LHAHS Chapter 537
"Will it be okay?" Eiran asked with a worried expression.
Lunia held her face in her hands and said, "What could possibly happen?"
"But… if Sir Leo and Lady Velkia end up clashing."
"It's a mess, but I don't think this situation is necessarily bad."
When Velkia first declared that she was going to punish Leo, Lunia had been caught off guard by the sudden development, but looking at it rationally, Leo and Velkia meeting was actually the ideal outcome.
"Lunia is right. Our goal was to have Leo and Lady Velkia meet in the first place." Chen Xia nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. And… honestly, between the two of them, is it really Leo we should be worried about?" Lunia made a slightly awkward expression.
"That's true." Chen Xia nodded again, as if she shared the sentiment.
It wasn't just because Leo was Velkia's master. Velkia said she would discipline Leo, but was that even possible?
"Leo would never just sit back and let Lady Velkia be."
Lunia understood how Velkia felt about Kyle.
The young Velkia they met in Dweno's world had clearly regarded the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, as a father, and Leo likely felt the same about Velkia.
He would call her arrogant, rebellious, act as though he disapproved of her as his disciple, but he trusted Velkia more than anyone.
That was why his face had remained dark throughout their pursuit of her.
"What will you do when you meet Lady Velkia?"
"What else? I'll beat some sense into her."
When Lunia had cautiously asked, Leo had answered without hesitation.
Shouldn't we be worrying about Lady Velkia instead?
Lunia let out a sigh.
Just then, Eiran, who had been standing quietly, looked around the room where Velkia had been staying and muttered, "It feels strangely familiar."
"Huh? What does?" Lunia asked curiously at the sudden remark.
"This place… doesn't it remind you of Sir Leo's old house, the one we saw in Sir Dweno's world?"
Lunia looked around. Then, she nodded. "It really does."
The entire place felt desolate, devoid of any signs of life. Only the bare necessities were present, everything else meticulously organized.
It was like the home of someone who never planned to return.
Watching the scene, Lunia crouched on a chair at the dining table, gazing at the interior.
She recalled what Drianna had said upon seeing Kyle's home.
Perhaps he never allowed himself to get attached to this space.
A bleak, empty house that felt like its owner would never return.
Back then, she had thought it was simply a sign of a Great Hero's resolve, but now, she couldn't begin to imagine what Leo had been thinking.
Lunia glanced at the table piled high with empty dishes, the only place in this house that still held warmth.
"Maybe… even while Lady Velkia was being scolded, the reason she made such a mess of the house… was because she wanted to give Leo a reason to come back."
"Ah…" Eiran let out a small gasp as she recalled Velkia making a mess of the house.
Hearing their conversation, Chen Xia sighed deeply and began clearing the dishes. "Let's clean up first."
"Yeah, alright."
"Let's split the work."
Just as the three of them were about to start gathering the mountain of dishes…
Wuuuuung…!
"Hm?" Chen Xia's eyes widened at the resonance coming from inside her clothes. She set the dishes down and pulled out the object that was vibrating.
"Huh?" Her eyes grew round as she saw Bihar's dagger trembling in her hands.
Something's happening.
It was nearly dawn, yet Lunia and Eiran showed no signs of returning.
Leo realized something had happened and let out a deep sigh.
Things are getting complicated.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Lunia, Eiran, or Chen Xia. They were the hero candidates he had chosen himself. No matter what trials they faced, he believed they would overcome them.
But the situation right now is serious.
Leo, who had been sitting on the windowsill, looked outside.
Velkia is definitely in this city. And this city is twisted.
Even as a blizzard raged, the people on the streets were laughing and chatting merrily. He could see them indulging in every manner of luxury in this frozen land, but their eyes were filled with writhing greed.
Eyes that didn't belong to elves, who were supposed to be noble by nature.
No matter how rotten their personalities were, Luna had always remained noble on the battlefield and not just her. Whenever elves devoted themselves to something, Leo had never seen a race more noble.
But not all elves are noble.
Elves were noble because they took pride in proving their own worth, but these people were different. They believed themselves to be noble simply because of their elven blood and Stellar Magic.
They might consider that special, but in Leo's eyes, it was meaningless.
This city is strange.
It might look glamorous on the surface, but Leo could see the deep darkness lurking beneath.
He couldn't yet tell exactly what it was, but the stench of rot was unbearable.
That was probably why Velkia was here, yet the city remained strangely peaceful.
The ideals that filled this city were exactly the kind Velkia despised the most.
For Velkia, a vengeful wraith consumed by hatred, turning this place into a sea of fire wouldn't have been surprising in the least.
Should I be relieved?
Leo let out a deep sigh, and it wasn't because he cared about this city.
Hatred burns oneself in the end.
A fire of hatred that never stops burning will eventually consume the one who carries it. The screaming, struggling Velkia would ultimately lose herself.
Perhaps it was fortunate that she had died before that happened while she was still alive. If not, Velkia would have truly become a catastrophe, but now, as an undead?
She will become more and more irredeemable.
That was why Leo felt relieved. Because Velkia had not yet crossed the line.
He didn't care about the people living in this land. No, rather, if this land of pureblood supremacists had joined hands with Tartaros, he wouldn't hesitate to burn Eldon to the ground and erase its existence from this world.
I am not Lysinas.
Leo knew, and not just him. Lysinas, Luna, Aaron, Dweno, all those who had risked their lives for that era knew that the world they saved was not an ideal paradise.
Even so, they had not hesitated to give their lives, because they knew that it wasn't only darkness and corruption.
And also… because they all followed Lysinas's will.
The Wise Queen. A title bestowed by the gods in reverence.
The gods did not call Lysinas a queen simply because she was wise and intelligent.
In 5000 years of history, Lysinas was the only person in the Hero Record to be granted the title of a ruler, because to the gods, the title of ruler held a meaning beyond anything else.
For the people of the world, rulers were those who ruled vast lands and were followed by their subjects, but the rulers spoken of by the gods transcended that concept.
They were literally the rulers of the world, true sovereigns.
People in later generations believed that Lysinas was called the Wise Queen because she was the most intelligent ruler in history, but that wasn't the truth. The Wise Queen meant that she was the wise ruler of the world, recognized by the gods.
She is likely the only one. The only one ever called a ruler by the gods.
The reason the gods evaluated Lysinas so highly was incredibly simple.
Because she bore the weight of everything.
She did not simply ignite the dawn of resistance that defeated Erebos.She shouldered the entire world and led it toward the light.
Those who committed evil, those who sinned, even those who betrayed the world.
Lysinas forgave and accepted them. She gave them a chance.
Though she bore the duty of a black dragon to judge the wicked, Lysinas embraced them.
Of course, those who threw away that chance were judged by Leo.
Leo had said, "Betrayal is unacceptable."
But Lysinas shook her head. "They too are a part of the world we are trying to save."
And she gathered all of that into a single ideal, salvation.
The merciful, noble, and radiant ruler of the world.
That is why I respect you, Lysinas. And why I can never be like you.
Leo's eyes turned cold. If it had been Lysinas, she would have been able to unite the countless factions of the world, but unfortunately, he was not Lysinas.
He would cut away the rotting flesh with his own hands. Efficiently.
Just as I did 5000 years ago.
That was why Leo knew why Velkia had left this city untouched.
I didn't teach her everything, but…
In the end, what Velkia had observed and learned was himself.
Velkia knew about what Kyle… and Bihar had done in the darkness. She had always tried to follow them whenever they moved in the shadows, but they had always pushed her away.
"This is not a place for you."
She had never set foot inside, but Velkia had definitely seen how Leo and Bihar operated.
She is assessing them. Deciding who is worth saving.
Velkia might be a monster now, but she was not yet a mindless beast.
That was why Leo felt heavy-hearted.
Velkia would continue to lose sight of the line.
Just as he was thinking that, The door opened.
Kiiik…!
Leo's eyes twitched. Hyper Perception was still active, yet he had not detected anything.
That meant that the intruder could only be one person.
Click—
Velkia closed the door behind her as she entered. Then, with lifeless eyes, she stared at Leo.
Under that gaze, Leo stepped down from the windowsill.
Their eyes met in midair.
Leo shut his eyes tightly. A reunion after 5000 years, but to them, it didn't feel like that long.
For him, it had only been a matter of decades. For Velkia, perhaps a few dozen years.
Even so, the Velkia before him was not the Velkia he had known. There was no life in her eyes, and not simply because she was undead, but because the eyes that had never once lost their light had long since dried up.
The absence of light in them squeezed Leo's heart. He already knew that Velkia was undead, he had long expected she would look like this, but… seeing it with his own eyes was different.
Leo looked up at the ceiling.
Damn this world.
He had known that the world was filthy. He had known that and still saved it.
Therefore, he had no regrets, no resentment. Even if it had been someone else's conviction, as long as that conviction had value, he had chosen to follow it, but in this moment, he regretted it.
He resented saving the world. He hated the weak version of himself who had been satisfied and closed his eyes in that final moment.
Leo's crimson eyes turned toward Velkia.
Velkia, who had been staring at those eyes, murmured, "Those are some arrogant eyes."
Eyes filled with deep sorrow. Eyes full of unbearable pity. Eyes that seemed to understand everything.
For a brief moment, Velkia grimaced. That gaze, as if seeing straight through her, made her feel instinctive rejection.
There's no one left anymore.
No one who could look at her with those eyes.
So…
"Don't look at me like that."