"...?"
The students, who were suddenly left behind, wore confused expressions.
It was once again up to Roan to bring them back to their senses.
"You see that? Weekend volunteer work is a battlefield. Trust no one, stay sharp, and find your own place."
By now, they had fully realized that the competition for weekend volunteer work happened to be no joke.
Demona muttered to himself, "E-everyone's really dedicated to volunteering."
Hearing that, Rafia felt puzzled.
"Is it really considered 'volunteering' if you're getting paid in Dalants...?"
"Oh, you've caught on pretty quickly."
Roan nodded with a satisfied expression.
'This is how you get used to Akerandir!'
***
Following Roan's recommendation, Rafia and Riel took part in a suitable volunteer task: managing the Grand Martial Arts Hall.
Though it required quite a bit of physical effort, it was a good fit for the two, who came from holy knights families.
The pay was decent too, about 170 Dalants.
Now, only Roan, Demona, and Sion were left.
All the freshmen had been "sent off" somewhere (so to speak).
The other upperclassmen didn't seem particularly interested in volunteer work.
Even the paladins, who had been busily recruiting students nonstop, were now down to just one or two.
Roan turned to Demona.
"How are you planning to pay off your fine just standing around like this?"
In fact, Demona was the one in the most urgent need of Dalants, having accumulated a fine of 200 Dalants in total.
"Ugh, none of the jobs that pay more than 200 Dalants don't require physical work."
Demona spoke with a serious expression on his face.
Roan couldn't hold back and retorted, "Are you a thug?"
The cushy, high-paying jobs had all been snatched up by the seniors.
What was left were jobs that paid less than 100 Dalants or those notoriously difficult ones known as "hellish volunteer tasks."
If you didn't have the skills, you'd at least have to take on these tough jobs to pay off your debt little by little.
Besides, no matter how grueling these jobs were, they were still better than cleaning the bathrooms.
At that moment, another paladin walked in.
'Here it is.'
Seeing the paladin's uneasy expression, Roan's eyes gleamed.
"Sacred Tree maintenance duty, 500 Dalants a day. For now… we need just one person."
For some reason, the paladin seemed hesitant even while announcing the job.
— Huh… Sacred Tree maintenance...?
— Is it time for that already?
— Ugh, I'll just skip this week.
The upperclassmen, who had been waiting for the announcement, clicked their tongues and shook their heads in resignation. But there was one exception — Roan.
'I'll dominate right from the start!'
As soon as Roan confirmed the announcement he had been waiting for, he subtly summoned the abyss to take control of the entire cafeteria.
Woooooosh —
Suddenly, Roan's overwhelming abyssal aura filled the cafeteria!
— Wh-What's going on?
— It's getting hard to move…
Both the students and the paladins were taken aback, struggling against the suffocating air pressing down against their bodies.
In fact, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence during volunteer recruitment.
When someone strongly desired a specific volunteer task, they would silently declare, "If you want it, beat me and take it."
Of course, it was considered cheap and rude, and it would lower one's reputation among the students, but Roan couldn't care less about any of this.
'Not having to worry about what others think is actually quite nice.'
Roan already had a reputation among the students for being underhanded and rude.
The issue was that the Sacred Tree maintenance duty was one of the most grueling "hellish" volunteer tasks that no one cared about.
— I wasn't planning to go in the first place, so why is he going this far...?
The upperclassmen stared at Roan in utter disbelief.
While 500 Dalants was certainly a substantial reward, they already knew the truth.
It wasn't worth spending an entire weekend suffering for just 500 Dalants!
… And even worse, they definitely didn't want to spend such a weekend with a notorious junior like Roan.
'I'm going alone no matter what.'
Roan had no qualms about going to such extremes to secure the task, just in case anyone else decided to compete.
After a moment, Roan checked the state of the other students in the cafeteria.
'Everyone's subdued!'
Satisfied, he raised his hand.
"I'll go."
"Uh... D-Darc, is it?"
"Yes."
When the leading paladin stammered and asked, Roan nodded his head.
Even the paladin hadn't expected that a freshman would volunteer for the infamous Sacred Tree maintenance duty, let alone use such powerful holy energy to secure the spot.
At that moment, Roan seemed less like a freshman and more like a senior pushing around younger students.
"Of all people, a freshman... Is there no other upperclassman willing to step up?"
But no one among the upperclassmen, already daunted by Roan's display of power, was eager to volunteer.
At that moment —
"W-Well... F-Fine then...!"
Trembling — then suddenly standing — Demona, who had been squirming like a puppy needing to go to the bathroom, managed to stand up with a look of sheer determination on his face.
'... I haven't even dispelled the abyss yet?'
Roan turned to Demona with confusion written all over his face.
'How did that brat manage to stand up?'
Regardless, Demona staggered forward.
"If Roan's going… I'm going too..."
Sion, assessing the situation, also managed to raise her hand with some difficulty.
"Can… I go as well?"
'Sion… well, that makes sense,' Roan thought.
Although it was a bit unexpected, he could accept it. After all, he hadn't unleashed his full strength just yet.
Thus, the three of them stood side by side in front of the leading paladin.
Roan, who had a hidden agenda, wanted to go alone, so he raised an objection.
"The notice said only one person was needed. Since I was the first to volunteer —"
"Oh, Darc, Wickron, and even the saint candidate!"
"The freshmen are quite promising!"
The paladins, clearly impressed, didn't even listen to Roan and began excitedly making a fuss.
Roan furrowed his brow.
'These paladins, seriously...!'
Since being possessed, Roan had never had a good experience dealing with paladins.
However, the paladins soon spoke with a concerned expression.
"Still, having just three freshmen seems a bit worrying. Are you all sure about this?"
It seemed that the presence of three participants was now a given.
Demona, feeling proud, stepped forward and declared, "Of course! Roan can handle anything!"
The paladins and Sion exchanged slightly skeptical looks.
'Is he really from the Wickron family?'
No matter how they looked at him, he didn't fit into their ideal of what a member of the noble house of sages should look like.
Naturally, Roan was also unimpressed.
"What are you planning to do if you come along?"
"Me? I can't do anything, obviously. But you're here, aren't you?"
Smack!
Finally, Demona got smacked on the back of the head by Roan and retreated, whining.
The paladins, who were watching this scene unfold, began whispering amongst themselves.
— It should be fine, right?
— Hmm, well, Darc's aura was pretty solid... and we do have the saint candidate.
— Yeah... plus, it's Wickron…
Their discussion didn't last long. Roan's overwhelming presence, combined with their impressive reputations, seemed to work in their favor.
"The notice did say one person, but given your enthusiasm, we'll take all of you. The pay remains as posted — 500 Dalants each."
"Woohoo!"
Demona cheered loudly, raising both arms in excitement.
'I got dragged into this again,' Roan sighed quietly behind him.
***
The Sacred Tree was located on the mountainside to the east of Akerandir.
While the area around the tree was somewhat maintained, they had to climb through an unpaved mountain path just to get there.
'It really is a hiking school,' Roan thought, once again convinced.
The paladin leading them looked back and asked, "While there is a caretaker, Sacred Tree maintenance is no easy task. Are you all truly up for it?"
Sion and Demona, having no idea what Sacred Tree maintenance entailed, tilted their heads in confusion.
'How hard could taking care of a tree really be?'
They couldn't quite imagine the difficulty.
However, Roan, with a resolute expression, nodded his head firmly.
"I know exactly what to do. I can help guide the others."
He exuded the confidence of a seasoned upperclassman who had handled Sacred Tree maintenance multiple times before in the past.
Having witnessed Roan's strength back in the cafeteria, the paladin naturally nodded in agreement.
"In that case, I feel a bit more reassured. ...Wait."
Then suddenly, a strange feeling came over him.
"Uh, Darc, have you ever done Sacred Tree maintenance before?"
"What do you mean? I just enrolled last week."
"Oh, right."
'But then, how does he know all this?'
At that moment, Demona cheerfully smiled and said, "See? I told you! Roan can do anything~"
The paladin was at a loss for words and stared at Roan and Demona with a puzzled look.
Whether it was Wickron casually announcing he was tagging along for a free ride, or Darc, a freshman, claiming to know everything about the notorious Sacred Tree maintenance, both students seemed incredibly odd.
'Even more suspiciously, why did Darc, knowing all this, still volunteer?'
The paladin was highly doubtful.
"… Beatrice, saint candidate, I'm counting on you."
In the end, the paladin directed his request to Sion, who had simply been following along this whole time.
"? Oh… Yes, of course."
Sion, unsure why the paladin was saying this, nodded her head anyway.
The paladin finally let out a genuine sigh of relief.
But he didn't realize one thing.
'Darc will take care of everything...'
Sion was actually thinking the same thing as Demona!
Before long, they arrived at the site where the Sacred Tree stood.
"There it is – the Sacred Tree."
"Wow…"
The three students gasped simultaneously.
'Seeing it in person, it's absolutely amazing!'
The Sacred Tree was visible from anywhere in Akerandir due to its immense size, standing many times taller than other trees and with golden leaves fluttering in the air. It was impossible to miss.
But seeing the Sacred Tree in person was really awe-inspiring.
Its size was so enormous that even tilting their heads all the way back, they couldn't see the top — it was comparable to a modern skyscraper.
In addition, countless spirits swirled around it like a school of fish, flying in circles, a sight that was hard to believe without seeing it in person.
Even Roan, who had previously only seen it on a monitor, was left speechless by the absolute grandeur.
… Though remembering that the tree had once been a staff Harden stuck in the ground before his transformation into a divine spirit somewhat diminished the awe.
'Well… even that is kind of moving when you think about it.'
Meanwhile, the paladin watched the freshmen with an amused smile, finding their reactions cute. Then, he glanced suspiciously at Roan.
"Didn't you say you already knew about the Sacred Tree, Darc?"
Of the three, at least Darc shouldn't be surprised, right? That was what he was thinking.
"I do know."
Roan answered, his expression stiffening.
'Why doesn't anyone believe what I say? How annoying.'
Of course, Roan didn't realize how unbelievable his words sounded.
Just then, Demona, who had been staring at the Sacred Tree in awe, turned to Roan and asked,
"Hey, Roan, is this the Sacred Tree?"
"Yes."
"Then, is there also a Black Magic Tree?"
It was a very Demona-like question.
'That's not something you ask with a paladin right next to you, is it?'
Roan subtly glanced at the leading paladin.
Sure enough, the paladin was glaring at Demona with a deeply displeased expression on his face.