Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 192

Kajann was dressed in the typical Langerstine coachman attire, wearing a straw hat and a plain brown vest.

"Why are you driving the carriage, Kajann?"

Having said that, Simon turned to Serene.

"And why are the two of you together?"

They were a strange pair to say the least. The closest they'd ever come was a brief encounter in the battle against Saintess Flema.

"Why? Are we not allowed to be together?"

Said Serene playfully, hugging Kajann through the thin curtain. Kajann didn't even flinch at the sudden movement, but he sternly warned,

"If you don't let go of me in the next 3 seconds, I'll kill you."

Serene pouted at Kajann's reaction and begrudgingly released him. Kajann was one of the few people Serene's mind control didn't work on.

"I'm on a mission."

Kajann spoke briefly, grabbing his straw hat and pressing it down,

"I'll be attending Kizen for the 2nd semester as well. We'll talk about it in the dorms."

Kajann said what he had to say before screwing his mouth shut. But at the word 'mission', Simon's eyes sparkled.

"What kind of mission? Did something happen in Langerstine? Let me help you!"

"…Simon."

Chided Kajann.

"I'm well aware of your skills, but this mission came to me as an agent, and it's something my team will handle. You just have to prepare for school as a student."

Simon didn't expect Kajann to be this cold. He stammered,

"B-But, we teamed up when hunting down Flema, didn't we…?!"

"Yeah, we hunted down a Saintess, but that was that, and this is this. You're a student. Don't think about getting your hands dirty with pointless matters; just focus on your studies."

For some reason, Simon felt like Kajann was trying to create some distance between them. He didn't want to lose this close friendship, but what Kajann said wasn't entirely wrong, either.

Serene, who had been watching from the side, chuckled softly.

"So cold, Mr. Coachman~"

She wrapped her arms around Simon's and Kajann's necks at the same time.

"Still, we're Kizen's great 'Saint-Killer Trio', aren't we? We could help each other out in times of need, you know!"

'…You have such a terrible naming sense.'

Thought Simon, and Kajann sighed as if he felt the same way.

"If you don't let go of me in the next 3 seconds, I'll kill you."

"Alright~"

"Also, I only contacted her as an informant and reference. She has nothing to do with my mission."

As the three of them talked, the carriage pulled up to the front of Kemmelroad.

"I'll tell you one thing."

Kajaan had noticed the sullen look on Simon's face and decided to indulge him a bit. Simon's head snapped to face Kajaan, his ears pricking up.

"Be careful of men with strange patterns painted on their bodies."

"What?"

"That's all I can tell you. For security reasons."

Clunk.

Soon, the carriage slowed, then came to a complete stop. Serene laughed and said,

"I'm sure that the coachman will take care of it well~ Anyway, when are you going to meet Meilyn?"

"She's supposed to arrive tomorrow. Didn't you guys, the Ivory Tower people, come together?"

"As you already know, we're not that close~"

True. Their relationship was a one-sided love.josei

Simon stepped out of the carriage and gave his farewells to them both.

"Thanks for the ride!"

"Hoho… You're welcome!"

"…See you at school."

Kajann flicked his reins and got the horses going again.

After watching the carriage until it turned a corner and went out of view, Simon started walking. Thanks to them, he reached his destination of Kemmelroad with little effort.

The familiar golden pavement shone beneath, and around it were the grim shops for necromancers, displaying corpses, entrails, eyeballs, and any other monster part that could be sold.

Although he was disgusted by these items his first time here, on his second visit, he found many of the ingredients quite intriguing.

In particular, when he spotted the Vanilla brand of a snowy gnoll skeleton, he unconsciously stopped and stared.

Being self-aware of the change, Simon laughed. He really was becoming a necromancer.

Resisting the urge to buy one, he walked past the entrance to Kemmelroad and arrived at the huge, open plaza.

He saw necromancers sitting on benches, chatting, enjoying their lunches, or doing business over contracts.

With another look around the place, the skeletons carrying packs and the occasional skeleton horse around the place drew his summoner eye.

Just as Simon figured it'd be a good idea to take a break…

'Ah.'

In front of the central fountain, he saw a girl in a Kizen uniform. The hem of her skirt fluttered in the wind and she looked back at Simon as well.

Light purple hair flowed down her chest, and her big eyes melted his heart. Charming fangs were slightly visible in her smile as bright as sunshine, and the small bat wings growing on the back flapped a few times in delight.

"Simon!!"

She waved vigorously. A smile tugged at the corners of Simon's lips seeing Cami so happy to see him.

"Cami!"

Having not seen her in two months, Simon was even more excited to see her.

He was about to run to her when he saw a large man in black standing next to her.

'Who's that?'

Right after he thought that, the man's body scattered into a swarm of bats.

As Simon paused out of surprise, the bats swarmed right in front of him and, within seconds, the man appeared out of nowhere right in front of him.

Simon's body stiffened as an overwhelming aura of intimidation washed over him.

The man standing right before him craned down with his thick neck, his impossibly broad shoulders looming over Simon. However, the man's body tapered toward his waist, his lower body being relatively thin.

Because the figure was wrapped in a black cloak, Simon's eyes were drawn to the only part properly visible, the man's face.

White eyebrows matched a white beard, his red eyes looked down on Simon, and his pointed ears looked almost round when compared to the large, sharp fangs that were clearly visible from how they shaped the man's lips. They were completely unlike Camibarez' petite fangs.

'This man… He's incredibly strong.'

Even without using jet-black, his presence was enough to crush a person from just a first impression.

Simon quickly bowed his head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

He didn't even have to ask who the man was.

He was with Camibarez, he was a vampire, and there was only one such man with this much sheer power.

The most powerful vampire and current Vampire Lord.

'Dietrich Honn Ursula.'

Hearing Simon's cautiously polite greeting, Dietrich's mouth twisted into a maddening smirk.

"Prove it, human."

"…What?"

"Prove your worth!"

* * *

* * *

Dietrich's eyes flashed, and Simon felt a tingle—an electric current—running down his spine.

He didn't know why, but it suddenly stirred a primal sense of danger. Every hair on his body stood on end.

'Something huge is coming. Something right next to me.'

Scraaaaaaaaatch!

Simon quickly threw himself backward. A wave of destruction stretched out, cutting through the fountain and tearing the marble walls.

"Dad!"

Camibarez rushed in to stop him, but a blood-red cage fell from the sky, trapping her.

"Good reactions you got there!"

The Vampire Lord cackled, his mouth tearing open into a demonic grin. An ugly, muscular arm protruded from the side of his black cloak.

"More!"

His arm swung, and a space-bending blow ripped through the plaza.

Simon shouted, dodging the attack,

"I'm sorry, but I can't hurt you when we only just met, sir!"

"Bwahaha! You? Hurt me? That's the craziest thing I've heard in a long while!"

Indeed, the opponent was a monster who was rumored to even be immortal.

'If he says so…'

Simon clenched his teeth and stomped his left foot on the golden floor.

'Open!'

Six Overlord blades shot out. Dietrich simply stood there, not even moving to defend himself. The blades bent backward as they hit his cloak.

"That's a funny summ— Hm?"

Simon moved in a flash of light and he appeared at Dietrich's side. His waist was twisting forward, and a leg approached from the side.

'So you finally showed your fangs!'

It was pretty good combat magic.

Dietrich smirked and raised his arm to block. But instead of kicking him, Simon used the momentary distraction to let his foot fall so he could dash straight to Camibarez.

After slashing through the cage with the Overlord's blades, Simon embraced her.

"S-Simon?"

Dietrich licked his lips in delight.

'Not a bad judgment. He realized the difference in power and took my daughter as hostage.'

But for a man as strong as Dietrich, it was simple for him to deal with Simon alone while making sure Camibarez didn't get hurt.

Just as he was about to move…

Grab.

Two zombies Simon had pulled out in the first Overlord attack clung to the back of the Vampire Lord's cloak. He saw Simon's hands open for a moment before clenching into a fist.

'Corpse Explosion!'

Kabooooooooooooooom!

The explosion went off right behind Dietrich, and Simon fell to the ground with his arms around Camibarez. The debris of ruined golden tiles bounced up and across Simon's back.

"Ah?"

Camibarez couldn't think straight with how quickly everything was changing. Her face flushed red and her mind went blank.

Simon held her close as he looked back to see what the damage was like.

Sure enough, Dietrich stood there unharmed. His cloak wasn't even ruffled.

"Cornered, yet fighting back."

His fangs flashed.

"You took my daughter, not to hold her hostage, but to protect her from the explosion. I see."

Dietrich's shoulders moved up and down from his deep laughter.

Maybe it was because his expectations were so low, but seeing how Simon fought was quite satisfying. He shouted,

"I shall now award you the right to stand before me! Raise your head and introduce yourself properly, human!"

As if he'd been waiting for this, Simon politely replied,

"I'm Simon Polentia, from Kizen."

"Yes! Simon Polentia, I'll specially grant you—!"

Booooooom!

Camibarez' hands were curled together like a pistol. She shouted with tears in her eyes,

"Stop! Please, stop! You're embarrassing me in front of Simon! Dad, you're an idiot!!"

The remains of the Blood Bullet splashed around. Although he was unscathed, being quite possibly immortal, it sure looked like it wounded the father's heart.

Simon, finally able to step out of the tension of the moment, regained his composure. Then, he felt blood rushing to his face.

'What did I just do? That was insane of me! Even if he's the Vampire Lord, to think that I used Corpse Explosion on my friend's father!'

When his eyes met Dietrich's, he felt guilt welling up in his stomach from getting carried away in the heat of the moment.

"Ahem! My daughter, Camibarez,"

Suddenly, the world's most powerful vampire was sweating profusely before a tiny girl.

"your father needs to protect you. Don't worry. I was just testing him to see if that human can protect—"

"I will protect myself!"

Camibarez brought her hands together in front of her chest and straightened her face.

"And above all, you have no right to test my friend!"

Simon had never known that Camibarez could be so angry.

She had her moments, but they weren't memorable as anger because she would always look so cute when she pouted. But now none of that cuteness was there.

Camibarez was furious.

While the two of them argued, Simon took a quick look around. The floor was cracked and the fountain was destroyed, water trickling out onto the street.

However, the surrounding necromancers weren't particularly miffed. On the contrary, they were watching with curiosity after witnessing something interesting.

"Is that a vampire?"

"He looks really strong."

"Isn't he Dietrich Ursula?"

"Oh, no way! You think all vampires are Dietrich?"

Whisper whisper whisper.

They had drawn a lot of attention.

Camibarez must've noticed it because she blushed and grabbed Simon by the sleeve of his uniform.

"I-I'll be going, then! I didn't really want it, but thank you for taking me here! I'm going to stay with my friends now!"

She turned and walked away. Letting her pull him along, Simon looked back at Dietrich.

Dietrich put two fingers to his eyes, a bloody look on his face. He was making it clear that he was watching. Simon bowed his head politely.

"There's no need for you to bow, Simon! Come on, let's go!"

"Ah, yeah."

——