Legend 9

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“Conquering the world? That’s preposterous!”

Chelsea, following Leo’s lead, shook her head.

“Even the students at Lumeren struggle to conquer the realm of heroes, and you want to assign this daunting task to prospective students?”

This statement held true.

Even for the prospective heroes who had received the finest education at Lumeren, conquering the world of heroes proved to be a formidable endeavor.

Nevertheless, they intended to burden the examinees with such a formidable challenge. It was truly absurd.

However, Leo had a different perspective.

“We’re being evaluated for our qualifications as heroes, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then shouldn’t we naturally be capable of accomplishing what heroes are supposed to do? Besides, if it’s a test, the challenges should be within our ability to overcome.”

Upon hearing this, Chelsea paused.

‘He’s not wrong.’

“So, what would be the conditions for conquering it? If the examinees are meant to face a challenge, it’s likely to involve Albi’s early achievements. There’s little information available about the activities of the wizard of Maan.”

With her arms crossed, deep in thought, Chelsea met Leo’s gaze.

‘She’s quite talented.’

She was a gifted and proud young woman from a prestigious family.

Typically, such children do not pay much heed to their peers’ words.

But Chelsea found Leo’s words to be valid and immediately began considering strategies for conquering the world.

‘Her adaptability in thinking is commendable. It’s a valuable trait for a wizard.’

Although she was still inexperienced, Leo thought she was a young woman well-suited to become a prospective hero.

“The likelihood is high that it involves subjugation.”

“Indeed.”

Chelsea nodded.

The probability of needing to defeat something was significant, especially if monsters were involved.

And Leo had a suspicion about who the target might be.

‘It could be someone else, considering the circumstances.’

Leo, who had been clenching and unclenching his fists after encountering the corpses of monsters earlier, suddenly grabbed Chelsea’s wrist.

“What are you doing?”

Just as Chelsea was about to display a cranky expression due to Leo’s sudden action—

Whoosh!

Leo pulled Chelsea towards him.

Thump, thump, thump!

Two arrows landed precisely where Chelsea had been standing moments ago.

Witnessing this, Chelsea’s eyes widened.

And then…

“Huh? What?”

Wobble-! Thud!

“Ouch!”

She lost her balance and landed on her buttocks.

Rubbing her sore behind, Chelsea looked indignant.

“If you’re going to pull me, you should catch me so I don’t fall!”

“Sorry, I thought you’d get angry if I did that.”

“I’m angrier that you made me fall!”

“So, no thank you?”

“Hmph! Those arrows wouldn’t have harmed me!”

“They had aura in them.”

At Leo’s statement, Chelsea paused.

“My pre-cast shield magic would have blocked them!”

Despite her assertion, her tone turned somewhat sheepish.

“Anyway, thank you.”

In response to her words, Leo burst into laughter.

“Tsk!”

“We could have taken down Chelsea Lewalin!”

Emerging from the bushes, other examinees glared at Leo and Chelsea.

“You.”

Stepping forward, Chelsea saw the group of five examinees tense up.

“Let’s cooperate instead of fighting.”

“What?”

Caught off guard by Chelsea’s unexpected proposal, they appeared bewildered.

“Your party consists solely of knights, right? Having a wizard like me in the party can’t be a bad thing, can it? So, isn’t cooperation appropriate?”

Even though they had just launched an attack on her, Chelsea offered cooperation without any ill feelings.

After all, it was a test where bringing others down was expected.

‘If the exam were about eliminating others, I would’ve attacked mercilessly. But now, we have to conquer the world of heroes.’

Chelsea looked to Leo for his opinion, and he nodded.

“By cooperating—”

“We may be only knights, but we have long-range attacks to balance the party.”

“Huh?”

Then, a student who appeared to be the leader sneered.

“There are only two of you. If we fight now, we have the upper hand.”

“True, you’re our age despite coming from a prestigious family of heroes!”

“We know you’re scared; that’s why you’re offering to cooperate!”

Believing that Chelsea had backed down, they gained momentum.

“Why should we cooperate with you when taking you down would eliminate a strong contender?!”

“Exactly! Exactly!”

As they assumed combat stances, Chelsea tried to say something.

“Forget it; they won’t listen anymore.”

“But.”

Chelsea wore a frustrated expression.

This exceptional girl felt stifled by the other examinees, who wouldn’t even listen to her.

Drawing his sword, Leo spoke.

“If they want a fight, then we shall give them one.”

“No choice.”

Chelsea sighed and raised her staff.

Seeing her, Leo said,

“You provide support from the rear.”

“What?”

“It’s a waste of your mana to face these youngsters.”

“Are you serious? They can use aura.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Hmph. It’s on you if something happens.”

While speaking coldly, Chelsea was contemplating how to assist Leo if he were in danger.

‘I have to repay the debt I owe him.’

Chelsea fiddled with her wand.

On the other hand, the other test-takers scowled when they saw Leo.

“Who are you?”

“You’re going to face us alone?”

“Yeah, please take care.”

“You little—!”

The test-taker, thinking that Leo was ignoring him, drew his bowstring.

Whoosh!

An aura-less arrow flew towards Leo.

He had decided to conserve his aura arrows in anticipation of his battle with Chelsea.

“If he dodges, he’ll leave an opening! Then we can surround and finish him off…”

Thunk!

“…!”

“This isn’t the time to hold back.”

Leo caught the arrow and broke it as he spoke.

“What, how? Catching my arrow with bare hands!”

Whoosh!

Before the test-taker could finish speaking, Leo charged at him.

“Stop him!”

“Surround him!”

Quickly assessing the swords flying in from all directions, Leo’s eyes darted around.

However, the test-takers couldn’t fully concentrate on Leo.

‘Just by being here, she’s a deterrent even if she’s not actively involved in the fight.’

Unlike the unfamiliar Leo, Chelsea was a named-grade test-taker, and they couldn’t help but focus on her.

‘I should be thankful.’

Clang! Thump!

“What?”

Leo parried the sword and immediately punched the guy in the solar plexus.

“You didn’t seem to use any aura!”

“Of course, I’m unarmed.”

Leo spoke calmly as he looked at his bewildered opponent.

The guy who had aimed at Leo’s back was flustered to see Leo evade as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

Thump!

“Ugh!”

A side kick from Leo targeted the only two remaining test-takers.

“Use your aura!”

“Darn it!”

Leo single-handedly overwhelmed five people.

Meanwhile, Chelsea, who had been watching from behind, widened her eyes.

‘Wow, how can he move like that without using any aura?’

Chelsea, aspiring to be a battle mage, had also trained diligently in martial arts.

So she had a vague understanding of how extraordinary Leo’s movements were.

‘Impressive!’

Feeling her heart race, Chelsea was surprised.

‘No! Focus, Chelsea! He was hanging out with Selia Zerdingher!’

She shook her head but couldn’t take her eyes off Leo.

***

Test-takers were quickly eliminated.

They had been overly aggressive in their attempts to eliminate competitors.

‘I guess they thought they were being proactive.’

Albi was observing some students.

Some were boasting about how many they had eliminated.

Of course, it had nothing to do with the exam.

About an hour into the exam, out of 569 test-takers, only about 50 remained.

“Albi, those test-takers are all…”

“Eliminated.”

Albi spoke coldly, causing the assistant from Lumeren to show a startled expression.

“But Albi, they’re all exceptional talents. Moreover, on average, about a hundred students are selected in one exam…”

Albi’s icy gaze met the assistant’s eyes.

The assistant gasped.

“When the principal appointed me as the examiner, I warned that by my standards, those who don’t measure up would be eliminated. Even so, the principal entrusted me with this duty.”

“Uh-huh!”

“As an examiner, it’s my right to pass whichever students I see fit. Let’s not discuss this any further.”

Albi cut him off and turned his gaze to the magic mirror.

In his sight was none other than Leo.

‘It seems he’s noticed the anomaly in the forest.’

Albi touched his left eye.

‘I wonder if he can conquer that world?’

***

“Chelsea, you’re safe.”

“Of course, Big Brother.”

It had been about two hours since the test had started.

Leo had managed to reunite with Selia and the Abad party safely.

“So, you made it out alright. But you were with Chelsea Lewalin?”

“We crossed paths early in the test and decided to collaborate.”

“Huh? She’s quite proud and stubborn. Did she willingly cooperate with you?”

“I convinced her convincingly.”

Watching Leo smile enigmatically, Selia muttered to herself,

“What have you done?”

After a week of living together, Selia had gained a good understanding of her cousin’s cunning ways.

“You’re not all that different, criticizing and still hanging out together.”

“We can’t afford to fight recklessly without knowing the criteria for passing the test.”

Selia responded, flipping her hair.

“Anyway, you’ve assembled quite a large group.”

“Abad and I can move quickly. So we gathered people to collaborate with while wandering through the forest. Most of them are from the Lordren Empire, though.”

No one in the Lordren Empire would turn down an invitation to cooperate from the two great families, Zerdingher and Lewalin.

“Well done.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I think I’ve figured out how to pass this test.”

“Oh? You’ve figured it out?”

Selia’s eyes lit up.

“World Conquest.”

“World Conquest?”

Selia tilted her head.

Then nodded.

“True, this test is too unusual. It wouldn’t be strange if it’s related to world conquest.”

“Exactly.”

“Then there’s one problem. What are the conditions for the conquest?”

In the world of heroes, there were specific conquest conditions.

That’s why the study of Heroics was crucial.

Investigating and researching a hero’s deeds directly related to how to conquer a hero’s world.

However, if there were heroes without legends, the conditions became more enigmatic.

Especially, the worlds of living heroes were rarely conquered.

Even if they were, there were no rewards, and only the hero themselves could open their world.

Others could only access the worlds of past heroes when they met certain conditions.

“Albi is a high-profile hero, but there’s little known about his past deeds. There’s nothing to use as a clue for the conquest.”

“I have a theory about that too.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Leo sighed.

“Right now, the Forest of Monsters is experiencing an anomaly.”

“Anomaly?”

“Yes. Don’t you think the monsters are appearing too infrequently?”

“Certainly…”

Normally, there should have been relentless monster attacks.

However, in Albi’s world, the rate of monster appearances was unusually low.

‘As if they’re afraid of something?’

As Selia pondered this, her expression grew serious.

“Perhaps a higher-ranking monster appeared that frightened all the other monsters in the forest.”

“And Albi earned his reputation by subduing it?”

“Yes.”

“What could terrify the entire Forest of Monsters? I’ve never heard of such an anomaly.”

“That’s the mystery.”

Just as Leo was about to answer Selia’s question,

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah-!”

A scream echoed from a distance.

“It seems like it’s made its appearance.”

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