Chapter 302

It was a guess on the level of a joke that was not even funny to him.

But even so, the possibility was not entirely nonexistent because of one thing.

‘But in any case, no one knows the previous Lord Darc anyway.’

Hummm— Thump—

That was true.

Brother doesn’t know. I’ve never met him either.

This was because there was truly no information about the previous Lord Darc, whose name Roan had only just found out.

To put it bluntly, since it had not been verified, it was unknown whether he was a black mage or a priest.

Although there was a possibility that False Divinity was circumstantially linked to the previous Lord Darc, or had deep connections with the Darc family in the first place,

‘Most authorities lose all memories of their previous owners when their master changes.’

No matter how great an authority False Divinity was, it could not escape this rule.

If it retained the memories of its previous owners, wouldn’t it make the game easier to conquer by utilizing them?

Of course, there were not many authorities that possessed a sense of self in the first place.

The very few ‘management-type authorities’ like Ludiac were exceptions.

This was because management-type authorities were fundamentally holy spirits, and strictly speaking, they were not the authorities themselves but rather caretakers who had to manage the authorities.

Despite looking like that, Ludiac was actually a great authority!

…And in fact, even if Ludiac possessed memories, it was not particularly helpful.

Hummm——

Uhaha! But even if I lost my memories, I can tell how absurd it is to say that the previous Lord Darc was a black mage.

‘Yes, I suppose so.’

Having comprehensively judged various factors, Roan also eventually agreed with False Divinity’s words.

Roan Darc, with a black magic talent stat of 100.

At the very least, when it came to black magic, it was safe to view his ability as on the level of future foresight.

For that reason, the slight discomfort remaining in a corner of his heart grew smaller yet deeper.

“Roan, what are you thinking about?”

“Ah. It is nothing.”

Sion’s call awakened Roan from his thoughts.

As Roan shook his head and looked around, the students who had already finished the exam were dispersing in groups of three or four.

“Why did you call me?”

When Roan asked, Sion answered with a somewhat awkward expression.

“Ah, Professor Kaina told me to come with you.”

“…Why did she call us?”

“She said she has something to discuss with us because of the exam.”

Seeing Sion speak hesitantly, Roan frowned.

‘I was careless again!’

Since he had completed the exam while even awakening the Sign of Light—which was actually a black mark—he naturally thought the post-exam interview would be omitted.

However, Kaina had already completely forgotten about tears and emotion, and had even summoned Roan.

The reason Kaina summoned a few students after the exam was simple.

…She was simply suspicious of how they had found the locations of the black magic tools so easily.

Roan clicked his tongue and spoke to Sion.

“Let’s go quickly. Since we also have the Oath class.”

“Yes.”

Thus, even after passing the exam with a perfect score, Roan and Sion had to have an interview with the professor.

***

In truth, the interview with Kaina was not as tense as expected.

— Student Beatrice, how did you know that the traps were hidden in other places?

— Ah… Thanks to Roan’s hint…

— A hint?

— Yes. He told me that when I don’t know what it is, I should think about how I would deal with myself.

— Aha, oh?

The biggest threat was Kaina glancing at Roan as she spoke.

For Roan, the level of the questions was not much different either.

No, rather, it was simpler because the black mark was accepted as a Sign of Light without a doubt.

— Student Darc, how did you learn about black magic traps?

— Ah, I know that black magic traps caused great damage during the ruin of my family.

Of course, he did not know.

He was just saying it.

Frankly, it would have been logically strange if traps had not been used to ruin a family of the Darc’s caliber.

— Hmmm, yes… indeed… So you studied?

— Yes. I used the libraries of the Holy Emperor’s Palace and the academy.

— That is wonderful! As expected, the Sign of Light is granted to those who make an effort!

Roan’s interview also ended there.

Roan felt a strange sensation under Kaina’s applause.

He had never expected to experience such a thing in the body of a black mage.

At any rate, Roan and Sion walked out of Professor Kaina’s office side by side.

“Phew…”

Sion must have been quite tense as well, sighing as soon as the door closed.

Roan spoke, looking at her with a slightly displeased look.

“Why are you sighing?”

Strictly speaking, the person who had the right to sigh here was someone else!

Even if things went wrong for Sion, it would just end with a light warning or a reflection paper.

But for Roan, it would likely not be just that…

Sion looked up at Roan and asked in return.

“Well, it’s tense. An interview with a professor, I mean.”

“…Yes, it is tense.”

Roan nodded.

Sion smiled broadly, seemingly pleased that he agreed with her.

She probably had no idea what kind of ‘tension’ Roan was talking about.

“But I meant, why are you tense when you got a perfect score on the pop quiz?”

“Aha? That’s true, isn’t it?”

As if she had not realized it herself, Sion opened her eyes wide and tilted her head.

Thinking about it, she had no reason to shrink back at all.

‘But… Professor Kaina is strangely scary.’

It was a strange thing.

Although Professor Kaina was certainly an object of terror to black mages, she was extremely kind to students.

…In fact, a truly kind professor would not perform acts like destroying the playground in front of students.

Nor would she lock a student in a booth with intermediate black magic traps under the pretext of a special exam.

It was just that the students of Acherandir were so accustomed to the professors’ eccentricities that their senses in that regard were completely paralyzed.

At any rate, Sion could not understand why she was exceptionally afraid of Kaina.

However, it was a fact that neither Sion nor Roan knew.

It was Sion’s unrivaled empathy.

At an unconscious level she was unaware of, Sion felt that Roan was tense around Kaina, and she was feeling that tension along with him.

Although Roan knew that this kind of empathy would be of great help to Sion’s growth in the future,

he had not expected it to act in this kind of way.

At any rate, when the interview ended without incident and both of them were feeling relieved,

Slam—!

“Oh, right, both of you be careful of the ghost! I heard Student Darc met it on the way here too!”

“H-Hieeeeek! A-A ghost?!”

Kaina, who had suddenly opened the door, warned the two.

Sion was startled once by the sudden sound of the door, and twice by the mention of a ghost.

Kaina smiled and nodded.

“Yes~ I didn’t meet it myself, but everyone was making a fuss! Ah, sometimes the resentful spirits of black mages crawl around like cockroaches without dying, so be careful of that too~”

“Resentful spirits…!”

“Oh? Student Beatrice, pull yourself together!”

Sion looked as if she was about to faint from the sheer imagination.

Fortunately, she woke up before Kaina could slap her cheek.

Had she done so, Sion would have clearly known what she should fear more than ghosts in this world.

“Well… Student Darc, take good care of Student Beatrice!”

“Yes, Professor.”

Roan steadied the staggering Sion beside him and nodded.

Kaina went back to her office with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Well, if Student Darc goes with her, then it’s fine.’

…The problem was that Sion was also making a similar expression.

Roan frowned slightly and asked.

“What is that expression for?”

“Ah, well, I thought that if Roan goes with me, even a ghost would be too scared to come.”

Normally she would say it was nothing, but seeing how she answered honestly, she must have been out of her mind.

Roan clicked his tongue and walked ahead.

“Ah, let’s go together, Roan!”

Fearing she might lose him, Sion quickly followed behind.

Thud— thud— clack— clack—

The sound of Roan’s and Sion’s shoes hit the basement walls, making the atmosphere even more dreary.

“But, will a real ghost really appear?”

“It could.”

Although he had captured Doldol-ie on the way here, there were more than just one or two resentful spirits in Ciotric Hall.

“Hyaaa… Roan, you’ve never seen one, right…?”

Sion asked in a trembling voice, sticking a bit closer to Roan.

She seemed to hope he would tell her it was just a false rumor.

However, unless it was absolutely necessary, Roan did not lie often.

“No, I saw it when I came in earlier.”

“You, you saw it?!?!?!”

Sion cried out in surprise.

Roan glanced around and spoke in a lowered voice.

“Yes, but do not make such a fuss. Ghosts are sensitive to that.”

This was not a lie.

In fact, if one did something that stood out, the probability of encountering a resentful spirit definitely went up.

“Hup…!”

Sion tightly covered her mouth with both hands, her pink eyes trembling.

“If you understand, let’s go quietly now.”

“Yes… yes…”

Sion answered in a voice as small as Riel’s.

Thud— thud—

She even silenced her footsteps and stuck closely to Roan’s heels.

She even spoke to Roan’s back as he walked calmly, saying in a resentful voice.

“Ro-Roan. Walk a bit quietly…! What if the ghosts hear us…!”

Stop—

Hearing those words, Roan stopped walking.

But he did not look back.

“Ro… Roan…?”

It was the same even when Sion called him in a desperate voice.

Creak— creak—

Roan smiled broadly and turned only his head back bizarrely.

Then, he spoke in a bright voice.

“Do I still look like Roan to you?”

“Heee…”

Hearing such words from Roan’s face, the shock was immense, no matter how strong-hearted one was!

Plop—!

Sion fainted on the spot, unable to even scream.

Before Sion could hit the ground on her buttocks, Roan caught her body.

It was an easy task because of her slender frame.

‘I was just playing a prank…’

Even though it was an old-fashioned joke that would earn him a beating in Korea,

since this was a world with no horror movies or dramas, did she have no tolerance for such things?

‘…But to say that, actual ghosts and monsters roam around here.’

It seemed Sion was simply excessively timid.

Hummm—

I think your face is actually the biggest problem…

‘It seems she needs more training of this kind.’

Roan clenched his teeth and ignored False Divinity’s words.

Fortunately, Sion quickly regained consciousness.

Realizing that Roan was holding her up, she startled and stood up in a flurry.

Roan spoke with a serious expression.

“You were tricked by a ghost’s prank.”

“Ah… I knew it was something like that.”

Sion nodded, thinking that made sense.

She also felt a deep sense of relief seeing Roan back to his usual self.

After all, the wide smiling expression on Roan’s face that she saw right before fainting…

‘I almost reported him to the Headmaster…’

No matter how accustomed Sion had become to his face while hanging around him, it was a level she could not tolerate at all.

In fact, regardless of ghosts or anything else, that expression alone was enough to make her faint.

To put it in perspective, even if Roan were to be—surely not, but just in case—a black mage, it was at a level where she would just think, ‘Ah, that explains it.’

It was a thought that would hurt Roan quite a bit if he knew.

At any rate, the two of them began walking again.

‘W-Why is the hallway so long?! I don’t think it was like this when we came in…’

Sion was gradually getting scared again by the stairs to the ground floor, which showed no signs of appearing.

Then.

Stop—

Roan stopped walking again.

Recalling her previous memory(?), Sion could not even swallow her breath properly as she called Roan.

“Ro… Roan…?”

Roan, who also had no answer for a moment, turned his head.

“It is not this time.”

It was his usual face.

“Phew…”

Sion, who let out a sigh of relief deep enough to bring down the world, suddenly

“This time?”

felt a sense of incongruity in Roan’s words.

“Eeeek!!!! It was you earlier too, wasn’t it?!?!?!”