Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Where did Black Bird go?
I tilted my head.
Everyone assumed Black Bird had left without permission and thought little of it.
Was it really an unauthorized absence? She didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d slack off. Something’s off.
I didn’t know anything about Black Bird to begin with, so there was only so much I could guess.
But this is strange. Did I really never see Black Bird in the scenario?
As I saw it, the ones among the four new professors worth paying attention to weren’t the guys from the Prestigious Magic Family and the Prestigious Swordsmanship Family.
The other two.
The guy who’d come from Sky Island, and Black Bird.
Neither of them had made much of a presence during this training, but they don’t seem like people to take lightly.
They must have had a role in the scenario.
Now that Black Bird had suddenly disappeared, an even more unsettling question came to mind.
Was there something I’d missed?
What bothers me most is that this is the Ranchel Plateau. Wait, surely this has nothing to do with ‘that incident,’ does it?
A sudden suspicion flashed through my mind, and chills prickled down my spine.
…No. Black Bird isn’t a demon. That’s absolutely impossible.
The Demon race.
They were different from the devils of hell.
They were a nonhuman race from the Demon Realm, born with darkness within them.
The thing I was worried about could only happen if a demon from the Demon Realm—and, more specifically, the Key—got involved.
I did come prepared, just in case the worst happened.
But there was no time to think about it any longer.
I have to focus on the training. The second day counts for a lot, too, so I need to do a perfect job.
The full schedule began.
“The new professors will spend today volunteering to help the people of the nearby settlement.”
The professors turned their dark, hostile gazes on me.
“Your volunteer work will all be used in your evaluations, so please do your best.”
They were probably looking down on me, assuming I wouldn’t be able to do a proper job of it. But there was no need to worry.
I’ve already decided what kind of help we’ll offer.
Then, after I arrived at the settlement with a relaxed mind—
My face stiffened.
An obstacle I’d never expected was waiting for me.
Wait, why is he here?
A young man with a gentle face.
It was Yohen, the Demon Saint!
Don’t tell me this is a Rebel Army settlement? Damn it.
Even I didn’t know every place where the Rebel Army’s settlements were scattered.
Just then, Yohen looked at me and smiled warmly.
The Deer Saint, true to his reputation.
It was a perfect, hundred-point smile that had stolen the hearts of countless female fans. But all it did was make my heart sink.
“Are you Professor Ban? I’ve heard about you. Thank you for coming to help our settlement.”
His voice was calm.
For now, I forced myself to calm down.
Stay calm. We’ve only run into each other by chance. Yohen doesn’t know I’m the one who saved him. And he hasn’t been corrupted yet.
The Deer Saint.
The Corrupted Saint.
They were both nicknames for Yohen.
As the scenario progressed, Yohen would become increasingly corrupted, his heart darkening with evil, but that was still in the future.
Yohen is one of the four Main Protagonists, anyway. He’ll grow up just fine on his own if I leave him alone. I should pretend I don’t know him and act cold.
But then the Black Flame Dragon caused an unexpected incident.
—The Black Flame Dragon responds to the other person’s pure kindness!
—“The Black Flame Dragon’s Kindness” is activated!
“No. We’re the ones who should apologize for making you go to such trouble. We look forward to working with you today.”
It was the sort of greeting that would make even me like someone!
Whenever good manners were actually needed, he always made a mess of things. But at times like this, the Black Flame Dragon somehow had no sense of what was appropriate.
Yohen looked slightly surprised, then smiled brightly.
“Professor Ban, you’re different from the other high-ranking people I’ve met. Thank you. We’re the ones who should be asking you to look after us today.”
I felt a little cold sweat trickle down my back, worried that I’d made an unnecessarily good impression.
This much is fine. Now I just have to do a good job.
But, as always in this world, things didn’t go as planned.
“Kid, where’s the village chief? Go get him instead of making me talk to a child like you.”
It was Kansir from the Prestigious Swordsmanship Family.
“…The village chief is away from the village right now.”
“Then what about another important adult?”
“They’re away on an errand together.”
Yohen looked troubled.
I figured out what was going on.
The Rebel Army’s Guardians must be hiding. It’d be strange for a remote settlement like this to have someone with knight-level strength.
But Kansir frowned.
“Did they leave on purpose to snub us? That’s outrageous. Never mind. Go get an adult instead of making me deal with a little kid like you!”
“I… I’m sorry.”
“Hey! You little brat, don’t get cheeky with me!”
Is that lunatic out of his mind?
I was horrified.
Maybe because his mood was foul after I’d gotten the better of him throughout the training, he was blundering straight into one land mine after another.
If we mishandle Yohen, we could all be wiped out at once!
Yohen was a saint of the Rebel Army and one of its most important figures, so he had unseen guards protecting him.
If things go south, they’ll kill us all and move the entire settlement.
I hurriedly stepped in.
“Enough. What do you think volunteering means? It means bending your back to help others. If you want to be treated with deference, get lost and go back to the Malvern Ducal House.”
“!!”
Kansir ground his teeth and glared at me.
But I didn’t back down, either.
He was someone I’d beaten once before. When it came to the weak, I could be as strong as I liked.
In the end, he was the one who backed down.
“…You sure do love hearing yourself talk. Just you wait. I won’t lose at today’s volunteer work. Besides, there’s not much a mana-insensitive cripple like you can do anyway.”
Whoosh!
Kansir turned around and disappeared.
His outrageous remarks didn’t bother me in the slightest. But there was another problem.
“Thank you for helping me. I was in a tough spot, but Professor Ban saved me.”
Yohen’s eyes were sparkling!
Cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
“…Don’t get the wrong idea. I just didn’t like him. I didn’t step in for your sake or anything.”
I hurriedly made an excuse, but then realized my mistake.
I’d said it in a way that sounded even more like, “I totally did it for you!”
“Hehe, you seem like a good person, Professor.”
“…You’re mistaken.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
I frowned.
I decided to ignore him and get on with the work.
‘The truth is, because of my Mana Insensitivity, the volunteer work I can do is limited.’
But there was one thing.
There was something I could do, too.
“You’re going to set up a defensive barrier for the village?”
“Yeah. It’ll keep out the simpler Monsters, at least.”
Of course, a grand Magic Circle was out of the question.
I didn’t have enough Mana, and, more importantly, it would need maintenance.
But a simple Territory Magic Circle was doable.
‘The Monsters that come down to a settlement like this are only about Level 1 at most, anyway.’
If Monsters any stronger than that showed up, this wasn’t the kind of place where people could settle down and live.
‘This should be quick.’
It would have taken a long time alone, but I had two excellent la—no, graduate students.
Linden and Hans—both of them followed my instructions and worked up a sweat installing the Magic Circle.
“Hey, mister! Stop slacking off!”
“You little rascal! How dare you say such nonsense?! I was thinking about how I could carry out Young Master Ban’s instructions even more perfectly!”
“You think I can’t tell you’re pretending to think so you can slack off?!”
But Yohen was once again impressed by something strange.
“Professor Ban really is different from the others. You’re doing this because you’re worried that hunting Monsters, like everyone else is, might end up harming the village, aren’t you?”
“……”
It wasn’t that. I’d given up because, with my Mana Insensitivity, I wouldn’t stand out much even if I tried hunting Monsters.
And unless we were talking about sweeping them away with an army or a full-scale order of knights, I wouldn’t be much help anyway.
“But even if you install a Magic Circle, you won’t be able to find the magic stones needed to maintain it.”
“I’ll design it so that it can be maintained using the Mana contained in Monster corpses.”
“…Is that possible?”
“It is. I’m Ban Ecclesia.”
At the sound of my name, Yohen’s expression turned strange.
“Why?”
“It’s just that your name feels strangely familiar, Professor.”
I flinched.
Come to think of it, when I treated Yohen, I’d recited my name while putting on that Black Flame Dragon act.
“…You must have heard about me through rumors. My name is famous.”
“No, it’s not that…”
Yohen tilted his head as if trying to remember, and just as I started to sweat—
He suddenly froze.
I felt something chilling.
‘…What is it?’
It was a familiar sensation.
One I’d felt several times recently.
‘Puppet… no, it feels like when the Lord of the Phantom Dream awakened during the entrance exam. Why all of a sudden?’
I wasn’t imagining it.
Rumble!!
A deafening sound rang out, and the ground shook!
An earthquake!
“?!”
“Aaah!!”
“Get away!”
The village erupted into chaos!
The Rebel Army’s Guardians, who had been hiding, appeared.
The Guardians were in such a hurry that they didn’t even have time to hide their identities before speaking urgently.
“Saint Yohen! You must get away!”
“What’s happening?”
“Demonic Energy has begun leaking out from the center of the plateau!”
My face went pale.
I knew what this phenomenon was.
It was a portent that appeared when the Evil Dragon Ashtart was awakening.
‘Why?’
Out of nowhere, the Hidden Episode “Savior of the Great Dragon” had begun.
I felt like crying.
‘Why is this happening again?’
I went to rescue one problem student and ran into Puppet. I attended the entrance exam as an examiner, and the Lord of the Phantom Dream awakened.
And now it was a Hidden Episode?
‘This is too much! How is this fair?! I’m quitting! I’m done!!’
…I wanted to throw myself on the ground and lie there, but even in a situation like this, the Black Flame Dragon kept me dignified.
“Would you mind if I joined you?”
“Ah, Professor Ban? I’ve heard about you.”
The leader of the Guardians who had just appeared turned his gaze to me.
I knew him.
A Rebel Army executive, Aktor, the “Butcher.”
He was a Level 6 knight of the Gladiator Class.
It seemed he’d heard about me from Lairan; unlike his fearsome epithet, the Butcher behaved with impeccable courtesy.
“It seems there’s a problem with the seal on the plateau.”
“Yes, that’s right. Demonic Energy is leaking out, as though a demon were descending.”
“Hmm.”
“We must evacuate at once. If the legendary Evil Dragon really does descend, no one will survive.”
That was true.
Dragons were not invincible beings in this world.
They usually possessed strength around Lv. 6 to Lv. 7, after all.
But the Evil Dragon Ashtart beneath the Ranchel Plateau was different.
An Ascended Dragon.
A being who had reached no less than Lv. 9.