Chapter 365

Chapter 365

Roan’s consciousness returned to reality.

Although his body didn’t move properly because he hadn’t fully awakened from the dream yet, sounds from the outside slowly began to be heard.

“Roaaan! I’m heeerreee! Open your eyeeesss!”

…It was a voice he didn’t particularly want to hear.

Demona whimpered, and her friends around her scolded her.

“Sigh, stupid Demona, quiet down. Didn’t you hear what the Principal and Professor Diar said earlier? They said his life isn’t in danger.”

“Ah, was that so? I was outside then. You should have told me earlier!”

“……Ugh……”

Sion let out a sigh.

“Sigh, as expected of Demona.”

“Classic Demona.”

“Demona.”

And her friends each called out Demona’s name, expressing their exasperation.

It seemed the words Roan heard at the end of his dream were for that sort of reason.

“Mmm.”

Hearing Demona’s voice, Roan, whose senses were jolted wide awake, opened his eyes groggily.

Seeing this, his friends rushed over immediately.

“Huh? Roan, are you awake?!”

“Roan!”

“Are you feeling okay?!”

The way they each had tears in their eyes was similar to Demona’s reaction earlier, if not more intense.

Still, it couldn’t be compared to Demona.

“…Yeah.”

Roan nodded and sat up.

Although he hadn’t realized it, he still hadn’t completely recovered from the shock of being enveloped by Hiloa’s holy light.

The False Divinity was still seemingly unconscious, acting only in a minimal capacity, and Ludiac was also quiet.

However, because his physical condition was visibly improving, it probably wouldn’t take long.

“””Hyaaaaack─────!!!!!!”””

Yet his friends’ fuss was unusual for some reason.

As if they were terrified, or had seen something they couldn’t bear to look at.

“…What’s wrong?”

Roan asked, frowning deeply.

While his friends didn’t even dare to answer, the one who possessed that kind of courage was, naturally, Demona.

“Roan, you’re crying! Why do you say you’re fine when you’re not?!”

“T-That’s true…”

Only then did Sion also nod, agreeing with Demona’s words.

Roan placed his hand on his cheek for a moment.

Damp moisture smeared on his fingers.

Recalling what he had seen in his dream once again, Roan said in a low voice.

“It’s nothing. It seems to be because of a dream.”

“J-Just what kind of dream did you have to react like that?”

Hector asked with an expression like shocked granite.

Roan shrugged.

“Well, a dream about my parents.”

“””!!!!!!!!!”””

If a melting pot of shock and emotion were to appear in reality, it would probably look similar to this hospital room.

“You softhearted foooooll!!!!!”

“Sob sob, Roaaaannn!!!”

‘Well, it was indeed a dream about my real parents this time.’

A truly perfect situation where he didn’t need to feel a guilty conscience toward anyone!

In the midst of weeping while hugging each other like that for a long time, Demona sniffled and showed Roan the pouch she was holding.

“Ah, by the way, Roan, look at this. I even plucked herbs for you.”

“…Herbs?”

Roan looked inside Demona’s pouch with a puzzled tone.

Setting aside her usual behavior, it was somewhat admirable that she had plucked herbs for him.

But.

Rustle— rustle—

Roan frowned slightly and rummaged through the grass inside the pouch.

“How is it? Are there some pretty rare ones?”

Demona asked with a slightly expectant look in her eyes.

Roan handed the pouch back.

“They’re just weeds.”

I was the fool for expecting anything.

Inside Demona’s pouch was indeed a handful of real weeds, completely devoid of any efficacy.

“Eh? There’s no way?!”

Demona pulled the grass out of the pouch as if she couldn’t believe it.

Her friends shook their heads.

“Well, that’s stupid Demona for you.”

“I wondered what kind of admirable deed you did for once, heretic.”

“Just stay quiet over there.”

A passing nurse showed interest upon hearing the friends’ conversation.

— Ah, student Darc, you’ve woken up? That’s a relief. More importantly, it seems she plucked herbs out of concern for her friend?

Apparently, the friendship of the young boys looked quite nice to her.

…Though she might not think so if she knew the truth.

At any rate, the nurse said she would take a look and examined the grass Demona had laid out.

Then she tilted her head in confusion.

— Oh? They really are just weeds?

It was an expression showing genuine curiosity for some reason.

Hector shrugged and said.

“Isn’t that just how it goes with the heretic’s work? Though you wouldn’t know, Nurse.”

— No… that’s not what I mean.

“””???”””

The friends tilted their heads, not knowing what on earth the nurse was trying to say.

Did it look like weeds but actually hide great efficacy?

However, the nurse’s next words were a masterpiece.

— It’s amazing~ It’s actually hard to pull only weeds like this in Acherandir. Normally, you’d accidentally get one or two roots.

“””…”””

The friends were quite dumbfounded, understanding the nurse’s intention.

”’Is that… amazing?”’

This was neither amazing nor not amazing.

It could only be called a truly Demona-like result.

At any rate, the nurse giggled and left.

— Still, the intention of caring for a friend is a good thing~ There is plenty of medicine in the ward, so you don’t need to worry much.

“Stupid Demona, study a bit!”

Smack—!

“Ah, the Saintess candidate is using violence!”

Whimpering, Demona rubbed her head after receiving a light knuckle-strike from Sion.

Sion asked Roan, ignoring Demona’s words:

“How is your body, Roan?”

Roan replied casually.

“I’m fine, but my head is throbbing a bit.”

Hearing this, his friends nodded with serious expressions.

“The Principal said so. That Lady Hiloa’s holy light can place a lot of burden on a human body.”

“That’s right. So they said you have to be careful for the time being.”

“It would be best if you refrained from praying for a while.”

“…I don’t think that’s something a Saintess candidate should say, though.”

“Ah.”

At any rate, since he had rarely prayed, there was nothing to refrain from.

And the reason his head was throbbing was also different from what they thought.

“And it’s not because of the holy light.”

“Then?”

“If you’re curious, try listening to Demona’s voice as soon as you wake up.”

Then, as if by agreement, the friends glared at Demona, who was packing the weeds back into her pocket.

Demona tilted her head in confusion.

“Huh? Why?”

“You health hazard!”

“Heest said Roan is hurting because of you!”

“W-Why me?!”

Demona felt quite wronged, but was eventually kicked out of the hospital room due to the pressure of the atmosphere.

Only then did Roan feel half-peace—due to Hector still remaining—and looked around.

“By the way, what about Bell and Charlotte? Are they still in the Great Temple?”

Laphia answered.

“No, Charlotte is in the ward storage. But… Bell fainted, so he’s receiving treatment in the Divine Spirit Beast Ward.”

The friends nodded with sad expressions.

Naturally, the reason Bell had lost consciousness was because he possessed black mana.

However, Roan, who had expected the outcome to some extent, offered the excuse he had prepared in advance.

“Naturally. Since we have the Rally of Sworn Allies. I feel sorry for Bell.”

“Ah, that bracelet?”

“Yes, the Rally of Sworn Allies is a holy relic that connects us at the soul level. Lady Hiloa’s power must have burdened Bell as well.”

In fact, since it wasn’t really a lie, their trust in him rose even further!

The friends each nodded with touched expressions.

“As expected, I think Roan and Bell are a match made in heaven.”

“Bell must have been very startled.”

“Rally of Sworn Allies! I want one too!”

“””…?”””

However, everyone turned to look at Hector in confusion at his words.

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?”

Hector flinched and asked them.

Laphia sighed and said.

“Hector, seriously. You shouldn’t ask Roan for such a precious item.”

“What?!”

Hector questioned back as if asking what she was talking about.

He had only said he wanted the Rally of Sworn Allies; he was not shameless enough to suddenly demand such a treasure.

…Of course, he had no intention of declining if Roan offered it, though.

Hector’s friends, seeing a sliver of greed flicker in his eyes, despised him even more.

Ultimately, Sion said rather sharply.

“Hector, you don’t interfere either, get out and play with Demona!”

“Ack… I really didn’t mean to…”

Hector left the hospital room with a highly hurt expression.

He wanted to stay inside if possible, but he couldn’t win against the girls’ vicious glares.

The reason he didn’t want to leave like that was soon made clear.

— What? Fanatic, you got kicked out too? I knew that would happen~

— Shut up, heretic! Do you think I got kicked out for the same reason as you!

‘It was actually worse than that.’

Demona, who seemed to have been right outside the door, began to tease him.

Then, after a while, the outside seemed to grow quiet, and—

Creak—

the door opened again.

The girls glared at the doorway.

“Stupid Demona, you…”

“Hector, I clearly…”

However, the words they uttered so boldly could not be finished.

“Hmm? Is something going on?”

[At this rate, she’s going to burn down a book.]

“P-Principal!”

“Professor Diar!”

It was because Harden and Diar, not Demona or Hector, were standing there.

The girls hurriedly stood up and paid their respects to them.

Harden waved his hand to dismiss it and said to them.

“No need for that. Including those two fools outside, you really care for your friend. As the Principal, it is good to see… indeed.”

Because it was a deep friendship rarely seen in Acherandir, Harden tried to praise them, but the ending was not comfortable.

‘Come to think of it, it’s a bit awkward that they built such a deep friendship with a black mage, of all people.’

Out of so many students, how could the only black mage be so popular!

…Of course, Roan would absolutely disagree with the words ‘popular,’ though.

At any rate, the students were simply overwhelmed by Harden’s praise.

“I came because it seemed Darc has started to wake up. We have something important to discuss, so could you step aside for a moment?”

“Yes, Principal.”

“Yes, thank you.”

They stood up and went outside quickly.

Roan belatedly tried to get up and pretend to pay his respects.

Usually, in this situation, he would say ‘no need for greetings,’ so he had intended to just go through the motions.

At that, Harden narrowed his eyes and said.

“I know you’re perfectly fine, so do it properly if you’re going to do it.”

‘Tsk.’

Roan eventually got out of bed and showed proper respects.

Harden laughed heartily and said.

“Do you think I’ve only seen Lady Hiloa’s holy light once or twice? I’ve even set it off myself! Hahaha!”

[Yes, while people make a fuss over it now, it wasn’t such a surprising thing three thousand years ago.]

“…”

Roan was left speechless by the perfectly synchronized conversation between Harden and Diar.

The commonly said ‘in my day’ stories had their limits.

If the scale reached three thousand years, he honestly had no choice but to acknowledge it.

To make an analogy with Earth, it was similar to saying, ‘In my day, I built the pyramids myself~’

“Why do you have that look on your face? Do you suddenly find this Principal amazing?”

[Do you find this professor amazing?]

“Um… yes, close enough.”

“Bwahaha! I knew it!”

[He’s in a very good mood today!]

When Roan gave a halfhearted answer, the two laughed out loud again, apparently pleased just by that.

‘Building the pyramids is indeed respectable.’