Chapter 56
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Last Interview (1)
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The moment Roin touched the fragment of the Demon God, a flurry of thoughts raced through Jerka's mind.
What if Roin succumbed to the fragment's whispers?
And what if he transformed into a second Possessed as a result?
Could Jerka even stand a chance against him?
'No way...!'
To be honest, he wasn't confident.
Normally, Jerka would never admit something was impossible, if only out of pride.
If there was even the slightest possibility, he was confident he could pull it off.
That was Jerka's usual response.
But Roin's strength was the exception.
Even the instructors struggled against him.
If Roin, who was already so strong, gained the power of the fragment on top of that, it would be something Jerka could never handle alone.
He tried desperately to stop Roin somehow.
But unlike Jerka's frantic efforts,
"Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?"
"......?"
Contrary to expectations, Roin seemed perfectly fine.
Seeing Roin fully compos mentis, Jerka asked just to confirm.
"You can't hear the fragment's voice...?"
"Oh, that?"
Roin toyed with the Demon God's fragment several times.
Each time, Jerka broke out in cold sweat involuntarily.
Even when Roin gripped it tightly, he still looked completely unfazed.
"I don't hear anything like that."
It was unbelievable.
Everyone who had touched the Demon God's fragment had testified to hearing the whispers from the abyss.
Even Den, the senior knight they met during the oupf transport mission with the two boys, had nearly given in to the abyssal voice.
Yet here was Roin claiming he was fine.
Jerka couldn't help but doubt whether Roin was telling the truth.
But even if he wanted to disbelieve, Roin was proving it with his own body right in front of him.
There was no way not to believe.
"Why can't you hear that voice? Did you receive some kind of blessing ritual or something?"
If one enveloped their body in holy power, they could at least resist the abyssal whispers to some degree.
But Roin wasn't just resisting.
"I told you, I don't hear it at all."
He was immune.
Jerka was utterly flabbergasted.
He tried to guess that Roin must have used some other method.
But there was nothing of the sort.
"Guess it's just my constitution."
In fact, Roin had been unaffected by the Demon God's fragment ever since his days as Rodri.
Of course, no one had figured out why.
Not even Roin knew the reason he could remain unscathed by the Demon God's fragment.
But good things were good, right?
"Anyway, as long as it's fine."
Roin began examining the Demon God's fragment more closely.
'The fragment from the Sendri ruins is obviously not this one.'
That one had been moved to a safe location by Den and the senior knights.
Besides, it was a different type from the Demon God's fragment Roin had found.
'The color wasn't like this either.'
A deep purple glow emanated from the Demon God's fragment.
Feeling intense curiosity toward this new form of fragment, Roin thought,
'I'd love to take it somewhere and study it.'
But the school side would never allow that.
By the time the situation had settled,
Lepid was leading the instructors quickly toward their location.
"You two there! Are you safe?!"
Jerka turned at Lepid's call and said they were fine.
At that moment.
'Now's the time!'
Roin subtly chipped off the edge of the Demon God's fragment.
He slipped the small fragment piece into the deep pocket of his outer coat.
He wanted to secure a sample.
Then, maintaining a perfectly casual expression, Roin approached Lepid.
"The fragment's right here."
When Roin thrust the fragment forward, Lepid and the instructors recoiled in horror all at once.
Lepid asked with a panicked look.
"W-What are you doing holding that bare-handed?! P-Put it away! No, here, I'll give you a boxput it in this! Hurry!"
Roin inwardly clicked his tongue at the instructor's shrill cry.
'Every damn one of them. Nothing but annoyances.'
In the aftermath of the Demon God's fragment incident, the schedule for the final mid-level knight exam was delayed by a week.
As a result, Roin's mood was foul.
His goal was to escape this school life as quickly as possible.
Having that delayed by a whole week was reason enough to be upset.
'All because of that damn principal.'
Roin stared at the small glass vial on his desk.
Inside it was a small purple shard.
The culprit that had turned Oval into a Possessed: the Demon God's fragment.
The swordsmanship academy was currently, under the direction of interim principal Bex, assembling a temporary investigation team to thoroughly probe all suspicions related to Oval.
Once that process ended, the results on how Oval had obtained the Demon God's fragment would come out.
But Roin wasn't holding out much hope.
He had no concrete basis.
It just felt like it would all fizzle out inconclusively.
'It's not the first or second time something like this has happened.'
A similar incident had occurred in the Pindorf Kingdom's royal palace before.
At the time, Roin had been staying briefly at the palace with Dian at the king's invitation.
To attend the new king's inauguration ceremony.
But right before the ceremony,
A man holding the rank of duke suddenly swallowed a Demon God's fragment and carried out a terrorist attack.
How that man had obtained the Demon God's fragment still remained unsolved.
However.
'There was one hint.'
The investigation hadn't been entirely fruitless.
A single crucial hint they barely managed to obtain.
It was Ratio.
Witnesses had successively testified that the duke had met with Ratio's followers several times just before becoming a Possessed.
But without physical evidence, the investigation dragged on.
Roin suspected the incident at the swordsmanship academy would end in a similar fashion.
But this case was a bit special.
'Back then, it was Inkra's fragment.'
The Demon God's fragment that sealed Demon God Inkra's power.
The color symbolizing it was jet black.
But this fragment shone a vivid purple.
Roin picked up the glass vial containing the mysterious fragment shard.
He began examining it closely.
"Could it mean... there are multiple kinds of Demon God's fragments?"
In other words,
It implied there were multiple Demon Gods besides Inkra.
If.
Those Demon Gods descended upon this world all at once, what would happen?
"It'd be hell itself."
It was a scenario he didn't want to imagine.
"Well, that's a problem for later anyway."
Roin decided to focus on what he could do now.
"Alright. Shall I try the new product Iroa left me?"
Psh, psh!
Holding the mist, Roin started spraying it on his face.
"Yeah, that's the stuff."
He decided to treat himself to some moisture after all his hard work.
Even after some time had passed, the origin of the fragment Oval possessed remained unclear.
It had unfolded just as Roin predicted.
But they couldn't keep focusing solely on resolving the incident forever.
The school side ultimately decided to proceed with the delayed mid-level knight main exam.
Only after hearing that could Roin finally relax.
'I was worried there'd be another delay.'
Fortunately, no such mishap occurred.
The trainees gathered in one place for the first time in a while to take the main exam.
However, some were absent from this exam.
They were the trainees who had encountered the Possessed.
Barton stood before the trainees for the first time in a while to explain the situation.
"Those who encountered the principal after he turned into a monster still need more psychological treatment, so they've been excused from this exam. That's all you need to know."
If it had been physical injuries, they could've used healing magic or whatever, but mental issues were another story.
A human mind, once broken, didn't easily recover.
There were even wizards who mishandled mental manipulation magic and ended up with permanent mental illness.
The monster that had shattered the trainees' psyches with its grotesque appearance.
'Even when I was ugly, it wasn't that bad.'
Roin shook his head vigorously at the thought.
'Am I crazy? What's the point of feeling relieved by comparing myself to a monster?'
And there was no longer the hideous Rodri.
Only the face genius, Roin.
Barton gestured for Vermin to come up to the podium.
The role of explaining how the training would proceed fell to Vermin this time.
"In a bit, you'll have a one-on-one interview with the truth-seeing statue, Lyken. The method is very simple. Just 'honestly' answer the questions Lyken asks, and the training ends."
Vermin particularly emphasized the word 'honestly.'
There was a reason for it.
"Just so you know, no matter how well you try to hide it, you can't fool Lyken. It's not called the 'truth-seeing statue' for nothing."
He was right.
Lyken, infused with the soul of the man called the Great Sage, Mirhon, possessed the ability to detect liesnot just in living beings, but even in objects.
If you lied calmly in front of Lyken.
"The moment it's detected, Lyken will immediately notify you of 'unqualified.' So be careful."
If it turned out your personality had issues, you'd receive an unqualified judgment.
No matter how high your scores were before that, you'd ultimately fail the mid-level knight exam.
Roin had already gone through this once.
Perhaps because of that.
Rather than tension, he was burning with a desire for revenge.
He always repaid what he suffered a thousandfold.
That was Roin's creed.
"You'll enter the interview room one by one in the order your names are called. As I said repeatedly, you must speak only the truth. Don't lie out of shame, embarrassment, or humiliation. It's only embarrassing once."
It wasn't wrong.
Passing the mid-level knight qualification exam was dozens of times more important than any embarrassment now.
The trainees nodded gravely.
Some among them were even thinking,
What's so hard about just being honest...?
But.
Speaking only the truth was easier said than done.
The trainees rose from their seats under the instructors' guidance.
Finally, names began to be called one by one.
"Sevia trainee. Enter."
"Yes!"
A ponytail girl stood up, shouting confidently.
She marched briskly toward the interview room.
The interview room entrance was at the end of a passage shrouded in black curtains.
After she entered.
Not even a minute had passed.
Bang!
The door suddenly flew open, and Sevia came running out from behind the black curtains, sobbing.
"I-I c-can't do it...!"
She had been brimming with confidence just moments ago.
Seeing her suddenly so vulnerable left the other trainees baffled.
Roin, watching her with arms crossed, wore a serious expression.
'That damn statue. Still got that nasty hobby, huh.'