Chapter 391

Roan forced back the harsh words that automatically threatened to slip out of his mouth and spoke in as calm a voice as possible.

“Is there some matter, Professor?”

Although the merchants were also startled by Uli’s sudden appearance, they soon didn’t pay much mind to it.

—Huh? Professor, when did you get here?

—Haha, you’re too much. He must have recognized Young Master Darc’s enthusiasm and come to praise him!

‘Praise, my foot!’

If Uli had really come to praise him, Roan was willing to sell the holy power source he crafted to the merchants.

But the buyer was someone else.

“Sell it.”

…It was none other than Uli, who was sniffing the holy power source instead of Roan.

…?

The merchants also looked bewildered, glancing alternately at Uli, the holy power source, and Roan.

They wondered what on earth this situation was.

After sniffing it a few times, perhaps thinking Roan hadn’t heard him, Uli raised his head again and spoke.

“I said sell it. I need it right now.”

So very confidently!

He probably intended to use Roan’s holy power source in the holy item he was crafting this time.

‘Just what kind of monster is he trying to make…!’

Roan felt sickened by the atrociousness of this Five-Colored Squirrel hybrid.

It was merely a cute pop quiz for freshmen.

To use such a high-output holy power source in such a place?

For instance, it was like the national ballet suddenly appearing to perform a grand show at a kindergarten talent show.

*Humm—*

*Didn’t you also make it to use it?*

False Divinity asked if Roan wasn’t also part of the national ballet.

Honestly, Roan couldn’t deny it.

Roan hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Professor, I didn’t make that to sell…”

“Yeah, you can just make another one. Here.”

Uli abruptly held out bills to Roan as if he had expected as much.

Since the merchants also knew Acherandir’s talants well, they tried to intervene in an absurd tone.

—Professor, even so, thinking money can do everything is…

Uli was getting asked ‘Do you think money is everything?’ by a merchant whose calling was dealing with money!

However, the merchant who intervened had no choice but to mumble and trail off without even finishing his words.

He had realized that what Uli gave to Roan was a 10,000 talants bill.

‘Actually, with that much, it seems like money really can do everything…’

The holy power source Roan made looked great, but it was a whopping 100 Gold.

Since the merchant also frequented Acherandir, he knew the internal cost of living well.

10,000 talants was roughly an amount that would allow a student to live in luxury for a year.

The temporarily troubled merchants soon guessed what Uli meant and laughed heartily.

—Ah, the professor is giving encouragement to Young Master Darc to cheer him on!

—Hahaha, so that was it!

They said ‘Ah, so that was it!’ with their mouths, but their true feelings of ‘It better be!’ dripped out.

As the situation was like this, it became awkward for Roan to refuse outright.

“…If so, I will sell it to you, out of special respect for you, Professor.”

“Really?”

“Yes, so please forget my slip of the tongue earlier.”

“What words?”

Uli tilted his head.

Seeing that, the merchants made a fuss again, saying, ‘As expected of the benevolent professor!’ but Roan knew.

‘He just forgot.’

It was fully typical of Uli.

Even if he was displeased at the moment, if it wasn’t related to money, he would forget it immediately.

In any case, just as Uli said, Roan could just make another one. Besides, what choice did he have when a professor asked for it?

Roan lifted the floating holy power source and handed it to Uli.

“Here it is, Professor.”

“Yeah, good work.”

Uli returned to his place while still bringing his nose to the holy power source and sniffing.

And he began to craft the holy item with an even more fierce momentum than before.

*Whirrrr— Clack, clack— Hummm—*

The form was gradually being completed, and at first glance, it looked like a Golem.

‘Just what kind of Golem is he going to create?’

Roan was deeply suspicious of its purpose, but now he had to focus as well.

He had to craft the holy power source again, and time was tight.

*Rumble—*

—Hey, is it normal to make two of those in a single day?

—It isn’t.

—How is Young Master Darc doing that?

—Well, I heard the Darc family had a secret workshop since way back.

‘My family is ruined, so what use is a secret workshop!’

The merchants seriously held a conversation that made Darc feel quite left out as he listened.

In any case, having crafted the holy power source at an even faster speed than before, Roan opened the kit.

The method of making a calculator was actually not that difficult by Earthling standards.

Because he had seen so many complex machines.

It was a level one could manage to understand as long as they could assemble decent high-grade plastic models!

*Clack, clack, clack—*

—H-Hey!

—A freshman is making it that well?!

—Has he attended for a few more years?

—Could it be that at the Holy Emperor’s Palace… that rumor…?

Of course, in this world, it would look like the technical skill of a master craftsman.

After the merchants rubbed their eyes a few times in surprise, the frame of the calculator was shaped to some extent.

However, Roan’s design was starting in earnest from now on.

Roan poured the components he had practically swept up onto the floor.

Currently, calculators in this world were mechanical.

A system where pressing a button turned gears inside to perform calculations.

Of course, since it used holy power, it was much simpler than a truly mechanical one, but it was no less primitive.

…Although he wondered why the game had designed the internal blueprint of even this kind of junk item, the saying that what you learn doesn’t go to waste was indeed correct.

And the component Roan prepared was none other than…

the holy power switch.

The principle was that the switch turned on when holy power was detected, and conversely cut off when it was not.

Normally, these holy power switches merely served as simple switches.

Adjusting the holy power of the relic, activating functions…

Roan picked up one holy power switch and wore a grin.

—Hieeeek!

—D-Darc seems to be about to break the switch!

—It would be a relief if he only broke that!

The surrounding students were startled, but that was all.

‘I’ll show them what a citizen of the semiconductor powerhouse can do.’

Roan also had a career working in the game industry in his own way.

Granted, game and semiconductor design were actually completely different fields, but Roan had studied it quite a lot, considering even that to be related to games.

The people gathered here would probably be shocked when they saw the result Roan created.

Because they would wonder what in the world it was.

* * *

Originally, when a person concentrates on making something, they lose track of time.

However,

*Clink, clank—*

“Professor, there are 30 minutes left until the exam ends.”

*Whirrrr—*

—Professor! I think we’re all finished?

*Hummm—*

—Yawn… Hey, let me know when the auction starts.

—Zzzzz…

The problem was that Uli was completely oblivious to that.

How long had it been since the students who assembled the simple kits finished, and the tired merchants started dozing off?

“Hmm. It’s roughly finished.”

Uli finally stopped his hands and looked around.

“What? Is it already this late?”

“Yes, Professor.”

“You should have called me!”

…

Uldein could not bring himself to say that he had already called him many times.

Since he knew that saying it wouldn’t bring a very good result anyway.

It was better to stay quiet; that way, it would pass safely even if Uli grumbled.

“Now, everyone who is finished, engrave your name and family and submit it up front. There’s no one who isn’t finished yet, right?”

*Raise—*

Demona raised her hand.

Uli frowned deeply.

“You only assembled a roly-poly, yet you’re still not finished?”

“No, not me, Roan is not finished yet!”

Actually, Demona had been squatting next to Roan and watching him craft.

It was the same not just for Demona but also for the other friends.

And no wonder.

*Crackle, crackle—*

“…What is he doing?”

Because Roan was currently concentrating on something in front of a metal box larger than his own torso.

Uldein shook his head.

“I don’t know either.”

“What? You don’t know what a freshman is doing?”

“Didn’t you also ask because you didn’t know, Professor?”

“That is true.”

Uli nodded at Uldein’s blunt reply.

Still, since Uldein was the class rep, he gave a brief explanation.

“He took the calculator kit, did something to the holy power switches to attach a ton of them, and before we knew it, its size grew that big.”

“Holy power switches?”

Uli tilted his head.

Come to think of it, one side of the metal box was filled with light bulbs and buttons, and switches were attached in a complex structure inside as well.

The truly peculiar thing was that the switches were connected to each other with thin circuits.

‘A freshman is making such circuits… using holy power?’

No matter how shameless Uli was, he couldn’t help but twitch an eyebrow upon seeing the paths of those detailed circuits.

It would be even more difficult if he used holy power instead of black mana.

…Uli had blundered into the correct answer.

“Just what is he trying to do with the switches?”

Uli couldn’t understand it at all.

How complicated did the turning on and off of a calculator have to be for so many switches to be needed?

Pondering for a moment, Uli clapped his hands.

“Do you know something, Professor?”

When Uldein asked, Uli got angry, stomping one foot on the floor.

“Isn’t that fellow just attaching them blindly because he felt it was a waste to return the unused holy power switches as he promised?”

…

It didn’t seem that way to Uldein either.

However, precisely because Uli was knowledgeable in crafting holy items, Roan’s actions were even more incomprehensible.

Since it could not be explained by his existing knowledge at all.

As Uli pondered for a moment, Uldein asked cautiously.

“Should we just declare the end of the exam?”

Instead of answering Uldein, Uli abruptly called out to Roan.

“Darc! When will it be finished?”

…

But Roan had no reply, perhaps fully concentrated on his work.

“Darc! When will it be finished?”

Uli called again.

Still, there was no reply.

“Darc! When will it be finished? …Darc! When will it be finished? …Darc! When will it be finished?”

Uli repeated the same words at regular intervals as if he were a Golem programmed to speak the exact same phrase.

‘He should bug me within limits, the time isn’t even up yet…!’

To be exact, there were about five minutes left until the end.

Since there were so many detailed and repetitive tasks, it had consumed slightly more time than Roan expected.

Eventually, unable to endure it any longer, Roan answered shortly.

“It will be finished soon.”

“Yeah. I’ll wait a bit.”

Uli nodded nonchalantly.

Since he had blown one holy power source because of him, Uli was willing to extend the time by that much.

—As expected, Professor Uli is indeed kind!

—He is even so benevolent as to extend the deadline. If only such a person were our client!

The merchants applauded Uli’s generous decision.

*Flinch—!*

And the students who heard the merchants’ words trembled significantly.

No matter how positively one viewed him, Uli was not someone who deserved to be called ‘kind’ or ‘benevolent.’

And they wanted to avoid having a client relationship with Uli even more.

In any case, the students also stared intently, wondering what in the world the last remaining Roan was making.

—Hey, do you know what that is?

—If I knew, I’d be a professor. You?

—Hmm… a switch Golem?

Though doing so didn’t help them figure out anything in particular.

*Click— Click—*

Even in the midst of that, Roan relentlessly repeated modifying switches and attaching them inside the frame.

And finally.

*Thud—*

“It is complete.”

He closed the large square body completely and announced the completion of his crafting.

Five out of the six sides were flat metal plates, and the shape of one side was unique.

The upper part had a wide space where small light bulbs were clustered closely.

Below that, buttons for input were situated just like a normal calculator.

Demona, who had been watching almost since Roan first started making it, asked.

“Roan, so what is this?”

Roan chuckled and replied.

“It’s a calculator.”

Just as Roan said, it was indeed a calculator.

‘Just an unimaginable calculator, that is.’

Meanwhile, hearing that Roan was finished, Uli nodded.

“Then let’s begin the auction now.”