The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
Honestly.
Until the moment when Lanez pressed her body against mine for the first time, I was filled with confidence thinking, “Well, how much can it really matter? How much could she do anyway?”
No, I could call it arrogance too.
It couldn’t be helped.
Without needing to pull in past experiences, I had already accumulated enough nights with Iris, Yurina, and Elisha, which left a significant gap between me and Lanez, who was a complete novice.
However.
That was my misconception.
Haah... Dale... I like it...
Dale, you're so warm.
It's not enough... I want to feel more of you, Dale...
More, make me warmer, more...
Like a starving beast, Lanez clung to me.
She pressed herself against me, her hunger felt endless, like a ravenous creature feeding on my warmth.
“Ugh...”
Had the power of the Blessing grown stronger, affecting her physical form too?
Even though I was confident in my stamina, it was getting hard to bear.
She kept craving my warmth.
Right.
Specifically, this went on for about three days.
Haa.
The room, filled with a damp heat as if we were inside a sauna.
Lanez let out a languid sigh and rested her head on my arm, using it as a pillow.
“Hehe. Dale... you're so warm... I like it.”
Like a child throwing a tantrum, Lanez clung to me.
“Lanez...”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I... I think... maybe we should... stop...”
Shivering and feeling like a dried-up squid, I barely managed to mutter as my voice trembled.
No.
At this rate, the Blessing of Revival might activate.
“Ah... I'm sorry! I was so happy to finally be with you that I couldn't hold back...”
Lanez spoke with a flushed face, trailing off.
Ever since the day she started holding feelings for Dale.
The emotions she’d built up alone under the blanket at night, yearning for him, exploded all at once, and her desires became uncontrollable.
And...
Lanez squeezed her eyes shut and rested her head on my chest.
Curling up, she clung to me like a baby bird seeking warmth.
“...Lanez?”
“Ah, yeah. I'm sorry... I really should stop...”
Even though she knew I was exhausted, she couldn't let go of me.
If my warmth were to disappear now...
“Is it because of your mother?”
“Eep.”
At my words, Lanez flinched, her shoulders shaking.
As he said, it was true.
Even though she had let go of the resentment she held inside.
Even though she had wiped away the stains from faded memories.
The image of her mother dying in front of her was still vivid in her mind, as fresh as ever.
“...I'm sorry.”
Lanez tightened her embrace around me and quietly continued.
“I should forget it quickly, but I can’t help but think about it.”
Even knowing how tired I was, she still clung to me with a childish longing.
She sought my warmth like a hand warmer on a cold winter night.
Haa.
I gently stroked Lanez's head, her face downcast as she avoided my gaze.
Somehow.
No matter how strong Lanez’s sexual desire was, it felt almost frightening how she didn’t want to let go of me.
It was as though she hadn’t yet shaken off the shock of Seria’s death.
Well...
Lanez was, after all, a sensitive person.
Even though the ending hadn’t been that bad, she couldn’t easily forget seeing her mother die before her eyes.
“...Dale.”
Lanez clung to me, as if trying to overlay her memories of her mother onto me.
A faint tremor passed through my skin as we touched.
I swallowed a bitter smile and lightly kissed her forehead.
“You don’t have to try so hard to forget. Some memories can’t be forgotten just by trying.”
“......”
Lanez raised her head and looked at me intently.
“How did you deal with it, Dale?”
“Huh?”
“You also... lost someone precious in your past life, right?”
“Well...”
Yeah.
I was the same.
I wandered through the snowfields, unable to forget the memories of comrades who died before me.
“What did I do, Lanez...”
I shook my head with a bitter smile.
“I couldn’t do anything.”
“......”
“I thought time would make it easier, but it didn’t.”
The pain of loss was engraved into my memory like a brand, something that couldn’t be erased by anything.
“So instead of forgetting, I remembered.”
“...You remembered?”
“Yeah. I remembered so I wouldn’t forget.”
I carried the belongings of my comrades and continued to recall them.
Eventually, I even began talking to their ghosts and sharing jokes in my mind.
I remembered them.
“If you can’t forget, maybe it’s better to just remember.”
“...Remembering...”
Lanez’s gaze trembled slightly.
“Yeah, got it. I won’t try to force myself to forget.”
With a faint smile, she tightened her arms around me.
Why was it?
It felt as if the face of her mother, engraved in her memory, was smiling brightly.
“Well then, shall we...?”
“Hehe. I know, Dale.”
Lanez grinned brightly, loosened her embrace, and slowly sat up.
And then—
Rustle, rustle.
Lanez, wrapped in the blanket, wiggled her way downward.
“...Huh?”
What the hell.
Why was she going down there?
“Hmm? Didn’t you mean we should keep going since we’ve rested enough?”
Lanez smiled sweetly and climbed on top of me.
“.......”
Please, someone save me.
After that day, my life didn’t change much.
School was still on winter break, and I continued training to control the power of the Tree of Creation while occasionally keeping in touch with my party members.
The real change was on Lanez’s side.
With her newly improved control over the Blessing of Frost, she started spending more time training alone.
‘Training together is more efficient, though.’
But she said that being around me made her feel an uncontrollable urge to pounce(?) on me, so she had no choice.
In her own way, she was trying to stand on her own.
“Still... after being together every day, it feels a little lonely.”
Early in the morning, as I got up and folded my blanket, I looked around the empty kitchen.
When Lanez and I first got together, I was worried she’d keep exploiting me(?) until the end of winter break.
But aside from the nights she occasionally visited, I found myself spending more time alone than before.
I even asked if she was forcing herself to keep her distance too much.
—T-this much is just right... I-I also want to stay with you, Dale, but... if I do, I’d feel bad for the others.
Her dazzling growth made my eyes well up.
—B-but... after experiencing it firsthand... it’s so much better than I imagined, so... I keep thinking about it... If I’m not careful, I might... no, I definitely will... e-explode even more than the first time... When that happens... please take care of me, Dale? D-don’t die, okay? Ah... wait. You revive even if you die, so I guess it’s fine?
At her next words, I couldn’t help but shed tears.
‘Well, as long as I don’t make her lose control.’
Considering my upright and exemplary social life, there was no need to worry.
“Alright, time to head out.”
After a quick breakfast with the lunch Lanez had packed for me last night, I made my way to the party house.
Opening the door, I found an empty space.
I let out a bitter smile as I looked around the vacant party house.
‘I miss them.’
Even though we kept in touch through our Hero Watches, it couldn’t compare to the times we all gathered together here.
“Well... winter break will be over next week anyway.”
It wouldn’t be long until I reunited with my party members.
“Alright then.”
I simultaneously summoned the power of the Tree of Creation and the Primordial Flame, slowly merging the two.
Fwoooosh!
A brilliantly burning ashen flame.
Part of my body turned to ashfire as boundless magic surged through me.
‘I’m getting used to this.’
At first, I could barely maintain this state for a few seconds.
Now, I could keep it up for almost a minute.
“Whew.”
I continued my training for a few hours when—
Knock, knock.
A knock came at the party house door.
“Hmm?”
Lanez?
‘Now that I think about it, it’s almost lunchtime.’
Even though we trained separately, Lanez always brought lunch, so we usually ate together.
‘But why is she knocking?’
She had access to the party house and could just scan her candidate badge to enter.
Tilting my head, I opened the door.
And what I saw was—
“Hmph. So this is the place that Lionel built for your party? For all the boasting, it’s not all that impressive.”
Dazzling platinum hair and languid eyes.
A noble and elegant appearance that made her aristocratic origins obvious at a glance.
“...Your Majesty?”
“It has been a while. Have you been well?”
Unlike in the palace, where she always lounged in nightwear, Camellia stood before me in casual outdoor attire, smiling sweetly.
“What brings you to Hero Academy?”
“I came for two reasons.”
Camellia crossed her arms and lifted a finger.
“One, because the ‘Summit Conference’ will soon be held here.”
She stepped forward.
Then, slowly reaching out, she gently cupped my chin with her thumb and forefinger.
“And two, because I wanted to see your face again.”
“.......”
“Fufu. Why that look? Are you so overwhelmed with honor that you’re speechless because I personally came to see you?”
With her usual smug smile, she raised her chin confidently.
As I stared at her, dumbfounded—
Clatter.
The sound of something dropping.
Turning toward the source, I saw a familiar lunchbox rolling on the floor.
“Dale...?”
Lanez stood at the entrance, staring wide-eyed at me and Camellia.
“Who... is that woman?”
Her gaze darkened as if the light had drained from her eyes.
Her irises turned to empty voids, swallowed by shadows.
“.......”
Oh no.
I’m so screwed.

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