Is Hero Worthless?

[A day ahead of present time]

"Alex Nuèye. Not only have you kept the fact of demons cooperating with the Southern Continent, but you also let Hero Kyouki-kun leave the academy. And if it was not enough, the summoned hero who appeared out of nowhere, you told her about our nation's pride, Saintess-sama's location, too. Can you give an appropriate reason for your actions?"

In an extravagantly decorated courtroom of Gram palace could be seen several figures with the bespectacled mage in the center of every gaze at the moment.

There weren't all the courtiers present currently, but only the high-rank nobles, along with the second prince Mikhail and, of course, the Emperor himself.

The chain of events that had been happening for more than a week now had made everything riled up. The war on the border finally ended with solely Charles left on the battlefield.

Gram lost thousands of elite soldiers along with a tremendous amount of resources. Still, fortunately, the entity with the surname Charles was way beyond any of the demons' capability to subdue.

The news about Eden academy was a great shock to the kingdom since they didn't have much preparation to counter such a high degree of war.

But the appearance of a single human, whom no one scaled more than a mere Newbie ranked previously, made a massive difference from what could have happened if not for the presence of this single blond youth.

Mikhail's chest was pumped with pride since his statement about Austin being an asset for Gram had been proven with this all-out war.

But the problem arises from the involvement of Xylex, which made this whole issue a diplomatic matter.

William's cold gaze was fixated on the court magician as he patiently waited for the accused to speak.

"With due honor, my lord, whatever I attained, I take full responsibility for it. The reason I didn't choose to inform the Council about Xylex's involvement in the matter was simple."

Without any change of expression, William, this time, spoke instead of the prime minister who spoke the accusations before.

"And that is."

"Trust, my lord. I don't believe everyone I share space within this capital. I feared that if any of the spies from the foreign kingdom was to know about the situation, then they might doubt our foreign relations. If I had, I would have kept this whole attack on Eden academy under the sheets since it might show Gram's vulnerability."

Gasps resonated in the court as the words concluded from Alex's lips. It wasn't just about his doubts about Gram's integrity but also the possible threat that might be advancing while they held this meeting ongoing here.

"I apologize for being rude here, your Majesty, but I would like to ask whether Court Magician Alex-sama doesn't trust on upper echelon or does he has lost faith in Gram entirely?"

The one who asked was a Count of territory near Gram, just like Vincent Wright. His query was justifiable, but it didn't make the audience any less shocked since the matter was leading to an internal conflict.

"Oh please, Count Snyset. Don't mend my words and make me a rebellion. What I mean is that I can't differentiate who is trustable or who is a bastard imposter in the council. In the case during the Northern conflict and also a student from Eden Academy betrayed his own comrades just for the sake of his love. I have not only two but many other past incidents which prove that not everyone in the capital is worthy of leaving our backs to."

Deep silence befell as Alex concluded his honest belief. What he said was, in a way, tangible to the current situation, but it didn't help that even one of the strongest nations wasn't safe from its own people's hands.

Suddenly the olive-haired duke stood up as he, after taking the permission to speak, raised another concerning query toward Alex.

"But still, your statement doesn't justify why you chose to speak Saint-sama's location to Xylex's hero when you were aware of the fact that Light hero-sama was together with her."

Gazes again fell on the purple-robed mage as they anticipated a good reason for such rash action, which could have led to Kyouki's death.

But even under so much intent, there was a smirk on Alex's lips as he confessed truthfully.

"Sooner or later, the hero from Xylex and Kyouki-kun would have faced off, and if Kyouki-kun doesn't have the might to protect himself, then is it really worthy of him being called the Hero of Gram?"

"Be within your limits, Court Magician!!"

"Don't slander the name of Hero-sama!!"

"He is only in his teenage. What do you expect from him!"

"Alex, you are speaking more than your authority!!!"

Various nobles stood up and confronted the Court Mage, but he had no interest in bothering with them.

Alex's eyes wandered toward the second prince, who was looking back at him with a subjective smirk.

The expression on Reynold's face was slightly ugly too, as in his mind, he already had accepted Kyouki as his son-in-law. But unlike those enraged Courtiers, he chose to think first since it's not about his daughter or his son-in-law's pride. What he cares about the most is Gram's prosperity.

"With your permission, my lord, I would like to ask Alex-san about what future prospectus he has thought regarding this matter. As for what I expect from the wise Grand Master Alex, he must have prepared everything already as soon he had observed the severeness of this situation."

Reynold spoke with a bow, on which William agreed without delay. The agitated Nobles also quieted as they received glares from the Prime Minister, standing beside the Emperor.

"I respect the trust Duke Reynold have in me. Well, it's just as he said, I indeed have thought of an idea. A new system which would not only help us find great assets which could prove as a strong Line of Defense for Gram but also help the public once again believe that our nation was, is and will stay strong even in the absence of the Light Hero."

Every attention was fixated upon Alex as they waited for his following words. The silence was so profound currently that even a pin drop would have sounded like a hammer.

Finally, after some moments, which felt like an eternity for others, Alex concluded his words.

"The tournament of Heroes."

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[Present Time]

"What did you do to our school?!"

Sicily, as well as others, had similar reactions as they saw the disastrous state of Eden Academy.

Even though the war took place, the situation wasn't this hazardous. But right now, the Academy looked like ancient ruins except for the fact that people still could be seen moving in and out.

"Onii-sama..."

Saya tugged Austin's sleeves since she felt guilty for her actions.

Austin knew she was just following orders, so he didn't say anything, and squeezing her hand, he reassured her.

"It's okay. I will do something about it."

Austin was thinking about using his earth Golems to rebuild the castle and also supply portions and artifacts to assist the laborers, but Luna halted his train of thought.

"I have got this, Austin. Just stand here and enjoy the show~."

As Luna said with a smile, she began to levitate.

"Ah..."

It seemed Austin wanted to say something, but Luna already took off to a decent height as her figure grew distant.

Halting at approximately 100 meters from ground level, Luna raised her hands and initiated her spell.

"[Infrugent]"

Suddenly a vast magic circle which was illuminating with a silvery glow, covered the whole vicinity before the magic circle started ascending at a snail's pace from the surface.

It was undoubtedly a Time oriented magic, which was the reconstructing the school in real-time under the shocked gaze of everyone around the area.

Merlin, who was sitting in his office previously had his eyes wide in utter bafflement, but as soon his gaze fell on the person who was chanting such deity level spell, he returned to his work.

'It's fortunate she is on our side... '

"It's so beautiful."

Sicily uttered under her breath as her eyes sparkled with the glow that the mana circle was releasing out.

It only took less than five minutes, and the whole castle was once again rebuilt like how it was before the war commenced.

Cheers echoed from the inside of the school as well as from those who were working diligently around the perimeter.

But Austin's gaze was only fixed on the woman who was partaking in such a miracle before suddenly she started to fall from her spot just after she concluded the spell.

"She is spent."

Austin snatched his hand away from Saya, which made the latter utterly stunned, before he flew at a high pace and caught Luna just when she was about to reach the danger zone.

"Hey, you okay?"

Austin saw an ecstatic smile on Luna's face with a fresh blush covering her pretty face. From what seemed, Austin doubted whether Luna again was...

"Daaling~"

....Mana drunk.

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A/N: - A tipsy Luna in the next ep, or should I skip it? Comment to let me