The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 199: Interlude – A Warm Winter (2)

Bang!

The solid wooden desk in the professor’s office shook as if it were about to break apart.

Professor Lucas's face twisted into a fierce scowl, as if he might tear me to shreds at any moment.

"You…! Are you seriously calling that a solution?!"

"A solution? I’m just stating the facts as they are."

I shrugged nonchalantly, maintaining a calm expression.

Professor Lucas gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

"Who’s going to believe that? Everyone at the academy knows you’ve been sticking close to Cadet Lanez recently!"

"Then I’ll just say I kept her by my side to torment her."

"You little…!"

"Does it even matter what the truth is?"

Right.

The truth never really matters.

Only what looks like the truth does.

"……."

Professor Lucas's gaze grew dark and heavy.

"In exchange, you’ll be disciplined."

"I understand."

"Your reputation will take a hit among those who don’t know the full story."

"Do I even have a reputation left to lose?"

"…I might be able to prevent you from being expelled, but you’ll still face heavy punishment."

"It’s not like this is my first time."

"……."

Watching me answer so calmly, Professor Lucas massaged his temples as if he were nursing a headache.

"You’ll probably face at least two penalties at once… which means you’ll receive zero points this semester regardless of your exam scores."

"Oh."

That’s a bit of a problem.

‘I thought I’d still have one more chance after this punishment.’

Given the gravity of the incident, it seemed unlikely to end with just one penalty.

"Well… it can’t be helped."

Honestly, I desperately wanted to escape this tiresome low standing.

But there was no way I could just sit back and watch Lanez get expelled.

"Haah. You’re just…."

Professor Lucas let out a deep sigh.

"So, will you help me?"

Of course, taking someone else’s punishment isn’t as simple as it sounds.

If simply saying, "I did it because someone told me to," could get you off the hook, the system would be ripe for abuse.

However, if Professor Lucas himself stepped forward as a witness, it was a different story.

"……."

After closing his eyes and thinking for a while, Professor Lucas clicked his tongue and opened his desk drawer.

He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me.

"This is a testimony form. Fill it out and submit it by tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"Get lost. I don’t want to see your face."

Waving his hand as if swatting away an insect, Professor Lucas dismissed me.

Suppressing a chuckle, I took the testimony form and turned to leave.

"Dale."

"Yes?"

"I’ll do my best to ensure this doesn’t get out."

With a face as fierce as a hungry beast, Professor Lucas spoke.

Barely holding back my laughter, I walked out.

‘Seriously.’

He’s always so different from how he looks.

* * *

A few days after the commotion over Lanez' unauthorized withdrawal attempt.

Lanez and I headed to the mountain behind the academy where we usually trained.

"Whew."

Lanez extended her hand with a tense expression.

Whiiiiiir!

A fierce snowstorm gathered in her palm.

Swirling snowflakes.

Amidst the freezing ground, a single white snowflower bloomed.

"Freeze!"

Crack!

With her ringing cry, the snowflower blossomed fully, scattering snowflakes all around.

At first glance, it seemed like the snowflakes were scattering chaotically, but they precisely targeted and froze only what she aimed for.

"How… how was it?"

Lanez looked at me nervously.

I smiled in satisfaction and nodded.

"Perfect."

Her control over her blessing had improved to the point where comparisons to her previous state felt almost unfair.

‘Her blessing’s power is still weaker than what I saw in my past life, though.’

Even so, her control was near perfect now—far better than when she indiscriminately froze enemies and allies alike.

"Hehe, I’m glad…."

Smiling bashfully, Lanez seemed to notice the difference herself.

"Does this mean I won’t become the ‘Witch of the Night’?"

"Of course."

I smiled faintly and nodded.

"And even if your blessing goes out of control again, I’ll make sure to help you."

"…Thanks, Dale."

Lanez nodded firmly.

"Alright, let’s keep training, then."

"W-Wait! Before that… here."

Lanez handed me a neatly folded white shirt.

"You know, the one I said I’d wash…."

"Oh, right."

I had completely forgotten.

"Wow… how many times did you wash this? It looks brand new."

"I-I scrubbed it really hard! It was my fault, after all!"

"It was just some soup that got spilled. Hardly a crime."

I stifled a small chuckle as I took the shirt.

"Um... Dale."

Lanez clenched her fists tightly and continued speaking.

"Yeah?"

"I... I won't run away anymore. No matter how hard or painful things get... I won't run."

With resolute eyes, Lanez spoke each word clearly.

"So you don't have to stay with me during training anymore."

"...Lanez."

"I can do it. Without you."

"......"

Memories of when I first met her came flooding back.

She had been trembling like a frightened child, curled up and shivering from the cold.

Back then, she had longed desperately for the warmth of others.

But now, she had grown strong enough to stand on her own.

"......"

It felt like watching a child who’d been wasting away in their room finally land a job.

An indescribable sense of pride filled my heart.

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"Still... it's strange,"

Lanez said.

"What is?"

"I mean, the school hasn't said anything. I thought I was going to get into big trouble."

Lanez tilted her head, puzzled.

"Well... maybe since you came back in just a day, they decided to let it go."

"Maybe?"

"Don’t overthink it. Let’s just get back to training."

As I tried to change the subject and refocus on training—

"Ah, Dale. Sorry, but is it okay if I head back a little early today?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Um, I have... something I need to do."

Scratching her cheek awkwardly, Lanez gave me a sheepish smile.

I had no idea what this "something" was, but...

"Sure, fine. Let’s wrap up early today then."

I nodded, and we returned to the school together.

"Okay, I’ll see you later!"

As soon as we arrived, Lanez dashed off somewhere.

I shrugged as I watched her retreating figure.

"Well, I guess it all worked out in the end?"

Thanks to this incident, Lanez was now able to control the Blessing of Frost on her own.

And I had managed to uncover a bit of information about a hero colluding with Mephisto.

‘This should’ve given Lanez more confidence in herself, too.’

I thought back to her efforts to control the blessing’s power entirely on her own, without my help.

It was a side of her I never could’ve imagined before.

Her arms had turned blue with necrosis, yet she’d somehow managed to control the power of the blessing using only her own strength.

The memory brought a smile to my lips.

‘Maybe this will help her get over her tendency to cling to me too much.’

With that thought, I made my way back to the dormitory.

Click.

Lanez entered her room and placed the envelope she had been holding onto the table.

“Woohoo. Hehehe.”

She looked at the envelope and smiled dazedly, as if enchanted.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Let’s see now..."

Handling it as though it were a treasure, she carefully pulled out its contents.

Inside the envelope were photographs of Dale, printed on luxurious paper.

“Kyahhhh!”

Lanez spread the photos out on the table, letting out a scream of pure joy.

"Ah, seeing them like this is so much better than looking at them on my Hero Watch."

She had painstakingly selected only the best from her "Dale Collection," and seeing them displayed like this filled her with deep satisfaction.

"Now then..."

She gingerly picked up one of the photos and walked over to the wall.

"Humming~♬"

Humming a little tune, she began to stick the photos to the wall.

Not just the wall—soon the ceiling and even the floor were covered with pictures of Dale.

"Hehehe. Dale... I love you so much..."

Photos of Dale smiling, eating, chatting—all sorts of moments were captured.

But among them, one stood out as her absolute favorite.

“Ahh, yes... this one is perfect.”

It was a picture of Dale drying his hair after stepping out of a hot spring.

With a towel around his neck, his half-damp hair, and the glimpse of his toned chest muscles peeking out from his loosely tied robe...

Gulp.

Lanez, as if spellbound, reached out to touch the image of Dale’s chest with her fingers.

For some reason, even though she knew it was just a photo, it felt as though she could feel Dale’s warmth through her fingertips.

“Hehe. I’m so glad I got this.”

She silently thanked Iris in her heart.

“And now, the final touch...”

Lanez pulled out the shirt Dale had worn.

There were still faint traces of soup stains on it, but such trivial details didn’t bother her in the least.

“Here we go.”

She wrapped the shirt around an extra pillow.

Then she carefully affixed a photo of Dale’s face to the top of the pillow.

“Perfect!”

Looking at her Dale pillow creation, Lanez let out another delighted squeal.

“Oh no... Don’t stare at me like that, Dale...”

She fidgeted shyly in front of the pillow, twisting her body as if embarrassed, before darting into the shower.

"I’ll be right back, Dale!"

Shhhhhhh.

After thoroughly washing herself, she changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed.

Sssss... Haaah.

Burying her face deeply into the shirt, she inhaled his scent, which seemed to wrap around her entire body.

Squirming under the covers, Lanez whispered,

“Haah…”

The sound of her breathless sighs heated the cold room like a fire.

It was a warm winter night.

[TL/N: WTF??? 💀]

[PR/N: DUDE EVERYONE IS NASTY IN THIS NOVEL WHAT]

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