Chapter 91

“You’re just jealous because the fanatic is getting a divine beast’s egg too, aren’t you?”

Roan was dumbfounded.

Why would he be?

Hector, hearing Demona’s words, chimed in in agreement.

“Is that so! Heretic, you’re saying something useful for once!”

“I only say correct things, you know~”

By this point, Roan didn’t want to stop Hector anymore either.

Seriously, to think that even when he worried for him sincerely, he would face suspicion like this!

“Take it if you want to. Though you will regret it later.”

“Hahaha! Roan, don’t worry too much. Even if I obtain a divine beast, you will be the one receiving Professor Vulcan’s favor. No, should I put in a bit more effort? Kuhahaha!”

“Hector, that’s a bit……”

Roan opened his mouth slightly at Hector’s absurd remarks.

For Roan, he had no need for Professor Vulcan’s favor in the first place, and had no desire to put in effort to maintain it.

No, rather, it was better for Roan if Hector took the favor away.

‘Not that they would shower favor on the Pavilto family over just a single divine beast.’

Roan clicked his tongue.

“Sure. I truly hope you receive Professor Vulcan’s favor. While you’re at it, make sure to lift the Imperial Holy Battle League championship cup as well.”

“Hahaha! Thanks for the support! Still, you are my eternal rival, Roan!”

This was why one should never exchange more than three sentences with Holy Battle fanatics.

Because all their thoughts bypassed the brain and went straight through the Holy Battle.

Roan shook his head and walked to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

“Now that I look at it, Roan is quite jealous too~”

“Exactly!”

Just as he thought the absurd conversation was continuing behind him, Demona and Hector also followed Roan into the kitchen.

What they naturally picked up was the high-grade food Zorv had brought for Roan.

Roan scowled and said.

“That’s my food.”

At that, Demona and Hector looked at each other in slight surprise, then began to laugh even louder.

“Wahahaha! Roan, you’re really cute~”

“Uhahaha! Yes, yes. The chief disciple Hector, who will receive Professor Vulcan’s favor, can eat other things.”

“……Eat it then.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine~ We have food to eat too.”

“Right. Do you want to eat the bread we packed yesterday, heretic?”

“Sounds good, fanatic!”

‘These bastards……!’

No matter how much he tried to endure it, he couldn’t.

Beanin, entering the kitchen belatedly, read Roan’s bloodthirsty atmosphere in shock and stopped the two.

“Demona, Hector! Stop, stop it!”

“Why are you doing that, Senior? Do you also, Senior, Vulcan—argh!”

Hector, who thoughtlessly added another word, immediately collapsed sideways.

It was because he had been hit squarely by Roan’s paralysis.

Furthermore, this time it was not a simple paralysis but Roan’s special paralysis mixed with severe muscle spasms.

Even in his collapsed state under paralysis, Hector drooled from the extreme pain throughout his body and trembled violently.

Roan looked down at him coldly, then cast his gaze toward Demona.

“H-Hieek! The punishment ghost—!”

Immediately, Demona also ended up collapsing right next to Hector.

‘Learning curse magic is quite convenient.’

Only then did Roan wear a satisfied expression and continue his breakfast.

Beanin, whose eyes met Roan’s, shrugged his shoulders in shock and said.

“Meeeh! I didn’t say anything…… at all.”

Roan, hearing polite language not just from his friends, but even from his senior!

However, Roan decided not to care much about it now.

For Beanin, bowing his pride slightly was far better than stretching out in a miserable state next to Demona and Hector.

……In the first place, using polite language with Roan felt strangely natural.

He had merely been using informal speech out of habit since he was the senior.

“Aren’t you eating breakfast?”

“I-I should eat……”

Roan eating breakfast nonchalantly.

Beanin eating in small bites while scanning left and right.

Demona and Hector trembling as they lay collapsed on the kitchen floor.

It was a bit after Roan finished his breakfast that the two were released from the paralysis.

“Aren’t you both going to class?”

“Ugh…… going.”

“My whole body still hurts…… I sided with the fanatic for nothing.”

Demona and Hector, looking miserable since morning, followed Roan with bread stuffed in their mouths.

In front of the male dormitory of Paneuroa Hall, for some reason, Rafia, Riel, and Sion were waiting for them.

Roan felt slightly tired the moment he saw their faces.

Because the expressions on every single one of them were unusual.

“……Why didn’t you go ahead.”

Thereupon, Rafia, who was wearing a stiff expression unlike her usual self, bowed deeply at the waist and greeted Roan.

“Good morning!”

Sure enough.

Roan was speechless at Rafia, who acted as if she had met some mafia boss.

He doubted she would greet her commander that way even after entering the knight order later.

Demona asked suspiciously.

“Roan. Was Rafia a black mage too?”

Otherwise, the way she was so intimidated by her friend couldn’t be explained.

Naturally, Roan denied it.

“……If she were, would Rafia even be here?”

Unlike Hector who shared the same room, Rafia, who was alone, had undoubtedly snowball-rolled the misunderstanding with her friends all night.

Just then, Riel marched up to Roan.

— H-Hieek! What is it!

— Are the girls declaring war?

As the tall, ice-cold girl approached with a terrifying momentum, students who happened to be leaving the dormitory even got scared and went back inside.

“Six black……?”

Riel, with her pupils dilated ever so slightly, poured out words to Roan like a rapid-fire unknown spell.

She was asking if the unbelievable story she heard from Rafia last night was true.

— Wh-What is Heylick saying?

— Is it a holy art that requires a spell……?

— As if there is such a thing.

The watching students grew even more terrified.

In any case, although what Roan heard was mostly true, Rafia had mixed in exaggerations here and there.

“It is true that I drove away six black mages, but I did not use ancient holy arts. Furthermore, claiming the Headmaster’s defensive holy art, which he cast with all his might, was on the verge of shattering is absolute nonsense.”

The magic Roan actually used consisted of black magic spells that weren’t very difficult.

Although the power was inflated by the superior quality of his black mana and looked like highest-tier magic due to the sheer quantity, that was how it was.

Furthermore, Roan’s magic couldn’t even properly scratch Harden’s defensive holy art.

And it was even less the case that Harden had cast that holy art with all his might.

Of course, the other students who knew nothing about what happened yesterday were shocked in their own ways.

— D-Darc has revived ancient holy arts!

— What I heard is that he clashed with the Headmaster with everything he had?

— Didn’t they say an army of black mages invaded yesterday and Darc drove them away?

— ……But juniors, if an army of black mages invaded, why did the Headmaster and Darc fight?

— ……Huh? Good question.

It was truly a pathetic situation.

However, once the rumor started, it spread in an instant not only to the freshmen but also to the upperclassmen mixed in between.

In addition.

“Respect……!”

Bow─

As Riel, who heard Roan’s answer, also bowed deeply at the waist like Rafia, the rumors burned even more fiercely.

Riel was merely expressing her respect to Roan for bravely fighting and winning against the black mages, but the students whose eyes had already rolled were in an uproar.

— That Heylick has made a pledge of submission to Darc!

— Darc suppressed Heylick with just a glance!

Roan gritted his teeth and trembled with clenched fists.

There was definitely a major issue with the hearing of the empire’s people.

How could they listen to only half of whatever was said and fill in the other half as they pleased?

“……Both of you stand up and let’s go to class.”

“Right!”

The eyes of Riel and Rafia were like those of loyal knights serving their lord.

For Roan, it was something that only brought sighs.

It was already tiring enough up to this point.

Sion, wearing a strange look in her eyes, still remained in front of Roan.

She whispered in a small voice when Roan approached close.

‘This girl is also becoming more of a headache as time goes on.’

Roan didn’t particularly want to listen, but he couldn’t exactly cover the mouth of a saint candidate.

“Claims of reviving ancient holy arts or fighting the Headmaster with all your might are all exaggerations, right?”

“Oh, indeed.”

Surprisingly, Sion spoke sensibly, fitting for her.

Roan brightened and affirmed her words.

As long as the saint candidate kept her head straight, the nonsensical rumors would die down quickly.

“Bravery is good, but for the rebuilding of your family, you must live as safely as possible. ……Even if you know certain information.”

“……? Yes, I should.”

It was a bit strange, but Roan nodded for now.

He was one of the people who wanted to live the most safely in Akerandir.

“Even if you possess a superior information network that even I don’t know the full reality of, report it to the professors in the future. Don’t step forward yourself.”

“……What do you mean?”

Now it was definitely strange.

Roan asked with a baffled face, but Sion was extremely serious.

“I had kept doubting, but this incident made it certain. Don’t think about denying it.”

“That……”

Sion, fitting for someone from the Beatrice family famous on the continent for their information network, seemed to have interpreted Roan’s information power in her own way.

However, she didn’t seem to think of the fact that it made no sense for a descendant of an already annihilated family to possess such an information network.

If that were truly the case, hadn’t he practically already rebuilt the family?

‘Even a web novel would get criticized if written like that.’

As Roan tried to deny it, Sion smirked.

“I’ll ask just one thing. You knew the black mages were coming to the Ephyrim Basin, right?”

“……”

Roan was forced to nod.

It was too coincidental to claim he didn’t know.

Sion spoke as if to say ‘See?’.

“It’s too obvious. Although the naive students don’t seem to know yet. No matter how good the purpose, it’s better to hide your skills. Don’t tell me you’re going to claim you had a prophetic dream?”

Sion seemed slightly excited.

It was an excitement stemming from her pride in accurately guessing an aspect of Roan, whose true nature she couldn’t fathom.

Roan nodded in bewilderment.

“I saw it in a dream.”

There was no such thing as an information network.

Since it was knowledge gained solely from playing God & Devil, he had to call it a dream.

It had been so until now.

“Right. It’s a plausible excuse for the time being. I’ll pretend not to know too. Because I know…… Darc’s goal.”

Sion, for some reason, wore a bright smile and even seemed slightly moved.

And Roan received a fresh shock.

‘No wonder. Everyone was just too simple, so they were fooled.’

To someone with normal reasoning like Sion, the dream excuse seemed a bit clumsy.

……Although, despite that, everyone except Sion believed Roan’s words implicitly.

At any rate, no matter what he said to Sion, who was already convinced in her own way, the misunderstanding wouldn’t be cleared.

Even if he could just beat up Demona or Hector, or cast paralysis spells on them, Sion was a saint candidate.

‘Well, I can leave it alone for now.’

Moreover, she wasn’t spreading rumors all over the place like the others, and even offered to keep the secret.

……Actually, considering the rumors about Roan that had spread so far, a private information network didn’t even seem like much of a topic.