The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
Chapter 296

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Chapter 296: The End of the World (1)

I want to die.

Even though I’d come back to life anyway.

Still, I want to die.

That’s all I can think about.

“Um… Dale?”

A familiar voice rang in my ears.

I turned my head to avoid her gaze.

I didn’t want to talk.

Not to anyone.

“S-sorry. I didn’t think Her Majesty would really show up…”

A wound carved deep within my heart.

In the grey-stained garden of my mind, rotten branches were sprawled all around.

“Dale? Say something, will you?”

Ah…

How fragile humans are.

How fleeting life is.

Clutching the edge of time I could never turn back, I let my tears fall without end—

“Hey!”

Squish.

The heavenly softness that touched my hand brought bloom to the wasteland of my heart.

“…Iris?”

“Feeling better now?”

Iris murmured that her trick worked and let out a small chuckle.

“Honestly, you can’t just sulk like that just because your secret got exposed!”

“Just because?!”

She would never understand the profound shame I had felt.

“I won’t make you cross-dress again, so cheer up.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I swear on the names of the Seven Gods.”

Iris smiled sweetly and drew a cross in the air.

“……”

Well, if the Saintess of the Church of Seven swore on the names of the Seven Gods, what more could I ask?

“Uh… Wait, so we can’t take any more photos of Dale cross-dressing?”

Lanez looked down at today’s pictures with a crestfallen expression.

Iris leaned in and whispered slyly into her ear.

“Don’t worry, sis. If it’s for Dale’s cross-dressing, a little thing like the names of the Seven Gods…”

“Oh…! I see! Hehehe. Got it, Iris.”

…No.

Dear saintess, don’t go breaking a vow made on the Seven Gods over something that ridiculous.

Sigh.

“Haha. You must be exhausted. Sorry. Dale, your reactions are just too funny—it got us a bit carried away.”

Yurina handed me a cold can of beer with an awkward smile.

The icy beer slid down my throat, and only then did I start to feel like myself again.

And with that came a question.

“By the way, why was Camellia even here…?”

“Didn’t she come to visit you? There’s a direct gate now, right?”

“No, that gate can’t be used without the ‘key’ that Principal Lionel has.”

“Hmm… then maybe she used the Valhalla City gate?”

“That gate hasn’t been repaired yet.”

The warp gates in Valhalla City were all destroyed during the recent demon invasion.

Which means unless she walked—or rather, flew—all the way here, there’s no easy way for her to come.

And I couldn’t figure out why she would go that far just to visit the Hero Academy.

“If you want to know, why not just ask her?”

Creeeak—

Just then, the door opened, and in walked Professor Elisha and Empress Camellia.

Professor Elisha scanned me with sparkling eyes, then clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“Tsk. I rushed over because I heard Candidate Dale was in a cute pose while cross-dressing… but I’m too late?”

“I didn’t do anything like that.”

“Oh? Is that so? Hmm. That’s not quite what I heard from Camellia…”

Professor Elisha narrowed her gleaming eyes, scanning the room sharply.

Her gaze landed on the Hero Watch on Lanez’s wrist—and more precisely, the hologram projected above it.

“Hehe. Uh, Elisha, look at this. I recorded everything.”

“Oho… Pfft. Haha… T-this is quite the treasure.”

“Right?”

“Can you send me the pictures?”

“Y-yeah. I don’t mind, since it’s you.”

Elisha laughed with her shoulders shaking as she scrolled through the photos Lanez had taken.

“……”

In the face of this tragic (?) scene, I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut.

“Don’t be too troubled.”

Camellia approached and gently patted my head.

Unlike her usual dignified expression that looked like she wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed, she now wore a look full of compassion and kindness.

“A wife’s heart is as wide as the sky and as deep as the sea. Even if her husband has slightly twisted tastes, she can still understand it all.”

“……”

Why was it that those words hurt more than anything else I’d heard today?

“Fufu. You look so touched by my understanding.”

Camellia puffed up proudly as she grinned.

I once again closed my eyes tightly.

How on earth could I clear up this terrible misunderstanding?

No answer came to mind, and a deep sigh escaped my lips.

“Haa… Anyway, Camellia, why did you come here?”

“What do you mean why? Isn’t it natural for a wife to come visit her husband?”

“Well, yeah, but… you have national affairs to attend to.”

“I’ve handled most of the urgent matters, so I have some free time now.”

“So you flew all the way from the imperial capital without a warp gate?”

Even with the blessings of the Seven Stars, it couldn’t have been easy for Camellia to come from the capital to the Hero Academy without a warp gate.

“If I can see you, I’d go even to the ends of the world.”

“Uh… um. Ahem. T-thank you.”

They say late-blooming love hits hardest.

Now awakened to love, the Empress’s gaze made my face flush uncontrollably.

“Fufu. It’s only natural for a wife… Well, to be honest, I also came for another reason besides seeing you.”

“Another reason?”

“I received an urgent message from Khalid Han asking all the masters to gather at the Hero Academy—he’s obtained important information about the Order of Eternity. I believe the other masters are making their way here as well.”

“Important information…?”

Could it be about the identity of the Cult Leader being the first otherworlder?

‘Wait, that information’s already been shared among the masters.’

Naturally.

The information Khalid Han gave me had already been fully shared with the other masters and party members.

It wasn’t exactly something that needed to be kept secret, nor was it especially useful.

‘So… did he find something new?’

Then another question arose.

‘Why did he contact Camellia and the other masters but not me?’

I turned on my Hero Watch and checked my message history—no message from Khalid Han.

Well, he’s not obligated to inform me every time he gets new intel.

‘But last time, he came to me first.’

Right.

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When we got new information about the Cult Leader of Eternity before, Khalid Han came to me first, even before any other Master.

So then…

Why is there no word from Khalid Han this time?

“Hm? Why the long face?”

“No, I mean… When did you say Khalid Han contacted you?”

“Last evening.”

If that’s the case, then it was shortly after he’d passed on the information about the Leader of Eternity.

‘So, he supposedly obtained new information about the Cult Leader of Eternity within less than a day?’

A disturbing feeling of unease ran down my spine.

“Camellia, can you reach Khalid Han right now?”

“Hmm. Hold on a moment.”

Camellia turned on her Hero Watch and sent a message to Khalid Han.

“…He’s not responding.”

“……”

The person who claimed to have important information and gathered the Masters is suddenly unreachable?

“Let’s go meet Maurice.”

As Khalid Han’s son, he might know where his father is right now.

“Maurice is in the same Dorm C building as you, right?”

“I think so.”

Normally, a Master’s son would stay in the premium Dorm A, but from what I heard before, Maurice chose Dorm C on purpose because he “didn’t want to attract attention.”

“Let’s go.”

We headed to Maurice’s room and knocked on the door.

Creak.

The door opened, and Maurice appeared.

“Huh? Dale? What brings you—HUH! Em-Empress Camellia?!”

Maurice’s eyes widened in shock as he saw Camellia standing behind me.

“Th-The Empress is in my room… Haa, haa!”

Oh.

Right. This guy is the admin of the fan club “Those Who Want to Be Crushed by the Empress.”

“Calm down, Maurice.”

“Ah, y-yeah. S-Sorry.”

“Do you know where Lord Khalid is right now?”

“My father?”

“Yeah. We believe he’s still somewhere on campus.”

“Ah, yeah. Right. Around this time… he’s probably at a bar in Valhalla City?”

“…What?”

He called the Empress and now he’s drinking in Valhalla City?

‘That’s just like Khalid, I guess…’

But still, this is beyond irresponsible.

“Do you know which bar?”

“Yeah. He usually goes to his regular spot.”

“Where is that?”

“Uhh… it’s kind of tucked away, hard to explain with words… Should I just take you there?”

“That would be helpful.”

“Let me just change real quick.”

Click.

After a short wait, Maurice came out dressed and ready.

“By the way, do you have business with my dad?”

“Well… something like that.”

“Uh, he didn’t do anything stupid again, did he?”

“We’re on our way to find that out.”

“Ugh.”

Maurice let out a deep sigh and began walking.

* * *

“Whew! Bartender! One more bottle of makgeolli!”

We arrived at the bar following Maurice’s lead.

Inside, we found Khalid Han, drunk and red-faced.

“Uh… Father.”

“Huh? Maurice? What brings you here?”

“Some visitors came to see you.”

“Visitors?”

Khalid turned his head toward me and then to Camellia.

“Hm? Well, well. What brings our Empress to a shabby little place like this?”

“…That’s what I want to ask. Why are you here drinking when you called me over?”

“Eh?”

Khalid tilted his head, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Who said I called anyone?”

“……?”

Camellia frowned and turned on her Hero Watch.

“You sent a message saying you had important information.”

“…A message? Me?”

“Don’t tell me you sent it while drunk…”

“Come now. I’m not that irresponsible, even when drinking.”

Khalid suddenly looked completely sober and shook his head.

“I don’t remember sending any message.”

“…What?”

Camellia’s expression hardened.

“Then who in the world….”

Before she could finish her sentence—

RUMMMMBLE!

The ground shook violently, like an earthquake.

“What the…!”

We rushed out of the bar—

And what we saw was—

“…A tree?”

A massive tree, large enough to block out the sky, had burst forth from the direction of the school.

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