Chapter 247

Chapter 247

Taedi, who had suddenly gotten upset, stared at Roan with glaring eyes and argued.

“But it’s still our family’s name……”

“I-I’m saying this out of concern because if you name them so well, it will become increasingly difficult to name them even better later!”

Taedi rectified herself with a professor’s seasoned touch.

She then opened her arms wide to Bel and Charlotte and said.

“You cute things! Can the Professor give you a hug?”

The two holy beasts glanced up at Roan for a moment.

Only after Roan nodded to give permission did they head over to Taedi.

Squeeze─

[M-Master, this person is stronger than expected……!]

Kirreuk─!

Although they seemed surprised by Taedi’s physical strength which differed from her appearance, she was, after all, a named character of a caliber to occupy a region, so they had to bear that much.

“By the way, Professor, do you not have any spirit beasts or holy beasts of your own?”

“Eh? Ah, me? No, not yet.”

“Why do you not raise any? You like holy beasts so much.”

“Well, the Dead Forest is not a good environment for kids to grow up. It’s desolate, there’s not much to eat, and there are few beings to make friends with. It’s also dangerous to run and play.”

Moved─

Roan felt that human warmth still remained in Taedi, who came from the far-off Dead Forest.

Strictly speaking, Taedi was an elf, not a human, but anyway.

‘As expected of the Lord of the Dead Forest, she can be reasoned with!’

Taedi, who valued the environment in which holy and spirit beasts grew over her own greed, was indeed a wonderful adult, enough to take charge of holy and spirit beast-related subjects!

“Can I play with these guys for a bit before starting the class?”

“Of course. After all, they will be taking classes together in the future.”

“Eh? Taking classes together?”

Feeling a strange vibe from Roan’s words, Taedi blinked and asked.

Roan thought for a moment and slightly changed his words.

“Well…… it’s not like I can leave them outside.”

“Ah, indeed, that’s true too.”

Naturally, he meant that since Bel could use black magic, it would be good to take classes together, but it seemed he should not reveal that much yet.

‘Unless I want to test whether elves can die of a heart attack.’

It would probably be fine to let her know around next week.

Thinking about having to deal with Taedi’s fuss again then made him feel weary, but for a sustainable class, it could not be helped.

He had definitely planned it that way.

“Huh? But when I hold Charlotte in my arms, my head throbs because of the holy power, but Bel is fine. Why is that?”

[I can use black magic too!]

“Wait, Bel─”

Whoosh─!

“The magic is still……”

Before Roan had a chance to stop him, Bel, who had already accumulated a lot of fondness for Taedi like a child, demonstrated black magic.

He shot a very weak Strike of Deeper Darkness.

The black magic, about the thickness of a whip, flew and hit the wall, but quickly vanished because of Harden’s barrier.

“?”

However, Taedi saw it clearly.

Taedi looked back and forth between Bel and Roan, and then pointed at Roan with her index finger.

‘Did you do it?’

Roan frowned and shook his head as his plan was brilliantly ruined.

Taedi pointed at Bel with her index finger again.

‘Then did he do it?’

Nod─

When Roan nodded this time, Taedi burst into a loud laugh.

“Ahahahahaha!”

‘Surprisingly, she isn’t shocked?’

Roan thought he might have underestimated the Lord of the Dead Forest too much.

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

‘……It seems I estimated her correctly after all.’

While Roan was contemplating whether he should ask Harden if he could invite another professor since the professor seemed to have lost her mind.

Stop─

Taedi’s laughter stopped abruptly.

And then.

“Oh, heavens, Lord Hiloa, my goodness, give me your protection.”

Flop─!

The great black mage put on a rare spectacle of fainting right on the spot while seeking the protection of Hiloa.

At this, Bel was horrified and tapped Taedi’s body here and there.

[Huh?! I definitely shot at the wall though?!]

Fortunately, it did not take very long for Taedi to regain consciousness.

Taedi, who woke up blinking her eyes, smiled faintly as she saw Roan, Bel, and Charlotte standing around her.

“Ah…… I guess I had a dream. Goodness, a dragon using black magic.”

[What should we do, Master? I think the Professor has really lost her mind.]

‘She was just heavily shocked.’

When Roan and Bel did not reply because they were talking, Taedi interpreted the silence on her own.

“……It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Her interpretation was excellent.

Roan nodded.

“Yes.”

It was too hard for Taedi to ask questions like, “How?!”, “What on earth happened?!”, “Does that make sense?!” as usual.

Even though today’s class had not properly started yet, it felt like she had finished a whole semester.

Instead, she seriously spun a delusion about whether all this was a nasty prank by Harden who kidnapped her, rather than a reality.

……At least it was more realistic than a legendary Abyssal Dragon existing and even using black magic.

“Would you pinch my arm just once?”

Pinch─

“Ouch! Why do you pinch so hard?!”

“You asked me to pinch you……”

Fortunately (?), everything was reality.

Taedi, with an exhausted look, spoke to Roan while holding her knees to her chest.

“Let’s just do class……”

“Yes, that would be better.”

It was indeed too depressing and tiring a conversation to have before class.

Roan asked as if he suddenly remembered.

“Oh, by the way, Professor. Do you know what week this week is?”

Since Taedi had never attended Acherandir and had no way of hearing about it, she might not know that they had to take a quiz this week.

“Yes. We have to take a quiz this week, right?”

“Oh, how did you know?”

However, as a passionate professor, she had completed that much prior research.

Taedi said with a smug look.

“I heard it from a passing adventurer~!”

“?”

Roan tilted his head.

Taedi was famous for not communicating with people, let alone adventurers.

‘Did they exchange letters or something?’

Roan wondered if his friends felt this way when they heard him say he got information from his parents in a dream.

Of course, unlike Roan, Taedi’s words were the truth!

* * *

One day last week.

─ Uwaaaak! I thought you said we could pass through the Dead Forest relatively safely!

─ I-I definitely did! They said Living Woods wouldn’t appear if we didn’t damage the forest!

Two unfortunate adventurers passing through the Dead Forest had to engage in a nightmare-like night chase, pursued by necromancy black magic.

Not only Living Woods, which were moving trees, but also Spectres making chilling cries, Witch Thorns wielding vines like whips, and so on.

Every monster that could be seen in the forest was chasing them.

Naturally, those were monsters summoned by Taedi.

Even wild monsters without reason would be difficult for two people to shake off in such numbers, so there was no hope if they were systematically commanded by someone.

Ultimately, the two adventurers were quickly surrounded by monsters, leaving them trapped against a dead-end cliff.

─ Ugh…… We are really dead.

─ Why did it turn out like this?

Just then, a mysterious silhouette peeked out from behind the monsters.

The beauty of the face faintly reflecting the moonlight between the robe.

The adventurers intuitively knew that she was Taedi, the Lord of the Dead Forest.

─ L-Lord of the Dead Forest! Please spare us!

─ We didn’t touch the forest even a bit!

The notoriety of Taedi was widespread among adventurers.

If you do not see the Lord, you will be safe, but if you audience the Lord, only death remains!

Since such a proverb was even circulating, how bad must it be.

─ Ah…….

Just then, the mouth under the robe opened slightly, and a mysterious voice, not of a human, echoed.

Since the adventurers could also be called experienced in their own right, they focused on her words instead of wetting their pants.

In the first place, if she intended to kill them, she would have killed them as soon as they were surrounded, and wouldn’t bother to talk.

If only she spared them, they planned to accept even if she told them to enter the demon realm and bring the devil’s head.

─ What do Acherandir freshmen do in the 3rd week……?

─ ???

─ ???

However, the question raised by the Lord of the Dead Forest was extremely unexpected.

The two adventurers stared blankly at each other’s faces.

─ Was there a saying that the Lord of the Dead Forest lets you go if you solve a riddle?

─ I-Isn’t that a story about somewhere in the desert?

The adventurers fell into slight confusion.

─ I ask once more…… What do Acherandir freshmen do in the 3rd week……?

However, as it was a question from the existence holding their life and death, they spoke what they truthfully knew.

─ Freshmen…… you mean?

─ W-We heard they take a quiz…….

No matter how they thought, it seemed unlikely that the Lord of the Dead Forest would ask such a trivial question.

Could they have failed to notice a riddle filled with a deep meaning?

With such thoughts, the adventurers were trembling with their upper and lower teeth chattering, when.

─ I see…….

At some point, not to mention the Lord of the Dead Forest, the monsters that had pursued the adventurers as if to kill them had also clean vanished.

……It was only much later that Taedi learned a rumor had spread: “The Lord of the Dead Forest plans to lead monsters to attack Acherandir in the 3rd week.”

* * *

Anyway.

Taedi, who had wonderfully (?) found out information about the 3rd week, also had a worry.

“But since we haven’t learned much by the 3rd week, how do we take a quiz? Moreover, this is only our second time, right?”

Touch─

Naturally, people placed in difficult situations were bound to be moved by a small consolation.

As Roan’s eyes trembled slightly, Taedi asked in wonder.

“Why are you acting like that?”

“No, it’s just that I feel there should be more people like Professor Taedi in Acherandir.”

It was a relief that Monday was filled with Taedi’s class and the class of Anne, the assistant with the best personality in Acherandir history.

If it had been Uli’s and Timothy’s classes, it would have been truly bleak.

Taedi, who naturally could not know Roan’s mind, asked again.

“What if there are many black mages like me in Acherandir?”

Her face was filled with genuine worry.

‘To think even this is a normal reaction, how amazing!’

Even though the person called the Principal, or rather the Holy Spirit, had appointed a converted black mage as a full professor.

“Actually, there is already a black mage professor named Beleck Hindor.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Taedi had also heard rumors about Beleck.

She had been truly surprised when she first heard that Beleck, who was a promising black mage, suddenly converted and became an Acherandir professor.

“Well, and actually, I did some self-study last week.”

As Roan continued, Taedi was genuinely delighted.

“Oh, really? That’s wonderful! It’s the curse magic I told you about last time, right? Let’s see…… For a student of Roan’s caliber, you probably could have learned the Rotten Hand of the Dead through self-study?”

Reviewing and preparing on their own without the professor ordering it was bound to be lovely.

However.

“Ah, yes. I can also use the Rotten Hand of the Dead.”

“……‘Also’? Then what else is there?”

Roan found it bothersome to list each magic one by one, so he decided to speak of it as a whole.

“Well, I have completed all of the basic beginner magic.”

“Oh~”

“?”

Roan tilted his head, looking at Taedi who was only lightly marveling.

Given Taedi’s personality, there was no way she would let it pass at this level.

Taedi held up her palm as if telling Roan not to approach and said.

“Hold on, Student Roan.”

“Yes?”

“Heavens, Lord Hiloa, my goodness, I’m asking you to give me your protection……”

With that, she fainted once again, showcasing her rare talent.