Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 198

As Hector scrambled to his feet, Walter asked with a gentle smile,

"What is the matter?"

He carried a soft charisma.

There was no aggression in Walter's smile, but there was a deep sense of unmistakable authority.

Standing up on shaking legs, Hector mumbled something about a Kizen professor and such.

There was a myriad of conflicts behind his eyes, but eventually, he regained his composure.

"I'm terribly sorry for causing a scene, Professor."

'…As expected. I knew he'd act like this.'

Simon let out an internal sigh of relief.

Hector had a reputation among the students for being unapologetically unruly, but he had a good reputation with the staff and other adults for being stoic and reserved.

It was because he was actually quite clever, not just academically but socially.

"I am not yet a Professor in Kizen, though."

Walter scratched the side of his head in embarrassment.

Hector added,

"I'll let the Moore family take care of the aftermath. If you are to punish me when I return to Kizen, I'll accept whatever you decide."

With that, Hector turned and trudged away.

Simon silently watched him go.

What distinguished Hector from the other fiery students like S.A. 10 Malcolm and Third Prince Andre was that he knew when to tuck his tail.

Realizing that the fight was over, the spectators quickly dispersed. Walter and Camibarez were chatting lively.

'?'

On the floor, there was a golden fountain pen that looked very expensive.

Simon bent down and picked it up.

'How am I supposed to read this again?'

The fountain pen was inscribed with a single word in beautiful cursive.

'…Judah? That sounds like a person's name, but whose is it?'

Suddenly, Simon felt every single hair on his body stand on end.

"!"

Walter, who had been so sweet and gentle with the students, was suddenly glaring at Simon with the eyes of a terrible monster.

"Ah, thank you. I must have dropped it in the commotion."

He held out his hand, and Simon politely bowed and returned the fountain pen. As Walter took the pen, he asked in a quiet voice,

"Did you see it?"

'…What does he mean? The word Judas on the fountain pen, or that unsettling and scary look in his eyes?'

Simon replied,

"I believe this fountain pen was a gift to you, Professor."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it says 'Judah' on it. I believe it's customary to inscribe one's own name on a luxury pen like this."

After saying that, Simon observed Walter's reaction. But the man merely smiled.

"It belongs to the deceased. I inherited it."

"Oh, I see. My apologies."

Putting the fountain pen back into an inner pocket on his suit, Walter offered his hand.

"Mister, what was your name again?"

Simon shook his hand and answered,

"It's Simon Polentia, sir."

"You're a smart man, and I wish you well in your future endeavors."

The two men shook hands and smiled at each other. Camibarez looked at them proudly.

"Professor, he's in the same group as me!"

"Indeed. He is that boy you spoke of, right?"

"Oh, Professor!!"

Camibarez blushed. Walter's gaze shifted to Simon.

"I have heard a lot about you from Master Silage. He let me take over the research on your blood, SM-1, so you can begin your Hemomancy training normally in the second semester."

"I look forward to it."

Simon nodded.

'Other than that…'

Simon looked down.

'When is he going to let my hand go?'

The handshake had ended, and Simon tried to let go of the professor's hand, but Walter held on.

It may've been a little rude, but Simon wrenched his hand out of the man's grasp with a burst of strength.

He casually bent down and pretended to tie his shoelaces.

"My apologies for being so clumsy in front of you, Professor…"

"Hm? Your laces are untied. I see. There is no issue with that. After all, you had been fighting so hard that—"

Just then, Camibarez butted in,

"Professor! Simon wasn't trying to fight. He was just…!"

"No need to worry. I will not discipline him for something that happened before I am a professor."

With that, Walter offered his hand again, this time toward Camibarez.

"Do you have a place to sleep? Come to our lodging. I wish to discuss the Ursula blood issue in more detail."

At that, Camibarez gently grabbed the hem of Simon's robe.

"Thanks for the invitation, but it's okay! I'll be staying with my groupmates."

"Hm, I see."

Walter lowered his hand and smiled wistfully.

"Then, I shall see you both in Kizen. But be careful: the city has been a bit peculiar as of late."

"Yep! See you in Kizen!"

"Take care, Professor."

Walter waved to them both, then turned and walked away. Simon, who had been keeping his head down, glanced up.

So that was the new Hemomancy professor who will be replacing Silage.

'Judas… Why do I feel like I've seen that name recently?'

"What's wrong, Simon?"

"Oh, no, I'm just thinking random stuff. Meilyn must be waiting. Let's go buy some quills!"

"Yes!"

* * *

* * *

The two returned to the clock tower after purchasing the quills, ink, and a bunch of food for lunch.

Cami came hopping into the living room with a shopping basket in hand, but…

"Huh? Where did the two of them go?"

"What's wrong?"

Asked Simon while changing into his indoor shoes.

"I can't find Meilyn and Rick."

In the kitchen, Simon put down the small meal he was about to eat and went to the bathroom. It was unlocked. No one was there, either.

"Maybe they just went to get some air after doing some homework?"

"Looks like it."

Exhausted from fighting Hector, Simon flopped down on the plush couch. He finally had time to catch some breath.

Cami, seeing that, said,

"Why don't you get some rest? I'll prepare lunch before the two of them come back."

"No, I'll help."

Simon got up from the couch again.

"…"

As he stood up, Simon's gaze accidentally flashed across the ground. Then, he stopped.

Frowning slightly, he knelt down and slowly swept his hand across the floor.

'Dirt and faint muddy footprints.'

People would've changed into indoor shoes in this lodging, yet there was dirt. He began to examine the floor carefully.

There were traces of muddy footprints being forcefully erased. But it looked like whoever left them didn't have enough time to erase everything.

What reason could Meilyn and Rick have to erase their footprints? Besides, they had put on indoor shoes after waking up.

"…"

The trail of erased footprints led to the terrace.

Simon stepped out onto it and took a careful look around.

One side of the railing of the terrace had its dust displaced, making it slightly different to the rest of the railing. It was as if someone had hung a rope or something on it.

"Simon?"

Camibarez, realizing something was off, came out onto the terrace as well.

"You have a scary look on your face. What's wrong?"

"I think…"

Simon looked at Camibarez with a stiff face.

"I think someone broke in."

* * *

Dim lighting, humid air, and a musty room.

Meilyn sighed heavily.

"…Ugh."

She had been captured.

Trying to get up from where she was seated, she discovered that she couldn't move at all. Her arms were tied behind her back onto her iron chair, and her legs were secured by rope.

This gave her deja vu of Death Land. Her pent-up rage started to bubble to the surface.

"Ugh, this suckssssssssssssss!"

She shouted, causing the men around her to flinch. Whether they saw it or not, she gritted her teeth in frustration.

'I could've beat them all by myself!'

After Simon and Camibarez went out, Meilyn was petering Rick to do his homework. Rick had started studying outside on the terrace, saying it was too stuffy inside, until Meilyn suddenly heard him screaming.

Meilyn freaked out and ran to the terrace, but it was too late. The buff men had broken in using ropes, and Rick had been knocked out despite his Kizen uniform.

A skirmish ensued.

Meilyn single-handedly knocked out eight of the unidentified men, but when the intruders stripped Rick of his protective uniform and held a sword to his throat, she had no choice but to surrender.

Eventually, they were dragged to this unknown location.

'If it wasn't for that dumbass…!'

Her gaze darted downward. There was Rick, also tied up, wriggling on the floor like a caterpillar.

He was rambling on about random stuff, seemingly poisoned by something.

It was quite pathetic.

"Be rest assured. It is neurological poison, but he will recover in hour or two with no side effect."

Someone with a heavy continental accent filled the silence.

As Meilyn looked up from her chair, she saw a man walking toward her from the darkness.

It was the same man who had subdued Rick.

"Who are you people?!"

Shouted Meilyn.

"How dare you kidnap Kizen students! Where did you come from, a town out in the boonies? Or do you need me to screw your heads back on straight?!!"

Several men flinched, but they were stopped by the man in front of Meilyn.

Like the other men around him, he was topless and had a strange pattern across his chest. But his frame was monstrously large, his torso was more colorfully patterned, and he wore a full lion's hide on his head.

Meilyn figured he must be their leader.

"My name is Wichasha Wahamlata, and we're Hoopa clan."

"Hoopa, Ringa, or whatever, I don't care! Untie me!"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot grant that request."

Wichasha looked down at her completely unfazed.

"Prepare."

At his words, men carrying a strange red cloth approached from the darkness. Wichasha took it from them and raised it above Meilyn.

"This won't take long."

Meilyn squeezed her eyes shut.

'…Please, Simon, come quickly!'

* * *

Huff! Huff!

Simon and Camibarez were frantically running through the streets.

They had received a report from tourists who were passing by the clock tower when it happened.

A group of large men wearing robes were exiting the clock tower in large groups. Rick and Meilyn must've been kidnapped by them.

"Just what in the world is going on?"

Said Camibarez, on the verge of tears.

"I have no idea."

They had no motive or location. There were too many possibilities.

'What did I miss?'

Simon paused to piece together the information he had learned since coming to the city.

To start off, the kidnappers had broken the unwritten rule deeply printed into every citizen of Dark Territory that they should not touch Kizen students.

It was likely that the kidnappers weren't Langerstine residents, but outsiders.

'I hate to think about it, but the worst-case scenario is that a fanatical priest could be hiding out in the city.'

Another important piece of information…

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

Simon recalled what Kajaan had said.

He wasn't the type to just say things randomly.

'Why did he tell me to watch out for men with patterns on their bodies? Could they be the weird men who came out of the clock tower?'

As Simon pieced that together…

"M-Maybe…!'

Camibarez' voice shook as she presented a new possibility.

"That story in the newspaper…! You think today has something to do with the killer that all of Langerstine is talking about?"

"…Beats me."

Simon couldn't be sure, but that theory was a little odd. Simon opened his subspace and pulled out the newspaper he had bought before.

The scene of the crime on the front page was straightforward. A wall had been smashed in, and a man lay dead in the middle of the street.

The crime would look almost accidental if it weren't for the brutality of the murder. No effort was made by the killer to cover their tracks.

But the men who had taken the two group members were different. They climbed up to the clock tower, kidnapped Rick and Meilyn, and left little trace of their arrival.

The two cases didn't really mesh well.

'Ah!'

Simon's eyes widened as he looked at the newspaper photo of the murder scene. Upon closer inspection, he could see a dizzying array of painted patterns on the victim's chest.

'Don't tell me!'

Simon stopped dead in his tracks.

"Simon?"

"Give me a minute, Cami."josei

Simon darted into a nearby general store and grabbed the last few days' worth of Langerstine's local newspapers. All of them had similar mysterious murder scenes on the front page.

'My guess was right.'

Despite the differences in size and color, all the victims had that strange pattern painted on their bodies. The killer wasn't some kind of mass murdering lunatic.

'The killer's only been targeting those with patterns on their bodies.'

Kajann's warning to be careful was directed at the men with patterns on their bodies, not the crazy murderer.

This definitely lent weight to the theory that those were the men who kidnapped Rick and Meilyn.

But who were they? Why were they killed?

More importantly, why did they kidnap his group members?

What are they up to?

'I guess I'll have to find Kajann first.'

But finding Kajann in this vast and complex city was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Also, he was probably chasing those men right now, so there was no point in trying to find him first.

'Okay, then what would be the best move?'

——