Chapter 122

“So, from here… I twist the Abyss, pour the fruit juice of the Garden of Dawn… and place the Frame of Recollection under the incense burner… Bell, do not touch it carelessly or you will be in big trouble. Stay quiet.”

There were as many as six Abyss magic circles drawn on the ground.

Each magic circle was subtly compatible with one another, forming a large hexagram.

Even though it looked complicated at first glance, it was manageable since he only had to follow what was written in the “Completed Version of the Grey Shackle of Life” obtained from the Administrator of the Forbidden Library.

…Or so Roan thought for now.

Meanwhile, as if to prove it was indeed a dragon, the Abyss Dragon approached the glittering magic circle as if possessed.

Roan had to put more effort into keeping the Abyss Dragon away rather than into the magic itself.

And surprisingly, there was one person watching this entire process together with him.

“……So, I am asking for the fifth time, why are you making that kind of thing here?”

It was Harden.

Harden’s mood was so twisted that any citizen of the Empire would have trembled and fallen to their knees to beg.

However, it wasn’t as if Roan had failed to answer the previous questions.

Roan had diligently tried to clear Harden’s doubts.

It was the same this time.

“I couldn’t think of any place other than here that could escape Professor Kaina’s eyes.”

Yet, communication was always a difficult task.

Moreover, the relationship between teacher and disciple was particularly prone to misunderstandings.

“That’s why I’m saying! If you wanted to escape her eyes, you should have gone into a cave in some mountain valley! Why on earth does it have to be the back room of the Principal’s Office?!”

Harden shouted, thumping his chest as if frustrated.

Of course, being a ghost, he had no chest to thump.

Just as Harden said, the place where Roan was creating the Grey Shackle of Life was none other than the Principal’s Office.

Specifically, it was Harden’s storehouse hidden behind a secret mechanism in the Principal’s Office.

How did this come to pass…?

***

Slipping out of Diar’s classroom, Roan kicked open the door to the Principal’s Office, looking as hurried as possible.

Slam—

“Principal! Save me!”

Click—

“……Were you caught?!!”

Harden calmly closed the Principal’s Office door first so that Geode wouldn’t hear, looking startled.

‘With his authority, he shouldn’t be caught under ordinary circumstances?’

Harden clicked his tongue, wondering how to resolve this situation.

Then, a sudden question occurred to him.

“……Wait, what does you getting caught have to do with me?”

Roan’s identity being exposed was an urgent matter only for Roan; in truth, Harden didn’t really care.

He had told him not to get caught in the first place, so he must have run around recklessly and caused this again.

Roan’s expression turned sour as Harden instantly washed his hands of the matter.

He hadn’t expected much to begin with, but still, wasn’t this a bit too fast?

“Aren’t I still your student?”

“Before you are a student, you are a black mage.”

“Before I am a black mage, I am a student.”

“No, you aren’t. My thoughts are a bit different.”

Roan and Harden bickered for a few more words before realizing it was meaningless and stopping.

“Actually, I wasn’t caught.”

“Right, that is indeed a relief. By the way, what class did you take to be out already… Ah, Divine Words. That old man’s class… No, wait.”

Harden soon realized a shocking fact.

Diar’s class was performance-based.

If one showed results, they could leave regardless of the remaining class time.

But that meant.

“You, you already used the Divine Word?”

“Yes, but that is not what is important right now.”

“Hey, you rascaaaal!!!”

Harden was so shocked that he bounced around the walls like a rubber ball while shouting.

Scarcely thirty minutes had passed since the start of class, and if using the Divine Word in that short time wasn’t important, then what on earth was?

Roan waited as calmly as possible for Harden to finish being shocked.

And once a deflated Harden returned to his spot, Roan spoke.

“Right now, I need the safest place possible.”

“Is there any place safer in Acherandir than here?”

Roan quietly stared past Harden, at the portrait from when he was alive.

Realizing the implication, Harden was astonished once again.

“……How did you know?”

“Well, one way or another.”

“Must be the work of those cheeky Sanctuary fellows. I told them so specifically not to spread rumors.”

Harden grumbled and swore.

The remarkable seniors of the Sanctuary had a history of raiding Harden’s secret storehouse behind the portrait in the past.

Of course, since he had changed the security magic entirely after that, they wouldn’t be able to raid it again, but the location itself hadn’t changed.

“Anyway, do you really need a storehouse?”

Roan nodded.

“The professors saw me using the Divine Word.”

“Ah.”

Without another word, Harden waved his hand to open the entrance of the secret storehouse.

No matter how much they were the professors under his command, Harden did not trust them.

If they saw a freshman using the Divine Word right before their eyes, they were the type of people who would sacrifice their lives to follow him to the ends of hell.

If that was why Roan had come running in fright (?), it made sense.

“Go on, get in. How many times did I tell you to take it easy?”

“I intended to do so, but… thank you.”

As soon as the entrance to the secret storehouse opened, Roan truly raised his black mana with all his might and wrapped it around his body.

“Are you going to a battlefield or something?”

Harden asked in bewilderment.

Roan replied casually.

“I am a black mage, after all.”

“Ah.”

Harden immediately understood.

The inside of Harden’s secret storehouse was filled with all kinds of legendary holy relics and holy symbols.

Naturally, it was no different from a battlefield for Roan, a black mage.

‘But then why did he ask to open that place while begging me to save him?’

…Another question arose for Harden.

Was it like walking to the gallows to escape the guillotine?

At any rate, having prepared himself reasonably well, Roan entered the storehouse with a slightly tense expression.

Then, lo and behold, he began rummaging and pulling things out of his lucky bag.

Harden couldn’t help but be astonished as he checked each of the items Roan was taking out.

‘Wh-Where on earth did he get all those things?’

Some of them were even items that looked like they belonged in Professor Wooly’s lab.

Whether Harden did so or not, Roan hummed a tune as he prepared to cast the Grey Shackle of Life.

‘Once I’m in, it’s hard to kick me out anyway!’

It wasn’t as if Roan had lied to Harden either.

It was true that his life would be in danger—if he couldn’t make the Grey Shackle of Life.

It was also true that the professors had witnessed Roan using the Divine Word.

It was Harden’s mistake for jump-linking the two facts on his own.

Meanwhile, seeing ominous objects like black magic grimoires occupying his holy secret storehouse, Harden asked with a gaping mouth.

“You, what are you trying to do right now…?”

Roan replied casually.

“Ah, thank you for saving me from Professor Kaina.”

Harden’s mouth opened even wider.

***

At any rate, Roan was now nearly completing the Grey Shackle of Life.

Harden also recognized Roan’s magic around that time.

“I was wondering why you needed six magic circles… is this the Grey Shackle of Life?”

“Oh, Principal, you are indeed well-versed in black magic as well. Truly amazing.”

Whenever Harden conversed with this cheeky disciple, irritation surged within him before he knew it.

‘In times like this, should I get angry, or should I praise him?’

Harden faced an uncommon dilemma.

As an educator, he should be proud of a student who had prepared to use such magic in this difficult environment.

But as a holy spirit of the Holy Empire, it was only right to nip in the bud a sprout that might become a disaster for the Empire.

‘……Then again, that is precisely why I am keeping him under my wing.’

There were several reasons why Harden had accepted Roan’s admission.

First, to show consideration for Roan’s family and his pitiful circumstances.

Second, because in truth, even if Roan was caught, no disadvantage would come to himself.

Third, because there was no telling what would happen if Roan were left loose in the wild.

If they treated him well at Acherandir, at the very least, he wouldn’t become a disaster for the Empire in the future.

Although it was still Harden’s own secret, Harden…

At any rate, there were a few more reasons after that, but looking back, it was a godsend that he had admitted him.

Because the Grey Shackle of Life was a rather troublesome magic even for Harden.

If he had committed such acts outside Acherandir, it would have surely caused an uproar.

“It’s not about being well-versed, I have no choice but to know. The number of shackles I have broken alone is… Anyway, my question is not whether that is a real shackle, but how you could make it. You young lamb. Where on earth did you get that book?”

It had only been Roan’s second week since admission.

And it had only been about that long since Roan awakened.

Such magic in this hostile environment only two weeks after awakening?

Even putting everything else aside, obtaining a black magic grimoire was no ordinary feat.

Roan replied casually.

“I borrowed it from somewhere.”

“Teidy had the Grey Shackle of Life?”

“Hmm…”

Roan glossed over it vaguely, pretending to modify the magic circle.

He felt slightly sorry for Teidy, whom he would meet next week.

“What about the other materials?”

“I had to suffer quite a bit.”

“……”

Of course he must have suffered!

But if suffering alone made everything possible, who in this world wouldn’t suffer?

Staring at Roan’s back as he concentrated on his magic with narrowed eyes, Harden was suddenly taken aback.

“Wait, no, hey, you little lamb!”

“?”

At the uncharacteristically harsh words from Harden, Roan stopped in the middle of finalizing the magic and looked back.

“What is that authority of yours? Why are there two?”

“Ah.”

Roan nodded as if he had temporarily forgotten about it.

“One way or another.”

Whirrrr—

Only then did the Administrator of the Forbidden Library greet Harden.

Hello there!

Naturally, Rudiac, the first Wychronon, and Harden were very well acquainted.

“Y-You, Rudiaaaac!!!”

Harden finally couldn’t hold back and roared.

Roan’s actions all this time fell into place in his head like a puzzle.

Collecting his tears like some pervert—in fact, Harden had known all along—.

Going to the Hill of the Setting Sun, absurdly enough, though how he found out remained a mystery.

Even volunteering for the Divine Tree maintenance service, which even current students avoided.

Did it mean all of that was to create the Grey Shackle of Life?

Like a reader completely caught off guard by the final twist of a mystery novel, Harden felt as if he had been struck on the back of his head.

‘Could this brat… be after other things as well…?’

Harden decided that he really had to strengthen his surveillance of Roan.

Just then, Roan spoke politely to Harden.

“Principal, I am truly sorry to say this, but could you please be a little quiet?”

“……What?”

“It’s the final stage, and it’s a very critical moment… I don’t mind failing, but if the magic happens to explode, I fear your precious storehouse might be damaged.”

“You damn little lamb. This isn’t your living room, it’s my storehouse!”

“That’s exactly my point.”

“……”

Harden was utterly flabbergasted.

But for now, as Roan requested, he backed away to a corner of the storehouse and decided to wait quietly.

Kyaaa— Kya—

He was even holding the Abyss Dragon, which refused to leave Roan’s side.

‘Why is he doing that?’

Roan found Harden’s unusually compliant behavior awkward, but he couldn’t find anything suspicious.

Thus, the blueprint for the Grey Shackle of Life was completed.

‘Now I just need to infuse it with mana and adjust it.’

Roan began to raise the Abyss in earnest.

As mentioned before, the Grey Shackle of Life itself was not a very difficult magic.

However, the preparation process was extremely grueling, and even after preparing, manipulating six magic circles simultaneously with the Abyss required absolute talent or proficiency.

Harden snorted inwardly.

‘The likes of him seem to be rushing in relying on a bit of great talent, but there are things in this world that cannot be achieved by talent alone.’

Even during the kingdom era when black mages ran rampant, those who created the Grey Shackle of Life could be counted on one hand.

It was just that each and every one of them was a great mage who ruled the continent.

So, for a brat who had only awakened two weeks ago to touch it…

“??????”

But Harden seemed to lose his spirit soon.

‘Ah, I am a spirit, aren’t I?’

Anyway.

‘Why does this work?’