Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The spiritual beast that Vulcan introduced to the students in the first class was the ‘Wind Terrier.’

A spiritual beast in the form of a small dog with the wind attribute, just like its name.

Although there were various types of terrier breeds for each attribute, such as Flame and Earth, in addition to the Wind Terrier.

In the basic divine beast and spiritual beast class, they were introduced randomly from among the four most common attributes.

‘It’s the Wind Terrier this time.’

Naturally, terriers were classified as small spiritual beasts, and since their personalities were generally gentle, they were often raised as pets rather than for the Holy War.

Woof woof— woof woof—!

The Wind Terriers trotted toward the students as if they had made a promise.

Every time they barked, a fairly strong wind rose around them, blowing their long fur.

Woof woof—! Woof—!

The terriers began to play by doing backflips or spinning around in circles as they watched their own fluttering fur!

Watching that scene, even the coldest person would have no choice but to soften up…

— Don’t play around!

— Sit! Listen to me!

‘Do these bastards have no emotions at all?’

Roan clicked his tongue as he watched the students shouting coercively at their respective Wind Terriers.

How could they yell at these cute little creatures that could make even Harden regain a childlike innocence?

It was an atrocity that wouldn’t be surprising if the professor fined them on the spot.

Roan turned to look at where the professor was, thinking that.

“Hmm. Everyone remembers what they saw earlier well.”

There stood Vulcan, nodding as he watched the students with satisfaction.

‘I should have known better than to expect anything.’

Roan shook his head.

Right after, a Wind Terrier also approached Roan.

Trot—

True to a wind-attribute spiritual beast, it had a unique movement that seemed to slide on the wind rather than stepping on the ground.

Seeing it in person, it was even cuter than the game illustration.

Woof woof—!

Roan smiled faintly and reached out his hand to the Wind Terrier.

Although Acherandir was a desolate place with nowhere to rest his heart, he felt he could find a little peace if he were with such a cute spiritual beast.

“Yes, come here…”

However.

Woof… whine…

The Wind Terrier, which had been running well, suddenly tucked its tail and stopped some distance in front of Roan.

No matter how gentle and cute the terrier was, it was a spiritual beast.

It possessed an innate sense for feeling the mana existing within an opponent.

Yet, inside Roan, an overwhelming black aura surged, one that a mere terrier couldn’t even dare to look at.

It had no choice but to be terrified.

Meanwhile, Roan, not knowing the reason, frowned.

Other guys got cute displays of affection on their own, so why was it like this for him…!

It was the moment another reason to hate the Holy War was added for him.

Roan spoke to the Wind Terrier in a cold voice.

“What are you going to do if you don’t come to me? I’ll give you three seconds.”

Wh-whine—!

Only then did the Wind Terrier seem startled, and began to approach Roan hesitantly while whining.

Even so, it was trembling noticeably all over, looking completely terrified.

‘Tsk, I’m only taking this class anyway, so it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s terrified or not.’

Roan, inwardly hurt, grumbled to himself as if he had not expected anything in the first place.

Even in the game, the Holy War was just a waste of time unless it involved related characters, and did not help with the walkthrough at all.

Although some players attempted the eccentric challenge of winning the Holy War League with every character.

‘If you’re going to do that, why play “God & Devil”?’

It was behavior that Roan could not understand at all.

— Heek, look at Roan’s expression.

— No matter how serious he is about the Holy War, how can he make that kind of face looking at a terrier?

At that moment, the students around Roan began to buzz.

As he thought of the past, his expression had come to resemble that of a cold-blooded competitor before he knew it.

‘It wasn’t particularly because of the terrier.’

“Ahem.”

Roan inconspicuously checked his surroundings once and adjusted his expression.

‘No, more than that, they also said all sorts of things…!’

Although he felt somewhat wronged, he gave instructions to the Wind Terrier so that the misunderstanding wouldn’t grow.

“Why are you so scared? Try doing a backflip like the others.”

Bark—!

At that, the Wind Terrier braced its legs and did a backflip in a perfectly disciplined posture.

‘For some reason, it feels like its bark is filled with fighting spirit.’

It was subtly different from the other Wind Terriers.

Meanwhile, Vulcan, who had been watching the scene, hurriedly ran over to Roan.

“Splendid!”

“…?”

Roan stared up blankly at Vulcan.

He clapped a couple of times and spoke.

“Establishing dominance is a very excellent training method. Even if terriers are gentle, it’s not easy to dominate them. Here, take it.”

He then took out a 10-talent bill from his chest and handed it to Roan.

“…Thank you.”

He accepted it since it was offered, but he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

‘Would he give me more if I swear at black mages?’

For a second, such a thought flashed by, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so due to his guilty conscience.

Instead, Roan looked around to see what the other students were doing.

Sion was some distance away.

Woof woof—! Woof—!

Sion’s Wind Terrier liked her so much that it spun around her, whipped up wind, rubbed its cheeks against her, and hugged her, creating a complete scene.

Since she also found the creature incredibly cute, Sion smiled brightly and stroked it to its heart’s content, unlike when her eyes met Roan’s earlier.

By all appearances, they were a pair boasting the best compatibility.

“Hmm.”

He shouldn’t have looked.

Come to think of it, Sion had an extremely high affinity for spiritual beasts and divine beasts.

To the point that even when walking along mountain paths, they would occasionally come and rub against her!

Roan felt uncomfortable.

He then looked down at the Wind Terrier standing stiffly at attention in front of him.

…?

The Wind Terrier, not understanding Roan’s intentions, tilted its head for a moment, and then.

Whine—

Immediately flopped down and revealed its belly.

Naturally, Vulcan, who was also watching this scene, was highly pleased.

“Simply amazing! To make a spiritual beast obey you just by staring, without even having a master-servant relationship! Student, what is your name?”

“…Roan Darc, Professor.”

“Darc, as expected of a Darc! Here, take this as well!”

Vulcan handed Roan another bundle of bills, so delighted that sparks crackled near both his ears.

A whopping 100 talents!

Roan was not very pleased to receive such a large amount of money in a Holy War class.

— Wow, look at Darc. He received 100 talents.

— I had a feeling he would pull it off.

— Look at his expression. Even I would obey.

Meanwhile, the students watching the scene nodded as if they had expected it.

In other classes, all kinds of jealousy and envy poured out at the mere mention of his name.

But this time, it was strangely filled with awe and admiration, which made Roan feel even worse.

Was the Holy War really the only way to succeed in the empire!

‘…At any rate, I wish they would all shut up.’

Roan’s expression grew even more gloomy.

***

Though the students might not know it, Vulcan was in his own way a self-made figure in the Holy War world.

A legend who started from small-scale leagues in rural estates as a player-coach without elite training, and achieved promotion after promotion to finally win the imperial league.

‘The Courage to Be Disliked by Spiritual Beasts,’ which he authored, had once even ranked first in sales in the imperial publishing market.

Thus, it was possible for him to judge the level and talent of the freshmen he met for the first time from their very first class.

‘One glance is enough to see who will fail and who will grow.’

Vulcan’s golden eyes scanned every corner of the arena.

For example, Sion, who won the favor of the spiritual beast with her natural affinity.

Or the fellow who instinctively read the spiritual beast’s emotions and communed with it.

Or the kid who grasped the spiritual beast’s characteristics and approached it strategically.

Although they were all slightly different from Vulcan’s values, they were excellent talents as Holy War players.

Yet, the student who caught Vulcan’s eye the most among them was by far.

“Roll five times to the right, then sleep on your back.”

Roll, roll— step!

“Lift your front left paw. Lift your rear right paw. Lower your front left paw and lift your rear right paw.”

Step, step!

“…Did you lower both of them just now?”

Whine—

Roan handled the Wind Terrier so perfectly that it was fascinating even to Vulcan.

‘To possess that degree of dominance, as expected of the Darc family.’

Even though he had not expected much since the family was wiped out when Roan was a mere baby.

It seemed he couldn’t deny the blood of the Darc family, which had left a significant mark on the empire’s Holy War history with overwhelming dominance and strict discipline.

In fact, Vulcan had also drawn much inspiration from the Darc family’s training methods.

Although Vulcan did not show it outwardly, he made a firm resolution in his heart.

‘I shall raise you into the greatest player, Roan Darc!’

If so, the Darc family would also be able to reclaim their past glory.

Meanwhile, if such an outstanding student was the light, there was bound to be a corresponding darkness.

Vulcan spotted Hector near Roan and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, a servant has arrived.”

Hector was pleading with the Wind Terrier, which stood with its head held high in a haughty posture.

“Silphy, could you please sit down? Ah, is that hard? Then could you at least place your paw here?”

He seemed to be trying in his own way, even giving it a name, but it was useless.

Such a display was neither affinity nor dominance, but simply the epitome of a servile trainer.

Since spiritual beasts were all intelligent, if one approached them with such a low posture, they would often try to climb on top of one’s head instead.

At this rate, it would be difficult for him to even participate in a village Holy War club.

“Who is that student?”

Vulcan pointed his chin toward Hector and asked a student nearby.

— Ah, him? He’s Hector Pabilto.

Hearing the answer, Vulcan nodded as if he finally understood.

‘It was the Pabilto family! No wonder.’

The grave of coaches, the curse of never winning a title.

He was also well-aware of the Holy War tragedy of the Pabilto family.

***

“…Oh, Riel. What is it?”

Riel approached Roan, who was playing(?) well with the Wind Terrier.

A Wind Terrier was bouncing along, following beside her.

“Goodbutwords.”

Riel murmured to Roan, her eyebrows slightly drooped.

“Are you saying the Wind Terrier is good, but it’s a shame it doesn’t understand your words well?”

Riel replaced a nod by minutely moving her chin.

Roan looked down at Riel’s Wind Terrier.

Flinch—!

The creature, which had been active until just a moment ago, immediately trembled.

‘It seems normal, though.’

It did not seem like a particularly mischievous or rebellious fellow.

Roan flicked his index finger downward and spoke.

“This means to lie down.”

Flop!

Riel’s Wind Terrier immediately lay flat on its belly.

Roan’s Wind Terrier did the same.

“…Why you too?”

As Roan stared at it in bewilderment, the creature warily checked his reaction and got back up.

In any case, this time upward.

“Backflip.”

Leap!

To the left.

“Sprint.”

Patter, patter!

To the right.

“Gust.”

Whoosh!

Roan nodded with satisfaction and spoke to Riel.

“There, it will understand you well now.”

Riel, her pupils slightly dilated in surprise, gave orders with her index finger just like Roan.

Flop! Leap! Patter! Whoosh!

Since it was a fellow that liked Riel in the first place, it listened to her without hesitation.

“How?”

Riel asked for the secret, a few cells in her cheeks flushing red.

“It seems good but hard of hearing. If you train it using hand signals, it will work out well.”

I don’t think that’s the case?

Riel felt slightly doubtful, but soon expressed her gratitude to Roan and returned to her spot.

At that moment, Vulcan clapped his palms together to focus the students’ attention.

Though it was closer to thuds than claps.

“Now, you must have gotten sufficiently used to it! Next is real combat!”

— Waaaah!

“I shall pair you up. The students I call out, come forward!”

Vulcan pointed at students without hesitation with his thick fingers.

He matched them based on what he had observed so far.

The students paired up one by one.

“Roan Darc, Sion Beatrice!”

The last ones called out were Roan and Sion.

As their eyes met, Sion gave a light nod of greeting.

A sign to have fun between like-minded people!

‘What? Is she teasing me?’

Roan slightly misunderstood her pure intentions.

Just because she was a bit close to divine beasts…!

However, because he couldn’t just ignore her, Roan also gave a short nod.

Sion smiled gently.

‘As expected, she was indeed teasing me.’

Roan was certain.

And he looked down at the Wind Terrier beside him.

“…You know what you have to do, right?”

Growl, bark—!

The Wind Terrier barked vigorously as if telling him to leave it to it.

Just as Vulcan said, the outcome of the Holy War was not decided by affinity with divine or spiritual beasts.

Roan intended to kindly show that to Sion.

Although he hated to be one, as a person who had risen to the position of imperial Holy War champion multiple times!

And, even though the last group was called, there was one person left.

“Professor! I have not been assigned a group!”

It was Hector.

Despite being the one left behind, his good expression made it clear he was under some delusion like, ‘Could it be he recognized my talent and wants me to pair with the Professor…?’

“You failed to even teach it the basics. Rest.”

“Yes? But—”

“I. Said. To. Rest.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hector was forced to go and sit next to Demona.

“Pfft…”

Perhaps even Demona felt a bit sorry for Hector, as he offered words of comfort when Hector sat next to him.

“Cheer up, fanatic. You can do it next time.”

Hector glanced at Demona’s face and said weakly.

“…I’d rather you insult me as usual.”

“Fine, even I think you have no talent.”

“You heretic bastard who deserves to be torn to shreds—!”

“Y-You told me to insult you…!”