Chapter 358

Roan looked at them and said,

“You say that because you don’t know Professor Vicius’s personality.”

“Ah, as expected, right?”

“Whew…”

Only then did the friends sigh in relief.

Indeed, the image of students reciting prayers like a duel in front of the gentle Vicius was quite ridiculous.

Furthermore, if the atmosphere grew too passionate, wouldn’t Vicius’s health be at risk!

The friends imagined that scene for a moment, then shook their heads and looked at Roan.

The meaning of that action was simple.

“Thenwhat…?”

“Riel, they said leaking exam questions is a fine.”

“Ah.”

Although Rafia scolded Riel for asking so directly, her face clearly showed she was dying to hear it too.

Roan spoke as if it were obvious,

“Naturally, the pop quiz for the World of Prayer is done with prayer.”

“That’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“If I say any more than this, it’s a fine.”

“True…”

Only then did the friends give up and focus on their own conversation again.

It was more fun to talk when no one knew; wouldn’t it feel anti-climactic if they found out the answer?

Still, it was somewhat reassuring that the World of Prayer test was just a prayer.

‘…Isn’t that obvious?’

Roan thought his friends were sighing in relief too easily.

This was because, though they did not know it yet, the World of Prayer boasted a pop quiz that was the hardest to pass cleanly.

It boasted a pop quiz notorious among players.

Then, Demona spoke up.

“But you see. If the professor resurrects as a Holy Spirit, do you think we could just skip the pop quiz?”

“What? Demona, you shouldn’t say such things.”

Rafia frowned and scolded her.

The other friends wore similar expressions.

But Demona asked confidently,

“Why? Isn’t resurrecting as a Holy Spirit a good thing? He’ll throw off the shackles of the flesh and enjoy eternal glory.”

“T-That is true, but…”

Certainly, for ordinary people, death was a sad and irreversible event,

but for a great figure like Vicius, his resurrection as a Holy Spirit was guaranteed anyway, so it was rather a joyous thing.

Roan also nodded.

“Yes. If the professor ascends as a Holy Spirit, a festival will probably be held at the academy.”

It was not a prediction but a fact.

Because Vicius’s death was one of the biggest events during the first year.

‘Though for some reason, I feel it won’t happen that quickly this time.’

At that, the friends who had looked at Demona with contempt also changed their minds slightly.

“Hearing it, it does seem like a good thing.”

“Indeed. Becoming a Holy Spirit is a glorious thing.”

Then, preferably during the pop quiz, or even better, around the midterm or final exams…

At that moment, Roan, who was about to take a bite of his sandwich, paused to think and said,

“Demona, even so, isn’t it a bit too much to wish for an elder to pass away?”

“Y-Yes! Demona, that is indeed too much!”

“As expected of a heretic!”

“It’s too much!”

The friends snapped out of it as if they had never almost been swayed by Demona’s words, and insulted Demona in unison.

Demona muttered in confusion,

“Y-You guys also thought so just now…!”

But Demona had already been completely excluded from the conversation.

Roan felt slightly satisfied internally, and after eating his sandwich, he spoke.

“As a side note, the pop quiz for the World of Prayer is on the difficult side. You’d better prepare yourselves mentally.”

“Huh? Difficult? But…”

“We really learned nothing in the World of Prayer class!”

Demona shouted, practically drilling it into the ears of her friends who were ignoring her.

The friends continued to ignore Demona, but they rolled their eyes to point at her.

It meant, ‘Isn’t she right about that?’

Roan smirked.

“It’s harder because we learned nothing.”

“A-Ah?”

The friends thought that was indeed a Roan-like persuasive logic.

Roan cleared his spot and stood up, holding his tray.

“Let’s go if everyone is roughly done eating. We are a bit late because Professor Vulcan ended class late.”

“Ah, I finished too.”

“Me too.”

“Same here.”

“I-I’m not finished eating yet! Guys! Lishten to me!”

Demona, in a hurry, stuffed the remaining sandwich into her mouth all at once and stood up.

Sion glared at her and said,

“You are late because you ordered three for yourself! Foolish Demona, when you don’t even have money!”

“Sion! Saying such harsh words…!”

“Kyaah! Don’t spit!”

Thus, Roan and his friends left,

and the other freshmen who had been sitting nearby pretending not to know them began a meaningful conversation.

─ Did you hear that just now?

─ Yes, the World of Prayer exam is difficult?

─ Just how monstrous is it…

They were the ones who secretly followed Roan to gather information over his shoulder, the so-called ‘White Spy Group.’

But of course,

‘I wonder how many false rumors will spread this time.’

Roan was already fully aware of their existence.

Even Lucia, who used stealth magic to trail him deliberately, could not escape Roan’s senses,

so clumsy freshmen who followed him wherever he went didn’t even count as trailing.

They could just create false rumors and get fined for deluding the public!

* * *

The Nerchiora Grand Temple, where the World of Prayer class was held.

Roan and his friends entered the small prayer room, chatting about various things.

However,

─ …

─ …

The students, who would usually be chattering noisily, were all keeping silent with stiff expressions for some reason.

“C-Could it be…!”

Demona gasped in shock, her eyes widening at the unusual atmosphere.

“You’d better stop there, Demona.”

Roan stopped Demona’s mouth to prevent any potential unpleasantness.

Earlier, they had said becoming a Holy Spirit was a good thing and a festival would be held, but even so, it was not desirable to bring up such stories right after the previous Pope’s passing.

Demona glared at him slightly and asked,

“What did you think I was going to say?”

“Well…”

“Aren’t they behaving like this because they already know the exam is too difficult?”

“…”

Did she really intend to ask that question?

Roan somehow didn’t want to believe Demona’s words.

Woong─

[As expected of a black mage, your head is filled with demons!]

The False Divinity giggled.

Thump─

[Indeed, indeed. My descendant is so pure, you see.]

Ludiac did not miss out either.

Roan could not bring himself to speak to the authorities, so he said a word to Demona instead.

“I just told you to be careful because if you speak more, you might get fined for leaking exam questions.”

“Aha~ As expected of Roan~ I keep telling you, you’re the only one who thinks of me.”

Demona headed to an empty seat joyfully, saying something that would turn her friends’ faces leaden.

Before long, the attendant priests assisting Vicius’s class arrived at the small prayer room one after another.

─ In a moment, the professor will enter, so everyone be devout… Wait, why is it so quiet today?

The attendant priests, who were trying to quiet the students as usual, were flustered by the atmosphere, which was quite different from normal.

This was because there was even a determination on the students’ faces that was uncharacteristic of them.

─ Student, did something happen?

One attendant priest, unable to contain his curiosity, asked a student he was familiar with.

The student nodded and replied,

─ We are taking the pop quiz today.

─ T-That’s true, but…

Thinking rationally, that might be a sufficient reason, but for an attendant priest who had worked at Acherandir for a long time, it was still insufficient.

Quiet because of a pop quiz?

There was no way students who ran rampant even during midterms and finals would do that.

Whether he understood that feeling, the student added an explanation in a whisper.

─ I’m only telling you this, Priest… but they said Darc said this exam is extremely difficult.

─ Yes?

─ Wouldn’t the test be to exorcise evil spirits using only prayers… or perhaps to make a black mage submit using prayers?

Only then did the priest realize why the students wore such determined expressions.

If they were forced to exorcise evil spirits or make black mages submit for a mere pop quiz, even he would have behaved similarly.

…Naturally, it meant it was a false rumor.

─ Student Darc said that?

─ Well… I didn’t hear it directly, but there is such a thing as a rumor. But you really mustn’t tell anyone.

─ Why?

─ Well, because you might get fined for leaking exam questions! They said Wicronon has already received over a thousand talants in fines for that alone! Isn’t that amazing?

The priest had more than one or two things he wanted to ask, like whether speaking to him didn’t count as a leak, how Demona had received a thousand talants in fines, and why that was considered amazing.

But instead of asking about such trivial things, the priest looked back at Roan sitting far away.

‘I haven’t heard that he goes around spreading false rumors in particular…’

His reputation for being surprisingly knowledgeable was widespread.

But to go around delivering such nonsense stories, he was slightly disappointed.

‘It is more likely that a black mage is hidden among these students than taking a test like that for a pop quiz.’

The priest chuckled and shook his head, thinking they were indeed young students.

If Roan had heard this, he might have jumped up in grievance.

…Though it wouldn’t be solely out of grievance.

And a moment later,

Wooooo─ Viiiiii──

The resonance of the sacred relics of the Nerchiora Grand Temple began to intensify all at once.

─ The professor is entering.

It was the entrance of the former Pope and professor, Vicius.

Vicius, supported as always by two attendant priests, slowly headed toward the podium.

He then looked at the students and greeted them,

“This week too… to be able to greet you with my own voice… makes me very happy…”

─ We are too!

─ You must live a long, long life, Professor!

At the voice that felt as if it could snap at any moment, the students cheered for him with devout mindsets.

Vicius smiled faintly and said,

“Thank you… I am trying to hold out for just this semester… but I feel that the end is not far…”

─ …Is his chair thorny?

─ I know, right…

Although Vicius himself seemed detached regarding death, the listeners couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable upon hearing such words.

An attendant priest said with tears in his eyes,

─ Professor, what are you saying. You must live for at least another ten years.

The remarks Demona whispered to Roan,

“Is that correct? When he is struggling so much…”

To repeat, Roan also agreed to some extent.

Although he currently had the body of a weak old man, once he ascended as a Holy Spirit, he would return to his prime state.

From then on, Vicius would escape the shackles of the flesh and be able to move much more actively.

In any case, Vicius accepted the hearts of the students and priests with gratitude, and began the announcement for the pop quiz.

“The pop quiz for the World of Prayer… is the Manifestation of Holy Light…”

─ ?!?!?!!!!

The students stirred greatly at the words ‘Manifestation of Holy Light.’

─ Is it not making a black mage submit using prayers?

─ Wasn’t it exorcising evil spirits with prayers?

It was because both possibilities they had firmly believed in had been denied,

“Where… did you hear such stories…? There is no way… we would make freshmen do such things, is there…?”

─ I-I think those options would be better than Holy Light…

─ Exactly…

and also because the task of manifesting Holy Light itself was far too difficult.

Cold sweat trickled down the students’ temples.