Chapter 164

Chapter 164

Even so, as the students gradually grew accustomed to the barbells, led by Rafia, Riel, and Hektor, that interest subsided a little.

“I think it’s getting a bit easier now that I’ve gotten the hang of it…”

“There is a place where holy power aggregates. Targeting such spots intensively makes it easier.”

For once, the friends were diligently discussing among themselves as they worked hard to conquer the barbells.

Perhaps, as aspiring paladins and heresy inquisitors, they felt they could not afford to fall behind Roan even in this kind of field.

‘This is what a proper school should be like.’

Roan felt a relaxed emotion for the first time in a while and watched the scene with satisfaction.

…Before he knew it, Roan had empathized with the mindset of a professor or a principal rather than a student.

Then, suddenly, an inexplicable sense of anxiety washed over Roan.

‘There is no way only good things would happen at this school.’

It was the instinct of Roan, a black mage secretly enrolled in the Holy Academy, who never let his guard down for a single moment.

That instinct was sounding an alarm to its master.

Hoist—

“Hup!”

“Wow~ even Demona lifted the barbell?”

“Ugh… it’s heavy, how do you guys lift this like that?”

“…You need to exercise a bit, Demona.”

“Hieeeek— Rafia is an exercise demon!”

Could it be that Demona’s words, ‘I can’t lift the barbell because it’s too heavy,’ were actually true?

It was indeed a surprising situation.

‘No, but that alone is a bit insufficient.’

Roan grasped the situation a bit more sharply.

To trigger his danger instinct, a greater threat was needed.

For instance,

‘Like Professor Gulba secretly sneaking up from behind and looking at me with satisfaction…’

“!!!!”

Roan was greatly shocked when he realized the source of his anxiety.

Goosebumps rose as Gulba, without anyone noticing when, was looking down at Roan and smiling from behind!

The smile of Gulba, an islander, was far more terrifying than Hektor’s.

“…Do you have something to say?”

Roan asked Gulba while maintaining as calm an expression as possible.

Gulba nodded with a serious expression.

“Dark. Unbefitting of a warrior.”

“!”

Roan was internally pricked, but he did not show it.

‘He caught me pacing myself.’

Indeed, it must have been impossible to deceive the eyes of Gulba, who could be said to have reached the human pinnacle regarding the physical body.

However, Gulba’s next action was unexpected.

“Woooooo——!!!”

—W-What? Is it a magical beast attack?

—You fool! Professor Gulba just shouted!

Gulba howled loudly, looking up at the sky!

Standing right in front of him, Roan barely managed to channel his black mana to prevent himself from being blown away.

Having gathered the students’ attention like that, Gulba shouted,

“Gulba understands Dark’s heart! The consideration for friends! Beautiful!”

‘What kind of bullshit is this?’

—What kind of bull…shit is that?

—Hey, if you talk like that, he’ll hear you.

For once, Roan’s and the students’ thoughts aligned.

Roan was a bit more flustered than when he realized that he had been caught lifting and setting down the barbell moderately.

He had simply tried not to stand out, so what was this consideration and what was beautiful?

“Dark! Feels sorry for lifting big barbell alone!”

—I-Is that true?

Hearing Gulba’s words, the students also buzzed.

—That Dark guy… he really is annoying.

—Does he think anyone will view him favorably if he does that?

…It didn’t seem to be in a particularly good direction.

“But! Warrior does not feel sorry for being strong!”

“No, Professor. I am not a warrior…”

“Dark! Shows strength! Learns offensive technique first!”

‘#@^%(***(!!!’

Gulba, completely swept up in his own thoughts, seemed to have no intention of listening to Roan’s words.

Gulba grabbed one of Roan’s hands and dashed forward, causing Roan to dangle in mid-air as he was dragged along.

“Wait for a moment!”

Crash——!

After saying that, Gulba vanished somewhere in an instant.

—W-What?

—What is going on?

The students seemed quite bewildered by the rapidly changing situation.

And a moment later,

—Uh… uh-oh…!!

Boom— boom—

Two giant figures crashed down onto the training ground.

One was clearly Gulba, but what about the other?

“Argh! There are two Professor Gulbas! Everyone, run awayyy!!!”

As a massive build that looked somewhat similar to Gulba became faintly visible through the sandy dust, Demona threw down the barbell she was holding and began to flee.

—Aaargh! It’s the counterattack of the islands!

—Help me!!!

At that, the students also followed Demona and began to scatter all over the training ground.

At least Roan’s friends and a few named individuals seemed to stand their ground.

‘Should we run or not?’

In fact, they were also deeply conflicted.

Roan sighed and said,

“This is not Professor Gulba, it is a training golem.”

The friends spoke sheepishly at the news that it was a golem,

“Ah, oh, really?”

“I-I already knew that, Dark.”

‘As if you knew.’

Roan was not fooled.

Anyway, as the dust completely settled, the appearance of the training golem was finally revealed.

A golem that was slightly smaller than Gulba but looked like an average islander.

It seemed it would have an excellent security effect if put outside at night.

“Golem! Uses defensive technique! Dark! Breaks defense!”

Just as Gulba said, that golem could use Gulba’s unique defensive technique that the students had learned the previous week.

It automatically blocked attacks coming from the outside by utilizing the holy power contained within it.

‘This much is still within the expected range.’

Roan thought the situation was not bad compared to the fuss Gulba had made.

Freshmen usually started using golems after the midterm exams, but Roan could advance through that level of progress quickly.

“Do I just need to identify the spot the golem is defending and land a valid hit?”

Roan knew exactly the level required of freshmen.

No matter how unreasonable Gulba was, he wouldn’t demand more than that…

“Dark! Breaks golem!”

“……?”

Roan wondered if he had misheard something.

‘To break the golem?’

Of course, since that golem was training gear for practicing offensive techniques, depending on the stage, the corresponding part would break if damage above a certain level was inflicted.

What the freshmen faced was the practice phase, which did not have such a function.

The problem was,

“Isn’t that something done during the third year?”

“Yes! But school year does not matter for strength!”

To activate it to that level, one had to be in at least the third year.

Even then, only those aspiring to combat-related professions usually faced it.

Roan was lost for words when Gulba nodded so confidently.

So, he was giving a task that third-years did to a freshman?

“…Excuse me, but didn’t you say you would teach me offensive techniques?”

Even worse, Gulba had only thrown barbells at the students and had not actually taught any offensive techniques.

Regardless of how strong Roan was, if he was a professor, he should teach first before making him do it!

However, Gulba smiled amiably as if he understood Roan’s mind completely and said,

“Dark! Humble! But warrior is not humble! Can do it!”

‘This crazy bastard…’

Even the students who always disliked Roan felt that this was going too far this time, and whispered about Gulba.

—Even so, they say it’s something the third-year seniors do…

—No matter how much of a great demon king Dark is, wouldn’t that be a bit difficult?

“Uh… uh… Dark can do it!”

Seeing that the students’ response was not very good, Gulba also seemed slightly flustered.

‘I feel like it might work if I push just a bit more.’

To think a day would come in his life when he would cheer for a student!

Step—

At that moment, Demona stepped in front of the students.

‘What is that brat trying to do now!’

…Roan felt a deeper sense of anxiety than when Gulba was right behind him earlier.

“You negative bastards in everything! You ignoramuses living drenched in defeatism without a shred of ambition!”

—Ugh…

At Demona’s scolding, the students recoiled, intimidated.

“Can you bastards even say you have the right to walk the path of the Empire’s glorious victory! Instead of cheering for a friend challenging a difficult trial, you try to break his spirit? What petty people you are!”

—W-Wicronon is right.

—Dark isn’t our friend, but… we were indeed a bit petty.

The students nodded with expressions of great realization, and soon shouted,

—Dark! We will cheer for you just this once!

—Show us that you can do well even without Yongyong and Pointy!

“…It’s Bel and Charlotte.”

At that, Gulba also grinned and nodded.

“Students! Weak, but have spirit of warrior! Splendid!”

—Woooo!!!

—We are warriors!!!

Roan clicked his tongue at their collective ignorance.

Now that things had come to this, he could not back out without destroying the golem.

Could he not just retreat moderately since it was a defensive golem?

‘If I did that, my head would be crushed by the golem’s fist.’

No matter how defensive the golem was, it had attack capabilities corresponding to its level.

He had his pride.

Even if his head was to be crushed, it had to be by someone on the level of Kaina; he couldn’t be done in by a golem during class.

“Do not worry! Specially set to Stage 1!”

—Waah!!!

—Stage 1 is indeed manageable!!

The students cheered at Gulba’s generous offer.

“Dark, hang in there!”

“Yes! You can do it, Roan!”

Before knew it, Roan’s friends had also joined in, cheering for Roan with one heart.

‘They only align their minds at times like this…’

Roan bit his lower lip hard and stood before the golem.

What?

Specially set it to Stage 1?

‘The third-years I mentioned are the ones who do it at Stage 1!’

It was even more frustrating that those who knew nothing about the golem thought, ‘Maybe Stage 1 is worth trying.’

Lamenting the absurdity of the world, Roan stood before the golem and began to prepare.

Swoosh—

A basic black magic, ‘Chipped Sword of the Skeleton Squad Leader,’ was generated in Roan’s hand.

“A-A paladin’s one-handed sword?”

Sion took it upon herself to fit it into the holy spells she knew.

‘In the future, when I use black magic, I should do it in front of Sion.’

Roan felt a small comfort.

—Tsk, where did he learn that kind of holy spell again?

“Roan has his parents tell him everything! Do you guys even know what a study demon is?”

—I-Is that so? What a persistent guy…

—Hey! You shouldn’t talk like that when his parents taught him!

…Demona was useful in her own way.

The problem was that without Demona, he wouldn’t have had to face the golem in the first place.

Whir— clank— whirrr— clank—

Before long, the golem prepared to activate, emitting strange sounds and steam.

—It’s somehow scary…

—Still, since it’s a golem, wouldn’t it be gentle like Professor Alphard?

—Is that so?

Because of Alphard, the students held some sort of fantasy about golems.

“Hmm?”

Meanwhile, Roan tilted his head as he felt the energy of holy power pulsing inside the golem’s body.

As mentioned earlier, that islander golem was structured to be attacked in accordance with the internal movement of holy power.

Therefore, the sense to instinctively read the movement of another’s holy power was extremely important.

Naturally, students who were not experienced fighters needed extremely arduous training just to acquire that single sense.

However,

‘…I can just see it clearly?’

Roan tilted his head.