Chapter 170

Chapter 170

“At any rate, the goal of this class is to gather one of each of these five items. Those who finish the task may head down immediately.”

—Ooh!

—To think it’s over if we just bring those five, he was a good professor!

The students cheered at Pluvang’s words.

They thought they could finish the class really quickly since they were scattered all around the clearing.

“Then, begin gathering!”

—Gathering! Gathering!

—Woo! Woo! Let’s plunder nature!

—Hey, it’s gathering, not plundering! Don’t you know even after hearing such a splendid explanation?

—Ah, right, of course. I just got excited.

The students scattered around the clearing while uttering highly suspicious remarks.

“…”

“Roan, aren’t you going?”

However, because Roan only watched the scene silently and showed no intention of moving, the friends also quietly stayed in their spots.

There was a good reason why Roan did not move.

Roan shook his head and replied,

“You still haven’t sensed it.”

“Huh? What?”

“Don’t you think it’s too easy?”

“Isn’t it good because it’s easy?”

At Demona’s innocent reply, Roan glared at her with a look of disdain.

“Why, why are you picking on only me…?”

Demona recoiled slightly at that savage glare.

‘It’s a relief I didn’t speak.’

Hektor, who had been about to say something similar, shut his mouth even tighter.

“Let’s wait a bit first. If it really is an easy task, it will be plenty of time to start moving then.”

“R-Right.”

“Okay.”

While Roan and the friends decided to observe the situation a bit more,

—Found the Cloud Plum here!

—There are many Summer-avis here!

the students began gathering one after another.

Since it was difficult to move while holding all five items in their hands, the students put them into the bags they had as they found them.

In less than ten minutes, Trian, who had found all five plants, ran over to Pluvang.

“Professor! I found them all!”

“Oh, that was fast.”

Pluvang, who was standing calmly in front of the shell, showed a satisfied reaction.

“Take them out.”

“Yes!”

Trian shook the bag upside down with a broad smile.

Rustle— rustle—

“?”

However, contrary to Trian’s thoughts, nothing came out.

“Huh? W-Where did they go? I clearly put them all in here… Huh?”

Flutter—

No, there was one thing.

Instead of the five plants, there was a small folded note.

Trian tilted his head and unfolded the note.

—Gathering is not only about obtaining something, but also about keeping it permanently—

Written on it were the words Professor Pluvang had said earlier.

Beside it, a drop of sticky slime remained like a signature.

Only then did Trian shudder as he realized the truth of the matter.

‘I was gathered?’

It had been less than ten minutes.

Did it mean that Professor Pluvang, who had been staying still in this spot, had somehow taken all of them out of his bag in the meantime?

But Pluvang spoke very calmly, as if feigning regret,

“My, it seems you failed to gather them. You must go again, yes?”

“…Yes.”

Trian stood up slowly, his body trembling.

Then he ran back toward the forest around the clearing.

Afterward, excellent students like Garland, Jennifer, and El also arrived one after another, but

“U-Uh, where did it go?”

“It’s gone…!”

“Gasp, this shouldn’t be happening?”

all returned in a state similar to Trian’s.

Their anger at Pluvang’s obnoxious note was a bonus.

As this kept repeating, rumors spread in no time not only to Roan and the friends who were watching the whole situation, but also to the students who were diligently gathering in the forest.

—P-Professor is plundering our bags?

—You fool, plundering is stealing! He is gathering them!

—I-Isn’t that the same thing…?

The Akerandir students with the wonderful mindset of, ‘If I do it, it’s gathering, but if someone else does it, it’s stealing’!

Anyway, the students were shocked by the fact that gathering, which they had viewed so easily, was actually a terrifying real combat where they had to compete with the professor.

When the students showed visible agitation, Pluvang, who was calmly staying in his spot, shouted,

“Everyone, focus!”

—…

From the forest, gazes mixed with panic, anger, despair, and more directed toward Pluvang.

“While attempting to gather something from nature, do you think yours will just remain safe? That is a terrible selfishness and a double standard! I said gathering is a confrontation with every existence except yourself! Discard the arrogance of wanting to gather something when you can’t even defeat me, who am staying still!”

Pluvang’s shout vibrated through the clearing, the forest, and even further up the mountain.

It was like the roar of a wild beast, rather than a snail beastman.

—Ugh…

—How are we supposed to win against the professor?

—Well, since it is true anyway…

‘What do you mean it’s true.’

Roan looked pityingly at the students who were trying to accept it somehow.

To think a day would come in his life when he pitied the Akerandir students.

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say it’s true that gathering is competition.

But when it came to a professor of Akerandir, he should be viewed not as a competitor but as an act of God, a natural disaster.

…Meaning, a sane person wouldn’t attempt to gather something against a flood, an earthquake, or a landslide.

Roan turned to his friends and said,

“At any rate, everyone has grasped the situation by now, right?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Yes…”

The friends nodded quietly.

If they had run off excitedly on their own without waiting for Roan, they would have had their belongings cleaned out without even knowing why.

“Never let your guard down. Since the items to gather are scattered everywhere anyway, focus more on Professor Pluvang. And utilize all of your abilities.”

“B-But there’s no way we can win against the professor!”

Hektor said with a slightly terrified expression.

Naturally, it would feel that way to ordinary students.

But,

“Professor Pluvang is not giving his all either. Just as he is staying in his spot right now.”

Even with natural disasters, damage could be reduced if one prepared and responded well.

If Pluvang had set his mind to move, Roan might also have had to spend all night just gathering.

But despite Roan’s words, the friends were still anxious.

“Hmm, I will tell you a few things. Listen well.”

Having no choice, Roan decided to devise a tiny strategy for them.

‘It feels a bit too spoon-fed, though.’

Since Roan had to fight through alone without such advice back when playing God and Devil, he had such thoughts, but

‘still, they are my friends, so I should help.’

A veteran player also felt great joy in helping a newbie.

“…Does everyone understand?”

Around the time Roan finished speaking,

“…Yes!”

“It’s plenty!”

Confidence had already settled in the friends’ eyes, albeit very faintly.

***

In the vast Empire, there were numerous schools of thought regarding gathering as well.

Among them, Pluvang was a non-violent gathering advocate, focusing on protecting students from all kinds of violence, plundering, and looting committed under the name of gathering.

‘To do so, one must first be able to notice the threat targeting oneself.’

Some might pour out criticism, asking if Pluvang’s action is completely stealing or how a professor can be like that,

but this was strictly a practical education established based on the desperate reality Pluvang had experienced in the past.

Splat— splat—

—Uh, huh? Ah! When did he gather it again?!

‘Still young, too sloppy.’

Pluvang felt disappointed as he easily cleaned out a student’s bag from where he stood just now.

If one was defenseless even while knowing someone was already targeting theirs, they were not even at the basics of gathering.

On the other hand, among these freshmen, there was a group Pluvang was keeping an eye on.

“Now, move according to plan.”

“Got it!”

It was six people centered around the student with ash-colored hair and a highly gloomy impression.

‘A guy who looks like that always did above the basic level.’

The saying that one shouldn’t judge by appearances was a relaxed statement applicable only to those tamed by civilization.

Pluvang, who had lived for a long time as a wild man in nature, had the ability to judge skill just by the energy radiating from a person.

Sure enough, they knew how to calmly observe the situation and move, unlike typical freshmen.

‘If you don’t know well, quietly grasping the environment is the priority.’

The logic that it was better to do nothing and not get taken from rather than gathering with effort only to lose it!

With that alone, Roan and his friends became Pluvang’s primary targets.

Pluvang had no intention of letting even a single sub-par student head down until the class time was fully up.

However, the eyes of Professor Pluvang, who was silently watching Roan’s gang, twitched.

‘They are scattering?’

Usually, a group that wise would form a team and share roles even when gathering.

In a way where three handled the gathering and the remaining three blocked Pluvang’s approach.

If they planned to that extent, Pluvang would be reasonably satisfied and ease his check.

But for some reason, Roan and his friends entered the forest, scattering with their respective spirit beasts as if they had made up their minds entirely.

“Tsk, I thought they were reasonably smart, but are they the same kind of fellows?”

“Ah, do you mean those friends?”

Dorin, who was watching beside Pluvang, asked.

Pluvang nodded.

“Yes. If not that…”

“Professor?”

Dorin tilted his head when Pluvang trailed off unusually.

“I must view it as daring to provoke me.”

The snail beastman’s uniquely soft yet firm flesh stiffened a bit more.

Pluvang glared at Roan’s ash-colored hair as he went toward the central-most forest, as if showing off.

Meanwhile, Roan pretended to look for things to gather while focusing on the unusual energy felt from behind him.

‘According to plan.’

Bel also nodded along with Roan and thought,

[According to plan, Master.]

…Though he didn’t know anything in detail.

Pluvang was a character with a strong competitive spirit among the professors.

The standard strategy for Pluvang’s class was to form a team and divide roles to gather.

But since they had raised expectations only to discard them, there was a high probability he took this as a challenge.

The actual reaction also did not deviate from Roan’s expectations.

—D-Dark.

—He came alone.

—No matter how great Dark is, can he block Professor Pluvang’s gathering?

The students who noticed Roan blending among them in no time buzzed.

Since their bags had been emptied at least three times or more, they looked quite exhausted.

Roan purposely entered the center where the students were clustered the most.

Pluck—

And as Roan plucked a Cloud Plum as if showing off and put it in his bag,

Rumble—

Professor Pluvang’s presence grew slightly larger.

He seemed to try to hide his presence in his own way, but he couldn’t escape the senses of Roan, who had focused his entire mind on him.

Bel also felt that unusual energy and asked in a slightly flustered voice,

[W-Will it really be okay? That thief professor seems stronger than expected.]

Roan reassured Bel,

‘This is gathering, not a duel of life and death.’

If skill and luck followed well, it was possible to gather about five plants even if the opponent was Professor Pluvang.

Dash—

Roan momentarily dashed quickly, trying to pluck the Summer-avi he had spotted beforehand.

While this looked like an effort not to get gathered moderately,

‘it would look like a natural opening to Pluvang.’

It was a move to draw out Pluvang’s first attack.