Aru?!"
"Calm down, Dion."
"Calm down?! He insulted Aaron!"
Aru let out a deep sigh. "Black Rabbit isn't wrong."
"What?"
"The Aaron we saw in the Hero World… he was a scaredy-cat."
The four beastmen froze, their expressions turning rigid.
"That's impossible! There's no way Aaron was a scaredy-cat!" Borman shouted in desperation.
Leo looked at him and asked flatly, "Have you ever actually met the Brave Hero before?"
"……" Borman instinctively clamped his mouth shut.
Since the Grand Warrior Azonia, one of the Heroes of Dawn, no one had fully conquered Aaron's Hero Record. Most who had challenged the Brave Hero's world had only accessed damaged records.
The surviving records only depicted Aaron's overwhelming martial prowess—his victories in battle. That was the image that had been passed down and ingrained in the world.
Almost nothing was known about what Aaron had been like in everyday life.
"This can't be…"
"The Brave Hero… was a scaredy-cat?"
"How could that be…?"
"This has to be a dream… just a bad dream."
The students reeled in shock, struggling to accept reality.
Aru turned to Leo, her gaze sharp with reproach. "Why did you tell them?"
"Lumene students, Azonia students… it's all the same," Leo said calmly. "You guys idolize the Great Heroes way too much. You saw them, didn't you? The Great Heroes include cowards, perverts, and thugs."
"…I get who the coward and the pervert are. Who's the thug?"
"The Nebula Pioneer."
Aru muttered to herself as she recalled that Leo had conquered Luna's world. "That's… a shocking truth."
"That's reality. The sooner you realize the world isn't pretty, the sooner you'll grow up."
"No! The Hero of the Beginning and the Wise Queen are still left!"
Aru clamped her hands over her ears and shook her head furiously, as if refusing to hear any more. She clearly didn't want to shatter her illusions about the Great Heroes any further.
If I'd conquered Lysinas' World too, I could've told her what a ruthless con artist she was, Leo thought with a sigh.
Lysinas was a master at deceiving people with words and stabbing them in the back.
Looking at this, I really was the only decent one.
Of course, if his old companions had heard that, they would've mocked him endlessly.
Leo looked at the Azonia students, still lost in shock. "How long are you going to stand around in disbelief? Does the fact that Aaron was a coward really bother you that much?"
"What?"
"Just because Aaron was scared, that doesn't mean he wasn't brave."
The four Azonia students turned to look at Leo.
"He was always terrified, always hesitant, but whenever battle broke out, he overcame his fear and was the first to charge forward."
"That's right! That's why Aaron was the true Brave Hero!" Aru puffed out her chest proudly.
Dion let out a bitter chuckle. "I guess Aaron was… special."
"Funny thing," Leo said, amused.
"What is?"
"Aaron told me the exact opposite. He said he wasn't special."
"What?! Aaron said that? When?!"
"When you weren't around."
"Uuuuugh! You got to have such an intimate conversation with Aaron?! Black Rabbit! You lucky bastard!"
Aru grabbed Leo and shook him violently, looking genuinely envious.
Leo recalled a conversation from long ago.
"I'm not special. I can't inspire people like Lysinas… I don't shine like Luna. I can't forge weapons like Dweno, and I'm not an Erebos-slaying monster like you, Kyle. I feel like I'm just dragging you all down."
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
Kyle had responded by kicking him.
"You're the one fighting at the frontlines. That's why we never give up!"
Leo looked at the Azonia representatives. "The reason you fight—wasn't it to let the world know?"
Azonia's entrance ceremony was a battle. A battle to declare their presence to the world.
That ceremony represented only one thing.
"We are here."
They were the ones who gave courage. The ones who stood against fear. The symbol of bravery.
"Maybe… that's exactly what the Brave Hero himself wanted to be."
Simply by thinking of Aaron, countless people found the courage to face their fears.
The coward who had insisted he wasn't special had become the embodiment of courage itself.
"It doesn't matter whether you're special or not. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to hesitate and even doubt yourselves. But if you really want to follow in the Brave Hero's footsteps…"
Leo smiled as he thought of his friend.
"Don't break. The most special thing in the world is moving forward when things are at their worst."
He recalled the sight of his friend, charging ahead when everyone else had lost hope.
Dion gazed up at the night sky. "Never thought I'd learn about the Brave Hero and courage from a Lumene student."
"Not very Azonia-like of us, huh?"
"Yeah! We were acting like total fools! Getting all scared and backing down!"
"You are a fool. A dumb tiger."
Watching Dion, Tavon, and Borman regain their spirit, Ruwen let out a sigh and glanced at Leo. "You're good with words. Very fitting for Lumene's student council president."
"I learned from an infamous scammer," Leo said with a smirk.
Aru raised her hand. "Right! The real issue is those filthy beasts disgracing Aaron's name! Worrying about hiding our shame and letting them run free—that would be the real insult to Aaron!"
"Yeah! Aru's right!" Borman echoed.
Dion nodded. "Teaming up with Lumene is the right decision."
Leo rested his chin on his hand.
I want to tear those bastards apart too.
Hero Hunters. For them to wield Aaron's power… It made his blood boil as much as, no—more than it did for the beastmen.
Still, if possible, he wanted to leave it to Azonia's students.
That would've made Aaron happier.
Leo looked at the Azonia students, their spirits rekindled, and smiled.
Even 5,000 years later, the image you left behind still gives people courage.
He thought of the friend who once spouted nonsense to him.
"I'm not special?" Don't be ridiculous. You were the most special of all, Aaron.
Leo arrived at the lord's manor with the Azonia students and found a group of first-years lingering outside the conference room, their expressions sour.
"What are you all doing out here?" he asked.
Sasha pouted. "We wanted to attend the meeting, but Senior Duran kicked us out."
"Do you really think you have the right to participate in this meeting? Arrogant."
"Hey, the first-years are pretty capable. If I can join the meeting, they should be able to as well…"
"Know your place, Carl Thomas. Do you really think you and those first-year brats are on the same level?"
"Sounds like Duran," Leo muttered.
"You think so too, Senior Leo?" Sasha asked, still sulking.
One year might not seem like much, but at a hero military academy, that single year was an insurmountable wall. First-year students, especially those in their first semester, were little more than infants still learning to walk in the eyes of the upperclassmen.
"If it were second-semester first-years, Duran might have thought differently," Leo said.
Sasha let out a deep sigh.
"Lumene's first-years?"
"They're adorable. I can't wait until we have our own juniors."
The Azonia students murmured among themselves, watching the first years with amusement.
"Where's Luke?"
"Luke is training at the practice grounds, Young Master," Martina answered respectfully.
Leo chuckled. "Diligent as always."
Without another word, he entered the conference room.
Watching him go, Juen clenched her fists. "Ugh! Seriously! I'm going to make sure I prove myself in this training mission!"
Sasha nodded, frustration clear on her face. "Agreed."
Step, step.
"Where are you going, Aina?" Haviden called out, seeing Aina stand up.
"To train," she said simply before walking away.
The first-years exchanged glances before quietly heading off to train as well. They were frustrated by Duran's dismissal, but they couldn't deny he had a point, which only made it sting more.
We'll make sure to prove ourselves to our mentors.
The next morning, Leo set out for the Monster Forest with Luke following behind.
"So Lumene and Azonia agreed to resolve the potential Hero Dungeon issue together, then pursue the Hero Hunters in this country afterward?" Luke asked.
"Yeah."
"And Senior Leo, you're heading into the depths of the forest alone."
"That's right."
During yesterday's meeting, Lumene and Azonia had officially agreed to cooperate, and in the process, Leo had announced his plan to explore the heart of the Monster Forest alone.
Some students had suggested going with him, but Leo had simply said, "I'll be fine on my own."
It might have sounded reckless, but no one strongly opposed it. Leo's strength among the second-years was overwhelming, and since this was just a one-day scouting mission, they had no reason to object.
At the forest's entrance, they met up with Aru.
"So, you're Black Rabbit's mentee?" Aru asked.
"Hello, I'm Luke Eldar," he introduced himself politely.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Aru Tune," Aru said cheerfully, waving.
"I'll leave him to you for the day," Leo said.
"Got it!" Aru clapped a hand to her chest in reassurance.
Leaving Luke in her care, Leo stepped into the forest.
As he walked deeper, he looked around at the thick foliage. This was the site of the entrance exam, but standing here again now, the memories felt different.
This was where I first met Luna.
This was Luna's homeland. Back then, Lysinas had accompanied Leo to recruit Luna into the subjugation force, where she had been fighting alongside the elves to reclaim her home from the Queen of Monsters.
Beyond just the entrance exam, this forest held other memories.
After a brief moment of reflection, Leo drew his sword and pressed forward.
The deeper he went, the more monsters blocked his path, but they weren't creatures native to the Monster Forest.
The Queen of Monsters was slain, which should have lifted the curse on this land…
Yet new monsters kept appearing, which meant there was something else producing them.
It's likely a Hero Dungeon beginning to encroach on reality.
This was the logical conclusion reached by the others who had arrived before him, though there was still the possibility that the Queen of Monsters' death had caused the residual curse to surge out of control.
Leo continued cutting through countless monsters as he advanced, but eventually, he came to a stop.
At the forest's core, he narrowed his eyes and reached out.
Vwoom—!
A powerful surge of dark mana filled the air. Even though its master was long gone, the lingering presence of the magic remained.
It was residual sorcery left behind by the Queen of Monsters.
Fwoosh—!
In an instant, Leo dispelled the magic.
As the enchantment unraveled, a grotesque tower was revealed. He could still sense traces of dark mana, but the power that had once bound this tower was already gone.
The curse really was lifted.
Just in case, he checked for any lingering maledictions, but there were none.
Now certain that a Hero Dungeon existed within the Monster Forest, Leo turned to leave—then froze.
Halfway up the eerie tower, something caught his eye. A piece of paper.
The faint energy emanating from it was unmistakable.
Divine power?
Leo's eyes widened as he flew into the sky with magic.
A fragment of a Hero Record.
Reaching out toward the torn Hero Record fragment, his expression stiffened.
[The Dawn Dragon, Rodia's World—Would you like to open it?]
A message appeared before his eyes.
Rodia's World?
For a moment, he was taken aback. He had assumed this fragment was the cause of the Hero Dungeon's instability, but it wasn't.
It hasn't gone rogue.
This wasn't an unstable, rampaging Hero Dungeon—it was a stabilized fragment of a Hero Record.
The message had only appeared because it was Leo.
As the Hero Record's owner, he could open and close Hero Records at will, even without a key.
Leo stared at the message for a moment before speaking. "Open it."
[Hero Record Open—Rodia's World. Chapter: Prologue - Dawn.]
Fwoosh—!
A familiar sensation enveloped Leo. As the bright light faded from his vision, a startled voice rang out.
"…Who are you?"
Leo looked ahead and saw a dragonkin girl. There was no doubt.
"…The Dawn Dragon, Rodia?"