Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 167

Rete burst into laughter at Simon's absurd request to see her divine beast.

"It’s ridiculous, really. That I almost showed you because you asked so naturally."

"Wha?"

"We’re enemies."

She pointed at Simon with cold eyes.

"Please consider each other's situation. I'm the top of my grade in Efnel's, and you're Kizen's Special Admission No.1. We had no choice but to work together for Teacher Anna, and I would’ve blown your head off a thousand times by now if it weren’t for that."

Despite Rete’s blatant statement, Simon kept his smile. Seeing that, she went off the deep end, screaming,

"What are we, friends? You're telling me to expose my power so casually! What you're saying right now is beyond impolite!"

"I'm sorry if I came across as rude."

Simon bowed his head. Then Rete flinched before blinking a few times.

She expected him to flash that provoking smile again, and she definitely didn't expect him to immediately bow and apologize.

"Then how about we make a trade?"

Said Simon.

She calmed down and straightened her back before asking nonchalantly,

"What trade?"

"If you disclose your information, I'll disclose mine, too, in return."

"Oh, you really wanna die, huh?"

Her gaze sharpened.

"Do you really think I'll fall for such a cheap trick?"

"Then I'll share first. You can be the judge of if what I said is enough for you to share, too. How about that?"

She smirked at that idea, crossing her arms in victory.

'Now you're being pretty naive. I just have to stay silent and get free info.'

Simon still thought she had a conscience, but not a chance. She was taught at Efnel to not show even the slightest weakness toward the enemy.

"Alright. Try me."josei

Simon nodded seriously.

Rete suddenly started to get nervous. What kind of information was he planning to disclose to be that confident?

"Actually, I'm a Commander."

"…!!"

Her jaw hit the ground. She almost doubled over from the psychic blow.

"There, that's my information. Now it's your turn."

"D-D-D-Don't be ridiculous!"

She jumped up from her seat.

"Commander at the age of 17? Bullshit! If you really are a Commander, there's no way you wouldn’t be known to Efnel!"

"I'm being serious."

"Prove it!"

Simon smiled,

"Only after you've said your bit."

"…Ugh!"

A necromancer and a priest joining hands and crossing the border. It was a crime punishable by death in both Kizen and Efnel.

They both had to keep each other's secrets.

Considering these circumstances, Simon sneaked in the bait of being a Commander.

In fact, he figured it'd be hard to avoid using the Commander's power on the trip, and he was determined to use the secret well if it was going to be revealed anyway.

"If you don't want to show your divine beast, we can just end it here."

Goaded Simon.

She glared daggers at Simon, but he didn't budge.

Eventually, Rete sighed,

"I shouldn't have given you even the first hint of there being a secret. Talking to you is like being tangled in endless vines."

She then activated her subspace, it using divinity rather than jet-black. It opened, a brilliant light burst forth, and a creature came out.

'This is…!'

Simon never thought Rete’s information would be greater than him being a Commander, but the divine beast was far beyond his imagination.

It was none other than…

"…A dragon?"

A beautiful white dragon with dazzling prismatic scales climbed out from the subspace. He wasn't that big, probably still being a hatchling.

[Kieeeeeeh.]

The baby dragon flew freely in the sky, enjoying its first breath of fresh air in a long time.

When Rete stretched her arm out, he instantly came over and wrapped his body around it. The dragon rubbed his head on her cheek and licked her face.

"Ahaha! It tickles, Ran!"

"Ran?"

"It's his name."

The dragon, who had been cooing to Rete, spotted Simon. He slithered off of Rete's arm and opened his mouth.

She said urgently,

"Oh, watch out! Divine beasts are hostile to jet-bla—!"

Lick lick.

Ran started licking Simon's cheek as well.

As Simon stood still, Ran circled around Simon expectantly.

The moment Simon stretched out his arm like Rete did, Ran bounded over and wrapped around it.

[Kieeeh.]

Ran stroked his head against Simon’s cheek, suggesting he was comfortable there. Simon's eyes sparkled.

"So cute…"

It was honestly refreshing to see something like this after seeing only skeletons, zombies, and corpse spiders in Kizen.

"This way, Ran!"

[Kieh!]

As Simon ran through the grass, Ran chased after him while excitedly rolling in the air. Rete chuckled as she watched them play tag.

'What's going on? I'm sure he always unleashes his breath upon sensing jet-black.'

The divine beast seemed to like Simon because he could feel divinity from him.

'But still, a necromancer that communicates with a divine beast, huh…? How many times must Simon surprise me?'

"Ran, come back now."

Declared Rete, stretching out her arm.

But Ran pretended not to hear her, too busy playing with Simon.

A necromancer and a divine beast were hugging and playing around on the grass.

"Oh, don't pretend that you can't hear me! Get back here!"

She tried getting angry, but she was ignored again.

Eventually, Rete ran over and pulled Ran by the tail, barely separating him from Simon. She had to hold the whimpering Ran tight to stop him breaking free and going back.

"Haha."

Simon was flattered.

"So I guess the Study of Divine Beasts doesn't necessarily increase the bond between the priest and their divine beast, hm?"

"Shut! Your! Mooouuuth!"

Exclaimed Rete with a rare embarrassment.

She was so ashamed to let the man who'd be her most threatening enemy see her at such a low.

In the end, she sent Ran back into her subspace.

Simon started thinking about Rete again. How strong would she be if she could control the dragon properly in the future?

"Ahem! It's your turn now. Give me solid proof you're a Comman—"

"Welp, time to wrap this lesson up."

"Where are you going, you bastard?!"

Simon looked back and smiled.

The exchange was equal. Simon had disclosed information, and she disclosed something she felt was appropriate for what was shared. That was the agreement.

Simon had already fulfilled his end of the bargain.

"You don’t have any information I want anymore… And to be honest, I don't have any of the ancient undead with me right now, so I can't show them even if I wanted to."

"Die, you scammer! All necromancers are the same!"

"When we get home, I'll make you your favorite omelet."

"I'm not an animal; don't try to bribe me with food!"

* * *

* * *

It was the 15th day of holidays, two days left until the trip to the Holy Federation.

Despite it being the holidays, Simon's life was far from relaxing. He was busy learning light magic from Rete and Corpse Explosion from Richard.

Amidst that, he even carried out the duties of Richard's heir while cursed by bracelets and anklets as Richard had first suggested.

While crossing the mountains, he’d practice his divinity with his left hand and read a book about the culture of the Holy Federation with his right.

Seeing Simon struggle as though possessed by a ghost who’s last regret was not studying had inspired Rete to start her own training when she wasn't teaching Simon.

'Oh.'

While Simon was on his way to the next village, he saw two mountain goblins in front of him. It was the monsters the residents were constantly threatened by.

[Kueeegh!]

The goblins also spotted Simon and rushed toward him. Simon stopped walking and quickly took a fighting stance.

Thud!

Pow!

Of course, it was hardly even a warm-up for him. Within seconds, the two monsters had collapsed to the ground and taken their last breaths.

'Level 2 monsters really are pieces of cake now.'

After dusting off his hands, Simon placed his palm on the fallen goblin.

{Summon Zombie}

For Simon, who turned a white oni into a zombie in Death Land, goblins were too easy.

The magic circle was soon completed, and the goblins slowly arose as zombies.

[Woof! Woof!]

'?'

Simon had to look up at the sudden barking of a dog.

It was a 'green gnoll', a known predator in the mountains. It smacked its lips, sniffing the air as it followed the scent of goblin blood.

'Right on time.'

Green gnolls are level 3 monsters, so they’re stronger than mountain goblins. Simon wanted to try Corpse Explosion in real combat, and the perfect opponent had appeared.

[Woof! Bark bark!]

The gnoll pounced at Simon.

Simon accessed the thoughts of the zombies and issued an order to attack. The zombies grabbed at the gnoll, and Simon prepared a magic circle in his right hand.

"The central principle of Corpse Explosion is exploding the 'core'."

He heard Richard's voice in his head.

"All undead, whether summoned or natural, contain a core of some description. For summoned undead, the magic circle that animates the zombies acts as the core."

Depending on the kind of zombie being exploded, the type and difficulty of the Corpse Explosion formula could vary greatly.

Simon tampered with a zombie's magic circle and finished his preparations.

"Corpse—"

The moment Simon activated the magic circle and was about to clench his fist…

Slash!

The gnoll's sharp claws ripped into the zombie. Deep gashes tore through its chest, even damaging the magic circle inside.

'Crap.'

The spell had been canceled. After kicking aside the other zombie, the green gnoll rushed straight toward Simon.

Simon lowered his arm in disappointment.

'I was careless with the control of the zombies. I was too focused on Corpse Explosion.'

Reality really was different from practice. There were more variables that could lead to mistakes in critical moments.

Simon was grateful for the precious experience.

However, the gnoll was still coming after him. He bent his knees, ready to move on a hair trigger.

Swoooosh!

The gnoll's sharp claws sliced through thin air. Simon had slipped to the side, and he was now preparing blessings with his left hand.

{Strength}

{Haste}

Divinity, accented with red and green, wrapped around Simon.

Failing its attack, the gnoll touched down on the ground and went to pounce once more.

Thuuud!

Moving quicker than the beast, Simon thrust his knee into the gnoll's face. He felt something crumple as he sent the creature flying.

Simon looked at his enhanced body with admiration yet again.

He'd have to try it more to know, but he felt that blessings definitely stood their own against curses. If a priest entered a fight already shimmering with blessings, a necromancer would struggle to deal with them.

[Grrrrrrrr!]

Enraged, the gnoll kicked off the ground and jumped. Simon opened his left hand.

{Shield of Protection}

A translucent divine shield spread in front of Simon, and the leaping gnoll slammed into it head on.

'Deactivate.'

Simon spun in place, deactivating his shield as his trademark spin-kick carved through the now-empty air and hooked around the gnoll.

Pooooow!

The gnoll was sent skidding across the ground, coughing up blood where it landed. It looked severely injured, but its fighting spirit seemed to be intact. It staggered to its feet.

However, Simon's attack wasn't over yet.

Grab!

The zombie that had been pushed aside earlier grabbed the gnoll from behind. Simon, after deactivating the blessing cast on his body, raised his right hand.

"Corpse…"

It was properly restrained.

Simon squeezed closed his right hand as the gnoll desperately struggled to break free.

"…Explosion!"

Kabooooooooooooom!

The zombie grabbing the gnoll by the scruff of its neck froze for a moment before a dark-blue explosion erupted from within.

Moments later, the gnoll's remains bounced along the ground to Simon’s feet. Its head had been blown off and its torso was barely intact.

"Phew, I won."

Simon let himself relax and he inspected the fallen gnoll.

"I guess I can't use it as a zombie. The damage is too severe."

A first-class necromancer could turn any corpse into a zombie, but it was still impossible with Simon's 'Summon Zombie'. For now, he placed the damaged corpse in his subspace.

"Alright, let's get moving again!"

* * *

Simon was on his way home after going around all the villages when…

"Rete?"

In the yard, Rete was waiting for Simon with her arms crossed.

She brushed back her white hair before stating,

"Get ready. We'll be crossing to the Holy Federation early in the morning."

——