Chapter 176

Chapter 176

‘Since you are a divine beast, strictly speaking, it’s not human trafficking.’

[Aigo, I’m dying! You— @##@*(@#(!!!!]

Bel was now rolling around, unable to contain his sense of injustice.

However, the friends, who were already completely taken in by Roan’s sweet talk, chided Bel instead.

“Yongyong, you shouldn’t do that. You should listen to Roan.”

“Yeah, look at how much Darc thinks of you.”

Kyaoooong────!

He was so frustrated that he even puffed out the Abyssal Dragon’s abyss, which was still at a weak level, from his mouth like puffs of smoke.

‘Look at this. Since he listened to me, he will soon even figure out how to use the abyss.’

At Roan’s extremely shameless response, Bel no longer had the strength to react.

Whose fault was this to begin with!

As expected, to survive as a black mage in Akerandir, an ordinary level of thick-skinnedness was nowhere near enough.

[You! You say something too!]

Bel directed his anger at Charlotte, who was standing quietly next to Roan.

Kirreuh—

However, Charlotte was loyalty itself, completely unconcerned.

Roan conveyed a calm, but therefore even more annoying, thought.

‘Try to be at least half like your younger sister.’

[Aigo, I’m dying! Aigo!]

Three days after birth.

The Abyssal Dragon Belzahar Darc realized what it meant to have one’s chest burst from frustration at a far too early age.

***

Roan returned to the dormitory.

“Oh~ Is the study ghost leader back?”

“……What do you mean, study ghost leader.”

Demona, who had arrived beforehand, greeted Roan warmly in the living room.

While Roan frowned slightly, he noticed a bundle next to Demona that was as large as a human torso.

At a glance, the wrapping cloth was also quite luxurious, indicating it held rather valuable items.

There weren’t many places in the commercial district that dealt in such items.

“What is that again?”

Roan roughly had an idea of its identity, but out of courtesy, he asked while gesturing toward the bundle with his chin, and Demona replied.

“Ah, this? When I went to Soldera’s shop today, she gave me writing utensils, saying it was good that I came. Can you believe Soldera’s house is a stationery store~”

Demona patted the bundle and grinned.

“Writing utensils, that is a good gift.”

Roan also nodded.

The writing utensils of Solasido Stationery Store, run by the Aurel Sol Order, were famous for their high quality, befitting temple goods.

After all, back when they weren’t considered heretics, they had even supplied them to the Holy Emperor’s Palace or the Vatican.

Since Demona was a friend brought by Soldera, an apostle of the Order whom the priests adored like a daughter, they must have taken special care to pack them for him.

And even more so, since he was of the Wicronon family.

……Without realizing that it was a rotten rope.

Roan debated whether he should run to Solasido Stationery Store immediately to shatter the priests’ illusions.

“But I don’t know what to use this for.”

Moreover, it was simply lamentable that the recipient of those precious writing utensils was Demona.

“……You can use it when you study.”

When Roan gave the standard answer, Demona shuddered as if it was the most chilling thing he had ever heard.

“Yuck! Studying? You really are a study ghost!”

“Seriously, why did you even enroll in Akerandir, Demona.”

Roan glared at Demona with disdain.

No matter how much one hated studying, if a student enrolled in school, they should at least pretend to study.

Besides, with the Wicronon family backing him, he could have lived perfectly well without enrolling in Akerandir.

Unless one had been kidnapped like him, it was hard to act that way.

“Huh? I woke up and found myself dropped off in front of the school gate, though?”

“…….”

“So I slept with a pouch of gold coins in my chest because the atmosphere felt strange the day before, and it was a good thing I did~”

Roan was lost for words.

He really had been kidnapped.

Indeed, the more he knew Demona, the more surprising things were revealed.

Click—

“I’m back, guys.”

At that moment, Beanin also entered the dormitory.

Perhaps the pop quizzes were all finished; although he looked a bit tired, his expression was highly refreshed and relieved.

“Huh? There are only the two of you?”

“Yes. I just returned from the library myself.”

“Heuuuk─ The library?”

When Beanin also gasped at the mention of the library, Roan was about to lament inwardly.

And here he had thought this guy was somewhat decent!

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous for a freshman to go there? The librarian Molley is one thing, but the traps are… remarkable.”

“Heuuuk! See! I told you there’s a reason I don’t go to the library!”

“……You just don’t go.”

Actually, Beanin was a really decent character.

Roan felt a warm kindness in Akerandir for the first time in a while.

And he inwardly offered an apology to Beanin.

When a freshman said they went to the library, instead of praising them for working hard, they were busy getting shocked and teasing him.

“Well, I’m somewhat used to it by now.”

“……?”

When Roan expressed humility, Beanin tilted his head.

How did a freshman already get used to the library?

Slap—

“Because Roan is the study ghost leader~”

“Ah, ah… I see.”

When Demona placed his hand on Roan’s shoulder and spoke, only then did Beanin accept it hesitantly.

Indeed, if it was Roan, it somehow made sense.

The library of the Holy Emperor’s Palace would be no less than Akerandir’s, so wouldn’t he be used to it?

Having been raised by black mages in the mountains and visiting a library for the first time here, Beanin was heavily misunderstanding what a library was.

At any rate, Beanin was almost the only person who worried about Roan.

Roan wanted to give him at least a small reward.

“Right. If you have no use for writing utensils, you can give them to Senior Beanin or me.”

“Huh? Ah, should I?”

“Writing utensils?”

Roan pointed to the bundle next to Demona and said,

“Demona brought writing utensils from Solasido Stationery Store today.”

“Heuuuk! All of that is Solasido’s?”

Beanin widened his eyes in surprise.

Although Demona, who knew nothing, treated it as a useless nuisance,

Beanin, a sophomore, was well aware of Solasido Stationery Store.

For students who weren’t professors, they were so expensive that it was hard to even try using them.

At most, they would buy them with great resolution only when writing their graduation thesis.

Demona didn’t know why Beanin was so surprised, but he quickly pulled out pencils, erasers, paper, ink, and so on from the bundle and handed him an armful.

Beanin’s eyes grew tearful before he knew it.

“C-Can I just take this?”

In terms of rough price, it would easily be worth about 2,000 dalants.

Demona nodded as if it was no big deal.

“Of course. Because Senior Beanin is nice~”

“With this much, I could even send them to the uncles…”

“Uncles?”

Demona tilted his head.

Of course, the ‘uncles’ were the black mages who raised Beanin.

Beanin was startled and quickly made an excuse.

“Ah, ah… I mean sending them to my hometown village.”

“Aha~”

Demona let it go, thinking that must be it.

And then he handed a handful of writing utensils to Roan too.

“Here! You take some too, Roan!”

“Thanks.”

Roan also took them without declining.

‘I should show them to Soldera later on purpose.’

He harbored a mischievous thought for a moment.

If it was Soldera, who was a fellow heretic, wouldn’t it be fine?

Roan suddenly discovered the writing inscribed on the pencil’s edge.

─ O ye who receive the light of the sun, keep in mind that there is a shadow behind you ─

Similar aphorisms were written, all of which were contents of the Aurel Sol Scripture.

Although he had known about it, seeing it in person made Roan feel even more dumbfounded.

‘Is it really fine even if you don’t hide that you are a heretic?’

Of course, that was not the case.

In the first place, there were barely any people who memorized the Aurel Sol Scripture.

Moreover, someone who could memorize the scripture would already know the story of Aurel Sol being falsely designated as a heresy, so there was no issue.

On the other hand, if Roan shouted ‘I am a black mage!’ in the middle of the commercial district, his head would likely get smashed immediately.

……Although Demona survived after doing something similar, a clergyman doing it and a real black mage doing it were undeniably different.

Some passing professor could listen and say, ‘Now that you mention it, indeed!’ and pounce on him.

Even among fellow heretics, Roan was undeniably on a different level.

Regardless, just as the three of them were about to return to their respective rooms.

Creak—

The front door of McGodal Room opened.

It was Hektor.

“Wow, I didn’t even know the fanatic was missing.”

Demona genuinely seemed to have not known without any ill intent, but Hektor would normally have flown into a rage.

However.

“……Isn’t that a bit too harsh.”

Hektor merely replied weakly with a pale expression.

Demona asked in surprise,

“Fanatic! Did you finally decide to become nice?!”

‘……This guy, did he really have no ill intent?’

Roan slightly suspected Demona.

Hektor shook his head.

“That’s not it. I just…”

““?””

Demona and Beanin waited for Hektor’s next words.

Seeing Hektor, who was always energetic, like this felt quite awkward.

“I only realized what piece-of-trash I am for not studying… The Principal kindly let me know himself…”

“Heuuuk───! The Principal was a study ghost too!”

Demona immediately fled to his private room, terrified of potentially running into Harden.

……Actually, he seemed unaware that Harden could enter his private room or anywhere else if he set his mind to it.

‘Well, technically, Harden likes studying and is a ghost of a sort, so he is indeed the real study ghost.’

Roan nodded, chewing over Demona’s words.

On the other hand, Beanin asked Hektor, as if he finally understood,

“Did you perhaps look at the Principal’s portrait in the library?”

“Yes… But that is not important. Because I am trash, 300,000-gold Senior.”

“……It’s Beanin. And it’s 350,000 gold.”

After slightly annoying the nice Beanin, Hektor trudged into his private room.

Muttering something like, ‘I have to take makeup classes over the weekend…’

Roan spoke calmly,

“Still, he seems to be in a relatively decent state for someone who was dragged to the principal’s office.”

He looked like he would return to normal by tomorrow.

“Yeah, indeed… …?”

Beanin nodded naturally, then soon turned toward Roan.

‘How do you even know that?’

Click—

However, Roan had already entered his private room, bringing Bel and Charlotte along.

[Master! Master! Will I get dragged away too if I look at the portrait?]

“Yes. If you do, you will become a real study ghost too.”

[Heeeeeek────!!!]

Bel was horrified and went under the bed covers, poked only his head out, and trembled.

One might say it didn’t matter since the divine beasts would be at the library’s divine beast depository anyway, but.

‘If you’re unlucky, a portrait might generate there one by one too.’

In truth, the library was not a very safe place for divine beasts either.

Hearing Roan’s thoughts, Bel almost vomited the abyss under the covers.

Kirreuh—!

It was so bad that Charlotte even hid under the covers along with Bel.

‘Are they that scared?’

Roan tilted his head, watching the divine beasts make a fuss.

Although one would hear considerable nagging and admonishment once entering the principal’s office, it was all advice helpful in life.

……It was a thought only Roan could have, whose mindset regarding study had become quite similar to Harden’s while playing “God & Devil.”