The Last Place Hero's Return Chapter 167: Interlude – Warmth

The ntoring program, filled with more chaos than usual, had finally co to an end. By all rights, I should’ve been suspended or received an even harsher punishnt for what had happened in my group. After all, I had beaten a senior so badly he could barely move. But thankfully, Aaron, Bella, and Raios agreed to the sa story, that we got injured fighting a demonic monster during the session. And so, the whole ss was swept neatly under the rug.

It was not like Aaron could tell the truth. How could he proudly admit he got three of his ribs broken by a junior from the year below? Still, I had been worried for a bit that Aaron would hold a grudge and try to take it out on Laneige. However, it seed he wasn’t that stupid. After returning to the academy, he had shut himself in the infirmary and hadn’t shown his face.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but worry. I had stopped by the fourth-year lecture hall a few tis, just to make sure Bella didn’t pick on her either. Luckily, I didn’t see any signs of direct bullying. Sure, the other cadets still ignored Laneige, but at least no one dared to touch her now. Moreover, Laneige no longer looked so small and withdrawn. She faced their coldness with a calm, steady expression.

“It’s not exactly a happy ending, but it’s close enough,” I muttered.

She was doing far better than before, but the real issue, her Blessing of Frost, hadn’t been resolved. A terrifyingly powerful blessing slumbered inside her. As far as I knew, few blessings could match it in sheer strength. It was a power capable of freezing half the continent.

Usually, a blessing acted as an auxiliary ability for a hero. Their main strength ca from the mana in their soul stigmata. They used mana for their main fighting style, be it magic, swordsmanship, or other combat arts. The blessing rely enhanced those powers.

Yurina was the sa. Even though she had awakened the Blessing of Moonlight, she didn’t rely solely on that to fight. But there were always exceptions, depending on the nature of the blessing itself.

In my previous life, Laneige fought using nothing but her blessing—no spells and no sword techniques, just pure, overwhelming force. Of course, the true power of a blessing depended on how it was used, but for Laneige, the Blessing of Frost was both her Alpha and Oga.

Right now, I could only hope that her blessing wouldn’t awaken at all. Her power was so strong that even she couldn’t control it. It was the sa reason Aaron couldn’t handle his Blessing of the teor. In her case, however, it wasn’t just her body that paid the price; everything around her would too. Suppressing her own gift instead of drawing strength from it, what a cruel paradox it was.

“Ugh!” I groaned at the thought of it.

As for whether it was even possible to stop a blessing from awakening, truthfully, I didn’t know how blessings awakened in the first place. So heroes awakened naturally by chance, and so after long years of training; others only at the brink of death. In short, there was no rule.

“Haaah! This is driving crazy.”

I was deep in thought when a quiet tapping echoed through the room. When I opened the door, Laneige was standing there, holding a large pot.

“Um, are you feeling better?” she asked shyly.

“Why are you being so polite?” I replied.

“Ah, I-I just... you’re my savior, so...”

“You don’t have to speak so stiffly. Just talk normally.”

Her cheeks flushed as she looked up at hesitantly. “R-really? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“T-then, you should talk casually with too, Dale.”

“That’s a little...”

She suddenly stepped close, eyes glimring with determination. “P-please?”

I couldn’t help but nod in surrender. “O-okay. Fine. I’ll talk casually.”

“Mm-hmm. Hehehe.”

“By the way, what did you bring?”

“I heard you weren’t feeling well, so...”

“Ah.”

Since Aaron had been hospitalized, it would’ve looked strange if I had walked away unscathed. So, I had told everyone I got hurt too.

Laneige continued, “You’re from the Republic, right, Dale? I looked it up, and apparently, people there eat warm porridge when they’re sick. So, I made so chicken porridge.”

Chicken porridge, huh.

It was a thoughtful and fitting choice.

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it,” I said.

She peeked into my room, curious. “Um, is it okay if I co in for a bit?”

“Ah, sure.”

“Hehe.” Laneige stepped inside with a bright, innocent smile. Her eyes darted around, as if they were studying a fascinating new world. “So, this is your room.”

“There’s not much to see,” I replied.

“That’s not true. If I look closely, I can learn a little about you.” She walked over to the shelf, picked up an empty wine bottle, and smiled faintly. “You like wine, huh?”

“Just once in a while.”

“Mm, I see.”

She pulled a small notebook from her pocket and began scribbling down. “Drinks wine sotis. Owns two sets of casual clothes, prefers darker colors, right-handed, likes comfortable cloth sneakers.”

What the hell? Is she conducting a cri scene investigation? I thought.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She laughed nervously. “Huh? Oh, n-nothing! Ehehe.”

She placed the pot on the table, scooped a portion into a small bowl, and handed it to . “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“Um, should I feed you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Her sparkling eyes dimd a little, and she lowered her head. “Oh!”

As I ate, I studied her quietly. Her long violet hair shimred under the light. Her skin was smooth and pale, her nose high and straight, and her chin delicately shaped. Back when she was always withdrawn, it was easy to miss it, but up close, Laneige looked stunning.

Even in my past life, so heroes had sided with the Witch of the Night because of her beauty. Most of them, of course, ended up frozen solid for their trouble.

“How is it? Does it taste okay?” she asked.

“It’s good.”

Just like the soup she had made before, she did have a talent for cooking.

“That’s a relief,” she said softly, smiling in that gentle, slightly awkward way of hers.

However, the warmth in her expression soon faded. Her face grew tense as she asked in a trembling voice, “Um, D-Dale, are you okay?”

“About what?”

Her words quivered, her eyes filled with fear. “Because I... I’m the daughter of a demon.”

She wasn’t wrong. Demonic blood did flow through her veins, and it wasn’t just any demon’s blood; it was the blood of the one once called an Archbishop.

I replied, “If I said it doesn’t bother , that’d be a lie.”

She kept quiet.

I continued, “But even so, I want to believe in you more than I want to fear you.”

“You want to believe in ?”

“Yeah.”

Because I knew she hadn’t chosen to beco the Witch of the Night. I knew she hadn’t wanted to beco the monster that froze half the world. I believed her. Moreover, since I was the one who had reached out to take her hand, I would do everything in my power to make sure that hand never turned to ice again. That was the destiny of the hero who had decided to hold the witch’s hand.

Tears welled up in Laneige’s eyes. “Ah! No one has ever said that to before.”

She bit her lip hard and, then, like a dam breaking, began to sob. “Thank you. Thank you, Dale. For believing in .”

How much pain had she endured? How many nightmares had she lived through? All simply because she was born as a demon’s daughter? Without realizing it, I placed a hand gently on her trembling shoulder.

Laneige let out a quiet gasp, then carefully clasped my hand between both of hers. “It’s warm.”

She pressed her cheek softly against my palm, smiling through her tears. It was a smile I had never seen before, not even once in my past life.

Why? Why does it make feel so relieved to see her smile like that? I wondered.

“I’ll. I’ll do my best,” she said suddenly.

“Do your best at what?”

Her eyes sparkled with determination as she clenched her fists. “I’ll work hard so that I can live up to your faith in ! R-right now, my grades are terrible, and my magic’s a ss! But I’ll get stronger! Strong enough to protect you one day!”

No, Laneige. You’re not supposed to get stronger.

I swallowed the words rising to my throat and forced an awkward nod instead. “Just... don’t push yourself too hard.”

“No! Even if it hurts, I will get stronger!”

No, you really shouldn’t, I said internally.

She continued, “Actually, um, it’s kind of embarrassing to say this myself, but I’ve been suppressing my power all this ti.”

“Suppressing it?”

“Y-yeah. Because if I used it, everyone would call it a demon’s power. B-but now I don’t need to hold back anymore! Because I have you, Dale!”

I kept silent.

Her voice trembled. She tugged softly on my hand, her eyes filled with desperate fear. “I-I can do anything for you! So please. Don’t abandon .”

A sigh slipped between my lips. “People aren’t things, Laneige. There’s no such thing as throwing soone away. Anyway, fine. Having a goal isn’t a bad thing. But promise one thing.”

“What promise?”

“Put your safety above everything else. And if that power you’ve been suppressing ever goes out of control, you co to first. No matter what. Got it?”

Her eyes widened. “Ah!”

Then, in a trembling whisper, she murmured, “You really... care about . Dale...”

“Yeah?”

“Dale. Dale. Dale. Haa!Haa!”

She kept repeating my na until she turned breathless, her voice trembling more with each word.

Suddenly, she stood up, flustered and red-faced. “I-I should go!”

“Ah, okay.”

I walked her to the door.

As we reached the door, she turned around. “Um, Dale?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I, uh, get your Hero Watch number?” she asked.

“Of course.”

Honestly, it was a good idea. If I wanted to keep an eye on her, on a walking ti bomb that could explode at any mont, I needed a way to contact her.

She turned on her Hero Watch, grinning like a fool at the empty contact list, which now had only one entry: . “Hehe! Dale’s number.”

Laneige waved. “T-then, goodnight, Dale!”

She hurried away, her footsteps oddly frantic.

I tilted my head, watching her disappear down the corridor. What’s with her? Did she suddenly need the bathroom or sothing?

Closing the door, I flopped back onto my bed. “Phew!”

After everything that had happened, exhaustion hit all at once. I decided to just rest a bit. Maybe it was because I had used the Primordial Fla against Aaron, but a heavy, irresistible drowsiness washed over . Without fighting it, I drifted off into sleep.

For so reason, I dread I was wandering through a strange room, trying to escape from a place filled with dozens of tiny bells hanging all around .

***

The next morning, I woke up, stretched, and reflexively checked my Hero Watch.

[You have 257 unread ssages.]

“What?”

I frowned and opened my inbox.

Laneige: U-um, Dale.

Laneige: Thank you so much for today.

Laneige: If it weren’t for you, I’d never have felt this way in my whole life.

Laneige: Ah! Am I bothering you by ssaging like this?

Laneige: I’m sorry.

Laneige: I wasn’t thinking straight.

Laneige: I guess I shouldn’t have contacted you without asking first, right?

Laneige: I’m really sorry. It’s just that I’ve never texted anyone before, so I didn’t know what to do.

Laneige: Dale, are you mad at ?

Laneige: Why aren’t you replying?

.

.

.

Laneige: Oh, or is it because I thought of you while doing sothing bad?

Laneige: I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again.

Laneige: I didn’t think you’d notice.

Laneige: I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

Laneige: It’s my fault.

Laneige: Please, don’t abandon .

On and on it went, in that sa frantic tone, a flood of desperate, rambling ssages.

“No. Wait. What the hell is this?” I muttered.