Chapter 29

Chapter 29

It did not take very long for the False Divinity to recover its original condition.

Had about an hour passed?

Considering the skill cooldown in “God & Devil,” this was a decent speed.

Roan also got up from his seat, feeling that the authority had calmed down sufficiently.

It would be a huge disaster if he wasted more time and ran into Molley.

“Then, now it’s about time—hm?”

But before long, he stopped in his tracks, feeling the False Divinity vibrate lightly.

The authority was pointing to a nearby bookshelf.

‘Is there something over there… No, wait.’

Roan, who was naturally interpreting the will of the False Divinity, suddenly frowned.

Why on earth was he able to understand everything it said?

From some point, Roan had become able to interpret the vibration that was just a low hum.

In any case, the False Divinity did indeed lead Roan to a certain book.

Roan did not pull the book out, but merely examined its exterior.

There was no way he would touch it recklessly, as the authority might have recommended a cursed book!

Moreover, unlike the other books, it was even more suspicious because it was placed with its broad front cover facing outward instead of its spine.

Since the cover was quite worn and the letters were rubbed off in places, it took Roan quite some time to translate the title.

“It doesn’t seem to be a black magic book… Hm?”

‘Hilon Dictionary: Rosipos Edition’

Surprisingly, it was a holy book—and a Hilon dictionary at that.

However, Roan frowned deeply at the word ‘Rosipos Edition’ written at the end.

Rosipos, the God of Jealousy and Misunderstanding, was the fifth son of the Lord God Hiloa.

In the distant past, he had been one of the chief deities formally worshipped in the temples, but 4,218 years ago, he was judged as a heretic and expelled at the ‘Grand Council’ where the Holy See and the Holy Imperial Palace gathered.

In other words, this dictionary was…

‘A real heresy.’

Not a completely different school of thought like the black mages,

but a truly heretical book that had diverged religiously from the current Holy Empire.

Roan shuddered.

He knew.

Unlike the good black mages who were persecuted by the empire due to unjust prejudices and driven to the mountains and outside the empire,

these true heretical fanatics were absolute madmen not to be associated with.

In fact, there had been quite a few cases where what was initially suspected to be a heinous crime committed by a black mage turned out to be the remnants of an active heretical sect upon tracking.

And even the Inquisitor’s manual prioritized these heretics over black mages.

“Who are you trying to frame with a book like this…!”

Realizing the book’s true identity, Roan looked at the False Divinity with disgust.

No matter how understanding Harden was, if he saw Roan holding a book of Rosipos, he would shake his head, thinking, ‘Wow, this is a bit too much.’

But the False Divinity vibrated pleadingly, as if it was a misunderstanding.

Woooong— Woooong— Woooooong—

I didn’t know that Rosipos was expelled as a heretic!

And, the crazy fanatics who committed crimes are bad, not the god!

There are so many useful holy spells among Rosipos’s teachings!

“Hmm…”

Even so, Roan did not lower his suspicious gaze.

What if it was planning to snitch on him to the Inquisitor later?

Or deliberately using black magic directly without translating it…

As his suspicion grew, the vibration of the False Divinity turned closer to a plea.

“If I get caught later, I’ll say you made me do it.”

‘Inquisitor, it wasn’t me, it was the authority inside my body.’

Not that many inquisitors would believe him even if he said that…

But since it was begging so desperately, he could not just ignore it.

Discerning the situation, it seemed that the False Divinity required learning, much like an artificial intelligence.

It needed to learn more holy spells or languages to perform more natural translations.

Ultimately, Roan reached for Rosipos’s Hilon dictionary, pretending to give in.

As if grateful for just that, the False Divinity emitted a brilliant black mana.

Click—

And the moment Roan pulled out the book.

“Hm?”

He tilted his head.

That thing placed behind the book.

It was definitely Harden’s portrait, wasn’t it?

‘You son of a—!’

Roan reflexively cursed at Harden in the portrait while locking eyes with him.

So that was why it had told him to pull this book out!

They said there was no authority in the world to be trusted…

Elont Grand Library Rule 6.

───

Portraits of Headmaster Harden are not hung inside this library. If you happen to spot a portrait, be careful not to make eye contact, and report it to the librarian immediately.

───

If one failed to follow this rule and made eye contact with the portrait,

they would be teleported to the principal’s office.

Whoosh—!

Roan felt the unique dizziness of spatial holy magic.

And the moment he closed and opened his eyes,

“You foolish rascal! How many times did I tell you to follow the rules in the library… hm?”

In front of Roan stood Harden, who recognized him and wore a dumbfounded expression.

“…”

“…”

A strange awkwardness filled the room as the headmaster and the student stared at each other in silence.

Amidst the silence, it was Roan who spoke first.

“…Ah. While looking for a book to study in the library, I saw Headmaster’s portrait and paid my respects, which led to me failing to follow the rule.”

“…I do not even know where to begin pointing out your wicked lies.”

Harden replied, looking utterly exasperated.

Then, noticing what was in Roan’s hands and identifying the contents of his bag, his expression became even more dumbfounded.

Roan quickly made an excuse.

“As I said, I was looking for a book to study—”

“Right. A freshman ‘coincidentally’ avoided Librarian Molley’s eyes to climb up to the third floor of the library just to find a book to study?”

“Yes.”

“And ‘coincidentally’ gathered art history books that aren’t even for first-year classes to spell out ‘Long Live Harden’ and inserted them precisely into the empty slot where the device was hidden?”

“…That is correct.”

“And ‘coincidentally’ wiped the goddess statue with a rag and even kissed her instep to collect those items, and then came here after seeing my portrait?”

“I am sorry.”

Harden rattled off Roan’s exact path.

‘Hearing it like this, even I wouldn’t believe it.’

Roan clicked his tongue inwardly.

It would be more believable to say that Kaina and Beleck exchanged blood to become sworn brothers.

“You should have said so from the start, tsk. Putting aside the black magic books, a heretical dictionary… No, forget it. No doubt that stale authority of yours told you to take it.”

“You are absolutely correct!”

Roan brightened up at Harden’s guess and quickly chimed in.

He really had a lot to say about the heretical dictionary.

As expected of the Holy Spirit, he was wise!

Roan felt so touched that he could have shed tears.

Naturally, Harden, who had no real interest, clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. Even so, you should give heresy some serious thought.”

“Of course. To be honest, I also have zero interest in some God of Jealousy and Misunderstanding who was expelled at the Grand Council 4,218 years ago.”

Woooong—!

The False Divinity vibrated, but Roan ignored it lightly.

‘I have to survive first.’

At that sight, Harden frowned and said,

“For someone who doesn’t care, you seem to know an awful lot about it…?”

Ah.

Cold sweat ran down Roan’s spine.

But just then,

Knock, knock—

A cheerful knock sounded on the door of the principal’s office.

—Headmaster~ It’s Professor Kaina! I have something to report regarding next week’s class~

“”!!!!!!””

Though it was an incredibly cheerful voice,

Harden and Roan, who both knew the owner of the voice, gasped in shock at the same time.

‘What should I do? Should I burn everything?’

The fact that Roan even considered such a thing for a split second said it all.

If he claimed they had discovered subversive books on campus and were holding a burning ceremony together with the Headmaster, even Professor Kaina might understand.

No, in fact, she would gladly fetch more firewood and toss it in.

“F-First, put them in here!”

Meanwhile, Harden rummaged through his desk drawer and suddenly threw a fist-sized object to Roan.

Roan, who caught it reflexively, was startled when he identified what it was.

‘Infinite Blessing Fortune Pouch!’

Although it looked like a colorful children’s fortune pouch,

it was actually an end-game item of the sub-spatial category.

To throw such a thing like a stash of pocket money…!

But he did not have the luxury to be surprised by every single thing.

Roan quickly tossed not only the Hilon dictionary in his hands but his entire backpack into the pouch.

Then, after hastily stowing it in his chest pocket, he sat on the reception chair along with Harden.

“Ahem. Come in, Professor Kaina.”

Harden called out to Kaina in a slightly tense voice.

Only then did Roan realize that something about the current situation was strange.

‘But why does the headmaster fear Professor Kaina…?’

If he was a Holy Spirit, shouldn’t he have no reason to be afraid of her?

“Hello~ Oh? Student Darc was here?”

Meanwhile, Kaina, who entered the office shortly after, acknowledged Roan with surprise.

“Hello.”

As Roan greeted her calmly, Kaina gave an awkward smile and spoke.

“Yes~ I apologize for the last class. You probably didn’t want it to be known.”

It was clear that Kaina had a much better personality than Demona.

Roan forced a calm expression and shook his head politely.

“No, it is fine. It is the truth, after all.”

“Oh, my~”

Kaina smiled warmly.

Then suddenly,

“…Hmm?”

Her expression froze coldly.

And then,

“Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff.”

She closed her eyes and twitched her nose, sniffing the air inside the office.

“Why… are you doing that, Professor Kaina?”

Not only Roan but even Harden watched Kaina’s movements tensely.

Kaina replied in a chilly voice.

“I smell something… The scent of black magic…”

With that, she slowly approached Roan, step by step.

It was the instinct of an Inquisitor who was thoroughly accustomed to detecting black magic!

‘I-Is it a relief that she doesn’t have her hammer?’

Cold sweat poured down Roan’s face.

“It’s faint, but this is definitely… the scent of a heretic who deserves to be beaten to death…!”

Kaina’s nose drew closer and closer to Roan.

Harden hastily stopped her.

“Oh, by the way, Professor Beleck stopped by earlier. He brought what he claimed to be a new holy magic research achievement, and when I looked at it, it turned out to be an ancient heretical spell. That must be why.”

It was truly a brilliant wit worthy of a Holy Spirit.

“Ah, Professor Beleck finally…”

Only then did Kaina open her eyes with a smile, as if the misunderstanding was cleared.

Whoosh—!

For some reason, her eyes seemed to blaze with a fierce fire, though.

‘I feel somewhat sorry for him… but he’ll be fine, right?’

Roan unconsciously began to worry about the poor Professor Beleck.

“As you well know, fights between professors are strictly forbidden under my name.”

It seemed Harden shared the same sentiment.

‘…A fight?’

Not a one-sided arrest, assault, or murder?

“Oh, my~ Did I say anything?”

Kaina blinked her large eyes and tilted her head.

In any case, she seemed to have accepted the explanation regarding the suspicious smell lingering in the office.

“Yes. Well, since we are to discuss next week’s class, Student Darc shouldn’t be here. You may return now.”

Stand—

“Yes, Headmaster. Thank you.”

The moment Harden’s words fell, Roan stood up and bowed deeply.

Then, he left the principal’s office without looking back.

[Be sure to return the fortune pouch later!]

Harden sent a divine message quite urgently, but Roan did not reply.

Well, since he could not use divine messages in the first place, it was only natural that he couldn’t reply.

Setting aside whether he even had the intention to reply.

“Hm? Student Darc. When did you enter the principal’s office?”

Geod, who was guarding the front of the office, tilted his head upon seeing Roan’s face.

Roan smiled slightly and spoke.

“I saw the Headmaster’s portrait in the library.”

“Hahaha! You got caught too, Student Darc! A freshman visiting the library, how admirable. Have a safe trip back!”

Geod laughed heartily and patted Roan on the back.

Roan bowed to him as well and returned to the dormitory in high spirits.

‘A black magic book, a censer, and a blessing fortune pouch, what luck!’

He thought to himself that he had made an unexpectedly massive gain.