Chapter 105

The conversation between Roan and Joy, which ordinary students could not comprehend at all.

“Riel, what about you?”

When Rafia looked at Riel just in case.

“Don’t ask.”

Surprisingly, Riel told her not to ask in a clearer and crisper speech than usual.

“I-I see…”

In the end, the friends, including Rafia, naturally decided to follow from a distance behind Roan and Joy.

— Huh? Why aren’t they going?

— Humph, those guys must be tired too.

When the other students following behind sneered like this, Demona replied with a face that looked half-soul-less.

“Ahead… there are history ghosts… two of them…”

— What? Have we already arrived at where Professor Timothy is?

***

“Lululu~”

Meanwhile, deep in the mountain behind Elopine Hall, Professor Timothy was humming a cheerful dwarf tune while excavating the ruins.

Timothy was overturning the area so quickly that it was unimaginable he was only holding a small hand shovel.

His hand shovel was a one-of-a-kind item named ‘Endodyne’s Legendary Excavation Shovel’.

It was a holy relic used by the great archaeologist Endodyne about 4,000 years ago.

The effect was to scoop out soil of a volume proportional to the infused holy power, while still keeping artifacts perfectly preserved.

It was truly a miraculous item for archaeologists.

Scoop— Scoop— Clang—!

Just then, there was some reaction to Endodyne’s excavation shovel.

“Hmm?”

Timothy cocked his head.

This was definitely…

“It’s a ruiiiinnnn!!!!”

Timothy let out a roaring shout of joy and then channeled formidable holy power into the shovel.

Immediately, an immense volume of dirt and rocks began to be dug up as if by heavy machinery.

What was revealed were numerous dolmens made of rocks about 3 meters in height and length, and 1 meter in width.

The dolmens were arranged in a circle, and in the center, a divine pattern where immense holy power slumbered was revealed.

“T-T-T-This is!!!”

Having realized the identity of the ruin, Timothy could not keep the hand holding the shovel still for even a second.

Moreover, his bushy beard trembled with excitement.

Could it be that there was a hidden ruin in Akerandir that would mark a significant milestone in the Empire’s history?

“The Friendship Experience Hall, made 1,245 years ago as a joke by the Principal!”

That was not the case.

As Timothy said, the Friendship Experience Hall was a ruin created by Harden.

Initially, it was made to improve the relationships of students who fought or had bad relations.

— Tsk, even I think this is too childish. Discarded.

For that reason, it was left buried in the mountain behind Elopine Hall.

Since it was a failure, it naturally wasn’t marked on the school map either.

By the way, not long ago, Harden had said this to Timothy.

— Come to think of it, I buried something behind Elopine about 1,000 years ago. It was called the Friendship Experience Hall…

— I-Is that really true!

…Harden regretted bringing this up to Timothy of all people for several days.

Anyway.

— No, it’s not that important, and it was a failure…

— A failure by none other than the Principal!

Shatter—!

Timothy had broken the window of the principal’s office and vanished like that, digging the ground here for several days.

And in the end, he succeeded in the excavation.

“Huff, huff…”

Timothy gasped heavily as he stepped into the Friendship Experience Hall.

Timothy looked around the ruins with eyes full of wonder.

Suddenly, he realized that he was a professor of Akerandir.

“Hmm, right. I should make preparations before the students arrive here!”

Although it had been buried underground for over 1,000 years, to an excellent archaeologist like Timothy, that amount of time was easily overcome.

Timothy put on ‘Timothy’s Special Monocle,’ which guessed and showed the past appearance of ruins, and finished the restoration in an instant.

Finally, when he placed a large-capacity holy power source in the center slot.

Hummmm—!

The ruins vibrated strongly and regained their function.

Timothy smiled with satisfaction.

“The students should like this much, right?”

A professor who excavates and even restores ruins in advance before teaching a class.

Such a thing was unimaginable during Timothy’s student days.

“Since it’s an instant-trigger type, it will activate immediately when the students arrive, but that too is all part of school memories~”

Timothy laughed heartily.

However, Timothy’s persona as an Akerandir professor ended there.

“Ah! Now that the excavation is finished, I must record it on the map immediately. I also have more things to ask the Principal.”

The ego of an archaeologist occupied Timothy’s body once more.

Timothy vanished in an instant, leaving the ruins behind.

…The fact that the students were coming soon and that the Friendship Experience Hall was an instant-trigger type was not very important to the archaeologist Timothy.

***

“The retreat of the Tels Kingdom’s army that occurred during Hilond XIV’s reign…”

“That is an interpretation by the Eymond School…”

Meanwhile, Roan was flying while sharing an incredibly pleasant conversation with Joy.

Feeling the pleasant breeze in the sky while talking about lore—or history—he couldn’t be any happier.

However, a moment for any happiness to end was bound to come.

“Assistant Joy…”

A listless voice rising from the ground interrupted their conversation.

The two frowned simultaneously and looked down.

Demona was there.

“What is it, Student Wycronon?”

Demona asked with an expression that showed she found it horrifying just to think about.

“Does that by any chance appear on the midterm exam?”

Such questions were apparently common to students, whether on Earth or in this world.

Joy answered with a faint smile at the rather cute question.

“No, this kind of content requires at least the senior year, or usually the advanced course to…?”

But she couldn’t help but trail off mid-answer.

Joy shuddered as she felt a massive sense of discrepancy that she hadn’t noticed until now because it had been so natural.

At the end of her gaze was Roan, wearing a calm expression.

‘Just how does Student Darc…?’

Just as Joy said, the conversation she was sharing with Roan until now was at least at the level of upperclassmen.

Hadn’t Roan even teasingly offered facts that even Joy didn’t know?

“Is there a problem?”

Yet the student in question only smiled, as if he didn’t even know what was wrong.

‘Well… knowing such things isn’t a crime.’

Joy found it awkward but decided to let it go for now.

Knowing a lot of history was not a crime.

Rather, he deserved praise as a devout believer.

Though in this case, the problem was that he had gone far beyond such a commendable level.

‘Darc… you seem to be very interested in history.’

A very slight glint of greed appeared in Joy’s dry eyes.

One could tell just by looking at Timothy, but history students at Akerandir were practically extinct.

The reason Joy was always tired was also because she had to handle almost all tasks related to history alone.

She knew Roan had a lot of history, but if he was at that level, couldn’t she try to covet him?

Startle—

As Joy was thinking that, Roan felt an instinctive sense of danger.

‘Is someone targeting me?’

He looked around, but there were no other presences besides Joy and the students.

Then Joy spoke.

“It’s nothing. More importantly, we’ve almost arrived at where the professor is. Probably around there…”

With that, she began to fly ahead in one direction.

Roan followed Joy reflexively.

Because of that, he was a bit late to scan his surroundings.

‘Uh, wait. Here is?’

The Homeland of Aurora was easy to recognize because of the tall cliffs around it.

However, this place was just somewhere in the deep mountains.

Only a few tall buildings of Akerandir were faintly visible in the distance.

Roan recalled the three ruins that appeared in the second week’s field trip.

‘Here is!’

And he stopped abruptly in mid-air, startled.

“Assistant Joy! Please wait a moment!”

“Hmm? What is it, Darc?”

Although Joy dropped the title ‘Student’ and expressed a bit of friendliness, such a thing was not particularly important.

‘This is the Friendship Experience Hall!’

Roan wanted to shout this out but barely held it back.

Knowing the identity of a ruin that hadn’t even been officially excavated yet would be too suspicious.

But the Friendship Experience Hall was one of the few failures directly admitted by Harden.

Moreover, due to the purpose of the ruins, it was the most troublesome of the three for Roan, who had many enemies.

If Timothy hadn’t finished the excavation yet, it might be fine, but considering his ability and personality, that possibility was extremely slim.

Joy, seeing Roan call her and only bubble his mouth, cocked her head and flew a bit further forward.

It was then.

Fwooooosh—!

In an instant, a massive light expanded in the shape of a dome.

Joy, who was at the very front, as well as Roan, who was not far behind.

“Uwahhh, it’s light!”

‘…Why is she startled upon seeing light?’

Demona and the other friends.

— Darc touched something!

— Dammit, we’ve been done in again!

‘It wasn’t me this time, though!’

Even the other students were swallowed up as if sucked into the dome.

***

Harden’s Friendship Experience Hall.

Its interior, similar to the space of the Librarian of the Restricted Archives, was a subspace separated from reality.

Roan, who had been lying unconscious on the floor of a stone chamber after being swallowed by the light, got up while holding his throbbing head.

‘First of all, who I entered with is the most important.’

He quickly identified the members he had to break through the ruins with.

The maximum capacity of Harden’s Friendship Experience Hall was 4 people.

If by any chance there were only students harboring hostile feelings toward him, it would be a headache.

The first person visible was Joy.

…Even the assistant, who could be called the supervisor, was helpless against Timothy’s reckless teaching methods.

And Riel.

‘Riel is… very fine.’

The last one was.

‘…Demona.’

Demona.

Surely it was better than one of Trian’s gang coming in, but she was a questionable member to call completely good.

…Just imagining escaping the Friendship Experience Hall with Demona made his stress level skyrocket.

“Ugh…”

Before long, the other three also slowly began to regain consciousness.

And Demona, once fully awake.

“Hieek! Roan, I’m scared!”

True to form, she clung to Roan, raising his blood pressure.

“Get off. It’s unpleasant.”

Roan pushed Demona away, holding back his annoyance.

Meanwhile, Joy looked around as soon as she woke up.

Although she was always fatigued, she had a great heart that cared for the students.

This time too, she felt a sense of responsibility as the assistant to grasp the situation first.

“This place is… the Principal’s subspace.”

And being highly capable, she quickly found the correct answer.

When Roan nodded.

“Now! Welcome, everyone, to the Friendship Experience Hall!”

Suddenly, Harden’s figure materialized in the center of the stone chamber.

“Ack! A real ghost!”

Demona, Joy, and Riel were startled.

‘But it’s not the real Harden, of course.’

Of course, Roan was calm since he already knew.

That Harden was actually not the real Harden.