Chapter 83

“Now, we have a little time left, but we will finish today’s class here! Instead, since we need to fill out the elective class application forms, shall we all move to the classroom?”

In any case, it was fortunate for Roan that Professor Kaina seemed extremely moved.

— I’ve come to see Darc in a new light.

— Yeah, to be honest, I didn’t believe the story that his family was annihilated by black mages.

— Hey, that’s a bit…….

The students headed to the Ciotric Hall while sharing their impressions.

Roan also naturally tried to blend in among them, but.

“Ah, Student Darc, a moment.”

Kaina stopped his steps.

“……Yes, Professor.”

Although Roan was not at all willing, he had to stand face-to-face with Kaina one-on-one for now.

Kaina readily handed 100 talants to Roan.

“You worked very hard during the practice~ Seeing you even block that pathetic modified Black Arrow, you are mastering Professor Gulba’s defense techniques splendidly! This is given to you as a reward for your hard work!”

“Thank you.”

Since talants were talants regardless of who gave them, Roan quietly accepted and pocketed them.

Indeed, Professor Kaina was much more generous than Professor Atoga.

‘Wait, did Kaina know that the Black Arrow was modified?’

Although such a question crossed his mind, this was entirely within his expectations, so it was not particularly surprising.

Besides, had she not known, there was no way the fragments flying in other directions would have all disappeared somewhere.

“Then, I will also take my leave……”

“Ah, and……”

But Kaina caught Roan once more.

Then, with a very apologetic expression, she gestured with her chin behind Roan.

“Just once more…… is there no way? I am a bit…… to that branch of holy arts, hahaha.”

She was referring to Pierbo, who had passed out for the fourth time today.

‘Well, if Kaina were good at healing holy arts, that would actually be stranger.’

If one had an outstanding area, it was only natural to have lacking areas.

For Kaina, that was treatment and healing holy arts.

In the first place, if she had been good at using that lineage of holy arts, there would have been no reason for Pierbo to be carried into Professor Atoga’s class as a teaching aid.

Roan understood the meaning of Kaina’s words, let out a soft sigh, and treated Pierbo for the fourth time.

‘If I hadn’t received the talants, I wouldn’t have treated him.’

The students who saw this as they were entering the Ciotric Hall buzzed with whispers.

— L-Look at that.

— The rumors were true…….

— Beating him down himself and then treating him himself, how cruel…….

Snap─

At that moment, Roan’s touch as he set Pierbo’s bones grew slightly rougher.

Unaware of Roan’s inner thoughts.

“See~ I told you I experienced it?”

— A-As expected of a Wechronon!

— Amazing!

Demona began to chatter shamelessly in front of the students.

***

After Professor Kaina’s class ended.

Now, they had to decide on the elective courses that would start from the second week.

One per day, excluding Monday which had regular club hours, making a total of four.

Elective courses were characterized by shorter class times than regular classes.

Of course, the exams were taken just the same.

At any rate, the Tuesday elective course would begin today.

“Now, you all must have already heard a lot about what subjects are available~ Elective courses cannot be changed for a semester, so choose carefully!”

Professor Kaina handed out papers to each student containing the list of elective courses by day of the week and the application section.

‘Well, I’ve roughly decided which courses to take.’

About half the students, including Roan, seemed to have already made up their minds and wrote down their choices without much deliberation.

Only the Thursday class was slightly ambiguous.

‘Either Professor Kaina or Holy Battle, are they really out of their minds?’

‘Holy Battle Practice I,’ which Roan disliked the most, and ‘Practical Black Magic Destruction,’ which he avoided the most, were placed next to each other.

Although Professor Kaina’s class would actually have things to learn, Roan ultimately chose the Holy Battle class.

‘I don’t want to get involved with Kaina anymore.’

Between today’s class and thinking about getting his head smashed by Kaina in his dream last night, goosebumps broke out all over his body.

Crucially, Holy Battle Practice I was not Professor Vulcan’s class either.

Meanwhile, like Demona, quite a few students were perplexed after receiving the paper.

“Roan, elective courses are too many. Can one person take all of these?”

“……What do you think ‘elective’ means?”

“Ah, you only choose one?”

Glance─

Demona scratched her head and tried to sneak a peek at Roan’s application, but it was out of the question.

“Ah~ Let me see~”

“Choose your own classes on your own.”

“How mean!”

Demona wore a truly betrayed face.

Tilting the paper away from Demona, Roan suddenly felt other gazes.

Stare─

“?”

When Roan looked around, not only Hector but also Rafia, Riel, and even Sion were trying to sneak peeks.

“Sigh……”

When Roan let out a sigh, his friends waved their hands in surprise.

“I-I am absolutely not trying to copy you!”

“Right! Just curious……”

“Taking a class with Darc is disadvantageous for grades too!”

Their mouths and eyes were acting separately.

“Rafia, Riel. Aren’t you two supposed to take the knight classes?”

At Roan’s point, Rafia replied in a regretful tone.

“The knight classes are only two days a week……”

Since Akerandir was a comprehensive clergy training school, knight-related classes were bound to be insufficient.

In the end, unable to resist his friends’ sparkling eyes, Roan slid his paper toward them slightly.

His friends made excuses like they were just referencing it or that it would be bad for their grades.

Scribble, scribble─

Despite their words, they copied down the subjects Roan had selected with extreme enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Demona pretended to gag.

“Blegh! What is this? You’re choosing only the most boring ones. Wouldn’t something like ‘Holy Studies Puzzles’ or ‘History of Imperial Entertainment’ be fun?”

Smack─!

“Then don’t take it.”

“But if you’re not there, it’ll be hard to copy your exam paper……”

Roan’s mouth fell open at the bizarre reason.

‘Is this bastard really crazy?’

To think the reason for taking a class together was something like cheating.

Then again, this wasn’t a day or two occurrence, and wasting energy on being surprised by this every time was pointless.

Even the other friends just glanced at Demona with a look that said, ‘Of course she would.’

“Tsk, who said they’d show you.”

“Come on, I’ll pay you! Let me see~”

However, this time, his friends also flared up in anger.

“This heretic bastard, who do you think you are looking at? Professor Wooly?”

“Right, even Professor Wooly would trade exam papers for money…… wait.”

Although it was a somewhat ambiguous response.

Demona bid the stakes without paying attention.

“50 gold, how about it?”

“……”

At the sum, which was much larger than expected, Roan could not answer for a moment.

50 gold just to show the exam paper once?

‘Since I’m a black mage anyway…….’

It doesn’t seem bad to show it a little.

Although his friends were also startled, they watched Roan’s reaction first.

“Roan, you won’t, right?”

“Darc, no matter how much money it takes to rebuild your family……”

“……Of course I won’t show you.”

Roan shook his head, conscious of them.

At that, Demona raised the stakes once more.

“Then, how about 100 gold?”

“Ahem, stop wasting money on useless things and just study.”

“Heeing……”

In fact, it was possible to leak the exam papers by giving just 10 gold to Wooly.

Of course, there was a penalty of a nearly 80% chance of being caught by Harden, and upon being caught, being kicked out of Akerandir together immediately.

‘If Demona wants to propose something like that, she should do it in secret.’

Demona was completely ignorant of the world, perhaps because she was still just a student!

“But today’s class is Oath? Is there a reason you’re already taking Oath?”

Rafia asked in confusion as she examined Roan’s application.

Oath was a unique holy art belonging to the summoning or contract line of magic.

It could summon beings from the celestial or elemental realms, and one could also impose restrictions on oneself to obtain a corresponding reward.

Since it generally belonged to extremely difficult and painful holy arts, as Rafia said, it was usually taken in upper grades.

And only by students with the right aptitude.

Instead of a detailed answer to Rafia’s question, Roan replied with a faint smile.

“You’ll find out once you take it.”

“……?”

Shiver─

Although they had never lost anything by listening to Roan so far.

For some reason, his friends felt an instinctive sense of crisis.

***

The classroom in Saint Luria Hall where the Oath class was held.

The characteristic of Luria Hall was that it was primarily used by professors and instructors of priest or monk backgrounds.

Consequently, the building’s atmosphere was exceptionally neat and frugal compared to other places.

However, the classroom for the Oath class was even more unique, even for Luria Hall.

“……It’s clean.”

Hector said, looking around in bewilderment.

“Is this clean, fanatic? Setting aside the chairs and desks, there aren’t even windows!”

Demona shuddered outright.

“I don’t think that is what’s important right now……”

“Scary.”

The other friends’ reactions were similar.

The classroom was pure white, with not a speck of dust on the four walls, floor, or ceiling.

Not to mention the door they had entered, even the outlines of the walls were cleverly concealed, making them feel as if they had fallen into an infinite white space.

Furthermore, excluding Roan and his friends, the students were a mere four individuals from monasteries.

Since everyone wore white robes over their heads, let alone being close, they didn’t even know each other’s names properly despite being fellow freshmen.

Demona nudged Hector and said in a low voice.

“Weren’t there only three people from monasteries in our year……? Then who is the remaining one?”

“D-Don’t play jokes like that, you wicked heretic!”

Even though the two were making a fuss about them, the students from the monasteries did not budge.

Instead, they stood silently in a line, staring straight ahead.

“It is somehow spooky……”

It was so eerie that even Sion wrapped her arms around herself and spoke to Roan.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that kind of class.”

Roan spoke expressionlessly, as if he felt nothing even in this atmosphere.

‘What kind of class is “that kind of class”……?’

His friends found it strange, but they did not voice it.

It felt like even if they heard the answer, it would only become creepier.

Creak─

At that moment, the front door of the classroom slid open, and a person draped in a pure white robe appeared.

It was the assistant for the Oath class.

— Soon…… the professor will enter…….

He spoke in an extremely quiet and slow manner.

“I didn’t know white could be this scary……”

Demona also grew quiet by this point, perhaps feeling a little scared.

Thump─ Thump─

Just then, an ominous sound echoed from the hallway.

A sound like something dropping from a high place, or perhaps like bouncing a heavy ball on the floor at regular intervals.

“Roan, are you sure it’s okay?”

Rafia asked anxiously, and Roan simply nodded.

Before long, the professor for the Oath class entered the classroom.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Ugh!”

Without knowing who was first, his friends shrieked.

The only calm people were Roan, the assistant, and the four from the monasteries.

No matter how generously one looked at him, the professor of the Oath class was in no better shape than the black mage from the previous class.

Not only was his bare body, covered in scars, wrapped tightly with iron chains, but five or six handcuffs and shackles were fastened on his hands and feet, and his facial features were completely blocked with white leather and cotton.

Furthermore, a crown of thorned vines was placed on his shaved head, from which blood trickled down.

Demona asked with an appalled expression.

“I-Is the Oath professor a black mage too?”

“No way.”

“……Then is he a heinous criminal?”

“Of course not.”

At that, Demona as well as the other friends stared at Roan in bewilderment.

‘‘‘Then why on earth is he dressed like that?’’’