Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 134

"Could that Pion be Simon?"

"…"

After pausing for a moment, Meilyn burst into laughter.

"Ahaha! What? Simon? There's no way!"

Meilyn starting laughing so hard she doubled over. Camibarez and Rick gave each other a puzzled look.

"But what Cami said isn't completely absurd, right? The timing somewhat works."

"No way."

She stood back up with a resolute face.

"There's no way, absolutely, no~ way it's Simon."

"I-Is that so?"

"First of all, the physique, height, and weight were different, and the voice and accent too! I mean, the fact that I have to explain these things is already ridiculous."

She wiped aside the tears that had started to form in her eyes.

"You'll know just by looking at it. Because Simon has that image, you know?"

"What kind of image?"

"Like, you know, there's an image that comes to mind right away when you hear the name ‘Simon’. Moral, upright, sincere, smart."

Camibarez’ eyes shone as she interpreted,

"Yeah, that's right! Kind! Gentle! Considerate! Courteous! And sometimes tough and passiona—"

"Huh?"

"A-Anyways! So what about that?!"

Meilyn folded her arms.

"That person called Pion, uhm. How should I put it? He's really bloody. So bloody that I couldn’t even meet his eyes I was so scared."

"E-Even you, Meilyn?"

"Yeah. If I put it in just y'know, how I feel, uhm…"

After thinking for a while, she said,

"A tyrant? He was the kind of person who'd just flip off everything and kill people if someone displeased him or got something wrong."

"…Ah."

Camibarez overlapped what Meilyn had just said with Simon's image.

They didn't match at all. To the point where she felt a sense of alienation.

"…Sounds like they really aren't the same."

"That's what I'm telling you. Explaining this is already a waste of time."

"Hmm…"

Rick crossed his arms.

'If I think about it carefully, it's not like he doesn't have that kind of attitude at all, though.'

"Anyway! Moving on!"

Meilyn turned her head.

"Why is Simon so late?!"

Meilyn looked at the long line at the camp with impatience. At this rate, it seemed like the performance assessment would be over without them even receiving an evaluation.

"Sh-Shouldn't we go and find him?"

"I was planning to do that if he doesn’t show up in the next ten minutes."

Rick shrugged and pointed.

"I guess there's no need for that~"

In the direction of Rick’s finger, they saw Simon sprinting in, sweating profusely.

"Simon! Over here, over here!"

"Gosh, that dumbass almost killed me from the stress! I thought you escaped, why are you so late?!"

"Simon! What a relief! Are you hurt?"

Simon panted as he arrived before the three.

He rested his hands on his knees for a moment, gasped for a few breaths, then immediately opened his subspace.

"Let's take our assessment with this."

What Simon took out was a body wrapped in white bandages. It was almost like it had been stored in a freezer, slightly frozen and cold.

Simon quickly removed the bandages.

"Th-This is?"

"It's not a person."

Explained Simon.

"It's a monster called ‘White Oni’. Let's make a zombie out of this."

"Wow!"

Meilyn jumped in joy.

"That’s super high-quality zombie material! How did you get such a precious thing?"

"It was in the basement of the mansion they detained me in."

"You thought of performance assessment while being caught by the corpse dealers? Bwahaha! That's commendable of you!"

Simon gave an embarassed smile and scratched the side of his head.

"I was just lucky."

"Now, we're running out of time. Let's get to work!"

The four of them gathered around the white oni just like how they did with the last zombie.

Simon was the centrepoint again. Rolling up his sleeves, he declared,

"Starting."

Creating the magic circle was easy. Maybe the trial and error when zombifying the first corpse helped, because Simon was able to finish the job much faster.

Jump.

As soon as the magic circle was completed, the zombie that used to be a white oni stood up. The four of them finally cheered and high-fived.

"Students over there! The evaluation will soon be over!"

They heard the assistant teacher's voice.

"Yes!"

"We're going now!"

They placed the zombie in a subspace and barely made it to the last line.

"Ah, I'm a little worried."

Meilyn bit at her nails out of nerves.

"We made it just like a normal zombie, not being able to fully utilize the racial characteristics of the white oni."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

Replied Simon with a smile.

Then, his gaze turned to the dirt on Meilyn's school uniform.

"Wait a minute, your back’s covered in dirt."

Simon carefully brushed it off her school uniform.

Her gaze moved to Simon's arm. He had just rolled up his sleeves, so the muscles and veins in his arms were clearly visible.

Meilyn unconsciously imagined that strong arm wrapping around her waist.

That when Pion carried her, his arms were roughly the same size…

"&%${#@$!!!"

Face red, she let out a strange sound and took a sharp step away.

Simon, who was innocently brushing clean his friend's uniform, paused. Then he awkwardly brought his hand back to his side.

"Oh, sorry. I just, uhm…"

"Hm? N-No! No! I'm not startled because of you."

She gave an evasive answer and glanced at Simon.

As though embarrassed, he turned his gaze to the side and rubbed the back of his neck.

Then, Meilyn recalled Pion, who ruthlessly kicked the perverted old man and stared at her with a machine-like and bloody gaze.

'…'

She was certain.josei

The seed of doubt created by Camibarez could be felt withering.

After all, they didn't look even removely alike.

"Students, please come in."

Finally, it was Group 7's turn.

* * *

* * *

Aaron, wearing a black coat, sat down on a chair with a languid expression. The four of them politely bowed their heads.

"So you guys are the last."

"Yes, sir. We're Group 7!"

Meilyn, the group leader, spoke as the representative.

Aaron nodded.

"Show me."

Simon opened the subspace and took out the zombie made from a white oni.

Woah…

The assistant teachers who recognized the ingredient let out a small exclamation. Aaron also straightened his spine.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was in the basement of an old mansion on the outskirts of Death Land."

"Huh, pretty good job finding a white oni."

Aaron stood up, touching and examinng the body of the zombie. He pulled open its eyes and even sniffed its breath.

Then, when Aaron asked what formula was used to create this zombie, Simon answered in detail.

"Why did you remove the Endurance modification?"

"It's because of the special trait of this place, Death Land. We considered that it's a place where things don't decay."

Aaron turned his head to the other students.

"Why did you exclude the Ptomaine effect, which is an important element of a zombie?"

Meilyn answered this time.

"The white oni has an ice attribute. We judged that the infection effect caused by ptomaine would be low."

"Not bad. Who did the actomyosin check?"

"S-Sir, I did!"

"Explain the state of muscle stiffness before and after the zombification."

Aaron asked Camibarez and Rick a question each, and although they were nervous, they answered without any difficulty.

Aaron nodded and sat down.

"The material was too good. It looks like you guys handled it as well as possible. It seems to be made a little hastily, but this is good enough."

Those words pricked the conscience of the four.

The assistant teacher handed a clipboard and quill to Aaron. Aaron put a check mark beside the names of the four.

"A+ for Group 7. You may leave."

"Woah!"

The four of them hugged each other and burst into cheers. The assistant teachers also clapped lightly.

"Everyone, gather up!"

Since Group 7’s evaluation was the last, Aaron came out of the tent.

The students showing off the zombies they made on the outside rushed to him and stood at attention.

The students who finished the assessment quickly and were resting in the tents made exclusively for such use also rushed out.

"Good work."

Said Aaron while looking around at the students.

"I'm sure you realized a lot of things while doing this performance assessment. There must be some people who resent me, questioning why I'm making you do such a terrible thing."

Some of the students were still trembling.

Not a single corpse in Death Land decayed, preserving its appearance of when it was alive.

Turning such fresh corpses into zombies could leave deep scars for some students.

"Some will point out that my education is outdated and old-fashioned. After all, we're living in an era where, as long as you have money, you can stop by the city and just grab whatever corpse you need. However, you guys are Kizen."

Aaron's eyes became serious.

"As an elite in this field, it's most important to know the roots and the basics. It's foolish to dismiss traditions and roots as oldschool in the name of practicality. Even if the leaves and flowers look lush outside, a tree with rotten roots won't survive a typhoon."

Aaron slowly circled around.

"Most likely, this peace won't last forever. A person who can't make a single undead and will be at a loss just because a priest destroys the corpse factory or supply base doesn't deserve to be called a necromancer. Be cool-headed in any situation, and establish efficient methods."

His eyes gleamed.

"If there are no corpses on the market, visit a nearby demolished village and turn their corpses into an army. If you lack in numbers, raise the corpse of even a dead friend to win. That's being practical, and that's being a necromancer."

Flutter!

Aaron walked onwards, the hem of his coat swishing in the wind.

"Everyone, take out all the zombies you brought from Death Land. Even the ones that haven't been evaluated or failed."

"Yes sir!"

As instructed, the students took all the zombies from Death Land out of their subspaces.

When the assistant teachers finished checking and gave Aaron a nod, he stomped his foot down on the ground.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaap!

A jet-black magic circle spread from his feet and covered the entire camp. The zombies' eyes lit up, and they all started running to the same point.

'Ah!'

It was the same for Simon's white oni zombie and guard zombie.

'The control over their thoughts has been stripped away so easily…?!'

They could feel the greatness of a Kizen professor once again.

All the zombies gathered in an empty area. They clumped together and formed a large hill.

"It's unfortunate news for you all, but the zombies from Death Land have a side effect."

Aaron spread open his fingers, and the magic circle began to click into place.

"They have episodes of extreme aggression when outside of Death Land. The school will confiscate the zombies as soon as you go because it's beyond you students' capacity to control them."

Finally, Aaron's magic circle was completed, and pure shadow radiated from it. Seeing this, Simon shuddered.

'How?'

Simon could instinctively tell what dark spell Aaron was using.

"Corpse…"

He clenched his fist and said,

"Explosion."

The cores of each of the zombies emitted a blinding light.

Then, all at once, they exploded.

As the heat blasted in all directions, the students screamed and ducked, covering their faces. The uniforms they were wearing fluttered wildly, and the trees also shook.

"…Ah."

Simon captured the scene with his wide-open eyes. He completely forgot about the white oni he borrowed from Prince.

Dark explosions and clouds of ash billowed out across the black night sky, creating a mushroom-like shape above. The other students also looked up at its majesty with their mouths open in a daze.

It was as if the world had turned to ashes and scattered away.

Overwhelmed, Simon could do nothing but stare.

Aaron bowed his head like an exorcist praying for the souls before turning around.

"Do you think it's beautiful?"

Aaron smiled.

"If you felt that way even for an instant, you guys have now taken a step forward as necromancers."

Simon's heart started pounding.

——