Chapter 250

Chapter 250

‘There are more requirements in class than I expected.’

Roan lamented the quiz, which was not easy even with a black magic talent of 100.

Was it really this difficult to survive in this world!

……Of course, it was strictly Roan’s own thoughts.

Anyway, this was the end of Taedi’s class too.

“What do we do during the remaining time?”

Taedi asked Roan.

To reiterate, it was not Roan who asked Taedi, but Taedi who asked Roan.

Roan asked back with an absurd look.

“Why are you asking me that?”

Wasn’t it the professor who decided what to do during class time?

“Ah, I was the professor, right. I forgot because it was so fascinating that you solved the Stage 7 cube.”

Taedi clapped her hands and pondered for a moment.

Roan thought it was a great relief that very few people set foot in the Dead Forest.

If that weren’t the case, he couldn’t even imagine where and in what state Taedi would be living by now.

‘Well, normally class would be over after the quiz, but Taedi can’t leave unless Harden sends her back.’

Though she looked so bright, she was a pitiful character in her own way.

‘Oh, wait a moment?’

Roan frowned for a moment.

Just as he thought, Taedi could not return to the Dead Forest without Harden.

What if Harden never came to McGodal Hall?

“…….”

“Why are you acting like that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Roan decided not to tell the truth he realized, in case Taedi would get too terrified.

‘You, you were kidnapped.’

Until now, he had said “kidnapped, kidnapped” as a joke, but Taedi had indeed been kidnapped by Acherandir!

“Ahaaa~”

Taedi, as if she just remembered something to do.

Taedi rummaged through her subspace pocket and said.

“My goodness~ I forgot that I brought this to give to Student Roan!”

“To give to me?”

What Taedi pulled out was a fairly heavy bundle.

“Hurry and open it!”

Taedi said to Roan, gesturing proudly toward the bundle with her eyes.

Roan opened the bundle in a daze.

What came out of it was, surprisingly, ingredients for chemical reagents used in black magic.

They were all carefully packed in storage paper or glass bottles, so it was clear that Taedi had personally prepared them.

Was this what a soldier serving in a remote area felt when they saw a mobile canteen wagon?

Moved─

Roan felt a warmth he had rarely felt since entering Acherandir, from a fellow black mage.

“Professor……”

“Student Roan……”

A wave of emotion just like delivering donations at a year-end charity event for the underprivileged!

Roan and Taedi held hands, their eyes glistening as they nodded.

‘I know everything in Student Roan’s heart, use these to survive well.’

‘Professor, I will definitely succeed and go to donate my talent to the Dead Forest!’

As they shared such emotion, Roan examined the items in the bundle and spoke.

“Professor, but these are……”

“Ah, I figured Student Roan would know how to use them anyway, so I specially chose ones that are compatible with or look similar to holy magic.”

Taedi nodded as if telling him not to worry.

However, Roan held up one of them and asked.

“Isn’t this sparrow-tail grass?”

“Yes! Sparrow-tail grass is used to stabilize dark mana. It looks similar to crow-tit-tail grass, so not many people will recognize it.”

“What do you mean! The end of the leaf of sparrow-tail grass is brown, and crow-tit-tail grass is dark brown, which clearly distinguishes them. This seems far too dangerous.”

“……?”

Taedi was rendered speechless by Roan’s firm tone.

To be sure, in theory, sparrow-tail grass and crow-tit-tail grass were indeed distinguished that way.

But even if there was a difference between brown and dark brown, how much of a difference could it make?

It was common for even ordinary herbalists to request classification from experts or distinguish them using special tools.

Moreover, since Taedi had brought dried ones, it was even harder to tell.

“For this blood-red moss, did you really think they would confuse it with red moss?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Good grief, although Acherandir students have not learned herbalism yet, they will immediately recognize something this obvious.”

I don’t think they would recognize it though.

Because Roan spoke so seriously and worriedly, Taedi could not even state her opinion.

Even after that, Roan pulled out various ingredients and expressed his worry.

Dejected, Taedi packed up the bundle again.

“Then I’ll take them back……”

“No, since you went through the trouble of preparing them, I will try to use them well without getting caught.”

“?”

For the first time, Taedi felt this disciple was slightly annoying.

Sapping away all her excitement, and then saying he would use them on his own.

“W-Well, alright then.”

However, Taedi actually had one more trump card she had prepared!

‘Hehehe, no matter how Student Roan is, he won’t be able to keep his composure when he sees this!’

As Taedi giggled to herself and rummaged through her pocket, Roan asked with a look of disbelief.

“Could it be that you are giving me something else again……?”

Even just the ingredients were a tremendous help, but this was practically like a Giving Tree.

‘Did she really start to become a tree because she lives with trees?’

To think she was taking care of him so thoroughly when she herself was a black mage under threat from the Empire!

……Not that he had any intention of refusing, though.

However, what Taedi pulled out was an object that was unexpectedly small in volume.

It was in a form where several sheets of old paper with a foreign language written like talismans were attached like sticky notes.

Seeing it, Roan’s eyes went wide.

‘Jackpot!’

Although it looked shabby on the outside, those papers were precious items incomparable to the previous reagents.

Taedi tried to explain the item proudly.

“Ethem, speaking of these papers─”

“Isn’t this the Adventurer’s Survival Ticket?!”

“……You know this too?”

How did he really know?

Roan said casually.

“I read it in a book.”

“No, excuse me, but what kind of books do you read that you saw everything in a book?”

Did he read an encyclopedia?

Of course, he had read encyclopedias before, but the Adventurer’s Survival Ticket was not registered there either.

“It comes out if you read Biography of Harden thoroughly. Roughly in Volume 117.”

“??????”

At the unexpected title of the book, Taedi tilted her head.

‘Why does a black mage read Biography of Harden……?’

Normally, Biography of Harden was read by clergymen, and black mages would not even touch it unless they were quite eccentric.

Even among those eccentrics, they probably wouldn’t read up to Volume 117, which was a relatively recent publication (?).

‘S-Should I read it too…….’

But since he had such vast and diverse knowledge, Taedi also had such a thought in vain.

Anyway.

“Then you must know what this does too.”

“Yes, isn’t it a type of talisman recorded with teleportation magic that teleports the user within a 5-meter range when used by tearing the paper.”

It was a convenient class where there was no need to explain.

Just as Roan said, the survival tickets were created with magic, not holy magic or black magic.

The language written on the paper was ‘runic characters’ used in magic.

The characteristic of magic tools made with ordinary magic was that even people who did not know magic could easily use it, so adventurers often favored it.

In any case, it was indeed a necessary item for Roan, who was threatened (?) anytime and anywhere.

“But where did you obtain this precious item?”

Roan asked Taedi.

To adventurers, a single ticket was no different from a single life.

It would not have been an item easily obtained.

Taedi parted her lips for a moment and then answered like this.

“I picked it up on my way here!”

“I see. As expected, the Dead Forest is a grand place.”

Roan only nodded and did not ask further.

He had noticed the complex circumstances hidden in the phrase “picked it up on my way.”

Taedi also felt comfortable because she did not have to say, ‘Actually, I chased down the adventurers who found out the academic schedule and shook down their useful items.’

Although she rarely did such a thing, seeing her disciple so happy made it rewarding!

Anyway, since the item delivery ceremony was all finished.

Now really having nothing to do, Taedi, who was fidgeting her fingers, asked suggestively.

“Shall we do some research on magic circles during the remaining time?”

“Oho. Research on magic circles. Sounds good.”

Roan also showed interest, not wanting to spend the remaining time in vain.

The discussion on magic circles with Taedi was indeed beneficial.

As Roan agreed, Taedi giggled and pulled out a parchment with a magic circle drawn on it from her pocket.

Roll roll roll─

“This is the magic I’ve been researching lately.”

Roll roll roll roll─

“I’ve been working hard in my own way, but should I say I lack inspiration?”

Roll roll roll roll roll─

……However, for some reason, the parchment kept coming out endlessly.

‘At that rate, they must have caught at least three sheep. No, is it about four?’

Although Roan had watched with expectant eyes at first, his gaze became slightly ambiguous from a certain point.

What on earth did she think of a freshman to think of showing him such a volume of magic circles.

Roll roll roll─

“Ah, pulled it all out!”

“Excuse me, Professor, but I am a freshman.”

“Yes! So?”

“…….”

Taedi asked brightly.

Roan shook his head, as if it didn’t matter if she didn’t know.

Taedi ran here and there, spreading the giant parchment inside the classroom.

Room 101 was not that small a room, but almost half of it was filled.

It was difficult to even count how many magic circles were drawn inside it.

[M-My eyes are spinning, spinning…….]

Bel, who had tried to fly up slightly to see the parchment from above, was knocked out early.

Roan stood at the edge of the parchment with Taedi and examined the vast amount of magic circles.

“At this scale, isn’t this collective magic?”

“Well, the scale is indeed like that, but do you see the magic circles here, there, and over there? For now, my goal is to use it alone! If that’s not possible, just me and one other person?”

Where Taedi pointed, a sealing array that delayed magic casting and confined mana was drawn.

The usage was just as she said.

‘Huh? Then could this be……?’

Although he had not yet heard what magic it was, a thought crossed Roan’s mind.

“May I ask what magic this is?”

As Roan asked carefully, as if all sorts of emotions crossed her mind just by thinking about it.

Happy yet bitter.

She answered with an expression mixed with expectation and resignation.

“It’s recovery magic. Well…… to revive the forest.”

‘As expected!’

Roan shuddered as he confirmed that his expectation was correct.

The narrative quest of Taedi, the Lord of the Dead Forest.

‘Great Resurrection: Dead Forest’.

A quest that could only be performed when playing a black mage character, which activated when a black mage who met certain conditions entered the Dead Forest.

The progression involved the player and Taedi casting giant magic in two separate locations in the Dead Forest.

If they managed to clear it…….

Roan gulped.

‘But in this case, it will go a step further than the narrative quest.’

In “God & Devil,” grades were often given to quests.

Actually, even a Narrative Quest was treated as an important event for a named character.

Above that was the Legendary Quest.

The clear condition was to create a result that could remain as a legend in the Empire and the continent.

What if he could create this giant magic together with Taedi?

And what if they could cast the magic together?

Roan called Taedi with a firm expression.

“Professor.”

“Yes?”

Knowing nothing, Taedi looked up at Roan while blinking her large eyes.

“I will definitely work hard with you…… no, I will work hard to help you. Let’s make sure we complete it by all means.”

“Student Roan……”

Although Roan had made this decision because his eyes were turned by the legendary-grade quest, whatever.

To Taedi, it simply looked like a passionate student trying to help with the professor’s work.