Chapter 303

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

And then, with her fists tightly clenched, she swung them around as if about to strike, threatening him although she did not dare to actually hit him.

Roan, however, spoke with a rather serious expression.

“In the future, any number of situations far more terrifying than this can occur. Do you plan to faint every single time?”

“T-That is of course not the case.”

Sion took a step back reluctantly at the earnest criticism and shook her head.

“Always remember. Nothing is without substance. Whether it is a ghost or a resentful spirit, there is nothing you cannot defeat if you cast holy magic properly. It means that as long as you remain calm and have confidence in your own skills, there is nothing to be afraid of. If you are afraid of ghosts, learn the holy magic that can counter them. There will not always be someone like me to protect you forever.”

Even in this situation, a meticulous design to highlight his own presence!

At Roan’s words, Sion pondered for a moment and then replied with a serious expression.

“…I understand. You played a prank to teach me that.”

‘I just did it for fun, though.’

Of course it was not, but thinking that what was good was good, Roan affirmed it.

“Naturally. To think so lightly of it even after watching me all this time. I am disappointed.”

“A-Ah, no! It’s just that it was so scary earlier…”

“If you understand, let’s get out.”

“Yeees…”

Sion scurried behind Roan once again.

From there, the stairs leading to the ground floor were not very far.

“Noeul-ie, Pallang-ie!”

Sion shed tears as if reuniting with long-lost family, hugging their divine and spiritual beasts.

Myaaa—? Flutter—?

Noeul-ie and Pallang-ie tilted their heads and antennae at the sight of their master, who welcomed them much more warmly than usual.

However, there was no way for the two beasts to know what Sion had gone through.

[Why is she acting like that?]

‘She is more cowardly than I thought.’

[Ah~ the basement is a bit scary indeed!]

Bel nodded as if he understood.

Although he snorted proudly at the mention of her even fainting.

…In fact, Sion might not have fainted at just Doldol-ie’s level.

At any rate, Roan and Sion left Ciotric Hall.

On the playground, the friends waiting to go to the next class together were hanging out.

“Aaargh! Fanatic! Save me!”

“…Why on earth did you fall into a clearly visible crack?”

In the grand scheme of things, they did seem to be hanging out.

Demona, whatever it was she was doing, was flailing around, stuck in the playground crevasse she had fallen into earlier.

Roan looked at the sight very pathetically.

‘Should I just go?’

How was it that the rumors about such a fellow grew better by the day, while only his own reputation hit the floor?

However, Demona, who had recognized Roan like a ghost, flailed and waved her hand.

In fact, it was not clearly distinguishable whether she was flailing or waving.

“Roaaan! Roaaan~”

Roan walked toward them as slowly as possible.

“…Why are you walking like this?”

“Do you want to go to that fellow quickly? When she’s acting like that?”

“Aha.”

It was a rational and logical reason that Sion understood immediately.

“And in any case, that fellow isn’t acting like that just because she is glad to see me.”

“Yes?”

The reason Demona welcomed Roan became clear after the distance between them narrowed sufficiently.

“Get me out! My body won’t budge!”

“Yes, it seems you are sinking deeper. The more you flail, the more it will be so.”

Roan clicked his tongue and agreed.

“Hieeeek! Sinking deeper?!”

Demona gasped in fright.

When Roan had just come out, the second button of her jacket was visible, but before she knew it, she was on the verge of sinking past the first button.

‘At that point, shouldn’t she know it herself?’

The thought crossed his mind for a second, but one had to hope for such things only from someone who was capable of it.

Since Demona immediately panicked and flailed even more violently, the speed increased a bit more.

…It was clear that she had listened to at least half of Roan’s words.

Roan looked down at Demona for a moment and said.

“The crevasse Professor Kaina split open reaches a particularly deep place.”

“…Huh? Roan, what does that mean?”

Demona asked, having quieted down as she felt an ominous feeling for some reason.

Roan smiled coldly and said.

“It means that if you fall by mistake, you might reach Purgatory.”

“““…!!!”””

The friends were shocked by the sudden mention of ‘Purgatory.’

Demona waved her hand with an incredulous chuckle.

“Come on~ Purgatory is a place where dead people go~ I’m still very much alive!”

“Oh, is that so. Then go ahead and fall in.”

“T-That I don’t want!”

Demona shook her head side to side.

She must have been quite scared, keeping both of her arms firmly pressed against the ground, unlike before.

Roan pulled Demona out using a hand formed from the abyss, just like before.

“Oh, it’s the nice hand~”

Having grown used to it by now, Demona stroked the hand smoothly without even being surprised.

While he was pulling Demona out, Rafia peered into the crevasse with anxious eyes and asked.

“Roan, is that really true?”

“What is?”

“No, that… about this possibly reaching Purgatory.”

Roan smirked.

“There is indeed such a holy magic. It is the holy spell called ‘Call of the Purgatory Punisher’.”

It was a spell that heretic inquisitors often used to temporarily sweep away(?) opponents who were too difficult to handle alone.

When Roan mentioned the name of the uncommon holy magic, the friends’ reactions were peculiar.

“…Why are you all looking like that?”

“No, as expected of Roan.”

“Impressive. I only heard about it from my father and don’t know the holy spell well.”

“Amazing.”

In short, because Roan usually used punishment holy magic so much, they somehow felt like he was an expert in punishment holy magic.

‘These bastards, to say that about a kind person like me…’

[Come on, that’s a bit much, Master.]

Bel, who had been sitting quietly in the bag, could not hold back and added a word.

At any rate, Rafia nodded in relief.

“Of course, there’s no way the professor would use such a dangerous holy spell during class.”

“Yes, probably.”

“…?”

At Roan’s ambiguous answer, Rafia froze with that very expression and turned to look back at him reluctantly.

What did he mean by probably?

“By the way, Demona, why did you fall into the crack?”

Roan asked.

Even so, out of respect for the honor of the Wicronon successor, he did not go so far as to ask, ‘Were you stupid enough to fall into the exact same crack?’

In fact, she looked just that stupid, so there was no need for an answer.

Demona answered casually.

“Ah~ I was waiting for you and took a peek, and I saw a red light shimmering down there. I got curious and tried to look closer, and I fell in!”

“But that is actually the ‘Call of the Purgatory Punisher’.”

“““?”””

The friends tilted their heads at Roan’s calm retort.

For real?

Then, looking back and forth between Roan’s face, Demona, and the crevasse she had fallen into, the friends

“U-Uaaak! Run away!!!”

“W-We’ll fall into Purgatory!”

“Kiki!”

“Ro-Roan! How could you tell us that only now!”

began to flee from the crack as if they had seen the Grim Reaper.

[Hieeeek! Let me go too!]

Bel, who had slipped out of the bag at some point, was also flapping his wings hard to join the evacuation procession.

…Well, in a sense, he was a concept similar to the Grim Reaper.

‘No, I didn’t know either.’

Roan felt a bit wronged, but looked inside the crack just in case.

Whoosh—

Sure enough, a small light that carried holy power flickered in the far distance.

It could really be Purgatory, or it could be a special mineral or relic buried deep in the ground since this was Acherandir, but

‘either way, it is the same in that it isn’t very good for me.’

Roan slowly followed his friends out of the playground.

Of course, he was also anxious, so he kept a subtly safe distance from the crack.

Once they were completely out of the playground, he saw his friends gathered together, panting for breath.

“By the way, Fanatic.”

“Pant, pant. Why do you call?”

“Isn’t it a good thing for Eong-eong-ie to return to Purgatory?”

“Huh?”

Hector tilted his head at Demona’s question.

Certainly, Eong-eong-ie, who was a Purgatory Penitent Beast, seemed to have a deep relation to Purgatory.

Both of them turned to look at Roan at the same time.

Roan nodded, looking slightly impressed.

“Certainly, Purgatory Penitent Beasts receive a pardon if they return to Purgatory. Though it is a trick, it would be effective.”

It was a trick that players often tried.

Of course, they did not use the reckless method of jumping into the ‘Call of the Purgatory Punisher’ though.

‘But for someone like Hector, it seems worth a try.’

Roan looked at Hector and Eong-eong-ie with peculiar eyes.

Triumphant at the sight, Demona boasted.

“See~ I told you my words were right? It might be easier for you since Roan trained you with punishment holy magic.”

…Roan felt extremely displeased that he had unconsciously thought of something similar to Demona.

At any rate, Hector hugged Eong-eong-ie, who was floating beside him, and burst into anger.

“You bastard! Eong-eong-ie is my holy beast!”

“Yeah, and they say it’s a better thing for that Eong-eong-ie?”

“But… Eong-eong-ie must also prefer staying with me! Do you know how I got Eong-eong-ie…”

Hector also mumbled in a lowered voice at the end, as if he knew how his words would sound.

“Hector, you are truly…”

“Trash.”

“Gasps! Fanatic, Riel called you trash! You’ve really reached the end of the line, haven’t you?”

“You heretic, do not lie!”

It was true this time, though.

The friends looked at Hector with pitying expressions as he received harsh words even from Riel.

Just then, Eong-eong-ie, held in Hector’s arms, shed clear tears.

“Huh? Eong-eong-ie isn’t shedding blood tears?”

When Rafia noticed and spoke up in wonder, Demona stepped in.

“Roan said so! He said when the Fanatic talks nonsense, Eong-eong-ie knows and sheds tears!”

“…It was not about talking nonsense, but that it simply sheds tears when it witnesses sin.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

When Demona asked with an innocent expression, Roan could not flatly deny it either.

Because it was true that it cried when Hector talked nonsense!

“Gasps… Eong-eong-ie…”

Hector looked heavily shocked upon seeing that.

He had thought Eong-eong-ie also liked staying with him, but was that not the case!

“I see. I understand well.”

Hector nodded as if determined, his expression like newly hardened basalt.

The friends asked with surprised expressions at the unexpected reaction.

“No way, Hector, are you going to send Eong-eong-ie to Purgatory?”

Nod—

“““Gasps!”””

The friends gasped at Hector’s firm affirmation, which was entirely unexpected.

Hector let out a smirk as if asking what the big deal was.

…Unlike Roan, the friends thought his appearance was truly eyesore.

At any rate, Hector said.

“Of course I will send her.”

“Oho, you really made a big decision.”

“As expected of the renowned heretic inquisitor family, Pabilto?”

“Once I win the Imperial Sacred Combat League, that is.”

“““…….”””

The emotion the friends had felt just a moment ago vanished without a trace, and they glared at Hector with expressions that said, ‘How can such trash exist?’

Hector asked as if wondering why they were doing that.

“What’s wrong? There isn’t much time left anyway. I’m sure I can do it before graduation.”

“Wow, seriously, how can such trash exist?”