Chapter 94

Beleck also looked at Roan with satisfaction before finally drawing the students’ attention.

“Now, anyway, it seems everyone has successfully cast their first Borrowed-Name Holy Art. Shall we lightly exchange offense and defense in pairs of two, just as I mentioned earlier? The other students, please keep practicing.”

The students who had witnessed Roan’s water cheered, each harboring swelling dreams.

— Will I be able to use a holy art like that one day?

— It would be great if I could borrow Lord Belund’s power like that!

……It was a bizarre sight where prospective priests aimed for the power of a devil.

In any case, the students stood on the platform two by two in turn according to Beleck’s call.

“Student, please try using the power of Cierdo, the god of rain and clouds, and student, try the power of Telga, the god of forests and trees. There are parts each of you must be careful of, however……”

Every time, Beleck diligently wrote the borrowed-name patterns and borrowed-name words of the gods they were to borrow names from on the blackboard.

Giving them know-how on borrowing each god’s name was basic.

The students’ offense and defense were very simple and even cute.

Swoosh—

Pitter-patter—

A small rain cloud appeared over a student’s head, and as water droplets fell, a leaf popped up to block them like an umbrella.

— Ohh, amazing!

— Cute!

Once they exchanged offense and defense like that, they would switch the gods and roles and try the same.

The fact that most students succeeded on their first attempt without being bound by talent, no matter how simple the basic Borrowed-Name Holy Art was, was thanks to Beleck’s excellent teaching ability.

Meanwhile, after several turns had passed, it was Roan’s turn.

“Student Roan Darc will do it with student El Zephenad.”

Roan and El stood facing each other on the platform.

El was a human character, possessing a moderately handsome face and a kind personality.

His grades were stable in the upper-middle rank, and his practical ability was also above average.

He was also a decent supporter from whom one could easily get help in most Akerandir plays.

In a way, he was like a male version of Rafia.

“Darc, please treat me well.”

“Likewise.”

El seemed slightly afraid of Roan, but he still greeted him quite sociably.

‘There is nothing bad about getting close to El.’

If they became close in the future, he was a character to whom he could dump most of his troublesome tasks.

……Already, Roan was contemplating how to utilize El.

“Now, student Zephenad will borrow the name of Belund, the god of fire and hearth, and student Darc will borrow the name of Iketan, the god of perpetual snow and glaciers. Zephenad is on offense, Darc is on defense.”

‘Perpetual snow and glaciers…… Diprotan, the devil of cold and rupture, should do.’

Fortunately, Diprotan was also a devil whose power he had borrowed frequently, so there was no problem.

El gathered his hands as if in prayer with a slightly tense face.

He had also called forth quite decent water when borrowing Ephrise’s name earlier.

This time, too, it did not take long for him to create a fireball the size of a human head.

“Oh, student Zephenad. Splendid.”

Beleck also honestly admired it.

Belund was one of the gods whose Borrowed-Name Holy Art was tricky and dangerous to use.

As expected, El also spoke to Roan with a slightly struggling look.

“Darc…… can you block it?”

“Well. It should be fine.”

El’s excellent character was glimpsed in this trivial behavior.

Because most students, if they were struggling, would have thrown it anyway, not caring about the other person’s circumstances.

When Roan nodded, El launched the fireball at him.

Beleck was preparing to use defense magic at any moment, preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.

Whoosh—

Just when the fireball reached about halfway between El and Roan.

Hum—

Roan summoned Diprotan’s power.

Lest the magic not stop at the fireball but sweep over El as well, he drew the magic circle as small as possible.

……Actually, the size of a magic circle did not determine the power of the magic, but at least he could send a message to the devil.

‘Even if I only summon an ice wall, there shouldn’t be any problem blocking it.’

And that would be the most natural situation.

But.

Crreeeak— crack—

The power of Diprotan, the devil of cold and rupture, was far more powerful than he thought.

It was not at the level of normally blocking the fireball by erecting an ice wall like Roan had planned.

Crash—!

The fireball of El froze completely and fell to the ground with a loud noise.

“H-Huh!”

“……”

El was startled out of his wits, and Beleck was also lost for words.

— Hey, is that even possible? The fire froze?

— Isn’t Lord Iketan way stronger than Lord Belund?

— Shh!

Instead, the watching students whispered.

Demona’s face turned pale as if she had received a shock.

“R-Roan, were you acquainted with Lord Iketan as well?”

‘Well, we are acquainted.’

Since he had seen Iketan in person during his past play.

In any case, normally the other friends would have dismissed it as Demona’s usual nonsense.

‘‘‘Could Demona’s words be true?’’’

But they also seemed to feel a creeping sense of persuasion.

“Student Darc seems to have excellent resonance with the gods.”

Beleck, who had been silent for a long time, nodded with an moved face.

He was a black mage who could not use holy magic no matter how devout he was.

Seeing Roan display such immense talent in the Borrowed-Name Holy Art, he felt a strong vicarious satisfaction.

‘Still, getting close to Beleck is a bit……’

However, Roan did not welcome Beleck’s interest at all.

The converted Beleck was a devout believer to his very bones.

If he found out that Roan had infiltrated Akerandir as a black mage, he would snitch to Kaina immediately, colleague or not.

“Now, let’s swap offense and defense. Student Darc, please try using Lord Belund’s name.”

Beleck tried to swap the roles of Roan and El, just as he had done so far.

Roan spoke in a troubled tone.

“Professor. I think it would be better for me to continue using Lord Iketan’s power.”

“Hmm? Why?”

Beleck tilted his head.

‘Do I really have to spell it out for you?’

Roan felt slightly frustrated.

“Looking at the situation so far…… wouldn’t it be a bit dangerous?”

There were truly many devils that manipulated the power of fire.

The problem was that most of those devils, even by devil standards, had personality disorders and were self-indulgent.

Even the powers of Etherog or Diprotan, who were treated as decent individuals among devils, were at this level.

If he summoned fire through the Great Devil line, there was no telling how big the scale of the incident would become.

However, Beleck, who had no way of knowing Roan’s circumstances, laughed relaxed.

“Hahaha. Student Darc. Caring for your friend is good, but you can rest assured since I am here. I have received permission from the Principal that I can use black magic at any time if it is for the purpose of protecting the students.”

Of course, if it was Beleck, he would be more than capable of blocking Roan’s magic.

‘But the fact that you have to step in is the problem itself!’

Think about it.

In a class where students were amicably exchanging offense and defense with Borrowed-Name Holy Arts.

One guy cast a basic Borrowed-Name Holy Art, and even the professor had to step in to block it?

If that happened, what kind of rumors would spread again?

As Roan still seemed to hesitate, Beleck added a word.

“Besides, student Darc’s consideration might be rude to student Zephenad.”

He meant to ask if Roan was looking down on his classmate, El.

— Hmph, acting as if he is some big shot.

— Well, he is.

— ……Anyway.

As the gazes of the watching students grew slightly sharp, just as Beleck had said, Roan could no longer back out.

“Since you put it that way, I understand.”

Since he wasn’t the one who would die anyway, he thought he would just let whatever happens happen.

Yet, right before they exchanged offense and defense, Beleck went to El and whispered.

“Student Zephenad. Just in case……”

In doing so, was he not teaching him a new borrowed-name pattern and word of Iketan?

It was not the basic level they had been using until now, but the beginner level, which was one step higher.

‘He’s anxious himself……!’

Roan could not help but be dumbfounded.

In any case, El learned the beginner pattern and Hylon language anew, and:

“Are you ready, Zephenad?”

“……Come.”

When Roan asked, El nodded with a somehow solemn expression.

From his appearance, it felt as if he was a hero who had come to defeat a demon king.

‘……Well, it is similar.’

Comparing the level of the freshmen and Roan now, that was about right.

When El used his holy power:

Craaack──!

A large and thick ice wall, enough to completely cover his body, was created between the two.

Because he was not used to it yet, the output was a bit poor for a beginner level, but it was definitely superior to the basic level.

— Ohh!

— As expected, the black mage teaches holy arts well!

— You fool, not a black mage, but Professor Beleck!

The students cheered because succeeding in a beginner-level Borrowed-Name Holy Art in one go was indeed thanks to Beleck’s independent system.

‘If it’s that level, it might be fine?’

Roan also relieved some of his worries and used the Great Devil line.

The devil whose power he would borrow this time was Sizurg, the devil of jealousy.

Among the devils that manipulated fire, he was the one with the weakest firepower.

Fwoosh—

A fireball the size of a baseball was created in front of Roan.

Though small, it was a fire that burned vigorously.

However, as the outcome against the huge ice wall seemed obvious, the students mocked him immediately.

— Hey, this time Darc is really going to lose, isn’t he?

— I told you, Lord Iketan is stronger than Lord Belund~

— Ggle, serves him right!

Just looking at what they said, it was so vulgar that they could be called street thugs rather than Akerandir students.

Furthermore, when Roan broke into a cold sweat as if flustered, the students’ jeering grew even worse.

However, the reason Roan was flustered was entirely different from what the students thought.

‘Isn’t Sizurg stronger the smaller the fire is?’

A setting derived from the concept that jealousy was stronger when it arose from very small things.

Since there was also Sizurg’s fire smaller than a grain of sand, a baseball-sized one could be considered quite large, but:

This was, after all, a first-year class.

If they collided like this……?

Drift, drift—

Roan’s fire flew leisurely toward El’s wall.

Everyone except Roan naturally thought the ice wall would easily block the fire.

But.

Tap— Fwoooosh──!

— ??????

As soon as the fire and ice touched, the flame blazed fiercely, consuming the ice wall itself!

The students opened their mouths wide in unison at the completely unexpected situation.

It took only an instant for the fireball to pierce the ice wall.

“Uh, uh?”

El was so flustered that he could not even think of dodging and just faltered.

Beleck immediately took out a small bone to use as a catalyst and summoned the ‘Skeletal Knight’s Bone Shield’ in front of El.

‘W-Will that be enough?’

Roan was slightly doubtful.

The Skeletal Knight’s Bone Shield was a decent defense magic, but he was still anxious.

Crunch— Fwoosh──

Sure enough, Sizurg’s flame of jealousy, having revealed its true colors, was poised to devour even Beleck’s bone shield as if it had nothing more to hide.

“!!!”

Startled, Beleck took out several more reagent bottles from his pocket and began to reinforce the bone shield.

Only after five more reinforcement spells were cast did Sizurg’s fire finally begin to be brought under control.

Clatter— thud—

And when the fire was completely extinguished, Beleck’s bone shield was almost reduced to ashes, losing control and falling to the floor.

The time taken for all this was less than ten seconds.

Flop—

El, who would have definitely died if not for Beleck, lost strength in his legs and fell flat on his buttocks.

— You idiot, didn’t Lord Belund get angry because you kept saying he was weak!

— I-Is that so? I apologize, Lord Belund……

Roan approached El and asked how he was doing.

“Are you okay? I am sorry.”

Half of it was image management and half was genuine concern for a future worker, but:

To El, who was looking up at Roan, it sounded like this:

— Not dead yet? I am sorry for not sending you off painlessly. —

“Hiiiiieeeek───!”