Chapter 72

‘Come to think of it, didn’t I already receive the divine beast egg?’

Zion uselessly looked down at the belt on her waist where the divine beast’s egg was stored.

Only then did Roan’s behavior make some sense.

No, rather than truly understanding, frankly, she was also getting a bit greedy.

While someone was taking things with the momentum to sweep them clean without feeling a shred of guilt, if she stood still, she would feel like she was losing out for no reason.

“You aren’t trying to entangle me as an accomplice if we get caught later, are you…?”

“…What do you take me for?”

After removing even that last obstacle.

In the end, Zion could not resist and swallowed hard.

‘I-It should be fine, right…?’

Since Darc said it was fine, it must be fine!

She then reached out toward the Cloud Herb and Sun Flower that she had kept her eye on since she first entered.

Each was an extremely precious material said to bloom above the clouds, on the mountain peaks closest to the sun.

Roan felt pleased seeing Zion’s change.

‘That is how you grow like a player.’

Setting other characters aside, there was absolutely nothing wrong with raising Zion well.

It was not as if she had a belligerent disposition that posed a threat.

Who knew?

If he helped her out a lot beforehand, perhaps she would become the Pope later and issue a grand amnesty for black mages.

…In fact, that was the only sort of thing Roan could look forward to.

In any case, the moment Zion picked up the Cloud Herb and Sun Flower.

“Uh? Wow! You guys came really early~”

A familiar and bright voice chirped, pleasantly tickling the air of the club room.

It was Yushina.

Flap─!

On her shoulder, the Moonlight Sentinel also raised one wing as if greeting them.

Despite the sudden entrance, Roan closed the mouth of his lucky pouch as if nothing had happened and turned his head slyly.

“Gasp! Eeek─!”

Zion was startled enough to drop the Cloud Herb and Sun Flower she was awkwardly holding.

To anyone, she looked like a thief caught red-handed.

“Hm? Ah~ You were looking around? It’s fine, it’s fine~ It doesn’t matter if you take that much instead of just looking.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course! We even gave you a divine beast egg, so just one Cloud Herb and one Sun Flower is nothing~ Plus, our club has a reliable financial backer.”

When Yushina nodded so readily, Zion looked at Roan with a fresh expression.

The words she and Roan spoke were very similar.

Was it indeed a Darc?

…Of course, if Yushina had personally witnessed the scale of the souvenirs Roan was packing, her reaction would have been slightly different.

In any case, Roan only shrugged at Zion as if to say, “See?”

“It’s much noisier outside than usual, so I was wondering if I should go get you, but I’m glad you all made it safely.”

Yushina smiled warmly, looking proud of her two juniors.

Rumble─ Bam──!

And for good reason, as the club promotion campaign outside, which was entering its final stages, was still generating explosive sounds.

Zion answered hesitantly.

“Darc helped me a lot…”

“Ah, really? As expected of Roan~ But you must have followed him well to arrive here, right, Zion?”

Yushina nodded repeatedly with a motherly smile.

She then looked around the club room and grumbled slightly.

“Geez. I asked everyone to gather today because the rookies are coming, but no one has arrived yet! Have you guys not seen the other seniors either?”

“N-No!”

“There was no one.”

As the two nodded, Yushina frowned deeply, which was unlike her.

“They should have opened the door promptly and done some cleaning…”

It seemed she was quite displeased with the other members who were indifferent to club affairs.

‘But didn’t she also arrive later than us?’

From Roan’s perspective, they were all about the same, though.

“Oh, but how did you guys open the door?”

Yushina, who was dusting here and there in the club room for no reason, tilted her head and asked.

These two freshmen would naturally not know the password.

Furthermore, the state of the hint was like that, so how could they enter first?

While Zion rolled her eyes, not knowing how to answer.

Roan replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“It was open.”

“…What?”

Yushina’s expression hardened instantly.

Zion screamed internally at the unusual reaction.

‘T-There’s no way she would believe that!’

No matter how close he was to Yushina, making an excuse that wouldn’t even work was worse than saying nothing.

…More than that, if Yushina hadn’t told him the password, did he really count the number of miracles himself?

Putting aside such trivial matters, Zion was anxious that she might be expelled from the club for entering secretly.

Unlike Roan, she was Yushina’s direct junior or competitor, so the situation was different.

A delicate distance where she couldn’t make an enemy of her, nor could she get too close.

Zion had to be extremely sensitive to every single aspect of her relationship with Yushina.

Gulp─

The tension hovering in the club room.

The moment Zion swallowed hard.

“…I guess I forgot and left it open yesterday.”

Yushina spoke with an incomparably serious face.

“?”

Zion doubted her ears, wondering if that expression matched that content.

“What should I do, what should I do? Leaving the door open means a fine! I’ve already paid it several times, so my Talents are completely drained~ Roan, this is an absolute secret, okay?”

“Hmm…”

Yushina stomped her feet in anxiety, pleading with Roan.

Roan deliberately hardened his expression, pretending to contemplate.

Then.

“I would like to get that thousand-year turtle shell.”

He made such a demand shamelessly.

Yushina nodded her head repeatedly as if asking why he was even asking such a thing.

“O-Of course! Take two, no, three! Then you’ll keep the secret, right?”

“I shall do so. The mouth of a Darc is as silent as a rock.”

“As expected of the Darc of the Empire’s four great families!”

Zion was dumbfounded watching the comedy-like dialogue between Roan and Yushina.

She had definitely witnessed Roan sweeping in a few turtle shells earlier.

What a truly terrible person!

Even though she didn’t know how he found out, he must have acted knowing the fact that Yushina often left the club room door open.

Although this alone was full of shocking details, there was an even more chilling point.

‘It was possible to leave the door open?’

Then, the door closing right before she entered earlier was…?

Shrinking back─

Zion distanced herself from Roan once again.

Thinking she should have recognized it since he sold out Demona to Professor Vulcan without hesitation.

…Zion had completely forgotten that it was she who pushed Demona.

In any case, Yushina only breathed a sigh of relief after receiving confirmation from Roan that he would keep the secret.

“Whew, it’s really fortunate I came first. It would have been a disaster if the others had arrived first.”

She then sat down on the sofa as if throwing her body onto it.

She looked as though all the energy had already drained from her body.

“Hmm… For now, coming during the regular club hours is optional; it’s free. Although you must attend when a meeting is called. Still, it would be better to stay here now. Right?”

Yushina spoke in a spiritless voice.

Roan nodded as if in agreement.

However, Zion asked cautiously.

“…Why is that?”

Staying here would be better.

Zion wanted to distance herself from that terrifying Roan as soon as possible.

At that, Yushina chuckled and spoke.

“It seems to have quieted down a bit… but if you guys go out, it will flare up again. Until the professors stop them.”

Boom──!!

As soon as she finished speaking, an explosion echoed from quite nearby.

─ News says a child of the Resterol family has infiltrated the commercial district! It’s the last big catch, so don’t miss it!

─ Oh dear, students! How can you blow up the shop!

─ Hand over all your money, you rich bastards! Make sure they are compensated thoroughly!

─ …That next shop is also mine, so you can blow it up all you want!

Because they had missed Roan and Zion in the commercial district, most of the students were gathered near here.

Just as Yushina said, it was not a time to go out carelessly yet.

“Now, everyone sit here for a bit~ Rest up~”

Yushina said, patting the seat next to her.

Roan silently sat at the opposite end from Yushina, leaving the remaining seat in the middle between them.

Slide─

“Huh? You’re sitting on this side?”

However, Zion insisted on sitting at the end opposite to Roan.

Sticking close to Yushina would normally be burdensome, but now she didn’t care at all.

***

Around the time the three were sitting side by side on the sofa, chatting away.

“I mean, why is sandberry in pasta worse than oceanweed! You really have to answer this well, okay?”

“…No, isn’t it a matter of personal preference?”

Most of it was a conversation between Yushina and Roan.

“What about you, Zion?!”

“For me, both are…”

“No wonder you’re so thin because you don’t eat like that! You have to eat well when you’re a freshman~”

‘It’s not that I hate them, but that I like them…’

Anyway, around the time they were having this debate, Yushina suddenly whipped her head around.

“?”

Her eyes were directed toward the sky behind them, and Zion and Roan also followed her gaze, wondering what was wrong with the Saintess.

There, what seemed to be a small dot floating in the sky gradually drew closer to the club room.

“Finally, one more arrived!”

Yushina stood up with a bright smile.

The small dot soon took the shape of a person.

What was quite unusual was,

“…Gold?”

A pair of golden wings spread behind the back, and golden dust was being scattered, shining along the flight path.

“That person is a member of the club…?”

“Yes!”

Yushina was simply cheerful.

Since she didn’t seem to feel any oddness in that scene, Zion had no choice but to ask Roan as if talking to herself.

“What attribute is that senior…? Is it a gold attribute?”

Roan glanced at Zion and shook his head.

“There is no such thing as a gold attribute.”

“I-I know that too!”

Basically, Hiloa and the Imperial Church rejected excessive greed.

Therefore, the nonexistence of a gold attribute was common sense.

Zion flared up because she was treated like someone without common sense.

But looking at that appearance, one couldn’t help but suspect even a nonexistent attribute.

Roan added an explanation for Zion, who was feeling a complicated mix of grievance and embarrassment.

“It’s not a gold attribute, just actual gold.”

“…?”

Just actual gold?

“In case you don’t understand, it means it is real gold dust, not the effect of holy magic or sorcery.”

Only then did Zion look up at the sky again with a dazed expression.

Then that ridiculous appearance…?

Shoooooo──

At that moment, the gold senior flying in while scattering gold lunged straight toward the barrier instead of descending to the ground.

Zion gasped and covered her mouth in surprise.

As Roan had said, the barrier of the club room was not at a level to be breached by a head-on physical charge.

Yushina also put her hand on her forehead and shook her head in frustration.

“That guy is doing it again. Just how annoying is it to press the password?”

“I-Is that okay?”

“Hm? Ah… Well, since he is also a member. The barrier doesn’t defend with full power either.”

‘With full power…?’

Zion couldn’t understand what that meant, but she would find out soon.

Boom, boom, boom── Crash! Whish── Swish!

The barrier seemed to glow translucent for a moment, and then it began to wildly blast holy power toward the gold senior.