Chapter 394

*Rumble—!!!!*

You kept talking about divine punishment, divine punishment, and look, it actually came true!

Under the sudden crisis, the false divinity vibrated wildly.

Two people collapsed abruptly along with light and a booming sound.

And an extraordinary holy power spread out with them at the center.

This definitely had to be seen as divine intervention.

Strictly speaking, it was a bit too weak to be classified as a ‘divine punishment’—roughly equivalent to a flick on the forehead?

It was just a light warning from the god because the merchants, who were supposed to believe in and follow him, were talking insolently.

“It’s divine punishment!”

“It’s divine punishment!!”

A beat late, the merchants and students also fell into a frenzy.

The only ones who even managed to appear composed were Roan and Uli.

‘I should run away quickly too.’

Of course, Roan only appeared that way, while his inside was burning with anxiety.

Although he had done nothing wrong, he had still provided the reason for the divine punishment, so he didn’t know if a spark would fly his way!

And while they used holy power and wouldn’t suffer much damage, Roan was in the position of a frog killed by a stone thrown in jest.

“Aren’t you going to avoid it, Professor?”

“Me? Why? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Ah, of course.”

Whether he did anything wrong or not was for the god to judge.

Roan decided to leave behind Uli, who was excessively shameless despite having made a golem that prayed on one’s behalf, and tried to escape the auditorium.

Since he didn’t know if Merchentir would throw more forehead flicks, escaping for now was the best option.

*Click—*

Taking advantage of the confusion, the moment Roan secretly opened the auditorium door,

“Where are you going in such a hurry, Darc?”

“…Principal.”

Beyond the door, Harden was standing with a smirk, having been there who knew since when.

‘…Surely Merchentir didn’t drop a hint to Harden to kill me at this opportunity.’

It wasn’t that such a thought didn’t cross his mind, but the probability was low.

Harden gestured to Roan and said.

“I know you’re glad to see me even if we meet often, but could you step aside? It seems a rather major incident has occurred inside.”

“Yes.”

Roan quickly stepped aside, careful not to offend anyone.

It seemed Harden had mobilized to handle the rare occurrence of divine punishment striking Acherandir.

“The Principal is here!”

“We’re saved now!”

The merchants, who were committing blasphemy just moments ago, burst into tears and fell flat on the ground the instant they saw Harden.

Seeing them like that, he could understand why the gods handed down divine punishments.

Harden immediately examined the bodies of the two merchants struck by the divine punishment.

“Tsk, tsk… To pass out over such an insignificant punishment. How weak.”

“─ ???”

The merchants, knowing they had done wrong, were at a loss, yet they tilted their heads.

No matter how weak it was, divine punishment was still divine punishment.

For an ordinary person, it was extremely fortunate to survive after being struck by it.

If it hadn’t been Acherandir, the Holy Land, it would have been instant death.

Harden channeled holy power to administer emergency treatment, then grumbled as he stood up straight.

“Their lives are not in danger. Just what kind of insolent deed did you commit to make Lord Merchentir this angry?”

As he looked around while speaking, he soon spotted the prayer golem Uli had created.

Understanding its identity at a single glance, Harden flared up.

“To dare create a golem that prays on one’s behalf! How insolent! Who created this sort of thing? No, I don’t even need to ask!”

Roan was relieved to have finally met an adult with normal reasoning.

‘Right, this is normal.’

Though the fact that this sole adult was Harden was bizarre, anyway.

Harden huffed as he floated up into the air, and—

“Darc! This is your doing, isn’t it?!”

…suddenly began to interrogate Roan.

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

If it weren’t for Roan’s dry body, he would have shed a tear from feeling so wronged.

[Who else but you, a black mage, would create such a blasphemous object? The workmanship is also excellent, which points exactly to you!]

Just as Harden was about to unleash his wrath,

“I made it, though?”

ironically, Uli saved Roan’s life.

“…What?”

Stopping himself from unleashing his anger, Harden turned back to look at Uli, who had suddenly turned himself in.

Uli spoke casually.

“How great is it? If someone prays on your behalf, you can spend that time where it is needed more.”

A confidence that seemed to ask what he had done wrong!

“…Is it truly not your doing, Darc?”

“No.”

As Roan confirmed it once more, Harden stepped back down onto the auditorium floor.

Then, coughing dryly, he spoke.

“Ahem. If that is the purpose, then it should be fine. Also, if it is a golem that offers prayers to the god, it also expands the domain of faith…”

It seemed Harden couldn’t bring himself to attack a professor in front of others, so he was trying to cover it up somehow.

‘What a dirty world!’

Even that felt incredibly unfair to Roan.

If I had said I made it, he would have definitely ended my life!

‘Knowing Harden, he would have definitely killed me, saying, “You’ll just come back to life even if I kill you anyway, won’t you?” Absolutely.’

And Uli, without shrinking back in the slightest, spoke.

“Darc said the same thing earlier.”

“Dammit, then why on earth did Lord Merchentir get angry?”

Harden looked around once more.

Even so, no holy relic that could cause that was in sight.

Though there was some weird lump of iron with light bulbs attached.

At that moment, one of the merchants stepped forward and haltingly explained the situation.

He said that Roan’s invention was so outstanding and practical that the merchants were moved, and they ended up making remarks that disregarded Merchentir, which invited the divine punishment.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

Frankly, even the great Harden couldn’t understand it well.

Because of that, the merchant had to summon his courage once more.

“Young Master Darc, may I show it to the Principal?”

“…Please do.”

The merchant activated the complete calculator after obtaining Roan’s permission.

Though his hands were naturally clumsier than Roan’s, there was still no major issue in using it.

Watching the object, which he had thought was just a weird lump of iron, operate, Harden—

*beckoned—*

beckoned to Roan.

Roan obediently walked over to Harden’s side.

Harden asked in a serious voice.

“Darc, tell me honestly.”

“Yes, Principal.”

“Did someone at the Holy Emperor’s Palace harass you to make you work? Just say the word. The Principal isn’t dead yet.”

“…”

Roan was lost for words.

Whenever the holy item crafting class took place, the image of the Holy Emperor’s Palace plummeted rapidly.

It seemed Harden interpreted Roan’s silence in a slightly different way.

“Well, technically I am dead, but strictly in a figurative sense…”

“Of course, I fully understand your meaning, Principal.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Harden clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, no wonder a young brat’s face looked like that… It’s because you went through so much hardship.”

“…This is just how my face originally looks.”

“How does that make sense!”

‘Even if he is a Holy Spirit, he shouldn’t criticize someone’s looks!’

Roan, who had unexpectedly suffered a personal attack,

Harden burst into hearty laughter.

“A joke, a joke. But… this is definitely surprising. Just how do you make something like this?”

Of course, he couldn’t explain the method utilizing holy power switches in detail.

Honestly, without the black mana that allowed detailed control, it was an object so complex that even Roan wouldn’t have been able to make it right now.

Realizing that it would be useless to listen, Harden waved his hand.

“Anyway, fine. Is your item the last auction piece?”

“Yes.”

“Then I should watch only that before going. Proceed.”

“Awesome!”

At Harden’s command to proceed, Uli stood up in excitement for some reason.

“…Hold on, Professor Uli.”

“?”

“How much did you receive for making that trash-like golem?”

“Five thousand gold!”

Uli slashed the price in half without batting an eye.

No matter how shameless Uli was, he sensed that if he told the actual price, he would get into trouble with Harden.

“Yes? You received ten thousand gold, Professor.”

And Uldein tactlessly revealed the truth from the side.

Harden frowned deeply, but he wasn’t actually interested in how much money Uli made.

“So you judged that Darc’s item is worth more than ten thousand gold.”

“Yes, it reeked of money. So sweet that it would rot your teeth.”

Uli casually spoke like this in the form of a cute five-colored squirrel.

“Aren’t you even frustrated that a professor fell behind a student?”

Harden, also finding Uli rather unpleasant, asked such a mischievous question.

But the opponent was Uli.

“Yes? Why should I be frustrated?”

“Because…”

“I get to receive that much in exchange fees without doing anything.”

“…”

Only then did Harden spot the exchange booth behind the students, pocketing that outrageous 30% fee.

“I clearly warned you not to make money off the students…”

*Rumble—*

“Argh! Is it divine punishment again?!”

“We didn’t say anything this time!”

Harden’s wrath vibrated the entirety of Saint Hetrona Hall!

It was bound to be far more terrifying than the playful divine punishment of some mediocre god.

*Scurry—!*

Uli, also sensing a threat to his life, quickly scurried to the exchange booth and changed the sign.

—Talant-Gold Exchange Booth

Owner Has Gone Mad Service: Exchange Fee 15%!—

‘When did he even prepare something like that…’

Uli was indeed fully qualified to survive in Acherandir.

Harden looked displeased, but perhaps that was within the acceptable range as his anger subsided.

In any case, hearing that the auction for Roan’s complete calculator was about to begin, the merchants drooled at the mere thought.

“Hehehe…”

“Kikikiki…”

*Slurp…*

“Ro-Roan, is that really alright?”

“Well, there’s nothing dangerous about it.”

The merchants’ greed for equipment had to be acknowledged.

As could be seen from the fact that they used those expensive spatial holy spell carriages almost to the point of commercialization.

“Just why did you make such a thing?”

Harden asked grumpily as he watched the greedy appearance of those merchants.

Roan replied with a benevolent expression, as if saying ‘I love everyone.’

“It was simply to ease the hardships of the merchants, who are always plagued by large numbers, even just a little.”

Wasn’t invention originally meant to make people a bit more comfortable?

While his friends admired Roan’s meaningful words,

“Therefore, I am asking why you are making those bastards more comfortable!”

Harden outright lost his temper.

“…?”

“Tsk, tsk. The harder the body works, the deeper the faith. Only those black mage bastards do all sorts of things just to make their bodies comfortable.”

*Flinch—*

Roan flinched slightly at the word ‘black mage’ suddenly spoken aloud from Harden’s mouth, but no one noticed.

Instead, they laughed boisterously as if Harden’s words were a very funny joke.

“Hahaha, Heretic, did you hear that? The Principal says Roan is like a black mage!”

“Puhaha! Of course I heard, Fanatic! The Principal really knows humor, doesn’t he?”

A boisterous laugh as if they never in their dreams thought Harden was telling the truth!

…In fact, it was weirder to hear those words and think it was the truth.

‘Still, the black mage listening feels dizzy…’

It was a joke only Roan couldn’t laugh at.

Isn’t there a saying that if even a single person cannot laugh, it is a bad joke?

Of course, Roan knew best that no such saying existed.