Chapter 240

The paladin looked down strangely at Demona, who was in extreme pain.

It was clearly a formidable punitive holy art, so there was no way she would be fine so quickly.

*Step, step—*

“What are you doing not going?”

—Ah, I am going now!

The paladin hurriedly rushed ahead, unable to let Roan take the lead.

Even so, he must have been worried about Demona, as he occasionally looked back.

—!!

Just as Roan had said, Demona was already standing up!

The paladin rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.

But it was definitely the student who had just been hit by the punitive holy art.

“Why does Roan hate being expelled so much? If it were me, I would have left already!”

“Demona, shut up, please…”

Not only did she stand up perfectly fine, she was even spouting weird things.

Roan spoke to the paladin.

“What did I tell you? Let us go quickly.”

—Y-Yes, let us…

Although the paladin didn’t look back anymore, he kept tilting his head all the same.

Then, a question suddenly occurred to him.

‘Wait… what is up with this student too?’

Come to think of it, the person who stood up perfectly fine after being hit by a punitive holy art and the person who remained calm after casting it on them were equally bizarre.

The paladin’s head tilted even further.

‘Does his neck hurt or something?’

Roan wondered what on earth was wrong with this man, but remained silent lest he say something unnecessary to someone who seemed uncomfortable.

Indeed, if one had to stand guard every day like the Acherandir paladins, it was only natural for various parts of their body to ache.

…Even if they wore impressive armor that eliminated the need to go to the restroom.

* * *

Surprisingly, the place Roan was guided to by the paladin was not the Principal’s office.

It was Hetrona Hall, where first-year classes were mainly conducted.

Roan frowned slightly as he looked at the sign of the place he had to enter.

“Is it here?”

—Yes. The Principal asked me to bring you here.

“Why?”

—??

When Roan asked in a tone that made it clear he absolutely did not want to enter, the paladin tilted his head instead.

—Why is that?

Of course, from a student’s perspective, it could be a slightly uncomfortable place to enter, but there seemed to be no reason to hate it to that extent.

But for Roan, it was only natural.

It was the same for Bell, who was hanging onto Roan’s back.

“[Th-This is where that crazy dwarf professor is!]”

‘…Yes.’

— Professor Timothy Harbor’s Lab —

How could one enter nonchalantly even after seeing the nameplate hanging on the door!

‘I should have left you at the storage.’

“[Shall we go now?]”

As Roan kept hesitating, the paladin spoke.

—The Principal is waiting inside as well, so hurry up and enter.

“Ah, I see.”

Only then did Roan feel somewhat relieved and open the door.

Since Harden would at least prevent Timothy from playing all sorts of tricks on Bell.

*Creak—*

Perhaps because he was a history professor, the door to Timothy’s lab opened with a creaking sound that made it feel as if it belonged in some ruins.

It simply meant it wasn’t properly maintained.

Was that all?

Inside, there was a musty smell of old paper, and a thick layer of dust settled over relics that seemed to have been placed haphazardly.

The lab itself was dark and damp, like ruins.

*Clatter— Clatter—*

Roan walked inward, brushing aside the items that caught his feet.

Fortunately, the area past the entrance where human hands reached was slightly better.

Three people were sitting around a table for four.

To be precise, it was one human, one dwarf, and one Holy Spirit sitting in the seat of honor.

The dwarf chattered incessantly to the human sitting opposite him.

“Well, why doesn’t the Holy Emperor’s Palace review the hypothesis of the Euzen school? Do you not know how practically helpful it is when exploring ruins?”

“Haha, is that so. But that is not under my jurisdiction.”

“Again, again! Why is there no response to the request to send the giant holy stone sample discovered in the north? The Empire’s ivory tower would use it for research purposes!”

“Professor, that is also not under my jurisdiction…”

The voice dripping with exhaustion made it clear that the human had already been suffering under the dwarf’s pestering for quite a while.

Amidst that, Harden wore a mysterious expression that blended a smile with annoyance.

“Ah, Darc has arrived.”

The timely arrival of Roan made him look like a savior to two of the three.

…In fact, it was the same for the remaining one as well.

“Aigo-o-o-o!!! Our Abyssal Dragon has finally come to my lab!!!!”

The dwarf Timothy came rushing over, letting out a shriek as if rolling with his short body.

From the start, Roan didn’t even register in his eyes; he was drooling as he stared at Bell.

“Slurp! Abyssal Dragon! How is your holy magic practice going? You must be suffering a lot growing up under Darc! If you had come to me, it would have been much more beneficial!”

“[Gasp! It’s human trafficking!]”

Seeing Timothy rush over with his eyes rolling back, Bell quickly slipped into Roan’s bag.

‘…That indeed is human trafficking.’

Roan couldn’t refute Bell’s fuss this time either.

Timothy, who looked ready to snatch Bell at any moment.

*Thud—!*

“Keo-heok!”

However, once he got within a certain distance of Roan, he was pushed back unsightly and rolled several times on the floor.

“Professor Timothy. I believe I told you to sit still.”

It was Harden’s protective holy art.

Timothy shouted at Harden in grievance.

“B-But Principal! That is the Abyssal Dragon! The legendary Abyssal Dragon!”

“Which is why I gave you a two-day deposition last time.”

“That is true, but…”

Timothy looked back and forth between Roan and Harden, smacking his lips before returning to his seat.

Although he was a bit late because Timothy had made such a fuss, the man who was equally glad to see Roan was the very person dispatched from the Holy Emperor’s Palace.

“Young Master Roan! It is truly good to see you after so long. Mwahaha, you’ve been well, right? How I’ve wished to see you! In the meantime, your complexion has grown quite bright… well, you haven’t, but you look gallant!”

The man clasped Roan’s hand firmly with both of his and shook it up and down vigorously to express his intimacy.

“[Did he say the divine beast didn’t grow bright? I’ve been black all along. Is he talking about Charlotte? Did you turn black too?]”

*Kirrr—?*

‘He didn’t mean that kind of divine beast.’

“[Ah!]”

A priest’s robe made of white cloth embroidered with silver thread.

It was the attire worn by high-ranking priests even in the Holy Emperor’s Palace.

Roan verified the man’s face and greeted him.

“Priest Kahen Eledir.”

The man’s name was Kahen Eledir.

He was very close to Vice-Cardinal Secrito, who managed Roan and Yusina.

Kahen seemed immensely shocked by Roan’s words, stepping back with a *Thud—*.

“H-How, did Young Master Roan…”

‘Did I get the name wrong?’

There was no way.

It was safe to say there was no high-ranking priest working at the Holy Emperor’s Palace whose face Roan didn’t remember.

The characteristics of red hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and blue eyes indeed belonged to Kahen Eledir.

Truly on the level of the Holy Emperor’s Palace’s human resources database!

“What do you mean by that awkward ‘Priest Kahen Eledir’! Are you trying to distance yourself from me now that you’ve enrolled? Sob, if you do that, I, Kahen, will truly be sorrowful…”

Kahen wiped his tears with one sleeve, looking extremely sorrowful.

Roan was dumbfounded by the sight.

‘Seriously, the fussiness of the Holy Emperor’s Palace people!’

Granted, when it came to making a fuss, everyone in this world was extreme.

At least it was a friendly fuss, which might be a relief.

‘Then what on earth did I call him?’

Seeing Kahen weep so sorrowfully made Roan feel slightly curious.

Just then, Harden, who had been watching Kahen’s state with a pathetic look, asked.

“What did he call you when you were in the Holy Emperor’s Palace to make you act like this, Priest Eledir? I cannot imagine that stiff fellow treating you warmly.”

At that, Kahen sniffled and replied to Harden.

“Why, he called me Priest Kahen Eledir.”

“”…?””

Roan and Harden simultaneously doubted their ears, wondering if they had misheard.

But it’s exactly the same?

Kahen nevertheless explained the reason he was upset.

“Even if it’s the same Priest Kahen Eledir, it is definitely different. When you were at the Holy Emperor’s Palace, it was ‘Priest Ka↗hen Ele↘dir→,’ but now aren’t you calling me ‘Priest Kahen↘ Eledir→’? Surely your affection for me has cooled!”

“”…””

Roan and Harden gaped in silence.

Furthermore, Roan realized that the world was truly wide and full of talented people.

‘I don’t think I went that far even when analyzing characters…’

Who on earth bickers about whether affection has cooled based on the pitch accent of their name.

…Of course, he had analyzed pitch accents for other reasons quite a few times before.

“[Hmm… listening to him, I think that mister might be right, Master.]”

‘Right, do you want to get hit?’

“[Hieek! I’m sorry…]”

While Roan was quietening Bell, Harden clapped his hands—of course, creating the sound with holy power—to settle the atmosphere.

“Right. I am not curious about how you address each other, so let us begin the discussion.”

“How…”

Kahen put on a wounded expression at Harden’s cold words, but the opponent was the supreme Holy Spirit.

Once Roan also sat down, Harden introduced Kahen.

“As you seem to already know, this is Kahen Eledir. He manages holy phenomena at the Holy Emperor’s Palace.”

Holy phenomena usually referred to miracles, manifestations of ruins, traces of gods, and so forth.

And while naturally uncommon, a god’s descent also belonged to holy phenomena.

Kahen nodded with a beaming smile.

“Yes. So this time, I have come to investigate the private audience with Jelsroin that Young Master Roan experienced over the weekend.”

This was well within his expectations.

However, Roan also had one question.

“But why is it in Professor Timothy’s lab…?”

There was the Principal’s office and Cayler Hall, so why of all places Professor Timothy’s lab.

*Drip— Drip—*

The dwarf professor, who was still drooling while staring at Bell, did not seem likely to have a positive impact on the investigation no matter how one looked at it.

Fortunately, Bell and Charlotte were playing by themselves near the entrance, so they didn’t have to watch that sight.

Harden, who was looking pathetically at Timothy, spoke.

“Professor Timothy. Say something before my thoughts align with Darc’s.”

Only then did Timothy snap to his senses and nod.

“Ah, yes. Holy Spirit. Why, cross-verification of records regarding a descent is essential! In Acherandir, that is under my charge. Ahem.”

Timothy stroked his long beard, typical of a dwarf.

Just as he said, important matters like a descent were recorded and kept separately, one copy by the Holy Emperor’s Palace and another by the governing institution.

“Yes, that is true.”

“Hm? You knew?”

Roan knew at least that much.

“The question I intended to ask was… why Professor Timothy is the one in charge…”

However, since he had come to this world anyway, he wanted to ask the reason.

“…”

Harden could not answer Roan’s question.

He couldn’t bring himself to say that they had just appointed anyone since recording a descent was so rare, even if it killed his pride.

‘Wait, I am already dead, so is it fine?’