Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Did Roan’s sudden smack to the back of Demona’s head prove effective?

— Dar… Ahem.

Only then did the students, sensing an unusual atmosphere, begin to slip away from Roan.

And their attention was focused entirely on Sion.

— Saintess candidate! You’re so cool!

— When is the divine beast going to hatch!

“Um, about that…”

Sion, not knowing what to do with the goodwill and attention she was receiving for the first time since her admission—or rather, for the first time in her life—glanced back at where Roan was.

This was because she felt that he, who remained calm in such situations, would be of help in many ways.

“?”

However, Roan was no longer there.

While the students crowded around Sion, he had already slipped out of the crowd and naturally blended in with Hector and Demona.

“? When did you get here, Roan?”

“I’ve been here from the start, though.”

Roan shamelessly feigned ignorance!

Soon, Riel and Rafia, who had stopped practicing at the sudden commotion, also gathered around them.

“What’s going on? A divine beast?”

Roan pointed at Sion and said.

“Sion obtained a divine beast’s egg.”

“What?”

“!”

Rafia and Riel were astonished at the same time.

A divine beast’s egg!

Even at Acherandir, a first-year obtaining a divine beast’s egg was a massive deal.

At that moment, Demona asked while massaging the back of her head, which was still tingling.

“Didn’t you say you got one too, Roan?”

“…”

Roan glared at Demona as if he wanted to kill her.

This bastard just had to say something unnecessary…

“I-Is that true? You too?”

“A divine beast!”

Rafia and Riel’s eyes grew even wider.

Of course, even then, it was only about the width of an eyebrow for Riel, but even that was a sufficiently huge reaction.

“Please let it not be true, please let it not be true…”

Meanwhile, Hector was muttering to himself like this, standing a step away.

He simply refused to believe that Roan had obtained a divine beast’s egg before he did.

Especially when he had only obtained the egg of a Thousand Eye-socket Serpent, which couldn’t even be used in the Sacred Combat.

…Of course, he had absolutely no doubt about whether he would ever be able to obtain a divine beast’s egg in his lifetime.

At any rate, since things had turned out this way, Roan decided to honestly admit it.

‘I won’t be able to hide it anyway once the divine beast hatches.’

It wasn’t a secret that would last very long, even if he tried to hide it.

“That’s right.”

“Amazing, Roan! How on earth did you get it?”

Rafia asked various questions in amazement, but Roan brushed most of them off as a secret.

It wasn’t exactly a lie either.

Hearing that, Rafia didn’t pry any further.

Only then could Roan breathe a sigh of relief.

‘Still, I’m glad there’s no sign of jealousy.’

Obtaining a divine beast’s egg by himself was a major event that could instantly drop the favorability rating of even close friends.

Fortunately, Rafia, Riel, and Demona all seemed to have no particular thoughts other than being a bit surprised.

At that moment, Demona spoke, looking back and forth between Roan and Hector.

“Didn’t you say the fanatic rabbit egg is also divine beast-level? Then you two can just get along.”

‘This girl really has no tact…’

Roan was dumbfounded.

If she saw the state of Hector muttering to himself behind them, she would never say such a thing.

Hector looked less like a heretic inquisitor and more like a heretic himself!

Right now, Hector was glaring at Demona with an indescribable look in his eyes.

But whether he did so or not, Demona kept talking.

“What a pity. Since mine is the Fanatic Rabbit King, it might be slightly lacking. Sigh, the world is just so unfair~”

“…Demona. How about you shut your mouth now?”

Roan, who rarely said such things, approached Demona and warned her.

At this rate, it felt as though a bloodshed would truly occur in the McGodal Room.

“Roan.”

But before Demona could say anything, Hector called Roan first in a soft voice.

Flinch—

Even the peerless Roan couldn’t help but be startled when he turned back to look at Hector.

‘That look, I’ve seen it once before…’

Hector’s appearance was exactly like this when Demona obtained the Fanatic Rabbit King’s egg.

Madness hidden beneath gentleness.

No, it was hatred, jealousy, and darkness worse than madness!

“Do you happen to have an interest in black magic too? Lately, I’ve been finding the heretic’s words rather persuasive.”

“…No such thing.”

Roan denied it immediately.

But Hector grinned and shook his head.

“No, I think you will definitely take an interest. Well, it’s only natural for the Darc family, who are sworn enemies of black mages.”

Even though he knew Hector was just babbling without knowing anything,

Roan felt as if cold sweat was running down his spine.

At that rate, he felt Hector might actually sneak into Roan’s private room and toss in a black magic totem.

***

The atmosphere finally settled down a bit around the time the Basic Physical Combat class was about to begin.

However, only students stood blankly in the training ground, which was as wide as a playing field.

The professor did not arrive even though it was class time.

Sensing a somewhat familiar situation, the students began to murmur among themselves.

— It’s not another one of those professors, is it?

— What kind of professor?

— Timothy, Uli…

— Sh-Stop it.

Roan’s friends also looked slightly anxious.

This was especially true for Rafia and Riel, who had high expectations for this class.

However, Roan shook his head.

“This professor will definitely show up.”

“Ah, really? Truly?”

“Yeah. Though he might have gotten lost in the academy.”

“???”

Rafia and Riel tilted their heads.

A professor getting lost in the academy?

Hector asked, looking at Roan with a warm gaze:

“Roan, do you know who the professor is?”

“…Don’t look at me with those eyes.”

Since it was getting to a burdensome point, Roan gave Hector a sharp warning.

Of course, Hector was not in a state where such warnings would work.

Roan let out a sigh and replied.

“Yes, he is quite famous.”

“Is he a famous paladin?”

“No.”

“Then an adventurer?”

“Not that either.”

“…Then?”

Not only Rafia, who asked in succession, but also the expressions of the other students around them darkened slightly.

Although they didn’t know who it was, they instinctively felt that if he was neither a paladin nor an adventurer, he would certainly not be normal!

By now, they too were adapting wonderfully to Acherandir.

“He is famous as a converted heretic.”

— !!??!!?!

Roan’s reply turned their anxiety into reality.

However, they soon began to accept it as normal.

— Well, that could happen.

— Is he a magic swordsman on the black magic side?

— Then he must be nice.

Roan was pleased with the public opinion, which had changed significantly compared to when they first entered.

‘At this rate, I won’t be reported immediately even if I’m caught.’

Although he had to minimize any chances of getting caught, he felt as though his life expectancy was gradually increasing.

Harden’s educational philosophy of not discriminating against people based on religion was showing its effect!

…Though he didn’t know if Harden’s educational philosophy was actually like that.

Meanwhile, Hector was a bit slower to accept it than the other students.

“How can a heretic be a professor…”

But even as he muttered this, a few people crossed his mind.

Beleck, Demona, Roan, Vulcan…

Vulcan was a devout religious man, but due to what happened during lunchtime, he belonged to the heretic category in Hector’s mind.

Hector spoke to Roan again with a greasy smile.

“Roan, he must be a professor you absolutely need to maintain close relations with.”

“…What on earth are you thinking?”

Roan shuddered.

Just then, a sudden boom erupted from a short distance away.

Tuquaang—!

— What, what is that?

— Did a war break out?

The students murmured among themselves, looking back toward the direction the sound had come from.

Roan nodded as if he had expected it.

“Here he comes.”

Soon, a black dot appeared in the sky.

— Uh? I think that’s getting closer?

— It’s a meteor!

Roan channeled black mana throughout his entire body.

Although it was a professor rather than a meteor.

‘If it’s that person, he is as good as a meteor.’

He needed to be fully prepared.

A massive human figure crashed right in the middle of the training ground in the blink of an eye.

Kabaaaam—!

Under the immense roar and aftershock, several students who had just been watching blankly couldn’t hold their ground and were blown away.

And inside the crater of the crash site—

— W-What is that!

A body measuring a whopping three meters rose from the dust.

Thud— thud—

Emerging from the dust, he possessed glistening copper skin and a face like rock.

On his back, a battle axe the size of an average adult male shone with a cold blade.

The very first thing he did upon appearing before the students was—

“I overslept!”

to stretch while shouting at the top of his lungs.

— Ugh, ugh!

An absurd phenomenon where wind pressure erupted solely from him stretching!

Moreover, by some mystery, a powerful wave of holy power swept out from his mouth.

The students staggered, unable to keep their balance.

Those who had already been blown away at the moment of the crash were dragged along helplessly.

Only Roan, who had channeled his black mana in advance, could stand calmly amidst that storm of wind pressure and holy power.

‘The Miracle of the Archipelago, Gulba.’

Gulba, who inherited the blood of an ancient giant and boasted a majesty that transcended the human realm, was his name.

He was a character from the ‘Budor Archipelago,’ which was about a three-day boat ride from the continent, and had been a great warrior.

For reference, the reason his nickname was the Miracle of the Archipelago was—

“I’m hungry!”

because the holy power released whenever he shouted at the top of his lungs was none other than proof of authority.

…Of course, his strength and stamina, which reached a talent stat of about 30, also played a part.

For reference, the Budorians, who possessed exceptional physical abilities due to inheriting giant blood, had an average talent stat of about 20.

At any rate, the authority he possessed was ‘Primitive Communication.’

It was a sort of translation authority that directly connected his intent with the target’s intent to enable communication.

That the students could understand Gulba’s words despite him not knowing the Imperial language was also an effect of the authority.

‘Why does such a broken authority have to belong to a guy like him…’

For Roan, it could only be a lifelong regret.

The ‘target’ mentioned by Primitive Communication did not simply refer to humans.

It included not only animals like divine beasts and spiritual beasts, but also plants and even inanimate objects.

It was an ability that could even decipher lost Hilonian or ancient scripts from eras preceding it.

Put bluntly, it meant he could read ancient documents that even Harden couldn’t decipher!

For adventurer and scholar characters, it was an unparalleled, broken authority.

The problem was that this Primitive Communication was fundamentally bound to Gulba.

And Gulba’s intelligence was far too lacking to decipher such high-level information.

‘To use a metaphor, the software can’t keep up with the hardware.’

Roan clicked his tongue at the regret that felt fresh once again.

Had he obtained such an authority instead, he could have lived like a king regardless of being a black mage.

Woooong—

The False Divinity, recognizing Roan’s regret, vibrated.

I can do that too!

Although communication with humans was impossible, the False Divinity was already performing the miraculous feat of translating black magic into holy magic with ease.

However, Roan, who took that gratitude completely for granted,

“Sigh.”

just let out a sigh.

Thinking that it was a tiring authority in many ways.

Tremble—

the False Divinity trembled, unable to bear the humiliation and disgrace.