Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 141

Simon took a short breath out and lifted the ball. The bones attached to it fell off and began to stick to Simon's right foot.

[Bone Armor - Boots mode]

Unlike normal Bone Armor, where bones stuck together at regular intervals, his entire right foot was tightly wrapped with bones, not leaving a single gap. It wasn't as heavy as he expected, and the feeling of it firmly gripping his leg was nice.

After completing the boots, Simon threw the ball up high with just the snap of his wrist.

Eyes glistening, he read the path of the ball. Then, he counted two seconds in his head before spinning on the spot fast enough to create light winds.

After finishing his second spin in the blink of an eye, at the moment when the rotational power was maximized, his leg moved in a dazzling arc and connected perfectly with the falling ball.

Combining rotational power, muscle strength, Jet-Black Eruption, and even the bones’ force of attraction, the ball shot out in a straight line as if fired from a cannon.

Lexio, struggling to keep hold of the glass wall on the verge of shattering, trembled in despair.

'Ah shit, I can't block th—!'

Baaaaaaaaang!

The precarious glass wall finally shattered, and the ball hit Lexio directly in the face.

"Kuhugh!"

Blood spurted from Lexio’s nose as he was blasted back, tumbling across the ground.

The ball fell to the ground, bouncing a few times before eventually settling. The students outside the court stood in a daze as if time had stopped.

Then…

"We… We won!"

"Yeeeeeeeessssssssssss!"

Fierce cheers erupted like fireworks.

Craning his neck forward as if criticizing something, Brett blew his whistle with a very disapproving face.

"…The last round is over, and the final winner is Class A."

"Wooooaaaah!"

Students from Class A—led by Meilyn and Camibarez—rushed in and swarmed Simon, sharing the joy.

And Class C, watching from a distance, trembled with a sense of defeat.

"Go you. It’s not like this was even graded."

"You just won a friendly match, get over yourselves!"

"If someone else saw this, they might think you’re celebrating getting first in the Duel Evaluation."

Hearing some of the Class C students bitching, Meilyn poked her tongue out at them before turning back to high five some other Class A students. The Class C students went red at the sheer humiliation.

It didn't matter whether it reflected in their grades or not. There was nothing more devastating than losing against Kizen students.

"With how noisy you lot are, the match is over?"

"Professor Hong Feng!"

Hong Feng and her assistant teachers appeared from the teleportation circle with a large pot.

The assistants moved one by one, laying out wood, lighting the fire, and setting the pot. Then, after Hong Feng put on her gloves and removed the pot lid…

"Wooaah!"

A boiling broth was revealed, with white steam billowing into the sky. Even the nobility among the students lost all grace at the murderously delicious smell.

"It's a stew made out of nustlerack, an environment-destroying species!"

Simon let out a wry laugh at Hong Feng's words.

'So she cooked nustlerack again this time.'

Some students' faces stiffened slightly at the idea of monster meat, but none reacted badly. The smell from the pot was just too magnificent.

"Don't worry! I've had a bowl before, and it's indeed a piece of work!"

Rick's voice could be heard. When a student asked how, he boasted that he had been invited to Hong Feng's hut.

Envious stares pierced him all over.

"Ugh! That attention whore is at it again."

Meilyn rubbed her forehead as she sighed in dismay. Simon’s and Camibarez’ eyes met and they giggled quietly.

"It's a bad monster that harms the environment, so please eat it a lot from now on, students!"

"Yes, Professor!"

"Now! Class A, please come forward!"

The students lined up, and assistant teachers handed out naturally-made utensils.

Hong Feng herself added the finishing touches after stirring the contents with a large ladle which she then placed in front of the pot.

The eyes of the students bulged when she added a huge amount of meat.

"Be careful. The bowl is hot!"

The students received the food and settled down under the canopy of trees. They dined on their meals while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

"…"

"This is insane!"

It was impossible to exaggerate the taste of it, and every student immediately found themselves taking their second, third, fourth mouthfuls.

Class C students were forced to swallow their saliva. Many felt they had never been so desperate for something in their lives.

"…She sounded certain before, but she'd still give us some, right?"

"Of course! Wouldn't that be the teacherly ending?"

Just then, a student from Class C who went off to spy came back running.

"There is still some left! We could maybe get half a bowl each!"

"Good, good!"

Everyone was desperately optimistic. But there was no mercy shown in Kizen.

The rest of the stew was for Hong Feng and her assistants.

The assistants poured the stew in something like a large basin, and Hong Feng literally sat in front of the pot and scraped out every last drop. Tears welled up in the Class C students’ eyes.

"Ah, don't come here, Class C!"

"Assistant teacher! The people from Class C keep coming here to beg!"

"Back off, you lot. Rules are rules."

To Class C, nothing could be crueler.

Slurp.

Meanwhile, Serene had secretly placed a feather on a Class A student and taken their stew.

"It's pretty meh. What's so delicious about this?"

She partially returned the student’s will with the command of her feather but kept the stew.

Sitting on a rock by herself with a sullen look, she saw Simon, Camibarez, Rick, and Meilyn all laughing together and chatting.

"I'm telling you, the nustlerack was tenderer after Simon smacked it with the golem!"

"Ahaha! There's no way!"

"But isn't it true that the one we ate at the hut tasted better?"

"Gosh, that's just the rose-colored lenses of nostalgia."

Concluded Meilyn, who then turned and locked her eyes with Serene.

She put on a big winner's smile before quickly looking away.

'Aha. So this is how it felt, huh?'

Serene smiled bitterly and took a spoonful of stew.

It began to taste fine along the way.

* * *

* * *

That night.

After finishing all the classes and personal training, Simon headed to the dormitory's roof. There was a curfew control line with a sign reading [Students may not enter!], but Simon secretly crossed it, apologizing to the officials in his head.

The door to the roof was firmly locked. Simon looked around, found a window, and approached. He could see a rope dangling outside it.

'So this is it.'

Without hesitation, Simon opened the window, stepped on the window frame, grabbed the rope with both hands, and jumped.

He climbed straight up with the strength in his arms and safely came up on the roof’s railing.

'Ah.'

On the moonlit rooftop sat a man with faded, gray hair.

He sat with his feet together and head pointed straight at the full moon, giving off a strange atmosphere. It felt like he was looking at a wolf who just finished howling.

Whiiish.

Blade-like hair fluttered in the wind, revealing the covered ears and cheeks and the array of old scars they contained.

"So you're here."

The man's voice was heard.

Simon grinned, coming over and sitting next to him.

"How long have you been out here, Kajann?"

"About two hours."

"You should've just stayed in the room."

"I like to observe the moon. Also, once I close my eyes, I can't wake up."

Kajann silently opened his subspace. What he took out was a bottle of a red wine and two wine glasses.

'A toast, all of a sudden?'

Skillfully uncorking the wine with his bare hands, he poured both glasses.

The two raised their glasses, bumped them, and brought their glasses to their lips.

"…Pretty good."

"Yeah."

"I like to drink wine when I look at the moon."

Now feeling Kajann was more elegant than he looked, Simon also took a sip of his wine.josei

He was blown away by the flavors that danced in his mouth. This wasn’t the stuff you got in some Rochest shop. This was top-notch.

As Simon savored the wine, Kajann looked rather satisfied.

"Thank you for lending me Elizabeth."

"No, don't mention it."

There was a reason he didn’t bring Elizabeth to Death Land. It was because of the ongoing search in the Forbidden Forest and the cooperative investigation with Kajann.

Elizabeth specialized in search, reconnaissance, and information gathering rather than combat. Simon made her roam suspicious places at night in cooperation with Kajann.

"She doesn't seem to trust me that much."

Simon giggled at Kajann's words.

"I don't think it's a matter of trust, though."

"Hm?"

Simon once asked Elizabeth why she kept on whining around Kajann.

While rolling around in the ruins, she pouted and complained about getting punched in the face and all that stuff. And apparently, there was a minor problem during the fight.

"As long as she can cooperate, it doesn't really matter. Other than that…"

Kajann rummaged through his inner pockets.

"The investigation scored some results."

He held out a picture pinched between his fingers. A photo, taken by a mana camera. Simon's eyes widened when he saw it.

It was an altar.

The surroundings were soaked red with oozing blood, and beasts’ intestines were hung in clusters. A large cross was visible in the center.

"D-Don't tell me…!"

"Yeah, the priest appeared."

Brushing back his disheveled bangs, Kajaan continued.

"When we arrived at the scene, they had already finished the ritual and were gone. As we approached the altar, there was a clicking sound, and a bomb exploded."

Kajann undid a few buttons on the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up.

Underneath was a chiseled set of abs, and the right of the abdomen was colored gray. The color of potion-based healing.

"It was all their trap."

"Ah…!"

"I should've noticed after I couldn't see the statue of their Goddess on the cross."

Kajann lowered his shirt.

"I don't know why, but it seems that they have to go through the ritual periodically. And lately, the frequency has increased."

Going to stare at the full moon for a little longer, Kajann took a sip from his wine glass before continuing,

"Something might soon happen in Kizen. Stay alert."

"…Yes!"

Simon nodded with a stiff face. The two clinked wine glasses again.

Would it be because they were intoxicated or comrades with the same goal? Or was it the sense of camaraderie from living in Kizen while hiding their identities? Conversation went smoothly today.

The two talked late into the night.

"By the way, Kajann…"

Simon checked Kajann's mood before asking,

"What was the reason behind you getting held back a year?"

"…"

He wordlessly downed a glass of wine.

"It was because of a mission."

It was just last year.

As usual, Kajann, searching Roke Island at night, found the priest performing a ritual in the Forbidden Forest.

After a fierce chase, he lost sight of the priest but did see the face beneath the hood.

"Th-Then!"

Simon, listening to the story, jumped up.

"You know what the priest looks like?!!"

"Let me finish."

The next day, Kajann didn't even attend class and went around the whole school looking for the face he saw that last night.

Then, he noticed a first-year chatting with his friends in the lecture room during recess.

He was certain.

No matter how many times he checked, it matched the face in his memory.

Kajann entered the classroom, and as soon as the student saw Kajann, he cowered before turning tail and running.

That made Kajann certain. He knocked the student down to the floor and beat the living daylights out of him. The student quickly passed out, face bloody and bruised.

However,

"He wasn't the priest."

Sighed Kajann, refilling his glass once more.

"It was all the priest's trap. He put on a biological face made to look just like that student's face and deliberately exposed it to me."

"…Ah!"

Biological faces were a camouflage tool that necromancers used to hide their faces.

"Later, when I went to the student and asked why he ran when he saw me, he said that a man who looked just like me had been stalking him. That, night after night, he sat by the window of his dorm room on the 4th floor and stared at him."

Simon felt a chill run down his spine.

"I was given severe punishment, although with the help of Nefthis I managed to avoid expulsion. But it added many restrictions on my future activities."

Kajann clenched his fists.

"He's very meticulous and cautious. He's the type to make precise plans and move without hesitation."

"I think so too."

Simon nodded. It was also like that during the performance assessment. He never imagined they'd try to harm him by doing something to the cyclops.

"A detailed investigation was conducted on the faculty members and servants, even using dark mind magic, but nothing was found. One thing for certain is that the priest is on Roke Island. We have no choice but to raid the scene to find out more."

"Indeed."

Knowing it would not be that easy, Simon raised his wine glass in a toast.

"Now, it's your turn. I'm sure you've only met them once, but is there any information you can deduce about the priest?"

"Hmm. In my case, it's a little vague, but…"

Looking at the small pebbles that managed to find their way up on the roof, Simon continued,

"I placed a mark on the priest that only I can recognize."

——