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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Celebrating all the young candidates here officially becoming Heroes…”
It was finally graduation day. As with the entrance ceremony, Principal Heinz Armanus was giving the graduation speech, and it was quite long. But it wasn’t boring.
“Everyone has now received at least one Sacred Relic. Please cherish and use these Sacred Relics meaningfully.”
He didn’t explicitly mention it, but Heinz’s gaze was fixed on one person: Yuseora, the inheritor of his cherished and hidden 125th Sacred Replicant. Under his gaze, Yuseora’s lips moved slightly.
‘Seo… Seo Yoo-rang, help me…’
Whatever had happened during that lunch invitation, Yuseora was frozen stiff in front of Heinz. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. I just focused on Heinz’s speech.
‘Still, it doesn’t really feel real.’
Becoming a Hero, that is.
‘It’s only natural, though.’
I was already a high-ranking Hero, and the title itself didn’t mean much to me anymore. The Hero Academy was just a means to an end, a way to obtain a new identity I could use.
I felt no particular significance in this easily obtained Hero status. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t use it to my advantage, though.
‘But for some, this must feel like the end.’
I looked around. Some of them had expressions full of accomplishment at becoming Heroes. I wasn’t judging them. Everyone had different goals.
‘For those people, their goal is simply to perform the minimum duties as a Hero, retire, and live off their pension.’
But that wasn’t my goal. I had a long way to go, and my objective was still out of sight. So, every moment of my journey felt like a new beginning.
‘All preparations are complete.’
I could use archery, I’d obtained the 4-star Sacred Relic Resonance, I’d passed the third Trial and received a skill as a reward, and most importantly… I’d gained companions. I had gathered all the strength I could.
‘Even so…’
This strength might not be enough. No, it probably wouldn’t be. But now, I could at least put up a fight.
‘There’s no way to know without trying.’
With that thought, I glanced at Elsie, who was standing a little apart. She was staring straight at Heinz. If I hadn’t known her skills, I would have just dismissed it.
‘This girl…’
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The speech was over. We were each given a black cloak, the symbol of a Hero of the Church. It was the same kind Gwen used.
“Oh, now it feels like I’m a real Hero.”
Elsie said, moving her body as if swinging a sword while wearing the cloak. She was as energetic as ever. Yuseora, on the other hand, was slumped on the ground, exhausted.
“I thought I was going to die…”
She looked like she’d just survived a grueling meeting with her in-laws. Since the Sacred Replicant was like a child to Heinz, the analogy wasn’t far off. But that was all.
Fortunately, it seemed Yuseora hadn’t made any major mistakes.
‘By the way…’
I had a suspicion about Elsie from earlier.
“Elsie, you were sleeping while standing, weren’t you?”
“What? What are you…”
Elsie looked puzzled. But I had my reasons.
“I heard you snoring.”
Elsie looked like she was awake, but considering her optical modulation, I couldn’t take that at face value. And what solidified my suspicion was her breathing.
“Your breathing sounded exactly like when you’re asleep.”
“You could tell that just from my breathing from that distance?”
Elsie looked astonished. But I didn’t think it was that surprising.
“You could tell who I was just from my scent.”
“No, you have a distinct smell, different from other people. It’s hard to describe.”
A distinct smell? I wasn’t sure about that. To me, scents and breathing sounds seemed similar.
“You do have a slightly different smell.”
Yuseora backed Elsie up. With both of them saying it, I had nothing to refute.
“What kind of smell?”
“It’s hard to explain… Kind of like Professor Freya, I guess? It’s… different.”
Freya’s name suddenly came out of Elsie’s mouth. Freya had already left Heilen to feed false information to the Demon King Council. I was a little worried about her, but I trusted her.
‘A smell similar to Freya…’
I tried to recall Freya’s scent, but all I could remember was the smell of alcohol. I still didn’t understand.
“Isn’t there something wrong with your sense of smell?”
“No way! Anyone we ask would agree that your hearing is strange, not our sense of smell.”
Strange? That was a bit harsh. But it was true that my hearing was better than average. I could hear whispers from a distance. But then, the problem shifted.
“Wait, but if you even know what her breathing sounds like when she’s asleep, how much…”
Yuseora’s face flushed red. Ever since I told her about my past encounter and relationship with Elsie, her misunderstandings seemed to be getting worse. Well, it wasn’t exactly a misunderstanding.
‘Still, I should probably clear things up a bit.’
The three of us would be traveling together for a while. This awkward atmosphere wouldn’t do. Even if there should be no secrets between companions, this was a matter of privacy.
‘Maybe if we refrain from… certain activities outside, we can keep it a secret.’
So, I tried to explain to her.
“It’s not like that, it’s because two years ago…”
“I knew it.”
I hadn’t even finished speaking. Yuseora chose to escape reality.
“There’s no reason for me to be stuck between you two.”
No, she had to be stuck between us. Of course, I would try to minimize “those kinds” of situations, but I couldn’t guarantee anything. I wondered if I should have just been honest.
“Yuseora, that’s…”
“Oh, maybe this will be more fun.”
Elsie seemed to be enjoying herself. Even though she was right next to me, she felt strangely distant, like a spectator.
‘Whatever.’
It seemed my original goal of hiding my relationship with Elsie from Yuseora had succeeded, albeit in a strange way. I would think about this later.
‘There are more important things right now.’
We were now outside the Hero Academy, in a quiet open space in Heilen. While unavoidable until now, it would be best to move quickly from here on out.
“So, are you rested enough?”
Yuseora still seemed tired, but not enough to be incapacitated. She was a Hero, after all. She quickly masked her fatigue and stood up, brushing off her cloak.
“We have many places to go. Let’s get moving.”
We needed to stop by the church headquarters to register our party and take advantage of the various benefits offered to Heroes. We also needed to purchase supplies for our journey. And…
‘Let’s leave Heilen as soon as possible.’
Now that we had formed a party, things were different. We were a party worth noticing, even among the newly formed ones.
Elsie hadn’t shown much of her power yet, but Yuseora’s strength had been clearly demonstrated during the graduation competition.
A strike comparable to a high-ranking Hero, Allen Blake’s attention, and even inheriting twenty-four Sacred Replicant series swords from Heinz. And I had inherited a 4-star Sacred Relic from Lyudmila, a high-ranking Hero.
Since we were a party of classmates, we would mostly be treated as rookies, but there was no guarantee everyone would think that way.
‘No.’
It was more accurate to assume we would attract some attention. So, we needed to leave this place quickly, before that happened. And that meant moving efficiently.
“But you’re the slowest one.”
That was true. Perhaps because of my Speed stat, I was the slowest walker among the three of us. I could move faster with the authority of the wind, but I didn’t want to use it all the time. They usually adjusted their pace to mine.
So why was I lagging behind now? It wasn’t because of my walking speed. It was because I had stopped to look back. To take one last look at the Hero Academy.
‘I’ll probably never return here.’
A proper departure required a proper farewell. That had been my motto since I left my first village. So, I bid a proper farewell to the Hero Academy.
“Alright, I’m coming.”
And then I hurried after Elsie and Yuseora, who were waiting for me.
This was a true departure.
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