Chapter 127

“Galland.”

“Wh-What is it?”

“It seems I had a bit of a misunderstanding. I thought you disliked us.”

As he spoke, Roan’s grey eyes quietly scanned Galland up and down without a trace of emotion!

Galland couldn’t bear it any longer.

“What are you talking about between fellow Acherandir students! A person can cry a little if they are sad! Have a good night!”

Crash—

Galland practically tumbled out of the McGodal Room.

Resolving that in the future, no matter what sound he heard, he would never even look in the direction of this room.

No, he wouldn’t even sleep facing this room!

Meanwhile, Roan tilted his head as he watched Galland leave.

‘The Acherandir kids are nicer than I thought, aren’t they?’

Between Jennifer and him, it was unexpected how easily they forgave a person after just a single Chastisement Spell.

Ah, though it was twice this time.

At any rate, compared to the countless instances of jealousy, envy, and ostracization he had faced during Sion’s playthrough, they were saints.

At least Roan had many friends and didn’t face any direct threats.

…Roan remained blissfully unaware that, in others’ eyes, he was the very perpetrator of that ‘direct threat.’

Although he had cultivated a slightly scary image, in Roan’s mind, it was purely a measure of self-preservation.

Just then, the Purgatory Penitence Beast, which had entered Hector’s private room while gauging Roan’s mood, crept back out.

It then looked at Hector, who was writhing on the floor, and felt extremely sorrowful.

Demona spoke, looking slightly touched.

“Roan, unlike how it looks, this guy seems so kind? It’s cleaner than I thought, too.”

The tears of blood shed by the Purgatory Penitence Beast turned into light particles and vanished as soon as they hit the floor.

Roan also nodded.

“Basically, Purgatory Penitence Beasts are souls that truly repented at the threshold of hell. You can say their character is guaranteed.”

“Oh~ Yes, Crybaby. I think you are much better than the fanatic.”

Demona spoke as she stroked the Purgatory Penitence Beast.

Indeed, even if Demona had an eccentric side, seeing her like this showed she wasn’t evil.

Even in Roan’s eyes, stroking the Purgatory Penitence Beast so sincerely showed immense benevolence.

At that moment, the state of the Purgatory Penitence Beast became a little strange.

Beam—

The Purgatory Penitence Beast, which had shed nothing but tears until now, wore a deep smile for some reason.

“U-Uh? Roan, it’s smiling!”

Demona cried out in surprise.

Roan was just as surprised.

‘It smiled already?’

The Purgatory Penitence Beast was a divine beast that achieved its goal and disappeared once it fully paid its designated sins and gained people’s recognition.

The benchmark for that was smiling three times like that.

Smiling even once already was truly no easy feat.

“The Purgatory Penitence Beast ascents to be reincarnated anew once it smiles three times. To think it has already smiled once is amazing. And…”

Before Roan could finish his sentence, the suffering Hector surprisingly overcame the overlapping curse magic and spoke to the Purgatory Penitence Beast.

“N-No… D-Don’t smile… Crybaby…”

A miracle-like feat born of his obsession that the Purgatory Penitence Beast—the divine beast he had finally obtained—must not disappear!

…Of course, the intention behind it was extremely ugly.

Roan looked down at Hector with a face full of contempt.

The words he hadn’t finished.

It was that those who guided the Purgatory Penitence Beast to its ascension would receive an amazing reward from the Holy Emperor’s Palace.

‘If the Purgatory Penitence Beast ascents, one receives a true divine beast’s egg. Even just out of spite, I shouldn’t tell him.’

Such an owner had no right to receive a divine beast’s egg for the rest of his life.

Even if Hector’s Purgatory Penitence Beast ascended, Roan was prepared to go as far as writing a petition.

“Right, you should spend the rest of your life with Crybaby.”

“I’m going to… do that anyway… Crybaby is my precious… divine beast…”

Unaware of Roan’s thoughts, Hector nodded with a faint smile.

It was a twisted affection befitting the infamous Pavilto family.

“Wow, fanatic, you’re really something~”

“Th-Thanks… Heretic boss…”

Demona also clapped her hands as she praised Hector.

Hector responded with a proud expression.

Of course, since he hadn’t fully recovered from the paralysis yet, he remained completely contorted, just like his affection.

Just then, the Purgatory Penitence Beast shed clear tears—not tears of blood, but the kind it shed only when witnessing sin.

“Huh? Crybaby is crying?”

“Aren’t those… tears of emotion?”

Roan left behind the two, who were showing fantastic chemistry, and entered his private room.

“Oh, Roan, where are you going?”

“Going to study.”

Spending even a single second studying his backlogged black magic seemed more valuable than staying with those two for an hour.

***

Deep night.

Roan closed the black magic grimoire he had borrowed from the Forbidden Library and nodded.

It seemed there would be no problem reading it all before the loan period ended.

“Hmm. Relying solely on memory would definitely have been difficult.”

No matter how high Roan’s talent was, there was a limit to modifying and weaving black magic circles relying on memory alone.

Studying black magic again through Roan’s eyes brought many new realizations, beyond merely recalling memories.

Unlike during his time as a player, he sought ways to grasp the meaning of each element of the black magic circles and utilize them.

Just like holy magic, black magic was a proper academic field where one didn’t simply memorize inherited magic circles but could create their own new heights based on them.

The process of steadily building from the basics was entirely Roan’s precious asset.

Was this what people meant when they said one learns ten things from studying one?

Roan looked at the Abyss Dragon, which had curled up and fallen asleep on the bed, with affectionate eyes.

“I should get some sleep now, too.”

Roan also climbed onto the bed and lightly stroked the Abyss Dragon.

The touch of cold scales.

Ki-ki-kit—

The Abyss Dragon let out a cry as if talking in its sleep, then snuggled into Roan’s embrace seeking warmth.

Roan felt a rare sense of stability since coming to this world.

‘For some reason, I feel like I’ll be able to sleep soundly tonight without even dreaming.’

Roan fell asleep in an instant.

And soon woke up inside a dream.

‘I really can’t say a single word.’

Roan wanted to click his tongue, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished.

An entirely white world.

He couldn’t tell if it was due to the fog, which was so thick that even his hands were invisible.

Roan was walking aimlessly within it.

He only knew that this place was inside a dream, but his body seemed to know where to go.

As if it were his body, yet not.

Time passed as he merely moved his arms and legs as if moving through water.

In the distance, a woman with long black hair wearing a white dress came into view.

At the same time.

Flash—

The fog shrouding Roan and the world cleared in an instant.

Revealing a peerlessly beautiful plain beyond the veil of fog, along with a forest that distantly bordered its edges.

Behind the woman, a beautiful castle boasted a peaceful and antique appearance.

Roan knew the identity of that castle.

Although he had never seen it in an intact state, he felt it naturally.

‘The ruined castle of the Darc family.’

Beneath the dazzling sunshine, Roan stood with his feet planted in the Darc territory of the past.

‘Then that woman…’

Once Roan drew somewhat close, she turned around to face him.

A young woman who looked beautiful and warm, blending perfectly with the surrounding nature.

It was definitely a face Roan was seeing for the first time, but.

Just like when he saw the Darc castle, he knew by instinct the moment he confirmed her bright presence.

The mistress of the Darc family.

‘My mother?’

And the actual mother of Roan.

Roan’s mother smiled brightly, knowing her son had arrived.

Then she suddenly tilted her head and asked.

“Who are you?”

At that moment, Roan felt his hair stand on end.

‘Did she realize my identity?’

The secret that even Harden didn’t know—that Roan’s soul was Yu-han from Earth.

Had Roan’s mother caught onto that secret in an instant?

‘From a mother’s perspective… I would be nothing more than an evil spirit that possessed her son’s body.’

While Roan was stiff with tension, she smiled gently.

“It’s a joke, Roan. You look exactly like your father, so how could I not recognize you?”

‘She didn’t notice.’

Roan’s mother drew closer to Roan, who stood stiffly.

Then she hardened her expression again and spoke.

“Unless the soul of a black mage who raided the family possessed my son’s body, that is.”

‘…Did she realize?’

Roan felt like he was hovering between heaven and hell with every word she said and every change of her expression.

It seemed Roan’s mother had been a master of push-and-pull during her lifetime.

At any rate, she clearly didn’t seem to have noticed Yu-han’s soul.

She smiled again and gently took Roan’s hand.

“To think the newborn who couldn’t even open his eyes in my arms has grown so well. I’m sorry for being late, and thank you for growing up so strong, my son.”

At her warm words, Roan’s heart, which had been frozen solid with tension and anxiety until now, thawed little by little at this moment.

Slide—

As his mother stroked Roan’s cheek, Roan’s tears that had somehow spilled were caught on her finger.

“I hope you don’t forget that we are always watching over you. You are not alone.”

“…Yes.”

Roan nodded.

Roan and his mother’s heights were roughly similar.

She, more than anyone, would have wished to share the process of Roan’s height becoming similar to hers.

And further, the future of him growing taller than her.

‘Now I’ll feel less guilty even if I say my parents told me in a dream.’

Since they really did appear in his dream.

And they did say they were watching.

…Even in the midst of this moving moment, Roan was thinking such thoughts on the side.

Meanwhile, Roan’s mother spoke with a worried expression.

“But Roan. Your father is extremely angry.”

“…Yes?”

Roan’s voice trembled slightly.

Judging by the comment that Roan looked exactly like him, the previous Darc would be more menacing than Roan, certainly not less.

His capabilities would go without saying, too.

If such a person was angry…

“He was saying something about the Abyss, but you know how mother doesn’t really understand that?”

Chill—

Roan’s mother spoke playfully, unaware that cold sweat was pouring down Roan’s spine.

‘Am I… not supposed to use the Abyss anymore?’

But if he didn’t use it, surviving would be difficult?

Roan pondered seriously.

“Still, it’s probably no big deal. Roan, you have no idea how much your father loves you. It’s surely for some trivial reason.”

And Roan’s mother casually changed the subject.

“Ah, by the way, I came to tell you this. The saying that you are not alone is true. There is a child who will help you. Don’t fight and get along well. She is your older sister, after all.”

“…?”

Roan tilted his head.

Older sister?

“Who is that…?”

When Roan asked, his mother replied with a mischievous smile.

Her eyes were still warm, but a sharp insight was hidden within them.

“I think you already know, too? You will understand mother’s words when the time comes.”

With those final words, his mother’s body began to fade from the feet up.

Not just his mother’s body.

The forest along the horizon, too.

The grass he stood on, too.

The sun lighting up the surroundings, too.

And the Darc castle boasting thousands of years of history.

The entire world vanished.

It was as if time flowed rapidly from Roan’s past to the present.

Roan wanted to delay that dissolution even for a moment, but dreams do not go as one wishes.

Roan’s mother smiled.

“Oh dear, it is already time to go. I don’t know when we will meet again.”

“Wait a moment!”

“Hmm? Do you have something to ask?”

“Your names… I didn’t know them.”

He would ask them directly this time!

At Roan’s question, as he blushed in embarrassment, his mother chuckled softly.

Before he knew it, her body had almost completely vanished.

“I suppose you wouldn’t. I’m sorry for not even telling you our names. Our names are… Ki-ki-kit.”

Roan tilted his head at the unexpected name.

“Ki-ki-kit?”

How could a person’s name be Ki-ki-kit?