Maybe Roan smacking Demona on the back of his head was effective.
─ Darc… hmm.
Only then did the students, sensing something was off, begin to quietly back away from Roan. And soon, all attention shifted entirely to Sion.
─ Saintess Candidate! You're amazing!
─ When will the divine beast hatch?
"Uh, well..."
Sion, unsure how to handle the sudden flood of attention and kindness she was receiving for the first time since her admission — or perhaps in her entire life — glanced over to where Roan was. She figured his usual calmness might help defuse this particular situation.
"???"
But Roan was no longer there. While the students swarmed around Sion, Roan had discreetly slipped away and blended in with Hector and Demona.
"Roan, when did you get here?"
"I was here right from the start."
Roan shamelessly played it off as if he'd been there all along!
Soon, the commotion caught the attention of Riel and Rafia, who had stopped their practice and came over to join them.
"What's going on? A divine beast?"
Roan pointed his finger at Sion and said, "Sion has obtained a divine beast egg."
"What?"
"!?"
Rafia and Riel were both shocked at the same time. A divine beast egg! Even at Akerandir, it was an extraordinary feat for a first-year student to obtain a divine beast egg.
At that moment, Demona, still rubbing the back of his head, asked, "Didn't you say you got one too, Roan?"
"..."
Roan shot a deadly glare at Demona. This guy just couldn't keep his mouth shut about unnecessary things…
"Is that true? You too?"
"A divine beast!"
Rafia and Riel's eyes grew even wider. Granted, in Riel's case, it was only about the width of an eyebrow, but even that was enough to show how shocked they were.
"Please, please tell me it's not true…"
Meanwhile, Hector, standing a step away, was muttering to himself. He didn't want to believe that Roan had obtained a divine beast egg before he did, especially since Hector had only managed to get the useless egg of a Thousand-Eyed Hollow Serpent that couldn't even be used in a Holy Battle.
Of course, he had no doubts about his ability to eventually get a divine beast egg someday.
Given the situation, Roan decided that honesty was the best policy.
'Once the divine beast hatches, I won't be able to hide it anyway.'
No matter how hard he tried to keep it under wraps, it wouldn't remain a secret for long.
"Yeah, I did."
"That's incredible, Roan! How in the world did you manage to get one?"
Rafia, astonished, bombarded him with questions, but Roan dodged most of them by saying it was a secret. Which, technically, wasn't a lie.
Rafia didn't press him further, and Roan was finally able to take a breath.
'At least they don't seem too jealous. That's a relief.'
Getting a divine beast egg on his own was the kind of event that could cause even close friends to feel envious and strain the relationship. Roan was relieved. Luckily, Rafia, Riel, and even Demona seemed more surprised than anything else, with no signs of jealousy.
Just then, Demona looked between Roan and Hector and said, "Didn't they say the Thousand-Eyed Hollow Serpent egg was divine beast-level too? You guys should just get along."
'This guy really has no tact...'
Roan was horrified. If Hector could see how he was muttering to himself right now, there's no way he would be saying such things. Hector, who now seemed less like an inquisitor and more like a heretic himself, was glaring at Demona with an indescribable look of contempt.
But Demona, unconcerned, continued talking as if nothing was wrong.
"It's too bad. I have the egg of the King of Manic Rabbits, so I guess it makes me a bit lacking. Ugh, the world is so unfair."
"... Demona. How about you shut your mouth for once?"
Even Roan, who usually refrained from saying such things, moved closer to Demona to give him a warning. It felt like if this continued, a real bloodbath might unfold in the training grounds of Akerandir.
"Roan."
Before Demona could respond, Hector softly called out to Roan.
Gulp —
Even Roan, usually composed, couldn't help but be startled when he turned to look at Hector.
'That look… I've seen it before.'
It was the same expression Hector had when Demona obtained the King of Manic Rabbits' egg. A softness hiding underneath it madness — no, something more than madness: jealousy, hatred, and darkness.
"Don't you find yourself interested in dark magic? Lately, I've been thinking the words of the heretics make more and more sense."
"... I'm not interested in any of that."
Roan immediately denied it.
But Hector just smiled slyly and shook his head.
"No, I think you'll end up taking an interest. Hmm, especially considering the Darc family's deep enmity with dark mages."
Even though Roan knew Hector was just babbling nonsense, he felt a chill run up and down his spine. It seemed like Hector was the type who would secretly place a dark magic totem in Roan's personal quarters just to implicate him.
***
The tension only began to settle as the start of their Basic Physical Combat class drew near.
However, despite being in the spacious training grounds, the students were still standing around with no sign of the professor. It was class time, but the professor hadn't shown up, leading the students to murmur amongst themselves.
─ It's not one of those professors again, right?
─ What kind of professor?
─ Like Timothy or Ulli…
─ Stop it, don't jinx it.
Roan's friends also looked a bit uneasy, especially Rafia and Riel, who had high hopes for this class. But Roan shook his head.
"The professor will definitely show up."
"Really? You think so?"
"Yeah. He might've just gotten lost on the way."
"???"
Rafia and Riel tilted their heads in confusion. 'How could a professor get lost in the school?'
Hector, with a warm gaze, looked at Roan and asked, "Roan, do you know who the professor is?"
"... Don't look at me like that."
Feeling overwhelmed by Hector's unsettling expression, Roan sharply warned him. But of course, such warnings had little effect on Hector at this point.
Roan sighed and answered, "Yeah, he's pretty famous."
"A famous holy knight?"
"No."
"An adventurer, then?"
"Not that either."
"... Then who?"
Rafia, who had been firing questions one after the other, as well as the other students nearby, began to look a bit apprehensive. Whoever it was, if they weren't a holy knight or an adventurer, something didn't seem quite right. The students were starting to adapt well to the oddities of Akerandir.
"He's famous as a converted heretic."
─ !!??!!?!
Roan's answer unsettled the other students, but they soon began to accept it with surprising ease.
─ Well, I guess that's possible.
─ Is he a dark magic swordsman or something?
─ Then he must be kind-hearted.
Roan was pleased with how much the general opinion had changed since the beginning of the term.
'At this rate, even if I get caught, I won't be reported right away.'
Although he still had to minimize any chance of being exposed, he felt as though his lifespan in this school was gradually being extended. Harden's philosophy of not discriminating against people based on religion seemed to be paying off! …Though Roan wasn't entirely sure if that was really Harden's philosophy.
Meanwhile, Hector was a bit slower to accept the situation than the other students.
"How can a heretic become a professor…?"
But as he muttered this, certain figures flashed through his mind: Belek, Demona, Roan, Vulcan…
Vulcan, though a devout follower of his faith, had ended up classified as a heretic in Hector's mind after what had happened during lunch.
Hector, now wearing a greasy smile, spoke to Roan.
"Roan, you're going to need to keep a good relationship with this professor, huh?"
"... What on earth are you thinking?"
Roan shuddered at Hector's words.
Just then, a loud explosion erupted in the distance.
Boom!
─ What's that? What's going on?
─ Is a war breaking out?
The students all turned to look in the direction of the noise, whispering among themselves.
Roan, as if expecting it, nodded his head.
"He's here now."
Soon, a small black dot appeared in the sky.
─ Hey, is that getting closer?
─ It's a meteor!
Roan drew dark magic into his body. It wasn't a meteor, but rather the professor.
'Well, with him, it might as well be a meteor.'
He needed to be fully prepared.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic figure crashed into the center of the training ground.
Boom!!
The massive impact and shockwave sent several students flying, unable to withstand the force.
From the crater, a figure began to rise.
─ What is that?!
Standing up was a body towering over 3 meters tall, emerging from the cloud of dust. Step by step, the figure walked forward, revealing a bronzed, glistening body and a face like a chiseled rock.
On his back was a battle axe the size of an adult man, its sharp blade gleaming ominously. The first thing he did upon stepping in front of the students was…
"I OVERSLEPT!!"
He roared, stretching with a thunderous voice.
─ W-Whoa!
Just the act of stretching caused a gust of wind to burst forth—an unbelievable phenomenon!
And somehow, as if through some mysterious power, a wave of intense holy energy swept through the area as he opened his mouth. The students stumbled and swayed, struggling to stay on their feet, while those who had already been blown away during his arrival were helplessly dragged even further.
Only Roan, who had already summoned his dark magic, managed to stand firmly amidst the wind and the storm of holy energy.
'The Miracle of the Islands, Gulba.'
Gulba, a character descended from the ancient giants, possessed a power that surpassed human limits. He hailed from the "Boudor Islands," located about a three-day ship ride from the continent, and was a legendary warrior.
As for why he was called the "Miracle of the Islands"...
"I'M HUNGRY!!"
Every time he shouted, the holy energy that radiated from him was proof of his divine power.
… Of course, his strength and stamina, which measured around 30 in raw stats, also played a significant part in his reputation.
For reference, the people of Boudor, who inherit the blood of giants and possess exceptional physical abilities, have an average stat level of around 20. In any case, the power Gulba possessed was called "Primal Communication." This ability allowed him to directly connect his thoughts with those of his target, essentially functioning as a kind of translation power.
This was why the students could understand Gulba's words, even though he hadn't learned the Empire's language — it was the result of his immense power.
'Of all people, why does such an immense power have to go to someone like him...?'
Roan couldn't help but feel it was a cruel twist of fate.
The "target" in Primal Communication wasn't limited to people alone. It extended to divine beasts, spirit beasts, animals, plants, and even inanimate objects. For example, Gulba could decipher lost languages like Hilonian or even older ancient scripts.
In other words, he could easily read ancient documents that even Harden couldn't even interpret!
For adventurer or scholar characters, this power was an absolutely game-breaking ability. The problem was that Primal Communication was inherently tied to Gulba. And Gulba's intelligence was far too low to make use of such advanced information.
'It's like having great hardware, but the software can't keep up.'
Roan clicked his tongue in frustration, feeling the bitter regret once more. If only he had been granted such a power, he could have lived in luxury without worrying about being a dark mage.
Vrrrrrm.
Sensing Roan's frustration, the False Divinity inside him vibrated.
'I can do that too!'
While communicating with people might be impossible, the False Divinity had already been performing miraculous feats, translating dark magic into holy magic.
However, Roan, who took this divine assistance completely for granted, simply sighed.
"Ugh."
He thought of it as just another exhausting power to deal with.
Brrrrr.
The False Divinity trembled, unable to suppress its feelings of humiliation and indignation.