Chapter 304

The friends did not just stop at thinking it, but looked refreshingly at Demona who took the lead in scratching their itchy spots.

Was this why the other students also liked Demona so much?

Hector, however, who had no idea what was in his friends’ minds, flared up at Demona’s words.

“Argh! Heretic, you’ve been so annoying since a while ago!”

“Yeah~ if you set winning as a condition which you can’t even achieve in your lifetime, you are also guaranteed to become a Purgatory Penitent Beast after death~”

“What does that mean!”

Hector and Demona began to run in circles around Roan and the friends, chasing each other.

Sion shook her head and said.

“It would be a relief if neither of them ended up as Purgatory Penitent Beasts.”

“Gasps! Sion, a Saintess Candidate shouldn’t say such things!”

“Ah! I meant to only say it in my mind…!”

Sion blushed, looking deeply embarrassed.

‘In any case, having such a thought in her mind in the first place is embarrassing.’

Roan thought that once she had harbored such a thought, it did not make much of a difference.

Even if one could just gloss over thoughts kept to themselves on Earth since there was no way to know them,

in this world where gods and devils actually existed, everything was bound to be revealed someday.

Of course, she would not be held back by such trivial and even correct thoughts, but still.

Roan turned his head away from Demona and Hector, who were chasing each other like a cat and mouse, and said.

“Let’s just go to attend the Oath class.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Phew, alright.”

As Roan and the friends began to walk toward Luria Hall,

“I told you to stop thereee!”

“Yeah~ whatever holy magic, so-what black magic~”

“Uaaaaah!!!!”

Demona and Hector continued their chase, orbiting their friends like satellites without ever leaving their vicinity.

‘…Is that also some kind of holy magic?’

If so, it was likely a holy magic that even Roan did not know.

However, seeing how it scratched not only the nerves of the black mage Roan but also the friends, the effect seemed quite good.

In the midst of that, Demona’s beasts, Sparky and the Black Knight,

Buzz— thud—

paid no attention to their master Demona, approaching Roan and clinging to his back, calmly settling down on the opposite side of Charlotte.

[Argh! What’s this? It’s stuffy!]

Kirr-ik—!

Although the established ones, Bel and Charlotte, showed signs of discomfort, the two did not care, behaving exactly like Demona’s beasts.

‘Well, let’s go together for a bit.’

[Do you know how annoying they are even in the holding room? They act like they aren’t, but they stealthily creep up next to us so we can’t even sleep!]

Bel cried out in disbelief, kyaong, kyaong.

Roan pointed with his chin toward Demona, who was running around over there.

‘…They are better than their master. I have to deal with that fellow every day.’

[…That is true.]

Bel fell silent for a moment and soon admitted it.

It was a commendable attitude, thinking that since his master suffered so much, he should also endure to some extent.

Thus, the friends’ path to Luria Hall became rather noisy.

***

Luria Hall, the classroom for the Oath class.

Just like the first week, Roan and his six friends, along with four students from the monastery, were gathered.

Demona tapped Hector and spoke in a creepy tone.

“Wasn’t there three of them last week? Why did it suddenly increase to four…?”

“D-Do not lie!”

Hector flared up in panic.

But even so, he scanned the students from the monastery with anxious eyes.

‘He’s scared.’

‘He’s scared.’

‘Sca…’

To anyone, it was clear that he was frightened by Demona’s words.

Sion looked at Hector pathetically for a moment and then asked Roan.

“By the way, Roan, how do they conduct the pop quizzes in the Oath class?”

“They just conduct it normally.”

When Roan retorted casually,

“““Hieeeek!”””

the friends were startled all at once.

Even the monastery students could be seen flinching slightly under their robes.

Roan frowned and asked.

“What is it?”

“Y-You said normally?”

When Rafia asked in return, the other friends also nodded.

Having taken pop quizzes for two days, they seemed to have developed a somewhat strange prejudice against the word ‘normal.’

But no matter what they thought, the pop quiz in the Oath class was truly normal.

They would find out once they experienced it.

‘Of course, just because it is a normal pop quiz doesn’t mean it is easy…’

In a sense, it could be even trickier.

At any rate, when Roan shut his mouth since there was nothing more to explain, the friends interpreted that in their own way and trembled in even greater anxiety.

Then.

Rattle— drag— rattle— drag—

A dreary and ominous sound echoed from outside.

The sound of something clumsy rolling, a noise that was not loud but continuously grated on one’s nerves.

In addition, the sound of something heavy being dragged along with it was heard.

The types of sounds were different, but the students had an intuition.

This was the sound of the Oath class professor, Miracle Worker Bogdin, approaching!

‘But what on earth does a person have to look like to make that kind of sound…?’

The students wore expressions that showed they could not imagine it at all.

Last time, he came hopping with his legs tied, but had he been further updated(?) in the meantime?

Rattle—

At moment, the sound seemed to draw closer to the classroom, then stopped in front of it, and the front door opened.

The students gulped, waiting for the professor to appear from there.

Vowing over and over again that they would not be surprised no matter what state he was in this time.

Rattle—…

“Kyaaaah!!!!”

“Gasps!!!”

But rendering the students’ vows useless, Miracle Worker Bogdin was in a grand state that far exceeded people’s expectations.

“It’s, it’s a wheel ghost!!!”

Perhaps Demona’s words summarized the situation best.

Originally, Bogdin appeared wrapped in chains over a scarred body, wearing handcuffs and shackles on his hands and feet, and all sorts of restraints on his face.

But this time, he rolled in with his hands and feet completely fixed to a large wheel!

Since the weights attached to his shackles were being dragged behind him, that spine-chilling sound had occurred.

Demona asked Roan in a terrified voice.

“W-Was the professor caught learning black magic?!”

The friends turned to look at Demona with pathetic expressions.

“How could that be.”

It was the same for Roan.

It was not possible for Miracle Worker Bogdin to do so, but even if it were by any chance true, he would be barred from class altogether rather than entering strapped to a wheel.

“But why is he like that?”

“It’s because of an Oath. I don’t know the details either, so ask the professor.”

Of course, Roan knew the reason.

He just did so because explaining it himself would clearly be incomprehensible, so it was better to hear it directly from the person involved.

“Professor, what kind of Oath did you take to end up like that?”

Demona asked the real Bogdin.

Zzzzing—!!!

Bogdin began to write letters on the wall by shooting holy power from his eyes, just as he did in the first class.

— My Oath has no purpose! —

It was a truly clear and simple reason.

‘That’s why I couldn’t tell them.’

An Oath without a purpose.

But realistically speaking, there were few religious acts with as clear a purpose as an Oath.

Donations and volunteering could indeed be done out of pure goodwill without any return.

However, an Oath that involved sacrificing something was essentially bound to expect a return.

…It was just that Bogdin’s faith was so thorough that he simply offered sacrifice without any return.

Did he not actually call it ‘My’ Oath?

Demona read all the writing and nodded.

“Ah~ so you had no reason at all?”

“D-Demona, even if that’s the case…”

Rafia, unable to listen further, stepped in to stop Demona.

Of course, she had thought similarly.

If there was no return for an Oath, why offer such cruel sacrifice?

But thinking so internally and openly saying, ‘Ah~ you are doing something useless,’ were entirely different matters.

Of course, Demona had not said it that way, but that was how it sounded to others.

But when Rafia stopped her, Demona spoke like this.

“Why? There can be sacrifice without a reason!”

“Uh, yes?”

“If you think about it, isn’t religion like that? If you sacrifice to look good to the gods, that’s hypocrisy, not a good deed. Couldn’t there be an Oath made simply to draw closer to the gods, rather than always wishing for something?”

“T-That is true, I suppose…?”

Rafia stepped back, wearing an expression that showed she had been thoroughly caught up in something.

She had certainly not intended to say that, but after Demona’s sudden speech, she felt as if she had become a snob who believed in god for a return.

Behind Rafia, Hector nodded and said.

“Do you understand my heart a bit now, Rafia?”

“…?”

Rafia wore an expression that said, ‘What is he talking about now?’

No matter if she had been dealt a blow by Demona, it was not to the extent of being compared to Hector.

“This is too much…”

Hector wore a very sad expression at the thought that such a golden opportunity had also slipped away.

But at that moment.

Roll, roll— drag— roll, roll— drag—

Bogdin moved his wheel and came right up in front of Demona.

“H-Hiek! Wheel ghost…!”

‘Before talking about sacrifice without return, she should stop saying such things first.’

Roan looked in disbelief at Demona, who was making ghost remarks right to the professor’s face.

Had he done that, he would have already been suspected as a black mage and entered Professor Kaina’s deep prison.

At any rate, Bogdin did not care much about that, summoning an object with holy power and handing it to Demona.

Drop—

“Huh? What’s this?”

“What does it look like?”

“An arm guard? Wow~ it fits perfectly! Thank you, Professor!”

“…….”

Demona awkwardly slipped the leather object onto her arm and swung it around in delight.

Setting aside whether it was an arm guard in the first place, anyone could see that the holes were oddly placed and it was loose, so it did not look like it ‘fitted perfectly.’

“This is the first time I’ve received something other than a fine from a professor! Wow!”

…Since she was so happy, no one could say anything.

— That is not an arm guard, Student Wicronon! —

“Yes? Then what is it? It fits perfectly though?”

“No, Demona, I don’t think that fits perfectly…”

— That is a restraint that blocks the mouth and nose! It is the exact same object I am wearing! I wanted to give you a gift because I was proud of Student Wicronon, who knows the essence of an Oath well! —

“…….”

Reading Bogdin’s writing, Demona finally realized the gravity of the situation and shut her mouth.

The Oath class professor, who entered with such a bizarre appearance every class, gifting restraints identical to his own?

The meaning was obvious without even having to hear it—in this case, without having to see it.

— Separated from theoretical grades, the most important thing in an Oath is the mindset! Student Wicronon seems to have a great talent for Oaths, so please major in it in the future ^^ —

“U-Ugh! No!!!”

Swoosh—

Demona gasped in fright, hastily untying the restraints and throwing them away as she tried to distance herself from Bogdin.

She succeeded in running away for now, but

— Would you look at your arm again? —

“Yes? U-Uhiiiik! I definitely took it off just now!!?!!!!?!”

Looking at her arm again according to Bogdin’s words, the restraints were still attached just like before!

It was exactly like a scene from a horror movie.