Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Roan momentarily wondered if he had misheard something.

—Roan Darc? Who is that?

—The Darc family?

It did not seem to be the case.

As the surrounding students were buzzing like this right away.

It was difficult for sixteen-year-old freshmen to recognize the Darc family, which had been destroyed fifteen years ago.

—Ah, that guy who came in the Holy Palace’s eight-horse carriage earlier!

—Damn it, it was him?

—Irritating bastard!

And fitting for an event where he monopolized the jealousy of his peers, words full of hostility were already being heard.

Roan recalled the good-natured faces of Sicrito and Bekeren, whom he had parted with earlier.

‘They definitely said they would put in a good word with the headmaster.’

Grit—

And with a heart full of sincere gratitude, he ground his teeth fiercely.

“Freshman representative, Roan Darc. Ah, can you not hear my voice well? Ro. an. Da. rc.”

While Roan was unable to recover from the shock, Harden continued to repeat the name Roan Darc.

At this rate, not only the people gathered here but all the subjects of the Empire would remember the five letters of his name.

“……I am here.”

Roan walked toward the platform, hoping that Harden would just shut up.

It would have been a relief if that Holy Spirit’s light remained bright like this so his face couldn’t be seen properly, but.

“Hmm……”

Harden, who was watching Roan, gradually reduced the intensity of the light.

It was an intended direction.

One that made the radiant light look like a halo solely for the freshman representative now.

Roan, knowing that all too well, clenched his fists and ascended the platform.

‘Lord Darc, please stay healthy at school as well!’

In the guest seats, the mugs—no, the faces—of Sicrito and Bekeren were also visible.

“Now, Roan Darc. It is nice to meet you like this. Do not be nervous; you just need to read the contents here.”

Seeing that, Harden grinned and led Roan to his place.

……No matter how of a Holy Spirit and headmaster Harden was, he could not have imagined that the freshman was suppressing the urge to throw a punch at the faces of those two high-ranking clergymen.

In a situation where all sorts of feelings intersected, Roan began the oath.

“I, the freshman representative Roan,……”

The gazes felt from below were already stinging.

‘……I must somehow avoid standing out and live quietly.’

Roan did not give up and pledged.

It was closer to a spell than a goal now.

“……swear to be faithful to my studies, comply with school rules, and contribute to the Empire.”

The freshman representative’s oath ended.

Tak—

“Then.”

Roan immediately turned around to run away.

Thinking that every second spent on this platform was equivalent to one point of hostility, he felt as if his entire body was being pricked by needles.

However,.

“Ahem. Where do you think you’re going when an elder hasn’t even told you to leave?”

Harden caught Roan with a solemn voice.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Roan wore a forced smile that did not suit his gloomy face and looked back at the headmaster.

The words of the Holy Spirit were absolute.

If he acted even slightly rebellious, he would focus even more attention.

“Do not smile like that. It is creepy.”

Harden frowned.

‘Can a Holy Spirit even get goosebumps?’

Roan wanted to ask this but held it back.

Rather, he was already resentful of what Harden might do next.

“Now, freshmen. Do know why Darc here was selected as the freshman representative?”

Buzz, buzz—

At Harden’s question, a brief commotion arose.

—Why?

—It probably isn’t because of his family…….

—Who cares?

People poured out words mixed with questions and envy, but could not easily find the reason.

It was natural.

Originally, this spot belonged to Zion, the Saintess Candidate.

Inwardly, he had intended to help her when she was bullied, but he had absolutely no intention of bearing that weight himself.

—Could he perhaps use holy power?

—Tsk, you fool! Make your jokes somewhat plausible at least!

—Wahahaha!—

Ultimately, people exchanged jokes among themselves while waiting for the headmaster’s explanation.

‘I’m going crazy.’

The problem was that the trivial rumor, which wasn’t even treated as a joke, was actually true.

……Though if one dug deeper, he had awakened black magic, not holy power.

And having that secret revealed was even worse.

‘Surely he doesn’t plan to reveal it here?’

Roan glanced at Harden beside him with anxious eyes.

Harden engaged in eccentric behavior, acting differently in the same event even in the game.

Since he was originally an unpredictable character, Roan decided to half-give up now.

Once the buzzing quieted down a little, Harden finally spoke.

“Well, it is nothing particularly grand. It seems Roan of the Darc family awakened holy power even before receiving baptism.”

──!!!!

In an instant, the vast Exael Hall was enveloped in shock and silence.

Roan felt like crying.

A quiet and ordinary school life.

Who would have thought this would be such a difficult goal.

‘What I hate most is that this isn’t the worst I had imagined.’

Roan also felt a sense of shame that he could find comfort even in this situation.

At least it’s better than having it revealed that I’m a black mage and being dragged away…….

.

She was around the fifth row, wearing an expression that couldn’t be described as good even as a joke.

Her stiffly frozen expression contrasted even more with her light-pink hair.

Moreover, even her tightly clenched fists were trembling slightly.

Judging by that reaction, it was certain.

‘No, why is she considering me a rival?’

……Of course, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Roan wanted to cry, but the same must apply to Zion.

The current situation was no different from him crushing Zion right from the admission ceremony.

From her perspective, she must have been hurt starting from having to borrow a carriage from the Holy See.

Yet the suddenly appearing Roan flauntingly arrived in a more luxurious carriage from the Holy Palace, took the freshman representative’s oath, and even awakened holy power.

Furthermore, the physical positions of being below and above the platform were prone to generating unnecessary misunderstandings.

As if Roan were looking down on Zion.

‘Oops.’

As Zion’s expression turned even grayer, Roan slightly turned his eyes away.

However, it was also true that he felt wronged at the thought of who was worrying about whom right now.

Putting aside the fact that Roan was the very person who raised her to become the Holy Emperor.

At least Zion wasn’t a black mage like someone else!

At that moment, Harden’s voice continued.

“Hahaha, it was natural in my days, but as time passes, even this becomes a topic of conversation. Now then, Lord Darc?”

“Yes. Thank you, Headmaster. Then—”

Roan’s heart grew rushed at the thought that he could finally step down from the platform.

Regardless of the words of the holy spirit, he had to survive first.

“Since coming up here is an opportunity, why not show your holy power once? The guests will be pleased as well.”

“Damn it—”

“’Damn it’?”

The headmaster tilted his head as if quite curious about the words to follow.

Roan managed to maintain his expression with great difficulty and redirected his words.

“……Thank you for giving me a good opportunity.”

“Hehehe. Not at all. As headmaster, it is rather rewarding.”

Finding it hard to look at Harden’s face any longer, Roan turned his head toward the guest seats.

“…….”

There, Sicrito and Bekeren were wiping away tears and looking at him with moved expressions.

In the end, Roan gave up on everything.

It wasn’t as if they were asking him to emit streams of black magic anyway, and proving that he had awakened False Divinity was simple.

‘To look as much as possible like someone who has only barely awakened…….’

He only planned to adjust the output to the lowest possible level.

Though he didn’t know if it would be effective since he had already awakened, wouldn’t it be a bit better if they thought, ‘Is that it? That’s all his awakening is?’

He decided, truly, to wrap only a very tiny amount of power around his hand.

Just enough so it wouldn’t even be noticed under Harden’s light.

Saaa—

Tak—

However, when Harden suddenly touched Roan’s back lightly.

Hwaaaaaaaa──!

The light, which was like a dying lightbulb, suddenly became as bright as an LED headlight.

—????

—Ohhhhh!—

—By Hiloa!—

Roan was shocked.

It was self-evident who was responsible for this absurd situation.

When he looked back at the headmaster with bewildered eyes.

[You should be able to do at least this much with your own power, right?]

He asked as if it were ridiculous, even using ‘Gospel,’ which was a form of telepathy transmitted via holy power.

‘To use such a high-level skill for something like this……!’

[How is it? Are you on the verge of tears of gratitude for the headmaster’s consideration?]

He was indeed on the verge of tears.

In a slightly different sense.

“Yes……”

However, Harden was the person who held his leash.

Roan nodded slightly, and Harden also wore a satisfied smile.

—That, that guy. He’s actually using holy power?

—No way!

Down below the platform, the other freshmen immediately broke into an uproar.

In fact, it seemed he had definitely attracted the attention of not only the freshmen but also the professors and current students.

‘It was the first freshman to awaken holy power without baptism in 125 years.’

It was information he didn’t even want to recall.

The talent show of emitting holy power to the fullest in front of everyone, as if acting as the headmaster’s flashlight, ended, and.

“Now, good work. You may step down.”

Harden said, tapping Roan on the back.

“Thank……”

Roan didn’t even want to finish his sentence, so he stepped down while barely offering a greeting.

‘It’s so great…… so great…… thwank goodness I didn’t get caught as a black mage, thwank goodness…….’

Roan’s teeth ground fiercely.

“Ah, by the way, I have something to say about that interesting holy power of yours, so come to my room after the admission ceremony!”

—Heuuup!—

—A mere freshman in the Holy Spirit’s room?

—As expected of that annoying fellow who awakened holy power even before baptism…….

The students were in an uproar, but others were shedding tears of emotion.

Was it not a beautiful harmony between the Holy Spirit and the future scholar to follow him!

‘It is not what you guys think, so please do not be envious…….’

He thought he had no strength left to react to whatever happened anymore, but.

Interesting holy power.

There was only one reason for that thousands-of-years-old Holy Spirit to say so.

‘On top of causing all that fuss, I’ve been caught being a black mage…….’

Roan hated the world.

***

In God & Devil, the common method to awaken holy power was to receive baptism from the Holy Spirit Harden at Acherandir’s admission ceremony.

Awakening through a special catalyst like Roan—though in Roan’s case, it was black mana rather than holy power—was, of course, an amazing event akin to a miracle.

However, trying to search for a catalyst to awaken was too dangerous and required tremendous effort, and.

Crucially, it was perceived like a relic of a bygone era because one had to rely on luck.

In the first place, it was difficult to find a catalyst more special than a baptism performed directly by the Holy Spirit who had been materialized for thousands of years.

At any rate, for that reason, the time the freshmen were most celebrated was the baptism ceremony following the admission ceremony.

Yet the atmosphere of this year’s baptism ceremony was different.

“Roan Darc, you have already awakened, so you will not need a separate baptism, right?”

‘*&@%!$@#!’

No matter what anyone said, Harden, who hosted the baptism ceremony, had set the tone by saying this about Roan from the start.

Sararak— hwak—!

“Congratulations on your admission.”

“……Thank you.”

Somehow, those receiving the baptism also looked somewhere in between joy and awkwardness.

Of course, the higher the talent for holy power, the more intense the light emitted when the holy water was sprinkled.

Since Acherandir was where the talents of the entire continent gathered, watching that light was a rather sacred scene.

Moreover, Zion, who rose to Saintess Candidate solely on her talent for holy power without any political standing in the Empire,

Hwaaaaaaaa───!

emitted a light comparable to that of Harden during the admission ceremony.

—Oh. Is the Saintess Candidate indeed the Saintess Candidate?

—Judging by talent alone, she is bound to achieve great success.

And Harden said, like talking to himself after hearing the onlookers’ conversation.

“Well, but she still couldn’t awaken without a baptism.”

—……

Naturally, the atmosphere of the crowd was silent.

Zion looked at Roan with a slightly resentful gaze.

‘What did I even do…….’

Roan grew even more aggrieved, but avoided her gaze with a broad mind.

Since if she wanted to glare at someone, she had to glare at Roan, and wouldn’t dare glare at the Holy Spirit.

“Roan Darc?”

At that moment, someone called Roan in a cautious voice.

When he turned his head, Rafia of the purple hair, whom he had recognized earlier, had approached him before he knew it.

“Hieup.”

However, when Roan gazed at her, she drew in a breath as if slightly surprised.

She also seemed to regret starting the conversation a little.

‘Is it because of my face?’

As already confirmed through the bronze mirror, Roan strongly gave off a gloomy and dangerous impression.

He was absolutely not of an impression to have a pleasant conversation with from the first meeting.

If anything, he would only intimidate.

“……What is it?”

Since he had put on that show on the platform earlier, he could no longer avoid the spot.

When Roan responded, Rafia asked cautiously.

“Um…… you called my name earlier, right? It seems to be our first meeting, so I wondered how you knew me……”

She seemed to be quite curious about it.

Her nature probably played a part too.

Roan quickly recalled the information about her.

The Kedan family was a small-to-medium family without much power, and their estate was located in a remote border region of the Empire.

Since it was difficult to engage in social activities in many ways, she had no friends she knew at Acherandir.

Of course, she was good-natured and friendly, so making friends wouldn’t be difficult, but…….

‘At least for now, it must be strange that I recognized her.’

However, Roan could soon find a part of her settings that he could use.

“The Knight Magazine from seven years ago, I saw you there.”

“What?”

Rafia was startled.

It was genuine joy.

A special interview of prospects in ‘Knight Magazine,’ a magazine specialized in knights boasting empire-wide recognition.

The nine-year-old Rafia had been featured there despite being from a minor knight family.

It was a feat recognized solely by her talent.

‘Although now she would be treated as a prodigy who only had talent in the past…… entering Acherandir is enough to prove herself.’

Her growth would have plateaued currently.

Entering Acherandir rather than a professional knight order’s youth system was proof of that.

The continent was too wide to expect success based on talent alone.

However, she was merely an unbloomed flower.

At any rate, the memory of that time was a proud achievement for Rafia to hold onto for life, so breaking the ice with it would work.

“Ahem, haha! It was a magazine featured when I was a child…… are you interested in knights? A knight family by chance? Ah, sorry. I live in a remote place, so I haven’t heard of the Darc family yet……”

Sure enough, Rafia grew excited on her own and began to chatter away.

Before long, the distance toward Roan had vanished.

“Holy knights are those who confront black mages on the front lines. I have respect for them.”

“Oh! That’s such a cool thing to say. Now I feel so sorry……. Where is the Darc family located? Can I visit during vacation?”

Her characteristic friendliness began to kick in.

However, Roan merely stared at Rafia blankly, unable to properly answer her question.

It wasn’t that he disliked answering.

‘Is it okay to tell her?’

Given her good nature, wouldn’t she feel even more uncomfortable upon hearing the truth?

“Huh? Is it perhaps rude? Then it’s fine.”

However, at the sight of Rafia visibly sulking, Roan answered without thinking.

“It’s not rude…… but our family was destroyed. It was originally in the Ehadan region.”

“…….”

Sure enough, the atmosphere turned completely solemn.

Since it was the first time seeing Rafia like this, it was quite surprising.

“How did……? No, I shouldn’t have—”

“We were attacked by black mages.”

Saaaa—

Undeniably, at that moment, attention was focused more on Roan than the baptism ceremony.

Only within the distance where their conversation could be heard, of course.

Uh, um, ah—

After struggling to find words for a moment, Rafia tried her best to smile brightly and said.

“Then you can just come visit our estate! The water is clean and the mountains are beautiful, you know?”

“Sure, thank you.”

In moments like this, Roan’s dark impression exerted an even stronger effect.

Though Roan actually thought nothing of it, onlookers couldn’t help but get goosebumps.

It seemed Rafia thought she shouldn’t drag this topic out any further.

“Th-The baptism ceremony is almost over now.”

“Mmh.”

“Still, Roan, ah, I can call you by name, right? You must be glad, Roan.”

“……Why?”

Roan asked with genuine curiosity.

No matter how he thought about it, there was nothing good about his situation.

Rafia rather tilted her head and asked back.

“Won’t you be stopping by the headmaster’s room once the baptism is over?”

‘This girl.’

Did I pamper her too much just because she was a character I enjoyed playing?

Roan momentarily felt a rage that made his blood run backward.

He had barely managed to forget about it.

“……I’ll have to reconsider visiting your estate during vacation.”

“Why…… whyyy?!”