Chapter 252

Chapter 252

Roan called Demona, who was running around diligently and flailing her arms.

“Demona.”

“Huh? Did you finally get the mind to take me back?”

“No, it’s not that. More importantly, I think something big will happen if you don’t go quickly.”

“Eeeh?”

Demona stood rooted to the spot as if asking what that meant.

Then, Banjjak, who was flying in the air and swinging its horn, sat on her back, and the Black Knight, who was similarly running in the air and throwing kicks, sat quietly on the top of her foot.

‘Is that a skill?’

Roan felt a slight doubt and pointed behind him.

It was the direction of Percibarun Hall, where Vulcan’s laboratory, the Holy War Club room, and the classes for divine and spiritual beasts were located.

Billow, billow—

“Is it going to rain?”

An ominous dark cloud hung over Percibarun Hall.

If such a dark cloud was seen in Acherandir, what could one expect?

An ignorant freshman would worry about the weather.

An experienced student would worry about Professor Vulcan.

And in the case of the Holy War Club members, who could be considered Vulcan’s direct subordinates…

Rumble, crash—!

“Eek, it’s a lightning ghost!”

“It’s not a lightning ghost, it’s a lightning bear.”

“Huh?”

“It means that if we don’t arrive at Percibarun Hall before that lightning strikes twelve times, Professor Vulcan will come to catch us himself.”

They had to worry about their own lives.

That dark cloud and lightning were Professor Vulcan’s alarm clock.

Normally, it rang (?) with a bit of leeway, but this time it did not.

‘He’s probably bored because he was under confinement over the weekend.’

Because of recruiting Roan as a guest member, Vulcan had been locked up all weekend.

It must have been quite frustrating for Vulcan, in whom the blood of the lightning bear remained thick.

Demona asked.

“Isn’t it good if he comes himself? We don’t have to walk all the way with difficulty.”

“…….”

Sion’s mouth fell open at the truly Demona-like question.

Normally, when told a professor was coming in person, students would be terrified and think of how to get there quickly, not think, ‘Isn’t that actually better?’ like that.

Roan smiled and nodded.

“Right, then wait.”

“Seeing Roan talk like that, I need to go quickly…”

Demona had gotten very used to Roan’s way of speaking before she knew it!

Demona, whose face had turned white, hugged the Black Knight in her arms and began to run in a hurry.

“I-I’ll go first! See you later, guys~”

“Right, go well.”

“Work hard~”

Sion waved her hand at the sight of Demona running incredibly hard for her usual self.

“Will Demona be able to make it in time?”

Although the lightning had only struck once so far, the distance from the Great Temple of Nerchiora to Percibarun Hall was quite far.

Roan shook his head firmly.

“She cannot.”

“?”

Sion tilted her head at the razor-sharp response.

“If Professor Vulcan is ringing the lightning alarm like that, it means he has already taken measures to prevent half of the members from arriving.”

In short, a rational judgment that there was no way Demona would make it into the top 50% of Acherandir’s Holy War Club!

‘He, he took measures?’

Sion trembled at the terrifying words that came out of Roan’s mouth.

She did so especially because she was one of the few freshmen who had witnessed Vulcan’s terrifying appearance last week.

Just what kind of club made even going to its activities so difficult?

However, there was a reason why it was a Holy War “club” and not a Holy War “circle.”

Taking Earth as an example, one could think of a school’s athletic department.

It was not a simple circle, but a club properly trained at the school level!

Of course, since Vulcan did not do such things just to torture the students, the basic physical training would definitely be thorough.

“Anyway, let us go.”

“Ah, yes…….”

Even though Roan moved first, Sion kept glancing toward the direction of Percibarun Hall.

“What is it?”

“No, it’s just… I felt like Demona really suffers a lot under the professors.”

Roan clicked his tongue at Sion’s incredibly kind words.

‘This is why it’s a problem when a person is too kind!’

To think she was worrying about someone like Demona because there was no one else in the world to worry about.

“The professors suffer a lot because of Demona as well.”

“Ah?”

Sion nodded as if she understood something at Roan’s point.

“While we only get the short end of the stick.”

“Ah…….”

And she became a little depressed at the following remark.

‘But since Roan casts a lot of punishment holy magic, I don’t think he only gets the short end of the stick…’

Sion decided not to worry needlessly and just follow closely behind Roan.

─ Ugh! Professor Vulcan rang the alarm!

─ What’s going on all of a sudden? He usually doesn’t do this at the beginning of the semester!

─ You idiot, he was under confinement over the weekend!

─ Ah, right, indeed!

Here and there, students who appeared to be members of the Holy War Club were running around as if their tails were on fire.

Whoosh—

─ P-Put out the fire!

‘…What’s with the guy whose body is actually on fire?’

Among them, for some reason, was a student who was actually on fire.

There was also a half-blood Ember Cat student whose tail was originally on fire.

‘Looking at it this way, it’s truly no different from an animal farm.’

It was a scene that made one realize once again that this was an empire where all kinds of human races, beastmen, mixed bloods, and species lived together.

Then, Sion asked Roan.

“By the way, what will we do when we go to the club room today?”

Normally, it was a question asked because she truly didn’t know what they did, but this time, the meaning was slightly different.

“To be honest, I don’t really know what our club does…….”

A rational suspicion that they truly had nothing to do even if they went to the club room every week!

Roan spoke solemnly to the freshman who had already slacked off (?).

“You must not participate in club activities with such a complacent mindset.”

“Ah. A-As expected, right?”

Sion nodded.

Although the purpose or activity was uncertain, it was only because she didn’t know it, and it would definitely be meaningful!

‘Actually, it is true that we don’t do much in particular.’

…But that was not the case.

However, there was a reason why Roan could speak to Sion like this at least this time.

“Today is quiz week, is it not?”

“Right?”

“It is also the day when the club verifies the skills of the new members.”

“H-Heek!”

Sion turned pale at the news that even the club she trusted was giving a test.

This week truly seemed to be an inseparable week from exams.

“S-Skill verification?”

“Yes. But do not worry too much.”

“But that is also a test in a way.”

“Because the difficulty of skill verification varies depending on the participating seniors. Usually, the more who participate, the harder it gets.”

“Whew…….”

Sion let out a sigh of relief.

If it became more difficult the more seniors participated, there was no need to worry in the case of Sanctuary.

Yusina would definitely be there, and the others usually didn’t show their faces.

At best, Zorv?

‘…No way those two are the only seniors, right?’

It was so difficult to meet members of Sanctuary that such a suspicion naturally arose.

Roan smiled faintly and added a word.

“And, if all goes well, you might find out what kind of club ours is today.”

Shiver—!

For some reason, Sion became just a little more anxious at Roan’s words.

* * *

Roan and Sion arrived at Sanctuary’s club room without being late.

“……?”

However, the atmosphere inside the club room was quite different from last time.

The club room’s barrier was completely darkened, blocking out the light from outside as if a blackout curtain had been drawn.

Instead, thanks to the candles lit in every corner, it was not very difficult to make out the interior.

And in the middle of such a club room, two people were wearing suspicious white masks.

“Khehehe… Welcome to the club room…”

It seemed like one of the two was speaking, but perhaps due to a voice-modulating holy spell applied to the mask, it was impossible to guess exactly whose voice it was.

In any case, the eerie atmosphere sent a shiver down Sion’s spine.

‘W-Was this a heretical club?!’

No wonder it was a secret club and they didn’t really tell her what they did; to think there was such a secret!

If she assumed that it was hard to meet the club seniors because they were heretics, everything clicked perfectly into place.

‘Ugh, what should I do! Do I have to return Noeul-ie as well to withdraw?’

Hesitate—

Just as Sion realized the secret of the secret club, Sanctuary (?), and tried to step back behind Roan.

“It is nothing of the sort.”

“Whew—wait, no, what?”

Roan spoke, holding the frightened Sion to prevent her from retreating.

“W-What is not?”

“It is not a heretical club.”

“Heek! Mind reading!”

Sion was startled when her thoughts were detected so precisely.

Could it be?

“Is R-Roan a h-heretic too?”

Could Roan be a heretic as well, reading minds with a unique holy spell?

No wonder he knew everything about the club; thinking about it this way, it fit perfectly again.

In fact, technically speaking, there was very little he didn’t know besides the club, but such details were not very important in her delusion anyway.

“……?”

Roan was dumbfounded by Sion’s absurd delusion.

‘How did she know?’

…It was absurd because it was too accurate.

However, Roan spoke without a hint of hesitation, pointing to the two people inside the club room.

“Look at those two a bit more closely.”

“Yes?”

Only then did Sion properly observe the masked duo.

She hadn’t noticed earlier because the candlelight was not very bright, but it was obvious who they were—one had long, dark ash-colored hair, and the other had holy relics plastered all over their body.

Coo—

Flutter—

Since Goldy the yellow iron-scale bird and Locke the Moonlight Watcher were wandering around in the first place, the masks were practically useless.

“It is the Saintess and Senior Zorv, is it not?”

“Yes.”

“Whew!”

Sion let out a sigh of relief.

She had been startled thinking it was a heretical club, but they were just her ordinary Sanctuary seniors.

‘But if it were a real heretical club, would that really matter anyway?’

Roan had a slight doubt, but it was best not to create unnecessary trouble.

Just then, the one with long ash-colored hair among the masked figures brandished a fist and spoke.

“Hey, Roan! Why did you tell her! That’s no fun!”

Her tone was unmistakably Yusina’s, but because of the voice-modulating holy spell, the voice was bizarre and sounded quite strange.

Tap, tap—

At that moment, the holy relic mask tapped the ash-haired mask.

It was a signal to maintain the concept.

At that, the ash-haired mask went, “Ah,” cleared her throat, and lowered her voice again.

“Of course, I am not Yusina.”

““…….””

Roan and Sion were left speechless by such shamelessness.

Or perhaps, by the clumsiness.

This time, the holy relic mask spoke.

“We are the New Member Skill Verification Committee.”

Roan nodded and tossed a question.

“Then who is the chairman?”

““…….””

The two masked figures were speechless at the unexpected question.

Swish—

The masks, having hesitated for a moment, looked at each other and then spoke to Roan at the same time as if it required no thought.

““Of course it is me……?””

Soon, the atmosphere began to grow hostile.

“What? Hey, I am the Saintess, so of course I am the chairman! There is a proper order to things!”

“Nonsense. Have you ever properly led anything? The chairman is naturally me, who leads the Dragon Street.”

“Is having a lot of money everything? Down with the plutocratic election!”

“What a specimen of authoritarianism. The Empire does not run in such a manner.”

Watching their fierce debate, Roan thought.

‘‘Why did they even wear the masks if they were going to do that?’’

Did they wear them just for fun?