Chapter 12

Chapter 12

With the end of Kaina’s anti-black magic combat class, all morning classes were over.

Since it was the first week, two classes were concentrated in the morning, and starting from the next week, they were scheduled to be divided normally into morning and afternoon.

“We only have two classes today, right?”

“……Yeah.”

Roan nodded at Demona’s question.

He did so while radiating a look that clearly communicated he didn’t even want to exchange words with a fellow like him.

“Could it be that you’re still angry?”

“No.”

“Really?”

Despite Roan’s denial, Demona had a suspicious look in his eyes.

‘Who is the one who should be angry right now!’

Although he wasn’t without such thoughts, he decided to let the outrage in the class slide for now.

Surprisingly—as long as he didn’t get caught—it didn’t seem bad to be on close terms with Professor Kaina.

‘Above all, even if I had stayed still, Harden would probably have talked on his own.’

The Holy Spirit headmaster, whom he had forgotten for a moment, also came to mind.

Considering the members he had pushed into the McGodal Room, the headmaster might have casually dropped a hint to Professor Kaina, saying, ‘It seems a black mage has entered the school lately, is it an illusion?’

No, he was almost certain of it.

“Roan, I’m hungry.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“You were angry after all!”

Demona shouted, as if to say ‘see, I knew it.’

But apart from that, it was true that lunch time had slightly passed.

Since they had only eaten simple bread at the dormitory for breakfast, the students, who were in their prime, had every reason to be hungry.

“Me too, Roan.”

“Mealtime has indeed passed by a lot.”

Rafia and Hector also readily agreed with Demona’s opinion for once.

“Then let’s go to the commercial district.”

Roan spoke, nodding his head.

Acherandir was located in a position where it was almost isolated in the remote regions of the Empire.

On the other hand, the resident population was very large.

Therefore, a fairly wide commercial district existed in Acherandir.

The students would resolve their class materials, daily necessities, meals, and so on there.

“A commercial district! There’s such a thing?”

Demona was delighted and rejoiced.

Even in “God & Devil,” Demona was a character who loved the commercial district so much that he earned the nickname ‘commercial district addict.’

To the point that if one wanted to find him, they had to go there instead of the classroom or dormitory.

However, at first…….

Hector spoke with a snort.

“However, Demona. I don’t know if there will be anything you can buy.”

“Huh? Why? I have many gold coins! Are you underestimating the Wycronon family?”

Demona refuted, flushing.

It seemed Hector’s words sounded like a challenge to the Wycronon family.

‘It would be nice if he thought of the family’s honor like that usually.’

Roan looked at Demona with pitying eyes.

“Um…… Demona, so in the commercial district—”

Rafia, who had been listening quietly, tried to correct the misunderstanding, but Roan nudged her arm.

It meant to leave him alone.

Rafia looked back at Roan and soon nodded quietly.

Meanwhile, Hector glanced at the two and made a fuss.

Of course, naturally enough that Demona wouldn’t notice in the slightest.

“Wow, I’m really envious. You probably have the most gold coins in this school. As expected of the Wycronon family.”

Actually, most students did not bring a lot of money when they entered Acherandir.

Since freshmen rarely had occasions to go outside in the first place, and it was convenient and economical to resolve most things within Acherandir.

“Hmph! That’s how a fanatic’s family is anyway. How can anyone live without gold coins? They should receive them by force like me.”

Excluding those extremely few students, that is.

“I’m really envious.”

“Heh, if you’re really in a pinch, I can lend you some.”

“Sure, I’ll borrow some. If needed.”

Demona shrugged his shoulders and patted Hector’s shoulder, as if he finally liked him a bit.

“Anyway, Roan. Do you know where that commercial district is?”

“……I am also a freshman, though.”

“Ah, right.”

Demona clapped his hands as if he had forgotten.

“Follow me.”

“……What? You knew after all.”

However, he was dumbfounded by the sight of Roan immediately leading the way.

Just then, Rafia pointed to a sign on the roadside.

─ Ilonia Fountain Square (Commercial District) 1km ─

Of course, Roan did not look at such a sign.

“……Ah! Let’s go together!”

***

Unlike the other Acherandir areas, which had a generally quiet atmosphere, the vicinity of the Fountain Square, which was the commercial district, was noisy almost all year round, including vacations.

─ Now! This is not an opportunity that comes every day! Second-hand textbooks 30% discount special price!

─ We have cost-effective holy tokens! We sell various high-effect offerings!

Although there were many formally established shops, street vendors from the outside also operated stalls after paying a certain stall fee.

Their solicitation activities were very active.

‘Seeing it in reality, it’s grander than I thought.’

Actually, the ones attracting people’s attention more were the current students.

─ Breaking this huge rock with reinforcement holy magic!

─ Holy water application and burning hoop passage show!

Mainly, second-year and third-year students set up spots at the entrance and performed all kinds of tricks.

Demona asked with eyes full of curiosity.

“Why are those seniors doing that?”

“They perform tricks like that and receive money.”

Rafia answered instead.

“Huh? Are they of commoner origin? Or did they fall out of favor with their families?”

Demona felt quite sorry for them.

For him, it would be unimaginable to volunteer as a clown like that just to make money.

“Wait a minute!”

Demona quickly ran over, squeezed into the crowd, and soon came back out.

“What did you do?”

When Roan asked, Demona replied in a slightly displeased tone.

“I put a gold coin in the container.”

A gold coin was a high-value currency that ordinary commoners would never see in their lives.

‘The Wycronon family indeed seems to be a great family.’

Seeing him toss such a thing into the charity container, Roan realized anew where Demona came from.

However, Demona kept grumbling as if something displeased him.

“But they were super grateful at first, but when they actually saw the gold coin, they got annoyed, you know? Geez, have they never seen a gold coin in their lives?”

“I guess so.”

Roan clicked his tongue.

At that alone, Demona giggled as if he had immediately felt better.

“Waving and bowing to some scraps of paper…… I think this school is a bit strange!”

However, at those words, Roan had no choice but to ask.

“You, did you not bring the Talents that Senior Beanin gave you?”

“Huh? Ah~ I left that in my room? Since it was a gift, I wanted to save it. I have plenty of gold coins too.”

Demona immediately nodded.

Hearing him speak, it seemed he hadn’t even opened it.

‘Beanin would be very sad if he knew.’

He must have spent money for his juniors in his own way, but who would have known that the junior was such a fool.

And Rafia and Hector.

“Pfft……”

Were turning their faces red a step behind, trying not to let their bursting laughter be caught.

Even after the four entered the commercial district, the parade of the seniors’ tricks continued for a long time.

“Wow, fanatic! Look at that! Does your family also drag rocks with your teeth like that?”

“We don’t do that kind of thing.”

‘Does that mean they do something similar, then?’

Roan tilted his head inwardly.

Then he restrained Demona.

“Demona. Don’t mock them so openly.”

“Huh? Why? It’s really funny, though?”

“……The seniors might feel offended.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Roan could not bring himself to say honestly, ‘Because that will be your future.’

As they drew closer to the Fountain Square, which was the center of the commercial district, the soliciting and tricks also gradually decreased.

“What should we eat? Anyone know a good place?”

Demona swept his eyes over the group with eyes full of anticipation.

Rafia answered brightly.

“Me! I heard from a senior that a place called ‘Forest of the Holy Spirit’ is decent. It’s a bit expensive, but…… what do you think?”

“Ah, that place. I also heard of it.”

Hector also nodded.

Both of their gazes turned toward Roan.

Roan also had no particular objection.

No, rather, if it was the ‘Forest of the Holy Spirit,’ he was glad.

‘I get to go to that place.’

‘Forest of the Holy Spirit’ could be called a mandatory course after admission.

Why, even when entering university, friends gather in groups of three or five to go to an atmospheric restaurant, don’t they.

It was exactly that kind of feeling.

A place visited to set the mood of the early admission period, even though the price range was somewhat high.

Although their steps would gradually stop going there after that.

“First, I was told to go to the right from the square……”

Rafia tried to find the direction while hesitating.

Even if it was a famous restaurant, since it was her first time going, she didn’t know the exact location.

Swish—

“?”

“I know where it is.”

“???”

Roan began to walk quickly, leaving his bewildered friends behind.

***

‘Forest of the Holy Spirit’ was literally a forest.

An entrance with trees standing between ordinary brick buildings.

Its interior is so comfortable that one could believe it was another world.

To the point that the outside street with buildings tightly packed together did not cross one’s mind.

‘Even that is the headmaster’s miracle…….’

Acherandir’s basic ground was also sacred, but added to that was the efficacy of the thousands-of-years-old Holy Spirit, so various miracles occurred frequently and were maintained.

‘Forest of the Holy Spirit’ was the same.

Due to space distortion, the interior space became incredibly large, and the trees grew beautifully on their own without separate management.

‘This place is also amazing to see in reality.’

Even though he had come here quite a lot when playing the game, the difference between seeing it on a monitor and seeing it in reality was enormous.

Not simply the trees, but an auspicious atmosphere was sufficiently felt from the outside to the extent that fairies or spirits could be easily seen inside.

At that awe-inspiring entrance, Roan, of course, as well as his friends, looked very excited.

However, there was a freshman lingering in front of it.

“O-Oh?”

Rafia, who recognized who she was, stopped in embarrassment.

“Why, Rafia? Someone you know?”

Demona asked, looking back and forth at the two.

At that sound, the freshman turned back to where they were.

“Gasp!”

Demona inhaled a slightly surprised breath.

The freshman with long, flowing black hair was tall and had nicely defined lean muscles, making it clear at a glance that she came from a paladin family.

Moreover, her skin color, as white as snow, seemed to sparkle under the sunlight.

But if it was only that, Demona would not have been surprised.

She was the owner of an expression so cold that one might think, ‘Even if a statue were carved out of ice in the polar regions, it wouldn’t be like that.’

As if a duel challenge would fly immediately if one even spoke to her.

As if not a single expression would change even if the continent’s best clown put on the best performance.

In a different sense from Roan, she was a character difficult to talk to.

Thud— Thud—

Just then, she began to approach them.

“Is, is she trying to take our gold coins?”

“……Does that make sense, heretic.”

Even leaving aside Demona’s absurd reaction, Hector also looked slightly tense.

The pressure radiating from her appearance was that immense.

Swish—

Rafia even quietly hid behind Roan.

Roan asked Rafia with a bewildered expression.

“Isn’t she your roommate?”

“Yes, righ…… wait, how do you know?”

Rafia, who was nodding as if the opponent was difficult, soon opened her eyes wide and asked back.

In the meantime, the woman in question stood tall in front of Roan.

“Gasp, is she really going to challenge Roan to a duel right away? Truly bloodless and tearless!”

“……Think a bit before speaking, heretic.”

Demona’s rude speculation and Hector’s scolding.

At that moment, Riel’s lips moved slightly.

“GladtomeetRieleatfoodtogether……”

Although it was not heard well, the sentences passed by quickly like an incantation.

“Did you hear? She’s telling you to draw your sword right now! What did Roan do wrong!”

“……I-Is that so?”

As Demona kept spouting nonsense, Hector also seemed slightly swayed in the end.

However, for some reason, Roan showed a smile he rarely wore.

Seeing the corners of Roan’s mouth curling up, Demona was terrified.

“It looks like Roan won’t hold back either……!”

“Ro-Roan! Calm down!”

Since Roan also had a dangerous impression, looking as though he could easily pull out a metal skewer from his breast if seen by a stranger, Rafia was also terrified.

Then Roan looked back at them as if to ask what they were talking about and spoke.

“What are you talking about? She just said hello, saying she was glad to meet us.”

“????”

His friends looked even more surprised than when Roan used healing magic.

“It, it wasn’t a duel challenge?”

“……If you want a duel that much, do it yourself.”

“No, not that……”

Demona seemed to regret it for some reason, but soon shriveled under Roan’s sharp gaze.

“This is Riel Heilick. You all know the Heilick family, right?”

Only then did the three’s expressions relax a bit.

The Heilick family was a paladin family of considerable size, highly skilled and reputable to the extent that the commander of an active major knight order was the head.

‘No, more importantly, why is Rafia only finding out now?’

Receiving Roan’s dumbfounded look, Rafia made excuses hesitantly.

“No…… when we introduced ourselves, I could barely understand her name……. And somehow she was scary…….”

“More importantly, how did you understand her, Roan?”

Hector asked in wonder.

‘It is certainly difficult.’

Roan actually did not fail to understand their feelings.

Riel Heilick.

She not only had no expression changes, but was also notorious as a character with no dialogue subtitles and an in-game voice that was ridiculously quiet.

If she weren’t an essential character for Zion’s route, Roan would have just given up and passed.

However, Riel was almost Zion’s only friend in the early stage of her route, and since her talent was among the best excluding communication, she was of great help.

Because of this, he bought a new soundbar, repeated slow playback and amplification, captured the screen, and even used professional tools to distinguish expressions and actions.

As a result, after finding out that her lines actually existed and her expressions or reactions were expressed at the pixel level, he could only be shocked.

No matter how perverted a game it was, how could it be this malicious!

It was something realized after helplessly repeating failures for several months and concluding that route completion was impossible without Riel, so it made him shudder even more.

‘It was truly like hell…… but it was worth it.’

The reason Roan smiled was no other.

So that the practice, which was a continuation of pain, would not be in vain, Riel’s words were heard quite well!

Rather, hearing her voice directly, uncorrupted by speakers, she was almost like an announcer.

However, he did not bother to reveal such circumstances.

“How did I understand her…… such words are rude, Hector. Apologize quickly. Riel’s speech is just a bit quiet and fast.”

“R-Right. Sorry, Heilick.”

“I’m also sorry for misunderstanding, Riel…….”

Even though Hector and Rafia bowed their heads, Riel did not even budge.

“You too.”

“Why me?”

“…….”

“S-Sorry, Heilick!”

When even Demona bowed his head at last.

“Noneed.Usedtoit……”

Riel’s lips moved slightly again.

In Roan’s eyes, it was a reaction of being extremely overwhelmed by her friends’ apologies.

Roan spoke, shaking his head.

“It is only natural since they committed a wrong.”

“……You, you are understanding her right now, correct?”

Roan ignored Demona’s suspicious question.

“I’m glad. So you were acquaintances with Riel. How fascinating.”

Rafia spoke, smiling brightly.

Seeing that he could understand those words, she seemed convinced that the two were originally acquaintances.

Since Rafia loved people, she seemed happy just to have an opportunity to become close to Riel.

And from Roan’s perspective, although it wasn’t exactly wrong, he shook his head.

“No, I just saw her for the first time.”

“……? Then how her name……?”

The three wore bewildered expressions at the same time, but Roan changed the subject directly.

“More importantly, you said to eat together. We plan to go here. Do you have Talents?”

“Familysenioralittle.”

Riel answered, nodding her head.

Of course, it was a movement only Roan could recognize.

Roan also nodded contentedly.

‘At this rate, even her expressions are much better visible!’

Currently, Riel was very happy.

She was also quite surprised that Roan understood her words well.

As evidence of that, her left eyebrow was trembling as much as a grain of sand, and the right corner of her mouth rose by a wrinkle’s width compared to the first.

It was a change that others wouldn’t know even if told, but.

For Roan, who used to count pixels, it was more than sufficient.

It’s much easier than the game!

With only that one thing, Roan’s sense of fulfillment was indescribable.

“Good. Let’s go in then.”

“So are we really not doing the duel?”

“Riel tells you to shut up.”

“……She didn’t say anything just now!”

Walking into the forest while listening to Demona’s aggrieved protest, a sign was seen in front of the huge restaurant made of logs.

─ ‘Forest of the Holy Spirit’ has a single menu, prepaid. ─

─ Forest of the Holy Spirit Set, 15 Talents ─

“Huh? Why is it not written in Imperial currency price?”

Demona, who read the sign, asked innocently.

“…….”

His friends did not answer at all.

That silence seemed to be felt as quite ominous even to Demona.

“……Huh? It seems Riel said something, Roan?”

“She said nothing.”

Roan shook his head and headed inside the restaurant.

Demona followed in a hurry, chattering.

“B-But I can eat, right? Huh? It’s gold coins!”

Hector replied.

“Yes, make sure to tell the clerk exactly that.”

“Welcome, freshmen! The price is 15 Talents per person!”

The clerk’s warm welcome.

Roan, Rafia, Hector, and Riel paid 15 Talents in turn and went inside.

Meanwhile.

“I’d like to pay in Imperial currency!”

“……Pardon?”

“I only have gold coins, you will give change, right?”

“That is……”

Demona asked, jingling his pocket, and the clerk wore a troubled expression.

Swish—

Pulling the sleeve of Roan, who was watching that sight with a pathetic look, Rafia spoke with her mouth.

─ Let’s pretend we don’t know him.

Roan nodded.

“What? It’s gold coins, though?”

“Customer, so……”

“I said it’s gold coins?”