Chapter 131

“Let’s see if you can still say that after this class is over.”

As he spoke, lightning seemed to crackle in Vulcan’s eyes.

Roan felt a sticky anxiety, much like the drool dripping from Vulcan’s mouth.

In any case.

“As you know, today is the day we distribute holy beast eggs to you all.”

When Vulcan, returning to his usual self, stated the content of today’s class, the students naturally went wild.

─ Waaaa!

─ Long live Professor Vulcan!

─ Haa, haa! Holy beast! Holy beast!

…It seemed to go beyond just going wild.

Although it wasn’t Professor Vulcan who was distributing them, the students ran amok as if Vulcan were the Holy Spirit himself.

The problem was that both Vulcan and Denver watched the students’ behavior with satisfaction.

Distributing holy beast eggs to all freshmen was a proud Acherandir tradition to them.

‘…Still, shouldn’t they stop them by this point?’

At times like this, they shouldn’t just wear an expression that said ‘I was like that once too.’

Roan and Sion stood a step away from the mad students with lukewarm expressions.

“Tsk, I can’t receive an egg. What a shame, right?”

The same went for Demona.

Since Demona already knew she couldn’t receive an egg, she wasn’t particularly interested.

Roan nodded.

“Yeah. But it’s fine. Even if they receive eggs in class, most of them will be inferior to your Sparky and Black Knight.”

“Is that so? If Roan says so, then that’s how it is~”

Demona smiled brightly as if it didn’t matter either way.

Demona’s reaction was, unusually, extremely normal.

But.

“Woooorgh! Holy beast! Holy beast!”

‘That fellow Hector can’t even receive one, so why is he shouting over there?’

He couldn’t understand why on earth Hector was joining in.

Sion, realizing where Roan was looking, spoke from beside him.

“Just leave him be. It’s Hector, after all.”

“……Right.”

Roan nodded in admiration.

Wondering why he always thought of Demona and Hector as hopeless cases, yet tried to understand them somehow.

‘If only I weren’t a black mage, my personality would have been enough to rise to a cardinal.’

…Roan highly evaluated his own character.

No, actually, thinking that one of the students shouting over there would become a future cardinal made it sound plausible.

“You will go inside and choose a holy beast egg according to your roll number.”

Vulcan spoke, pointing to the gate he had emerged from.

The students, highly sensitive about the holy beast eggs, reacted violently to his every word.

─ Then the ones who enter late are at a disadvantage!

─ That’s right! Make it fair!

─ Boo! Step down!

‘Those bastards were saying how a Lightning Bear tears people apart just a moment ago…’

Of course, as Vulcan wasn’t someone who had only been a professor for a year or two, he cleared up those complaints in one go.

“Shut up! Do you not want it?”

─ …….

Only then did the students regain their calm, like the intellectuals of the Empire.

“I’ve handled it on my end, so just go in. If you have the skill and luck, you might even obtain a divine beast. That is, if you have ‘skill’ and luck.”

─ Ohhh!

“Denver, go inside and guide the students.”

“Understood, Professor.”

Thus, the biggest event of the early first semester of the freshman year, the holy beast egg draw, began.

“Gaston Deban.”

“Yes!”

The students entered the inner part of Percival Hall one by one with spirited attitudes.

And they came back out surprisingly quickly.

However, Gaston’s expression, who had entered first, was somewhat ambiguous.

─ What’s wrong, Deban?

When his friends asked, Gaston replied, tilting his head.

“They all look identical.”

The students looked at the egg in Gaston’s hand.

A golden egg.

One might think it was similar to a divine beast’s egg, but it was obvious to anyone that it was painted.

‘That way, they can’t distinguish the species by outward appearance.’

It was just as Roan had known.

Of course, the size of the egg couldn’t be helped, but that alone made it difficult to identify the exact species.

Moreover, since the room where the eggs were kept had almost no lighting, it was even more so.

Learning this fact, the students entered and exited one by one with slightly disappointed expressions.

The turns passed quickly.

“Hector Pavilto!”

“Yes!”

When Vulcan called the name, Hector, who was about to enter knowing it was his turn, answered loudly.

“……You already have two, why are you going in? Go over there.”

“Ugh!”

Of course, he was blocked before he could even take a few steps.

Only then did a tearful Hector walk over to Roan and say.

“It seems your words were true, Roan…”

Roan looked at him with a pitying look.

“Foolish fellow.”

“!!!”

Hector seemed immensely shocked, but no one comforted him.

To think he hadn’t believed it when Roan’s words had never been wrong so far.

‘Is he really an idiot?’

The others were thinking thoughts even harsher than Roan’s.

At any rate, Lafia, Riel, and Sion also went in order.

“Roan Darc!”

“Yes.”

Finally, Roan’s turn arrived.

The students booed as they watched Roan enter the gate with the Abyss Dragon perched on his shoulder.

─ Boo! To think he’s receiving a holy beast egg when he already has the Abyss Dragon!

─ Please be a forbidden divine beast! Please be a forbidden divine beast!

Roan couldn’t help but admire their pettiness.

‘Truly amazing!’

“A forbidden divine beast is a bit much, but please let it be around an Ember Sparrow… Keo-heok!”

─ …….

When Roan cast a paralysis spell on Hector, who had stealthily blended in with the students and was agreeing with them, as a token of his gratitude, everyone fell silent.

Since Hector had developed a resistance anyway, if he thought of it as training, Roan’s conscience wouldn’t even pinch.

As Roan walked through the dark corridor for a moment, Denver’s voice echoed.

“Darc, over here!”

The holy beast eggs placed in the dark players’ waiting room, where not a single ray of light entered, off to the side of the corridor.

Since the students before Roan had taken most of them, not many remained.

“Then…”

Roan tried to grab an egg that roughly caught his eye.

Our hero had rarely obtained a good holy beast in this event, so his expectations were similarly low.

Surely, since obtaining a good holy beast in the early stages would lower the difficulty by that much, it was likely set up so that one couldn’t obtain anything above a certain grade.

But.

“Ahem. Darc. Yours is here…”

Denver, creeping up behind Roan, pulled something from his chest and stealthily handed it over.

Denver rubbed the bottom of his nose and avoided his gaze, as if doing something suspicious!

“?”

Roan wondered what kind of stunt this was, but looked down at the egg placed in his hand first.

As an honorable student of Acherandir, he was about to decisively refuse such a bribe-like favor—

“……This is!”

He intended to do so, but it seemed he needed to think it over a bit more.

“Isn’t this a true divine beast egg?”

That was because the egg Denver had given him was not painted like the other eggs, but was a true golden color—a genuine divine beast egg.

Denver nodded, checking the surroundings secretly.

…Since there were only the two of them here anyway, there was no need to be so cautious, but he felt like he should.

“This is an egg the professor specially prepared for you. I think you of all people will understand the meaning of the holy seal stamped on it.”

“Could it be…?”

Roan hastily inspected the egg again.

Sure enough, beneath the egg was a seal stamped with holy power—the holy seal and a three-digit serial number.

The holy seal stamped on a divine beast egg was quite special.

Roan asked in a slightly elevated voice.

“Is it a species-guaranteed egg?”

“Yes.”

Denver nodded significantly.

A species-guaranteed egg.

Divine beast eggs were broadly classified into two types.

Eggs naturally created in a sacred land where natural energy gathered exceptionally strongly, infused with divine power.

And species-guaranteed eggs produced by mating divine beasts of the same species.

In the case of a species-guaranteed egg, it naturally hatched into the same species as the mother.

But although it was called a species-guaranteed egg.

For a divine beast, which was already rare, to have two of the same species exist in the same era, and on top of that, succeed in mating?

It was close to impossible, making it far more valuable than naturally created eggs.

In any case, the three-digit serial number stamped beneath the holy seal indicated the mother’s classification code.

Since there was no way a freshman could decipher it, Denver was about to tell him.

“The mother of this egg is…”

“777, the Heavenly Sword Peacock King. A beautiful divine beast.”

“??!!?!!!??”

But of course, Roan could easily decipher a serial number.

Denver broke into a cold sweat.

‘I was only told it was some kind of bird?’

He couldn’t help but be shocked that Roan knew more precisely than what Vulcan had told him.

“Well… that seems correct. But how did you know?”

Denver asked with a lukewarm expression.

Speaking as if he had known all along was a senior’s pride.

Did freshmen these days even prep-study divine beast classification codes before entering?

Naturally, that couldn’t be the case, but Roan replied casually.

“Well, it’s such a famous divine beast… and its classification code is unique, too. Isn’t it just common sense?”

Indeed, the Heavenly Sword Peacock King possessed a beautiful appearance, making it famous for both Holy Wars and companionship.

But knowing its classification code was only common sense ‘by Roan’s standards.’

Rumble—

‘Freshmen these days are terrifying…’

It was a natural progression for Denver to begin doubting the level of ‘common sense’ he possessed.

Had he enrolled together with Roan, his position as the Holy War Club captain would have flown out the window.

“Anyway, thank you so much. I would appreciate it if you could convey my gratitude to Professor Vulcan as well.”

“Uh-huh, there’s paint here, so paint it before you go…”

Roan painted over the egg with the paint Denver offered, then bowed to Denver, who was still out of it.

Then, he exited the waiting room with light steps.

It was clearly a bribe to join the Holy War Club, but since giving this out wasn’t something they could proudly speak of, there was no problem in accepting it and playing dumb.

‘Still, if they beg me to play just once as a guest player later, I’ll think about it.’

Denver stared blankly at Roan’s retreating figure.

“That guy… why doesn’t he want to join the Holy War Club?”

Fine, yielding a hundred times over, let’s say a freshman could memorize the divine beast classification codes.

But if so, doesn’t that naturally mean he loves Holy Wars enough to join the Holy War Club?

Why on earth doesn’t he join?

Meanwhile, Roan walked back out the corridor holding the egg.

The Abyss Dragon asked.

[Is that guy really that amazing?]

Roan nodded.

“Yes, Bell. The egg of the Heavenly Sword Peacock King. To think Professor Vulcan had it since this early. At any rate, it is amazing.”

Normally, the Heavenly Sword Peacock King would make a meteoric appearance in Acherandir’s Holy War Club around next year.

The key figure and a new legend who led Acherandir’s somewhat lagging Holy War Club team to four consecutive victories in the Imperial University Holy War League, and further, to winning the Imperial Holy War League.

That very fellow had now entered Roan’s hands.

‘Now I must raise it well without it being overworked in Holy Wars.’

Roan wore a satisfied smile.

…Between the Holy War Club and Roan’s custody, it was uncertain where it would be overworked more.

[Hmph, it still won’t be as good as me, though?]

Just then, the Abyss Dragon spoke in a slightly petulant voice.

Roan, whose attention had been focused on the divine beast egg, only then realized that the Abyss Dragon had been jealous since its very first question.

Did it think a competitor had appeared when it had monopolized Roan’s love all to itself until now?

Roan stroked the Abyss Dragon and spoke.

“Of course. You are the legendary Abyss Dragon. Moreover, you…”

[What about me?]

Roan was about to say ‘you can use black magic, too,’ but held his tongue.