Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Generally, Fanatic Rabbit eggs had a bright yellow color.

On the other hand, the egg Demona had found was.

‘A blue pattern on a black background.’

To begin with, the fact that a pattern was engraved on a spirit beast’s egg was not ordinary.

And if there was a black egg in this cave, there was only one possibility.

“It’s a Fanatic Rabbit King’s egg.”

Roan calmly informed them of the egg’s identity.

He remembered seeing it a few times in other high-level dungeons, but it was his first time witnessing it in Acherandir too.

“Whaaaat?!”

Meanwhile, Hector was so excited that he jumped up and down.

As if he could do a flip soon.

Hector, who was highly interested in Sacred Combat, already knew the legend of the Fanatic Rabbit King very well.

“A Fanatic Rabbit King? Do you mean ‘Swift Rabbit’ who swept the Sacred Combat scene 150 years ago?!”

Roan looked Hector with eyes half-mixed with bewilderment and contempt.

He didn’t know about Saint Gregor’s Day, yet he knew of a famous spirit beast from 150 years ago?

Of course, Roan also knew the renown of Swift Rabbit quite well.

“Yes. Swift Rabbit was also a Fanatic Rabbit King.”

“Oh, Lord Hiloa! Thank you!”

Hector shed tears and offered a prayer of gratitude to Hiloa.

Fanatic Rabbits were already a species that was active in lightweight Sacred Combat.

Let alone the king of such Fanatic Rabbits?

Swift Rabbit was the only Fanatic Rabbit King registered and active in the history of the Empire’s Sacred Combat.

One hundred and fifty years ago, it was a legendary spirit beast that achieved five consecutive wins in the Imperial Sacred Combat League’s individual division and three consecutive wins in the team division.

Furthermore, it held an undefeated record of 150 wins in unofficial matches even against medium-sized spirit beasts.

In fact, not just Hector, but anyone interested in Sacred Combat would have found such a reaction normal.

“Roan, seeing how that fanatic is so delighted, it must be a pretty strong guy?”

Just then, Demona trotted up to Roan and asked.

Roan shook his head.

“It is strong, but…… its personality is so foul that it would be impossible to use in Sacred Combat. Swift Rabbit was a truly unique fellow.”

With the Empire’s history spanning so many years, even if a Fanatic Rabbit King was a rare specimen, there was no way only one had appeared in the Sacred Combat League.

Except for Swift Rabbit, all of them had caused accidents during training and lost their qualifications to participate.

Although they say they stood out quite a bit in the back-alley Sacred Combat scenes instead……

“Anyway, reporting it to the school is also problematic, and I don’t particularly recommend taming it. It’s too dangerous.”

Roan tried to stop Hector.

If he just went to the Holy Beasts and Spirit Beasts class, he would obtain creatures that he could raise well without much stress.

There was no need for a first-year student to go through all kinds of trouble to raise such a foul-tempered creature.

“What do you mean! It’s a Fanatic Rabbit King! The legend of Swift Rabbit is being resurrected, Roan!”

However, Hector’s excitement did not die down easily.

No, rather, he raised his voice and retorted as if he had suffered blasphemy.

“If you are someone who is serious about Sacred Combat and knows how to respect history like you, you shouldn’t look away from this situation! Shouldn’t a human predict the future through the past and move forward?”

‘I don’t think those are the words to use in this kind of situation…….’

Roan felt something was odd, but since he liked it so much, he nodded for now.

“Y-Yes. If you want to try, go ahead.”

Seeing Roan’s lukewarm reaction, Hector cast a suspicious look.

“It would be troublesome if you get jealous later on─”

“There is absolutely no way that will happen, so do as you please.”

Roan waved his hand as if it was absurd.

Who would be jealous of such a personality-disordered spirit beast……

“Hmm, are there any skeleton bones around? Roan, can I look for some?”

“……If you want to.”

Demona, seemingly uncaring whether Hector ran wild or not, began to look around her surroundings again.

There was no way a skeleton bone would be in a sacred place, though.

Even if there was, Roan had intended to pocket it first in the first place.

“Hehehe, Swift Rabbit the Second…… I, Hector, am coming……”

With an expression that looked slightly dangerous, Hector slowly approached the Fanatic Rabbit King’s egg.

Being recognized as a master by a wild spirit beast’s egg was called a challenge.

A person who failed the challenge would not be treated as a master even after it hatched, so it was better not to even dream of it.

If recognized, there would be no reaction when a person touched it, but if not recognized.

Crackle─!

“Urgh!”

Just like Hector, the moment one touched the shell, sparks would fly and one would be repelled by the egg.

‘As expected, it has a foul temper.’

An ordinary, good-natured creature would stop at causing a moderate rejection reaction, but.

The Fanatic Rabbit King’s egg was merciless.

In an instant, Hector was flung far away and rolled on the floor.

“Why, why…… whyyyy!”

Hector cried out in despair, wrapping his red hair with his injured hand.

The wound to his heart seemed greater than the one on his hand.

“Kahaha! Fanatic, you failed? That’s what you get for attacking with black intentions!”

Demona immediately ran over to Hector and began to tease him relentlessly.

‘True words.’

A spirit beast was not called a spirit beast for nothing.

No matter how foul its temper, it could sufficiently read the emotions of the person approaching it.

Let alone someone who was already calling it Swift Rabbit the Second; it was a no-brainer.

Thud─

“Uh-oh?”

Just then, Demona, who was running toward Hector in excitement, tripped over a stone.

“Ah!”

In the end, Demona fell flat on her face spectacularly, and.

“?”

Her outstretched hand ended up touching the Fanatic Rabbit King’s egg.

“No! I’m going to get electrocuted too! Save me, Roan!”

Demona was startled, withdrawing her hand and fretting.

Watching Hector get thrown back was fun, but it was a different story if she was the one suffering.

Demona crawled toward Roan as if begging and grabbed his pant leg.

However.

“……You are fine, so snap out of it, Demona.”

Roan looked down at Demona with a bewildered look.

Although he didn’t know what on earth happened, Demona was perfectly fine even after touching the Fanatic Rabbit King’s egg.

“Huh? Ah, indeed? Did I not touch the egg?”

Demona looked back and forth between her hand and the egg as if she had no idea what was going on, looking puzzled.

“It seems you have succeeded in the challenge.”

“Huh? What?”

Demona hesitantly approached the egg and carefully placed her hand on it.

Despite touching it quite properly this time, sparks did not fly after all.

It was the same when she lifted it with both hands and hugged it to her chest.

“Oh, Roan. This guy is completely warm? Cute.”

Demona giggled, holding the egg and examining it here and there.

It seemed she liked the egg quite a bit.

On the other hand, Hector, who was prostrate on the floor, was devastated upon seeing that.

“Why would it accept such a heretic child, while I……!”

Of course, even if he resented it like that, no one knew the clear reason.

Since failure and success of a challenge were entirely up to the spirit and holy beasts.

Hector slowly got up, picked up his axe that had fallen on the ground, and approached Roan.

His momentum was so dreary that even Roan winced.

“Roan.”

Hector glared at Demona with eyes full of anger and said.

“I really hope Demona learns black magic.”

“…….”

Roan was left speechless.

Could this guy be?

“It is purely out of a heart of a friend cheering for a friend.”

“Y-Yes.”

Roan ended up nodding his head without realizing it.

***

On the way back to the dormitory after exiting the cave.

“Roan, what are your parents’ names?”

“……Why do you ask that?”

At Demona’s sudden question, Roan felt a shiver run down his spine.

Demona replied nonchalantly.

“Since that cave was a place your parents told you about. I thought it would be polite to name the egg found there after your parents.”

Although it was quite a thoughtful idea for Demona.

‘You’re going to name the Fanatic Rabbit King after someone else’s parents right now……?’

It was also an extremely Demona-like thought.

An ordinary person would not be able to commit the outrage of putting someone else’s parents’ names on a ferocious spirit beast like a Fanatic Rabbit.

Hector, who had calmed down to some extent, also stared at Demona with a bewildered look.

“Forget it. My destiny is a burden I carry. I do not wish to pass it on to you guys. Name it as you please.”

“Roan……!”

At the extremely mature answer, not only Demona but also Hector looked choked up, seemingly moved.

“Then, in the sense of becoming a fellow who knows chivalry, I’ll name it Death Knight─”

“You’d better think that over again.”

Roan stopped Demona at once.

If the name of a spirit beast entering Sacred Combat was Death Knight or something, it would be arrested by the Heretic Inquisition Office immediately.

“Why, it doesn’t seem bad. Make sure to name it that, Demona.”

On the other hand, Roan was appalled at the sight of Hector cheering for Demona in a warm voice.

‘Is he planning to arrest her himself?’

It was a highly likely scenario.

“……Anyway, be quiet now. The paladins guarding the dormitory must be patrolling.”

Roan lowered his voice and warned the two.

Time had dragged on longer than expected, and they had passed the time slot to slip back in undetected.

All they could do was watch for an opportunity and sneak in.

Clank─ Clank─

Sure enough, paladins forming groups of three were patrolling the surroundings of Panroa Hall.

“Hey, Roan. What happens if we get caught?”

“A fine.”

“A fine?”

Since Acherandir used talants, its own unique currency, most of the disciplinary actions were fines.

And the amount was also quite large.

“Since we are first-years, it would be 100 talants.”

“Hieee!”

Demona gasped in fright but hugged the egg in her arms protectively.

Roan would be fine, but the two of them could not afford the huge sum of 100 talants, so they would have to live practically starving until the fine was fully paid.

No, they would be lucky if they just starved.

They would have to pay it off while doing manual labor like cleaning restrooms.

Tap─

Just then, Hector secretly nudged Roan.

Then, looking down slightly at Demona, he pointed at the paladins with a chin gesture and signaled toward the dormitory building with his eyes.

Meaning they should throw Demona as bait and the two of them sneak in!

‘Not bad.’

It was a plausible idea that Roan was momentarily tempted by.

“……Sigh. What do you plan to do, Roan?”

However, Hector snapped out of it first and asked for the plan.

It was only because he was a sound youth of the Pabilto family that he overcame the temptation; any ordinary student would have put it into action immediately.

Only then did Roan begin to ponder other methods.

‘Actually, there are plenty of ways, though…….’

With a bit of exaggeration, Roan knew about 108 ways to sneak into the dormitory.

Even just opening a manhole cover located about 50 meters from here would allow them to infiltrate.

However, he wondered if it was alright to share such valuable information with Hector and Demona already.

─ Paladins! Please come this way! It’s urgent, quick, quick!

─ Oh dear, we are all going to die!

“!!!”

Just then, coincidentally, the noisy ruckus of the scholars began to be heard right behind where they were.

Roan’s group opened their eyes wide and looked back.

Indeed, a few torches were flickering in the distance.

─ Is it those scholar bastards again?

─ Damn it, the Holy Spirit told them not to make such a fuss…….

The paladins also seemed annoyed, but they could not ignore someone asking for help as knights.

After hesitating for a moment, two squads of paladins began to run toward Roan’s group.

‘It can’t be helped!’

Since things had turned out this way, Roan also had to make a decision.

“Get down!”

First, it was of the utmost urgency to prevent Hector and Demona from seeing him.

The two hesitated for a moment but complied with Roan’s words, prostrating themselves flat on the ground.

‘Invisibility magic is difficult, but a camouflage color should be……!’

Roan quickly recalled the simplest and least noticeable black magic among those that could be used for camouflage.

Invisibility magic was too complex to use in a hurry, and if it failed, they would be caught immediately.

However, if it was just ‘Shadow Disguise’ that blended them with the surrounding environment……

In an instant, Roan simplified the black magic circle of Shadow Disguise by stripping away all unnecessary parts, and infused it with mana.

‘Please, just translate quietly this time without making a fuss!’

The most important thing was the unpredictable False Divinity.

However, the False Divinity also seemed to recognize the urgency of the situation and completed the translation simply.

However, the pattern of the holy magic felt extremely similar to that of the black magic circle.

Slick─

It was a somewhat clumsy holy magic, but it had quite an effect.

In an instant, the bodies of Roan’s group seemed to blur and then blended right into the surrounding landscape.

If one looked closely, they might have noticed something strange, but the paladins, who were distracted by the scholars, passed right by.

However.

Halt─

One of the paladins running at the very back stopped in his tracks and tilted his head.

─ Wait.

Hector and Demona could not even breathe properly, and Roan gripped the mouth of his water bottle, observing the situation with sharp eyes.

‘Did he notice? I don’t think he’s that good.’

Sniff, sniff─

The paladin, who had sniffed for a moment, suddenly said.

─ Doesn’t it smell like black magic from somewhere?

─ What?

At that moment, Roan also had no choice but to break into a cold sweat.

I thought the translation was a bit clumsy, and this damn authority ends up causing trouble after all!

─ Hahaha, does that make sense? If a black mage had come, the barrier alarm would have already gone off.

─ True, right? Since it’s the Holy Spirit’s barrier.

─ Absolutely. It seems Professor Beleck came by during the day. Doesn’t that happen sometimes.

Fortunately, however, the paladins who rationalized it on their own began running toward the scholars again.

─ Look at this! It’s an incredibly huge holy stone!

─ ……Is this why you called us?

─ Of course! We don’t have the strength to move it, so……

‘Aren’t they going to get into a fight at this rate?’

Even Roan felt like sighing at the scholars’ business, but at any rate, now was a golden opportunity.

“Everyone get up! We need to get inside quickly.”

Roan helped Hector and Demona up, then dashed at full speed toward Panroa Hall.

“The paladin was talking about black magic just now. Didn’t you feel it, Roan?”

Hector asked, catching up close to Roan.

Roan, who had already been prepared from the moment he heard the paladin’s words, replied casually.

“I felt it from the moment I first saw it…… did you not know?”

“……Know what?”

“That fellow’s egg.”

“?”

Hector tilted his head, and then turned to look at Demona with a look of disbelief.

“Its color is black to begin with. Although I’ve never heard of spirit beasts using black magic……”

Of course, it was an absurd speculation.

Spirit beasts utilized various attributes depending on their kind, but that was strictly just an attribute, not magic utilizing mana.

Holy beasts also used holy power, but it was simple holy power, and they could not use holy magic.

The reason the egg was black was simply because the Fanatic Rabbit King’s fur was black.

“Hmm, to think that even a descendant of the Pabilto family couldn’t feel it. It seems……”

“Ah, no! I knew it too. I was just asking if you had the same thoughts as me.”

“Right? It seems that was also the reason why your challenge failed.”

“Indeed! Actually, I was also worried about what to do if that fellow accepted me in his heart.”

He had looked way too sad for that to be true, though.

At any rate, it was fortunate that he had managed to deceive him roughly.

‘I should translate strictly in front of paladins or heretic inquisitors in the future.’

Even if he got caught, a freshman coming out for a nighttime deviation was better; if he was a black mage infiltrating Acherandir under the guise of a freshman, it would be immediate execution.

“Roan, that guy can use black magic? Really? Then I’ll name it Archlich─”

“I told you to think that over again, Demona.”

Seeing how she kept talking nonsense, it seemed Demona had also developed some interest in Sacred Combat.

‘Come to think of it, tomorrow is already ‘Basic Holy and Spirit Beasts’ class.’

Roan felt a headache coming on just thinking about the freshmen who would throw themselves into Sacred Combat with over-immersion.

No, to add the professor to that……