The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 69: In Search of the Demon Sword (1)

“You want to go on a ruins expedition?”

The professor’s office was quite neat, in stark contrast to its owner, who looked like someone who lived in the wilderness under a tent.

A giant man with wild hair like a lion’s mane glared at me with fierce eyes.

“Yes. I’d like to apply for a temporary hero license and a 3-day leave starting from Friday afternoon.”

“Huh…”

Professor Lucas let out a low sigh, frowning as if he had a headache.

“Do you have any experience in exploring ruins?”

“No, I don’t.”

In reality, I had conquered hundreds of ruins, but I couldn’t tell the truth.

“A guy with no experience wants to explore ruins? Do you even know what ruins are, kid?”

“Of course, I know.”

Ruins, also known as dungeons, are places that were created more than 500 years ago during the Demon War—or even long before that—where various transcendental forces, including that of the Demon God, altered space.

Some places have time flowing differently.

Some have reversed gravity.

Some are filled with flowing lava and glaciers together.

These are places where bizarre phenomena that defy physical laws occur—these are the ruins.

‘Of course, only a few are that twisted.’

Most ruins are just crawling with a few demonic beasts or have a few traps here and there.

“Which ruins are you planning to go to? You know you can’t enter undiscovered ruins with just a temporary hero license, right?”

“I’m planning to go to the ‘Cave of Red Tears’ west of Valhalla City.”

“Ah, that place.”

Professor Lucas nodded, as if familiar with the location.

Despite the ominous name, the ruins were rated as a C-class, meaning they were relatively safe.

“But that place was discovered decades ago. You’ll just find a few demonic beasts roaming around.”

“That’s exactly why I’m going—to hunt those demonic beasts. You’ve said before that the most important thing in combat is experience, right?”

“Hmmm.”

Professor Lucas swallowed, looking at me suspiciously.

“You... don’t have some other scheme, do you?”

“...”

Damn.

He’s annoyingly sharp at times like this.

‘I don’t think he’s going to give me permission easily.’

As I was contemplating whether to go and ask Professor Elisha instead, Lucas continued.

“You know that students are required to form a party of at least five people for ruin expeditions, right?”

“…Yes, I’m aware.”

“Who are you planning to take with you?”

“Hmm. Maybe Iris and…”

“Knew it! This rascal!”

Lucas burst into laughter, standing up from his seat.

“You’ve been hanging around with Iris a lot lately, haven’t you? Planning to use this expedition as an excuse to spend a night away with her, huh?”

“...”

I take back what I said about him being sharp.

“Hahaha. You’re just like any other guy. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? I was quite the Casanova myself back in my student days, you know—Valhalla’s Casan—”

“Speaking of which, how are things going with Professor Bianca lately?”

“Wh-what? Why are you suddenly bringing up Bianca?”

Lucas stuttered, looking flustered.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that your plans for a cozy date during the sealing ceremony were completely ruined by that demonic beast incident.”

“Ugh…!”

“Haha. Don’t worry, Professor. You’ll get another chance soon.”

“...”

Lucas, avoiding my gaze, tightly shut his mouth and turned his head away.

From the grumpy look on his face, it seemed things weren’t going too well with Professor Bianca lately.

Suppressing a laugh, I spoke again.

“So, will you approve my request for the permit?”

“Well… it’s not like it’s a high-risk ruin, so I don’t see why not. However…”

Ruin expeditions were actually part of the practical combat training curriculum for third- and fourth-year students.

It was basically like going for a bit of extra practice ahead of time, so there wasn’t much reason to refuse.

Although, there had been a few cases where students who went on expeditions had suffered fatal accidents.

“As you know, the school doesn’t take responsibility for any casualties that happen outside the premises.”

This wasn’t an ordinary educational institution—it was a hero academy, where students were being trained to fight on the front lines of humanity’s defense.

Even as candidates, we were chosen transcendents, blessed with Stigmas by the seven gods.

The responsibility for our choices lay solely with us.

“I understand.”

I met Lucas’s sharp gaze and replied calmly.

Nodding, he pulled out a few sheets of paper from his desk drawer.

“Alright. Submit the signed consent forms from your party members.”

“Yes.”

Taking the consent forms from Professor Lucas, I stepped out of his office.

* * *

A few days later, after submitting all the consent forms, I stood in front of the school gate on Friday afternoon, waiting for the party members who were going to join me for the expedition.

There were still about 30 minutes left until the agreed meeting time.

“Ah, you’re already here, Dale.”

Noticing me, Yuren waved as he approached.

I waved back to him.

“I just got here.”

“Haha, were you so excited that you came early?”

“No, not exactly…”

It wouldn’t look good if the person who organized the expedition showed up late.

“By the way, I never imagined you’d suggest going on a ruins expedition.”

“Is it your first time exploring ruins?”

“Well… I’ve been to a few with my family before enrolling, but this will be my first time doing it as a student.”

I figured as much.

Unless it was part of the curriculum, students rarely volunteered for ruin expeditions, which could be unpredictable and dangerous.

“Don’t be too nervous.”

“Haha. Nervous? I’m more thrilled to be going on my first expedition with you, Dale.”

Yuren beamed, his smile as bright as an excited child about to go on a field trip.

‘Well, for Yuren, the Cave of Red Tears would probably feel like a field trip.’

He was far stronger than most professors, so there was no way he’d be afraid of a C-class ruin.

‘Still, no matter how strong you are, you should never underestimate a ruin.’

There was no need to dampen his spirits with warnings just yet.

“…By the way, Iris is coming too, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Of course, I invited her.”

“...”

Yuren’s face scrunched up in displeasure, but only for a moment.

He soon sighed deeply and nodded.

“Well… we do need at least one supporter.”

“Who said you needed me?”

Did they say even a tiger shows up if you talk about it?

Iris, who had suddenly appeared, glanced at Yuren and smirked slightly.

"At least you know that having a support member is essential for party composition. That\'s a relief."

"Well, that\'s something you learn in first-year classes."

Yuren, seemingly aware of Iris\'s approach through her presence alone, turned towards her without surprise and continued speaking.

"But knowing it\'s essential for party composition and actually being helpful are two different things, right? Especially in these low-level ruins, support classes tend to be, as they say, \'useless.\'"

"Oh my, it seems you missed the lesson that parties that treat support classes as useless don’t last long and get wiped out."

"That\'s just a figure of speech. Do you really think the great \'Saintess\' would just ride along without lifting a finger?"

"Hahaha."

"Haha."

Wait.

Why are you two already fighting the moment you meet?

As I watched Yuren and Iris exchange sharp words, I shook my head in disbelief.

"...Sigh."

At that moment, I noticed Camilla letting out a heavy sigh, dark shadows under her eyes from obvious exhaustion.

"Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Ugh... It\'s all your fault!"

"What? What did I do?"

"Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through because you suddenly blurted out nonsense about going on a ruin exploration?"

With a murderous glare, Camilla continued speaking as if she was ready to tear me apart.

"The Saintess insisted on going no matter what... the Holy Kingdom was adamant about not allowing it... ugh. Being stuck in the middle was just... me..."

"Uh, well..."

Now that I think about it, I do feel a bit guilty.

"So, did you manage to get the Holy Kingdom\'s permission?"

"I barely convinced them by saying it\'s part of the regular course, and we’re just going for a little pre-study trip."

"Good job."

"Ugh, what a hassle..."

Camilla sighed again, her face full of fatigue.

"Hey, it\'ll be worth it in the end, so don’t worry too much."

The reason I specifically called Iris and Yuren for this ruin exploration was to give them some real "field" experience.

\'There’s a limit to how much you can improve just by training.\'

Besides the goal of finding the cursed sword, this ruin exploration was also meant to raise my comrades\' skills to the next level.

"Now we just need one more person."

I checked the time, glancing at Yuren, Iris, and Camilla.

Only one minute left until the scheduled meeting time.

The last party member should be arriving any moment now.

"By the way, who’s the other person you invited?"

Yuren asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Before I could answer, Iris spoke up.

"Isn’t it Juliet?"

"Juliet?"

"Yes, he\'s a friend of Dale’s. I’ve met him once before."

"Oh, right. Isn\'t he that promising cadet from a well-known family in the Republic?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

"Hmm. I heard his reputation isn\'t all that great though."

Yuren frowned, recalling some rumors he\'d heard about Juliet.

"Didn\'t they say he’s been messing around with female cadets who just entered the academy...?"

"Ah, no need to worry about that. Those rumors are false."

Iris awkwardly smiled and shook her head.

"Actually, the person she\'s interested in isn\'t a girl... Ahem. Anyway! You definitely don’t need to worry about her bothering female cadets."

"Really?"

Watching Iris and Yuren casually chatting as if they had never argued, I finally spoke up.

"You guys seem to be misunderstanding something. The last party member isn\'t Juliet."

"Huh?"

"Then who is it?"

Yuren and Iris looked at me, eyes wide in confusion.

Before I could reveal the name of the last party member—

"Heeeeey, Steeeeeveeeen!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With heavy footsteps that seemed to shake the ground, a giant over two meters tall came running at full speed.

"Hahaha! Sorry for being late, bro! I had so much stuff to pack, it took me a while to get ready!"

Thud!

The giant dropped his enormous, bulging backpack onto the ground with a booming sound and let out a hearty laugh.

"...What the heck did you pack so much stuff for?"

"Well, food, drinks, things for sleeping… I just packed anything and everything that came to mind!"

"Hey, you crazy idiot. That backpack looks like it weighs over 100 kilos, and you’re planning to carry that for a ruin exploration?"

"Ah, no worries! I put a \'Levitation\' spell on it, so the weight won’t be an issue!"

With a grin, Berald lifted the seemingly 100-kilo backpack effortlessly with just his pinky finger.

"See? It\'s light as a feather!"

"......"

Looking at Yuren, Iris, and Camilla, who were frozen in shock, I finally spoke.

"You all see that, right?"

This guy is our fifth party member.