Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 196

Since waking up in the morning, Simon and the others hadn't eaten even a crumb, being too busy working on their homework.

Kizen's assignments required the students to write a unique response to objective questions by giving each student different variables, meaning looking at other people's homework didn't help much.

Still, with Meilyn's active help, Simon and Camibarez somehow managed to get on top of things. The problem was Rick.

"…U-Uhm, Ms. Meilyn."

Stammered Rick. Before anyone knew it, the way he addressed Meilyn had changed.

"What is it, you damned commoner?"

It was the same for Meilyn. She crossed her arms and observed Rick's work with a cold face.

"Being humans as we are, can we at least have some food?"

"Did you do your assignment like this because you're a human? No! Calling someone as moronic as you even an animal would be an insult to amoebas."

"Kuhuhu."

His guilt made it so he couldn't win with words. It was a complete reversal from what happened back in the theater, back when Rick was able to tease Meilyn.

Simon was working on his Mechanics of Jet-Black assignment, thinking he should finish his own homework faster and help Rick.

"Ah."

As Simon wrote, his letters started to become faint. Looking at his quill, he saw that there was no ink left in it and the nib was dull from too much writing. The inkpot was empty, as well.

Simon glanced over. Meilyn was sitting cross-legged, glaring at Rick with frightening eyes.

"M-Meilyn?"

"Yeah?"

Meilyn's voice was a little softer when she was talking to Simon, perhaps because he was on track to actually finish.

Encouraged by this, Simon asked,

"Do you mind if I go out and get a new quill and some ink? I'll pick up some food as well on the way back."

At the mention of food, Rick looked up from his homework and gave a thumbs up.

Meilyn sighed.

"I may be your group leader, but I'm not your mom. Do as you wish."

"I'll go with him!"

Camibarez raised her hand from beside him.

This time, Rick mouthed, 'Don't leave me here!' and looked pleadingly at Camibarez. But she was too focused on Meilyn to notice.

"…Hmm, I'm quite uncertain about you, Cami. Can you finish it all today?"

"Yes, I promise!"

With Meilyn's permission, the two left the clock tower together and walked out into downtown Langerstine.

"Phew… It's good to get the body moving."

Said Simon, taking in a deep breath. Camibarez smiled a little.

"Meilyn was being so scary."

Simon nodded in agreement.

"Still, she's spending her time for us, so I feel a little bad. Let's pick up some of Meilyn's favorite foods on our way back."

"Okay!"

Simon walked side by side with her through the streets of Langerstine.

It was quite a complicated, maze-like city. You could enter one alley and exit four others, all of them cluttered with signs.

"Shall we head to Kemmelroad first?"

"Since we're going to buy a quill and something to eat, don't you think we should go to the shopping district rather than Kemmelroad?"

"Ah, that would be nice."

Simon scanned his memory for directions before taking a left on the upcoming intersection.

As he walked through the labyrinthine streets of Langerstine, he realized how unusual the layout of the buildings was.

Wherever there was a house, the house next door was built like an extension of it. There was no regularity, and people were using other people's walls as their own or invading other people's yards to build a house.

They were stacked in a haphazard fashion, as if the kids had a house-building contest with blocks.

"Did you know? One of the top ten mysteries in the Dresden kingdom is the average rent in Langerstine."

At that, Simon couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, but it does seem expensive. I wonder if the high price of land is why the houses are so close together…"

"No! There's a reason the buildings are like this. Long ago, a dragon who lived in the nearby mountains burned down the entire city! Back then, the kingdom's admin was messed up, and private property and real estate were measured by the house, not the land itself. "

She laughed lightly as she tried to say what happened as a result of that system.

"When Langerstine was destroyed, no one owned any of the land, so people just started building big and wide. It became a crazy fad, and competition sparked…"

"So that's how this cityscape was created! That's amazing! How do you know that story?"

Camibarez grinned.

"Professor told me."

"Oh, the one who taught you Hemomancy over the holidays, right?"

"Yeah!"

The two wandered the streets of Langerstine like leisurely tourists, slowly looking for a place that sold quills.

But unlike them, the locals in Langerstine were rather tense. Everyone was talking in hushed tones and wore serious expressions.

'Is something wrong?'

"Breaking news, breaking news!"

A vendor selling regional newspapers was waving and shouting. Gentlemen in suits were seen paying for the newspaper.

"Cami, just a sec."

Simon ran up and bought a copy for himself.

When he unfolded it, he saw a gruesome picture of a dead body on the front page.

[Five deaths already! Plot thickens!]

[Not wounds, not poison, but illness!]

[Contagious disease or horrific serial killings?]

"…"

While walking back to Camibarez, Simon scanned the articles in detail.

He'd been hearing various rumors that for the past week or so there's been a mass murderer on the loose or that the city has suddenly become infested with rats and bugs.

It had been bothering him the whole time, and it looked like the residents were even more troubled by this.

'Kajann's mission would be on this, huh?'

"Simon~"

Camibarez approached, smiling broadly.

"What are you looking at so seriously?"

"It's the Langerstine newspaper. Someone's dead, apparently."

"R-Really?"

When Camibarez stepped to the side and tried to read the paper, Simon slightly covered the photo with his palm.

"?"

She looked up at him in curiosity.

"Oh, this. I covered it up because the picture is quite graphic… Was it unnecessary?"

"Ah!"

She jumped back, slightly startled.

"Th-That was a close call. I can get some bad nightmares from what I see… Thank you, Simon!"

"No problem."

She smiled softly as she watched Simon fold away the newspaper and place it in his subspace.

'Simon really is so sweet.'

"Looks like something is happening in the city."

Simon summarized it for her.

"The victims died of a series of unidentified illnesses. According to alchemy experts—graduated Poisonous Alchemy students from Kizen—they weren't poisoned."

"Th-That's kind of scary."

Shush!

* * *

* * *

The loud shushing from their side startled Camibarez, making her jump into Simon's arms.josei

'Wow, that startled me.'

Simon was genuinely surprised, too. When he calmed his heaving heart and turned to look, he saw an old woman on crutches. Half her face was grotesquely contorted, and she glared at them through cloudy eyes.

"There's nothing to be afraid of—it's all just righteous judgment. The spirit of disease has descended!"

"…The spirit of disease?"

"The shady fools shall die at the hands of this disease! Hahaha!"

Sweep sweep.

Just then, a gaunt man cleaning the front of a tavern opposite them yawned.

"You guys are travelers, right? Ignore that old lady. She's famous in Langerstine for her bullshit."

"…"

"This incident has nothing to do with things like the 'spirit of disease'. What's the big deal about five people dying in Langerstine? Literally ten people a day get killed from gangs clashing."

"Th-Then, what is it?"

The man smiled in satisfaction at Simon's interest.

"Are you curious? Well, don't faint on me when I tell you! This is a political stunt by the Kingdom to distract the people! Do they think I won't know they're trying to draw everyone's attention to this so they can pass their corrupt policies without the news saying a word?"

The man sweeping the ground shouted, "Not a chance, you bastards!" and the old woman began murmuring strange incantations.

"Let's go, Cami."

Muttered Simon as he escorted Camibarez away.

"Don't mind then. They're weird."

"…Ah, yes."

This was the problem with going into an alley.

Simon led them out onto a slightly wider boulevard.

Now they could see out into the open and hear the chatter of travelers. It was interesting to see how the atmosphere could change so drastically when moving so few streets across.

'Big cities aren't really my thing after all.'

Simon smiled bitterly, and Camibarez pointed to a sign.

"Simon, I can see Hamtonroad now!"

Hamtonroad was the heart of Langerstine. It was a large shopping complex that had been dubbed 'the street of youth'.

The two followed the signs.

"Found one!"

Before reaching Hamtonroad, they spotted a quill shop.

"Shall we buy the new quills there? They'll get more expensive the closer we get to the city center."

"Sure."

It was as the two were walking with quick steps toward their first destination.

A jingling bell sounded, and two men were coming out of the same store they were headed to.

Simon stopped. Someone more troublesome and unwelcome than a spirit of disease or an anti-kingdom bogeyman had appeared.

'Out of everyone, why him and why here?'

Judging by his fiery personality, he'd be 100% up for a fight.

He didn't want to bump into that guy, so he turned away as naturally as he could.

"Cami, wait."

"Yeah?"

He grabbed her wrist and steered themselves unobtrusively toward a side alley.

"Wh-What's wrong?"

"Simon Polentia!"

He came to a screeching halt. To think that the man would notice him so quickly.

Simon sighed softly to himself and looked back.

"Hector."

It was Hector Moore, a first-year student in the same class as Simon. One of the boys from his faction walked beside him.

Hector began to smile.

That was enough to make Simon realize he'd met him at a really bad time.

It wasn't the middle of the semester, and this was a completely off-campus area, not on the Kizen campus or even Roke Island. There were no faculty or staff to intervene in a dispute between Kizen students.

"I figured you'd be in Langerstine, too. But to meet you here like this!"

Thump!

Hector stomped down on the ground and balled up his fists, pointing one of them at Simon.

"I've been waiting for this moment all holidays! Fight me, Simon Polentia!!"

"Cami."

Whispered Simon quietly enough for only her to hear.

"Let's run."

"What?"

He immediately grabbed Camibarez and jumped off the ground using jet-black on both feet.

Tap! Tap!

Whirrr!

In the blink of an eye, he had covered dozens of meters by running across roofs so fast he was almost flying.

Camibarez' scream of surprise was accompanied by the sound of people pointing and shouting in the street.

'He definitely wouldn't listen.'

Hector's fighting spirit was already on the verge of exploding, maybe because of how long it had been since they'd seen each other. It would be pointless for Simon to try talking him out of it.

The best thing to do with a mad dog is avoid it.

"S-Simon!"

Camibarez, who was in Simon's arms, pointed at the sky.

"Look up!"

"!"

When Simon turned to look, he saw Hector with the wings of a corpse dragon dropping from the sky. He held his elbow out, ready to slam right into Simon.

Simon quickly raised an arm to guard himself.

Slaaaaaaaaaaam!!

Simon was flung off the building, falling somewhere in the streets and crashing into a shack.

"Kugh!"

Stuck in a crater formed around him, Simon groaned in pain. Thanks to his school uniform, he was unharmed, but his whole body ached from the impact.

"A-Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Hector, who had landed on the floor, strode over.

"Stand up, Simon."

He pompously stated,

"Take this opportunity to fight me properly."

Camibarez jumped to her feet and ran between them with her arms wide open.

Hector's eyebrows twitched.

"Get out of the way."

"Are you out of your mind? Attacking a person in the middle of the street?!"

She raised her voice even more, despite her legs shaking in fear as Hector loomed over her.

"Kizen students have a duty to maintain their dignity outside of school! You're nothing but a bully!"

Hector coldly replied,

"I won't warn you twice. Get out of my way. I'm not interested in the small fry."

"If you really want to fight Simon…"

Kugrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Her eyes turned red, and the wings on her back grew larger. She bit her own thumb, drawing what became a fountain of blood that spun violently around her body.

"You'll have to face me first!"

"…Cami?"

She was a completely different person. Simon, who had recovered from the impact and sat back up, immediately fell back down in shock as he saw Cami.

"Woah, you…"

Hector was just as surprised. But his grin grew even wider.

"You got pretty interesting since I saw you last, huh?"

——