Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Well~ since it’s the first class, shall we keep it simple? First, starting with this question~”

Kaina was humming, as if something was so exciting.

“Any student who might know who was the best black mage among those I have seen~?”

The students did not answer at all.

For some reason, it was an atmosphere where it was difficult to answer.

Instead, they glanced at the hammer standing in the corner of the podium.

To be precise, they knew the answer, but they hesitated to speak it out loud.

“……Answer.”

Where did the bright atmosphere from earlier go? Kaina glared at the students with a terrifying force, urging them.

‘Isn’t that practically a split personality?’

When playing the game, he thought it was just a character setting, but seeing it in reality was chilling.

Wondering if it was because he had a guilty conscience, he looked to his side, but seeing Rafia trembling as well, it didn’t seem so.

However, there was just one person.

Hand raised—

“……Oh, Pavilto! Right, right? Yes, please answer!”

Hector alone was different.

Having been singled out by Kaina, Hector answered with a prideful expression and a thunderous voice.

“A dead black mage!”

At the answer that came without hesitation, even the students murmured.

They felt that was perhaps too harsh an answer.

Since there were indeed black mages who converted, or black mages who had been helpful to the Empire.

Kaina’s expression also hardened slightly.

But contrary to everyone’s expectations.

“Correct~”

Kaina soon nodded with a bright expression.

Is that person really a professor?

No matter what, it was nominally a school, so shouldn’t she also care about the character education of the students?

Standing up— Clap, clap, clap—!

“Truly a magnificent lesson, Professor!”

Hector stood up and clapped with tears in his eyes.

“Oh, it’s nothing~”

Kaina sat Hector down with a gesture, as if embarrassed.

It was truly a feast of fanatics.

‘What did the black mages even do……!’

Roan shuddered as he listened to their conversation.

Of course, some black mages did not believe in the Lord God well and sometimes committed cruel crimes.

Even so, wasn’t speaking of a dead black mage going too far!

They were indeed fanatics who had abandoned Hiloa’s main teachings of love and inclusion.

“Student Pavilto, who answered the question splendidly, I will give you 50 Talents after class, so make sure to collect them.”

“Thank you, Professor!”

Hector had a comfortable expression, as if he had finally found where he belonged.

“…….”

Roan glared at Hector as if he wanted to kill him.

“Why…… why are you looking at me like that, Roan?”

Hector asked, looking quite flustered.

“It’s nothing.”

Someone received high praise from a professor and only got 10 Talents, while someone else got…….

Wait, then was Professor Atoga the strange one instead?

‘……Anyway, only those who live honestly lose out.’

A world where 50 Talents fell from the sky just for cursing black mages.

Roan felt a severe sense of unfairness.

“Well, since I asked a question, now it’s your turn! You can ask anything related to me or this class~”

Kaina spoke in a voice as clear as a bird’s.

Immediately, someone raised their hand.

“Yes~ student?”

─ Excuse me…… Professor. Do we have to directly go inside those tools or prisons ourselves?

The student pointed to the terrifying heretic inquisition tools from earlier with a scared expression.

“Pardon? Ahaha~ that’s so funny!”

Kaina tilted her head for a moment, then burst into a giggle.

Her tone was as if asking how someone could ask such an absurd question.

“No way! Those are all old-fashioned things used a very long time ago~ We don’t use such terrible tools nowadays~”

─ Ah! As expected, right?

The students all felt relieved.

If she had said they had to directly become victims of those tools like in the healing class, they would have seriously considered dropping out.

“Instead, many tools and methods that are much simpler and yield better results have come out lately!”

─ …….

However, at Kaina’s following words, the students shut their mouths again.

After all, those words were not ordinary.

“I’d love to show you one by one, but this class isn’t a heretic inquisition class; it’s anti-black magic combat, right? Starting from the next class, we will gather at the training ground of Ciotric Hall~”

‘That is rather a relief.’

Roan nodded.

“Now, next question~? Yes, the student there!”

─ Do we really have to face black mages starting from the next class?

“…….”

Kaina paused for a moment.

Standing frozen with her smiling face, she looked strangely eerie.

“How could that be.”

And suddenly, the atmosphere reversed.

Boom—!

When Kaina reached out her hand, the hammer that had been standing in the corner flew into her hand as if sucked in.

“……Acherandir is the sacred land of the Holy Spirit, Lord Harden. A living black mage will never set foot here.”

Kaina declared in a cold voice.

As if she would break the head of anyone who did not follow that will.

Roan broke into a cold sweat.

‘……What a relief.’

Although there were already more than three people Roan know of, including himself, thinking about it that way made him feel strangely fine.

At least until he could face Kaina, he must never get his identity caught.

Clap, clap, clap—

“I have wished for this kind of class all my life!”

“Thank you~ But of course, depending on the circumstances, we might face black mages~”

And Hector, praising her like a fish in water.

……Creak—

Seeing Rafia move another span away, Roan felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

***

Due to the nature of the subject, Roan was forced to keep a low profile, but.

In fact, Kaina’s first class was a good opportunity for freshmen to obtain Talents.

If they answered Kaina’s questions properly, although not up to 50 like the first time, small amounts of 3 to 5 Talents would come out.

“Is there~ any student who knows what the Five Major Crimes committed by black mages are?”

“The Hilo Academy kidnapping incident by the Shahillock school, the Vatican attack by Dotkok…….”

“Excellent, student Zion! As expected of the Saintess Candidate~”

And Zion and Hector took away quite a lot of Talents by answering most of the questions correctly.

‘If only I weren’t a black mage!’

To be honest, it wasn’t that he didn’t find it regrettable, but since it was Zion, Roan stopped at just licking his lips.

He didn’t want to catch Kaina’s eye just to get a few Talents.

At any rate, as the professor’s praise repeated, Zion’s expression also brightened further.

‘Right…… as long as she is happy, it’s fine.’

Roan nodded slightly.

“Actually, besides these Five Major Incidents, black mages are causing a lot of damage to the Empire~”

Kaina finished a brief explanation of the incidents.

“But lately.”

Just then, Kaina completely lowered her voice again.

The atmosphere in the classroom, which had brightened up to some extent because of the quiz show, began to plunge vertically like a roller coaster again.

Whoosh—

Her hammer was sucked into her grasp again.

“There are increasingly many heretics saying that black mages are not actually bad, or that the treatment is too harsh!”

Boom—

And immediately, the podium was smashed to pieces by the hammer.

“…….”

Even though he knew it was an event that took place in every first class of every year, seeing it in reality was a force that made one’s knees shake.

……It might be even more so because Roan was a black mage.

Shatter—

The sharp fragments of the podium were blocked by holy magic before they could fly into the students’ seats.

‘She has done this more than once or twice.’

How many times had she broken the podium to have holy magic set up for it.

“As long as I am here, such bastards will never set foot in this place.”

Without realizing it, Roan turned back to Demona, who was sitting next to him.

Surprisingly, however, Demona had a very comfortable expression, without being scared.

‘What is he relying on to be this confident?’

Could it be that he thought wanting to learn black magic and taking the side of black mages were different?

……Or was he just stupid?

In any case, Professor Kaina was not the type of person to accommodate such trivial circumstances.

‘If it really doesn’t work out, reporting him to Professor Kaina might also be a way.’

Roan nodded very slightly.

“Oops~ sorry, sorry~ I often do this when I get excited!”

Kaina, who realized late, made a fuss and restored the podium.

A simple structure like that could be restored very easily.

“Anyway~ there must be someone here who has been harmed by a black mage~ Am I right?”

Kaina asked cheerfully, looking around at the freshmen.

However, no student raised their hand immediately.

Originally, it was just that a few black mages caused many major accidents; it wasn’t that they were so numerous that they could be kicked on the street.

Even if wicked rumors spread widely, it was normal for most citizens of the Empire to never see a black mage in their lives.

“……No one?”

For once, there was no reaction despite Kaina’s prompting.

Roan looked at Hector.

“Hmm…… ahem.”

For some reason, he was in an anxious state, tightly clenching his fists as if frustrated.

‘There isn’t.’

Despite boasting that he would split their heads the moment he met a black mage, it seemed he had never actually encountered one either.

‘Anyway, I’m glad he is here.’

Roan felt grateful for Hector’s presence for the first time.

Looking at things so far, it was highly likely that Hector and Zion would lead the anti-black magic classes and drive the atmosphere in the future.

If he didn’t catch the professor’s eye in the class he had to be most careful about, Roan had reason to be relieved.

“Is there really no one?”

Roan also decided to watch the situation comfortably.

‘They say they haven’t been harmed, so what can she do……?’

Just then, Roan’s eyes met Demona’s, who happened to be looking at him.

……Since when on earth has this bastard been looking at me?

An instinctive sense of dread brushed past.

‘What on earth is he trying to do—’

For once, Demona’s action was faster.

“Roan was harmed!”

Demona immediately raised his hand high and pointed at Roan.

‘This crazy heretic bastard!’

Roan’s mouth fell open in shock.

Yet, whether he knew Roan’s feelings or not.

Demona, who had proudly reported his friend(?), winked at Roan again.

And then, with his mouth.

─ Now you are the pro.ta.go.nist again.

Wasn’t he blabbing that?

‘D-Did he just hear me thinking about reporting him to the professor?’

He was past the point of being dumbfounded now.

Just when he thought he finally had a chance to not receive attention!

But it was already spilled milk.

Professor Kaina looked at Roan and acknowledged him.

“Ah~ Roan of the Darc family? You are Roan, right?”

“……Yes. I am Roan Darc.”

“Hmm……. Right~ Student Roan naturally had a reason not to reveal it~ I understand, I understand~ I asked the wrong question! I’m sorry!”

To the point that even her characteristic brightness shrank a bit, Kaina was looking at Roan with sincere pity.

‘Even the heretic inquisitor is trying not to touch me!’

How on earth was this Demona guy wired.

“???”

Meanwhile, Demona looked bewildered as the atmosphere turned out quite different from his expectations.

That innocent gaze seemed to say, ‘Huh? Why aren’t they talking more?’ making Roan’s fists tremble.

No matter how much of a crazy fanatic Professor Kaina was.

She was not a street thug who would dig up a student’s wound of having their family destroyed by black mages in class.

Unlike a certain someone of the Wycronon family.

“Demona. Isn’t that really too much?”

“E-Even you, fanatic?”

As even Hector’s scolding followed, Demona seemed to have received a significant shock.

Meanwhile, Rafia, who had been maintaining a distance from Roan’s gang for a while, also leaned in slightly this time and whispered to Roan.

“Don’t be too angry. That Wycronon guy…… I mean, he probably had no ill intent either.”

“……Right.”

Roan forced a nod.

‘I will definitely, definitely report him.’

While resolving so inwardly.

Demona didn’t just lack ill intent.

He clearly lacked thoughts as well.

“Now! Since we will have occasions to cover the disaster of the Darc family in other classes, I will not talk about it further~ Let’s just do a brief theory class now and end the first class!”

Kaina completely diverted the topic elsewhere.

Even so, she kept glancing at Roan, who was sitting with a stiff expression in his seat, which Roan disliked very much.

‘I wanted to avoid exchanging even a single word with Professor Kaina…….’

It seemed that modest dream had flown away.

It was just that she became a completely different person if black mages were involved in the slightest.

Fundamentally, Kaina was a kind character.

She would probably harbor feelings of apology toward Roan and try to look out for him in her own way, and if his identity got caught because of that, then on that day…….

Roan shuddered as he imagined his own head broken by the hammer.

Then, carrying both hatred and anger, he glared at Demona.

Flinch—!

“That…… it, it wasn’t a secret anyway……!”

Apparently, Demona was also aggrieved in his own way.

You were the one who told me first!

***

“Now, cowardly black mages use reagents when they use spells above a certain difficulty level for their standards. Therefore, they always carry a reagent vial where they can reach it, but…….”

Contrary to her appearance, Kaina’s class was very systematic and practical.

The students, who had been terrified at first, soon took notes in their notebooks with serious expressions.

─ When encountering black mages, first neutralize the reagent vial and subdue them!

And Roan also took notes, nodding his head.

─ Never let the location of the reagent vial be found, and practice beforehand so that there will be no need to use it under most circumstances!

“Mainly, the attack methods of dirty black mages are divided into curses, direct attacks, and summons. Curses are the trickiest among these, and if you capture the premonition, immediately offset it with a blessing…….”

─ The trickiest is curses! Respond by casting a blessing to offset them immediately!

─ Explore curse magic intensively. Give the opponent no room to offset it with a blessing.

Although the contents were slightly different.

Roan took notes of the class contents themselves in the Imperial Common Language, and wrote what he needed for himself in Korean, which others couldn’t read.

‘Surprisingly, the anti-black magic combat class is helpful too.’

Was it indeed said that there was nothing to lose by learning.

Professor Kaina, who was a veteran of battles against black mages.

To put it another way, it meant that by doing the exact opposite of her response methods, he could become a black mage who was considerably tricky to deal with.

‘At this rate, I should listen well in the next practical class too.’

Nudge, nudge—

Just then, Demona touched Roan’s arm.

Roan turned back to Demona with contempt.

“Sorry about earlier. Still, if you doodle during class, only you lose out.”

Demona had a proud expression from drawing his friend’s attention back when he couldn’t focus on the class.

He apparently thought the Korean written in Roan’s notebook was doodling.

Roan answered kindly.

“Shut up.”

“……You misspoke this time too, right?”

“No, I mean it this time.”

“I, I said I’m sorry……!”

Unable to bear it any longer, even Rafia scolded Demona.

“Stop bothering Roan and be quiet, Demona.”

“Rafia…… even you…….”