Chapter 384

In the secret library, which now held only three people after Ryuca vanished, another voice drifted in.

And it came from right next to Sion.

“Hieeeek—! G-Ghost!”

Startled, Sion screamed and clung tightly to Yusina.

“Si-Sion! It is the principal! How can you be so rude?”

‘Well, Harden is a ghost after all, isn’t he?’

Roan wondered for a moment what the problem was with calling a ghost a ghost.

Oh, of course, there was a difference.

Calling Ryuca a ghost wouldn’t cause much trouble, but calling Harden a ghost would surely blossom into numerous complications, wouldn’t it?

“I-I’m sorry! I was just so startled…”

Realizing the situation late, Sion quickly bowed and apologized.

She seemed more shocked at her own blunder of calling him a ghost than by Harden’s sudden appearance.

Harden waved his hand as if asking why she was fussing over such a thing.

“It is fine. I am indeed a ghost, after all.”

‘You knew?’

At those words, Roan, Yusina, and Sion stared blankly at Harden simultaneously.

*Flash!*

“Ugh!”

“Kyaah!”

Harden fired a flash of light to snap his beloved disciples back to their senses and spoke.

“I think I understand the general situation. Have you sent the book thief back?”

Yusina, as the senior-most, spoke as their representative.

“Yes, Principal. We have returned the soul named Ryuca, who was stealing and reading books in the library without permission, to Hiloa’s side.”

“Tsk… I didn’t take action because she wasn’t causing any real harm, but handling it quickly is indeed for the best. I assume she was noticed by Morlay?”

“Yes. Upon receiving the librarian’s request, Roan Darc and Sion Beatrice set out to resolve the problem.”

“Well done. The three of you have accomplished a great feat, making me very pleased as the principal.”

At Harden’s words, Yusina and Sion looked at each other and brightened.

As devout believers, every single word from Harden was deeply moving to them.

Meanwhile, Harden slowly stroked his chin and asked.

“By the way, how did you get in here? I hid it quite tightly in my own way.”

As expected of the first Saint and Holy Emperor, it was a sharp question!

Yusina and Sion looked back at Roan, who was quietly kneeling on one knee, as if by agreement.

Roan tried to pass the credit for now, fearing he might get on Harden’s bad side again.

“Fortunately, Saintess Yusina Le Panelia, who is in her graduating year, had a hunch…”

He intended to do so, but.

*Stare—*

He realized that even Harden, who had asked the question, was staring only at him.

Roan clicked his tongue inwardly and answered honestly.

“I stumbled upon it by chance while wandering around the library since the beginning of the semester.”

“Oho, by chance.”

Harden clapped his hands as if finding it absurd.

[A black mage who coincidentally enrolled in Acherandir, coincidentally wandered around the library full of holy magic books, and coincidentally found a secret library full of black magic books—this is indeed a coincidence so grand that one would believe it was directly arranged by Hiloa herself!]

…

Since he knew everything, why did he have to point it out? He even recalled that back then, because he saw the portrait hidden behind a book, he had a distasteful encounter in the principal’s office.

However, because he was in front of Sion and Yusina, he couldn’t speak his mind.

“You flatter me.”

Roan replied while quietly bowing his head.

[Hahaha. It is fine. Why act so surprised now?]

To begin with, Harden had asked as a joke since he already knew everything.

Having said that only via Gospel, Harden made the three stand up.

“Yes, anyway, you worked hard for the school. Come, let’s go together. I will instruct the librarian to give you a good reward.”

“”Thank you, Principal!””

Yusina and Sion stood up with bright smiles.

On the other hand, Roan had a cold expression as usual.

Harden tilted his head.

“Darc, are you not pleased?”

Roan spoke without a shred of sincerity.

“I only feel grateful to you at all times, Principal. I do not think it is proper to show extra gratitude for a reward received after doing what is natural.”

*Humm—*

*My, he has a way with words!*

An eloquence that made even False Divinity marvel in spite of itself!

Yusina and Sion also realized something late from Roan’s words and apologized to Harden.

“We are sorry, Principal. Because we are lacking…”

“I am also sorry…”

Actually, it was strange for young students to show the same reaction as Roan when offered a gift.

Harden snorted as if telling them not to mind.

“It is fine. That old soul is the problem, what fault is it of yours? Now, let that Darc fellow do as he pleases about accepting it or not, and let us go.”

And with that, Harden left the secret library while wrapping only Yusina and Sion with warm holy power!

Honestly, being exposed to Harden’s holy power so closely would surely cause body aches tomorrow, so it was exactly what Roan wanted.

Harden strictly instructed Yusina and Sion, who followed on his left and right.

“But this is only for this once. From now on, never look for places entangled with black magic.”

“Yes, Principal!”

“We will keep it in mind!”

“Absolutely. You must never get close to even the ‘B’ of black magic, right?”

Harden pointedly emphasized the letter ‘B’ while glancing back at Roan.

“…? Yes, Principal.”

“W-We will do so.”

Yusina and Sion naturally couldn’t understand why, so they only nodded reluctantly.

This was a special situation, and they truly had no reason to visit such a place again.

Harden probably said it to provoke Roan, but it actually wasn’t bad news for Roan either.

‘Keeping an appropriate distance from the Saintesses is beneficial for survival.’

The relationship between him and them was best kept strictly as that of the insured and the insurance company.

What if they crossed the line, and once his identity was exposed, they had their positions stripped for associating with a black mage?

It would be no different from the insurance company he trusted going bankrupt.

Leaving the secret library, Harden and the three students immediately went to find Morlay.

Morlay, as always, was wandering around the library, deeply focused on carefully adjusting the humidity.

“Librarian Morlay.”

*Boom—!!!!*

However, the moment Harden’s voice was heard, the flame Morlay was about to spark reacted explosively.

He had never expected Harden to visit the library.

“Priiiin…!”

Morlay called out to Harden in a voice slightly more agitated than usual.

More than that, his movement of lowering the height of the book he was riding and trying to step onto the floor was more impressive.

No matter how Morlay reigned like a king in the library, in front of Harden, he was just a single believer.

Harden waved his hand as if telling him it was fine.

“Skip the greetings. If I keep watching a librarian’s greeting, I feel like my lifespan will run out.”

Talking about lifespans was something only the soul-state Harden could do!

—How could the Principal be so…!

—He is so considerate!

The students passing by hesitantly shed tears, deeply moved by Harden’s words.

‘…Isn’t he actually lacking consideration?’

Roan couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of self-deprecation watching this.

Because Harden was praised no matter what he did simply because he was a holy spirit.

While Roan was constantly cursed for everything, even though he hadn’t been exposed as a black mage.

Had Harden known Roan’s thoughts, he would have retorted, ‘Then why don’t you become a holy spirit too?’

In any case, once Morlay returned to normal, Harden pointed to Roan, Yusina, and Sion standing behind him and spoke.

“I believe you asked these students to catch the book thief.”

“Yes…”

“They executed the mission as requested. I have verified it.”

“Un…”

Morlay stared the three students with a slightly surprised look, as if he hadn’t expected them to actually solve the issue.

…Of course, only Roan and Harden interpreted the meaning of that gaze.

Meanwhile, Yusina and Sion spoke, unable to hide their embarrassment.

“Um, excuse us, Principal.”

“We didn’t do much, and Darc’s contribution is the greatest.”

It was indeed a beautiful conscience that made them fully worthy of leading the Empire.

But Harden laughed heartily and replied.

“That is enough modesty. Do you not know that simply being together is a great strength? Doesn’t Darc think so too?”

Harden sent a brief glance at Roan.

Actually, Roan also did not want it to be known that he handled a black magic-related matter alone, so he quickly accepted.

“Of course. Without the help of the two, I could never have resolved it.”

“Hahaha! See!”

Harden laughed cheerfully.

Yusina and Sion stared blankly back at Roan.

They looked completely clueless as to what they had done.

‘If it had been Hector or Demona, they would have fought, claiming they were the ones who did it.’

Roan admired their conscience, which was rare to encounter in this world.

In any case, if Harden officially recognized it as such, that was the end of it.

Harden spoke to Morlay.

“But we cannot leave students with such a task and offer no reward, can we?”

“Of cooourse…”

Morlay reacted urgently, which was like jumping in surprise for him.

‘Morlay’s reward… I don’t particularly need anything.’

Roan wondered what in the world he would offer.

The book thief event was not an objectively difficult event.

At that level, Morlay usually allowed one to take a library book matching the difficulty, or gave other trivial rewards.

‘Though there might be a bit of a bonus since Harden came along.’

Even if that were the case, they were all things Roan did not really need right now.

Rather, the black magic spells he had rapidly learned in the secret library were far more helpful.

At that moment, Morlay opened his short arms toward the bookshelves on both sides.

Instantly, three of something flew like arrows toward Morlay from both sides.

Honestly, they were so thin that they were barely visible as they flew.

Roan’s eyes widened slightly.

‘He’s giving us that?’

Holding them in his hands, Morlay infused them with strong holy power, then handed them one by one to Roan, Yusina, and Sion.

*Flutter—*

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

Even though he handed them out, they were items so inconspicuous that one wouldn’t even notice.

Yusina and Sion stared in wonder at a single strand of fur fluttering down in front of their eyes.

Naturally, the Elont Grand Library was heavily enchanted with holy spells related to cleanliness.

Meaning it was an environment where such fur or hair could not easily float around.

Roan drew their attention.

“What are you doing? Catch it before it falls to the ground.”

“Ah, yes? Is this what the librarian gave us?”

“Is that what it is?”

When Roan nodded, only then did they hurriedly catch the fur.

Indeed, the way it settled gently on their hands without being easily blown away by the wind like other fur was quite extraordinary.

Harden also twitched an eyebrow upon seeing the fur.

“Ho? You have received something quite precious.”

“Indeed it is, Principal.”

Roan agreed with Harden’s words.

And no wonder, since this was…

“Darc, do you know what this is?”

‘Was I not supposed to know what it is?’

Roan was about to explain out of habit, but cast a sideways glance at his surroundings.

Not only Yusina, but Sion and Harden as well were all staring at Roan with curiosity.

As if asking what in the world it was.

‘…Why act surprised now?’

Honestly, it wasn’t just once or twice that Roan had known things that ‘should normally be unknown.’

Wasn’t it time to just pass it over naturally?

“Thaaat…”

At that moment, Librarian Morlay opened his mouth as if to explain the fur.

Roan did not miss the opportunity and took over the words.

“The librarian has just explained. Isn’t this the fur you laid out to adjust the library’s humidity and temperature?”

…?

Naturally, Harden, Yusina, and Sion tilted their heads as they listened.

When did he explain that?