The tranquil night was reaching its peak, as the murmurs of the unknown echoed through the darkness.
Some were still awake, reminiscing; the others were already dreaming—their desire or what they hated.
The cold winds howled through the delightful, yet it whispered to the lonely.
Alana Sol Astraea, her gaze on the starry night sky and the astounding moon looming over the world. Standing by the balcony, a mix of joyful and unpleasant memories cruelly flooded her mind.
'Brother… will you come back?'
A distant memory.
Her little hands grasped her older brother's.
'The True Hero has returned!'
'The Demon Army has been eradicated!'
'Whoa! Glory to the Holy Empire! Glory to the Goddess of Light!'
From time to time, her brother returned from grueling expeditions against the threat of demonkind.
The cheers of the crowd reverberated throughout the continent.
Alana's innocent heart and gleaming eyes also trembled with happiness.
Until one day…
'The new Demon King has been born!'
'What about the True Hero?'
'The True Hero will take care of evil in the name of light!'
The same words she was used to were heard again…
'I will return, okay? You should focus on everything I taught you, so I can give you a gift!'
Alana was faced with a genuine smile.
Yet the eyes of her brother were something she could not comprehend.
Why…
'Why were tears streaming down your face…?'
Before he turned around, Alana received a kiss on her forehead, followed by the soul-destroying words,
'I will come back, Alana. I love you.'
Once again, after an indefinite amount of time, news echoed throughout the continent, signifying the end of the exhausting three-year war against evil.
'The Demon King has been slain!'
'Oh, Holy, Holy Goddess! Your light triumphs against the darkness!'
'Finally, peace will be abundant throughout the land!'
However, instead of praise for the True Hero, incomprehensible words were something that Alana absorbed in her developing youth.
'I heard the True Hero also perished against the Demon King…'
'Then what would happen to us now?'
'I think it's okay… since the Demon King's also dead, right?'
Why was it okay?
Alana could not fathom their mindset.
However, that was not the end.
'The Goddess of Light's divine will was absolute. Pfft. I guess the True Hero's been weakened throughout the years, that's why he perished?'
'What's this? The last time the True Hero was a woman, the continent was plunged into the brink of extinction… yet she's the only remaining candidate of the Astraea Hero Bloodline? What nonsense!'
'Oh, what a chance. It's time to put pressure on the Astraea. It's time for the Goddess of Light to appoint the other Hero Bloodlines.'
The Hero Bloodlines were complicated.
It consisted of seven Hero Families, born from the seven 'servants' of the Founding Hero, who was historically known as the First Light.
However, they did not know why, throughout the Hero Bloodlines' thousands of years of long history, only those in the Astraea Family were anointed.
"Brother…" Alana murmured.
She was twelve years old when her brother departed.
Throughout those years, she had not seen him once.
Only the news of his demise reached her two years ago, when she reached fifteen.
"Your gaze… I understand it now."
Alana then recalled a student she had encountered earlier.
Lugh of Eshu.
She was aware of the circulating rumors regarding his rock-bottom reputation.
His infamy throughout the academy.
A son of the fallen noble family who was bullied after his family's downfall.
A pervert who conspicuously desired the Imperial Princess from a distance.
Someone whose patience ran thin.
That was all he was.
Yet that very same person bore the gaze her brother once had.
"Lugh…" Alana muttered as she retracted her gaze from the heavens.
Something stirred in her soul.
Something she had yet to comprehend.
The night continued relentlessly, just as the way of life.
Returning to her room, her deep purple eyes momentarily stared at a rectangular golden crate engraved with the symbol of the Goddess of Light, depicting a sun embraced by eight wings.
"…"
She then calmly pulled it, something that couldn't be done by an ordinary person, and infused the crate with her divine mana, causing the sole lock to unlock itself.
Opening it, her eyes mirrored two divine artifacts; both were weapons… one which was meant for her, together with the closest remnant her brother possessed.
A divine sword… and the golden double-headed scythe.
"Seraphmire."
*
The fleeting weekends ended, and the new week of snail-like classes arrived.
Alana Sol Astraea of the Zenith Class had no friends.
Being someone aloof, only a few students tend to approach her—those who wanted to form a connection to the Astraea Family, or those with whom she needed to interact for the sake of group activity.
Either way, both were mentally taxing for the other party.
Her presence was utterly intimidating, and her silence alone seemed to speak a thousand words.
After a few years, insufferable discussions about her dead brother significantly dwindled, making her inner world peaceful.
But today seemed to be a different day.
For the first time in her life, Alana was being talked about… but it was unrelated to the sole candidate of the Astraea Family.
"Hey, did you hear? That good-for-nothing of Class Mu seems to be interested in the True Hero Candidate in our class…"
"Who? All of them are good-for-nothing, you see."
"That Lugh, from the desolate Eshu County. That bastard's crossing the line!"
"Really?! After tasting a spar with her, he fell in love?! What is it? Knock out at first sight?"
Laughter burst throughout the classroom.
However, one important question still remained for the bystanders.
"But why did she pick him, though?"
"Maybe perhaps due to his reputation? She wanted to punish him?"
"Well, I guess that's what it means by being someone from the hero lineage…"
Some gaze landed on her, inevitably so.
The deafening, mundane discussions continued.
Sitting by the window, Alana was incomprehensibly feeling irritated for some reason.
Yet her demeanor found it difficult to meddle with useless things.
It was just not befitting of being a True Hero Candidate.
However, upon hearing something outrageous, her heart trembled,
"Maybe she picked that good-for-nothing because of his reputation… I mean, that trash and her late brother's somewhat the same—their worth gradually plummeted…"
"You mean…"
Clenching her fist, Alana was about to stand up to teach these bastards a lesson when one of her classmates burst through the classroom, delivering some news.
"Class! That infamous from Class Mu finally dropped out of the academy!"