Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Problem Child Damon (2)

“If you put it that way, yes. Is that really enough to be called heresy?”

“As your seniors in the Holy Magic Department, it is difficult for us to take lightly the fact that you said such a thing.”

“If this were not Saengterminum, it would not be enough even if you were dragged off to the Inquisitors in the Holy Empire right now.”

I looked over them one by one.

“So what do you want from me?”

“It is nothing difficult. You just have to swear here that you will no longer associate with Black Mages from now on. Simple, is it not?”

“What if I refuse?”

At the short answer I tossed out, the seniors’ eyes sharpened.

“Did we not tell you that we are your department seniors? Nothing good will come of getting on the bad side of us seniors, you know?”

“Haaaah.......”

I lowered my head while rubbing the back of my neck.

Unfortunately for them, I was a Black Mage before I was a Holy Power user.

And Black Mages did not care about senior-junior relationships or any of that nonsense.

It was not as though I had lived such a kind life, either.

If anything, my life had been one where I had gotten on people’s bad sides so often that I had grown sick of it. 

Did they truly think such a threat would work on me?

That monologue was rather long, but if I had to sum up my current thoughts in one sentence, it would be this.

Go screw yourselves.

“You people really have nothing better to do, do you?”

“W-what?”

“Do you not think your attitude was rotten from the start?”

When I spoke according to my temper, the seniors were dumbfounded.

“I wonder who taught you the manners of blocking someone’s path and picking a fight by calling him a heretic the moment you saw him.......”

“M-manners?”

“Trying to humiliate a freshman first thing in the morning. What an admirable thing to do.”

The seniors’ expressions twisted sharply.

“You are the one who seems to have thrown away all manners toward your seniors.”

“Ah My apologies. Since you threw manners into your soup and ate them from the first time we met, I thought I was allowed to do the same.”

“Even as someone who has awakened Holy Power, do you intend to disregard the ideology of the Holy Empire?”

“...Ha. Ideology? Ideology, you say?”

My brows drew together. 

This was why prejudice was so irritating.

“Black Magic is Forbidden Magic that ought to be excluded. In reality, there have been many incidents of damage caused by Black Magic all across the continent.”

Yes. If Black Magic was abused, the aftermath was on an entirely different level from ordinary magic. 

Even I, a Black Mage, did not deny that.

Even so, was it not far too narrow-minded to try to lump together and exclude everyone who used Black Magic?

“Have you never considered that the problem may have been the people using Black Magic rather than Black Magic itself?”

“Black Magic is inhumane magic by the mere fact of its existence.”

Look at this. 

Just look.

Since they had awakened Holy Power and become members of the Holy Empire, these fellows must have been continuously educated by the Holy Empire.

They would have been taught that Black Magic was Forbidden Magic that humans must never touch.

What a joke.

“Just from hearing that, I do not find myself thinking Black Magic itself is evil. What should I do?”

There is no way you would know that those worn-out ideologies and fixed ideas accelerated the war between the Dark Empire and the Holy Empire.

“I intend to judge only by what I see and experience myself.”

“You bastard.......”

Just as the atmosphere of the seniors toward me was turning menacing...

“Everyone, please stop there.”

A woman stepped between me and the seniors.

Her brown hair, which fell to her waist, swayed.

“...Yulia?”

“What? That Yulia from the Holy Order?”

“Why did she come here?”

“Whew....... I thought this might happen.”

Yulia glanced at me, then soon turned her gaze toward the seniors.

“What disgraceful behavior is this among fellow Holy Power Awakeners? I am sure the god who bestowed Holy Power upon us would be delighted to see this.”

“...Yulia, that bastard is a heretic. You belong to the Holy Empire as well, so you should know how dangerous his ideology is.”

“This brother is not affiliated with the Holy Empire.”

“And that means we should just leave him be?”

“Moreover, he is a case of someone who awakened Holy Power later in life.”

“......?”

After hearing her answer, the seniors all began to stir at once.

“L-later in life?”

“He was not born with it......?”

What is this? 

Why are they so flustered?

What does it matter whether it was innate or acquired?

“Seniors, you are Holy Power Awakeners as well, so do you not know the circumstances under which one awakens Holy Power later in life?”

While the seniors could not properly continue speaking, only Yulia’s clear voice rang out.

“There are cases where someone is born with Holy Power, but in acquired cases, one can only receive Holy Power when an Earnest Wish made in an extreme situation reaches god.”

...What?

That was something I had not known, either. 

Was that the precise principle behind the awakening of Holy Power?

Then did that mean most people who awakened Holy Power later in life were devout believers?

“Mm.......”

“That is true, but.......”

“Do you have any proof that he awakened Holy Power later in life?”

“Damon was unable to use Holy Power at all during the Entrance Exam. If he had awakened Holy Power from birth, he would have somehow raised Holy Power during the exam.”

Yulia turned her head slightly and began looking at me with pity.

“Brother Damon must certainly have gone through an incident too difficult to speak of. Something so painful that he wished desperately to god.......”

The way the seniors suddenly grew solemn was truly a sight to behold.

No, I did go through something difficult, but I did not pray to god, all right?

I am a Black Mage who uses Black Magic. 

Do you think I would have faith?

“God must surely have a reason for bestowing Holy Power upon Damon.”

Excuse me. 

You are the one who gave me the Sacred Mark.

The only reason I can use Holy Power is because of the Sacred Mark.

So is that it?

Do you now think that although my speech is fierce, my heart is that of a devout believer?

Good grief, this is maddening.

“So I do not think there is any reason to reject him as a heretic yet.”

“Is his personality like that because he awakened it later in life?”

“Certainly... we did judge too soon.”

The Holy Magic Department seniors, somewhat convinced by her words, scattered in all directions.

Judging by how some of the seniors still had frowns on their faces, it did not seem they had believed her completely, but at this level, even if only temporarily, it could be considered to have been resolved amicably.

“Whew.”

Yulia let out a deep breath and turned back toward me.

“What were you going to do if I had not explained things properly?”

“True. If you had not come, things would have become quite troublesome.”

“It sounds like you had another method?”

“If talking kept failing, I was just going to ignore them and walk past.”

“Pardon? And if the seniors had tried to grab you.......”

“Then I would have punched them in the face right away.”

At my immediate answer without the slightest hesitation, Yulia’s eyes, which had been looking at me, turned cloudy.

“...I really am glad I came.”

Why? 

What? 

Why?

Could you not look at me as if you have given up on everything?

I had restrained my temper quite a bit to keep it at that level. 

This was the average personality of Black Mages, you know?

Hm. 

Still, I was grateful, so.......

“Shall we have a light breakfast on the way to the lecture room? I will pay.”

“Breakfast? I have not eaten yet, but.......”

Yulia looked troubled and averted her gaze.

How odd. 

She was hesitating over this?

“It will probably cost quite a bit.......”

“There is no need to hold back. Thanks to you, I avoided something annoying, so I can at least buy you that much.”

To begin with, I had brought quite a few Dark Empire coins in my Subspace Bag when I fled the Dark Empire.

I would not be financially strained because of food.

I also had things to ask her about Holy Magic.

“...All right. Let us go together.”

***

After buying breakfast rolls and cocoa at a bakery near the dormitory, I took a large bite of bread.

The substantial feeling of carbohydrates spread through my mouth. 

Then, when I drank the warm cocoa, the rich sweetness melted the bread and delivered a deep flavor to every corner of my tongue.

Mm This is happiness.

Now that I thought about it, I did not even know how long it had been since I had savored food so leisurely like this.

Was it because less than a month had passed since I had returned to the past from the middle of the apocalypse? 

This sort of peace still felt deeply unfamiliar.

...That was all an excuse, and there was something else that was truly bothering me.

I glanced at Yulia, who was walking beside me.

The paper bag she held in one hand was filled to the brim with bread.

One could guess just from the bread sticking out from the opening of the bag, but it was by no means an amount one person could eat.

Noticing my gaze, Yulia awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“S-see? It was expensive after all, was it not? I can still pay for it myself, you know?”

“The cost of the food does not matter much. A person can eat a little more than others.”

“Pardon?”

Yulia blinked at my calm reply.

“Ahem, you are rather unusual. Most people are surprised when they see how much I eat.”

If I had not known in the previous round that Yulia ate a lot, I would have been unable to hide my bewilderment as well.

Chomp.

Seeing a single piece of bread disappear in one bite right before my eyes was still fascinating.

She took one out, then it went into her mouth again.......

It did not feel like even ten seconds had passed, but she was already on her fifth.

It would not be wrong to say that she was destroying a palm-sized piece of bread every two or three seconds.

At this point, it was closer to drinking than eating.

“W-well... I originally eat a fairly hearty breakfast.”

The level of heartiness seemed to have transcended humanity, but let us not point that out.

Still, seeing her turn her head away in embarrassment, it seemed she knew it was shameful.

In truth, there was nothing particularly strange about Yulia eating that much.

The more one used one’s body through magic, the more calories the body required, which increased one’s metabolic rate.

Despite how she looked, she was in a state where she continuously cast blessings on her own body with Holy Magic.

That was why I could ask naturally.

“Do you eat a lot because you are constantly casting Blessing Magic on your body?”

Yulia’s eyes grew round.

“You noticed that?”

“I roughly heard about it in passing.”

Of course I know. You told me in the previous round.

“How can you use blessings that skillfully?”

“Judging by that... it seems you want to learn the Holy Magic that casts blessings.”

“Yeah. Since I have created ‘Holy Symbol,’ I should learn it properly now. Do you have any useful advice?”

“Mm.......”

Yulia looked troubled.

“I simply did it, and it worked.......”

“.......”

Is deception this girl’s passive skill?

Noticing my eyes beginning to rot, Yulia hurriedly added more.

“Ah, that is because I sense Holy Power more sensitively than other people. How should I put this....... When someone else uses Holy Magic, I suppose I can say the construction formula of that Holy Magic appears before my eyes?”

According to her, when she saw another person casting Holy Magic directly, the formula appeared before her eyes. 

If she watched it carefully, she came to understand the formula, and if she followed it exactly, it activated.

...What is that?

“Is something like that even possible?”

No matter what kind of magic it was, one could only cast the spell after seeing the construction formula and understanding it.

Yet she could see the formula just by watching, and even understand it just by watching?

What sort of nonsense was that.......

“It is because my constitution allows me to sense Holy Power more sensitively than other people.”

“Aah.......”

My words naturally trailed off.

Right. 

This girl was a genius who ranked among the very best when it came to Holy Power.

I had simply thought that because she was a genius, she would be good at teaching Holy Magic.

That was not it.

Because she was a genius, she did not know the way ordinary people learned.

A problem had arisen from a part I had not considered at all.

“It would be better to ask Viole about this rather than me. She learned Blessing Magic through a more orthodox method than I did.”

“Tsk, I suppose so.”

“There is nothing to worry about too much. If it is you, you should easily grasp up to Mid-Rank Holy Magic.”

“......?”

While indifferently sipping my cocoa, I rolled my eyes toward her.

This was not encouragement offered out of courtesy.

Clear certainty could be felt from her tone.

“Me?”

“You instinctively created ‘Holy Symbol,’ a Mid-Rank Holy Magic spell, so how much easier would other Mid-Rank Holy Magic spells be for you? On top of that, your Holy Power refinement speed is outstanding.”

Yulia placed one piece of bread into her mouth.

“You have talent in Holy Magic. I am not simply saying that. It is to the point that I think it is a shame you refused to join the Holy Order.”

As I mulled over her words, I let out a small chuckle.

...So that was it?

I had thought it strange that she came to find me in the morning.

No matter how upright her personality was, there was no reason for her to defend a peer she had barely even seen.

Unless she was certain that I possessed outstanding potential in Holy Magic.

“If the impression of the Holy Order improves through me, even you might reconsider joining.”

Having swallowed the last piece of bread before I knew it, Yulia looked at me and smiled meaningfully.

“If you change your mind later, please tell me at any time. If someone like you enters the Holy Order, you will be treated as an invaluable talent within the Order.”

“I appreciate the enthusiasm of your scouting offer, but.......”

I pointed at the corner of her mouth.

“Why not remove the bread crumbs on your mouth before saying that?”

“Ah!”

Yulia hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth.