The Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 224
Chapter 224
‘There are four I haven’t caught yet.’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
Sasha, Haviden, Aina, Luke.
These were the students who had managed to survive their encounters with Leo so far.
The other students couldn’t run far and were all eliminated by Leo.
Of course, they weren’t completely free from his pursuit.
Thump-thump-
Leo approached the center of the forest, Mount Eddienne, with a somewhat leisurely pace.
His red eyes scanned the traces left in the forest.
‘All four are heading toward the center of the forest. Not a bad choice.’
Slash-!
Leo swung his sword at the monster attacking him.
Thunk-! Gurgle–
The troll, cleaved by Leo’s sword, fell to the ground, splattering blood.
Even though it was a monster with excellent regenerative abilities, it couldn’t withstand such an attack.
Mount Eddienne was teeming with monsters.
The closer you got to the center of the mountain, the more numerous and aggressive they became.
Additionally, the forest grew more complex and dense, offering many places to hide.
That was why heading to the forest’s center was the best choice to evade Leo’s pursuit.
‘Well, that is only if they can survive the monsters… With their skills, I’m sure that will be possible. Now, the question is what these kids will do.’
In Leo’s view, the four of them were exceptional.
Just by successfully evading Leo, they had proven themselves worthy of entering Lumene.
‘But if it had been Celia, Abad, Duran, Walden, or Eliza, they would have been eliminated without mercy.’
Those five were thorough in their task, and they surely would have eliminated them without hesitation.
Leo, however, allowed some of the test takers to escape out of curiosity about their response.
Aside from those four, everyone else Leo had encountered had been eliminated long ago.
‘But they won’t see me and leave twice.’
If they encountered him again, Leo planned to eliminate them without mercy.
“Huh?”
Leo, tracking their trail, stopped when he saw the five people appearing before him.
The group he thought would escape him now stood directly in his path.
Luke, who had fled with Aina, shouted, “Run! Quickly!”
“You can let go now.”
“Ah!”
Luke let go of Aina’s wrist, puzzled by her words.
“I’m sorry.”
Aina said, touching her wrist as she looked at Luke, “Don’t worry about me. Just run away on your own.”
“Why? You need to get away from him…”
“You and I can’t escape from him anyway.”
“Huh? Who is he?”
“Leo Plov.”
“Huh!”
Luke gasped at Aina’s revelation.
Leo Plov.
Currently the most famous hero candidate in the world.
Not only was he an all-class, but he was also a legendary figure who became the first freshman student council president in Lumene history!
Luke, initially flustered, soon regained his composure and said, “Still, we should run away.”
“Didn’t you understand what I’m saying? That person is far stronger than you think.”
She spoke with a resigned tone.
“It’s a waste of effort.”
“But you have to try your best!”
“Try my best? I don’t intend to.”
‘I need to start training again tomorrow to gain his recognition.’
Aina bowed her head slightly.
‘To be recognized by Leo Plov, I must become worthy of continuing my grandfather’s legacy and enhance my skills.’
The Hero Record of the Swordmaster.
Aina was his rightful heir.
If she ever chose to, she could enter the Swordmaster’s Hero Record at any time.
‘I need to become stronger.’
As Aina’s thoughts deepened, he said, “You don’t want to enter Lumene?”
“No.”
For Aina, defeating just one more demon was more important than studying at Lumene.
She approached the exam with the mindset that passing didn’t matter.
“Why? That’s such a shame! With such great skills, you would definitely be admitted!”
Aina gave Luke a curious look as he expressed his genuine regret.
“Why do you want to enter Lumene?”
“Well… because I want to become a hero.”
“Why?”
Luke scratched his head, laughing awkwardly.
“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing…”
Whoosh-!
At that moment, Aina grabbed Luke by the collar and dragged him away.
Crash-!
A flash of light shot past where Luke had been standing.
“Huh?”
Luke looked bewildered.
“With those shoddy skills, how dare you think of attacking him?”
Aina shook her head, eyeing the source of the sniping sorcery.
“Whew~ You’re quite responsive, aren’t you?”
A girl with a sorcery weapon slung over her shoulder emerged from the grass.
She had black hair, brown eyes, and healthy brown skin.
“You’re from the Southern Sorcery Tower,” Aina murmured, recognizing the emblem on her shoulder.
“Correct.”
The girl smiled and aimed her weapon at Aina.
“Judging by your sniping sorcery skills, are you Juen Torvina?”
“You recognize me, huh?”
The girl asked with a hostile smile, “Then what’s your name?”
“Aina Beidna.”
“The great-granddaughter of the Swordmaster? Wow~ That’s impressive~”
“Huh?”
Juen exclaimed in admiration, and Luke looked surprised.
He never imagined that this girl would be such a renowned figure.
“Looks like you’ve got some baggage.”
Juen smiled brightly, and Luke scratched his head.
He didn’t dispute her words, as they weren’t entirely incorrect.
Aina and Juen were both world-renowned test takers, and two of the most promising candidates for this year’s entrance exam.
“Anyway, I’m fortunate to have met someone I wanted to compete with, at least once.”
“I don’t really plan on fighting you.”
“That’s none of my concern.”
Juen looked at Luke and said, “Run away if you don’t want to get caught up in this.”
“…Rather than that, I think we should escape together.”
“Why?”
“We’re being chased right now.”
“Chased? By whom?”
“Leo Plov.”
Juen’s face tightened at Luke’s words.
“Why are you telling me this now!”
Juen clutched her head.
“I nearly froze to death dealing with that Ice Witch, and now you’re telling me that monster is coming too?”
Juen was visibly shaken.
“Hey, why are you following me?”
“Huh. You’re the one following me, aren’t you?”
A bickering voice interrupted them.
Sasha and Haviden emerged from the grass.
Sasha and Haviden narrowed their eyes at the sight of the other three.
“Aina Beidna, the great-granddaughter of the Swordsmaster. Juen Torvina, of the Southern Sorcery Tower.”
Sasha pulled out a handkerchief, unfolded it, and covered her mouth.
“And one person I’ve never heard of before.”
“Hahaha.”
Luke laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
“Huh? If it weren’t for the situation, I would’ve taken you down. You’re lucky.”
“Huh, don’t make me laugh. That’s what I was going to say. You should hurry up and leave before the student council president arrives.”
Haviden paused at Juen’s words.
“Student council president? Are you also being pursued by Senior Leo?”
Aina answered Haviden’s question. “You too?”
Sasha folded her sipseon and muttered, “It seems all the freshman representative candidates have become Senior Leo’s personal targets. You’re all quite unfortunate.”
Sasha shrugged.
“Since we’re in the same predicament, let’s figure out how to deal with Senior Leo together.”
“You guys handle it yourselves. I’m good at creating diversions. I won’t be caught unless it’s wide-range sorcery.”
“Your techniques won’t work on Senior Leo.”
“What?”
“He can easily use wide-area sorcery.”
“Did you see that? There are rumors about Leo Plov’s extraordinary sorcery skills, but I’ve never heard of him using wide-range spells.”
“That’s correct.”
Sasha’s eyes sparkled as she crossed her arms.
“There’s nothing Senior Leo can’t do!”
Juen shook her head at Sasha’s reaction.
At that moment, Aina opened her subspace and drew out a new sword.
“You guys run away. I’ll fight.”
Sasha, Haviden, and Juen frowned at her words.
“Why are you doing something so reckless?”
“Because I’m not someone who runs away.”
Those words provoked Sasha, Haviden, and Juen.
They had been considering fleeing, but Aina, whom they viewed as their main competitor, was ready to fight.
Their fear of Leo overshadowed their typical youthful pride.
But this display caused their pride to return.
“Do you think you’re the only one with courage? I have plenty, too.”
“Running away doesn’t suit me, either.”
“Even if it’s from Senior Leo, constantly running away bruises my pride.”
Juen, Haviden, and Sasha were angered.
Aina tilted her head, observing them.
“You can run away. It’d be better for you that way.”
“What the heck!”
Her genuine concern succeeded in provoking them in a favorable way.
Aina watched their reaction with confusion.
“Why are you acting like that?”
“I think it’s because of you, Aina.”
“Because of me? What did I do?”
Luke gave an awkward “hahaha,” as he watched Aina frown.
“Well, what are you going to do?”
Luke hesitated at Haviden’s question.
Unlike these four, Luke had no confidence in passing the Lumene exam.
He was an ordinary boy who had trained alone in the countryside his entire life.
But…
‘I want to fight.’
The youngest student council president in Lumene history, a person who had achieved feats comparable to those of a hero despite being a first-year student, Leo was an object of admiration for Luke.
After hearing Leo’s story, Luke decided to take the Lumene entrance exam.
‘Will I ever get the chance to see that person again in my life?’
Perhaps this was his only chance.
He wanted to challenge Leo at least once.
“I don’t know if I will really help, but I will assist.”
* * *
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[Translator – Aine]
[Proofreader – Ash]
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“Rather than being defeated individually, you’re all joining forces to stop me…”
Leo snickered as he observed the test takers burning with fighting spirit.
“Not a bad choice.”
Sasha, Haviden, and Juen felt a pang of realization.
They became furious at Aina’s actions.
Upon hearing Leo’s words, Luke’s eyes lit up with admiration.
“Oh, so that was your plan all along? I thought you just got upset with what Aina had said.”
“W-well, o-of course.”
“We-we’re going to strategically team up against our senior.”
“That’s right.”
The three decided to embrace their role in the team as they saw Luke’s eyes sparkle with hope.
At that moment, Aina took the lead.
“Draw your swords.”
The four of them lowered their postures with determined expressions at her command.
As Leo drew his sword and assumed a fighting stance, each had committed to fulfilling their role.
Even though it was a hastily assembled group, they had briefly discussed how to confront Leo.
Leo chuckled at Aina’s words.
“Draw my sword? Why should I do that?”
“Huh?”
Leo raised his hand.
“I don’t think I should draw my sword against you guys.”
“…!”
In a one-on-one fight, Leo’s declaration might have made sense.
But now it was one against five.
Even if the one was Leo Plov, one of the top hero candidates in Lumene history, and the representative of the freshmen.
“Shouldn’t we make him draw it?”
Juen curled the corners of his mouth.
“Sounds good to me.”
Click-!
Juen aimed her sniping sorcery weapon at Leo.
“I’ll make you regret it!”
Rumble-!
A powerful surge of sorcery force swept through the area.
This wasn’t a covert attack; it was an all-out assault.
Her power was focused on overwhelming rather than hiding the sorcery force.
Crash-!
The sound was more akin to artillery fire than a sniper shot.
A powerful sorcery bullet hurtled towards Leo.
Zooooooom-!
“…!”
Leo held a ball of sorcery power in his hand with a blank expression and struck the bullet.
Juen’s face tightened at the sight.
“Show me.”
Leo’s eyes flashed with intensity.
The five felt a chill creep over their bodies.
His gaze seemed to look down on them from a great height.
They were overwhelmed by the sheer force of those eyes.
“Show me your value.”