Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 161

"You're a necromancer, are you not?"

The voice had a sinister edge to it.

Simon, tensing up, hastily added,

"Wait, I'm—!"

By the time he opened his mouth, she was already moving. She leaped off Simon’s arm clashing with her right foot before coming back down with her left.

Stomp!

Simon immediately raised his arms to guard, yet he was pushed back by her tremendous strength.

Whir! Whir! Whir!

As the distance between the two widened, a beautiful array of divine magic circles spread around her like a painting. Then, they began to flash white in a way reminiscent of cannon fire. But much, much faster.

"Kugh!"

Simon quickly jumped up with Jet-Black Stepping. The ground he was just stood on erupted with divine energy.

'There's no room for conversation here!'

As her light spell unleashed its barrage, she began to chant a prayer with her hands held together.

Simon saw her body be wrapped in radiant blue, green, and yellow lights. His face stiffened.

'Blessings!'

The atmosphere had changed.

If necromancers had curses, priests had blessings. Simon felt an inexplicable energy shaking the air.

She pulled her arm behind her back and unfolded a divine magic circle.

Whirrrrrrrrr!

The spell was the same as before, but with the blessings, it was five times the size.

{Exorcism}josei

The bundles of rays fired from within devoured Simon as they exploded.

Rrrrrrumble…

A bombardment of light magic was lethal for necromancers and undead. Foreseeing her victory, she silently stared into the explosions.

{Sickness}

A black beam shot out from the explosions and pierced her.

Her eyes widened in surprise. The surroundings squirmed under her gaze, and nausea stormed in.

'A curse!'

She quickly unfurled a powerful divine barrier onto herself. She then placed her hand on her chest and began cleansing the curse.

She was a little surprised. To think he still had the power to complete a curse after being caught up in light magic.

'I was too careless. I'll resume fighting right after lifting the curse.'

A white light shimmered in her chest, and her shifting vision returned to normal. Then, a rather low voice came from the dust cloud formed by the barrage.

"Anna Polentia."

Her eyes widened. Standing in the middle of the cloud without any defenses, Simon let out a wry smile.

"Didn't you come to see my mother?"

She froze.

He could’ve justifiably fought back after being attacked this much, but Simon tried to talk it out one last time.

After all, she was the lifesaver holding Anna's medicine. He didn't want to fight.

"You're…"

Her voice trembled.

It was filled with anger, not surprise.

She pulled back her hood. Snow-white hair flowed down like waves.

"…the son of the teacher?"

* * *

Rete. 18 years old. First-year at Efnel.

She introduced herself just like that. The two stopped fighting and climbed the mountain range together.

"I'll speed up a little."

Simon kicked off the ground and jumped up. He was worried she wouldn't be able to keep up, but Rete used Divinity Stepping to quickly follow.

"Please don't worry about me. Take the fastest and shortest route."

She spat.

"And don’t get within 3 meters of me, you accursed necromancer."

'…Haha.'

Even after revealing he was Anna Polentia's son, her hostility did not waver. It felt like she was only enduring this shame because the situation was urgent.

Simon considered whether it was alright to take this person home, but he had no choice.

Several hours passed without a word, and the two arrived at their destination.

"Huff… Phew, we're here."

She was staring at the wooden house without a hint of exhaustion despite Simon, who had supernatural stamina, gasping for breath.

"So Teacher Anna is here…"

She gulped as she hesitantly walked toward the door.

"Excuse me."

Then, she opened the door herself and entered.

"Oh, so you're here."

Richard, sitting on the living room sofa, stood up. He then held out his hand with a benevolent smile.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming all the way here. I am Richard Polentia, Anna's husband."

The mood turned sour.

Simon was surprised. Rete crouched down like a wild animal ready to pounce, burning with hostility.

But her patience won and she bowed, ignoring Richard's outstretched hand.

"It's… a… pleasure to meet you. My name is… Rete Sardegna…"

As if the very act of bowing her head to a necromancer was shameful, her face turned red and her voice trembled.

Seeing this, Richard awkwardly rescinded his hand.

"Oh, pardon me. Anna is over here."

Richard stepped aside and guided her in. Rete strode into the bedroom, and Simon followed.

"Ah."

The bag slung over her shoulder fell on the floor. Rete’s eyes trembled dangerously at the sight of Anna suffering on the bed.

"Teacher Annaaaaaaaa!"

She cried out as she ran in. It was jarring how quickly she changed tracks.

"…Rete?"

Anna fluttered open her eyes. Rete took her hand.

"Yes, Teacher! It's me, Rete!"

"…I'm sorry. For making you come all the way here."

"A-Ahhh."

Her eyes started brimming with tears.

"I-I'll begin the treatment immediately!"

Rete frantically rummaged through her bag and pulled out a potion vial layered with wards. Then, she glared at the other two, who were standing back a bit.

"The two of you are in the way of treatment, so I'd much appreciate it if you could wait outside."

Simon and Richard obediently left them alone, and Rete slammed the door behind them.

"Will it be okay?"

Richard grinned at Simon’s concern.

"Don't worry. She holds an absolute respect for Anna. And her skills are certain."

"Well, if she's on the level of going to Efnel, then—"

"She's no ordinary Efnel student."

Richard leaned back on the sofa and continued,

"Rete Sardegna, the First Chosen of her year in Efnel. She is undeniably the best first-year in Efnel."

Richard's gaze moved to Simon.

"She will also become your greatest rival."

* * *

* * *

Within hours of Rete's arrival, Anna recovered.

The first thing she did after getting up from the bed was roll up her sleeves and head to the kitchen.

"It's not much, but help yourself!"

It was now dinner time. Simon and Rete were smiling awkwardly as they looked at the food lined up on the table.

"…You're calling this ‘not much’, Mom?"

The delicacies were so plentiful that it was natural for one to worry about the legs of the table.

Anna brushed her hair back and gave an abashed smile.

"Mama has worked hard since you came home, Simon. And since reuniting with Rete."

"As expected from you, Teacher Anna!"

Shouted Rete with eyes full of respect as she clasped her hands together as if in prayer.

"I also want to learn cooking from you, Teacher!"

"Sure, I'll gladly teach you. But you're a guest today, Rete, so eat as much as you want."

"Yes~! Thank you!"

Then, her eyes met Simon’s across from her. She returned to her cold hostility and whispered,

"It would be better if there were no necromancers staining this good place, though."

Simon laughed bitterly.

Although the discriminatory treatment towards necromancers wasn't pleasant, she saved Anna’s life. He was so grateful that he was willing to endure it while she stayed.

Anna placed barbecued meat in the center of the table and sat down. Before eating, Rete and Anna prayed together, and Simon and Richard waited for the prayer to finish before they dug in.

'Woah, how long has it been since I ate a home-made meal?'

Kizen's meals were famously delicious. However, they were no match for Anna's home-made meals.

Simon carefully brought a slice of tomato omelet to his plate.

"Simon, is there not enough omelet?"

Asked Anna, smiling kindly.

"N-No! I barely started eati—"

"Give me a minute!"

Anna jumped up from her seat and went to the kitchen. She then brought a whole new omelet and put it on the plate.

"Dear."

This time, Richard spoke.

"Today's meat pie is absolutely amazing."

"Oh my, is that so? I'm glad~! I'll go make another."

"No, no! Wait! I'm not asking you to make another o—! Dammit."

Even Richard couldn't stop Anna from going to the kitchen. The dining table had become a miracle where any food eaten magically reappeared.

Simon finally felt that he had returned home. He felt a knot in his heart loosen.

Feeling good, he held out his fork to take some cream pasta. There, he saw Rete. She was frowning, her face full of disgust.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Rete turned away. Now that he saw it, she ate only the food Simon or Richard hadn't touched.

Simon turned his fork in its path and took another piece of omelet. Seeing this, Rete swiftly charged in fork first into the cream pasta.

"Oh my. Rete!"

Exclaimed Anna, having cooked another meat pie which she put it in front of Richard.

"Are you not eating the tomato omelet? It's your favorite dish, Rete! I worked hard to make it."

Rete flinched. She hadn't touched it after Simon took the first slice.

"I-I was eating i—!"

"Did it taste bad? Was the egg too thick? Tell me what’s wrong! I'll make a new one."

Simon and Richard stared at Rete.

After a long moment of hesitation, she finally took a piece of the tomato omelet that Simon's silverware had touched and tried her best to smile.

"Wow, it's so delicious, Teacher! It's the best omelet in my life!"

"That's a relief. I'm so glad that you're enjoying it."

Rete rubbed her forehead with a look of defeat. Then, Simon saw Anna giggling as she went to the kitchen.

Simon grinned too. So this was all part of her plan.

After eating in peace, the dinner was over. Everyone ate until they were bloated.

There was a crisis where Anna tried to go make seven kinds of desserts, but with everyone working together, they did the unimaginable and managed to drag her back out.

"Mom, I'll do the dishes."

Said Simon, standing up.

Rete, who had been mindlessly patting her bloated belly, heard Simon's words and shot up from her seat.

"No! I'll do it!"

She couldn't lose at anything against a necromancer.

Looking at Rete burning with enthusiasm, Anna smiled.

"Oh my, it's okay. You're our guest, Rete."

"It's because it was so delicious! Let me help you at least with washing the dishes. After all, you haven't fully recovered yet."

After saying that, Rete glanced at Simon.

Perhaps Anna read that glance. She looked at Simon, then Rete, then Simon, then Rete. Finally, she put her hands together and beamed.

"Oh, then I'd like you two to do it together~"

"Wh-What?"

Anna then immediately went to bed with Richard before they could properly respond.

'Th-This wasn't the plan.'

Rete let out a small sigh. Then, she stared at Simon with piercing eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Let's start."

"Ah, yeah."

The two started washing the dishes. Simon scrubbed dishes thoroughly to remove grease and stains, and Rete rinsed them with water, wiped them with a dry cloth, and put them back in the appropriate cupboards.

The two of them stood side by side for a while and concentrated on washing the dishes.

"By the way…"

Rete spoke first.

"I heard that you're Kizen's Special Admission No.1?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Rete put away the dish she had wiped with a cloth before whispering,

"Step outside after this. Let's fight."

——