Chapter 229

Roan also wanted to chime in next to him and agree as much as his heart desired.

“Headmaster, did you really have to do that to me.”

“Hmm? What are you talking about? The Bell of Eternity can only be used by its owner, so what do you expect me to do.”

‘As if you didn’t know!’

Roan felt a profound sense of betrayal from the shamelessly grinning Harden, but.

Come to think of it, that Holy Spirit was originally that kind of person—no, ghost—so it wasn’t particularly something to feel wronged about.

The Holy Spirit waved his hand as if everything was truly a hassle now.

“You aren’t a child, do I have to spoon-feed you from one to ten? Have some independence! When I was sixteen, I was commanding the continent… Tsk, if you understand, leave now. The headmaster is busy.”

Roan had never seen Harden busy even once, but he couldn’t ignore the order to leave.

As he stepped out of the headmaster’s office, Geode patted Roan on the back and encouraged him with a bright smile, as if he had never complained.

“Hahaha! Student Darc! You accumulate achievements almost every single week! I think very commendably of you!”

“…Yes, thank you.”

To Roan, who always aimed for a quiet and peaceful life, it wasn’t a very pleasing compliment.

Roan walked away from Geode with footsteps that dragged more than usual.

Geode wore a pitiful expression at the back profile that was unlike Roan.

“I heard he was kidnapped, so the hardship must have been severe. What a truly pitiful young master at such a young age.”

Geode didn’t suspect in the slightest that Roan’s hardship had accumulated intensively in the headmaster’s office.

* * *

In any case, Roan grumbled at the reality where nothing went quite right.

He knew he met very welcoming faces on his way back to the dormitory.

“Uh, fanatic, that’s Roan over there.”

“Uh, heretic, indeed. I see him too.”

…They might not be very welcoming faces.

At any rate, Demona and Hector, who were walking side-by-side with dragging steps, noticed Roan and acknowledged him.

Roan pondered whether to just pretend not to know and pass by, or if he should greet them since they were friends anyway.

[Well, if they want to do it, they’ll do it on their own.]

‘You are right.’

[Hehe.]

Bell smiled happily at Roan’s rare compliment.

Roan decided to wait for the two’s reaction following Bell’s advice.

Demona and Hector glanced at each other, then shifted their gazes back to Roan.

Rub, rub—

“My eyes must be strange. I see a ghost.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I should probably visit the headmaster.”

They began to ponder seriously why Roan was in front of them.

Twitch—

Roan couldn’t steady his mind at the duo, who had become even more dumbfounding after meeting them in two days.

[Uh, master, surely not?]

‘What do you mean, surely not?’

[I thought you said you love peace.]

Bell replied in a voice showing a bit of anxiety.

Roan shook his head.

‘Peace is maintained only when those two get beaten a little.’

…Bell couldn’t bring himself to refute.

Bell’s silence ultimately pulled the trigger.

Rumbleee—

Roan had eventually lost his temper and raised dark mana.

Since they were friends in name, he intended to feed them about three Abyss Blood Spears each.

“Uh, the ghost of Roan even uses holy magic like Roan’s?”

“Foolish. Would the ghost of Roan use holy magic like yours then?”

“Aha!”

Demona and Hector giggled, failing to grasp reality properly.

Since Acherandir was a place where all sorts of things happened, it was a complacent thought that this was probably just something like that.

Of course.

Thud— thud—!

““???!!??!!””

When two massive blood spears were embedded at their feet, they could no longer escape reality.

Furthermore, behind those blood spears, Roan was running while holding a long club—a staff—with a terrifying face!

Demona and Hector began to flee with both arms raised high, without anyone having to say it first.

““It’s a g-ghost!!””

Although it didn’t seem particularly reinforced with holy power, the two ran like the wind and began climbing the dormitory cliff.

Thud—! Thud—!

The second attack of blood spears flew near them.

Hector managed to leap sideways and avoid the blood spear.

“Waaaah! I’m falling!”

Demona almost plummeted from the cliff.

Flutter—

She would have fallen if Banjjak hadn’t flown in at the right time and supported her buttocks with all its might.

“Wow~ Banjjak, you are really strong!”

Demona praised Banjjak, smiling brightly as if she had never almost fallen.

“Now, let’s fly up to the top with this momentum!”

And then she naturally made an unreasonable request.

Although she barely climbed up with her own strength after Banjjak flew close to the cliff and pushed her face against the rock for a moment.

At any rate, despite some twists and turns, the two’s escape was highly swift and efficient.

‘It’s exactly like catching cockroaches.’

Roan, who hadn’t expected them to grow to that extent already, watched the scene in disbelief.

Perhaps because they were named characters in their own right, growth was progressing steadily even though they seemed to only fool around every day.

Although it was strange to judge their level by their fleeing ability.

[You shouldn’t say such things to friends!]

‘Then is there any other way to express it?’

[…]

Roan, who made Bell shut his mouth, grinned.

[Gasp! Why are you smiling like that?]

Kirrr—

Bell shuddered upon seeing that, and Charlotte, who always walked holding hands, quietly let go of Roan’s hand at the hair-raising smile!

To cap it off, the words Roan uttered with that expression were even more terrifying.

“Even if those guys run away, it’s just the dormitory.”

[Hieeeek──!!!]

Bell flew up from Roan’s shoulder, hugged Charlotte from behind, and trembled.

Seeing Charlotte also backing away hesitantly, Roan’s atmosphere was indeed incredibly terrifying.

Could it be that two freshmen of Acherandir would really disappear today?

Just as Roan was planning his steps after returning to the dormitory.

“Uh? Roan, weren’t you expelled?”

Rafia and Riel appeared from the direction Demona and Hector had walked.

When Roan turned around with the exact same smiling face, they halted their steps abruptly.

“Hieek—!”

“D-Demon King!”

…Even not turning around to flee could be considered a huge display of courage.

It was also solely thanks to them usually being close with Roan.

His expression was roughly that terrifying.

‘W-Why is the surrounding area in such a mess? And why is the cliff like that…?!’

Furthermore, the spots where the four blood spears had embedded were heavily gouged and overturned, creating an even more terrifying atmosphere.

Roan, who was standing in the middle of it, asked.

“Expelled? Just what time’s story are you talking about.”

Hadn’t the misunderstanding been resolved when they departed for off-campus service.

Rafia, wondering if she should run away even now, replied with an awkward smile.

“Well… Demona and Hector said so while crying a lot? That you weren’t at the school gate.”

Roan shook his head.

“I merely went straight to the headmaster’s office. Because of this and that over the weekend.”

“Aha, indeed, right?”

“Almost misunderstood…”

Rafia and Riel breathed sighs of relief.

Roan looked at them and let out a sigh filled with patheticness.

“Did you guys really believe their words exactly as they said them.”

Rafia opened her eyes wide.

Riel slightly parted her lips, in her own way.

“Aha?”

“Huh!”

Roan headed toward the cliff, leaving the two startled girls behind.

Rafia asked hastily.

“B-But the ground and the cliff… did you do that by any chance?”

Roan replied briefly.

“Because of Demona and Hector.”

““…””

Rafia and Riel shuddered as if they had made a promise.

Judging by the rough atmosphere, it seemed to be because of the wild rumors about expulsion.

‘We almost got into big trouble too…’

Rafia spoke to Roan, who had begun climbing the cliff as if having a guilty conscience.

“I-I will clean up this place!”

To Rafia, who had the earth attribute, that level of work wasn’t very difficult.

Roan stopped briefly and looked down.

‘There is no need to go that far.’

Anyway, in Acherandir where one didn’t know what might happen, there were quite a few staff members who restored such damages.

Although he would be grateful if she cleaned it up, he didn’t have any particular ill feelings toward Rafia and Riel.

Since all he had to do was catch Demona and Hector, who were the root of all the trouble.

“…Thanks. I will make sure to pay you back later.”

Knowing that if it were revealed he was the culprit who broke the ground and the cliff, it would surely become more annoying, Roan accepted the favor gratefully.

On the other hand, Rafia and Riel, who interpreted Roan’s words slightly differently, nodded their heads fiercely.

“Y-Yes! Thank you! I will restore it perfectly!”

“I’ll help too…”

‘As expected, those two are so kind that there is absolutely nothing to criticize!’

Roan climbed the rest of the cliff, thinking that his efforts (?) hadn’t been entirely in vain.

* * *

In the living room of the McGodal Room, Beanin was present, whom Roan felt he hadn’t seen in a very long time.

“I’m back.”

“Ah, Roan is back?!”

“Yes. Nothing much happened.”

“Uh?”

Beanin tilted his head at Roan’s statement that nothing much had happened.

“I heard you caught heretics on the way to Gilsburg, and yet nothing much happened…?”

“You already knew.”

Roan spoke, frowning slightly.

In any case, at this rate, he wondered if every room had a TV and was watching a news channel like ‘Acherandir News’ all day long.

No matter if magic and holy power existed, just how did news spread so fast.

“After all, Professor Tyrmi and Saint Espard were there. Senior Yusina was there too.”

“Ah, indeed. If they are present, there is nothing to worry about.”

Beanin seemed to think they had handled all the heretics.

To Roan, it was convenient since he didn’t have to explain in detail.

“By the way, where are the others.”

“Ah, they came in earlier, but they ran into their respective rooms as if something happened? I couldn’t even say hello.”

Roan could clearly picture the scene without even looking.

They must have fled all the way there to avoid him.

Creak—

When the doors to Demona’s and Hector’s rooms opened simultaneously.

…It was a coordination so precise that it would be hard to match even if they had planned it.

The two, poking their heads out, saw Roan and asked.

“Eh? The real Roan is back?”

“We saw a ghost that looked exactly like you earlier.”

Demona and Hector walked out laughing “Haha,” as if their tension had unraveled.

‘Just what is the reason I look like a ghost when seen outside, and like myself when seen inside?’

Roan grew sincerely curious.

But he didn’t bother to ask.

Because it was obvious they would only say something like, ‘Oh, really?’ even if he asked.

However, once the two came close enough, he swung his staff as fast as lightning and whacked them once each.

Whack— whack—!

“Ouch! Why are you hitting us!”

“I think I hit you harder than that!”

Each clutched their struck spots, looking quite wronged, but honestly, it didn’t compare to Roan’s pent-up frustration.

“This is the share I couldn’t hit earlier.”

“Hieek! That ghost earlier was really you?”

Demona seemed genuinely surprised.

Of course, Roan didn’t mind, having relieved his mood to some extent.

Instead, he asked Beanin, who was just watching the mood without knowing what was going on.

“Senior, were there any other rumors?”