episode_0019

A thousand years ago.

The Demon Lord appeared in this world.

The Demon Lord tried to destroy everything in this world.

The gods sent down the first relic, the Holy Sword, and commanded the hero to defeat the Demon Lord.

As the Demon Lord was dying, he spread evil in this world.

Dark wizards appeared, and liches were born.

Even after the hero’s death, remnants of the Demon Lord lingered in the world, tormenting humans.

….

Five hundred years ago.

The second relic appeared.

The first relic.

Unlike the Holy Sword, this time it was a shield.

Since then, relics sporadically appeared in the world.

One hundred years ago.

Relics were discovered in abundance in the world.

Truly overwhelming numbers.

With the overwhelming increase in the number of heroes, liches and dark wizards hid from the world.

Afterwards, the world entered an era of peace.

So, what was the name of the second relic that appeared in the world five hundred years ago?

*

Today is a day without physical training.

Theoretical classes were held.

The first class was a history lecture related to theology.

It was a class studying the deeds and achievements of gods that appeared in history.

However, what was mainly learned in class were the powerful enemies of humanity.

For example, liches.

The first dark wizard.

Evil dragons.

Studying the deeds and achievements of mythological beings with overwhelming power made me feel a sense of awe towards the gods.

“I regret it. If I had known it would come to this, I would have used all my power to kill those creatures.”

Witnesses of history expressed regret.

I don’t understand why they are regretful.

One hundred years ago.

The increasing number of relics exploded.

The current number of heroes in this world exceeds two thousand.

Two thousand heroes. There are no monsters that can match this number.

Were those monsters not hiding their appearance due to the overwhelming number of heroes?

Recently, a minor error named Lich appeared, but in the history before the regression, there were no mythological monsters other than Lich.

“Could you answer Emily’s difficult question? I’ve prepared multiple-choice questions for the candidates because the difficulty level is high.”

I regained my composure at the teacher’s question.

Five questions were written on the blackboard.

I carefully read the questions.

I don’t know. I was ignorant of knowledge other than territory management.

“Number one, I think. It was not a relic, but a guardian… It seems to be a trick question.”

“Number one! Corintos’s Shield!”

“That’s correct! The name of the second relic is Corintos’s Shield. The name Corintos was named after the region where the hero appeared five hundred years ago.”

The teacher clapped her hands.

The current question was quite difficult, and I stuck out my tongue.

While the name of the Holy Sword, a symbol of the hero, was known to everyone, the second hero, who was relatively less known, was less of interest.

“To commemorate the correct answer, I will tell you about the achievements of the second hero.

He was a mercenary who was born as the son of a common merchant in the Corintos region and left a legacy of killing a dragon alone.”

The enthusiastic history teacher talked about the anecdote of the second hero.

“I miss those days. It was a time when hope was still alive….”

The gods reminisced about the past.

A melancholic expression lingered in their voice.

“Today’s lesson will be on the test. Please review and study diligently.”

The class ended. The teacher finished speaking and

“It’s said that the first practice will take place in 20 minutes. Please finish your preparations and come to the square before then.”

Marzita spoke from the platform.

She had become the leader of the Truth faction.

She was also in the top ranks academically at the Grand Academy.

The offer had come to me from the beginning, but knowing how cumbersome and tedious leadership could be, I immediately declined the offer.

I finished my preparations and headed to the square.

“Take the map. Just find the treasure marked on the map.”

The student handed out the map.

The map showed the location marked with an X.

It was the location where the treasure was hidden.

A huge forest inside the Papal Palace.

It was a place used by the candidate students of the Hero Academy for training.

It was known as the Treasure Hunt Practice.

The team that found the most treasures hidden in the forest would win.

Looking at the map was essential to become a hero.

“Let’s start the treasure hunt practice now.”

Erina signaled.

Impatient children ran into the forest.

“Um… sorry, but does anyone know how to read a map?”

Rowen asked.

But there were very few students in the first year who knew how to read a map.

They were the candidates who couldn’t even set up a tent and had to ask the soldiers for help.

It was highly unlikely that they knew the much more difficult Dokdo method.

“Give it here. I know how to read it.”

He snatched the map from Rowen.

In the world after the apocalypse, using the terrain features was crucial to survival.

Knowing how to read a map was the first step to survival.

“It’s this way. The first treasure is here.”

He informed the team members.

Even though they were nobles, they had grown close after spending a long time together.

They naturally began to speak informally.

“I found it.”

Following the map, they found a treasure placed there.

The treasure was a transparent crystal orb.

He put the orb in his bag.

“Great. Let’s keep going like this.”

Freya was pleased.

A smile appeared on her face.

“Sniff, why are you like this? Did I do something wrong?”

I didn’t say anything?

As I stared at Freya in silence, she started to sniffle.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Freya stubbornly stuck to using honorifics.

They say one’s speech determines their dignity.

If you think back to her first meeting, it wasn’t about her speech.

“Indeed, a hero who delayed time against the Riches.”

“With just a glance, he subdued the White Lion family’s heiress.”

Rowen and Cecil marveled.

I couldn’t tell if they were teasing me or genuinely impressed.

“The next crystal orb isn’t too far. Let’s move quickly.”

If we linger at their pace, we’ll just waste time.

He checked the map to confirm the location of the crystal orb.

The next crystal orb was not far away.

Rustle.

The bushes shook.

“Enemy.”

Rowen clenched his hammer.

“A monster?”

A huge figure emerged from the bushes, a giant Cyclops.

It was a Cyclops with a single eye and a massive body.

A Cyclops stood in their way.

“It’s a Golem.”

But the Cyclops in front of them was not real.

It was a poorly made Golem following the Cyclops.

“Some crystal orbs have guardians protecting them. If you defeat the guardian, you’ll receive a substantial reward, but the guardians are quite powerful, so be careful.”

Freya belatedly read the caution written on the map.

Yes, it was a Hero Academy practice, but there was no peaceful treasure hunt.

“They should have written that clause more prominently!”

He exclaimed in anger and dodged the fake Cyclops’ punch.

With the help of Hermes’ Boots and the Reaper Power Gauntlet, he pushed back the enhanced physical body.

“There’s no chance like this.”

The Golem was not a living being.

He couldn’t use the Harbinger of Death.

“Magic! When will the magic be ready?”

In a hurry.

He urged Freya, who was responsible for firepower in the team.

He hoped that Freya’s magic, enhanced by Cecil’s buff, could bring down the Golem.

“Just wait a little longer!”

But the answer from Freya was to wait.

“Oops!”

She didn’t have time to complete the magic.

She squeezed her strength and moved behind the Golem.

She struck the back of the Golem’s heel. The Golem’s body staggered.

Rowen aimed for the weak spot, the single eye of the Golem.

The core of the broken golem collapsed.

“Can’t you use magic faster?”

The battle was over. I was angry with Freya.

If the magic had been even a little slower, I might have been incapacitated.

If I became incapacitated, it would have been a failure in this practice test.

The former hero of the Void before regression was nothing but a combat weapon that could continuously shoot magic.

If ranked among artifacts, it boasted overwhelming performance that could be ranked first.

“This, this is inevitable. It’s not that my skills are lacking.”

Freya protested. It was a valid point. Even I, who had seen the map, did not expect the Guardian’s existence.

But I thought it was too much not to be able to use a single spell until the end of the battle.

“It seems like there was no need to fight.”

Rowen smashed the golem’s head.

He read the words written inside.

“It’s not always about fighting. Sometimes you need to know when to retreat.”

Disappointed. It wasn’t meant to be fought in the first place, the Guardian that was barely killed.

“Freya. I have something to say. No, why don’t you use the artifact properly? Why don’t you consider making a contract with the artifact?”

I let out my words to Freya.

We were the same age, and I couldn’t use honorifics anymore in her frustrating appearance.

The Gift of the White Lion family is a contract.

The ability to make contracts with objects.

They could also make contracts with artifacts.

‘Even before regression, they used them well.’

All the members of the White Lion family had made contracts with artifacts.

The contracted artifacts exhibited more powerful abilities than before.

If combined with the Void, magic became much stronger.

“Are you also ignoring me?”

Freya was irritated.

Deep-seated inferiority erupted.

After briefly overcoming the fear of myself, I got angry.

“Your specialty is magic, right? Use magic in conjunction with the Void. If you make a contract on top of that, your utility will increase infinitely.”

I said what I had in mind.

Even during training, when we practiced together, I felt frustrated because we didn’t combine the Void and magic.

“You want me to make a contract with an artifact?”

It seemed like an unexpected perspective.

Freya held her breath and fell into contemplation.

“It’s possible. Practice a lot. You are a direct descendant of the White Lion family. Who else can do it if not you?”

She was the direct descendant of the White Lion Grand Duke, the leading magician family.

She had the talent to become much stronger than the man who was the owner of the Void before regression.

“…I understand. I’ll try to believe in your words.”

She was doing well until her last words stopped me in my tracks.

Suddenly, fear rushed in.

“Let’s move on.”

After saying what I had in mind, I felt refreshed.

With a light heart, I unfolded the map.

“Oh… the next correction zone is quite far away, isn’t it?”

After identifying the location, I took the lead and started walking.