LHAHS Chapter 468
After finishing his audience with the king, Jerome strolled leisurely through the palace corridors. Behind him, the woman who had delivered the victory report to the King of Petimen followed closely.
"You seem to be in a good mood."
"Do I?" Jerome stroked his ever-smiling face as he replied.
"Yes. You seem genuinely delighted. Isn't this just a minor victory for you?"
"Indeed. To me, it's nothing more than a small triumph."
While he had framed the victory as a monumental event for the King of Petimen, to Jerome, it was an insignificant win. One hero alone possessed the power to change the course of a battlefield, and Jerome Cadium was the guildmaster of Justice, a guild of great heroes who would revolutionize and lead the world.
For Perrin, the royal mage of Petimen, it was difficult to understand why someone as powerful and influential as Jerome would take joy in such a trivial victory.
"What makes this victory different is that it was achieved not by our strength, but by Petimen's. Even if it holds little value by my standards, to the Petimen Kingdom, its as precious as gold."
"Ahh." Perrin clasped her hands together, gasping in admiration. "Sir Jerome… How noble of you to think that way…"
Compared to a hero, she was but a firefly beneath the night sky, but a royal mage was by no means a lowly position. She had encountered many heroes through the Mage Association, yet the majority of them were arrogant.
Jerome, however, was different. Despite being the guildmaster of Justice, he was humble and considerate of others. He truly seemed like a hero of justice. Every word he spoke sounded as though it was meant for the betterment of this nation.
"Don't worry, Royal Mage Perrin." Jerome extended a gentle hand, smiling warmly. "As long as Justice stands with you, Petimen will know only victory. Trust in us."
"Yes! Sir Jerome! In the name of justice, we will vanquish evil!" Perrin knelt before Jerome as if worshiping a divine being, bowing her head in reverence.
A moment later, back in his chambers, Jerome said with an expressionless face, "The situation?"
"Progressing smoothly, Guildmaster. Across all battlefields, the Carnel Kingdom's forces are suffering near-total annihilation."
"If they bear the name of Justice, that much should be expected."
"That may be true, but they are still hero candidates."
"Hero candidates… What a nostalgic term," Jerome chuckled, shifting his posture. "But our guild's rookies hate being called that, don't they, officers?"
He smiled at the officers seated at one side of the room.
"They don't like it."
"They prefer to be called provisional heroes."
"Then let's change their titles. Provisional heroes it is." Jerome laughed. "Honestly, what does a title matter? As long as one possesses the karma befitting a hero, anyone can become one."
"Your karma theory… How credible is it?" one of Justice's officers asked with a skeptical expression.
Jerome smiled as he stood up. "Only those chosen by the gods can have their names inscribed in the Hero Record. In other words, in a sense, heroes are divine agents. People believe that only those with power akin to the gods, those with noble aspirations, those who achieve great feats, can become heroes. That's what ordinary people think."
"That's true."
"Yes, but we who have already become heroes know better." Jerome curled his lips into a grin as he looked at his officers. "Even the weak, those utterly undeserving of being called heroes, become heroes. Even scum with broken morals. Even hypocrites with ugly souls."
"That's certainly true. After all, even someone like you became a hero, Guildmaster Jerome," the deputy guildmaster, Chain, chuckled.
"There is no qualification to be a hero. There is only a standard. And I…" Jerome looked down at his palm. "…became a hero on the battlefield."
In war, the one who brought victory was a hero. The process did not matter. No matter how many enemies were slain, how many allies were sacrificed, or how many meaningless lives were taken. Only leading a war to victory was considered an achievement.
One of the officers leaned his chin on his hand and clicked his tongue. "So this war is a kind of testing ground for your karma theory?"
"That's right."
"It's a hassle disguising our guild members as kingdom soldiers to avoid trouble from openly participating in war under the guild's name. But this experiment is worth that inconvenience, isn't it?"
"Why did you involve Lumene's dropouts in this experiment?" another officer asked. "Guildmaster, didn't you despise dropouts? Didn't you insist that only graduates of the hero academy deserved to be heroes?"
"I've changed my mind. There are plenty of people who have risen to the rank of hero without graduating from Lumene. I no longer see the need to deny them. Excessive elitism does no good." Jerome crossed his arms and turned toward the window, gazing outside. "Besides, they're still juniors, aren't they? As a senior, it's only natural to give desperate juniors a chance. Besides, I need as many heroes as possible for my goal."
"And what is your goal?"
"I never told you?" Jerome's lips curled into a bright grin "To create a world led by chosen heroes, a world of true justice. And to that end, we need to find the treasure vault buried in the tomb of the Nether Knight, Thamus."
The Nether Knight had buried countless treasures within his grave. Among them were the arms and armor of the subordinates who had once followed him.
"The legacy of Talim will be a great boon to the birth of the next generation of heroes. Our Justice Guild is simply assisting Lumene in fostering heroes."
"Have you considered founding a new hero academy?"
Jerome shrugged. "Why would I? Lumene is already a perfect hero academy."
Watching him, Chain opened his palm. "But what if one of the juniors you love so much ends up standing in your way?"
A magic circle glowed on Chain's forehead as he closed his eyes.
"Are you using Clairvoyance?"
Clairvoyance was Justice Guild's deputy guildmaster, Chain Ritna's, unique magic.
Intrigued, Jerome observed the vision Chain revealed. Far away, a white-haired boy with red eyes was confronting the knights of Petimen.
A flicker of interest sparked in Jerome's gaze. There wasn't a single person in the room who didn't recognize the boy.
A hero of the same all-class rank as Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning. The one who aided the newly reincarnated Brave Hero, Aaron, in slaying a fragment of Erebos and thus attained the title of hero.
"Leo Plov." Jerome's lips curled upward. "My heart races. I've wanted to have a conversation with him for quite some time."
"Why? Because he's famous?"
"No. It's because he's a chosen one among chosen ones." Jerome smiled benevolently. "I wonder what kind of sense of justice he holds. I'd love to have him in our guild."
"But Leo Plov declined every guild's invitation."
"I know." Jerome returned to his seat, deep in thought. "Leo Plov is certainly an outstanding hero. A true gem who climbed to the top at such a young age without anyone's help. But he's still young. He hasn't fully shined yet."
"You wish to refine him further?"
"Exactly." Jerome nodded. "He's at an age where learning how vast the world is wouldn't be a bad thing. Trials make heroes stronger, after all."
"So, what are you suggesting?" Chain asked.
Jerome grinned. "Leo Plov needs a baptism."
That night, guided by Viscount Esimon, Leo was led to the Carnel Kingdom Army's encampment. As students of Lumene, both Leo and Lily were treated with great hospitality.
"It seems like the Carnel Kingdom is hoping we'll mediate this war for them," Lily said, chewing on the jerky that had been served for their meal.
Despite their efforts to treat Leo and Lily well, this was still the middle of a war zone. Their meal was basic—dried jerky, hard rye bread, warm soup, and some cheap wine.
The fact that we're getting warm soup in the dead of night, in the middle of a battlefield, is already a sign of extreme hospitality. The Carnel Kingdom must be in a difficult situation.
"You eat well," Leo noted, watching Lily eat hungrily.
"A soldier should eat well when they can. Hmm, this might not be to your taste, though, Leo," Lily said, glancing at him with mild concern.
It was the kind of gaze one might use when looking at a noble's pampered son. There was no contempt in it—just pure concern for a younger student. For most Lumene students, it was common for military rations to be unpalatable.
"I'm not picky with food." Leo dipped the rye bread into the soup and ate as he thought. "Should we intervene in this war or report it to Lumene?"
Lily let out a deep sigh, poured herself some wine and downed it as if it were water. Despite the wine being quite strong, she showed no signs of intoxication. Her demeanor was not just bold—it was outright tough.
[Wow, that's manly,] Kiran muttered, just loud enough for only Leo to hear.
"I doubt we'll have a chance to intervene."
"Why not?"
"It's likely true that the Justice Guild is interfering in this northeastern war zone. I even heard about it from my family over the summer." Lily sighed deeply. "Lumene students aren't allowed to interfere in foreign wars, and neither are guilds. But even if we suspect them, finding concrete evidence will be difficult."
"Hmm…"
"Besides, from our perspective, Justice isn't an enemy, they're an ally." Lily frowned. "I don't know what they're after by operating in the northeast, but they wouldn't do anything to harm their own allies. That makes it even harder to investigate them."
"You don't seem happy about it."
"Of course not! Leo! I hate politics! And this is all politics!"
For once, Lily openly scowled. For someone as upright as her, politics, a realm where calling out wrongdoing was rarely simple, was hardly a welcome subject.
Well, I don't like it either. Playing politics was Lysinas and Dweno's specialty, not mine.
"What do you think Justice is after?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. Their guildmaster is an inscrutable man."
"What kind of person is he?"
"His name is Jerome Cadium. He's one of the three heroes who was expected to carry the mantle of this era after Sword Saint Kalian."
"You mean he was one of the three candidates to succeed the former headmaster?"
"Leo, you don't read the news much, do you?"
"No."
Lily gave him a look of exasperation before letting out an amused chuckle and taking another sip of wine. "He's a hero with the title Light Seeker. A man who embodies righteousness and aims to uphold justice like a saint."
"Justice?"
"Yes. His life's goal is justice. He's known for eliminating evil by any means necessary."
Leo narrowed his eyes. "That sounds incredibly suspicious."
"Why do you say that?"
"I've never met a single person who constantly preaches about justice that wasn't rotten inside."
"Yeah, I can't say he's my favorite hero either. He may be popular with the public, but… some of his so-called achievements certainly have inhumane aspects. Yet, under the banner of justice, everything he does is forgiven."
Lily let out a deep sigh and drank more wine. She no longer even bothered pouring it into a cup and was now drinking straight from the bottle.
She doesn't have any bad drinking habits, does she? At least she looks fine on the outside.
Even if she seemed fine, that didn't mean she wasn't intoxicated. If alcohol made someone act differently than usual, then they were drunk.
Leo watched Lily for a moment before turning his gaze to the tent's ceiling.
At the same time, Lily, who had been drinking, froze mid-motion and pulled the bottle away from her lips.
Leo rose from his seat and clicked his tongue.
Kwaaang—!
A massive explosion erupted.
"What, what's happening?"
"We're under attack! We're under attack!"
The sudden explosion sent the Carnel Kingdom's soldiers into a panic.
"Sir Leo! Lady Lily!" Viscount Esimon, seeing the tent they had been in engulfed in flames, rushed toward them in alarm.
Whoosh—!
The flames distorted and gathered together in a single spot, coalescing in the hand that Lily wasn't using to hold her bottle.
Staring up at the sky, she muttered, "That was an excellent ambush. I didn't sense it at all."
"Impressive. As expected of Lumene's student council president and the third-year representative. I didn't manage to land a single hit."
Hovering in the air, a mage in a hooded robe sounded genuinely impressed. Four others stood nearby.
"Who are you people?" Leo asked.
The mage who had attacked them replied, "We are enforcers."
"Enforcers?"
"Yes." The mage activated his mana. "We are here to carry out justice."