I Became a Genius Black Mage at the Holy Academy

Chapter 32

The next morning.

Roan hadn’t slept a wink, having spent the night practicing the Abyss attribute.

‘It’s great that I don’t need to sleep.’

His condition wasn’t bad at all. Feeling satisfied with the small perks of being a black mage, he walked into the living room.

Beanin, who had woken up early, was already preparing breakfast. Meanwhile, Hector was sitting on the sofa, appearing a little gaunt. As Roan got closer, he noticed Hector was mumbling something under his breath.

“Silsil… you’re not just a Thousand-Eyed Hollow Serpent, you must be a legendary divine beast. Yes, something like the Sea Divider…”

“Divine beast? If that’s a divine beast, I must be part angel.”

Demona, who was sitting next to him, was teasing him, but Hector didn’t seem to hear a word.

‘He actually is part angel, though.’

Long ago, the ancestors of the Wickron family had mingled with angels who descended to the earth. Although, looking at Demona, one might wonder where all that angelic blood went… or perhaps the Wickron bloodline had always been too strong.

In any case, that wasn’t any of Roan’s concern.

With a scowl on his face, Roan approached Hector. Such a shallow man!

‘This is getting ridiculous.’

“Oh… Roan. When did you wake up?”

Hector, who had been thoroughly ignoring Demona, greeted Roan with a hoarse voice.

“That egg is indeed from a Thousand-Eyed Hollow Serpent.”

Roan didn’t hold back and went straight for the truth.

“First of all, divine beast eggs are golden and much smaller than this. By now, elementalization should have occurred. On the other hand, Thousand-Eyed Hollow Serpent eggs are marked by a single vertical green line. If you look at the bottom of the egg, you’ll see three protrusions that look like legs…”

Roan began to unload a barrage of facts about Thousand-Eyed Hollow Serpent eggs, pulling details from his subconscious.

Hector, dumbfounded, simply listened in silence.

It was Demona who verified Roan’s words.

“Oh! It’s true! Everything Roan said is right!”

He inspected the egg closely, confirming each point Roan made with exaggerated excitement.

With each confirmation, Hector seemed to lose a little more of his soul.

… Not metaphorically, but literally.

“Everyone, breakfast — wait, Hector, snap out of it!”

Beanin emerged from the kitchen. He was startled and grabbed Hector by the shoulders, shaking him violently.

‘Even though Akerandir was a sacred place, it wasn’t the kind where a student’s soul would suddenly ascend, right?’

Thanks to Beanin’s swift emergency intervention(?), Hector’s soul managed to return to his body.

Beanin, wiping her forehead in relief, turned to Roan and Demona and asked, “What happened? Is it because of the injury he got yesterday?”

“Roan did it.”

Without hesitation, Demona pointed his finger at Roan.

‘What did I even do!?’

Roan felt utterly wronged.

‘… Not that he’s wrong, but still.’

It was more frustrating that he couldn’t find a solid argument to refute him.

“Roan completely disrespected Hector’s egg.”

‘Ouch.’

“I didn’t disrespect it, I just stated the facts.”

Roan openly glared at Demona.

If calling a spirit beast’s egg a spirit beast’s egg was disrespectful, then would calling Harden a Holy Spirit instead of a god be considered disrespectful too?

When had the Holy Empire become such a shameless place that relied on lies and propaganda?

All of this was truly maddening.

But Demona, undeterred, boldly countered, “What’s higher? Divine beast or spirit beast?”

“… Divine beast, obviously.”

“Then doesn’t that mean you were being disrespectful?”

There was no point in arguing further. Roan chose silence.

Beanin seemed to ponder something for a moment before clapping his hands together.

“Oh, that thing Roan was explaining earlier? Roan must be talking about the Holy Battles. I had never heard of it before.”

“You didn’t hear about it? Roan completely knocked down Sion during the Holy Battle class.”

“Sion…? You mean the candidate for sainthood?!”

Beanin’s eyes widened in shock, and Demona nodded his head in confirmation.

“Yes. You should’ve seen Roan’s insane wind terrier. Honestly, Roan’s not exactly normal when it comes to things like this~”

Roan clenched his fists tightly.

‘#@&(%$!!’

Luckily, Beanin stepped in to calm Roan down a bit.

“… Demona, I don’t think you’re one to talk.”

“Huh? Why not me?”

Was he really asking because he didn’t know?

Demona was asking so innocently, and Beanin seemed to have a lot to say but couldn’t bring himself to say any of it out loud.

Roan shook his head at their exchange and turned his head to Hector.

‘Demona is just trouble.’ 

The more he engaged with him, the worse things became for him.

“Hector, if you don’t believe me, go ask Professor Vulcan yourself.”

Hector looked up at Roan for a moment, then sighed deeply.

“Alright.”

It seemed like Hector understood Roan’s point, at least to some extent.

“That’s good. Now, can we finally have breakfast —”

“I’ll just go to Vulcan by myself during lunchtime.”

“Is this guy really insane?”

“???”

Roan’s blunt remark stunned the other three. He might’ve had a harsh expression, but he wasn’t known for having a foul mouth! Yet, Roan seemed completely unaware of what he had just said as he casually walked into the kitchen.

He spread some of Beanin’s homemade jam on bread that had been prepared in advance and started eating.

‘This jam is made from wild berries. Very good. I should gather some ingredients in the mountains this weekend too…’

Roan’s actions were more of an instinctive defense mechanism to cope with extreme stress.

Before long, the other three hesitantly joined him for breakfast.

“Did you prepare for today’s class?” Roan asked Demona, as if he hadn’t just cursed a moment ago.

His calm demeanor was somehow even more unsettling.

Demona flinched for a second before tilting his head in confusion.

“Huh? What’s the class today?”

“… It’s the Sacred Relic Crafting class and Basic Combat Training,” Roan responded, giving him a brief but direct answer as if he didn’t expect much from him.

“Huh? I don’t have a textbook for the relic class.”

“Oh, that’s because —” Beanin started to explain, but Roan cut him off.

“The textbook for Sacred Relic Crafting is provided in class. Just make sure to bring a bit of Dalants with you.”

“… I don’t have any Dalants,” Demona said, her expression turning gloomy right at that instant.

He didn’t have a single Dalant left, only fines piling up.

Roan, realizing he had forgotten this, nodded his head and continued, “I see. I forgot.”

“That’s mean…”

“Then just bring some Imperial currency instead. Actually, that might be even better.”

Beanin, who had been quietly listening, looked at Roan with his mouth wide open.

“Roan, have you taken the Sacred Relic Crafting class before?”

But as soon as he said it, he realized how absurd that sounded.

Roan pointed out the obvious reason.

“What are you talking about, Senior Beanin? I’m only a freshman.”

“R-Right, of course.”

“I just thought it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared,” Roan said casually.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point there…”

In the conversation, Roan gave off the air of a mentor, even though he was supposed to be the junior. Beanin couldn’t help but feel that Roan seemed like a much more senior student, though it was instinctive for a beastman like him to sense such things.

“Do we need to prepare anything for the Basic Combat Training class?” Hector asked next.

Roan shook his head.

“No, just show up. Armor and weapons will be provided. If anything, just dress warmly.”

“The Pabilto family isn’t scared of such things!”

“Mehhh…”

Beanin was left speechless.

‘How in the world is he able to speak so confidently like that?’

Not only was Roan speaking confidently, but everything he said was correct. In fact, the advice he gave, such as bringing Imperial currency or dressing warmly, were exactly the kinds of tips that higher-level seniors would usually give to freshmen.

Beanin nudged Demona next to him and whispered, “Demona, I think you’re right.”

“Huh? About what?”

But Beanin couldn’t bring himself to explain further. It wasn’t polite to say to Roan’s face that “he really is abnormal,” after all!

Beanin, being kind-hearted, kept that thought to himself.

***

The Sacred Relic Crafting and Basic Combat Training class was held in the Hetron Hall, where most first-year classes took place.

As Roan and the other students entered the lecture room, they were greeted with various golems, crafting tools, and unfinished relics scattered about, all ready for crafting. It felt just like a magical workshop out of a fairy tale.

— Can we make something that writes notes for us?

— If we’re making something, let’s craft a goblet that pours endless wine!

The first-year students, now more familiar with the steep dormitory cliff, excitedly entered the room, chatting amongst themselves. Roan listened to their conversations and nodded in approval.

‘Ah, they’re still full of dreams.’

Soon enough, they would learn that relic crafting wasn’t as romantic as they initially imagined.

“Roan, Roan.”

Following behind Roan, Demona called out to him as they entered the classroom.

“What is it?”

“Is that… the professor?”

Demona pointed with his chin at the front of the classroom, where a workbench stood instead of a podium.

Roan nodded his head.

“Yes.”

The workbench, though lower than the students’ desks, was twice as wide and already bustling with activity. Magic tools floated in the air, assembling materials and refining components. Various sacred runes and Hilonian characters appeared that went on to assist the crafting process.

It was a dazzling sight of relic crafting in action!

The students were amazed, but what surprised them the most wasn’t the magic tools.

— Is that… a squirrel?

— So cute!

The professor for the Sacred Relic Crafting and Basic Combat Training class was, indeed, a squirrel of vibrant colors.

She was about the size of a small child.

Demona had almost blurted out “that squirrel,” but remembered the fines he owed and hastily changed his words.

The professor was none other than Ulli Bohennard, a hybrid sacred beast known as the Rainbow Squirrel. Though small and cute, Ulli was over 120 years old and an experienced master craftsman.

‘Well, sacred beasts don’t age the same as humans, but still, she’s as lively as ever.’

Seeing this familiar sight, Roan nodded as he took his seat. Meanwhile, the students were still a bit surprised that the professor had arrived before any of them.

— She must be a really passionate professor.

— Let’s hurry and take our seats.

‘Passionate, indeed,’ Roan thought as he sat down. But it wasn’t the kind of passion they were imagining.

Clink, clink—

Suddenly, Roan’s ears picked up the sound of metal clanking nearby.

When he looked, he saw Rafia and Riel.

“… What’s that?”

They were carrying bags that looked much heavier and larger than usual. Based on the sound, Roan could guess what was inside. Sure enough, Rafia smiled brightly and answered.

“It’s for today’s physical combat class! We brought our armor ahead of time!”

“I see.”

“Roan’s been studying so hard, even going to the library, so we can’t afford to fall behind. Right, Riel?”

When Rafia asked, Riel nodded repeatedly, though very subtly.

In any case, the slight blush on both their faces suggested that it wasn’t just because they were carrying heavy bags. As knights-in-training, this was their first chance to showcase their specialization.

‘Normally, I would’ve found this absurd.’

But now, Roan found such minor mistakes endearing enough to simply smile and move on.

“Hmph, Roan said the supplies for the physical combat class are all provided. Didn’t you know that?”

“Is… Is that so?”

‘… Well, that’s what happens when you hang out with people like Demona.’

Rafia’s face fell noticeably in disappointment after Demona’s teasing comment.

Smack—

Roan, unable to watch anymore, gave Demona a firm smack on the back of her head.

“Ow!”

“Why don’t you act half as responsible as those two? Apologize quickly.”

“S-Sorry…”

“It’s fine, we didn’t know,” Rafia said as she shook her head and took a seat.

The situation was so natural that no one even thought to question how Roan knew all of this.

And with that, the Basic Sacred Relic Crafting and Basic Combat Training class began.