Chapter 277

Chapter 277

Having come to the restroom to avoid the eyes of others, Roan confirmed that no one was inside.

Bell, who was riding on his shoulder, asked inquisitively.

[Master, do you really have constipation?]

“……No.”

[Whew.]

Sighing in relief, Bell decided to wait outside with Charlotte.

‘Why don’t you wait inside?’

[……Even if you are my master, I don’t want to watch that.]

‘……Then wait outside.’

Since it made sense upon further thought, Roan didn’t bother to stop him.

Now completely left alone, Roan immediately opened the administrator authority of the Forbidden Library.

As he opened the stone gates and entered as always, the vast and mysterious Forbidden Library unfolded before him.

“Loo-loo-loo~”

At the entrance, Ludiac was comfortably sitting on a rocking chair, humming and rocking back and forth.

‘What a comfortable life he has. While someone is out there struggling just to survive.’

Roan called Ludiac.

“Lord Ludiac.”

“Eh? I didn’t call you, so why are you here?”

Ludiac stopped rocking and was startled.

Roan spoke with a slightly pathetic expression.

“I’m sorry, but this place is my authority.”

“Ah, right~”

Having called Roan a few times recently, Ludiac seemed to think this was entirely his own domain.

“So, why did you come?”

Roan tilted his head slightly at Ludiac, who asked so nonchalantly despite everything.

“Did you happen to see the dream last night?”

“No, I was sleeping.”

“…….”

Right, he should have known whom to ask.

‘But aren’t dreams something you have while sleeping?’

Roan thought it was a bit strange, but then again, Ludiac and Demona being strange wasn’t exactly a day-to-day occurrence anymore.

“Since you didn’t see it, never mind the details. I plan to borrow the introductory books for Black Mark and the Void attribute.”

“Ah, Black Mark and Void. Wait…… Huh?”

About to rise and head toward the bookshelves at Roan’s request, Ludiac froze.

Then, he began to let out a shriek-like sound.

“Whaaat?!?!?! Void? Why are you trying to borrow a book on such an evil attribute?! Are you some kind of evil black mage?!”

“……I don’t know about being evil, but I am a black mage for now.”

“Ah, right, indeed. Then of course I should lend it to you~”

“Tsk.”

Roan clicked his tongue loudly, unable to hold back any longer.

If he was going to accept it so easily, why on earth did he make such a huge fuss.

‘No, in the first place, aren’t books like that the only ones in the Forbidden Library?’

Perhaps because he had been trapped in this narrow place for 5,000 years…

Wooong—

I didn’t know you were a black mage, but I did know you were evil.

Meanwhile, the Fake Divinity, hearing Ludiac’s words, giggled and teased Roan.

As Ludiac waded through the bookshelves and waved his arms widely, a bright light burst forth, and countless books gathered around him.

The ancient books, numbering easily in the hundreds, and Ludiac enveloped in dazzling light were truly not lacking to be called a great figure at the center of the empire’s founding.

‘He is really fine as long as he doesn’t open his mouth.’

Exactly.

Roan and the Fake Divinity sighed deeply at that sight.

─ The Void and Black Mark…

Flap-flap-flap—

─ Argh, hey! I’m the librarian, and you dare attack me, mere books? What book are you?! I’ve marked your cover!

Who was it that said,

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

The sight of Ludiac showing such a cool effect, yet in reality merely being bullied by wild books, was a comedy itself.

It wouldn’t happen, but if Demona, who had mastered holy magic, were being beaten up by Banjjak and the Black Knight, it might feel like that.

‘What if Demona really becomes the head of the Wicronon family at this rate? She is the heir for now, but…’

Roan felt a strange sense of anxiety for some reason.

After wrestling with the books for a long time, Ludiac appeared before Roan looking quite battered.

He was holding two books in his arms for now.

“Here, I had a hard time getting these.”

“It seemed so.”

Roan nodded and took the books.

─ Modern Black Mages Proudly Engrave the Black Mark! ─

First, the book that caught his eye was related to the Black Mark.

Wooong—

Won’t you get arrested if you proudly engrave it…?

As a reader, one couldn’t help but question the author’s sanity.

Looking only at the title, it was believable even if someone said an inquisitor wrote it as a trap.

Of course, Roan knew the identity of this book.

‘This is here too.’

It was a fairly famous book that could often be found outside; the title was a bit suspicious, but it was still a proper introductory guide.

Of course, the ‘modern’ in the title was estimated to be about several hundred years ago.

Considering that arrests of intermediate black mages rose noticeably back then, it seemed it was a well-known book by word of mouth even then.

It seemed proudly engraving it and proudly getting arrested was the trend.

And next was, naturally, the book related to the Void.

─ Intermediate Specialized Attribute: Void ─

This book at least bore a normal-feeling title.

However, books of this nature usually had inner covers worth seeing.

Flip—

As Roan turned the cover page.

─ Run away!!!! ─

─ Mom, I don’t want to grow up to be a Void! ─

─ The f***ers who made this, f*** f*** f***… ─

─ Yeah, if you can’t master Void, you can just learn the Shadow attribute instead~ ─

Curse and warning messages written in all kinds of suspicious ink packed the inner cover page.

“Heeek—! What is this?”

Ludiac shuddered upon reading the bizarre content.

And Roan nodded with a satisfied smile.

‘It has to be at least this much to be worth learning.’

Void was an attribute notorious for being even more dependent on talent among the intermediate advanced attributes, just like the Abyss.

The black mages who wrote these words beforehand were undoubtedly those who failed to overcome that barrier and gave up.

Having hit the wall of Void right when their confidence was overflowing after reaching the intermediate level, their despair could only be greater.

Furthermore, while other difficult attributes became relatively easier to learn if challenged again later.

If Void was not mastered on the first attempt, it became increasingly harder to get a feel for it, making it perceived as an even rarer attribute.

But Roan?

‘The only question is how many days it will take to master.’

Mastering it was not the problem.

The only issue was whether he could master it within today, or more precisely, within a week inside the Bell of Eternity.

Seeing Roan’s gloomy smile, Ludiac gasped even more than when he had seen the inner cover.

“A-A crazy black mage!”

Roan, now past the point of being dumbfounded, simply pulled out the Bell of Eternity and handed it to Ludiac.

“I will teach you how to release me this time.”

“Ah, yes.”

Ludiac, who was backing away from Roan just a moment ago, trotted over immediately.

Roan briefly explained the rhythm and beat to ring when releasing people inside the Bell of Eternity.

Ludiac learned it surprisingly fast.

“Like this?”

“Yes, that is how you do it. Make sure to keep the final rhythm correct so that only the person who entered last comes back out, so remember it well.”

Roan emphasized the final part in particular.

Of course, this was within Roan’s authority.

Technically, since this space was permitted only to him, there was no way Oslo’s gang would pop out even as time passed, but just in case.

Even the great Roan had rarely imagined such a bizarre act as opening the Fake Forbidden Library as a black mage and entering the Bell of Eternity inside it to train.

“Haha, this is indeed the first Wicronon~”

Giddy at receiving Roan’s acknowledgment, Ludiac raised his shoulders high and asked as if to say ‘just tell me.’

“In how many days should I pull you out this time?”

“Ah, this time I plan to fill the entire week, so you don’t have to ring it separately.”

“Then why did you teach me…”

Ludiac felt disappointed that he couldn’t use what he had just memorized.

Roan chuckled and spoke.

“I will go inside now.”

“Yeah. Then tell me how to send you in.”

“……?”

Roan wore a look of supreme patheticness at Ludiac, who requested so confidently.

“I forgot since it’s been so long~”

But since he didn’t know, there was no choice.

In any case, sending in and pulling out was just doing it in reverse, so it wasn’t very difficult.

“……Now, please truly send me in.”

“Yes, I understand…”

Ludiac had finally fully mastered the usage of the Bell of Eternity.

Yet, right before sending Roan in, he suddenly began to sniffle.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Just…… because it feels like you’re finally about to become a true black mage.”

It was, so to speak, like the expression of a parent marrying off their son or daughter.

“…….”

Roan’s expression became complicated for some reason.

‘Even so, shouldn’t he of all people not act like that?’

It seemed like Ludiac was trying to cheer him on, but receiving support as a black mage from the first Wicronon felt delicate.

Wooong—

Why? I’m an authority, he’s an authority, and the principal is a holy spirit.

“Ah, that’s true.”

Roan was immediately convinced by the Fake Divinity’s words.

……Come to think of it, among those who cheered for Roan, there were many existences who, logically, shouldn’t be cheering for him.

Cling—!

And with a cheerful ring, Roan was sucked into the Bell of Eternity, feeling a very unpleasant sensation.

* * *

The scenery inside the Bell of Eternity had not changed much from when he last entered.

A wasteland filled with red dirt and boulders.

And blazing sunlight shining down from a clear sky without a single cloud.

But if there was a difference.

─ Ugggh…… wh-who…… Hieee──!

─ What is it…… Gasp!

It was the presence of the black mages he had captured and locked up over the weekend.

Because the Bell of Eternity absorbed dark mana so excessively, the black mages now looked so emaciated and haggard that it was almost pitiful to look at them.

─ A-Am I seeing things?

Shuffle— shuffle—

─ N-No, it’s not!!!

Seeing Roan suddenly appear, they were terrified and tried to flee, even if they had to crawl along the ground.

Roan spoke in a lukewarm voice.

“……I feel a bit bad if you’re that terrified.”

─ D-Does that even make sense to say!

─ I knew you were cruel since the duel, but to admit a fellow like you as an Acherandir student! The empire’s destiny is truly at its end!

Even while shivering in fear and unable to control their bodies properly, the black mages yelled stubbornly at Roan.

‘If the empire’s destiny is at its end, isn’t that a good thing for black mages?’

He couldn’t tell whether that was actually an appropriate insult.

Meanwhile, the leader of the black mages, Oslo, who was lying down somewhere, spoke to Roan.

Although it was a dry, cracking voice, there was little issue understanding him.

“You… bastard worse than a black mage…”

“……Such harsh words.”

He was a black mage, but he wasn’t worse than a black mage.

Roan frowned as if he were feigning offense.

At that sight, several nearby black mages panicked even more and began to flee.

Yet, Oslo, truly like the head of a group, steadfastly said what he had to say.

“Seeing that you’ve entered this bell too, you must have been locked in, right…? I knew it would be so.”

─ O-Oh, really?

─ You bastard, you’ve been captured too!

─ It might have been nice when you locked us in, but you will also learn how terrifying this place is now!

Enlightened by Oslo’s words, the black mages pointed fingers at Roan and shouted.

Roan shrugged.

“I wasn’t captured, though.”

“?”

─ ???

At Roan’s simple rebuttal, Oslo and the black mages were left speechless and stared at each other.

Then they turned their heads back to Roan.

‘Then why did he enter?’

One of the black mages in a terrible state, who had the worst complexion, spoke in a tone of disbelief.

─ D-Did you enter on purpose?

Surprisingly it was the correct answer, but before Roan could say anything, his opinion was immediately dismissed by his fellow black mages.

─ Hey, have you finally lost your mind?

─ *Sob*, I knew his condition wasn’t great since yesterday…

─ Who on earth would enter the Bell of Eternity on purpose?

Thud—

─ Gasp! He really fainted!

An answer that lost its persuasiveness even further because he immediately lost consciousness right after leaving that question!