Chapter 175

Chapter 175

After listening to Roan’s simple and clear explanation, Hektor and Rafia nodded.

“We just have to follow Roan well.”

“Ah, so that’s what it meant~”

Did they really understand?

“……That is not what it meant.”

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking that to myself…”

“I-I really understood. Hektor just spoke first…”

Perhaps they looked pathetic even to themselves, as both of them blushed and avoided eye contact.

Since their ignorance of the rules wouldn’t harm him anyway, Roan decided to let it pass.

Unless they were insane, they wouldn’t hold up Harden’s portrait and thrust it in front of Roan for him to see.

‘Demona might do that, though.’

Roan hoped Demona would never have an interest in the library in the future.

With that, he looked at Sion and Riel on the other side.

“I-I memorized them all!”

“Me too…!”

Sion and Riel reacted as if asking him not to place them on the same level as those two.

“Sorry. My mistake.”

Roan bowed his head slightly and entered the library first.

“Ah, still, it’s not a mistake to that extent!”

“Yeah, we are all friends!”

Hektor and Rafia seemed a bit resentful, but once inside the library, they had to remain quiet.

The friends scattered in different directions to find the books they wanted.

“I’ll check over there.”

“Alright.”

Sion seemed to be looking for a highly versatile holy art that would be useful for her studies.

If she built up from the basics like that, she would make rapid progress since her talent was so exceptional.

“’The Black Knight who walked out of the twilight’s’…”

Riel went to the literature section, and judging by the title, it seemed to be a novel that tickled one’s chuunibyou sensibilities.

“Roan, where can I learn stealth holy arts?”

“……Go ask Sion.”

“Oho.”

Rafia went to look for stealth holy arts, as she had mentioned a few times.

Perhaps she had been envious after seeing Roan and Sion utilize them so well.

……Paladins usually valued fighting fair and square, thus shunning stealth holy arts, but there was no harm in learning them.

Patter, patter—

And Hektor followed closely behind Roan.

“Don’t you have a book you’re looking for?”

“Huh? Ah, not yet.”

Roan frowned slightly.

‘It’s going to be annoying if Hektor keeps following me.’

He hadn’t come to look for a black magic book like last time, but he couldn’t help but feel anxious, as if he had a guilty conscience.

But forcing him away would look even more suspicious.

“……Then let’s go together for now.”

“Oh, great.”

With that, Roan and Hektor went up to the second floor.

Even though it was likely his first time in the library, Hektor utilized the corridor’s spatial holy magic quite well.

Thud— thud— thud— thud—

Just then, from the other end of the corridor, the braziers placed next to the bookshelves lit up one by one.

It was the appearance of Molley the librarian.

“R-Roan! There is a huge book floating over there!”

“Didn’t I tell you that is the librarian?”

“Ah, indeed.”

Only after Roan pointed it out did Hektor nod, as if remembering.

‘To think he already forgot it even though I summarized it that much!’

Was he trying to fill Demona’s spot since Demona wasn’t here?

“We’ll get into trouble if we get caught, so come this way first.”

“? Why would the librarian cause trouble?”

Glare—!

“Ah, alright…”

Hektor quietly followed Roan and hid between the bookshelves.

Thud— thud—!

Fortunately, Molley passed by without paying much attention to them.

“I plan to look for history books, what about you?”

“I like history too. I will follow you.”

“Oho.”

At the mention of liking history, Roan’s eyes gleamed.

Hektor flinched and changed the subject.

“B-But we must remain quiet in the library. Just because I like it doesn’t mean we can talk about history.”

“Huh? Of course. It’s not like we are Demona.”

“I-Indeed.”

Roan replied as if he had no idea what Hektor was talking about and soon moved on.

Then, as if remembering something, he stopped in his tracks and left a word.

“I just thought of a story you might like. I’ll tell you when we leave the library.”

“……Ugh.”

Hektor groaned, as if he had somehow gotten caught in a bad spot.

“What is wrong?”

“Ah, nothing. I’m just happy.”

“As expected of Hektor.”

Perhaps glad to receive Roan’s approval even in this way, Hektor showed an awkward smile.

The two arrived at the section where history books were gathered.

Roan headed toward the place where the history books of the region near Akerandir were gathered.

“Oho. Was there a book like this?”

Meanwhile, Hektor seemed to have found a book of interest.

Roan suddenly remembered something and tried to warn Hektor.

“I saw it last time, the Principal’s portrait is hidden behind the books too, so absolutely—”

“Oh, Roan. There is a portrait of the Principal behind the book— ugh?”

But it was already a step too late.

Just as Roan spoke, Hektor happened to discover the portrait.

Thud—

In the end, Hektor vanished, leaving behind the single book he was trying to pull out.

“Tsk. This is why three-line summaries don’t work.”

Roan clicked his tongue and went to pick up the book Hektor had dropped.

……If he left it lying there just because he hadn’t pulled it out himself, it was obvious Molley would find it like a ghost and attack him.

Flinch—

However, upon seeing the title of the book, Roan froze in spite of himself.

Casebook of Cowardly Black Mages Who Sneaked Into Society

‘This ungrateful bastard…!’

Of course, as an aspiring heresy inquisitor, it was a book Hektor would naturally be interested in.

Aside from that, Roan felt a deep sense of betrayal.

To think that after taking care of him and teaching him like that, the only thing that came back was this kind of betrayal!

Rustle—

Checking the contents of the book, inside there was:

A case where a black mage hid his identity to live as an ordinary bakery owner, only to be caught after donating to the local community.

A case where a black mage hid his identity to run a lord’s castle winery, only to be caught after winning the Winery of the Year award.

A case where a black mage completely deceived everyone to run an orphanage, only to be reported and caught by a child raised there, and so on.

‘Honestly, shouldn’t they let them off for this much?’

A compilation of truly unfair and absurd cases was gathered.

No matter how much one contributed to society, if they were a black mage, it meant absolutely nothing.

Roan resolved not to create a case of ‘getting caught after entering Akerandir while hiding one’s identity as a black mage.’

“Anyway, it’s a relief that Hektor looked at the portrait.”

Roan sincerely thanked Harden’s hidden design of placing the portraits behind the books in many ways, and moved on again.

By now, Hektor would have been summoned to the principal’s office, sharing the affection of a teacher and student with Harden.

Roan was able to find the book he wanted before long.

Gilsburg Surrounding Area Status Report ─ As of Imperial Calendar Year 5,317

The location of the Balance of Light and Dark that Ludiac had told him about was near the Eddinger campsite northeast of Gilsburg.

However, since he did not know the exact location, he planned to narrow down the range based on the information written in the status report.

It was actually a method Roan had used a lot in the past to pinpoint information.

‘Memorizing most things is enough, but information related to items changes a lot every time, so it can’t be helped.’

Roan found a nearby desk and sat down.

What he needed to look out for in this situation were strange holy mana phenomena or unusual sightings.

And.

‘This is it.’

Having finally discovered useful information, Roan had a hunch.

That the Balance of Light and Dark was highly likely still remaining here.

In the paragraph Roan’s gaze scanned, there was the following content:

─ Eddinger Campsite: An investigation is underway to uncover the reality of a smuggling black mage organization that has been active since last year. They are characterized by dealing in both holy artifacts and black magic tools. They sell them at prices much lower than the market rate… ─

Unlike clergymen, black mages, most of whom lived in mountains and rugged areas, often acquired these hidden items.

It seemed the Balance of Light and Dark was similarly discovered by black mages.

‘If it’s to this extent… finding it will be easy.’

Judging by the damage cases written in the report, making contact did not seem too difficult.

And after that…

Roan recalled the Bell of Eternity inside his lucky pouch.

‘Since I received a good item, shall I contribute to society a bit?’

***

When Roan found the information he wanted and went down to the first floor, the female students were slowly packing up their spots as well.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah. Since I found what I was looking for.”

“Me too!”

Rafia nodded back, feeling immensely proud.

And then, she demonstrated the stealth holy art she had memorized.

Flash—

“Is it the Monk’s Footsteps?”

“Wow, Roan, you are precise!”

True to its nature as a stealth holy art, Rafia’s body became blurred.

“……You need to practice a bit more.”

Except for the fact that the holy art was not applied to her head, it was successful.

“I-I will.”

Only then realizing that fact, Rafia blushed.

“Still, for a first attempt, that much is impressive enough.”

“Really?”

Rafia was overjoyed at Roan’s acknowledgment.

“Now I can run away on my own!”

‘……From whom?’

Roan did not bother to ask.

Meanwhile, Sion asked Roan,

“Darc, but what about Hektor?”

It was understandable for her to wonder, since the two of them had gone up to the second floor together, but only Roan had come down.

“Hmm… he is probably in the Principal’s office by now.”

“““???”””

The female students did not seem to understand what that meant, but soon understood it as, ‘The Principal must have called him separately.’

Since Harden was so elusive, it was entirely possible.

The three of them completely left the library after retrieving their respective divine beasts left at the divine beast depository.

Bel, who was sitting on Roan’s shoulder as always, asked,

[Is there some good news?]

‘Yeah. I found some decent information.’

Since their souls were connected, they could feel each other’s emotions to some extent.

Roan, who was answering cheerfully, suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at Bel.

[……Why?]

Bel felt an instinctive suspicion.

For some reason, the master’s gaze looking at him was highly uncomfortable.

‘If I put you on the Balance of Light and Dark, would a divine beast that uses real holy arts come out?’

The opposite of a divine beast that uses black magic was a divine beast that uses holy arts!

Although he didn’t know what the Balance of Light and Dark was, Bel was frightened out of his wits and jumped up.

[W-What does that mean!]

Roan cheered slightly.

‘Just kidding. Even if you place a living creature on the Balance of Light and Dark, nothing happens.’

If such a thing were actually possible, Roan would have already recklessly placed Demon Kings or Popes on it in “God & Devil.”

……Though it wasn’t that he hadn’t actually tried.

Bel asked in a slightly suspicious tone, while feeling relieved.

[Did you plan to place me on it if something did happen?]

‘Well, that’s…’

Roan was about to nod his head without realizing it, but quickly changed the subject.

‘Of course not. Bel is my one and only first divine beast.’

[…….]

However, it was a bit insufficient to deceive the senses of Bel, who had become quite familiar with Roan.

Bel fluttered up and perched on the shoulder of Rafia, who was next to Roan.

“Huh? What’s wrong with him? Roan, what did you do to Yongyong?”

Rafia asked Roan, caressing Bel as if he were cute.

“It’s not Yongyong, it’s Bel. And I didn’t do anything.”

[Liar!]

Bel expressed extreme injustice, but his words could only be heard by Roan.

To others, it was nothing more than a cute growl.

Roan spoke with a deliberately lonely gaze,

“I only… wondered if there was a way to make Bel a bit more devout. Since he miraculously uses holy arts, I thought he might be touched by the will of the gods…”

And with that, Roan slightly turned his back to his friends!

“R-Roan…”

“Darc, you really…!”

The friends felt a storm of emotion wash over them at that sight.

Was Roan indeed a noble among nobles, possessing a heart more devout and warm than anyone else beneath his cold exterior?

[That’s a lie! He was trying to human-traffic me!]

On the other hand, Bel, hearing those words, felt like dying of frustration.

He said a moderate misunderstanding is helpful, but anyone could see this was far beyond a moderate level!