Chapter 241

At any rate, each professor had their own share of duties, and the one that would least bother Harden was the role of the Descent Recorder.

But wasn’t it because Roan had suddenly met Jelsroin in private that things had turned out this way!

Harden narrowed his eyes, looked at Roan, and spoke.

“……If we trace it back, it is your fault, Darc.”

In fact, this was the first time Timothy was performing his duties as the Descent Recorder.

“……Yes?”

Roan widened his eyes, wondering who this holy spirit was trying to shift the blame onto now.

“Why is that my fault? I’m just a freshman who just enrolled.”

“Because if not for you, this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“……”

Hearing it, it seemed both correct and incorrect.

Harden, who withdrew his gaze from the tight-lipped Roan, gestured to Kahen.

It meant he was getting annoyed, so he should start quickly.

“Ah, yes. I will begin now.”

Kahen hurriedly pulled out a roll of parchment and a pen from his chest.

Timothy did the same.

“Hmm?”

Harden made a sound of surprise.

“Why is that, Principal?”

“It is nothing. I thought Professor Timothy would just scribble roughly with a pencil in a dusty old notebook.”

“Ah, would that be alright? Indeed, that would be more comfortable! Principal, you really understand the hearts of historians—”

“No, just write on that.”

Harden, who had almost suddenly become someone who understood Timothy’s heart, waved his hand quickly.

“Then, Young Master Roan. Shall we start from the beginning?”

Telling the story of the private meeting with Jelsroin did not take very long.

How the apprentice priest named Pan had channeled the deity, and whether there seemed to be a significant connection between channeling and descent.

And whether there were any particular problems during the private meeting.

Roan explained in great detail, just as he remembered.

“According to the revised edition of Dulf’s ‘Introduction to Descent’, there are roughly three classifications of descent, and this time it seems it can be included under induced descent. Therefore, to interpret Jelsroin’s words…”

……The problem was that he explained in too much detail.

He had done so thinking it might be helpful to explain with theories and cases in his own way.

‘H-how does Young Master Roan know all of this?’

Among them, there were occasionally things that even Kahen, the person in charge from the Holy Palace, did not know well!

He had studied a lot while staying at the Holy Palace, but was he at this level?

“And considering Lady Tabroin’s descent that occurred about 1,800 years ago, the nature of this descent is…”

“Ah, yes, yes. Hold on a moment. Lady Tabroin? Did Lady Tabroin descend 1,800 years ago?”

“Did you not know? In the southern Podling Fief…”

“Uh… no, yes, I understand, but rather than that, I would like to hear about Young Master Roan’s private meeting…”

Kahen had to sweat to somehow steer the conversation back to the main point whenever such stories came up.

‘Isn’t it better to know in more detail? Why does he keep trying to cut me off?’

Of course, for Roan, he couldn’t help but lament the Holy Palace’s sloppy execution of duties.

They were all things in the archives of the Holy Palace, so how could the person in charge be so ignorant!

Roan intended to tell him all the reference cases and advise him to study them properly when he returned to the Holy Palace, since things had turned out this way.

Staaare──

“……”

Until his eyes met Timothy’s, who was staring at him with a creepy face.

Feeling an instinctive anxiety, Roan asked Timothy.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Professor?”

Timothy replied immediately.

“You, what do you plan to do after graduation?”

*I’m going to run away.*

Roan could not answer honestly.

“I plan to… rebuild my family.”

When he spoke his public future hope, Timothy suddenly clutched his stomach and laughed.

“Uhahahaha!!!!”

Roan felt extremely displeased.

‘It is a lie, but still, laughing like that is not polite, is it?’

Then again, one should only expect politeness after looking at who the opponent is; one shouldn’t demand politeness from someone like Timothy.

“Uhahak! Oh my, oh my stomach!”

Timothy laughed heartily and spoke to Harden.

“Principal, what do you think? Student Darc says he will rebuild his family after graduation!”

Harden asked back.

“What is wrong with that?”

“No, of course, shouldn’t a fellow who knows history so well walk the path of a history professor?”

Timothy seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.

To Roan, it was the most boring joke in the world.

When the descendant of a destroyed family was rebuilding their family, it wouldn’t even be enough to support him with all their might, yet he was telling him to walk the path of a professor?

“Oho.”

Meanwhile, Harden seemed to have thought of something interesting.

Roan felt extremely uneasy looking at Harden’s expression.

“A professor. To become a professor, you would have to be an assistant.”

“Yes, and to be an assistant, you would have to go through the advanced course.”

“Then you would have to stay at school for a few more years.”

“What do you mean a few years? Once he becomes a professor, he will easily stay for decades!”

The Principal and the professor were in perfect harmony!

Roan hurriedly intervened.

“Principal, I am just a freshman who just enrolled. Isn’t such a discussion too early?”

Harden shook his head.

“What do you mean? If you have the ability, you should receive corresponding treatment. Isn’t that so, Professor Timothy?”

Timothy nodded vigorously and chimed in.

“Of course! Goodness, Dulf’s ‘Introduction to Descent’ is a book that came out when I was just studying. Moreover, how does he even know about the descent 1,800 years ago? I’ve heard a lot, but he is truly extraordinary. Joy will also like it very much. Come to think of it, we did talk about Darc last time…”

Roan was horrified by the widening smiles of Harden and Timothy.

He felt that even the scenery right before falling into the abyss of hell would be better than this.

‘I would rather turn myself in as a black mage! ……Ah, is that not it?’

Although he had acted a bit arrogant and stiff normally, telling him to become a professor at Akerandir was too cruel a punishment!

Obviously, from Harden’s perspective, the calculation was that the longer Roan stayed at Akerandir, the better.

……And Timothy was purely thinking of making Roan a professor, which was actually scarier.

Roan tapped Kahen’s arm and said.

“Please proceed with the investigation. It seems to be almost finished.”

It was a desperate SOS signal asking him to save a life.

However, Kahen was tearing up.

“Aigo!!! Young Master Roan! You have truly succeeded after enrolling at Akerandir! To think you already receive such recognition from the Principal and the professor!! And even a recommendation to be a professor! I will make sure to tell the Vice Cardinal everything without omission!”

It seemed this crisis could only be overcome by Roan himself.

Roan scowled, then pulled the parchment and pen placed in front of Kahen toward himself.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he began to write down the contents.

It was a tearful attempt to end this meeting as quickly as possible.

At that, Kahen widened his eyes and tried to stop Roan.

“Young Master Roan! You must not write it carelessly! Documents of the Holy Palace all have set formats……????”

Documents stored in the Holy Palace were strictly regulated in tone, font, and even the length of sentences and paragraphs.

Even if Roan was smart enough to be offered a professorship already, it was not a matter of that.

Since even priests who had worked at the Holy Palace for a long time frequently made mistakes.

However, seeing the contents Roan wrote, Kahen was astounded.

“A-ah! This is…?!”

Fluent handwriting, perfect format, and the length of sentences and paragraphs falling precisely as if measured with a ruler!

Honestly, it was far superior to Kahen’s skill written above, if anything, and not inferior at all.

Trickle—

Kahen, who was quietly watching Roan’s handwriting, even shed a tear.

“……Why are you acting like that again?”

Roan asked, wondering if there was still some fuss left.

Of course, he was working hard to write the report with both hands to end this meeting as quickly as possible.

Kahen spoke in a trembling voice.

“This is exactly… like what Cardinal Doris, from whom I learned the work of the Holy Palace, wrote during his lifetime.”

‘H-how did he know?’

At that, Roan was instead slightly flustered.

Because just as Kahen said, Roan had learned the Holy Palace report format from Cardinal Doris!

……Of course, back when he was playing “God and Devil”.

At any rate, Cardinal Doris was famous for writing reports so perfectly that he was counted among the top five in the long history of the Holy Palace, so he was well worth learning from.

Since the history was so long, it was not five fingers but five hands—namely, twenty-five people.

In any case, Roan had almost had his secret exposed just by writing a bit!

As expected, was a person from the Holy Palace truly different in every way?

Roan quietly withdrew the pen and tried to return it to Kahen.

At that, Kahen instead waved his hand.

“No, no. Please continue writing, Young Master. Watching my late teacher’s skill, tears blind my eyes. How on earth can such a thing…”

It seemed Kahen was more sensitive than expected.

Roan replied reluctantly.

“I learned it when I was at the Holy Palace.”

“As expected!!!”

Kahen was so moved that he even bit the hem of his sleeve.

However, in reality, it was not something to weep over to that extent just because it resembled his late teacher’s skill.

The reason was simple.

“By the way, did Cardinal Doris die? I feel like I received a letter from him not long ago.”

“Yes. He passed away five years ago. And currently, he has become a holy spirit and serves as an advisor to the Holy Palace.”

“……Then why are you crying so sorrowfully?”

“Well, isn’t it sad?”

It was precisely because Doris still remained at the Holy Palace as he was!

Although not in a human body, he possessed all his memories from life and had no problem communicating at all.

Even from Harden’s objective perspective, this was indeed Kahen making a fuss.

At any rate, Kahen, who sniffled loudly once, spoke with a firmly resolved expression.

“This will not do.”

“?”

Roan and Harden simultaneously tilted their heads.

They were quite curious about what this immature high priest would say next.

“Once you graduate, let’s return to the Holy Palace together, Young Master Roan.”

“!!!”

Cough! Cough!

Roan was horrified to the point of losing his soul, and Harden had the rare experience of choking on his own saliva despite being a holy spirit.

‘I can absolutely never go to the Holy Palace!’

‘I can absolutely never send him to the Holy Palace!’

For once, the opinions of the Principal and the student agreed.

“That will be a bit difficult, Priest Kahen.”

“Yes? Why is that? Wouldn’t going to the Holy Palace be more desirable for Young Master Roan’s future as well?”

“Are you ignoring the professorship of Akerandir right now!”

“Ah, of course, that is definitely not the case!”

Harden subdued Kahen’s spirit by scolding him lightly once.

Then, glaring at Roan with fierce eyes, he asked.

“Darc, you speak. Is it an Akerandir professor, or a Holy Palace official?”

Roan tried to reply reflexively.

“Naturally, Akerandir… no, I am going to rebuild my family!”

Fortunately, he realized it was a trap in the nick of time.

“Tsk.”

Harden felt regret at having missed a perfect opportunity.

Had Roan inadvertently said that being an Akerandir professor was better, he would have milked it forever.

Naturally, Roan was horrified witnessing that.

“At this rate, I really can’t let my guard down!”