Chapter 68

Chapter 68

“Hmph! Let me see— Agyagyagat!”

Roan frowned slightly at the sight of Taedi letting out a strange scream that was unlike her.

“H-how did you draw the double magic circle?”

“Isn’t this how you draw it when using the abyss?”

One magic circle representing the action of the abyss, and one original magic circle.

“Y-yes, it’s correct, but……”

“It was drawn like this in that Abyss Magic book.”

“Ah, aha. Because it was drawn like that there?”

Let’s say that was the case for now.

Let’s assume that drawing a double magic circle just by looking at it was somehow possible even for a beginner, and that she just didn’t know because of her narrow experience.

“Then what about this protruding line?”

“I felt doing it that way would improve the mana efficiency.”

“……The spiral filled between these circles?”

“That is……”

Taedi asked a few more things about the magic circle after that.

Roan explained roughly, relying on his memories and senses.

‘I-I obviously didn’t think everything would be the correct answer, but…….’

Every time she heard his answers, Taedi’s astonishment grew.

There were correct answers and incorrect answers in Roan’s explanations.

But it was just a minor difference in the process; in the end, there was nothing wrong with his magic circle.

“Here, normally there should be a circuit connecting the bending symbol and the circle……?”

Indeed, gradually, questions that she truly did not know the answers to got mixed into Taedi’s queries.

“Ah, since the abyss has a stable property among black mana, I thought a circuit for stabilizing mana was unnecessary. ……If that circuit is indeed for stabilization.”

“Ah… one could think that way. Indeed.”

Scribble, scribble─

A reversal occurred where Taedi wrote down the content in her notebook according to Roan’s answers!

Watching this, Roan, who was explaining, also began to get excited.

‘No wonder people like being a professor!’

“Thinking about it now, this triangle can also be deleted when using the abyss as a base.”

“Ah! That’s right, the triangle is for impurity removal…… Wow, Student Roan is amazing. I didn’t even think of that.”

A magic circle was ultimately a battle of efficiency, trimming and trimming to achieve the desired goal with minimal power.

By adding basic magic to the advanced mana of the abyss, Roan was able to catch many redundancies that Taedi had never imagined.

Furthermore, since Taedi was also in a position where she practically researched black magic alone in the Dead Forest.

‘It’s fun!’

‘So fun!’

She was overjoyed just by the fact that she had someone to discuss black magic with in such depth.

“Ah! I see how the paralysis used by Student Roan made the zombie like that. So, the rectangle added here and the rhombus here……”

“Oh! It is indeed true. As expected, theory must be solid for progress in magic to occur.”

“Hehe, it’s nothing. Rather, Student Roan’s talent seems to open the way forward for black magic.”

The two of them praised each other, recovering their self-esteem that had been wounded until now!

Thus, time flew in the blink of an eye.

“Hahat, as expected of the Lord of the Dead Forest. In the decision to boldly delete as many as three lines here, I can truly feel the beauty of empty space.”

“And what about Student Roan’s creativity in thinking of putting an elegant curve here? It’s amazing, amazing.”

Roan and Taedi spent a happy time discussing whether to add or subtract lines on the magic circle until the class ended.

……Although Taedi had initially intended to teach only the easiest paralysis, before they knew it, the two were drawing magic circles of a fairly advanced level.

Thanks to this, Roan was also able to gain considerable inspiration and practical know-how in improving black magic circles, which had previously relied solely on sensation.

“……You two seem to be having the time of your lives?”

“Ky, kyahhh!”

Although Harden’s sudden appearance completely shattered that atmosphere.

“Why have you come already?”

As Roan asked with a slight frown, Harden gave him a demonstration.

Flash──!

“What, just because you have a black magic professor now, do you think you can beat this principal or something?”

As Harden grumbled bluntly, Roan, holding his eyes, finally came to his senses.

It was only because it was Roan that he got off this easy; Taedi was groaning in pain over there, clutching her head.

“How could that be? It’s just that I listened to the class too enthusiastically……”

“In any case, the class is over. I’ll send you back to the Dead Forest now, Lord of the Dead Forest.”

However, Taedi also seemed very reluctant to end the class like this.

She, still unable to open her eyes properly, groped the floor and pleaded.

“Ah…… just one more hour, please……”

“……Pack up and get lost right now before I bring a real dark-attribute clergyman starting next week!”

“Y-Yes!”

Of course, once Harden shouted, she turned pale and hurriedly began sweeping her things back into her sub-dimensional pouch.

“Tsk, what is Akerandir coming to……”

Harden clicked his tongue as if he really disliked it.

“Since we teach and learn so hard like this, won’t it turn out well?”

Roan chimed in.

It was a professor he had summoned anyway, so wasn’t it a good thing for the student to take the class diligently?

Naturally, those words were highly offensive to Harden.

“That’s the problem, that’s the problem!”

“……?”

Roan tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

‘Why on earth is a black magic class the one that feels most like a proper class in the Holy Academy!’

He had absolutely no way of reading the Holy Spirit’s inner thoughts.

“Sigh, you go do your club too, whether it’s Sanctuary or Holy Water.”

‘I hope you get caught somewhere else on the way!’

Harden, grumbling as if he couldn’t stand it no matter how much he thought about it, opened a portal to the Dead Forest and vanished.

“Why did I bring out so many things……”

After Harden disappeared, Taedi was busy preparing to return.

There were particularly many reagent bottles she had pulled out in excitement along the way.

Quietly watching them, Roan spoke as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“Ah, is that by any chance a Red Foxtail Catalyst?”

“Huh? Yes, it is.”

The Red Foxtail Catalyst was a reagent that assisted casting, particularly effective for curse-type black magic.

“Could you give it to me?”

“Ah…… yes. It’s easy to get in the Dead Forest.”

“Then, what about that Rock Moss Powder?”

“Take it.”

Taedi readily handed over the materials.

Although there were no living trees in the Dead Forest, thanks to Taedi’s efforts, she was able to sufficiently grow such simple plants.

Most of them were specialized in curse-type magic, especially affecting mana response or casting speed.

‘But how does he know when there shouldn’t be such black magic reagents here?’

Can such a thing also be recognized as a talent?

Of course not.

“Um……”

Taedi tried to ask about the reason, but.

“Could you also give me that Oak Sap Stick?”

“Ah, yes……”

As Roan demanded a few more materials without giving her time to ask, Taedi’s complexion changed slightly.

“You know what all of this is used for, right?”

“Uh…… for now, yes.”

Did he ask for too much?

Roan decided to completely give up on the few other reagents he had eyed.

“What on earth are you taking them for? Surely you aren’t trying to escape by force now.”

If it were reagents used for some experiment, Taedi would understand, but the reagents Roan asked for were all for combat use.

Taedi spoke, frowning.

“……Just in case, no matter how outstanding you are, Student Roan, that is a suicidal act.”

“I have absolutely no intention of doing so.”

Roan shook his head with a very serious expression.

Escaping Akerandir by force with just this much reagents?

He was sorry, but he wouldn’t even be able to break through the guarding paladins properly.

“Then what are you going to use them for?”

“Well…… today happens to be the club promotion day.”

Roan subtly watched Taedi’s reaction even as he stated the reason.

Would she, who practically lived alone in the Dead Forest, know what this meant?

If he explained it from the beginning, the story would be too long, and she might not believe it easily.

“Ah…… club promotion day. No wonder it was noisy outside. W-work hard.”

But surprisingly, Taedi already knew about Akerandir’s club promotion!

‘Uh? How does she know?’

It was famous enough to surprise even Roan.

Meanwhile, Taedi, whose hands became strangely fast after the club was mentioned, cleared the room in a flurry and approached the portal.

“Then I’ll head out. I heard it got a bit less intense lately, though—”

Taedi tilted her head as she said that.

‘But who should I be worried about?’

For now, it seemed right to worry about the freshman who would suffer from the tyranny of the current students.

But what if that freshman could indiscriminately throw curses accompanied by muscle destruction?

“……Don’t get too intense.”

“Hmm? Thank you, but it seems it will become severe again this year.”

Roan didn’t quite catch Taedi’s words, but soon understood them reasonably.

In fact, the depiction in “God and Devil” was like that.

This class’s heat had risen more than usual because of a few big catches, including Zion.

And with Roan mixed in as well, what more words were needed?

Taedi stared intently at Roan and nodded.

“Hmm. Indeed, looking at Student Roan, it seems it would be like that……”

Even if I were a senior, I would want to catch this student!

But hearing those words directly from someone else felt a bit different.

“Yes?”

As Roan narrowed his eyes slightly, Taedi quickly left her final farewell and vanished.

“Ah, no! See you next week, don’t get hurt!”

Swoosh─

“Hmm……”

Roan looked around Room 101 of the St. Macgodal Wing, which was now empty.

Around, there was quite a lot of ash dust, perhaps because some delinquents had secretly come and lit a fire.

“Oho.”

Since he thought it could be used quite usefully, Roan packed the ash dust in a cloth.

‘Probably, it’s already a war zone outside.’

The period during which seniors could directly promote(?) clubs to juniors was just one day by Imperial law, today.

Since even that was only until the regular club time started, the eager seniors would surely be hunting with their eyes lit up.

In such a situation, he had to go to the Great Temple to pick up Zion and head to the Sanctuary’s club room……

‘The time has finally come to use this.’

Roan opened his sub-dimensional pouch and took out what he had saved until now.

***

The center of Akerandir, where students mainly gathered.

Explosions that did not match the school were continuing there.

Boom─ Crash──

Even fires of unknown reasons flared up in several buildings.

─ Uhhaha! So you were all hiding here, cute juniors!

─ Aaargh! Run! It’s the Blue Knights Club!

─ Grab the knight families, and hand the small fry over to other places for Talents!

The current students easily found and caught the first-years who were hiding in various places with all their might.

It was because they were hiding in the exact same spots where the current students had hidden when they were freshmen, as everyone thought similarly.

In the midst of that, Zion and Demona had miraculously not been caught yet.

Tremble, tremble─

They were hiding in the secret passage Roan had told them about, observing the atmosphere outside.

“Oh, the whole world is a club……”

Demona looked despondent at the chaos that grew even noisier as time passed.

What could they do without Roan!

Even club promotions did not spare the sacred Great Temple, so immediately after the light attribute class ended.

Slam─

─ An intel says Wychronon and the Saintess candidate are here!

─ The class must be over, search everywhere!

The current students tried to search every nook and cranny of the Great Temple.

Because of this, the two who had intended to wait for Roan in the lecture room had no choice but to hide in the secret passage like this.

Fortunately, it seemed that even most seniors did not know about the existence of the secret passage.

“How did Darc know about this place……?”

“Roan knows everything! Uwaah! Roan, come quickly~”

Zion looked at Demona, who was just crying with her head in her hands, with a pathetic look.

In this kind of situation, she should either show leadership as someone from the three great families, or at least be calm.

“Get a grip, let’s look for a way out of here—”

The moment he was about to say something out of frustration.

Patter, patter─

The sound of someone quickly traversing the secret passage was heard.

““!””

Zion and Demona exchanged anxious glances.

“You know the light holy magic we learned earlier, right?”

“What? That just emits light!”

How did he get tangled up with such an idiot!

If the Vajra Beetle hanging quietly on Demona’s back had been his spiritual beast, the cards he could play would have been far greater.

“Do at least that! I’ll try to handle the rest!”

Zion urged Demona and raised his holy power.

Demona had emitted only eye-searing light throughout the light attribute class, but in this narrow underground passage, that would also be effective in blocking vision.

He had no choice but to handle the rest of the physical force himself.

Thus, the two finished their haphazard preparations.

“Here they come!”

“Yaaah!”

Flaaaasssh──

As soon as a human figure appeared around the corner, at Zion’s signal, Demona shot a powerful light.

At the same time, Zion swung ‘Shepherd’s Club’, one of the basic holy magics.

Thud─

However, the club Zion created bounced off too easily.

‘A-as expected, it doesn’t work on the seniors!’

Zion made a crying face.

He could only pray that it wasn’t the History Club or the Holy Relic Crafting Club.

“……What are you doing now?”

“As expected, the History Clu…… no, Darc?”

But the mysterious approaching person was none other than Roan.