Chapter 261

Chapter 261

Yusina explained, giggling.

“We’re a secret club, you know~ There’s no point if we walk around wearing something conspicuous like a badge. Instead!”

Yusina took out her badge, brought it to her mouth, and spoke after infusing it with holy power.

“Ah, ah, can you hear me?”

─ Ah, ah, can you hear me?

Then, to their surprise, Yusina’s words were heard exactly the same from Roan and Zion’s badges.

“Whoa!”

Zion was startled.

In other words, the Sanctuary’s badge also served as a transceiver to exchange contact between members.

“This means we can talk to each other if necessary~ Of course, it’s polite not to use it unless it’s absolutely necessary. And anyway, most of the time, no one will answer!”

Given that Yusina had propagated all announcements through this badge until now, it was very natural that the response rate was disastrous.

“…….”

‘Then why did she really give it to us?’

Zion seemed a little disappointed.

At any rate, having received even the badge, Roan and Zion became official members of the Sanctuary with this.

“Alright, then that’s it for today, dismiss~ Everyone worked hard!”

Yusina said, clapping her hands.

The dismissal was quick.

“Goodbye then.”

“Yay! To the mountain!”

Whoosh─

Papat─

“I told you not to just dash out through the barrier!!”

Zorve and Nia had gone out through the barrier instead of the door, just as they always did.

Yusina stamped her feet and shouted, but the two had already flown so far away that they were easily out of sight.

“Sigh, I also have something to do today, so I won’t be able to go with you guys. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

“Ah, yes! Goodbye!”

“Yeah, see you next week~”

In the end, excluding Yusina who remained in the club room, only Roan and Zion walked out normally through the entrance.

Coming out onto the streets of the commercial district, Zion asked Roan.

“I think we don’t need to eat dinner because of the meat Senior Nia brought earlier, but how about you, Roan?”

“Same for me.”

“Then shall we just head back to the dormitory?”

“No.”

Zion tilted her head.

Roan was not one to do unnecessary actions.

There was bound to be a good reason for not heading back.

“You need to relearn dining as a member of the ruling class.”

“W-What do you mean by that?!”

Zion asked, her face flushing.

She had been a bit greedy for food until now, but wasn’t telling her to relearn dining etiquette a bit rude?

Just as Zion was about to whine and demand he take back his words.

She suddenly realized that Roan’s gaze was fixed on one spot.

At the end of his gaze was Jennifer Diella, the focal point of the female students, walking down the street with the friends who followed her.

Roan used the opportunity of having spare time to teach Zion about dining diplomacy (?).

‘If she keeps hanging out with fellows like Hector and Demona forever, she might get badly influenced.’

In particular, he was also worried because Zion in this playthrough seemed to have already been slightly influenced.

“Let’s head over there first.”

“Ah, ah? Wait for me!”

Roan took the lead and strode toward Jennifer.

“Jennifer.”

Once the distance narrowed to some extent, Roan called out to Jennifer, who was chatting with her friends.

“Who…… Kyaaaaah!!!!”

Jennifer, who turned back normally, screamed at the top of her lungs upon realizing the one calling her was Roan.

……Roan was slightly hurt.

‘Is it really something to be that surprised about?’

She would have fainted if I had asked to shake hands.

As Jennifer recoiled in shock, her surrounding friends also turned back to see what was wrong with her.

─ Kyaaaah!

─ It’s Darc!!

It was not a very pleasant thing to make five female students scream simultaneously when he wasn’t even wearing special effects makeup.

Twitch─

Thus, Roan’s expression creased even further.

─ Kyaah! He became even scarier!

The female students screamed even more.

……Around the time a vicious cycle was starting to form.

“Y-You don’t need to scream! Roan isn’t a dangerous person!”

Unable to watch any longer, Zion suddenly intervened between them and defended Roan.

Only then did the complexions of Jennifer and the other female students, who looked as if they might pass out any second, recover even a little.

“Whew, the Saintess Candidate was here too.”

─ If it’s the Saintess Candidate, she’s trustworthy!

Roan asked Zion with a disappointed expression.

“Zion, do I look that scary?”

Zion was about to readily reply no, but when she actually looked at Roan’s face, she hesitated.

Out of politeness, shouldn’t he look in a mirror and figure that out himself!

Of course, the kind Zion did not speak honestly.

“Um…… well…… no, if there’s a misunderstanding, we can just resolve it!”

Roan regretted asking for no reason.

Seeing that Zion, one of his closest friends, couldn’t answer immediately and wore a complicated expression made him even more depressed.

Meanwhile, the passing students also turned to look, hearing the female students screaming.

─ What’s going on in Acherandir?

─ Did Darc show up? Yikes! It really is Darc…….

─ C-Could he be extorting them?

Roan was so wronged that he wanted to protest to the students.

He only wanted to ask a classmate if they wanted to have a meal together, so who were they calling a thug!

However, hearing the students’ words, Jennifer suddenly realized the reason Roan had spoken to her.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I completely forgot!”

“……Forgot what.”

Roan could not understand what Jennifer had suddenly forgotten.

He hadn’t requested anything, and nothing had particularly happened.

Regardless of Roan’s confusion, Jennifer hurriedly rummaged through her pocket, pulled out her wallet, and handed it over entirely.

“I received 300 talants during Professor Wooly’s class last time, but I forgot Darc’s share…… there are 100 talants in the wallet!”

“…….”

Roan was truly dumbfounded and lost his words.

He was sure he had told her back then that she didn’t need to give him his share separately.

On the contrary, the passersby who witnessed this scene wore relaxed expressions, as if the world was indeed running according to its natural order.

─ Whew, it was just Darc extorting money as usual, right?

─ Thank goodness it wasn’t something worse!

─ Let’s go eat dinner quickly!

‘These crazy bastards…… what do they mean by ‘as usual’?’

Even though he had never demanded a single cent, Roan had suddenly become a thug who took his classmate’s talants!

Taking away talants was a heinous act that even the thugs of Dragon Street would not commit.

Even Zion, who was clearly watching this from the side.

“Hieee! Roan, did you really ask Diella for money? When?!”

“……I did no such thing.”

“Whew!”

Was showing a reaction that was not much different from the other students.

Hummm─

Well, your face is indeed a receipt.

‘What is that supposed to mean?’

Roan clicked his tongue at the annoying vibration of the False Divinity and spoke to Jennifer.

“Didn’t I say I don’t need the money. And I believe I said we could speak informally between friends.”

“……? Ah, right. Indeed.”

Jennifer nodded a beat late, but she did not withdraw her hand holding the wallet.

─ Hey, look at that. Isn’t that one of those ‘pretend we’re close’ things?

─ Do you really have to hear it to know? My goodness, to think I would witness that in Acherandir.

─ Just because he has the Abyss Dragon, does he think he can do anything……

─ If you have the Abyss Dragon, isn’t that indeed everything?

─ I-Is that so?

As always, the students interpreted that scene in their own way.

Bell, who was sitting on Roan’s shoulder, suddenly asked as if he had just realized.

[Ah! Master, if it’s uncomfortable for you to take it directly, should I take it?]

Bell spoke while scratching the back of his head awkwardly with his wing, as if his quick-wittedness had been lacking!

Come to think of it, hadn’t Roan also given money through his holy beast last time.

Glance─

[Ah, I won’t take it…….]

Roan immediately silenced Bell and pushed Jennifer’s hand back.

“I really don’t need the money. I called you because I wanted to have dinner together. With Zion here too.”

“Eh?”

Jennifer tilted her head heavily, as if it was a truly unexpected matter.

Then she pointed at herself with her index finger and asked.

“With me?”

“Yes.”

“With you?”

“……Yes.”

“The Saintess Candidate too?”

Does she have a hearing problem?

When Roan’s complexion worsened at the repeated questions, Jennifer quickly nodded.

“A-Alright! I’ll pay!”

“There’s no need. Since I arranged this gathering, I will pay.”

Roan’s financial situation was not so tight that he had to be treated to a meal by a friend who earned a mere 300 talants from a side job.

……No, in fact, Roan’s pocket was deep enough that treating the entire freshman class would have been perfectly fine.

However, Jennifer strongly expressed her intent, even waving both hands.

“No, I’ll pay! I really want to pay! I’ll buy it!”

[At that rate, we should probably let her pay.]

“……If you want to buy it that badly, then do so.”

Fearing that another strange rumor would spread if he declined further, Roan relented.

The surrounding students were already standing in a circle, watching Roan and Jennifer as if they were a spectacle.

─ He’s not extorting her, but asking her to buy him dinner?

─ You fool, he’s just saying that for now, but he means to ask for it in a private room.

─ Gasp! How scary, scary…….

‘At this point, it might actually be more comfortable to just extort them (?)……’

Roan wanted nothing more than to leave this place as quickly as possible.

“Let’s go then. There’s a decent restaurant.”

“Ah, okay.”

Roan took the lead and began to walk down the street.

The female students who had been with Jennifer naturally slipped away during the process.

After all, the purpose of this dinner was to help Zion and Jennifer build a friendship.

Once that was done, they would naturally get close to those female students too, so it didn’t matter.

While walking a bit further down the street, he heard Zion and Jennifer whispering quietly behind him.

“Excuse me, Saintess Candidate.”

“Yes?”

“……If you are being forced to hang out with Darc, please wave your staff.”

Flinch─

“…….”

Even without looking back, Roan could vividly picture what Zion looked like right now.

She must be extremely flustered, looking back and forth between Roan and Jennifer’s reactions.

“I-It’s nothing like that. If you get to know him, Roan is actually a kind and warm person.”

“……? Kind and warm……?”

Diella’s tone was full of the feeling of ‘Just what on earth did you go through to be able to say such a thing?’

“O-Of course he is. I think so too. ……No, Saintess Candidate, I’m telling you that you need to wave your staff.”

“No, I’m telling you Roan is not that kind of person……”

Zion and Jennifer bickered back and forth over Roan.

The two seemed to think they were keeping it quiet, but Roan, who could hear the entire conversation clearly, felt complicated.

Since he could hear even Riel’s quiet mutters, Roan was not someone who would fail to hear just because they lowered their voices.

‘Normally in novels or manga, don’t they fight because they like the protagonist?’

He didn’t even wish to be liked.

Roan also had no desire to get involved with kids who were basically the age of his nieces and nephews.

However, that didn’t mean he was fine with being treated like a criminal without rhyme or reason.

At that moment, catching sight of someone, Roan turned back to the two who were having a quiet argument.

“……! S-Sorry.”

Jennifer apologized immediately.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Yet Zion, who had been defending Roan, had no idea why she was apologizing.

“Forget about that, Jennifer.”

“U-Uh, yes?”

“It would probably be a bit uncomfortable to have dinner with just the three of us, right?”

“Huh?”

At Roan’s nonchalant question, Jennifer tilted her head.

‘He knew?’

If he knew, why did he insist on eating together?