“You’re dropping out?”
Helmut, holding Leon’s withdrawal letter, fixed him with that piercing gaze of his. It felt like it could strip a man’s skin away—no wonder cadets feared it.
Bracing himself, Leon t those eyes and answered firmly, “Yes, sir. I’ve already made up my mind.”
Helmut absently stroked his mustache. He could tell Leon’s resolve wouldn’t waver, which was all the more reason it was a sha to see soone this talented and resolute walk away. The strength that had beaten Elmont’s gang, the unmatched sincerity in his training—he had even considered taking Leon on as his personal apprentice.
Well, I guess I should’ve made a move sooner.
With a short sigh, Helmut let go of that lingering regret. An old knight no longer on the battlefield had no right to hold back soone setting out on a new path. All he could do was give a push forward or clear the way.
With a face a little lighter than before, Helmut said, “Alright. I’ll handle the paperwork. If you’d like, I can mark you absent due to illness for a few weeks so you can maintain your cadet status—what do you think?”
Leon blinked in surprise at the unexpected kindness.
“R-really? That would be great, but, uh...”
“Wondering why I’d go that far?”
“Eck. Yes...”
Catching Leon’s thoughts, Helmut gave a thin smile as he explained, “Thanks to you, the air in the whole Academy has shifted. I’m sure that wasn’t your intention, but as an instructor here, I feel I owe you sothing.”
“The air... in the Academy...?”
“You look like you don’t get it. I’ll keep it simple.” Helmut bumped his fists together and explained, “The commoner class is fired up ever since you floored those noble brats, and the noble class—too humiliated to sit still after getting smacked around by a commoner—even started showing up to optional training. Have you ever seen them doing that before? I haven’t. I’d call that a happy accident.”
“Didn’t see that coming...” Leon muttered.
“By the way, I’m planning to ‘educate’ the ones who broke the confidentiality agreent from your duels. Got any requests for how they should be punished?” Helmut asked in an ominous tone.
Leon, startled by the unexpected shift in tone, waved his hands and said, “I’ll leave that to you, sir. I’m leaving anyway—it’s not really my problem anymore.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll take care of it my way.”
A crunching sound ca from Helmut’s thick fist. Seeing that, Leon almost felt bad for the poor fools whose faces he could barely rember. Technically, they were nobles, so Helmut couldn’t touch them without a reason—but now he had one.
“Education” was definitely headed their way, but maybe it was just karma. They were only getting back what they had done.
With the formalities nearly wrapped up, Helmut asked, “Leon, just tell one thing. Where are you headed?”
“Hmm.”
Leon paused. He had a destination and route planned, but it wasn’t sothing he should share openly. So he simply ntioned the first city on his list.
“I’m heading to Blaine, sir.”
“Blaine the Freedom City, huh. I see.”
Known more widely by its nickna “Freedom City,” Blaine was the second-largest and most prosperous city after the capital. rchants from three neighboring nations passed through it, trailed by rcenaries and adventurers. Even demi-humans, rarely seen elsewhere, were common there. It was a gathering place for young people wanting to test their strength.
“Judging by your personality, I doubt you’ll beco a rcenary... So you’re planning to be an adventurer? In that case, I’ll write you a letter of recomndation.”
“Thank you, sir!”
With no hesitation, Helmut scrawled a few lines onto parchnt and handed it over. He was showing more generosity than Leon had expected.
Normally, even with his Academy ID, he would have had so trouble finding gigs without having graduated. However, with a recomndation from Helmut himself, he could skip most of the tedious process. After receiving Helmut’s letter, Leon gave his honest thanks and left the room.
—So that’s everything wrapped up?
El-Cid asked.
“Yeah. I’ve got my stuff. Just gotta head out now,” Leon replied to El-Cid as he walked the hallway.
It was the sa as always, but knowing he was about to leave made it feel oddly heavy. He had spent years here, but making the decision to leave it for good didn’t even take a whole week.
Almost as if he could read Leon’s thoughts, El-Cid asked, —How’s your heart doing?
Leon closed his eyes for a mont and then answered, “I’m good.”
—You sure?
“Yeah.”
The conversation with Chloe ended up being a turning point. After defeating Lyon, Leon had taken ti to reflect on his past. In doing so, he had co to a few realizations.
“I think... I just had a lot of admiration for people who I thought were ‘special.’”
—Hmm?
“Chloe was a good friend, a pretty girl... but if you were to ask whether I loved her, I’d have to say no.”
It had taken him this long to finally realize that difference. Had he stopped for just a mont to think clearly, he might have seen it sooner, but then ca Lyon, who seed even more special. Blinded by that sense of loss, he had floundered for years.
Only now had he stepped out from their shadows. No longer Chloe’s childhood friend, no longer Lyon’s rival—but Leon, as himself.
“I’m going to be a hero,” Leon muttered.
Like how the moon’s light faded before the sun, eting El-Cid had burned away the inferiority complex Leon had carried for so long. Who in the world could be more special than a Hero?
Chosen by the goddess. A guide of light. The strongest warrior of humanity, guardian of the material realm, destroyer of all evil, and bringer of peace. Even a single phrase from a hero’s list of titles sounded grander than any king.
—Hahaha! You’re a massive sucker for earthly fa and glory!
“What, disappointed?”
El-Cid imdiately denied it, laughing heartily.
—Not at all! There’s nothing wrong with desiring riches! Nothing wrong with chasing glory! Desire is the pillar of human life, the fuel of dreams. As long as you choose the right ans, it’s the purest expression of what it ans to be human!
Trapped in the mire of inescapable inferiority, Leon had cried out in despair, cursing his fate as if carving into his own bones. That desperate cry, that relentless yearning, was what called upon the holy sword El-Cid. That was why he had been chosen.
A Hero did not need to be desireless or ascetic. What mattered was an unbreakable will, a yearning greater than anyone else's—that was the true qualification.
El-Cid finally revealed the secret he’d promised to one day tell.
—That’s why I chose you. Truthfully, the one destined to beco Hero wasn’t you, but that Lyon kid.
“Wait, what? Lyon?!”
—Yup. The legitimate heir of the Clyde imperial family was supposed to wield the sword ant to rebuild the fallen empire. His full na is Lyon Cailum Gladius Pon Clyde. He was prophesied to be a chosen Hero over 150 years ago.
Leon fell silent at the absurd truth. If anyone else had said it, he’d have dismissed it as complete nonsense. Not just a high noble, not just royalty, but imperial blood? And not only that—he’d received a prophecy proclaiming him the Hero.
He’s the perfect protagonist...
It was no different from a cliché heroic tale. Only the protagonist could slay the evil king, rescue the princess trapped in a tower, and be granted the sword by the goddess. Lyon really was the lead in that story.
If Leon hadn’t drawn El-Cid, that’s exactly how things would’ve played out. Only now did he realize what he had done. The holy sword that was supposed to be drawn by Lyon, the glory Lyon should have basked in—were all gone now.
“Oh, I see!” he exclaid as he finally understood why El-Cid had orchestrated it this way. “That duel was a test for you too, wasn’t it?”
—Exactly. You did well for .
Leon had already proven his worth—but El-Cid had not. Had it really been necessary to defy prophecy and choose Leon over Lyon? That last duel had been the answer. With that victory, both El-Cid and Leon had earned the goddess’s approval.
“Phew... thank god,” Leon muttered and let out a sigh of relief.
If he’d lost El-Cid now, what would he be? To be disqualified the mont he resolved to beco a Hero—that would’ve been enough to make him want to kill himself.
Seeing his reaction, El-Cid let out a snorting laugh and said, —You’re not even a little guilty? So guys get caught up in guilt, thinking they stole soone else’s fate.
“Guilty? Whoever feels that stuff probably never had it hard enough,” Leon cut him off with a voice gone cold. “Why would I feel guilty about taking sothing from soone who was born with more than he could even carry?”
—Ho?
“And you’re the one who chose . It was the judgnt of the soul of the great hero Rodrick and the holy sword El-Cid, and both picked . If soone was born with everything and still wasn’t chosen, shouldn’t they be blaming their own incompetence?”
It was harsh, but not wrong. The better your bloodline, the greater your natural talent, and the more advantages you had from the start. Secret sword arts, elixirs, private tutors, connections... Even after counting on all ten fingers, the unfairness kept piling up.
So if you still lost to soone with none of that, you had only yourself to bla. El-Cid agreed without hesitation.
—Yeah. I feel the sa. A Hero can’t be sothing that’s determined by prophecy or divine decree. A Hero has to be soone who forges their future through strength and will. Lyon failed in that regard.
“Figures. But... having that much skill and power without even putting all his effort in... that’s truly disgusting.”
Grumbling, Leon returned to his room and packed his things. He collected four sets of casual clothes, so food rations, a waterskin, and a pouch that clinked with a small handful of coins. He was done in minutes and stepped out of the dormitory.
I probably won’t co back here again, huh...
Leon glanced around the Academy grounds one last ti, then walked through the front gate with no hesitation.
There was no one to say goodbye to. Aside from Chloe, the only one he had been close to was Lyon—but he hadn’t told him he was leaving because El-Cid had egged him on.
—Having your opponent run away after they beat you—nothing stings more than that.
You really are a cursed sword.
—I told you I’m not!
As always, they bickered over nothing. Leon didn’t spare the city even a glance as he walked and walked, heading straight for Blein.
If he kept a steady pace on the shortest path, he would arrive within a week. For soone who ran dozens of kiloters a day, it was nothing. And there weren’t any particularly dangerous monsters around these parts either.
Suddenly, El-Cid spoke up as if he rembered sothing.
—Oh, right. What happened to Lyon letting you ask him for anything?
“I figured it’d be better to wait, so I held off.”
Right now, Lyon was still hiding his true identity. There wouldn’t be much he could offer while keeping his status under wraps. No way Leon was going to waste a blank check like that on so money or a sword technique manual. An elixir might’ve been useful, but El-Cid had advised against it.
That wasn’t the only reason, though.
“I didn’t feel right pushing him when he just hit rock bottom. And besides...”
—Besides?
“I got to et you because of Lyon, didn’t I? So I’ll let it slide.”
It sounded smug, but Leon ant it. What if things had worked out between him and Chloe? What if Lyon hadn’t accepted his challenge?
He wouldn’t be who he was now.
It was because Lyon appeared—because he’d been such an impossible wall to climb over, and had crushed Leon with such overwhelming despair—that the holy sword had found him. It was what gave him the chance to beco a Hero.
“Holy Sword El-Cid. Isn’t that enough compensation?”
Leon’s not-quite-joke made El-Cid burst into laughter.
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