Chapter 71

By the time Zion brushed off all the ash from her hair, Roan was already entering a dark alley in a corner of the commercial district.

“W-Wait for me!”

Zion hurriedly followed behind him.

It was a road so narrow and dark that one would wonder if such a place even existed in the commercial district.

“By the way, do you even know where the club room is?”

Zion asked with a slightly suspicious look in her eyes.

Come to think of it, Yushina, who had invited them to the club, only told them to meet at the club room, but did not give the exact location.

Even though she thought, ‘Well, he is a Darc…’ she was still curious.

Roan pondered for a moment, then simply nodded readily.

“I know.”

“How?”

“I have been here before.”

“…W-With the Saintess already!”

She had thought they were close since last time, but it seemed their relationship was indeed out of the ordinary.

Zion opened her mouth wide and began to let her imagination run wild about the relationship between Yushina and Roan.

Roan looked back at Zion for a moment as if she were pathetic, but this time, he did not care much.

‘Roughly setting it up like this will save me from annoying trouble later.’

This was because this misunderstanding was largely induced by him.

Given Zion’s personality, she would not go around blabbering about it, and it would surely end with her just enjoying it by herself.

“But would there be a place for a club room here…?”

While thinking of all sorts of things, Zion kept asking as she tagged along behind Roan.

Usually, club rooms or clubhouses used common school buildings like Hetrona Hall or Harden Hall.

She had never heard of a club room being in the commercial district.

“Because it is a secret club. We are almost there.”

In any case, those who knew about it knew to some extent, so it was not a real secret, though.

Roan continued walking instead of giving a detailed explanation.

Turning right, turning left, and right again…

Eventually, the place the two reached was a dead end with neither a door nor a single window.

Furthermore, the surroundings were all empty buildings where no shops had opened.

Hesitating— slipping away—

Since it exuded an aura that looked like a trap to anyone, Zion stopped immediately and widened the distance between herself and Roan a bit more.

She knew he was a scary person, but to think he would be this meticulous!

Did he mean he had waited until she let her guard down completely?

Frankly speaking, Roan had never done anything to harm Zion, though.

For some reason, the gloomy and dangerous aura emanating from him stimulated her instinctive senses.

Roan clicked his tongue as he looked at Zion in disbelief.

“Tsk, tsk.”

“W-Why!”

Zion raised her voice slightly, feeling offended for no reason.

Of course, even though Roan still had better grades than her, a better social life (?), and was superior in every aspect.

Still, she was a Saintess candidate, so he might want to keep her in check!

Was there any need to ignore her to that extent?

If not, he should at least look a bit kinder.

Roan gestured toward the right wall with his chin.

“Will you take a look at this?”

‘Is it really not a trap?’

If she had misunderstood for no reason, it would be quite embarrassing.

Zion blushed slightly and hesitantly looked at the spot Roan pointed to.

There, graffiti that read ‘SANCTUARY’ was beautifully written.

“Sanctuary?”

“It means sanctuary.”

“I know that too. But…”

What did this have to do with the club room?

Just as Zion was about to ask that.

Push—

“Kyaaa!”

Roan pushed Zion toward the wall without mercy.

‘It was a trap after all!’

Zion screamed and expected to crash into the wall—

“Huh?”

Or so she thought, but the moment she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them, she had passed through the wall and entered the indoor space.

Even more surprising was the fact that the outside scenery could be seen clearly from the inside.

Soon, Roan also walked through the wall as if it were nothing.

“W-What is this…?”

“It is the entrance to the club room.”

“Then you could have just told me that!”

“You wouldn’t have believed me.”

“Ahem.”

At Roan’s point, Zion turned her head away and cleared her throat.

Thinking about it herself, if she had looked at a perfectly normal wall and heard, ‘This is the entrance, so go in,’ she would have probably looked at him like he was a madman.

“And sometimes, if someone enters without knowing, offensive holy magic is automatically triggered.”

“Eeeek…!!!”

However, at the words Roan added with a smirk, Zion was astounded.

In other words, he meant that because a trap might trigger, he pushed her, a Saintess candidate, as a test!

‘He is truly a heartless person!’

Zion shuddered, widening the distance between herself and Roan to about twice the original distance.

No matter what he said in the future, she would doubt it first.

Meanwhile, Roan thought Zion was also an inevitable person of the Holy Empire.

‘Even though she also pushed Demona earlier…’

Then he headed toward the entrance leading to the actual club room inside the dark space.

Zion also hesitated but, perhaps out of curiosity, crept closer toward that direction.

There was a cylinder placed horizontally to rotate a four-digit number, and a question was engraved.

─ What is the number obtained by subtracting the number of ‘grand miracles’ from the number of ‘trivial miracles’ of the Holy Spirit recorded in the Chronicles of Harden?

* Based on the official Holy Emperor Palace Imperial Calendar year 5252 edition

* Be prepared if you get wrong answers twice in a row─

Zion was dumbfounded when she saw the question written as a hint.

It was such an absurd question that it would have been better if it weren’t there at all.

Not only did the Chronicles of Harden itself span over a hundred volumes, but the miracles recorded in it were too numerous to make counting them meaningful.

‘Furthermore, based on an edition from decades ago, how on earth is anyone supposed to get this right?’

If the graduation exam for Akerandir History was written this way, a riot would surely break out.

“I think the hint is meaningless. The club members will share the password anyway, so it should be fine.”

Zion thought that no matter how great Roan was, he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it this time.

Frankly, even if the actual password was incorrect, verifying it was practically impossible.

However.

─ 7814 ─

Rumble—

“?!!!??!!”

When Roan casually set the four-digit number and the door actually operated, Zion almost flipped over in shock.

“H-H-How?”

Did Roan really memorize the number of miracles in the Chronicles of Harden by heart!

But regardless of Zion’s astonishment, Roan spoke calmly.

“We will have to come here often from now on, so it would be best to memorize it well.”

Only then did Zion feel like she knew why Roan had memorized the password.

“Ah, the Saintess taught you when you came with her?”

Hadn’t Roan said he had already been here?

Why hadn’t she thought that Yushina taught him then?

‘Goodness, no matter how many ridiculous things a Darc does, there is no way he would actually know.’

Thinking that way, she giggled, feeling pathetic for having misunderstood for nothing.

“No, I counted it because I was curious.”

“…?”

However, Roan’s reply far exceeded Zion’s expectations.

He counted it?

What?

The actual number of miracles?

“Upon cross-checking, it was actually 7,815 times. It seems they didn’t bother to correct the answer on the lock. In that sense, your point that the hint is meaningless makes sense, Zion.”

He did what?

Cross-checked?

But the answer was wrong?

Zion only gaped, not knowing where to begin speaking.

Just where on earth was the limit of this human named Darc before her eyes!

Meanwhile, Roan, who was climbing the stairs first, looked back at Zion, who was just standing there staring at his back, and asked.

“Aren’t you coming? It will close soon.”

“Ah… Ah! I-I’m coming!”

Just as Roan said, the rumbling sound was heard from the door again.

Zion hurriedly climbed the stairs behind him.

‘H-He is a scary person, but it would be best to listen to him for now!’

He had to be scary within reason for her to keep her distance or act hostile.

Since she had no way of matching him at this level, listening to him was the best policy.

***

“Wow…”

After climbing all the dark stairs.

Coming outside, Zion soon let out an exclamation of admiration.

Surprisingly, the club room of Sanctuary was on an open rooftop.

It was equipped with a spacious sofa to lie down and rest on, bookshelves filled with books, a warehouse packed with rare materials, and even a research desk.

“It’s a barrier, isn’t it?”

Feeling the powerful energy covering the rooftop from the edges up to the sky, Zion asked as if speaking to herself.

Not only did it make the inside invisible from the outside, but it also seemed to possess extraordinary effects in the inherent protection and preservation of a barrier.

At this level, it would be sufficient to maintain Sanctuary’s secrets.

Roan nodded.

“Yes. It is a fairly powerful barrier.”

Though he called it ‘fairly’ powerful, this barrier guarding the club room of Sanctuary was among the strongest in Akerandir, excluding those cast directly by Harden.

In theory, even if the entire commercial district was devastated, and even if the building below the club room was reduced to dust, this barrier would remain intact.

About two hundred years ago, there was Adona Ken, a founding member when Sanctuary was first created.

Since it was a masterpiece completed before graduation by the man more famous by his nickname, the Star of Barriers.

“By the way, none of the seniors are here yet—?”

Zion, who knew nothing of such background stories, just thought, ‘I see,’ and looked around the empty club room in wonder.

Then, seeing Roan, who had entered the warehouse at some point, she gaped.

“What are you doing right now?”

“I am taking some souvenirs to commemorate coming to the club room.”

Taking souvenirs.

Of course, a freshman might do so out of curiosity.

Although it seemed a bit rude, if it was just minor things the seniors wouldn’t care about, it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

‘B-But is that really at the level of a souvenir…?’

However, what Roan was doing right now clearly went far beyond the scope of a ‘souvenir.’

Clatter─

For he was completely turning over and sweeping away everything from the warehouse boxes, storage bins, and shelves.

Roan’s lucky pouch was faithfully devouring his souvenirs.

─ Be prepared if you get caught taking things carelessly ─

Even the warning sign written in huge letters could not stop Roan’s outrageous hand habit.

‘What is he going to do about the consequences if he gets caught…?’

Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t sweep away the items of the club room where they had to spend the next four years.

Of course, Roan, in his own way,

‘Well, it was all put here for the club members to use, so is there any problem?’

Was busy rationalizing his actions.

Whenever he entered the Sanctuary club room as a player, it was natural to sweep away all the items like this.

There were plenty of reasons why he didn’t even feel guilty.

Roan smiled faintly and said to Zion.

“You should also take some before anyone comes. Anyway, they have automatic sorting and automatic restoration processing, so you just need to take enough that you won’t get caught.”

Even though the boxes and storage bins here looked ordinary, they were all holy artifacts created by outstanding graduates.

Once registered, items were always organized neatly, and they would even replenish themselves over time, though it took a bit long.

Since the club members barely used the room anyway, as long as it looked like ‘Oh, everything is in place,’ it wouldn’t be discovered.

If Sanctuary had not been a secret club, this room would have easily been registered as a case of a miracle.

In addition to this.

“And even if I get caught, it doesn’t matter since there is a financial backer.”

There was also wealth that could replenish the warehouse as if nothing had happened if it went empty.

“A financial backer…?”

Zion asked with a suspicious gaze.

No matter how much backing they had, stealing was still stealing.

Moreover, even at a glance, they seemed like very precious things, so it wouldn’t be manageable unless one was exceptionally wealthy.

However, Roan drove a wedge into Zion’s conscience.

With just a single word.

“I told you it’s fine. This is a place that gives out divine beast eggs upon joining in the first place.”

“Ah?”

That was true.