Chapter 228

‘Even for me, that would be crossing the line a bit.’

Suspecting Harden’s holy spell was a taboo that even a black mage should never commit.

“I see.”

“Yes, it is probably no big deal. Dreams are originally a mixture of meaning and meaninglessness anyway.”

“That is indeed true.”

Harden spoke like a Holy Spirit for once.

And as usual, he also spoke words unbecoming of a Holy Spirit.

“Besides, even if you die, wouldn’t you just revive in that warehouse again anyway.”

“…Mm.”

Roan had no choice but to admit it honestly.

Thinking that the Holy Spirit was indeed the Holy Spirit.

“If you’ve said all you had to say, leave.”

“Yes, then I shall take my leave…”

Having finished their respective business, Harden and Roan tried to wrap up the conversation smoothly.

Neither of them particularly wanted to see the other’s face any longer.

But this place was Acherandir.

Even for Harden, unexpected things happened occasionally.

For instance.

Bam—!

“Headmaster!”

It was a case like Professor Kaina, who suddenly burst open the door of the headmaster’s office and barged in.

“Didn’t I tell you not to enter carelessly!”

Geode was holding her waist, trying to stop her, but he was clearly outmatched.

Harden tried to reprimand Kaina with a solemn expression.

“Professor Kaina, no matter if you are a professor, this is the headmaster’s office. Show some manners—”

“Headmasterrr!”

“…What is it.”

However, seeing Kaina screaming for the headmaster with her eyes rolling, he couldn’t help but postpone the reprimand slightly and ask for the reason.

Kaina shouted.

“I heard twenty black mages have been captured!!! How could I possibly stay still!”

”She’s no different from a mad dog.”

For the first time in a while, Roan’s and Harden’s thoughts aligned.

Kaina looked ready to literally bite a black mage if one were before her eyes.

…From the perspective of a black mage, it wouldn’t be too bad if it ended at just that.

In any case, Harden winked at Roan.

‘Since it’s your doing, you do something about it!’

Roan got up awkwardly and spoke.

“Yes, professor. What happened was…”

“Where, where is the black mage, Darc? Is it here? Or there?”

Sniff, sniff— sniff, sniff—

Kaina sniffed here and there as she approached Roan.

He didn’t know if that display made her a mad dog, but she was indeed behaving like a dog.

Roan grew gradually scared as he watched Kaina approaching him.

He was unsure whether the ‘black mage’ she referred to was the ones inside the Bell of Eternity, or himself.

Roan awkwardly unfastened the Bell of Eternity from his waist and spoke.

“I’ve imprisoned them in the Bell of Eternity.”

“This… this…!”

At those words, the ratio of white in Kaina’s eyes increased even further.

It somehow felt like a growling sound was coming from her.

In any case, Roan felt somehow uneasy at Kaina’s unstable state.

It wouldn’t be strange at all if she suddenly said, ‘I think there’s one guy here who isn’t locked up!’

“Is there any other student as commendable as this! To capture twenty black mages while doing off-campus service! Our pretty Darc, let me hug you!”

Fortunately, however, no such thing happened.

Kaina wore a bright smile, suddenly rushed to Roan, and tightly hugged him in her arms!

‘…Maybe it would be a relief if she just caught me as a black mage instead.’

Roan’s body froze rigidly by instinct.

Although Kaina had a slightly smaller build than Roan, she hugged him so forcefully that it looked as if Roan was completely enveloped.

‘Please save me.’

Roan sent a desperate look to Harden.

But Harden could only shrug, as if there was nothing he could do.

‘Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if I stepped in here? Bear with it a little longer.’

While those words were correct, experiencing it firsthand made it feel incredibly irresponsible.

And to top it off.

“Sniff, sniff! Oh? I really smell dark magic? Sniff, sniff! Does it smell even when locked inside the Bell of Eternity?”

Kaina speaking like this while hugging Roan.

Roan felt as if he might literally die of shock.

The time of two weeks that had passed since he suddenly came to this world was replayed in his head in a flash.

Was this what people meant by their life flashing before their eyes right before death?

‘To think the result of all that suffering is this!’

He could absolutely not let it end this way.

Roan, racking his brains for a way to escape this crisis, spoke to Kaina with superhuman tenacity.

“Well… I think some smell rubbed off because I visited a black mages’ den. I also got hit by their poisons and dark magic…”

“Gasp! Was it really so?”

Kaina asked, startled, as she pulled Roan away from her embrace.

It was true.

The problem was that it somehow sounded like the excuses made by delinquent teenagers who smoked in school.

When Roan nodded, Kaina’s eyes even welled up with tears.

“To think you were kidnapped, you’ve really worked hard… This won’t do!”

‘What you are doing right now is what won’t do, professor.’

Roan couldn’t bring himself to say this.

In any case, Kaina clenched both fists as if she had made a decision and spoke.

“In the future, I will personally train Student Darc so that even if forty of those pathetic black mage bastards attack instead of twenty, he won’t budge!”

““!!!!!!””

Roan and Harden were literally on the verge of fainting.

Personal training with Kaina?

Because calling it personal training was no different from opening the gates of hell and kicking him in.

“Y-You don’t need to go that far.”

“What do you mean! If I had trained you earlier, this incident wouldn’t have happened. I feel boundless responsibility as a professor.”

‘This incident wouldn’t have happened, indeed.’

Roan also agreed with Kaina’s words.

Because if the person to be kidnapped was dead and gone, he couldn’t be kidnapped!

Setting getting caught aside, it was clear he would have died from stress alone.

Harden also cleared his throat and stopped Kaina.

“Professor Kaina, we should think about that a little. As you know, Acherandir aims for fair education for everyone.”

Kaina refuted as if that made no sense.

“But this time, the student’s safety is at stake, headmaster! Besides, Darc could be targeted by black mages in the future as well.”

Probably, if Roan were a normal Acherandir student, he would have felt deep emotion.

Since she was essentially rebelling against Harden, who was a Holy Spirit, for his sake.

It was Professor Kaina, who sincerely cared for her student.

“Furthermore, I heard Professor Uli made only Darc make a holy power clock?”

“Hmm? Is that true?”

“Yes, that is true, but…”

“And Professor Gulba subjected only Darc to the warrior’s trial.”

“…Is that also true?”

“…It is indeed true, but…”

Harden was flabbergasted.

They were professors he appointed, but what on earth were they making a newly enrolled freshman do!

“And Professor Vulcan…”

“Enough, I roughly get what you are trying to say.”

“Yes, headmaster. My speaking out of turn is a sin worthy of death. But I merely wanted to convey that education tailored to the student’s level and situation is needed.”

The scary part about Kaina was that even when she was overly excited occasionally (?), she possessed laws and logic that matched her state.

Even now, there was nothing wrong in her words!

‘If only I weren’t a black mage.’

But it was a claim that Roan and Harden could not accept.

Harden spoke, compiling a list of professors in his head that he would have to look into soon.

“I understand Professor Kaina’s intent. I also sympathize to some extent. However, it seems to place too heavy a burden on a freshman. I will have to think about it further.”

“Yes, headmaster. My apologies once again.”

“Do not mind it. It was all a proposal for the student and the school anyway. That aside, there is one thing you must know.”

“Yes?”

When Kaina tilted her head, Harden raised the ring on the table with holy power and spoke.

“This ring, Darc has declared that he will purify it. Therefore…”

Harden trailed off to select the appropriate words.

Then, Kaina waved her hands as if to ask why he would say such a thing and accepted it on his behalf.

“Oh, really, headmaster. No matter how ignorant an inquisitor I am, I know how holy of a resolution purification is!”

“Haha, of course you do.”

Harden smiled with a relieved expression and gave the ring to Roan.

Roan thanked Harden with his eyes and put on the ring.

As Roan’s dark mana wrapped the ring, it created a presentation that made it look perfectly purified.

And Kaina quietly watched that display.

Stare—

“…”

Staarre—

“…?”

She did not say a word and just watched.

Like a fierce dog that spotted a delicious prey but could only lick its chops because its master said not to touch.

Harden spoke in a tone that left a lingering discomfort.

“Professor Kaina, I clearly said it is an item Darc is purifying.”

“Of course~ I told you there is no need to worry~”

Keeping her eyes fixed on Roan’s hand and ring while speaking cheerfully was simply hair-raising.

‘Are you really okay?’

Roan, feeling somehow uneasy, hid his hand with the ring behind his back.

“Smack.”

Only then did Kaina lick her lips and turn her head naturally.

…It seemed he would indeed have to take off the ring when attending Kaina’s class.

Having no way of knowing Roan’s thoughts, Kaina clapped her hands and spoke.

“Ah, Student Darc. We must release the imprisoned black mages, right? Shall we go to my dungeon together?”

Roan wondered if the situation of going to Saint Ciotric Hall alone with Kaina was scarier.

Or if the destination being Kaina’s dungeon was scarier.

Without needing to debate such things, it was certain that it was incredibly terrifying.

“Uh… do we absolutely have to go right now?”

“Eh? Then are you going to keep carrying them around? Being trapped inside the Bell of Eternity continuously must be quite painful. Well, since you were even kidnapped.”

Kaina seemed to think Roan possessed a crueler personality than expected.

Of course, few people cared less about a black mage’s pain than she did.

‘To hear such words even from Kaina, I have lived my life in vain!’

Therefore, Roan could not help but lament even further.

Hearing himself called a miser by Uli, a thief by Pluvang, a cold-blooded monster by Kaina, and so on.

In Acherandir, there were quite a lot of terrible insults just to hear.

Harden, who was listening, stepped in.

“Professor Kaina, as you know, Darc just returned after experiencing that, so dragging him around further seems too harsh.”

“Ah, indeed! The headmaster’s words are correct.”

At that, Kaina also nodded as if she hadn’t thought of it.

Roan brightened and sent an expectant gaze to Harden.

‘Are you going to lock them up instead then?’

Although the Bell of Eternity could only be used by its owner, an existence of Harden’s caliber could bypass it somehow.

Since Roan was tired, returning to the dormitory and having Harden and Kaina handle it instead would be a perfect ending.

Harden grinned and spoke.

“Since he must be tired, let him rest today, and have him lock them up during Tuesday’s class as well. There should be quite some time left in the third week anyway.”

“My, my~ I tell you, listening to the headmaster really brings unexpected blessings! Student Darc, I will be waiting!”

“Ah, yes… yes.”

Roan nodded awkwardly.

Whether excited just by the thought of locking up twenty black mages, Kaina left the headmaster’s office with quick, girl-like steps.

The sound of Geode closing the door while grumbling, ‘No matter if she is a professor…’ was heard.