Chapter 361

Chapter 361

At any rate, although there was no reason Harden and Diar couldn’t step in if they really wanted to, since it didn’t look dangerous, keeping still for now was the best policy.

And because Hiloa’s holy power was so intense, no one other than those of their caliber would notice that black mana was mixed in.

How long had they watched like that?

Zuuu—

The light that had filled the area brightly began to contract gradually.

From the outside of the Great Temple of Nelkiora to the inside, and from there into the small prayer room…

However, it did not shrink to the size of a human head like ordinary holy light did.

A round light, like a full moon, still remained above Roan’s head.

It was around then that the other people regained their senses.

— Wh-What on earth was that?

— It felt like something flashed, but…

However, they looked around as if they had completely lost their memory of the moment the holy light erupted.

No, in fact, there was no need to even look around.

— L-Look at Darc!

— What is that?!

Because looking at what was floating above Roan’s head, they could instinctively tell what had caused this strange occurrence.

The students made a fuss, each pointing at Roan’s holy light.

“Keep quiet, everyone. We don’t know what else might happen yet.”

— Th-The Principal?!

— There’s a book next to him too!

Harden and Diar slowly flew toward Roan.

And they checked his condition.

“Tsk, he fainted.”

[It’s a relief he didn’t die.]

“That’s true.”

— The Principal is talking to a book?

— Dear me…

The students looked at Harden with pitying eyes as he spoke to the book by himself.

…In a way, the students of Acherandir were truly free of prejudice.

Normally they would have said something, but since the situation was what it was, Harden and Diar also ignored it and let it slide.

However.

“K-Kyaaaaack! Awoooo!!!!”

“…What is that?”

[I’ve seen all kinds of weirdos. The academy is doomed, doomed.]

The two of them couldn’t hide their bewilderment either at the sound of a wolf howling that suddenly echoed in the small prayer room.

* * *

There were black mages in the Empire.

Although most of them just lived in fear in remote areas, not knowing when the hand of the Empire would reach them,

among them, there were also many bad black mages who harbored truly wicked intentions and sought evil revenge against the Empire!

The Kaiwolf family was also one of the victims who had been victimized by such bad black mages.

The Kaiwolf family was known to have the very first Royal Wolf mixed-blood as their ancestor in the distant past.

Even now, after a long time had passed, descendants with werewolf traits were occasionally born in accordance with that.

The Acherandir professor, Atoga, was also a distant branch of the Kaiwolf family.

Even if they looked like ordinary humans, many of them possessed superhuman talents in hearing and smell.

For that reason, the Kaiwolf family enjoyed a high reputation for tracking down and arresting criminals.

That was also the reason they became the target of the ‘Kijorak School,’ an evil black magic school.

— F-Family Head! It’s a trap!

— What? This is our lord’s castle, how can there be a trap?

— Across the entire lord’s castle, a mass black magic trap has been deployed!

— No, what are the guards doing!

— That… they were hit by sleeping pills mixed into the meat…

— To do such an evil deed!

One late night at dawn, the Kaiwolf family fell victim to the Kijorak School’s trap without any time to react.

Kuooooah—!

A wave of black magic swept across the Kaiwolf lord’s castle area.

— …But what kind of trap is this?

— For now, there doesn’t seem to be any change…

At the time, they did not even know properly what kind of effect the black magic had.

However, the Kijorak School’s trap was indeed a terrible and persistent curse.

It mixed into the glorious Royal Wolf’s blood, making it difficult to detach…

The leader of the Kijorak School reportedly left a single comment behind after seeing their plan successfully executed.

— Huhuhu… If you love persecuting us so much, I will make it even easier for you to find us…

It was a few days later, on a night when the full moon rose, that the Kaiwolf family learned the true nature of the curse.

— Kyaaaack! W-What!

— My blood, my blood is boiling!

— Awooooo!

Even though wolf blood was mixed in, a commotion broke out in the Kaiwolf family, who had been gentle and only rose up for necessary matters.

A curse of the Kijorak School, ‘Dirty Blood Modification,’ which drove those with Kaiwolf blood into a frenzy whenever the full moon rose!

Moreover, that was not all.

— Lord Kaiwolf, how is it?

— *Sniff, sniff*, I think it’s this way…!

— Is there a problem?

— Crwaaaaack! Bark, bark!

— Ugh! Lord Kaiwolf has gone mad!

The Kaiwolf family had since become extremely sensitive to the scent of black magic, falling into a state where they also went into a frenzy.

— Tsk, it’s an annoying curse. Even I find it difficult to completely purify it, but things will become bearable from now on.

— Thank you, Principal!

Although Harden even stepped in to purify the blood, the curse did not completely disappear.

Although it wasn’t to the level of rampaging without being able to distinguish friend from foe, due to their monster-like appearance resembling a werewolf and uncontrollable excitement, the Kaiwolf family’s activities shrank significantly.

Yet a prestigious family was still a prestigious family.

Even now, several students from the Kaiwolf family were enrolled at Acherandir.

* * *

Nijian Kaiwolf was also a proud member of the Kaiwolf family.

An excellent Acherandir freshman who was angry at the black mages who dirtied her family’s blood, and got along sociably with her friends!

However.

—————————!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! —————————!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roan’s holy light, which erupted out of nowhere, swept across her body once.

Up to that point, it was fine.

Because regardless of her Kaiwolf blood, it was a event intense enough to make her lose her senses.

But.

Zuuu…

Regaining her senses after Roan’s light contracted, Nijian realized that something was wrong with her body.

“…Um?”

— Ugh… what on earth is going on?

— L-Look at Darc!

Frowning and placing her hand on her forehead, Nijian looked toward the place her friend was pointing.

There sat Roan, sitting peacefully despite this commotion—though in fact, he had already fainted—with the holy light glowing roundly above him.

It was then.

Grrr—

For some reason, her Kaiwolf blood began to react to Roan’s holy light.

However, Nijian, who had grown up under the tender protection of her family until now, was not accustomed to such a thing.

Since she had spent nights when the full moon rose inside a specially prepared basement, making them pass tolerably, this was her first time experiencing the true manifestation of the curse.

“Urgh…!”

Nijian frowned, cowering and trembling.

Her friends asked anxiously, seeing Nijian’s unusual state.

— Nijian, are you okay?

— Why is she suddenly like this?

Snap—

At that moment, it felt as if a sound of something snapping or breaking echoed deep within Nijian, and

she could no longer hold back.

“Kyaaaack!”

— Eh?

— N-Nijian!

Nijian sprang up and let out a shreeeeek.

The surrounding students who didn’t know her well murmured.

— Hey, no matter how great Darc is, shouldn’t she hold it in for now?

— Exactly, it’s still a holy light after all.

…They thought Nijian’s strange behavior was merely jealousy toward Roan, just like their usual reactions.

However.

Shhh—

Nijian’s height suddenly shot up,

— …Do you grow that big if you don’t hold it in?

— You idiot! How does anyone grow taller just from that?

— N-No, it looks like her body size is growing too?

Shhh—

Her hair grew long and bushy like a mane, and soon, body hair began to grow on her exposed skin.

Of course, because Acherandir’s school uniform had a stretching holy spell applied, one did not need to worry about it ripping from that level of change.

In any case, that appearance looked like—

— Just how much did she hate seeing Darc!

— You have to acknowledge her if she goes that far!

— B-But isn’t this dangerous, rather than just standing around watching?

It resembled a werewolf, a monster they had only heard about in rumors!

“Awoooooo—!!!!”

Nijian howled loudly toward the sky, guided by her instinct.

“…What is that?”

[I’ve seen all kinds of weirdos. The academy is doomed, doomed.]

It was around then that Harden and Diar discovered her anomaly.

[Is that child from the Kaiwolf family?]

“Yes, that seems correct. Her name was Nijian.”

Harden nodded at Diar’s question.

Unlike her ferocious appearance, there was no major cause for concern.

Thanks to Harden’s purification and the passage of time, she could maintain her reason almost completely now even if she transformed like that.

Unlike when they were first afflicted by the curse, the full moon was fine as long as they didn’t receive direct moonlight, and black mana was also not a problem unless exposed to absurdly strong power.

Thus, Diar asked in a relaxed manner.

[It seems she reacted to Darc’s black mana, right?]

“Most likely…”

Actually, it was not a very relaxing question.

Having been swept by Hiloa’s extremely intense holy power, even the False Divinity that decorated Roan’s black mana had been knocked out.

As a result, the genuine black mana leaked out, and because it was powerful enough to be maintained amidst Hiloa’s power, it seemed her Kaiwolf blood reacted sensitively to it.

The two, whose combined age exceeded fifteen thousand years, began to ponder how they could cover up this issue as naturally as possible.

Meanwhile, only after her appearance had completely changed did Nijian realize her family’s curse and feel puzzled.

“Uh, why is this…?”

A husky, growling voice due to having transformed into a wolf.

— Nijian, are you conscious?

— Your appearance changed…!

Her friends remained slightly distanced from her, but they were worried enough to have tears in their eyes.

Nijian waved her hands to reassure them and said.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s a family trait… But there’s no way it should happen now.”

— Why?

“That’s because… our family’s curse only reacts to the full moon and extremely strong black mana.”

— What?!

Nijian’s friends and the surrounding students were shocked out of their wits without exception.

Naturally, it was broad daylight now as class was in progress.

There was no way a full moon would be up.

In that case, the only remaining one was…

— Does that mean there’s a black mage around here?!?!?!!!

only extremely strong black mana!

— Professor! We’re in big trouble!

— They say Nijian is a black mage!

— You idiot, not that! She said there’s a black mage nearby!

— T-That’s what she said!

The students fell into complete panic and desperately sought Harden.

‘There is indeed a black mage, but.’

Harden looked at Roan, who had fainted in a praying posture, with a complex gaze for a moment and was about to say something.

At that moment.

“You pathetic fools! You look like weak creatures who cannot resolve anything with your own power and only rely on the help of the strong!”

[—Why is that Wicronon fellow acting like that all of a sudden?]

[Well, she was just pathetic in my class. Then again, Wicronons do act like that occasionally.]

Demona sprang up and stood tall before the students.

— Ugh!

— It-It’s Wicronon!

— Since she’s standing in front of Darc’s holy light, I can’t even look at her properly!

Because she was in a position that exquisitely utilized the holy light above Roan’s head, the students shrank back completely.

Demona continued to shout.

“If you felt black mana, as students of Acherandir who will lead the Empire, you should naturally seek it out and execute it yourself. How dare you make such a cheeky demand of the Holy Spirit! Come out! Who felt the black mana?”

— Uh…

— Was it you?

— Wasn’t it you?

The students calmed down a bit and, as they always did, began to blame each other.

Naturally, their gazes turned toward Nijian, who was examining her body with a troubled expression.

“Hmm?”