Chapter 341

Chapter 341

‘Even black mages rarely insult family!’

For someone who was supposed to be the diary of Hiloa to bring up ancestors to a young boy!

Of course, since it was a book that was ten thousand years old, he could not openly express his dissatisfaction.

Thump—

—Oh, does that grandfather seem to remember me? Asking after me is so touching~

…In fact, Ludiac also only expressed gratitude and was not that offended.

In the first place, he did not even seem to understand that it was an insult.

And the same went for Demona, his descendant five thousand years later.

“Uh, I don’t know either? I heard he passed away a long time ago.”

‘Of course he passed away a long time ago…’

Roan looked at Demona, who said such things so nonchalantly, and now did not even know what to think.

It was the same for Diar.

[……Ah, is that so?]

Since she spoke so calmly, even the very person who brought up her ancestor felt awkward.

Demona thought for a moment, then soon smiled brightly and said,

“But wouldn’t he be doing well? Since he was resurrected as a Holy Spirit!”

Thump—

—Hmm, he is doing well. I tell you, life is worth living these days?

Roan wished that at least half of Ludiac’s ‘taste of life’ would return to him.

Diar replied skeptically.

[I-I see, that’s a relief then. Well, he’s not the type of fellow who wouldn’t be able to live well wherever he goes.]

“Thank you for asking after my ancestor. I’ll come to take your class next semester too, Professor!”

[No. What’s the point of taking a class like this? You should go take the classes you want to take.]

“But this is the class I want to take?”

[…….]

Professor Diar, who possessed nicknames such as the Book of Books, the Watchman of History, the Proof of God, and the Greatest Record… ended up utterly defeated by a mere sixteen-year-old youth.

Meanwhile, Sion, who was looking at her own exam paper without a word, was—

‘W-What on earth is happening next to me?!?!?!?!!!!’

Honestly, watching out of the corner of her eye as all kinds of Divine Words activated every time Roan muttered, she was feeling nothing short of pure terror.

What?

Prove her skills to Roan?

‘A-At this rate, I should be grateful that he even hangs out with someone like me…’

When her thoughts reached that point, Sion’s pupils shook like an earthquake.

Noticing Sion suddenly trembling, Roan glanced back at her.

‘What is wrong with her again?’

‘Did I use a Divine Word on Sion without realizing it?’

Of course, that was not the case.

Seeing her suddenly act like that after appearing to solve it well, she had likely encountered a very difficult problem in the middle.

Indeed, whether it was simplified Divine Words or formal Divine Words, it was difficult for a freshman to solve.

…Although it was slightly different from Roan’s thoughts, it was true that Sion had encountered a difficult problem in her life.

* * *

The moment Roan finished solving his second exam paper was almost the same time Sion and Demona submitted their first exam papers.

“I’ve finished solving it…”

[Yes, good work.]

Sion, who for some reason looked completely dejected, was the first.

“I’ve finished too, Professor!”

[Did you actually solve it?]

“Heek! How did you know?!”

[……Never mind, go back to your seat.]

Demona was next.

“I’ve finished solving it too, Professor.”

[Yes, I see.]

Having received all the exam papers including Roan’s at last, Diar began grading them in order.

First was Sion.

[Sion Beatrice, you got one question wrong. It seems you studied hard, but why are you so down?]

“Ah, is that true?”

Hearing that she had only gotten one question wrong, Sion brightened up, seemingly cheered up by it.

Only because Roan had shown such an atrocious performance next to her, her efforts had not betrayed her!

“Hehe, actually, I worked hard going to the library and even studying at night.”

[Yes, yes, if you work that hard, you will be able to become a wonderful Saintess, and further, the Holy Emperor. Divine Words will be a strong competitive edge for you. That… Yusina? That fellow ran away after taking it for one semester.]

“Ah… Still, thank you!”

When Diar gave her warm encouragement, unlike his usual blunt attitude, Sion’s mood was completely relieved and she fluttered with joy.

‘Tsk, she shouldn’t be fooled by that kind of lip service.’

It was quite displeasing to Roan, but since Sion was not a black mage anyway, it would be fine for her to accept the praise honestly.

At least Diar was not the type of book to be two-faced.

Next was Demona.

Grading Demona’s exam paper, Diar was startled.

[Hmm?]

“Gasp!”

Demona, who usually got fined when a professor showed such a reaction, was frightened beforehand.

But Diar returned the exam paper, as if he could not believe his own eyes—which was a metaphorical expression, of course—and said,

[How did you only get three questions wrong?]

“Oh? Three questions? Awesome~!!”

Demona also checked her own exam paper just in case, and indeed, only three questions had X marks.

Demona made a big fuss, wildly pumping her clenched fists up and down.

However, it was a truly coincidental thing.

“Foolish Demona…”

Sion trembled with clenched fists, looking as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

While one person stayed up all night studying to end up getting only one question wrong.

Another person played around and guessed, yet only got three questions wrong.

Nothing could be more frustrating than this.

‘This is a bit dangerous.’

Roan felt the need to take care of Sion’s psychological state a bit.

Originally, Sion was a character who rolled down into darkness while receiving envy, jealousy, and checks from numerous students.

But this time, thanks to Roan taking all of those on himself, she was able to live brightly.

Even if there was a difference in degree, it would not do for her to feel sorrow just because of someone like Demona.

‘…But is it really that severe… Well, it is severe.’

Even for Roan, if he were repeatedly close to being caught up to by someone like Demona over and over, he would have suffered a lot of mental distress.

Roan stepped in between Demona and Sion.

“Do not worry. Effort does not betray life.”

“…Yes?”

Sion took a step back because of Roan, who had suddenly come close.

“I mean, do not be swayed by others’ luck, but build your own skills. That will become your foundation at any time.”

Roan spoke while recalling the copy from self-improvement books he had caught a glimpse of in bookstores back when he was on Earth.

Since the way people lived in this world or that world was all similar, such sentences were bound to work.

Moreover, Sion also possessed the sensitivity to write such phrases in a notebook by herself at night when feeling sentimental.

Snatch—

“Ah, Roan, why are you taking my exam paper~”

“Let’s compare this exam paper with yours.”

“Ah?”

Roan handed Demona’s exam paper to Sion.

Sion compared the two exam papers without realizing it, and indeed, it was not difficult to guess Roan’s intention.

“This is…”

Sion looked back and forth between the two sheets, feeling something surge in her chest.

Roan nodded.

“Do you see the difference between the two exam papers?”

“Yes… Mine has a lot of things written on it.”

Sion spoke somewhat indirectly.

“Yes, that is exactly your effort and asset.”

Roan took it and made it concrete.

[Hmm.]

Diar flapped his cover as he listened to their conversation.

Demona’s exam paper was a blank page with nothing written on it except for the checked answers.

Sion’s exam paper was packed with thoughts, hypotheses, interpretations, and so on from the process of solving the problems.

This was the greatest proof that, unlike Demona who relied entirely on luck, Sion had taken the exam solely by building up her own strength.

“Roan…”

It was her strength that Sion had overlooked.

Sion now looked up at Roan with tears of emotion welling up in her eyes.

Roan always pointed out a direction she had never even thought of.

And most of it was in a direction that boosted her self-esteem!

[Yes, this time I have no choice but to admit it too.]

Diar said in a very pleased voice.

[I will make the perfect score for this exam include the one with a single wrong answer.]

“Yes? Really, Professor Diar?”

Sion was overjoyed at those words.

Since Akerandir’s grades played a large part in formally becoming a Saintess or Saint, each of these pop quizzes was very important.

“Heh, I’ll acknowledge you too, Sion.”

Demona gave Sion a thumbs-up, mimicking the appearance of a beautiful loser.

“I don’t need your acknowledgment, idiot Demona!”

Of course, Sion rejected her acknowledgment.

And Diar continued in a somewhat ambiguous tone.

[Yes, but by the way, Darc… I listened to your long speech well.]

“Yes, Professor. Now it’s my turn.”

Roan focused, thinking Diar was about to grade his exam paper now.

[Your exam paper is clean yet has a perfect score. How do you plan to explain that?]

“…”

Diar flapped Roan’s exam paper, which had nothing but circles, in front of the three of them and asked.

Indeed, Roan’s exam paper had only the answers recorded cleanly, to the point it had to be compared to Demona’s.

“Roan…”

Sion’s voice calling Roan’s name took on a completely different vibe than before.

Emotion is emotion, and betrayal is betrayal!

‘That’s a difference in talent, though.’

Of course, Roan’s honest thoughts were like this, but he could not reveal it.

If Sion were to hold a grudge and later become the Holy Emperor and order a background check on Roan, what would happen?

‘That guy has been suspicious since his school days, dig into him properly!’ would be a major disaster if she ordered it.

On the day she summoned and ordered the head of the Room of the 777th Cardinal to do it, even Roan would have no way.

Roan pondered for a moment and replied before it was too late.

“Didn’t I solve it while directly using the Divine Words, Professor?”

[Oh, is that so?]

“Yes.”

[And does it make sense to solve it while using Divine Words in one go like that?]

“…….”

“Roaaan…”

Roan instinctively felt that it was already too late to turn things back.

Frowning, Roan spat out resentful words inwardly.

‘A person can be good at using Divine Words, but why rain on my parade like this!’

While some people were taking out insurance by mobilizing all kinds of connections and methods (?) for their future peace.

A mere book was trying to kick and collapse the elaborately built pagoda with a single word!

Diar burst into laughter, seemingly pleased to see Roan so troubled.

[Well, what fault is it for a student to study well? The two of them would think so too!]

“Of course! Since Roan is good at everything~”

Fortunately, Demona nodded her head heavily as if agreeing with Diar’s words.

‘This girl would actually like it even if I said I’m a black mage, so she’s fine.’

Not that it was particularly comforting to Roan, though.

“Yes… Of course…”

Sion nodded with an expression that clearly showed she did not think so.

‘At this rate, she might not order an ideology audit, but she would at least order something like a tax audit…’

Roan decided that he should cheer Sion up more definitively after class ended.

[Here, as a souvenir. Take all the exam papers.]

Diar said so, as if showing generosity.

“Yes? I don’t need it, though…”

Demona reacted as if asking why he was giving her such a thing.

Of course, she did not mean it in a good way.