Chapter 76

“Senior Zorv.”

“You were in your room. I brought the items you requested.”

“…It looks like a bit too much.”

Roan glanced at the bundle Zorv was carrying.

The holy-magic centrifuge and the frame of recollection.

It was far too hefty to contain only those two items.

‘Besides, seeing that someone like Zorv didn’t even use a sub-spatial pocket…’

Since he could guess the intention, Roan readily stepped aside to make space.

“Please come in first.”

“Gladly.”

Zorv also entered the Macgodal Room as if it were natural.

Beanin, recognizing him, was startled.

“Senior Richmond!”

Surprisingly, Demona also seemed to know Zorv.

“It’s Brother Zorv, isn’t it?”

‘Well, she is a Wychronon after all…’

Thinking about it calmly, it was not very surprising.

Since the three great families had lived as allies for a long time, their relationships were close.

He just often forgot the fact that Demona was a Wychronon.

Zorv looked back at Roan in dismay and asked.

“…Were you in the same room as Demona?”

“…Yes.”

The two exchanged looks of pity and empathy without either of them having to speak first.

“Anyway, I packed the items you requested and a few more things that will be useful when you’re a freshman. …If I had known you shared a room with that girl, I would have brought more.”

“Thank you.”

Zorv was truly a genuine senior!

Roan felt a warm touch of emotion and human kindness for the first time in a very long while.

He took Zorv’s bundle, placed it in his private room, and came back out to the living room.

“I have heard many stories about you, Senior Richmond. I truly respect you.”

“Is that so? Thank you. Were you the second-year, Beanin?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Beanin looked ready to bow down to Zorv.

To black mages who were always strapped for cash, the Richmond family was nothing short of an object of envy.

…Though that didn’t mean the Richmond family treated black mages well.

Rather, because there were occasionally crazy black mages who attacked the Richmond merchant caravans,

If Beanin’s identity were discovered, he would have to run away for his life.

“I remember hearing good things about you. If you don’t mind, would you like to work at our family firm after graduation? Of course, I will have to evaluate you first.”

“I-If so, it is truly an honor!”

Beanin bowed deeply at Zorv’s words.

From his standpoint, having to support his black mage family in the mountains somehow, such an offer was truly precious.

‘Oh.’

Roan was also slightly surprised internally.

Having Beanin enter a large firm was one of the easy paths to see a happy ending.

Although the orthodox path was to advance as a high-ranking priest like a cardinal and pass bills regarding black mages,

‘Pushing through with money also yielded a pretty decent ending.’

In God & Devil, there were characters whose outcomes were accepted as an ending as long as they met the goals to some degree.

Since the purpose of nurturing Beanin was solely the ‘long-term safety of the black mage village.’

A place like the Richmond firm was beyond question.

‘So Beanin and Zorv could connect like this.’

At that moment, Demona quietly approached Roan and asked.

“What is he saying? What is Brother Zorv evaluating?”

“…Do you not know about the Richmond family’s authority?”

“Do I have to? Brother Zorv has an authority too?”

At Demona’s innocent question, Roan lost his words.

Contextually, it seemed Zorv had never used the authority on Demona, despite knowing her.

Since the Eye of Value required the other party’s consent, and he had to inform them of their value after use.

‘Well, if it were me, I wouldn’t have particularly wanted to use it on Demona either.’

Zorv probably thought there was no point in evaluating Demona either.

Anyway, once Roan gave her a rough explanation of the Eye of Value, Demona hopped up and down in curiosity.

“Me too, evaluate me too, brother!”

“M-Me… too…”

“…This friend seems to be sick or something.”

“He is fine.”

With Hector, who had forced himself out of paralysis, joining in, Zorv naturally ended up evaluating the value of everyone in the Macgodal Room.

The very first was naturally Beanin.

“Hmm. It is 350,000 gold.”

“Three… 350,000 gold…! Thank you!”

It was a fairly decent amount, and to Beanin, who had never even properly seen a 1-gold coin, it was like a dream.

“Direct your thanks to Hiloa, not me. Come find me at the firm headquarters after graduation.”

“Sob, ugh…”

With this, Beanin’s happy ending was almost confirmed.

He even came over to Roan and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you, Roan…”

“Why thank me?”

“Because if it weren’t for you, I would have never met Senior Richmond.”

“As the senior also said, please direct your thanks to Hiloa.”

Seeing a character like Beanin do well was heartwarming even for Roan.

…Although he occasionally showed a petty side, Beanin was a truly decent guy, rare to find around.

Next was Demona,

“Evaluate me quickly!”

“…Do I really have to look at you?”

Zorv seemed to not like it at all.

However, since Roan was also honestly quite curious about Demona’s value, he pretended not to notice.

Ultimately, Zorv activated the authority toward Demona, and,

“Hmm…?!?!!”

“Why, what? How much is it?”

Uncharacteristically, Zorv’s eyes widened in surprise.

“No, something seems wrong. Let me look again.”

Zorv’s pupils turned golden once again, but the result did not seem to change.

“This cannot be…”

“How much is it? I asked how much!”

‘How much is it for him to react like that?’

By this point, Roan was also getting quite curious about Demona’s value.

Zorv rarely doubted the Eye of Value, and was not surprised by the results.

Honestly, doubting the authority itself strictly carried a possibility of sacrilege.

It didn’t matter to Roan since he was a black mage, though.

At any rate, Zorv, who was speechless for a moment, reluctantly informed Demona of her value.

“It is three million gold… Just what on earth is the reason?”

“Aw, what? I thought it would be at least thirty million gold.”

Putting aside Demona’s nonsense.

“You mean Demona is worth three million?!”

“The heretic is three million?”

Beanin and Hector were naturally shocked out of their minds.

“Is three million high?”

“It is undeservedly high for you.”

“Is that so~?”

Only after hearing Roan’s words did Demona begin to feel a bit happy.

Naturally, Hector’s impatience could only grow.

Since Demona, whom he bickered with every day, had received a determination of three million, how filled with expectation must he be.

“Senior, what about me?”

“Hector Pavilto? You are fifteen thousand gold.”

“…You don’t mean 1.5 million?”

“Are you doubting the authority right now?”

“N-No, that is not it!”

At Zorv’s sharp response that essentially said, ‘I can doubt it, but you cannot,’ Hector instantly shrank.

However, the shock nonetheless did not seem to fade easily.

“For me… to be lower than a heretic…”

‘…It would be fortunate if it were just lower.’

Since he received a rating that was literally one-two hundredth, it was understandable.

Roan was also slightly puzzled, since he hadn’t expected Hector to be undervalued to this extent.

Hector was quite excellent in combat ability and followed other classes well enough, after all.

Meanwhile, perhaps finding Hector’s state rather pitiful, Zorv added a word of comfort.

“There is room for development, so do not worry.”

“What… is that?”

“If you give up just a little of the holy war, it will increase twenty-fold. Such things are common for the Pavilto family.”

“……!!!”

Although it didn’t seem to comfort Hector at all.

“Hehe, even if it is twenty-fold, it is only three hundred thousand gold~ Still, that’s decent, fanatic~”

“Eeeek─”

Whoosh─ Bam─

“Ouch! Why are you hitting me, Sparky!”

Right before the Macgodal Room burst into flames once more, the Vajra Beetle flying up from Demona’s back smacked her on the head.

Demona flared up in anger, but she was no match for the Vajra Beetle.

“Ugh, stop it, Sparky~”

Ultimately, Demona fled into her private room as if being chased by the Vajra Beetle.

“Quite a likable spiritual beast. I shall take my leave now.”

“Yes. Thank you, Senior.”

Zorv left the Macgodal Room with a satisfied expression.

Beanin patted Hector on the back and spoke.

“Don’t worry too much. Not everything Senior Richmond says is correct.”

“Sob, sob, I will not listen to the words of a three hundred and fifty thousand gold senior!”

Slam─

However, to Hector, who had suffered too many wounds today, it seemed no words registered.

In any case, once the two disappeared, the atmosphere quieted down like a lie.

Roan also exchanged brief greetings with Beanin and entered his private room.

Naturally, the first thing he did was open the bundle Zorv had given him.

Needless to say, it contained the holy-magic centrifuge and the frame of recollection he had requested.

“Materials and advanced textbooks… I can use these productively.”

He could strongly feel the meticulous care of a senior who had packed these items.

Even if the advanced textbooks were useless to Roan, False Divinity would learn them productively.

Hummm─

The authority was already vibrating as if excited.

Furthermore, there were luxurious ingredients and snacks that couldn’t be obtained unless through Zorv.

At this rate, his dining table would become extremely abundant for the time being.

“Hmm. Now, only the hatching of the actual divine beast remains.”

The core ingredient needed for Roan’s primary goal, the ‘Grey Shackle of Life,’ was now only the eggshell of the divine beast.

Roan took the egg out of his belt and placed it on the desk.

The egg had turned into an even darker black than when he checked last time.

Lest he draw unnecessary suspicion, he couldn’t even look at it carelessly when others were around.

‘This too can be hatched by Wednesday.’

Although it remained difficult, a fair amount of luck had followed, pushing the progress forward by leaps and bounds.

Packing the materials back into the lucky pouch, Roan suddenly remembered what he had forgotten.

“I should use this too.”

The plate Roan pulled out was indeed the Prophet’s Eye he had retrieved from the Watchman’s Nest.

It was an artifact that displayed the bad ending of the near branch.

As Roan filled the plate with water and dropped a single drop of blood onto it,

Sssss──

Just as the fountain of the Garden of Dawn had done, a mysterious mist rose up in billows.

Roan lay down comfortably on the bed and closed his eyes.

In God & Devil, the Prophet’s Eye could be used when wrapping up the day’s routine and moving on to the next day.

In reality, the effect would probably manifest after he fell asleep.

Lying down in the mist, drowsiness seemed to wash over him for some reason…

***

Scratch─ Scraaaatch──

‘It was used properly.’

When Roan opened his eyes again, it was not his private room in the Macgodal Room, but some ruins.

The basement of the Watchman’s Tower where he had already been once.

And before his eyes, he saw the Grave Censer that he had picked up from the secret archive of the library in the past, floating in the air.

The black mana of Roan swirling like a storm around it even evoked a sense of awe.

Roan could grasp the situation unfolding at a glance.

‘Well, if it’s the basement of the Watchman’s Tower, no one will come, so it will be safe. Is the black mana… because it’s a level of magic that False Divinity still struggles to disguise properly?’

Certainly, the Grey Shackle of Life was too high-level a magic for Roan to use right now.

Even if the ingredients or the abyss were prepared, merely completing it deserved praise.

In his current state, most named characters would probably recognize at a glance that this was a life vessel type of black magic.

In any case, it seemed the Grey Shackle of Life would be completed in the near future as planned.

‘But why is this a bad ending?’