Chapter 238

That is, that Demona’s fire was not a trick or a coincidence, but a true manifestation of her secondary attribute.

And going a step further from her, Roan grasped the reason behind this bizarre situation.

‘A Primitive Prayer. I never expected to see that with my own eyes.’

Frankly, it was quite surprising even to Roan.

The archetype of a prayer was leaning on a transcendent being for the cause of a phenomenon that one’s knowledge couldn’t comprehend, and the answer to a problem that one’s ability couldn’t solve.

For example, just as primitive people, unable to make fire themselves, thought of a fire started by a lightning strike as the will of heaven.

And just as they expressed gratitude while utilizing the fire obtained through the will of heaven.

The words Demona spoke were also, strictly speaking, a prayer.

‘No, rather, it’s the closest thing to a prayer.’

However, as human civilization developed, the domain of the gods gradually shifted to higher realms, and consequently, the etiquette shown to the gods became more complex.

That form was current religion.

Thus, in this world where gods and magic actually existed, offering a prayer like Demona did was theoretically the most primal means of drawing a response from the gods.

However, there was a reason why no one offered such prayers nowadays.

*Vrrr—*

*That—That kid, she genuinely believes those things are the grace of God?*

Just as the False Divinity was surprised, one had to firmly believe with all their heart that meals, lighting, and heating were the grace of Belund!

In short, it meant Demona’s prayer was the real deal, without a single thread of falsehood or doubt.

*Thump—*

*Is that so surprising? Aren’t they things to be thankful for? Aren’t you thankful?*

…Ludiac reacted very casually, as if it were stranger to be surprised instead.

Though he claimed not to care about descendants or whatever, he was clearly of the same bloodline.

Anyway, while such a thing was theoretically called a Primitive Prayer, it was a phenomenon so rare that even Roan had only seen it a few times.

For the most part, Primitive Prayers were only manifested occasionally in truly desperate situations, such as when one miraculously escaped death and expressed gratitude to a god, or when one’s life was in danger and begged a god for mercy.

Since such situations were rare, it had taken a form where people offered prayers with some degree of etiquette, and the god would appropriately lend power in return.

At any rate, only Roan, or at best, someone like Anne, would notice those circumstances.

“Huh? I did it! I did it! I passed the pop quiz!”

Demona was overjoyed simply because she had passed the exam.

*Hop, hop—*

No, she actually hopped.

Anne said with a dumbfounded expression.

“Ah, yes… student Wicronon passes as well.”

Was it just passing?

Although it wouldn’t reach Sion’s perfect score, it was certain she would receive a fairly high grade.

Because a Primitive Prayer was that significant.

Had the size of the fire been slightly larger and in a proper shape, a perfect score would have been well within reach.

“Roan, did you see? When I pray, it’s at this level~”

Demona returned to her seat, shrugging her shoulders.

“Y-Yes. Well done.”

“Mwahahahahahaha!”

At Roan’s rare acknowledgement, Demona’s shoulders and the bridge of her nose seemed to rise by a good five centimeters.

Roan quietly averted his gaze.

If he stared at Demona for no reason, she would likely keep doing that for the entire class.

“Mwahahaha!”

“…”

“Mwahahahahaha! As expected, I’m amazing!”

‘I miscalculated.’

Contrary to Roan’s expectations, Demona intended to act like that for the entire class even if he didn’t look at her.

Anyway, before long, it was finally Roan’s turn.

“Next, student Darc!”

Anne called Roan, and he stood up and walked forward.

—D-Darc.

—Surely that guy isn’t going to use even a secondary attribute right away, is he?

—But it would probably feel even stranger if he couldn’t use it…

The students watched Roan with eyes mixed with fear and expectation.

‘But why are these guys so afraid of me?’

Roan thought that even if his image was bad, this was a bit excessive.

If it were Demona or Hector, who got hit by curse magic day in and day out, he would at least understand.

But why on earth were the other students, whom he didn’t even touch normally, acting like this?

…Roan had not yet realized that one didn’t have to be hit directly to feel afraid.

On the other hand, unlike the students’ atmosphere, Anne was beaming with smiles as she looked at Roan.

Roan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘Indeed, it would be better to be cursed at than to face that.’

As a black mage, there was nothing more burdensome than receiving the full expectations of a priest.

Therefore, he needed to lower their expectations in advance.

“Assistant.”

“Yes?”

“I heard it’s difficult for dark-attribute users to use secondary attributes.”

“Ah, that is true.”

“And I am a dark-attribute user.”

“That is true, yes?”

Anne tilted her head as if asking why he kept saying such things instead of just taking the exam quickly.

Roan felt that the plan he had set in advance had gone awry.

‘I should have kept in mind that communication doesn’t work with these people.’

Judging by her demeanor, Anne didn’t seem to think for a second that Roan would fail the pop quiz.

Well, even if dark-attribute users were disadvantaged with secondary attributes, there was a limit to that.

With a level of knowledge like the prayers he had taught his friends, there was no reason he couldn’t use it.

If Roan were a ‘real dark-attribute user,’ that is.

‘Should I have told them not to say that I was the one who taught them?’

Roan glanced back at the friends sitting behind him.

It was meant to carry a slight bit of resentment.

‘Hang in there, Roan!’

‘You can do it, Roan!’

‘Cheer.’

Apparently, it didn’t look like that to the friends.

Since his face was originally so gloomy and dangerous, a small amount of resentment didn’t change his expression in the slightest.

In any case, Roan had received plenty of unintended encouragement.

And because of that, Anne’s expectations were rising even higher.

‘How has he already won the hearts of his friends like that? As expected of the Darc family…’

Of course, excluding those friends, for Roan, who was cursed at by the other students just for breathing, those expectations were incredibly unfair.

“Whew.”

Roan let out a small sigh and stood in front of the water Attribute Stone.

“Oho, the water attribute. As expected!”

‘What do you mean, as expected.’

Although a common choice seemed different to Anne, Roan had only chosen it because the water Attribute Stone was the closest.

‘Although attributes exist in black magic as well… I haven’t learned them yet, so I shouldn’t expect anything.’

It was a bit different from the Great Power magic used during Beleck’s class.

For while Great Power magic was strictly a formal magic that utilized a magic circle, one could not use a magic circle for secondary attribute detection.

It would work if the devils lent their power on their own, but were devils called devils for nothing?

Roan intended to just recite a random prayer and be done with it.

Failing a single pop quiz posed no problem at all for graduation.

*Touch—*

With those thoughts, Roan placed his hand on the Attribute Stone.

‘A useful prayer…’

And he had been planning to formally recite a simple prayer.

*Splash—*

“?”

Roan tilted his head at the unfamiliar sensation.

“??”

Anne also tilted her head.

“””????”””

It was the same for the friends.

—Eh?

And the students… anyway.

The moment Roan placed his hand on the Attribute Stone, a whole bucket of water was poured over it!

A moment later, upon grasping the situation, the students made a huge fuss.

—D-Darc found his secondary attribute without even reciting a prayer!

—So the Darc family even had a secret attribute research center!

…If one added up all the secret research centers appearing in the students’ nonsense, the size of Castle Darc would likely grow three times larger.

Roan raised his hand, which was drenched in water, and observed it.

“Why…?”

Had someone set this up to screw with me?

*Drip— Driiiip—*

However, looking closely, there was a slightly sticky energy lingering in the water droplets.

Roan had actually seen this kind of water before.

‘Etherog of Greed!’

It wasn’t pure water, but Etherog’s saliva!

Furthermore, looking closely, it was certain that the water had a very slight blackish tint.

*Swish-swish—*

Roan quickly scattered the spilled water with his foot.

There was nothing good about having this scene discovered.

‘As expected of a devil, he is truly wicked!’

Seeing that, Anne stopped Roan.

“Student Darc, you do not have to clean it up yourself. To think you obtained it without even reciting a prayer… it is a glorious trace.”

‘If only that were the case.’

However, Roan didn’t think that way at all.

Dirtying the waiting room with a devil’s saliva—if he were a god, he wouldn’t have complained even if a thunderbolt were struck down on him right away.

“No. To dare splash water in the sacred waiting room. Priest, please give me that towel.”

—Ah, yes. As expected of Darc…

The priest handed over the ceremonial towel he was holding with an impressed face.

Roan even knelt down himself and diligently wiped away the water.

*Wipe—*

Fortunately, since the ceremonial towel was treated with holy power, the devil’s saliva was effectively purified.

‘What a relief, what a huge relief.’

The students were deeply moved by Roan’s actions.

—L-Look at that. Darc is wiping the water himself!

—We spilled water too, though…

—I didn’t say anything, but I accidentally scorched the candlestick a bit with fire…

—Is that what a true noble is like?

The students of Acherandir were inspired by the black mage Roan’s initiative—or rather, his struggle!

Only after wiping away the water to his satisfaction did Roan stand back up.

—Ah, please give the towel back to me.

“No. I will return it to you after washing it.”

—Student Darc…

The priest, unaware of Roan’s true intention to perfectly erase any potential traces, had tears well up in his eyes.

*It must be thanks to the devotion of such nobles that the Empire has been able to walk a glorious path until now!*

In any case, for whatever reason, Etherog had lent his power on his own, so he passed the pop quiz.

Roan looked at Anne and spoke.

“Assistant, may I return now?”

“Pardon? No?”

However, Anne stopped Roan as if asking what he was talking about.

“?”

Roan tilted his head.

‘Aren’t those the words Demona said earlier?’

For some reason, Anne’s words felt familiar.

Was it because they shared the light attribute?

Roan casually thought of something that would make Anne shed sorrowful tears if she heard it.

Naturally, oblivious to everything, Anne pointed somewhere with her index finger.

At the end of her finger was the earth Attribute Stone.

Roan felt an instinctive sense of anxiety.

“Surely…?”

“Student Darc, try that one too!”

Anne spoke with an extremely bright expression.

A belief that since he had manifested the water attribute without even a prayer, the earth attribute might also be possible!

Roan replied reluctantly.

“I am sorry, but isn’t the exam over once you manifest just one secondary attribute? Besides, as I mentioned earlier, dark-attribute users originally find it difficult to manifest secondary…”

Roan’s protest to prevent any further uncomfortable situations!

However, Anne cut Roan off and spoke firmly.

“No. Of course the pop quiz is like that. But as an educator, I have a duty to cultivate my students’ talents!”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but…”

*My talent stat is already 100, though.*

Roan couldn’t bring himself to say the words that followed.

Not only Anne, but his friends and the priest all had highly expectant expressions.

—They say Darc is going to do the earth attribute too?

—Tsk, let him do all of it himself!

—O God, why did you create me, only to create Darc as well!

—I’m telling you, it’s not like that.

With the atmosphere set like this, Roan couldn’t refuse indefinitely.

‘Fine, Etherog lent his power last time, so let’s set that aside.’

If it were a devil associated with earth, it would be Kelzeritan, the Devil of the Wasteland, but since Roan had absolutely no connection with him, there was no way he would actually lend his power.

In truth, by any normal standard, Etherog was also practically a stranger.

‘Please let nothing happen, please let nothing happen…’

Roan pleaded inwardly, yet placed his hand on the Attribute Stone with an outward calm.

*Crrraaacckkk──!*