The Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 237
Chapter 237
Thud—Thud—Swaaaaaaaaa—!
Tap—Tap—
It started to rain.
Corpses littered the countryside.
A girl walked through the devastation.
The cold spring rain washed over the ground.
Drip—Drip—
Red droplets fell from her body.
“Keuk—Choke!”
The figure in black clothes was spitting blood.
Looking down at the sole survivor, Chen Xia said, “This is punishment for colluding with Tartaros.”
“Cough—How terrible.” The dying man sneered. “I wonder what makes you different from us, you Shadows. For a young girl to be this cruel.”
“At least we don’t betray the world for our own greed.”
“Don’t brag about how great you are! After all, you are just losers who are not recognized by the gods.”
The man’s face twisted into a sneer.
Crunch!
A silver flash cut through the air from behind Chen Xia, severing the man’s neck.
Thwack!
Blood spurted out.
Chen Xia’s rain-drenched body was stained with blood once again.
Chen Xia turned her head.
“Your Highness. Don’t let their empty words pollute your ears.”
“Yes.”
Chen Xia answered indifferently and turned around.
The traitors hiding in the village were dealt with.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of feeling.’
The other Shadows that had appeared were methodically dismantling the corpses, ensuring they were dead.
Chen Xia took a deep breath.
‘If my classmates had seen this, they might have frowned.’
Tartaros’s dark sorcery had unleashed an unexpected situation.
For a Shadow, such assured killing was second nature.
However, it was definitely not a noble act.
Yet, this scene was not unfamiliar to Chen Xia.
In fact, she accepted it as natural.
It was a sight she had known since childhood.
For the past year, she had merely been in another world.
Thump—thump—
Chen Xia continued walking.
These people, including Chen Xia, were Shadows of the Xian Empire.
The Xian Empire.
A great power in the East with a long history.
The Xian Empire had a nickname: the Land of Shadows.
The Great Heroes had saved the world.
And the Age of Heroes began.
Two thousand years had passed since the Age of Disaster ended.
As the disaster returned and the power of the Hero Records became known, heroes began to lead the world’s affairs.
Many admired and looked up to heroes.
They praised the heroes’ feats and dreamed of becoming heroes themselves.
Hero academies were established, hero families emerged, and countries founded by heroes were born.
Many countries made efforts to produce heroes.
‘But not the Xian Empire.’
The Xian Empire did not cultivate heroes.
It wasn’t that heroes were not born, but Xian placed greater importance on Shadows.
‘Before this country was founded… No, we have been fighting since before even the Age of Heroes.’
The official founding of the Xian Empire was 4,000 years ago, but the Shadows of Xian had existed for 5,000 years.
Since the Age of Disaster.
During that time, they had protected the world without ever leaving their names in the Hero Records.
‘More noble than anyone… and more ugly than anyone.’
Step—step—
Living entirely in darkness, the Shadows enforced their own justice.
Chen Xia stopped walking.
She opened her eyes wide when she found the young siblings hiding in the alley.
The siblings were shivering, perhaps from the cold spring rain.
Step—Step—
“Are you okay?”
At Chen Xia’s question, the siblings hugged each other tighter.
“Are you cold? Do you want to come with me…”
“Eek!”
Chen Xia reached out to help the children.
The boy hugged his sister tightly and closed his eyes.
At that scream, Chen Xia’s hand stopped in midair.
Chen Xia hesitated and then said with a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry. I must have scared you.”
She straightened up.
“There won’t be anything scary in the future anymore. So don’t stay here; go home. You’ll catch a cold if you stay here for long.”
With that, Chen Xia exited the alley.
“Brother, the pretty lady helped us…”
“Shh! Follow me quickly. That person is a witch!”
The boy covered his sister’s mouth and hurriedly disappeared deeper into the alley.
‘They must have seen me. Hunting.’
Chen Xia looked down at her hand.
It was as clean as usual.
But just a moment ago, it had been soaked with blood.
It was familiar.
Killing others.
She was used to it.
Being the object of others’ fear.
Yet her heart fluttered…
‘I guess I was really deeply dreaming for the past year…’
It seemed she had been temporarily blinded by the dazzling days of the past year.
‘No.’
Chen Xia clenched her fists.
‘This is where I belong.’
She closed her eyes.
The faces of her friends who had studied with her for a year came to mind.
Finally, the image of a boy appeared.
A person who seemed to have been born to be a hero.
A pure white figure always surrounded by light and hope.
‘In the end, I… I can’t be like Leo.’
They were born differently.
With that thought, Chen Xia vanished into the darkness.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Aine]
[Proofreader – Ash]
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* * *
“Whew.”
Leena let out a deep sigh.
“My head hurts.”
She was wearing an official uniform and loosened the tie around her neck.
“Accidents have been happening nonstop since the first month of the term.”
With an irritated expression, Leena retrieved a bottle of liquor from the cupboard beside her desk.
She poured it into a glass and pondered.
‘Are they going to do as they please?’
Sitting at her desk, Leena noticed an envelope containing a letter from the Xian Empire.
The letter’s contents were straightforward.
It announced that Xian’s princess, Chen Xia, was resigning from school.
‘It must be the emperor’s intention to keep Xian’s talent hidden from the outside world.’
The Xian royal family operated in complete secrecy.
Only the emperor could reveal himself to the world.
Even the future emperor could not disclose his identity until he ascended.
This tradition had persisted for thousands of years.
Those talented enough not to become emperors among the Xian royal family lived as Shadows, not heroes.
That was Xian’s tradition.
‘That country doesn’t make sense.’
Leena had also spent half her life as a Shadow of Lumene.
Initially, she was a student at Lumene.
However, as graduation approached, the Shadow side of Lumene offered her a position.
She accepted and began living as a Shadow.
‘If it were me, I’d ensure my children avoided such dirty work and lived in the light!’
If the emperor stood before her, she would even confront him.
She didn’t regret her life as a Shadow.
Although she walked a bloody path, she never considered it wrong.
Even if she could return to the past, she would choose the Shadow’s path again.
However…
‘It’s not as if I would deliberately push the kids down that path.’
Chen Xia’s first-year grades indicated she was an exceptional hero candidate.
How could they push such a talented person, who could follow the path of a hero, into the shadows?
‘That country is definitely not in its right mind.’
Leena sighed deeply.
‘The biggest problem is that Chen Xia herself wants to quit being a hero candidate.’
You couldn’t force someone who doesn’t want it.
Moreover, this wasn’t just any renowned hero family, but the royal family of the Xian Empire.
And she was their princess.
‘I have no choice but to see for myself…’
Leena was contemplating this when she heard a knock.
Knock knock
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Leena looked puzzled at the person entering the principal’s office.
“What’s the student council president doing here at this hour? You should be in class.”
“Oops.”
“They say you’re the best student in Lumene’s history, but you have some surprising flaws?”
“And our principal has been drinking since noon.”
At Leo’s words, Leena, who had been shaking her glass, set it down and replied, “There may be some truth to that.”
Leena rose from her desk and gestured to the guest sofa.
“Sit down. There must be a reason for a visit from the student council president.”
Leo took a seat on the sofa.
“Yes. What brings you here?”
“It’s about Chen Xia.”
“Chen Xia,” Leena said, settling back against the sofa.
“Did you hear from Sena, the dormitory director? She mentioned she might drop out due to family circumstances.”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s nothing you can do as the student council president. Lumene isn’t special in that regard. As an educational institution, we teach qualified students. We can’t teach those who are unqualified.”
“Does that qualification refer to personal will or inclination?”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe Chen Xia wants to drop out because she’s a Shadow.”
“…”
Leena’s expression shifted subtly at Leo’s words.
“Did Chen Xia say that?”
“No. I sensed it vaguely.”
“That’s impressive. Our youngest student council president, you’ve got a unique perspective.”
Leena stroked her chin, admiringly.
“Then it makes even less sense. Don’t you know that heroes and Shadows have the same goals but can never align ideologically?”
Leena laughed heartily.
“Many hero candidates despise Shadows.”
And it was true.
Among the hero candidates, some had obsessive compulsions against Shadows.
The work Shadows did was worlds apart from the acts of a hero.
“The radicals are particularly troubling. They don’t hesitate to torture or massacre people, often harming innocents under the guise of rooting out traitors.”
Leena scoffed and regarded Leo.
“Leo Plov, are you saying you think that she was destined to be a hero?”
Leena rested her chin on her hand and crossed her legs as she continued.
“You’re concerned for Chen Xia because she’s your friend, right? You shouldn’t get involved in matters concerning Shadows. Just be a noble hero.”
“A noble hero…”
Leo’s expression grew amused.
“You make such claims, yet you accepted Shadow candidates into Lumene.”
Leena’s gaze turned icy.
“I noticed it when I met them earlier. Some of the juniors were raised as Shadows.”
Leena chuckled.
“There are radicals among heroes. Many heroes have committed atrocities against innocents. It’s merely a question of justification. To me, they’re the same.”
“The same?”
Leena’s expression remained amused.
“Yes. Heroes and Shadows. What’s the difference between them?”
“You really think so?”
Leena chuckled.
“Yes. Heroes and Shadows both fight against Tartaros. But…”
Leena’s eyes narrowed.
“There’s a crucial difference between the two.”
“A crucial difference?”
“Yes.”
Leena stood, picked up the glass from her desk, and took a drink.
Then she looked at Leo and said, “No matter how great a feat a Shadow accomplishes, they can’t be listed on the Hero Record.”
Leena sighed deeply.
“The gods praise the deeds of heroes, but they ignore the deeds of Shadows.”
Clink-
Leena set down her glass and smiled bitterly.
“The crucial separation between us is that Shadows are beings abandoned by the gods.”