Chapter 371
Laurel wore a momentarily bewildered expression at Elci’s question.
“What? The era you had to live in? What are you talking about?”
She couldn’t understand what the spirit in front of her was saying.
Elci, who flew up to Laurel’s face, wore a slightly sulky expression.
-You said you gave up on this world, but you haven’t passed it on to future generations and you haven’t disappeared, isn’t that because you still have some lingering feelings?
Elci grumbled in a disgruntled voice.
-As if you’ve seen all the darkness in the world.
Elci pouted and made a dissatisfied expression.
It wasn’t like the usual Elci.
But Elci, in her own way, felt frustrated with the Great Spirit in front of her.
She possessed a more brilliant light than anyone else, yet she pursued darkness.
She could shine brighter, but it seemed like she was killing her own light.
Bearing the darkness wasn’t the role of the Spirit of Radiance.
It was to lead people by shining the light of hope.
That was the Spirit of Radiance.
“I don’t know what you saw, but.”
Laurel frowned.
“You can’t understand my darkness.”
-Then first, show me the darkness you saw.
“You’re saying you can understand my darkness?”
-Of course.
Elci smiled brightly.
‘So bright for a Spirit of Darkness…!’
Laurel held out her hand to Elci.
A small Light Orb was sparkling on Laurel’s hand.
“I won’t be responsible if your mind collapses.”
It was the darkness that even the Great Spirit had struggled with.
For a spirit, which is a mental entity, a crack in the mind is a fatal wound.
At Laurel’s words, Elci smiled and reached out to the Light Orb.
Whoosh-!
A bright light burst out.
It was only for a moment.
But from Elci’s perspective, it was a very long time.
Elci opened her eyes.
Obsidian-like eyes as black as a night sky without even starlight reflected Laurel’s face.
Elci smiled bitterly.
Seeing Elci like that, Laurel was about to wear a flustered expression.
-You must have had a hard time.
Elci, reaching out her hand, patted Laurel’s head with her small palm.
Seeing Elci comforting her as if she understood everything, Laurel distorted her face.
“What the hell.”
Was the darkness she held so light that it could be understood so easily?
“What are you that you understand me so easily!”
-Hmm.
Elci covered her cheeks as if troubled and pondered.
-Not that I’m competing, but it’s probably because I’ve had even worse experiences than you.
Elci, smiling bitterly, reached out her hand.
Darkness rippled.
-Want to see it?
Laurel stared at Elci’s darkness and reached out her hand.
Darkness wrapped around Laurel’s body.
A moment later, Laurel stepped back with a pale face.
“You… what the hell are you?”
The era of Elci that Laurel saw was full of only despair.
“How did you live through the Era of Calamity?”
-I am a Great Spirit of the past.
Elci introduced herself.
-I am Elci, the Spirit of Darkness, the Shadow Spirit, who was born in the Era of Calamity and disappeared in the Era of Calamity.
Laurel’s eyes shook as she watched Elci formally introduce herself once again.
“How can a Great Spirit who disappeared 5,000 years ago be in this era?”
-I borrowed the power of the Hero Record.
Laurel couldn’t deny Elci’s words.
The scenery in the memories she saw was clearly the Era of Calamity.
As the Contractor of Rodia, she had conquered the Hero Records of the Great Heroes together, so she clearly remembered the scenery of that era.
But experiencing a part of that era through the Hero Record and the despair of someone who had to live through it were completely different.
Laurel’s hand trembled.
Seeing Elci’s memories, she could understand how she felt.
“How… how can you smile like that?”
Laurel, barely opening her mouth with a trembling voice, looked at Elci.
“How can you move towards the light?”
Despite living in such a desperate era, Elci didn’t let go of the string of hope.
-Well.
Elci tilted her head.
-That’s probably… because the light is so beautiful.
Elci’s brightly smiling appearance captivated Laurel’s eyes.
Watching that scene, Leo smiled bitterly.
Leo knew another Elci.
If the current Elci was the Elci before she became twisted.
The Elci that Leo originally knew was a spirit who had more skepticism about the world than anyone else.
‘And yet, she sacrificed herself for the world.’
For the starlight in the night sky that she had never seen, Elci willingly gave her life.
Elci, who was born as the darkest being in the darkest era, was such a spirit.
-So, don’t give up on this world.
Elci stroked Laurel’s cheek and smiled brightly.
-Don’t give up on your contractor. If you don’t give up, you can definitely save everyone. Just like this world, which had lost its light, has regained its light once again.
Laurel’s face distorted as if she was about to cry.
For Laurel, who was trapped in deep darkness, that one word was like salvation.
***
Laurel had transformed into a small figure the size of Elci’s palm.
-So.
Laurel looked at Leo.
-Leo Plov, what the hell is your identity?
A Hero Candidate who has a spirit from the Era of Calamity as his contractor.
At Laurel’s question, Elci said.
-You must never say in front of Leo that I had a hard time or anything like that.
-Pardon?
-If you’re not careful, you’ll hear nagging like, ‘Have you ever fought Erebos? Or have you seen the world destroyed?’ You heard it earlier, right? Saying ‘these youngsters’?
“What do you think of me?”
Leo, sighing softly, glanced at Laurel.
“I am the reincarnation of the Hero of Beginnings.”
-Th, the Hero of Beginnings?
Laurel’s eyes widened at Leo’s identity, which she couldn’t have imagined.
“Why? Can’t you believe it?”
-We, well, considering Elci-nim’s identity… it’s not impossible, but.
Before she knew it, Laurel’s tone towards Elci had changed to honorifics.
It couldn’t be helped.
Elci was a Great Spirit who had been with the Great Heroes in the Era of Calamity.
For Laurel, she was like a senior.
‘Leo Plov is All-Class. And he’s been showing unusual moves.’
The Hero Record exists, the Era of Heroes has opened, and 5,000 years have passed.
Even after the existence of the World of Heroes was revealed, there was no one with the same abilities as Kyle.
From the beginning, even the Heroes of Genesis didn’t have anyone who inherited Kyle’s power.
Laurel, hesitating as she looked at Leo, carefully asked.
-Th… if you’re really the Hero of Beginnings.
Laurel, looking around, mustered up her courage and asked.
-Didn’t you really know that the King of Wisdom had feelings for you?
“……”
Leo looked at Laurel with an expressionless face.
At Leo’s gaze, Laurel unknowingly made a flinching expression.
“Did you really think I didn’t know? I had to leave on a journey to save the world, so I had no choice but to turn a blind eye.”
Elci looked at Leo with a dumbfounded face, and Laurel sighed in relief.
-I knew it, right? Rodia said so! She said she felt so sorry for Lysinas-nim, and she was openly teaching her even the etiquette of the Dragon race that she didn’t even need to learn, and if she didn’t notice that, she was really an idiot.
Leo just smiled.
‘These damn things, really.’
Seiren called him an idiot, and Rodia called him a moron.
Leo thought that he should punish them before he nagged them.
“Then I’ll ask you. Spirit of Radiance.”
Leo, approaching Laurel, said.
“Will you make a contract with me?”
Laurel looked up at Leo.
The Great Spirits of Radiance have traditionally made contracts with those who will lead the world.
During the Era of Calamity.
The one who would lead the world to salvation was Lysinas, the King of Wisdom.
And during the Era of Calamity, Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis, took on that role instead.
-If Kyle-nim faces the Primordial Evil once again… you will have to bet everything on Kyle-nim once again. Do you think this world is worth it?
“Worth.”
Leo burst into laughter.
“Elci asked me something like that a long time ago too.”
Elci smiled bitterly at the words that another version of herself, whom she didn’t know, had said.
“I thought so too. I know very well that the world we tried to save… the world we saved isn’t just beautiful.”
‘We will save the world.’
He recalled the words that his friend, who had left first, had told him.
‘Why should we save it? Is this world worth it?’
He also recalled his own words, which he had answered crookedly.
“But this world is also a beautiful world full of flowers and children laughing brightly.”
Leo looked down at the scenery of the city visible outside.
The sun was already setting.
‘It’s not something to judge by whether it’s worth it or not.’
“It’s not something to judge by whether it’s worth it or not.”
The red sunset poured down behind Leo’s back as he turned around.
‘It’s the world that my precious people cherished and loved, and the world they will live in. That one reason is enough to bet everything on it.’
“It’s the world that my precious people cherished and loved, and the world they will live in. Someone taught me that one reason is enough to bet everything on it.”
-Is that one reason really enough?
“It’s a fact that the most foolish yet wisest woman in the world taught me, so it’s certain.”
Laurel, watching Leo answer without hesitation, bowed her head politely.
-Kyle-nim, no. Leo Plov-nim. I promise to become your contractor and become the sword and shield that will open the path you will take and lend you my strength.
Laurel raised her head and reached out her hand.
The mark of the contract appeared on the back of Leo’s hand.
-Please save the world once again.
“Yeah. Please take care of me, Spirit of Radiance.”
***
Late at night after the sun had set.
Eliana, who was walking ahead in the alley, said with a very flushed face.
“So. I saw the Class Rep going into that sleazy district with my own eyes!”
At Eliana’s words, Chelsea narrowed her eyes.
“There’s no way Leo Oppa would go to such a strange alley.”
Seeing Chelsea full of disbelief, Eliana made a frustrated expression.
“Yeah! If it’s the Class Rep’s usual image, there’s no way! But the Class Rep is also a boy!”
Chloe, making a pathetic expression at Eliana’s words, asked Carr.
“Carr, what do you think?”
“Well, Leo has never shown any interest in that kind of thing.”
“That’s right, he’s a mature Leo, isn’t he?”
“You guys don’t know anything.”
Eliana raised her index finger and wagged it.
“The Class Rep is very mature.”
“That’s right.”
“Adults do amazing things.”
“What are those amazing things?”
As Chelsea squinted, Carr, who was next to her, smiled slyly.
“Why are you asking when you know everything? If two people go into a room, it’s an amazing magic that turns them into three people.”
“No! It’s a magic that can turn them into four people!”
Thwack-!
“Cough!”
“Keck!”
Chelsea struck Carr and Eliana’s necks with both arms.
“Keep the vulgar jokes to a minimum.”
Chloe, watching Chelsea make a pathetic expression, clicked her tongue.
“He probably went for investigation purposes.”
That’s how the four people arrived at the entrance to the Pleasure District.
“Grandmother!”
“It’s that little miss who screamed and ran away earlier.”
Late at night.
The old woman, clicking her tongue, said.
“You can see even more amazing things in this district at night. Did you come because you’re interested?”
“I’m not interested in that kind of thing!”
As Eliana shouted, Carr smiled lewdly next to her.
“Really?”
Thud-!
“Cough?”
Carr, who was hit in the solar plexus, collapsed.
“That boy who went in earlier. Do you know where he went?”
“I didn’t see him leaving, so he’s probably still in the Pleasure District.”
At those words, Eliana flinched and said.
“See! There’s no way he’d be investigating for this long! The Class Rep has definitely fallen into the world of adults here!”
Chloe and Chelsea also wore flustered expressions after hearing that Leo had been here for a long time.
Carr’s mouth dropped open.
“Wow, as expected of Leo. He’s so bold?”
“There’s no way Leo Oppa would do that!”
Chelsea shouted with a flushed face, and Carr flinched.
“Ah, no! Don’t shout at me.”
“What are you guys doing here?”
Leo appeared at the entrance.
Eliana looked up and down at Leo.
It was when Chelsea and Chloe were hesitating slightly.
“Class Rep, tell me honestly.”
“What?”
“Did you come here to play? Did you want to experience the world of adults? Is that it?”
At those words, Leo grabbed Eliana’s cheeks and pulled them.
“What are you talking about?”
“S-stop it!”
“You’re so precocious. I knew it when you hid a bunch of unhealthy magazines and novels in the dorm.”
“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Eliana screamed to stop Leo’s words with a flushed face.
“You said you wouldn’t say that!”
“Isn’t it because you only read that kind of stuff that you have such strange imaginations?”
“Don’t say it!”
Eliana protested urgently, but she was only having her dark history revealed while being scolded by Leo.
“I sometimes think when Leo scolds the kids.”
Chelsea looked at Carr.
“Doesn’t it remind you of when you were scolded by your parents?”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Chelsea nodded.
Carr looked at Chloe.
“Her expression is fierce?”
“I’m going to scold Eliana a little.”
Chloe, who was the head of the dorm, was angry that Eliana had brought in prohibited items.
“Are you her mom?”
Thud-!
“Cough!?”
Carr, who had said unnecessary words, was hit in the side and rolled on the floor.