Chapter 109

In fact, this Friendship Ring had vastly different effects depending on who you entered with.

For example, if you entered with three people like Demona, it was a trash item you wouldn’t use even if given to you.

But if even one named student like Sion was included, it became a useful hidden card.

What if you could even summon the assistant, Joy?

That was truly a jackpot.

“Oh, Roan, then can I summon you?”

“Yeah.”

Demona put the ring on her finger and ran pattering toward a corner of the room.

‘No way…?’

Wondering why she was doing that, Roan felt a clear sense of foreboding and tried to stop Demona.

“Wait, Demona. This ring is—”

Fwoosh—!

“……one-time use, I mean.”

“Huh?”

However, by the time he finished speaking, he was already in front of Demona, who had relocated to the corner.

To think she used it even though the fragment had explicitly said “just once”!

Demona’s ring had already lost its power and turned black.

Roan stared at Demona with pathetic eyes and smacked the back of her head.

“Ack!”

“Please, listen to what I say until the end.”

The Diamond Beetle clinging to her back also found Demona pathetic.

Thump— Thump—

“Ack, Sparkly, why are you doing this again! Roan, save me~ I summoned you~”

Demona began to run in circles around the room to escape the Diamond Beetle.

“Tsk, maybe it’s better that she used it early.”

Roan watched her and decided to interpret it positively.

Demona would have surely summoned Roan at some point, and he couldn’t even imagine what that situation would have been like.

If she summoned him right before receiving a fine, they might have ended up getting fined together.

Meanwhile, Harden’s fragment approached Roan and asked.

“Is that kid really a Wycronon? The aura felt is indeed so, but even for a Wycronon…”

“Yes, she is.”

When Roan nodded immediately, Harden’s fragment looked at Demona in disbelief.

No matter how wise a fragment of the Holy Spirit was, there were things it simply could not comprehend.

“Y-Yes. Anyway, since you have passed all the trials, I will let you out now. Since you are the first, you will have to wait outside.”

The fragment said so, snapping its right index finger and thumb together.

Flash—!

For a second, a bright light seemed to swallow the room, and then.

“Huh?”

When they closed and opened their eyes once, the four found themselves standing in the center of the ruins.

Just as the fragment said, the surroundings were completely silent with no one else around yet.

While Demona collapsed from the sudden teleportation and got beaten up by the Diamond Beetle.

“Shall we go over there and rest for a moment?”

Joy asked Roan, looking at the wide clearing outside the ruins.

Since Professor Timothy had dug up the entire area, that was the only place to rest.

‘Did Joy always speak like this?’

Meanwhile, Roan felt awkward at Joy’s tone, which had somehow become extremely polite.

Though Joy originally used polite speech with students, wasn’t there a certain vibe?

Looking at Riel with that thought.

Startle—!

Riel straightened her back and tensed her entire body as if facing the commander of her own knight order.

“…Let’s do that.”

Roan shook his head and walked toward the place Joy indicated.

“Uwahhh! Roan, I told you to save me! I summoned youuu!”

In the ruins where only the four were present, only Demona’s desperate screams filled the air.

***

After a considerable amount of time passed, other groups also began to return from the ruins one by one.

The group that came out first was indeed the one Sion belonged to.

It consisted of Sion, Rafia, and two other male students.

“Good job, everyone! Let’s get along well in the future too.”

“Yeah, greet me next time~”

— Yeah, Rafia! You also worked hard, Saintess candidate!

The four exchanged friendly greetings as if they had known each other from the beginning.

Although their appearance was shabby due to rolling around quite a bit in the second trial, they gained a friendship more valuable than that.

Roan thought.

‘Originally, that is what the Friendship Experience Hall is for…’

Characters who cleared the Friendship Experience Hall event together would obtain a massive intimacy bonus in addition to the Friendship Ring.

That was also quite a sweet reward.

Especially during a Sion playthrough, where making friends was difficult.

But what was this?

Far from rising in intimacy with new characters, Roan had ended up losing intimacy with Riel and Joy instead.

‘Normally, Sion would have also just restored minimum intimacy and come out!’

Roan unconsciously looked at Sion with slightly fierce eyes.

“I didn’t know Rafia knew so much about me.”

“Me too. I think we match really well. Hehe, it’s an honor.”

“Why talk like that between friends~”

Especially Sion and Rafia, having locked arms almost like best friends after whatever happened inside, approached where Roan’s group was.

Rafia greeted Roan warmly.

“Ah, Roan~ you came out really early? Is it because the assistant was with you?”

Naturally, looking at the composition, she had no choice but to think that.

Unlike the other groups made up only of students, Joy was included in Roan’s group.

But.

Startle—

Hearing Rafia’s words, Riel and Joy were visibly startled.

Then, weren’t they warily peeking at Roan and subtly widening the distance?

‘Seriously, even after solving it alone…!’

Roan was extremely aggrieved.

Concretely speaking, despite him giving them a so-called ‘bus carry,’ far from being grateful, they instead said he was scary.

Naturally, Rafia also sensed something strange and clicked her head.

“…Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened.”

Flinch—

The two were startled again at Roan’s calm reply.

Just then, Demona smiled brightly from the side and said.

“As always, Roan handled everything~ Look at this. It’s a portrait with Roan!”

With that, she proudly presented the instant portrait.

Rafia took the portrait without having properly grasped the situation yet.

“Oh, Demona, you must have been happy. Getting a portrait taken with Roan too? Let me see…!!!”

But the moment she saw the portrait featuring Roan and Demona.

Specifically, the moment she saw Roan’s face smiling like a newborn demon next to Demona.

Rafia recalled.

The overwhelming abyss of Roan she had seen in the Epirim Basin, which stimulated the primal terror of humanity.

Shiverrrr—

Could Roan have stepped forward in the second trial just like last time?

Only then could Rafia understand Riel and Joy’s suspicious reactions.

If they had seen that sight, it was natural for both student and assistant to tremble in fear.

“It, it turned out well… hahaha.”

“Right? I’m going to display it prominently on my desk.”

Rafia returned the portrait to Demona with an awkward smile.

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s not an item to leave displayed prominently…’

Then, warily watching Roan, she settled down in the seat next to Riel, which was furthest from Roan.

“Riel, are you okay?”

“…Okay.”

Forming a grand consensus despite not having cleared the Friendship Experience Hall together, Rafia and Riel!

Roan clicked his tongue quietly.

He felt as though he had worked hard only to do others a favor for nothing.

On the other hand, Sion, unaware of these circumstances, friendly spoke a few words to Roan.

“Did Darc’s group also receive a ring from the Holy Spirit’s fragment?”

“We did.”

“To be able to summon the assistant… though of course it would be hard to use thoughtlessly. Right, Assistant Joy?”

Sion made a sensible comment while looking rather envious.

A student summoning an assistant was bound to feel rather self-conscious.

If it were a normal relationship between student and assistant, that was.

Roan pretended to ponder a bit, then spoke to Joy.

“Well, Assistant Joy is thoughtful, so I think she’d be fine with it. How about it, assistant?”

Roan stared intently at Joy as he spoke.

Joy was startled and nodded.

“Of course. If a student is in danger, helping them is a staff member’s duty.”

At this rate, it seemed she would help even if he secretly summoned her to the dormitory to help with assignments.

Roan nodded with satisfaction.

“Thank you, assistant.”

Perhaps Joy being afraid of him would be better for utilizing the Friendship Ring.

Sion looked back and forth between Roan and Joy with a slightly touched face.

‘The assistant must have also recognized Darc’s sincerity!’

…If it was sincerity, it could indeed be called that.

Sion conversed with Roan with a more joyful expression after that.

‘As expected, there is only Sion.’

True to being the character who cleared the game at the end.

Roan felt a sting at the tip of his nose for no reason but tried to remain calm.

Following Sion and Rafia’s group, a few groups of Trian’s gang emerged from the ruins.

They glared hostiley at Roan and his friends who came out first, and went to the opposite side of the ruins entirely.

“Since it is important as an assistant to check the number of students, I will head over.”

‘No one said anything, though.’

Joy stood up immediately, brushing herself off, and hurried over there.

Roan stared at her receding back in disbelief and thought.

‘By the way, Hector is quite late.’

Although Hector was always neglected among Roan and his friends, looking at his skills alone, he was top-tier among the freshmen.

Since he would be quite useful in the second trial, which was the greatest obstacle, it was strange for him to be this late.

Hummmm—

Just then, Hector’s massive frame was summoned to the center of the ruins.

It seemed three other female students had gathered in Hector’s group.

‘…What is wrong with them?’

The atmosphere was rather strange.

— Uwahhh! His hand, his hand…!

— Are you okay? You worked hard…

— Don’t cry, since you are crying, I… hwaaa!

One female student of slender build wailed loudly, and the other two female students ended up catching the tears while trying to comfort her.

‘No, did only those guys drop into a haunted house instead of the Friendship Experience Hall?’

Roan stared at them with dumbfounded eyes.

He had cleared the Friendship Experience Hall numerous times, but he had never seen a group emerge in such a miserable state.

Just then, Hector spoke to the female students.

“D-Don’t cry. Since we took a portrait together, we should originally get married, but if you dislike it that much, I…”

— Uwahhh! Shut up! You #@#$%#!!!

“…”

Hector was considerably shocked by the female student’s harsh cursing.

Roan could picture the general situation only after looking at Hector’s face.

And no wonder, for Hector was wearing an expression not like granite, but like basalt melted by lava.

‘With that build and face, saying those kinds of things, it’s no wonder the girls are crying.’

Roan stood up and walked toward them.

“R-Roan, you can’t go alone!”

“That’s right, Darc!”

Sion and Rafia quickly followed Roan.

Riel, who was watching their reactions, also followed after a moment.

Although Roan was still scary, if he went alone, it was highly likely to backfire in an already serious situation.

…Even if the three of them were those female students, they would have felt the same.

“What? What is it? I want to go too!”

Demona, who didn’t know what was going on, just followed along since her friends were heading out in a bunch.

“Hector.”

Roan called Hector in a cold voice.

Seeing Roan, Hector brightened and said.

“Roan, you’re here. These kids are misunderstanding—”

“If you want to resolve this well, shut up and stay still from now on. Or rather, just make an angry expression.”

“…”

Only then did Hector’s face become a sight worth seeing.