LHAHS Chapter 534
Shing…!
Leo drew Bihar's dagger and silently gazed at the blade, examining the weapon closely before swinging it through the air.
Swish…!
A sharp sound cut through the empty space.
As expected of Dweno's work.
Even after thousands of years, the dagger had not forgotten its essence as a weapon.
Leo swung the blade a few more times before looking down at it again.
It wasn't just my imagination.
For the briefest moment earlier, at the same time he had sensed Bihar's presence, the dagger had reacted to something. However, the dagger now remained still as if nothing had ever happened.
Leo wordlessly stared at the weapon.
Knock, knock—
"Sir Leo, may I come in?"
"Come in."
Chen Xia opened the door and entered. Upon seeing Leo standing motionless in the middle of the room, still wearing Lunia's uniform, she asked curiously, "Aren't you going to change?"
"I had some things to think about," Leo answered indifferently, folding his arms.
His white Seiren uniform draped over his frame, and as he lowered his head slightly, his snow-white hair cascaded forward. Combined with his fair skin and his crimson eyes that seemed even more striking than usual, his hair, lengthened by magic for the disguise, glimmered like fresh snowfall.
"I've always thought this, but you're really quite the pretty boy. Dressed like this, you look rather elegant," Chen Xia remarked, moving behind Leo and braiding his hair.
"What are you doing?" Leo demanded in shock.
"I thought a braid would suit you."
"……" Leo shook his head, letting his hair unravel. Then, opening a subspace with magic, he pulled out a pair of pants, put them on, tied the loose pants drawstrings, then took off the skirt and tossed it onto the bed.
Next, he removed the uniform top and threw it onto the bed as well, revealing his toned muscles and well-defined abs.
Finally, rolling his shoulders, he tilted his head side to side and activated his aura.
Crack! Crack! Crack, crack!
As the sound of bones shifting echoed through his body, his figure expanded, finally returning to his original build.
Stretching, Leo muttered, "Damn, that hurts."
Chen Xia expressed her admiration. "I noticed it earlier, but it really is fascinating. Altering your skeleton itself with aura… Is that a technique you developed, Sir Leo?"
"You think I'd come up with something this pointless?"
"Then?"
"There's only one person among the Great Heroes who would create something like this."
"Sir Dweno?"
"Correct."
Leo recalled Dweno's words at that time.
"True beauty must transcend the passage of time! There is no need for illusions or magic to restore one's past self! And so, I created this technique, allowing the body to reverse time itself with aura!"
He sighed, "This whole thing started because of that old man's weird philosophy. The problem is that it's so hard to master that not just anyone can learn it."
"Hmm…"
Using Dweno's aura technique, Leo had reverted his body how it was like as a child, right before he had hit puberty. That allowed him to fit into Lunia's uniform easily.
On the other hand, Chen Xia, being skilled with her hands, had altered Eiran's clothes to fit herself.
"Can I learn that technique too?" she asked.
"Of course. You of all people should be able to pick it up easily. Why?"
"I think it would be convenient in a lot of ways."
"Do you really need it? Even now, you look younger than most of the first-years."
"So you're saying I look like an immature kid?" Narrowing her eyes, Chen Xia jabbed a finger into Leo's side.
Leo replied blandly, "I meant that you have a youthful face."
"A youthful face? What's the point of saying that to an actual teenager?" Chen Xia pouted. To her, who was often teased for looking the same age as Chelsea, this was not a welcome comment.
Leo flicked her forehead with a finger. "Pouting?"
"…Whatever." Rubbing her forehead, Chen Xia scoffed and turned away.
Seeing her act so prim, Leo said, "Come here. I have something to discuss with you."
"With me?" Chen Xia tilted her head, puzzled.
Leo pulled a chair over, while Chen Xia plopped down on the bed.
"This is the dagger I gifted Bihar," Leo began, showing her Bihar's dagger.
"Ah…" Hearing it was an artifact used by an ancestor, Chen Xia's eyes widened slightly.
Leo continued, "The moment I stepped into Eldon, this dagger reacted, and just for a second, I felt Bihar's presence. What do you make of that?"
Chen Xia paused in thought for a moment, then asked, "Lady Bihar passed away due to her battle with Lady Velkia, right?"
"Yeah."
Under normal circumstances, the Xian Empire and House Ersar should have become bitter enemies, but given the nature of the Xian Empire, this truth had been shoved under the rug.
"…Do you think Lady Bihar resented Lady Velkia?"
"If it's the Bihar I knew, she wouldn't." Leo's gaze darkened slightly. "Instead, she would have felt regret… But that, too, is a kind of lingering attachment."
Chen Xia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "If we assume that Lady Velkia is here, could it be that Sir Leo's spirit magic activated?"
"You think so too?"
"Yes."
Leo sighed, He did not know much about spirit magic. Of course, compared to ordinary summoners, he knew a fair amount, but since he had no ability as a spirit summoner, he had never bothered learning it in depth.
He had only recently started studying it in earnest after awakening Lysinas' spirit summoning abilities, and since Chen Xia had talent for spirit magic, she had studied alongside him.
Chen Xia's reason for doing so was simple. She wanted to be of even the slightest help to Leo.
"Since you've summoned Lady Luna before, I wondered if that might be the case again," Chen Xia added.
Leo silently raised the dagger.
Chen Xia asked, "Are you going to try calling her now?"
"Yeah." Leo nodded and channeled his spiritual energy.
Vwoom…!
Absorbing Leo's spiritual energy, Bihar's dagger began to hum in resonance.
…If Bihar really does appear as a spirit, what should I say to her? Should I reprimand her for never escaping the darkness? Should I praise her for dedicating her entire life to the world? Or… should I console her for blaming herself for failing to stop Velkia?
Leo gazed at Bihar's dagger with a somber expression.
Flash…!
Moments later, Bihar's dagger emitted a brilliant light.
Leo released his grip, and the dagger floated into the air.
A summoning circle, drawn with his spiritual energy, formed around it and was quickly absorbed into the dagger.
Thud…!
Bihar's dagger fell lifelessly to the floor.
""……""
For a long time, Leo and Chen Xia silently stared at the dagger, but there was no reaction.
Finally, Chen Xia stood up, crouched beside the dagger, and poked it with her finger. "Nothing's happened?"
Leo furrowed his brow. "That's strange. I was so sure I sensed Bihar's presence."
Chen Xia carefully picked up the dagger. Still, there was no response.
She trotted over and handed the dagger to Leo. "Here you go."
Leo stared at it for a moment before saying, "That's yours now."
"Huh?"
"It belongs to your ancestor," Leo replied as he put on his shirt. "You can use a dagger, right?"
"I can, but the killing intent in this is a bit too strong."
"Then train yourself to control it."
"Okay." Responding firmly, Chen Xia carefully put away Bihar's dagger.
Once he finished dressing, Leo asked, "Where are Lunia and Eiran?"
"They went to Eldon's council. Since they're big shots from Seiren, they said they needed to make an appearance."
"Do we not need to go?"
"Lunia said just the two of them would be fine. She asked us to gather intel around the city."
"Is that so?" Leo, now wearing his coat, looked out the window. Before he knew it, snow had begun to fall. "Then let's get to work."
"Yes!"
Leo and Chen Xia left their lodging.
Whooosh…!
Late at night, a piercingly cold wind howled through the streets.
"Achoo!"
Stepping out of the building, Lunia shivered and turned back. The building she and Eiran had just exited was a palace, the very embodiment of extravagance.
Any other race might have been awed by its splendor, but elves valued elegance and simplicity. For those who upheld tradition, such opulence would have been seen as distasteful.
And yet, this building was the very heart of the Pureblood Society, which prided itself on tradition.
They call other races' palaces vulgar and excessive, yet look at them!
Lunia's expression darkened as she grumbled, "Why did we have to waste time flattering Eldon's old geezers the moment we arrived?"
Eiran replied in a weary voice, "It can't be helped. If we want to investigate the city freely, we need their cooperation."
"Ugh, I feel like I'm back in my second year of school!" Lunia huffed. "We'll have to attend that party too, won't we?"
"…Probably."
Lunia groaned and held her head.
Boom…!
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out, and Lunia and Eiran's eyes widened. Even amidst the snowstorm, flames burned brightly from a collapsed section of the city wall.
Their expressions hardened.
"An attack?"
"Could it be Tartaros?"
Whenever there was a ruthless, almost terroristic assault, the first thing that came to their minds was demonic forces.
Without hesitation, the two sprinted toward the site of the explosion.
"Hurry! Hurry!"
"Before the Pureblood Society bastards get here!"
Seeing figures looting a warehouse beyond the broken city wall, Lunia and Eiran's jaws dropped.
"E-Elves?"
Masked elves were ransacking the place.
Lunia reeled in disbelief. Elves stealing from elves? What kind of fucked up city is this?
She had never even imagined such a thing.
"Who goes there?!"
"Are you Pureblood Society lapdogs?!"
Armed elves on lookout quickly surrounded Lunia and Eiran.
"Lunia, what do we do?"
"What else?" Lunia's face hardened. "We're not going down without a fight. Take them out!"
"Yes!"
Leo and Chen Xia continued gathering information in the streets late into the night, and they uncovered a few facts.
"This city is incredibly wealthy," Chen Xia concluded.
She was right. The elves walking the streets all looked affluent at a glance. Despite the harsh cold, they wore only light clothing, but it wasn't just because they were mages.
They were dressed in mana cloth, a type of fabric woven with mana that enabled them to endure the cold despite the thin garments. Elsewhere, even most nobles had difficulty obtaining such fine mana cloth, and the highest-grade mana cloth was only used for the uniforms of hero academies, yet here, everyone on the streets wore clothes made from it.
Considering that Leo and his group weren't even in the wealthiest district of Eldon, it was clear just how filthy rich this city was.
"Not to mention, it's incredibly indulgent. These elves are quite different from the ones I know."
Chen Xia looked around with a bewildered expression. On the surface, the city seemed well-organized, and the streets were pristine.
Since the entire populace practiced Stellar Magic, the city was filled with magic-related shops and the passersby all carried themselves like mages.
Yet, every elf was adorned with extravagant jewelry, flaunting their wealth, their faces bearing the unmistakable arrogance of privilege.
Moreover, once night fell, the entire atmosphere shifted. The streets, which had been filled with scholars pursuing magic by day, vanished without a trace, and every shop transformed into bars and cabarets.
The entire city was drowning in indulgence and pleasure.
Leo frowned in realization.
This city is the same as Balharun at its core.
He felt an inexplicable sense of filth clinging to the air. It was dazzling on the outside but rotten within.
If it were the current Velkia, she would have burned this city down the moment she saw it.
Yet, the city remained untouched.
"Shall we investigate a bit more?" Chen Xia asked.
Leo replied, "Yeah. Let's split up for now."
"Alright. We've been moving together the whole time, so let's separate and gather more intel."
During the day, they had approached pedestrians, asking if anything unusual had happened in the city. Every elf had responded with the same smile, insisting that Eldon was peaceful, but what about at night?
Their tongues might be looser after a few drinks.
As Chen Xia walked through the streets, having parted ways with Leo, she suddenly froze.
Boom…!
Chen Xia instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.
An explosion?
"Such pretty black hair," a dry, emotionless voice remarked from behind her.
"…!" A chill ran down Chen Xia's spine.
Rustle—
A cold hand reached out and played with Chen Xia's hair, yet she couldn't move an inch, because the hand that touched her had no warmth.
Finally, she trembled as the fingers, which had been toying with her hair, grazed the tip of her pointed ear.
Hiss—
Leo's magic was dispelled, and the owner of the hand gripped Chen Xia's shoulder, turning her around to face them.
With a face drained of all color, Chen Xia lifted her gaze to the figure standing beneath the snow-filled night sky.
"Bihar's heirs are still the same as ever," an elf whispered longingly, yet her eyes carried deep sorrow and an unspoken apology.
Chen Xia murmured the name of the most beautiful elf she had ever seen, "Vel… kia."