Chapter 357

If he was going to ask, he should at least go to Professor Alphard or the Holy War league steering committee.

It was not a question to be asked of a freshman like himself.

“Ahem, that’s true.”

Vulcan, feeling a bit awkward belatedly, cleared his throat and declared the result.

“First of all, Darc wins!”

Although it was clearly a victory, cheers did not erupt like in the other matches so far.

For one thing, everyone was dumbfounded by Bel’s holy spell—actually magic—and furthermore,

─ Mmh, that was a bit anti-climactic.

─ Did Darc let him off easy because he was the opponent?

─ What? Why would Darc?

─ Anyway, Senior Denver is a bit disappointing.

It was shocking that Denver, the captain of the Holy War Club of all people, had been defeated so helplessly.

“Uwaaaaah!!! Senior Denver!!! My captain, oh my captain!”

…Hector in the spectator seats was weeping even more sorrowfully than when he had lost.

From the side, Demona did not miss the opportunity to tease him.

“Hey, why is Senior Denver your captain? If it were mine or Roan’s captain, that would be one thing. You should do that to the captain of the Holy War Healing Club.”

“That is trueee!”

How sad must he be to only weep without even refuting Demona’s words!

In any case, the atmosphere was chaotic, more due to Bel’s overwhelming majesty and Denver’s helpless defeat than the fact that Roan had won.

Vulcan chuckled and said,

“Well, a player can lose sometimes while competing! Isn’t it rather good if you learn the clues to victory based on defeat!”

At that, Denver asked with tears in his eyes,

“Professor! How are we supposed to win against an opponent who uses such magic?”

To Denver’s question, Vulcan produced a clear answer worthy of an Acherandir professor.

“Why try to win?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not like other bastards have an Abyssal Dragon, and Darc is our guest member so he’s on our side, so why struggle to do the impossible! Bwahaha!”

“Huh?”

Only then did Denver ponder Vulcan’s words, tilting his head.

Hearing it, it was indeed true!

Certainly, from an opponent’s perspective, the Abyssal Dragon Bel was an overwhelming adversary with no visible strategy to beat,

but conversely, if it was on the same side, there could be no greater reassurance.

Vulcan and Denver stared at each other in silence for a moment, and then,

“We recruited a guy like that!”

“I think we are truly amazing, Professor!”

they shouted, running toward each other, embracing, and jumping up and down.

Crackle─ crackle─

“Keo-heok, Professor…! The lightning…!”

Of course, their joy was short-lived, as Denver became quite pained due to the sparks flying from the Lightning Bear’s hide.

Crack─ crack─

‘…I don’t think that’s the sound of lightning?’

Though a sound slightly different from sparks and somewhat more ominous occurred occasionally, Roan decided not to meddle since both of them were happy.

[─ Shouldn’t we stop them?]

“Leave them be. Neither of them seems normal. Perhaps getting struck by lightning will bring them to their senses.”

[─ I suppose so~]

The students in the spectator seats also flocked down in a crowd once the test ended.

Sion watched Vulcan and Denver, who were embracing each other, with a worried expression.

“I’ve seen something similar in Professor Kaina’s interrogation room. It’s called an electric chair.”

With Hector spouting such nonsense next to her, she couldn’t help but feel troubled as a Saintess candidate.

“Roan, shouldn’t we separate the professor and Senior Denver?”

Roan contemplated whether to repeat the words he had said to Bel, but instead, he nodded.

“We should.”

“As expected, right?”

“But since I am not strong enough, you separate them.”

“…”

Sion was left speechless.

If Roan was not strong enough, it was equivalent to saying that no one in this place could stop Vulcan.

“Don’t worry. If it gets really urgent anyway, someone will come.”

“Yes?”

“Who is coming, Roan?”

Roan said so, looking up at the high domed ceiling of Percival Hall.

No sooner had he done so than a whitish figure materialized in the spot Roan had been looking at.

As he said, a person who had not been present in this place made a sudden appearance.

Whoosh─ crash─!

“Keo-heong─!”

With a loud boom, Vulcan lost his grip on Denver and flew far away, slamming into the wall.

“Tsk, Professor Vulcan! Have you learned nothing despite being locked up over the weekend?”

It was Harden, who had been watching this class from the Principal’s office.

He was about to finish watching since the class was winding down, but when a valuable fourth-year was placed on the brink of death, he had urgently rescued him.

‘He must have been in a real hurry.’

…As a side note, the fact that Harden had stepped in meant Denver was indeed close to death.

“P-Principal…”

Only then did Vulcan, regaining his composure, mumble to Harden.

Harden threatened with a stern expression,

“If you wish to become a mere bear rather than a Lightning Bear, try that one more time!”

“Hiiiiieee! That is too cruel!”

Demona turned pale in Vulcan’s stead, trembling in terror.

To remove the word ‘Lightning’ from Lightning Bear.

What a terrifying warning that could defy the laws of nature.

Harden, who had calmed the situation, looked down at the students, alternately gazing between Demona and Roan.

They were the two students who had left the strongest impression on everyone in this class.

The student who was a problem because he was too good, and the student who was a problem because she was too pathetic.

For some reason, Roan felt highly displeased that he had been placed on the same level as Demona.

Flash───!

─ Ugh!

─ It’s the Principal’s light!

─ They say if you bask in the light without closing your eyes, you’ll gain clairvoyance!

The students, recalling a rumor they had heard somewhere, struggled desperately to keep their eyelids open while shedding tears, but none succeeded.

‘It didn’t lead to clairvoyance, though.’

Roan, who had done it a few times, knew the truth.

Of course, ordinary students dismissed it as a pleasant happening, thinking of even this as the grace of the Holy Spirit, but…

[─ Aaargh!]

‘Ugh.’

Roan and Bel, being black mages, were slightly different.

As a side note, Lucia, who was located far away from here, also had her coughing fit worsen for no reason at this moment.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Everyone, do things in moderation, in moderation! Truly, the moment a Holy War is mentioned, you lose your minds…”

Harden clicked his tongue sharply several times as if displeased with everything, then vanished once more.

Demona scolded Roan without even taking a breath,

“Roan, isn’t he talking to you? You should listen to the Principal~”

Glare─

“Ke-heo-reup! P-Pri… Principal…!”

But she ended up rolling on the floor after being hit by the curse spell.

Roan gathered his other friends, paying no mind to Demona as if it weren’t his doing.

“Let’s head to lunch soon.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah!”

It was the same for the other friends, who didn’t pay much attention to Demona either.

“Bwahaha, Roan, thanks!”

For some reason, Hector thanked Roan, though it wasn’t clear whether it was because Roan hadn’t cast a curse spell on him or simply because he had gotten rid of Demona.

He didn’t particularly want to ask either.

As the friends prepared to leave, Demona, who had been rolling on the floor, also staggered up and chased after them.

“H-Hey guys, wait for me…! Ugh, my mouth won’t even move properly. Roaaan!”

The students watching this scene spoke dubiously.

─ Hey, is that right?

─ Maybe it doesn’t actually hurt that much?

─ Should I ask him to cast it on me too next time?

─ Are you crazy? You’ll die!

* * *

Munch, munch─

Roan was having his meal while looking out the window.

Looking out the window was fine.

The meal was also a simple sandwich, but it had a freshness and clean taste different from those on Earth.

However,

Flinch─

─ Oh, what?

─ Hieek! It’s Darc, isn’t it? Why is he eating there?

─ How should I know? Let’s just pass by quickly…!

Watching every person whose eyes met Roan’s from outside the window flinch and whisper like this was not a particularly pleasant experience.

No matter how often he experienced it, doing this while eating felt like being an animal trapped in a zoo.

[─ Hehehe, it’s fun to watch them repeatedly.]

Bel didn’t seem to mind much, but…

Roan let out a small sigh and said,

“This is why I suggested sitting somewhere else.”

At that, the friends who were eating their sandwiches tilted their heads.

“Why?”

“Indeed, it’s nice to see outside though?”

‘Are they serious?’

Roan was truly curious.

Right now too,

─ Oh my gosh! It’s Darc!

─ B-But the Saintess candidate is next to him too!

─ Whew…

there was a group of female students who ran off in a hurry after gasping in surprise.

He disliked even more that they were so blatantly favoring Sion.

Did she perhaps like watching people get surprised?

Or was it a way to boost her self-esteem?

“Aren’t the other students getting surprised at the sight of me.”

When Roan asked, Sion said with a touched expression,

“As expected, you are kind, Roan.”

“Yeah, you care about other people so much.”

…The point of kindness seemed to be slightly different.

Did she mean that even this level was kind?

Demona raised her voice with a slightly angry face.

“Roan, why are you apologetic? Is it your fault you look like that?”

“…?”

Roan pondered Demona’s words and felt something was off.

“What’s wrong with how I look?”

Listening closely, she was pointing out his looks while pretending to care for him.

But regardless, Demona spoke her mind.

“The ones who get surprised so rudely at someone who is just sitting still are in the wrong! You have absolutely nothing to worry about! I keep telling you, stop acting nice and be a bit more confident!”

“Mmh.”

Roan gave a slight nod.

Except for ninety-nine out of a hundred being nonsense, she occasionally said the right things at times like this.

Hector also nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Dogs, cats, elephants, hippopotamuses, lizards, bats are all walking around, so getting surprised only at you is a bit unreasonable, Roan.”

Since the Empire was a place where various beastmen, mixed-bloods, and races lived together, Hector’s words weren’t wrong.

However, he shouldn’t have brought that up so casually because,

“Hey, you idiot! That’s racism!”

as Demona harshly pointed out, it could easily be construed as racism.

Hector shook his head in visible panic.

“N-No! I had absolutely no intention of doing so!”

But the gazes of the other friends were already not very pleasant.

Particularly, Sion, who was usually kind, was extremely sensitive to remarks that discriminated against imperial citizens.

“Foolish Hector.”

“Keo-heok! Even you, Sion…”

Hector was extremely saddened to hear such harsh words from Sion as well.

Although it was true that he was a fool, if Sion behaved like that, wouldn’t he be reduced to the same level as Demona?

Demona let out a deep sigh, patted Hector’s shoulder, and said,

“Actually… yes, even a face like yours lives, so Roan should live much better.”

“You heretic! Didn’t you call that racism with your own mouth just now!”

Hector flared up.

“What are you talking about? This is just calling an ugly person ugly.”

“…”

Faced with Demona’s confident retort, Hector was left speechless.

Above all, since the other friends also generally agreed with the sentiment, he had no justification.

Hector thought it would be better to just eat his food in silence.

‘At least he doesn’t lack the ability to learn.’

Roan found Hector to be surprisingly receptive.

Although it would have been better if he had learned a bit faster.

Sion, who was munching on her sandwich, swallowed it and asked,

“The next class is the World of Prayer, right?”

“Yes.”

The friends recalled the World of Prayer class.

A small prayer room packed with students, and the elderly Professor Vicius, who looked like he was about to pass away… no, who would surely live a long life, reciting prayers in front…

It was indeed a peaceful, comfortable, and holy atmosphere, but on the other hand, a question arose.

“How will we take the pop quiz for the World of Prayer class?”

“I wonder?”

The friends thought about it, but no specific image came to mind.

Demona said,

“Maybe it’s a free-form prayer duel?”

“D-Does that even make sense?”

Rafia dismissed it as nonsense, but the friends felt anxious for some reason.

Two people facing each other, reciting the prayer of the god demanded by the opponent in a fast rhythm,

and failing on the spot if they got tongue-tied.

‘‘‘Surprisingly, that makes sense…?’’’

Reviewing the classes they had taken so far, the fact that it was not an impossible scenario was even more terrifying.