Chapter 46

Demona chattered endlessly, listing the rumors of the school.

“So, they say the principal hid a ton of black magic books in the basement of Harden Hall.”

“I know.”

“Oh, want to go retrieve them together?”

“Go by yourself.”

“Cruel…”

Roan cut him off cleanly.

Harden Hall was the university headquarters.

It was true that there were black magic books in the basement, but they were all basic and theoretical works at a level Roan already knew, and Harden had placed tracking holy magic on every single one of them.

On top of that, Kaina’s alarm holy magic was also set up throughout the library.

Unless one was tired of living and wanted to commit suicide, Roan would never go there.

‘Wait, then the Elront Grand Library was left there on purpose for me to take…?’

Roan suddenly had a doubt.

“Hmm?”

Then, feeling a faint gaze from outside the dining hall window, he turned his head.

A gaze that was definitely looking inside, and specifically at this direction.

In the spot where the gaze was felt, a girl was looking at him and Demona.

‘She is…?’

It was a face Roan also knew well.

However, putting aside the fact that she was in the dormitory, he couldn’t guess why on earth she was staring this way.

Swish—

The moment her eyes met Roan’s, the girl quickly turned her head and vanished.

“What’s wrong, Roan?”

It was only after that Demona looked outside the window.

“Someone was outside…”

“Of course there would be, why wouldn’t there be?”

“…Shut your mouth and eat your bread.”

“So, how do I eat with my mouth shut…”

Roan glared at Demona for a moment, but he wasn’t exactly wrong.

It was a weekend morning now.

It was a time when the entire school was lively from early on.

‘Right, she probably just glanced over while passing by.’

Roan also decided not to think too much of it.

Just then, Riel and Rafia arrived at the dining hall.

“We are a bit late.”

“Because it’s the weekend. We overslept a little. Hehe.”

“Good morning.”

“…Hello.”

Moreover, Sion, who was their roommate, also naturally took a seat and sat down.

If it were other students, they would have made a fuss upon seeing Sion, the Saintess candidate.

But this party, which already included Roan and Demona, seemed to treat her with indifference.

‘As expected, joining them was a good choice!’

Sion felt pleased in her heart.

…Though it was a bit unfortunate for her, it had to be said that they were indifferent simply because they had already seen the real Saintess, Yushina.

Anyway, Demona also told the three of them the story about the rumor of the fallen angel.

“Is that real?”

“Really?”

“A fallen angel!”

Seeing their surprised reactions, he had a proud look on his face.

‘Everyone has gotten close to Demona… no, wait.’

Meanwhile, Roan, who was watching that scene, frowned.

Seeing Demona and the girls conversing so amiably brought back some very unpleasant memories.

Furthermore, the sight of the girl from earlier…

‘Thinking about it, it leaves a bad taste.’

Trying to ruin some poor woman’s life!

Although Roan had no intention of ending his life in a bad ending like the one he saw in the Garden of Dawn, this was something he had to address.

“Demona.”

“Yeah, what?”

Demona turned to look at Roan with an innocent expression.

‘Certainly, he looks fine on the outside.’

Roan also admitted that much.

His appearance was that of a typical noble young master, exuding elegance.

Moreover, with the background of the Wicronon family, he was a good marriage prospect for the time being.

…Of course, no one close to him would think that.

Roan spoke with a genuinely concerned expression.

“If a marriage partner you want to marry appears in the future, make sure to tell me.”

“Ro-Roan, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

The girls on the other side were actually the first to react to the sudden talk of marriage.

Like girls who hadn’t even had a proper relationship yet, marriage was quite an embarrassing topic.

But Roan remained steadfast.

“Got it? Even an arranged marriage is fine.”

Hector chimed in with a displeased expression.

“Are you implying that I’ll get married later than this heretic, Roan?”

At that, Roan and the surrounding friends turned to look at Hector with absurd expressions.

Putting aside why the topic suddenly jumped like that.

Although they didn’t speak, the meaning was clear.

‘Isn’t that obvious?’

Unlike Demona, who had the look of a popular handsome boy, Hector had the impression of a stiff, strict rock.

Furthermore, an inquisitor was a profession so unpopular with the opposite sex that even famous matchmakers shook their heads.

Therefore, it was more common for inquisitors to marry among themselves.

‘At least Demona can live off his face…’

Naturally, Hector could understand the meaning in his friends’ eyes.

Rumble—

He focused on eating his bread with an extremely hurt expression.

Meanwhile, Demona, the actual person in question, laughed and waved his hand.

“Are you crazy, Roan? Me, getting married? Would I even be able to?”

The friends had relieved expressions.

So he does know…

But Roan was still serious.

“…I figured you would say that.”

“””????”””

You figured he would?

Did he go and see the future or something?

The friends seemed to be beyond surprised and even shocked.

In their minds, they thought it was impossible, but since Roan spoke so seriously, they couldn’t help but wonder ‘could it be?’.

“…”

The six of them—Roan, Demona, Hector, Rafia, Riel, and Sion—each began to eat their bread with troubled expressions.

After a long time had passed, Roan spoke to the girls with a lingering sense of unease.

“So, don’t get too close to Demona.”

“Yeah… eh? Uh, no, that much?”

It was his resolve to block the path to the bad ending in advance.

***

Around the time the late-coming girls’ meal was mostly finished.

‘Since it’s the weekend now, it will begin soon.’

Roan was lost in thought alone.

The authority required to cast the Shackle of Ash Life, ‘Administrator of the Forbidden Library’.

Since the preparations were roughly finished with the Holy Spirit’s Tears and the ingredients brought from the ‘Sunset Hill’, he was planning to wrap it up soon.

But even that would go down the drain if he couldn’t utilize the event that was about to start.

‘I will win by establishing dominance right from the start.’

While Roan was making such an important plan.

“Since it’s the weekend, I decided to go to the commercial district with Riel. Want to join us, Sion?”

“I’d love to!”

“What about you, Demona?”

“I have to clean the restrooms because of my fine…”

“…Sorry.”

The other friends were each having happy thoughts about their first weekend since enrolling.

Since it was the first weekend, it was only natural.

However.

“We haven’t even studied much for our first week, and you’re already slacking off.”

At Roan’s harsh remark, the friends instinctively stiffened.

‘What’s this? Is he the Disciplinary Professor?’

The Disciplinary Professor was like a dean of students.

Either way, it was a harsh attitude that was hard to believe came from a fellow freshman!

Roan didn’t stop there and continued his nagging like a storm.

“Furthermore, elective classes start next week. If you slack off now, it will be hard to keep up with the progress.”

“…”

“If you play around like that for a few weeks, it will suddenly be midterm exam period. It will be out of hand if you try to start then.”

“S-Stop.”

“Not only that, if you join a club, the time you have to study will decrease even further—”

“…Y-You study monster!”

Finally, Demona, who had exploded after listening to Roan’s nagging, jumped up and shouted.

— Oh, as expected of Wicronon!

Since it was a story that hit home not only for Roan’s friends but also for all the surrounding freshmen and even the returning students, Demona immediately received cheers.

A tragic world where telling the truth made one unpopular, while saying sweet words made one popular!

“Yeah, Roan. This time, Demona was right.”

Even Rafia subtly sided with Demona.

She had also planned to spend some relaxing time at a famous dessert cafe in the commercial district this weekend.

Ultimately, reading the angry public sentiment, Roan let out a deep sigh.

‘It’s their loss.’

He had given them advice since they were close, but rather than being grateful!

“Fine. Do as you wish. However, do not think of Akerandir’s weekend as a simple rest day.”

— Cough, cough.

— W-Well, that’s true.

— The freshman is quite…

As Roan warned, the upperclassmen listening nearby cleared their throats and turned away.

Sion asked with a slightly impressed expression.

“Indeed… The weekend is not the day to end this week, but the day to prepare for next week.”

Certainly, the honor student who was highly likely to be the top of the class was different.

Although Sion had also studied quite hard in her previous family and the Papacy, she resolved to learn this mindset.

But Roan replied as if asking what she was talking about.

“I didn’t say that much, though.”

“?”

“Anyway, you will all find out soon.”

“????”

Before the friends could even ask what that meant.

Roan’s words became reality.

Boom—!

A third-year student violently flung the dining hall door open and shouted.

“It’s out! It’s out!”

The murmuring conversations stopped instantly at those words.

— What? What is out?

Naturally, only the freshmen who didn’t know the situation looked around in confusion.

Soon, a group of paladins swarmed the entrance of the dining hall.

Each paladin held a scroll of paper and shouted.

“Cleaning service for the basement warehouse of Roxanna Hall! Daily wage of 150 talents! Five people!”

“Cleaning service for Professor Vulcan’s breeding cage! Daily wage of 350 talents! Ten people here!”

The returning students quickly lined up in front of the paladins as if they were used to this.

— 150 talents for cleaning is an absolute steal!

— Hey, don’t cut in line!

In front of some paladins, a commotion broke out due to students trying to snatch spots.

“From there to the student here! Follow me!”

— Oh yeah!

— Tsk!

The paladin who filled the slots immediately led the students out of the dining hall, and the spot was quickly filled by another paladin.

By this time, even the quick-witted freshmen began to realize what was going on.

“School fence repair service! Daily wage of 200 talents! First-come, first-served for 20 people!”

— I-I will do it!

— Me too!

So this was how they earned talents on the weekend!

But that level was amateur.

As the clueless freshmen lined up here and there, the returning students sneered.

— Heh, fence repair for 200 talents?

— Those freshmen are going to suffer quite a bit.

Hearing them, it felt like they were local hoodlums rather than seniors.

“G-Guys!”

Just then, Beanin pushed through the crowd and approached in a hurry.

“Sorry, I didn’t get to explain beforehand, but you have to choose weekend services carefully!”

Unlike the other seniors, Beanin was a true senior!

Since they could end up suffering all weekend if they lined up in the wrong place, the freshmen particularly needed to choose their requests well.

“Generally, cleaning service is decent. More than that, the service you must absolutely avoid is…”

Beanin quickly tried to explain how to choose volunteer activities in a summary format.

“Professor Kaina’s interrogation assistant service! Daily wage of 500 talents! First-come, first-served for one person!”

“I-I-I will do it!”

However, Hector jumped up and ran before he could even finish his words.

“I can’t miss heresy interrogation for 500 talents!”

He seemed quite excited.

Beanin looked at the back of the running Hector and finished his sentence listlessly.

“You must absolutely never go to interrogation assistant…”

But Hector was already standing in front of the paladin.

“Uh, uh… Student, you look like a freshman. Are you really going?”

“Of course! The pride of Favilto!”

“I-I see. Let’s go…”

Even the leading paladin looked flustered!

Roan spoke calmly to Beanin.

“Still, he’s from the Favilto family, so won’t he be fine?”

“W-Will he…?”

Beanin had a deeply regretful look in his eyes.

Thinking Beanin was the only senior they could rely on, the girls also spoke to him.

“Excuse me, do you have any services you would recommend?”

“Ah, that is—”

Beanin also nodded and tried to explain.

However.

“Professor Atoga’s research lab cleaning service, 150 talents! First-come, first-served for three people!”

“Mee! I’m going! Sorry, guys!”

As soon as another sweet service announcement came out, he left without even looking back.

‘I never raised Beanin to be like that!’

Roan clicked his tongue at that unsightly display.