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Chapter 131: Summer Vacation (3)
A rugged off-road.
A luxury magic vehicle, which looked like it could easily cost tens of thousands of gold, was gliding along the road.
Even though I had described the car Juliet brought as "sleek," it wasn’t one of those sports magic cars currently trendy among the young people of the Republic.
The car Juliet brought was what you would call a “boss’s car”—a high-end sedan.
It was the kind of model favored by the Republic’s wealthy, with seats made from such soft leather that they felt like they might melt if touched, and a spacious back seat.
Thud!
“Ugh.”
No matter how great the magic car was, traveling on such a rough road was bound to be uncomfortable.
Especially with four of us crammed into the backseat—Camilla, Iris, me, and Yuren, in that order.
“Are you alright, Dale?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Don’t feel so uncomfortable, you can come closer to me.”
“That’s….”
I forced an awkward smile as I glanced at Camilla, who sat next to Iris, glaring at me with an expression that seemed to say, "Just try moving closer to her."
“Come on, Dale, just scoot closer to me. We’re both ‘guys,’ aren’t we?”
Yuren said, grinning as he grabbed my arm.
“Oh my~ In a situation like this, who cares about men or women? Dale, wouldn’t you be much more ‘comfortable’ over here with me?”
“Hahaha, Iris, you say some bold things. Not very saint-like.”
“You’re the one saying weird things, Yuren. As far as I know, men don’t like sitting too close to each other, even if they’re friends.”
Their eyes locked in a tense stare as I sat awkwardly between them, caught in the middle of their subtle battle.
“…Brother.”
From the passenger seat, Berald turned his head to look back at me.
“Would you like to switch and sit in the front seat?”
“If you get in the back, it’ll be even more cramped.”
It was already tight as it was.
“Ugh… Sorry. If I had known, I would’ve brought a bigger magic car.”
Juliet glanced up at the rearview mirror with a sheepish smile as he drove.
“No, I’m just thankful you’re giving us a ride.”
“So, why are you heading to Iron Gorge anyway?”
“Well… We’re planning a training camp or something.”
“...Right at the start of summer vacation?”
Juliet shook her head in disbelief.
“You’re really diligent, considering your grades, Dale.”
“Shut up.”
“Hahaha, just kidding.”
Juliet let out a small laugh.
‘Juliet’s joking with me, huh.’
It definitely felt like the distance between us had gotten much closer since I gave him that money last time.
“By the way, have you heard that rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“There’s a rumor that the ‘Legacy of Iron Fist’ is hidden in Iron Gorge.”
“Oh…”
Well, I had heard of that, as it was quite a famous rumor.
‘But it’s just a hoax.’
The ruins we were heading to in Iron Gorge were the first ruins that I, Yuren, Berald, Iris, and Senior Sophia had ever conquered together as a party in my previous life.
Back then, when we found the hidden ruins, Berald and I had gotten all excited, thinking we’d finally discovered the legacy of Iron Fist, but the ruins were completely empty except for the guardian golem inside.
‘Still, if we can defeat the guardian golem, we’ll get a high-grade magic stone.’
Though the guardian golem inside was far stronger than the one we had defeated during the final exams, it would be an excellent training opportunity and killing two birds with one stone.
“The legacy of Iron Fist, huh…”
Berald, sitting in the passenger seat, muttered quietly.
Juliet glanced over at Berald and asked,
“By the way, Berald… should I call you ‘Junior?’”
“Hehe, just call me Berald.”
“Ah, um, okay. What were you going to ask?”
“Your family, the ‘Ryu’ clan, is connected to Iron Fist Ryujin Seong, right?”
“Well, that’s correct.”
The ‘Ryu’ clan, one of the most powerful families in the Republic, descended from Ryu Jinhyuk, the younger brother of Iron Fist Ryujin Seong.
While his brother had natural talent as a martial artist, Ryu Jinhyuk had shown remarkable talent in magic.
That talent had been passed down through the generations, and the Ryu clan was now recognized as the top magical family in the Republic.
“So, do you know anything about the Legacy of Iron Fist?”
Juliet asked, his eyes sparkling with interest in the rumor.
“Haha, not exactly,”
Berald replied, shaking his head with a bitter smile.
“As a child, I heard that Ryujin Seong didn’t get along very well with our ancestor.”
“Ryujin Seong didn’t get along with Ryu Jinhyuk? But they’re brothers, right?”
“Just because they’re brothers doesn’t mean they have to get along, does it?”
“Oh, that’s true.”
Even with shared blood… no, perhaps because they were related by blood, it wasn’t unusual for siblings to fall out with each other.
“Anyway, I heard that our ancestor deliberately kept his distance from Iron Fist Ryujin Seong.”
“I see.”
“And since Ryujin Seong didn’t have any descendants, after his falling out with his only remaining family, the ‘Legacy of Iron Fist’ naturally vanished into history.”
“So, that’s why no one’s found it for over 500 years.”
Juliet looked slightly disappointed.
I glanced back at him and chuckled.
“Are you really that interested in this?”
“Uh, what? No, I mean… it’s the legacy of one of the Five Great Heroes! How could I not be interested?”
“Well, fair enough.”
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Especially since Iron Fist Ryujin Seong, unlike the other heroes, had left his legacy to no one.
Naturally, people’s interest in him would be high.
‘Looking back now, I wonder if there was ever a real legacy at all.’
Even after wandering the continent for thousands of years, searching for the Primordial Flame, I had never found Iron Fist’s legacy.
‘But that’s not important right now.’
The priority was to help my party members grow through actual combat and to secure the ‘offering’ necessary to treat Berald’s father.
Chasing some possibly non-existent legacy wasn’t nearly as important as that.
“We’re at the entrance to Iron Gorge… I don’t think we can drive the magic car any further from here.”
After half a day of driving, we finally arrived at the entrance of the Gorge.
Juliet glanced at the bumpy rocks inside the Gorge and stopped the car.
“This is fine. Thanks for driving us here.”
"Hehe. It's not a big deal. So, are we all going to start training together now?"
"Yeah."
Juliet looked at us with a hint of envy for a moment, but it was difficult to extend an invitation to him.
'If the skill gap between party members is too wide, it can actually be a hindrance.'
Juliet wasn't lacking by any means, but that was only when comparing him to an "average candidate."
With people like Yuren, Iris, Berald, and even Camilla...
They weren't just beyond the level of average candidates—they were on par with, or even surpassed, many active heroes.
"Well then, I'll be off! If you need me for anything else, just let me know!"
"Yeah. Get home safe."
"Oh, and contact me when the training camp is over. I'll come pick you up then."
Juliet smiled and put on his sunglasses.
"Thank you, Juliet."
Iris bowed her head toward Juliet.
Perhaps Juliet hadn't expected to receive gratitude from the saintess, as he looked flustered and shook his head quickly.
"Oh, no, it's nothing... It's just a friend's request..."
"Hmm. Is that really the only reason?"
Iris smirked as she watched the flustered Juliet shake her head, then gave him a sly smile.
"...Huh? What do you mean, 'only reason'?"
"Hehe. The reason you've been helping us so much..."
Iris glanced briefly at Berald, then stepped closer to Juliet.
"It's because of Berald, right?"
"...What?"
"Hehe. You said it before, didn't you? That you... have feelings for him."
"Oh."
Juliet's face instantly turned pale.
"N-no! I...!"
Before he could come up with an excuse, Iris patted him on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Good luck! I'm rooting for your love, Juliet!"
Iris smiled brightly and walked away.
"...Ugh."
Left alone, Juliet bowed his head and clenched his trembling fists.
"No... I... I'm not into him like that..."
It was summer.
* * *
The Iron Gorge, a place where the legendary Iron Fist Ryujin was said to have spent his old age, was notorious for its treacherous terrain and maze-like paths.
Not only did wild and ferocious demonic beasts lurk in every corner, but deadly poisonous plants and insects that could even be fatal to heroes thrived there.
Rumble, crash!
"Phew. Now I get why this place is off-limits to heroes."
Yuren swiftly dodged out of the way as the ground he stepped on crumbled like it had a trap set, letting out a low sigh.
I walked ahead, avoiding the collapsed ground, and glanced at the weary expressions of my party members.
"We're almost at the ruins. Just hang in there a little longer."
"But how did you know there were ruins in a place like this, brother?"
"Yeah, I've never heard anything about ruins in the Iron Gorge before."
Berald and Yuren looked at me with puzzled expressions.
"Remember when I went out with Professor Elisha for a bit after the final exams?"
"Oh, yeah. You mean that trip outside the academy?"
"Yeah. I got some information about hidden ruins in the Iron Gorge then."
In reality, I knew the location of the ruins thanks to memories from my past life.
But I couldn’t reveal the whole truth to my companions just yet.
"Hmm... Is that so?"
Yuren frowned, still looking unconvinced, but I moved forward without addressing his doubts.
After a few more hours of trekking deeper into the Iron Gorge, a large cave entrance finally appeared before us.
"Is this the entrance to the ruins you mentioned?"
"Yeah."
"But it doesn’t seem that deep... The end of the cave is visible from the outside."
Just like Iris said, the end of the cave was so close that we could see it from where we stood.
Rather than a cave, it looked more like a wide pit created by a landslide.
I held back a chuckle and stepped inside the cave.
"If the entrance had been easy to find, it wouldn’t have remained hidden for 500 years."
The entrance to these ruins had been concealed by a seal, making it impossible to locate just by looking.
'It was quite a struggle to break the seal back then.'
To reveal the entrance, one had to find the sealing stones hidden throughout the Iron Gorge and arrange them in a specific order within this cave.
'But doing that would take up all our summer break.'
Luckily, there was an easier way.
A much simpler and faster way.
"Berald, remember that magic you used when the door to the student cafeteria broke?"
"You mean... the unlocking spell?"
"Yeah."
I smirked and lit a gray flame.
Whoosh!
The ash-colored fire flared up fiercely in my clenched fist.
"We're going to use that spell."
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