HSFCWH 59

Chapter 59 – The Hero’s Legacy

“How did you guess it right away?!”

Evelyn, who was about to boast about discovering the legacy, pouted at Elliot’s amused voice.

“No matter how far you were swept away, I thought you’d be back within a day. When it took longer, I wondered if maybe you were under divine protection.”

“So you weren’t even a little surprised?”

“No, I was quite surprised. How did you end up discovering the Hero’s legacy?”

Elliot raised an eyebrow as if urging her to explain.

“As soon as the landslide stopped, I immediately moved to the second camp.”

Evelyn gave a rough explanation of what had happened after she was swept away by the landslide.

“Then I discovered a cave I’d never seen before and while moving around, I fell further down.”

“If you didn’t get swept too far, it should have been somewhere we already searched.”

At her words, Elliot stroked his chin. He had thought they’d thoroughly checked every inch of this area.

But now, hearing that she found a legacy here, he felt a bit deflated.

“It’s fortunate you weren’t hurt, despite falling into a cave.”

“Were you really that worried?”

The look in his eyes as he gazed down at her contained a faint but genuine trace of concern. Evelyn met his eyes and smiled softly.

To think he worried about a teammate.

He really was a warm person, no doubt about it.

“No. Aren’t you strong? I believed you’d return safely.”

Should she be grateful for his unwavering belief? Evelyn hesitated for a moment and cleared her throat.

“Of course, I was a little worried, but then I thought that worrying too much would be disrespectful to you.”

“Disrespectful?”

“Yes. You’re strong, after all. Fretting and panicking over you would be an insult to your abilities.”

His steady voice held firm conviction.

“Not someone who needs protecting, but an equal?”

“Equal? You’ll soon surpass me. You’re already someone I can trust to guard my back.”

At Elliot’s graceful smile, Evelyn’s cheeks flushed.

“You have no idea how much trouble I went through after falling into that cave. Turns out, I didn’t even need to search the snowy mountains in the first place.”

“Who told you that?”

Evelyn quickly diverted her gaze from Elliot and spoke faster. Hearing that there was someone else in the legacy, Elliot’s eyes sharpened.

“The Holy Sword.”

Elliot tilted his head at the word ‘Holy Sword.’

“It talks now?”

Wuuung!

The Holy Sword hanging at Evelyn’s waist vibrated.

“You can communicate with it?”

“Not outside, only inside the ruins.”

Of course, even now, Evelyn could roughly understand what the sword was grumbling.

Something like: [It’s been a while, you useless descendant with nothing going for you but your face!]

She hadn’t expected the Holy Sword to judge Elliot so mercilessly. Definitely something she’d keep secret.

“That’s an interesting story. More details later. But first, you should rest.”

With a deliberately disappointed look, Elliot pushed her toward the bathroom.

“I can keep talking.”

Evelyn clung to the door, eager to tell him about the interesting and terrifying things she’d experienced.

“Are you trying to make me look like the bad guy? I’ll prepare a meal, so please wash up first.”

Bang.

Evelyn smiled helplessly at the closed door before her.

“So, you’re saying there was a legacy—or rather, a ruin—in that cave?”

As soon as Evelyn sat down after washing up, she began explaining about the Hero’s legacy. Given its scale, it was more fitting to call it a ruin.

Elliot began drying Evelyn’s hair with a towel.

“It wasn’t at all what we imagined.”

Evelyn recalled the countless treasures and weapons she’d seen there. What she and Elliot had envisioned had only scratched the surface.

“We should start training the northern knights and soldiers first.”

“The training facilities were that exceptional?”

Even the Grand Duke of Graham’s family had some of the Empire’s best facilities and training methods. But they couldn’t compare to the Hero’s legacy.

“It almost feels like a waste to let others see it. The North should grow stronger first.”

If the North fell, the capital would fall next. Evelyn wanted to protect the North, which might become the final battlefield.

“If you’re saying that, I’m really curious now. Can you find the place again?”

“It’s connected to the Grand Duke’s castle.”

“What?”

Elliot’s stunned expression made Evelyn stifle a laugh. No wonder the Hero and the Holy Sword loved teasing him.

“The Knight’s training grounds, the Grand Duke’s bedroom, the garden, the snowy mountain entrance.”

With each location Evelyn listed as being connected to the ruins, Elliot sighed in disbelief.

“We checked them all, but never found any teleportation device.”

“That’s normal. They said I, as the Hero, had to open the door with the Holy Sword first. Only then can others pass through.”

Evelyn scratched her cheek awkwardly. She’d been too busy training to pay attention to her surroundings.

“Looks like I just need to open the door in your bedroom with the Holy Sword.”

“Once the subjugation mission is over, we’ll inspect the ruins immediately.”

“I met the Hero’s will there and even received training.”

Evelyn’s eyes sparkled at Elliot’s words.

“The Hero’s will… is alive?”

“Yes. Quite talkative too.”

Evelyn had also realized that having both the Hero and the Holy Sword talking at once was a recipe for a headache.

“What the Hero left behind wasn’t just the swordsmanship manual. I received direct training too—”

“Directly from the Hero?”

Elliot’s eyes widened as he pulled back the chair after drying her hair.

“Yes.”

“Amazing. To think you could be personally trained by the Hero.”

“Well… it felt more like being worked to death.”

Noticing the slightly gloomy tone in Elliot’s voice, Evelyn sat and glanced at his face.

“He said it’d just be a quick training session, but I ended up trapped there for half a year.”

Clink.

Evelyn tilted her head at the sound of the fork dropping.

“Did you just say… half a year?”

Elliot asked sharply. The sudden change startled Evelyn, making her blink.

“He said he just wanted to see me move a bit, so I entered this special training space just for me.”

At that time, she hadn’t realized she’d been tricked. She really thought it would just be brief.

“I couldn’t sleep and was pushed non-stop for six whole months. But when I came out… only two days had passed.”

It had been a place without day or night.

For the first time, Evelyn realized a person could stay awake that long. The Hero had said it was more like an unconscious mental space, but her body had felt every ounce of exhaustion.

Her body had broken and healed repeatedly, growing stronger each time—like a blacksmith forging steel.

“You endured all that time alone?”

“I didn’t have time to think. I just kept moving.”

Elliot’s gaze burned with tightly controlled anger.

“You should have told him people were waiting for you outside.”

“I did mention needing to rejoin the subjugation unit, but he insisted that getting stronger was more important.”

In the end, she’d fallen for the Hero’s persuasion: ‘Just one more session.’ It had even started feeling fun despite knowing she had to leave.

“The previous Hero sounds… more self-centered than I thought.”

Elliot’s reaction—gritting his teeth—made Evelyn blink. Why was he like this? Wasn’t he just relieved earlier that she was safe?

“So… it was just the two of you training together?”

Elliot didn’t understand why it bothered him so much that the previous Hero had personally trained Evelyn.

But thinking she’d spent not days, but half a year with the Hero left him feeling unsettled.

It was understandable, but the more he dwelled on it, the worse he felt.

Wasn’t she supposed to be his Hero?

Elliot finally admitted to himself that this irritation was a form of possessiveness.

“The Holy Sword was there too… so I guess there were three of us?”

Was the Holy Sword male or female?

Elliot didn’t even realize how ridiculous he sounded for wondering about the Holy Sword’s gender.

He simply hated the idea that Evelyn had been stuck somewhere with “strange people” when he wasn’t there.

“I wish I could enter that space too.”

“I meant to ask about that, but I left the ruins before I could.”

Seeing Evelyn’s apologetic face, Elliot forced a smile and said it was fine.

As long as she could leave that space whenever she wanted, it was a relief. At least no one was forcing her to stay trapped there.