Chapter 349

Chapter 349

Roan hastily canceled the Sapling of Vain Illusion.

Running around with bloodshot eyes to catch black mages was commendable, but catching paladins like that would lead straight to execution.

If he were to be framed as an accomplice, it would be truly terrible.

Slink—

The golden tree that had bloomed in the night eventually crumbled into dust and vanished.

─ Ack! Where did the black mage go!

─ Sea-Splitter! The b-beautiful black mage…!

And from somewhere in the mountains, two extremely pitiful screams echoed.

* * *

The next morning.

Roan, who had grabbed a catnap after rushing back to the dormitory, opened his eyes.

Lucia’s trailing was nowhere to be found over the night.

It meant he had succeeded in completely shaking her off last night.

[Did you sleep well?]

Ki-ri-rik—!

“Yeah.”

The divine beasts, who had slept soundly all night unlike Roan, seemed highly refreshed.

Roan went out to the living room after roughly finishing his preparations.

Haggard──

Demona and Hector sat on the sofa with faces that were too tired for words.

Although their condition hadn’t been that great when they returned last night, he hadn’t expected it to be that bad.

“…Did you not sleep yesterday?”

When Roan asked, Demona and Hector merely turned their heads slightly and nodded.

“I couldn’t sleep…”

“I couldn’t sleep…”

It seemed they had spent the entire night wide awake after returning.

Demona and Hector muttered with voices full of regret.

“It was a truly golden opportunity to learn black magic…”

“Sea-Splitter… why did you fall into the hands of a black mage…”

It seemed the illusion they had seen last night was quite charming.

Click—

“Yawn~ Good morning, guys… Meeeee! What is this?!”

Meanwhile, Beanin, who had come out stretching refreshingly, was startled upon seeing the two and rushed over.

Then he spoke to Roan with an expression of disbelief.

“R-Roan! These two… how did they turn into zombies?!”

“…Excuse me?”

Roan asked back, as if hearing the most absurd thing.

Of course, though the state of those two was miserable enough to reminiscent of zombies, zombies in Acherandir, did that make sense?

Surely any half-baked undead would be annihilated immediately upon summoning.

Seeing how Beanin also seemed to realize how absurd his words were, he soon spoke embarrassedly.

“Ah, it wasn’t? They just looked so much like zombies…”

At that, Demona and Hector wore expressions as if they were genuinely hurt.

“Senior, judging people by their appearance is really too much.”

“As expected of the 300,000 gold senior…”

If he had boldly pushed forward claiming he just saw wrong, it would have been better, but because he was sincerely apologetic, it made them feel even worse.

“I’m really sorry! And it’s 350,000 gold.”

Beanin apologized with his palms together and left the dormitory first.

He claimed he had to leave quickly because his morning class was a major, but it was unclear whether that was true or if he just felt embarrassed to show his face.

Roan inspected the appearance of the two, who were staring glare at Beanin’s back until the very end.

“You’re in the exact same clothes you went out in yesterday. Actually, that works out. Let’s go get breakfast.”

“Yeah… must go…”

Demona and Hector smacked their lips and stumbled to their feet.

Then they also staggered, passing by Roan toward the door.

“Ugggh…”

Even the groans, which made one’s bones ache just by hearing, were perfect.

‘They really look like zombies acting like that.’

If someone who didn’t know saw them, they might actually report them to Professor Kaina.

Roan was about to leave the room behind the two, but:

Click—

The door of the McGodal Room opened.

And outside, coincidentally, Trian and Galland, whom he had been running into frequently in the mornings lately, were passing by.

“Ah, the Darc guys. It seems you’re also heading out to eat breakfast now.”

“Today is Sacred Combat class…”

‘It’s not Sacred Combat, but Basics of Divine and Spiritual Beasts though.’

Thanks to their relations having improved quite a bit lately, they were close enough to exchange casual morning greetings, so just as the two were about to say something,

They locked eyes with Demona and Hector, whose complexions were dead black.

It felt as though they were looking at the eyes of a frozen pollack left out in a summer market for a week.

Flinch—!

Trian and Galland were initially startled by that eerie gaze.

‘‘, ?’’

But they were Acherandir students possessing reason and intelligence in their own right.

They quickly laughed awkwardly, thinking there was no way.

“Ugggh…”

And Demona and Hector raised their arms while emitting groans even creepier than their gaze.

Perhaps because they had scavenged the entire mountain last night chasing the black mage illusion, caked dirt was stuck all over them, making them look exactly like corpses risen from the grave.

Yet even so, Trian and Galland tried to laugh it off like brave Acherandir students.

“…Hahaha! You must have fallen asleep without washing because you were too tired yesterday!”

“Right, the history class was indeed exhausting. We were like that too!”

But behind them, Roan finally appeared.

“Oh, Trian, Galland. We meet again.”

Only Roan greeted the two with his usual face.

However, even an ordinary face could have its impression changed 180 degrees depending on where it was placed.

If they met him on the street, they would just lower their eyes and pass by thinking, ‘Hmm, it’s Darc,’ but standing next to two zombies (?), they would be shocked, thinking, ‘It’s a crazy archdemon!’

In Trian’s and Galland’s minds, the following scenario ran simultaneously:

Roan usually fires punitive holy magic at Demona and Hector → If so, their relations are not good → What if something went wrong among the three yesterday? → Since Roan is an archdemon, he might have turned the two into zombies!

It was a nearly perfect probability.

Roan spoke one more word to Trian and Galland, who had frozen stiff without realizing it.

“Where are you having breakfast today?”

It was a simple question, but to them, it sounded like this:

‘I should make you two their breakfast today.’

No wonder they had run into each other so often lately in the mornings, did it mean he had thoroughly planned even to dispose of them!

Trian and Galland fled in a hurry, feeling cold sweat pour down like heavy rain.

“Z-Zombie!”

“A zombie appeared!!!!”

Without needing to decide who went first, Trian and Galland ran down the hallway, thumping their mountain-like bulks.

─ , , ?

─ ?

─ , !

Naturally, an uproar broke out among the students who heard their words.

‘Those stupid fellows!’

Roan lamented the reality of Acherandir, where they had no interest in seeking the truth and only lies and instigations ran rampant.

Even if they heard that a zombie appeared, they should calmly think to find out the truth first. What did they mean by blindly joining and running away together?

Making the listening black mage feel bad!

[T-They say a zombie appeared, Master!]

Ki-ri-rik──!!

Bel and Charlotte also cried out in surprise.

Roan transmitted a coldly chilled thought.

‘They’re talking about us.’

[W-We became zombies?!]

‘No, of course it’s a misunderstanding. Just look at the state of those guys.’

[Aha!]

Not that it was a story only applicable to Acherandir students, though.

Even so, having a mental age similar to newborn divine beasts was something they should thoroughly reflect on.

Roan struck the backs of Demona and Hector, who were groaning and failing to snap out of it despite this commotion, once each with his staff.

“Ack! Why did you hit me!”

“Why did you strike me!”

Roan glared at them coldly and spoke.

“For now, run forward.”

“W-What?”

The two didn’t know why Roan was suddenly doing this, but they began to run forward following his words—or rather, following his staff.

Thanks to the untimely zombie commotion, a paladin guarding the dormitory naturally mobilized.

It was Gawed Pantua, whom Roan had met when he first enrolled.

“A zombie, what do you mean by that? Where?!”

He sounded as if he didn’t trust the students very much.

Roan thought he was on the very wise side.

But Gawed advanced forward against the crowd to investigate for now.

He finally discovered Demona, Hector, and Roan, who were running in a manner not much different from the other students.

Roan decided to pretend to know nothing for now.

‘Surely a paladin wouldn’t look at perfectly normal students and misunderstand.’

Just as he was about to pass by nonchalantly:

Clang—!

“So it’s you punks! You remnants of wicked evil!”

“…”

When the thing he had feared actually occurred, Roan did not know how to react.

‘Should I just say I’m sorry and turn myself in?’

Clearing a game was one thing, but living in a world like this with a perfectly sane mind felt even harder.

To put it vulgarly, it was so disgusting that he couldn’t stand doing this anymore!

Yet paradoxically, the world made it so Roan couldn’t give up that easily.

─ ?

─ , ?

─ , ? ?

The students, upon learning that the culprits of the zombie commotion were Roan’s gang, actually acted as if it were no big deal!

The students had unconsciously thought that Roan was more than capable of turning someone into a zombie.

Or they thought that no matter what state the three were in, it wouldn’t be strange.

Either way, it wasn’t a very pleasant prejudice.

‘…Even if I get caught later, they might just think nothing of it and pass over it.’

Looking at this trend, it didn’t seem like a completely absurd prediction either.

In any case, Gawed, who belatedly heard the students’ reactions, sheathed his sword with an embarrassed expression.

“I-I’m really sorry about this. I have no excuse…”

Roan was highly annoyed, but without showing it for now, he nodded politely.

“Not at all. It seems there was a minor misunderstanding because my friends’ appearances weren’t tidy due to yesterday’s studies.”

“Indeed. Zombies in the sanctuary, that’s absurd. I sincerely apologize once again.”

“I also thank you for always working hard.”

Just as it was about to be settled like that, Demona chimed in mindlessly.

“What? Did you mean we were zombies? Paladin, you shouldn’t judge people by their looks!”

“You’re Student Wicronon. As I told Student Darc, I’m sorry…”

“Hector aside, I don’t look like a zombie at all!”

“…”

It didn’t particularly seem so, but because of Demona’s very confident words, the surrounding people seemed to think, ‘I-Is that so?’

“What are you talking about, heretic!”

Hector roared belatedly.

“Yep~ it’s true that you look like a zombie~”

“Are you done talking!”

─ ? ?

─ , .

─ .

Just as the dormitory hallway was about to become noisy once again:

Whack—! Whack—!

“Kehuup!”

“Kehe-eg!”

As Roan lightly swung his staff twice, the two fell sideways while letting out screams.

He hadn’t simply swung the staff, but had utilized the mysteries of the ‘Mean Gambler’s Secret Art’ to shake their internal channels.

A method that was stealthy enough to escape a paladin’s eye, yet could deliver more certain pain than usual!

“Don’t bother the paladin for nothing.”

“N-No…”

Roan smiled slightly and spoke to Gawed.

“Paladin, in any case, since it’s confirmed that nothing is wrong, you may return.”

Gawed nodded while looking at the fallen Demona and Hector with complex eyes.

“Understood… Keep up the good work today too.”

Gawed went back down to the first floor.

Roan looked down at the two coldly and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk… our meal is delayed because of you guys. Get up quickly.”

Even in pain, Demona and Hector felt slightly aggrieved upon hearing those words.

”‘Isn’t that because of you?’”

This time they hadn’t done anything majorly wrong, and it was delayed because of Roan who knocked them down!