Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 195

"Here! This is where we're staying for the next two days!"

Exclaimed Rick, spreading his arms wide.

The place the four arrived at was at the top of the central clock tower in downtown Langerstine. Simon, Camibarez, and Meilyn all looked stunned.

"There was lodging in a place like this?"

Right there in the ceiling above them was the clock tower's famous fluorescent clock. The empty space in the building was converted into a hotel room.

Half of the space was filled with beds and furniture, and the other half was a large balcony with a table for dining.

The four walked out onto the balcony.

"Wooaah!"

The spectacular night view of Langerstine was but a step away from where they would be sleeping.

Camibarez jumped up and down with excitement.

"You're really amazing, Rick, to find a place like this!"

"Hehe."

Rick crossed his arms and modestly boasted,

"I can get things done when I have to. Don't you guys think it's worth it getting a place like this for working a couple of hours?"

"Yeah, it really is great."

As Simon admired the night view, Meilyn was busily pulling out oiled papers and glue next to him. She had purchased them at a stall before going up.

"Other than that, better get ready already! The 'Thousand Lights' starts in half an hour!"

"Do we really have to participate?"

"Of course!"

A must-see tourist attraction in Langerstine was the 'Thousand Lights' ceremony, where people released lanterns every night at 8pm. Simon had seen it with Lorain when they first came to Langerstine.

However, Simon was somewhat bored by the whole thing. Rick even curled up in his bed after a few minutes of watching, saying he was feeling cold.

Meilyn blurted,

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to no matter what do this lantern thing when you come here? Why did we even come to Langerstine if we aren't doing this?"

"That's right!"

The girls eagerly began folding lanterns.

"Meilyn, I don't think you're supposed to glue this part?"

"Oops! I made a mistake! We need to throw this sheet out!"

But it didn't seem as easy as they thought.

Being unable to remain a mere spectator, Simon approached, sat down, folded a sheet of paper, and began to construct the frame of the lantern.

Camibarez clapped a little, exclaiming,

"So amazing! You're just good at everything, Simon!"

He even managed to restore what Meilyn had ruined. She pouted in embarrassment.

"Gosh. If you knew how to make these, you could've helped us earlier."

"Haha, I don't really. I just made them the last time I went here—with Lorain—so I guess my body still remembers it."

At that, Meilyn and Camibarez both flinched.

"Wh-When? Why with her?"

Simon, his attention mostly on making the lanterns, casually replied,

"She was the one who helped me buy my textbooks and supplies the day before I enrolled in Kizen. It was my first time leaving my hometown and I didn't know anything, so she helped a lot."

"H-Have you known each other for a long time?"

"That was the first time we met."

The two glanced at Simon with odd expressions.

"Whew~"

Rick, who was rolling on the bed with a drink in hand, insensitively interrupted,

"Isn't that for couples? It must be nice. Going out with Nefthis' daughter would make your life so eas—"

"Hey."

Meilyn shot him a cold look. It was the kind of glare that she usually gave before hitting Rick, so he flinched reflexively.

"H-Huh? Why?"

"Are you the only one with a mouth here? There are three more people here, so get three more drinks!"

"Huhu. You give me too much work."

Rick made a pitiful gesture and went to the kitchen.

In the meantime, Simon, who couldn't leave things half-done, got to work making lanterns and completed four of them.

"Ah! Look! People are gathering at the lookout!"

Camibarez pointed to the hill. Lots of tourists and couples had climbed to the central lookout, but some were also on hillsides and rooftops of tall buildings, preparing to release their lanterns.

"Ours will fly highest."

Said Meilyn in excitement. Whether they were on the lookout or a hill, the highest place in the city was the clock tower they were in.

"Now then, I'll light them up."

They decided to release one lantern each.

Meilyn, Cami, and begrudgingly Rick held up their lanterns, and Simon lit them with a candle. Lastly, he lit his own lantern, holding it with the edge of his hand to not burn himself.

"It's starting!"

Beautifully glowing crimson lanterns began to soar into the night sky from all corners of the city. At the highest point, Simon and his group waited a bit for the other lanterns to arrive.

"Now!"

The four released their lanterns simultaneously on Meilyn's signal.

The lanterns from the clock tower were the first to ascend into the sky, and the rest of the shards of light joined them, bathing the city in a beautiful glow.

Looking at the flying lanterns, the four each lightly made a wish.

'I wish that the four of us can still wear our Kizen uniforms by the end of the second semester.'

Simon made his wish and opened his eyes. Then, he gazed at the feast of flame that brightened the night sky like the milky way.

"It's so pretty."

Murmured Meilyn.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."

Camibarez, who had never seen the Thousand Lights before, looked touched.

Rick smirked and tapped Simon lightly on his shoulder.

"How is it for you?”

Simon flatly replied,

“Your 200 silvers are exploding in the sky.”

“Bwahaha!”

Rick laughed so great he had to hold his stomach. Meilyn looked at Simon utterly unamused, but Camibarez smiled a little, covering her mouth with one hand so Meilyn would see.

"Right, right! 200 silver for a piece of paper is too expensive!"

"Phew… Don't you guys have dreams or anything? It's sickening."

After watching the lanterns for a while, the four sat down at the table on the spacious terrace and opened a bottle of wine. Simon also pulled out the lunches Anna had packed for them.

Everyone was genuinely touched by the delicious food packed into the small containers alongside Anna's thoughtful notes. Needless to say, the food was great.

"Simon, please give your mom all of my thanks and more!"

"I'll bow down in whichever direction your mom is."

The three of them exchanged stories over good wine and food. They had done a lot over the past two months. Everyone laughed heartily as they eagerly recounted their adventures.

"By the way, Simon, you're being oddly quiet about your holidays."

Probed Rick.

"…Uh, well, I was busy helping my father with the territory, you see."

"Tsk tsk… So you were just mucking around during your precious holidays."

Simon smiled, knowing that all three of them would flip out if they heard he'd gone to the Holy Federation.

And so, night fell.

* * *

* * *

"Annnnnnnnnd there!"

Simon had picked up Camibarez, who fell asleep on the floor, and brought her to the girls' room.

Meilyn was sleeping carelessly in her school uniform. She had kicked off her blankets again.

Simon carefully laid Camibarez down next to her and pulled the blankets up. Looking at them both sound asleep, he quietly closed the door and left.

"Huhuhu, I've drunk too much…"

And Rick, who but a moment before had claimed he was fine, wobbled and fell to the floor with a thud. Simon giggled.

"You drank three glasses."

"Three glasses is a lot of liquor… Mmmmmmmmmmmmm."

Simon scooped Rick up and dragged him to the single bed. Then, he stretched his arms as he stepped out onto the terrace.

The cool night breeze sobered him. Simon leaned back on the terrace wall.

He looked down at the darkness of Langerstine. No Thousand Lights, no torches coming from any shops, just pitch black.

"Is there anything you want to say, sir?"

At those words, a black figure landed on the terrace.

It squatted on the terrace floor before then staring at Simon.

"When did you figure it out?"

"Since we started flying the lanterns."

Dietrich, the Vampire Lord, smirked.

"I've wasted too much time. I have to leave Langerstine now."

"Yeah. Leave Cami to m—"

"Camibarez is a defective product."

Simon's face stiffened at that.

"She has no place in vampire society, a place where strength and power are the only virtues. Both in power and heart."

"What kind of parent calls their own child defective?"

"You brat."

He grinned with his teeth, intentionally flashing his frighteningly sharp fangs.

"I'm the Vampire Lord. As the leader of an entire clan, I cannot show personal affection, even to my own child."

"But you seemed to care a lot about Cami."

"Because she's a product of my karma."

His gaze swept over the dark Langerstine.

"Everyone thinks they're the good guys, the trailblazers, but history repeats itself. The world always follows the laws of nature."

His voice became deep, filled with both remorse and something subtler that Simon could not place.

"Defeated by a momentary primal urge, I made love to a human woman, and she had my baby. But carrying a vampire's child was a trial no human body could have endured."

Bearing a vampire child kills the human mother. There was not one exception. Even knowing that, the two mingled.

"I lost the woman I loved more than anything for it. And she gave birth to Cami not as a complete vampire, but as a defective one. I experienced failure for the first time then. It's all a result of my karma."

Deep regret glimmered in his eyes.

"Then let me ask you the other way around. Meeting and loving Cami's mother…"

Said Simon, wistfully gazing into the darkness.

"Would you really call that a failure?"

"…"

The Vampire Lord replied,

"No."

"Then that settles it."

Simon smiled.

"Things don't always work out the way they're supposed to, or the way you're told they should, or as planned. I don't think your actions were ever a single impulsive mistake, but rather following a certain inevitability to meet Cami."

"Bwahahahahahaha!"

Dietrich laughed loudly.

Simon flinched and looked behind him. Fortunately, no one was awakened by the laughter.

"Says the kid who can't even live a quarter of my life!"

But it was a simple thought, so it had a light flavor to it. Dietrich's cloak fluttered through the air as he brought it fully around himself.

"Please take good care of my daughter."

"Yes sir. Leave it to me."

With those words, Dietrich's body scattered into countless bats and disappeared into the night sky.

Simon's brave smile relaxed, and he sighed in relief.

'His presence alone is… I was so nervous.'

Simon also turned and walked back into his room.

* * *

The next morning.

There was only one day left until the first day of school. They thought today would be full of fun.

But everything changed when Meilyn attacked Rick's holiday homework.

"You crazy bastard! You barely did any of your homework!"

Rick began to sweat at Meilyn's shouting and stammered out the excuse,

"I was, I was planning on doing it with you guys now."

"Planning to do it with us? More like, 'Please help me!' This won't do. You guys, pull out all your homework, too!"

Because of him, Simon and Camibarez, who were sound asleep, were forced to get their homework checked.

Camibarez did better than Rick, but she had been concentrating on her personal training, so there were some parts missing. And while Simon was somewhat doing fine, his written assignments in all subjects bar summoning were poor.

"…Wow, just wow."

The leader of Group 7 rubbed her forehead, then rubbed her temples. The other three stood in front of Meilyn, walking on eggshells.

"…Yeah, let's just waste our time watching the Thousand Lights, sipping wine, and getting a fancy place with a view of the city at night!"

Fumed Meilyn, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

She glanced over the three of them coldly.

"At this rate, we're going to have the lowest marks and be behind as soon as we return to Kizen! Especially you, Rick! You'll be going on an eternal holiday! Don't you know Professor Jane's personality? You already forgot after being on a break for only two months?"

Rick forced a smile and gathered his hands in a pleading gesture.

"Now, now, you're getting carried away. Just calm down. I get it that I should be scolded, but at least let me know why."

"Why?? Did you seriously ask me why?!"

She pulled out the Hemomancy assignment from Rick's homework.

" 'Discuss the downside to the caster when casting the Hemomancy spell Cataporette.' This is Rick's answer."josei

She gritted her teeth.

" 'Caster will get dizzy when their body loses blood.' You think this is an appropriate answer, you crazy bastard?!"

"I mean, it's Hemomancy. I'm technically not wro—"

Meilyn immediately threw the stacks of assignments directly at Rick's face, sending him stumbling back.

"I'm actually gonna go insane! I can't believe I almost trusted these groupmates and was about to spend my second semester with them!"

Group classes would continue in the second semester as well.

If other members of the group were to drop out of Kizen due to poor grades or other factors that prevented them from focusing on the group tasks, the ones who suffered would be the remaining members of the group.

Camibarez clasped her hands together and smiled, trying to calm her down.

"M-Meilyn…"

"Shut up, Cami. You're not getting any nice words this time."

Realizing it didn't work, Camibarez tensed up. Simon forced a smile and asked,

"Mine's decent, right?"

"You guys are all the same! You won't lay a single step outside this building until you've done all this today!"

Shouted Meilyn as she slammed the mangled assignments down on the table.

"Redo them! Right now!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The three of them immediately picked up their quills and began their homework. All the while, Rick gave an optimistic thumbs up and said,

"This is the moment that proves homework should be crammed."

"Shall I prove gravity to you by throwing you off the clock tower?"

Rick's head snapped back down to his homework immediately.

——