Chapter 223

If Roan had honestly said he was an Acherandir student, they wouldn’t have attacked first, even if it meant being caught and dragged away quietly.

Because in this region, Acherandir was more fearsome than most noble families.

In any case, hearing Oslo’s words, the black mages fell into even greater confusion.

—A-Acherandir?

—Then, is that crazy… no, that person a professor?

—Demon Inquisitor Kaina!!!

That name, Kaina, which is said to make even a crying black mage stop!

Although it was Tyrmi, not Kaina, the effect was certainly there.

—S-Surrender!

—We surrender!

The black mages expressed their intention to surrender, throwing away the staffs and poison bottles they were holding, without anyone having to say it first.

Thanks to seeing Tyrmi simply pass by those who surrendered, their speed became even faster.

Of course.

Whack—

—Guh, but we surrendered…

“Ah. But I’m not sorry!”

“Our Sion, well done!”

Unlike Tyrmi, who was used to neat battles, Yusina and Sion just beat them up regardless of whether they surrendered or not.

…They claimed it was a mistake for now, but it also seemed half-intentional.

Fortunately for the black mages (?), Yusina and Sion rushed straight to the fallen Roan before neatly wrapping up the fight.

Kyaooong—!!

Kirrr—!!

Bell and Charlotte stomped their feet pitifully, begging them to please look at their master.

“Roan, are you okay?”

“Roaaan!!”

Even without that, the two girls were already rushing to Roan and checking his condition.

Fortunately (?), Roan was breathing well, though weakly.

Slap— slap—

Yusina slapped Roan’s cheeks to check his consciousness.

“Roan, wake up! Just how much did they beat this poor kid…!”

Yusina turned back to look at the black mages with eyes blazing with anger.

The black mages felt extremely wronged.

—I-It wasn’t us, the boss did it!

—My brother and I politely cleared the way because we heard he was passing through!

…The Pickaxe Brothers made the most enthusiastic excuses.

In any case, when Roan failed to regain consciousness, a panicked Sion raised her club high.

“I-If we use this…!”

“Kyaaa! Sion, what are you doing?”

Yusina was horrified and tried to pull Sion back.

‘Hanging out with Roan, she is, more than she looks…’

Probably, if she had spoken her inner thoughts honestly, Sion would have been quite hurt.

Anyway, fortunately, just before Sion swung the club down, Roan groaned and opened his eyes.

“Ugh… Senior Yusina, and Sion…?”

“Roan!”

“Roan, are you conscious?”

Bell and Charlotte, confirming their master’s survival, wailed.

[He’s alive!]

Kirrr—!!

No matter how much of a holy beast they were, they were still young.

Meanwhile, Roan looked straight up at Sion and resolved the most urgent issue.

“…First, put down that club.”

“…Ah! This was just to wake Roan up…”

If she tried to wake him up twice, he might end up passing out permanently.

‘She must have been influenced by Demona in a strange way…’

It was a thought that Demona would find extremely unfair if she heard it.

In any case, Sion blushed and hurriedly lowered the club.

“What happened here?”

“Yes, how did you end up in a place like this…”

Yusina asked, slapping Roan’s cheeks a few more times.

Around that time.

“Surrender! I surrender!”

Oslo raised both hands to Tyrmi, who had arrived right in front of him before he knew it.

Twenty black mages couldn’t even touch a hair on her, so nothing would change just because Oslo stepped up.

“Surrender?”

Tyrmi, standing in front of Oslo, tilted her head.

“Yes, surrender! The situation is coincidental, but there is a misunderstanding!”

“Yes, I’ll listen.”

At Tyrmi’s words, Oslo wore a triumphant smile.

If he explained the situation well, he might be able to avoid the worst-case scenario.

However, Oslo was not very familiar with Tyrmi’s way of speaking.

Bam──!!

Tyrmi utilized her long legs to the fullest, kicking Oslo hard.

“Guh, cough! You, you said you’d listen…!”

Oslo clutched his stomach and sent a wronged look while lying on the ground.

‘Tsk tsk, she probably meant she’d beat you first and then listen.’

Roan thought this was why knowledge was power.

In any case, since the reinforcements had arrived, it was about time for him to step up.

Roan got up unsteadily—which was naturally acting—and spoke roughly.

“You dirty black mage bastards! How dare you kidnap me!”

“What, kidnap?”

“You were kidnapped?”

Hearing Roan’s words, Yusina and Sion were startled out of their wits.

If it were an ordinary student, they would have been shocked that he was kidnapped by black mages, but.

‘R-Roan was kidnapped?’

‘Just how did it happen?’

This time, the very fact that the almighty Roan was kidnapped was astonishing.

…Somehow, it felt more natural for Roan to be the one doing the kidnapping rather than the one getting kidnapped.

Besides, to be honest, the level of the black mages wasn’t all that high.

In any case, it wasn’t just those two who were surprised.

—W-We kidnapped you?!

—T-This guy, who calls himself a priest candidate, is telling a blatant lie!

The black mages, who were either kneeling quietly in surrender or stretched out bandaging their beaten parts, were equally shocked.

He came on his own two feet demanding good items, and now he is shamelessly claiming kidnapping!

Even if they were arrested by priests, they would feel less wronged if they were caught for what they actually did.

If they were arrested for a kidnapping they didn’t even commit, nothing could be more unfair.

…Of course, it was only Roan’s case that wasn’t a kidnapping; they had actually kidnapped people quite a few times while smuggling near the campsite.

Tyrmi asked the Pickaxe Brothers, who looked to be in relatively decent shape, instead of the groaning Oslo.

“At the campsite?”

It meant, what on earth were they thinking to kidnap Roan when even priests didn’t touch black mages at the campsite.

Naturally, the Pickaxe Brothers denied it adamantly.

—N-Never, absolutely not!

—We didn’t see it ourselves, but we definitely heard that guy, no, that student came on his own!

—Hey, in times like this, you should just say you saw it!

…Given their character, they weren’t trustworthy at all.

Still, there was no point in letting them babble on.

“How dare you bastards make such absurd excuses!”

Pretending to be unable to contain his anger, Roan launched offensive magic at one of the brothers.

‘Strike of the Black Hammer!’

Wham—!

A large hammer that materialized out of nowhere above the brother’s head struck his head squarely.

—Guh…

The struck guy passed out on the spot.

At that, the other guy who had watched the scene right in front of him subtly shifted his words.

—I, I certainly did not participate, but it seems you might have been kidnapped…

—Uuuu!

—Are you guys even the Pickaxe Brothers of the Oslo Family after doing that!

Formidable black mages who were jeered at even by their fellow black mages!

Roan continued speaking to not lose the momentum he had established.

“How can we trust fellows who change their words in an instant like this! No wonder we have no choice but to distrust them!”

The black mages honestly had no words even if they had mouths.

That was how ugly and servile the behavior of the Pickaxe Brothers was.

“To kidnap Roan Darc, the descendant of the Darc family, and show no fear while shamelessly making excuses, it is unforgivable!”

Roan finally revealed his identity and shouted.

—??!?!?!?!???

—W-What did that person just say?

—Roan Darc?

Several black mages stared at Roan with dumbfounded expressions.

Come to think of it, they thought they had heard Yusina and Sion call him Roan…

‘Then why on earth did he get angry earlier?’

The black mages couldn’t understand it at all.

Well, let’s assume he denied being an Acherandir student and pretended not to know the name Roan Darc to hide his identity.

But even then, did he really have to get that angry?

…They were black mages who couldn’t even begin to guess the point of Roan’s anger.

In any case.

Upon learning that the already terrifying young master was none other than the Great Demon King (?) of Acherandir, Roan Darc, the black mages completely lost their will to fight and hung their heads.

And Oslo, who was lying down.

“You said… you weren’t Roan Darc either…”

“Too much chatter!”

Bam—!

Feeling betrayed to the end, he was struck by Roan’s hammer and lost consciousness.

* * *

A moment later.

—Ugh…

—What did I get hit with that makes it hurt so much?

—I can’t even use dark mana…

The black mages knelt on the ground, each clutching their painful spots.

Roan, Tyrmi, Yusina, and Sion glared at them with fierce eyes.

Of course, just because they had completely submitted to the four, their sense of injustice didn’t fade completely.

—We are wronged!

—That’s right, we have really never kidnapped anyone!

Glare—!

—W-We have never kidnapped Lord Roan Darc…

“That’s what they say?”

Tyrmi asked Roan.

Although as a professor she wanted to believe her student’s words, she still had to hear out what needed to be heard.

Roan shouted at the black mages who were making excuses (?) even when things had come to this pass.

“Still haven’t come to your senses! Didn’t you clearly say you would tell me about the destruction of the Darc family!”

“““!!!”””

At that, Tyrmi, Yusina, and Sion were startled.

Not much was known about the destruction of the Darc family.

There were rumors that the Darc family fought bravely in the pandemonium where countless black mages, devils, and demon kings were summoned, but that was it.

“Is that true?”

Yusina grasped Roan’s hand and asked.

Since she had watched Roan since he was very young, she reacted even more strongly.

‘Although I feel a bit guilty.’

Because even Roan had a bit of conscience left, he fell silent for a moment.

Yusina understood that silence as a shuddering sense of betrayal.

It was half true.

It was just that the black mages, not Roan, were the ones feeling the shuddering betrayal.

—W-What are you talking about?

—How did the Darc family get destroyed?

It was a story completely unknown to the black mages here.

It would rather be strange if mountain smugglers knew information that even an Acherandir professor, a Saintess of the Holy Emperor’s Palace, and a daughter of the Beatrice family didn’t know well.

“Hmph, they obviously said whatever to lure me. And then they dragged me here and coveted my items and holy beasts!”

However, the subsequent words weren’t wrong, so the black mages couldn’t refute them either.

The reasons were entirely different, but in any case, they did do that.

Point—

Roan pointed his staff at one of the black mages.

Judging by his familiar face, it seemed to be the guy who had followed him since entering the cave.

“Tell me if I’m wrong! Didn’t you covet my items and holy beasts?”

—Uh, uh…

The black mage hesitated, then nodded under the pressure of Roan’s momentum.

—I-It is true we coveted them…

“Look at this!”

Roan spoke, turning back to Tyrmi, Yusina, and Sion as if defending himself.

—Hey, hey, how could you say it like that?

—Hey! Do you want to get hit by the staff instead?

—Well, no…

The black mage who nodded became the target of condemnation from his peers, but they all knew there was no other way.

“Furthermore, there is evidence, professor.”

—There is evidence?

—He has evidence?

The black mages whispered at each of Roan’s words.

…Anyone looking would think they were spectators rather than the parties involved.

“Evidence?”

Tyrmi showed interest.

Honestly, it was hard to make a decision based on one side’s words alone, but if there was evidence, it was a different story.

Roan nodded and spoke.

“Yes, they took the ring I obtained in Gilsburg and the dagger containing Jelsroin’s holy power.”

—!!!!!

—Oh, my!