Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 206

Nefthis bought a huge subspace for Simon as a gift.

Simon bowed repeatedly in thanks, and Nefthis patted him for a job well done.

Well, more accurately, she raised her hands toward Simon's head and started jumping like a toddler wanting uppies, so Simon had to squat down and let her pat his head for a moment.

On the way out, as Nefthis and Stephanie were chatting, Simon stammered to Lorain,

"B-By the way, do you think it's really okay for me to take something like this? She said it's priceless, right?"

Lorain smiled mischievously at that.

"You wore it so quickly when Mom asked you to."

"N-No! That's just—"

"I'm kidding."

She said with a rare chuckle.

"Anyway, are your mom and dad doing alright?"

"Yeah… Thank you for asking."

"I heard that they fought alongside my mom in the past. I'll have to pay them a visit with a gift sometime soon."

Lorain was sounding rather mature and calm for a girl her age.

It felt like she had different responsibilities weighing on her shoulders.

In fact, there were already rumors that Lorain was involved in Kizen's management.

"School is starting tomorrow already. What have you been doing?"

Asked Lorain.

"Doing holiday homework where I've been staying with my group mates. Our room is really great. It's right below the clock tower. Do you want to come over if you're not busy?"

She shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. If I show up unexpectedly, they'd get uncomfortable. Also, I have to get ready for school tomorrow as well."

"Are you done with your homework?"

She smirked.

"I should probably get started~"

Simon gulped on her behalf, remembering how her written grades weren't even close to her dark magic skills. Then again, those skills were beyond those of a mere student.

* * *

Parting ways with Nefthis, Simon returned to the clock tower.

"Wait! This is wrong! Who writes curse formulas like this?"

"Rick! You're wrong here, too!"

Everyone was last-minute cramming for assignments.

Rick was sitting in the middle of the room, struggling to do his homework, and the two girls were berating him while almost answering the questions for him.

"Just leave me alonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne!"

In the middle of Rick's scream, Simon just so happened to step inside like a savior.

Immediately, Rick looked up at Simon, his eyes pleading.

"Simon! Help!"

"Alright."

He changed into his slippers and sat down across from Rick.

"Should I help with Summoning, then?"

"No, not that kind of help!"

The four of them tended to disagree on a lot of questions, but they got to a point where they managed to work efficiently until Rick got on track to actually finish his homework by the end of the night.

Now Simon and Camibarez were sitting side by side, finishing up their own homework as well.

"I'm looking forward to the opening ceremony tomorrow~"

Said Camibarez, putting down her quill. Sensing a change in topic, Rick quickly added his own two cents.

"I bet we'll see the new professors at the opening ceremony! By the way, did you guys know that in addition to the new Poisonous Alchemy professor, there's also a new Hemomancy professor?"

"Uh huh."

"Yup."

Rick was speechless. He hadn't expected this kind of reaction.

"B-But, there's no way you guys know who the new Hemomancy professor would be, ri—?"

"Professor Walter Han."

Interrupted Simon in a matter-of-fact tone.

"We actually saw him this morning, Rick."

Said Camibarez, smiling broadly.

Rick brought his hand to his forehead with a bitter smile.

"…Damn, that information was my ace up the sleeve, though."

"Hey!! I told you all not to muck around!"

Heavy footsteps approached, and Meilyn burst in wearing her pajamas. Her hair was tied back and her face fresh, seemingly recently washed.

Rick, caught getting distracted, freaked out and pretended to be looking at his homework.

"Meilyn! Let's have a pajama party!"

Said Camibarez, clapping her hands together. Meilyn nodded.

"After making the boys finish their homework."

"Hehe… I guess we won't be able to do it tonight."

"…Y'all need to stop beating me up. I was the one who booked this lodging! Why don't we get to enjoy it?"

"Yes, yes, we know you paid for the rooms. You've told us a hundred times already. But if you didn't want to do this, you should've done your homework in advance."

Simon smiled at the chattering trio and crossed his arms.

"By the way, about the integrated second semester, I heard that it's meant to prep us for any upcoming wars. I wonder how it's gonna go?"

"I don't think it's going to be anything special."

Said Meilyn, sitting back down and leaning forward, resting her head in her hands.

"At the start of the holidays, it was like a war could break out at any time, but now the Holy Federation's calmed down, so it wouldn't be weird to go back to normal classes."

"But why did they calm down?"

"Ah, about that!"

Intervened Rick in excitement, confident his information network would be superior this time.

"Their attention was drawn to a cult called Heavenly Blood or something! I heard that the cult was trying to get us to fight with the Holy Federation."

"Yeah. It was a big issue in Dark Territory, as well."

At this point of the story, Simon looked away and feigned innocence.

'Rete, Ellen, Israfill. I wonder how they're doing? I hope Methyn has gotten over his inevitable slump…'josei

Just then, Rick walked up and threw his arm around Simon's neck.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for? Don't keep your funny ideas to yourself. Let me in on the fun!"

"Haha! Nah, it wasn't anything funny."

The four of them chatted loudly until deep into the night and prepared for the start of school.

* * *

* * *

Early morning.

"Arrrrrrrgh."

"Yaaaawwwwwn."

Simon gathered his things as he heard Rick stretching and Camibarez yawning out of drowsiness.

Meilyn nagged at them as usual, seemingly not even remotely groggy, and Simon was so awake that he took it upon himself to help everyone pack and even cleaned up by himself.

"Thanks for having us!"

With Rick's shout, the four left the clock tower lodging and walked through the empty streets. In front of a few shops they saw people watering their yards and preparing for the day.

Before heading to the meeting point, the four stopped at a bookstore.

They had originally planned to buy their second-semester textbooks yesterday, but due to unforeseen incidents, they had to get them today. Rochest charged a premium for textbooks, so it was common for students to buy them here before traveling to Roke Island.

"Oh! It's Meilyn!"

"Simon!"

They ran into some familiar faces from Class A. Jamie Victoria, the master of questions and honorary class president, and Cindy Vivace, Class A's Necromancy ace.

As Meilyn and Jamie chatted, Cindy nudged Simon in the elbow and giggled.

"Hey, how were you?'

"Ah, I was fine."

Replied Simon, clutching the wallet in his pocket. Seeing that, Cindy almost howled in laughter.

"I'm not stealing anymore, man!"

It was great to see some other Class A students after two months. At the same time, it also became much more real that they were going back to Kizen.

Camibarez and Rick joined in, and they all chatted about the upcoming semester.

Meanwhile, Meilyn and Jamie were chatting up a storm. The topics they were talking about were as turbulent as a storm, too.

Jamie whistled,

"Oh my~ You've gotten even prettier over the holidays! Those blue locks of yours are just gorgeous."

"Thanks for the sugar-coated words."

Dismissively replied Meilyn, but she still enjoyed the compliment. The play demanded she put a lot of effort into how she grew her hair.

"Oh, but I'm kind of jealous."

Jamie sighed.

"Our group is all girls, and yet here you are, a guy on each arm."

"W-With them? It's nothing like that!"

Shouted Meilyn, blushing. Jamie caught her reaction and smiled mischievously.

"Hey, tell me, which one is it?"

"Shut up! They're gonna hear y—!"

"Is it Rick?"

"Are you crazy?"

Said Meilyn, her eyes so cold they could turn a gorgon to stone. Jamie giggled as if she'd heard enough.

"Well, if you ever need help, you can always ask me~"

"It's nothing like that, so cut the crap and mind your own business. I heard that you like Hector?"

This time, Jamie blushed.

"Hey!! Not so loud! If you say that one more time I'll—!"

"What are you two talking about?"

Their conversation was interrupted by Cindy Vivace's entrance. She was rumored among the girls to have the loosest lips in Kizen.

When they both shut their mouths at the same time, Cindy looked at Meilyn with a gaze full of misunderstandings.

"Wow, you like Hector, Meilyn? What a strange taste."

"…Do you want to freeze to death or burn?"

And so they all purchased their textbooks and walked out of the bookstore.

There are many ways to get to Roke Island, but most of the students in Langerstine took the Nether Whale. Simon's group was no exception.

"I've never been on the Nether Whale before!"

Said Camibarez, voice full of excitement.

Rick, chewing on some dried jerky he'd bought as a snack, asked,

"Then how did you get to school in the first semester?"

"I rode over from the Kingdom of Kallos on a big eagle or something! I was sitting on a building, and the eagle lifted the entire building before dropping it off on Roke Island."

"Whoa… As expected from Kizen, the size of everything is unfathomable."

The four arrived at the dock.

A large ship was docked there just like the last time, and servants were herding the students aboard. Rick eagerly explained to Camibarez,

"Now, once we get on the boat, a whale will come and swallow us!"

"Wow!"

"Hey, the four of you."

Just then, a man wearing a crow-feather cloak looked at the four of them.

"Stop chatting and hurry up. The people behind you are waiting."

"Ah, yes sir! Sorry, sir!"

Rick bowed his head and ran to the boat.

"Guys, did you see that? It's a Crow!"

Crows. The main force of Kizen headquarters and an organization of elite necromancers. Their ranks also included a few professors of skill such as Bahil.

Meilyn became serious.

"It's not the professors this time, but the Crows. Is something going on?"

"Oho."

Rick's conspiracy-theory-loving eyes sparkled. Frightened, Camibarez quickly shook her head.

"Wh-Why is that your first thought? Maybe they're just a little short-staffed."

"Come on, let's get in already."

Said Simon. The four sat down next to each other, and after not too much waiting, the rest of the students had boarded.

Simon saw Hector and his faction sitting elsewhere. Luckily, they didn't notice him, so he and the rest of Group 7 went down the stairs to the cabin below.

Soon, all the Kizen students in Langerstone were on board. The Crow agent was the last to board, the servants giving him a headcount.

"Mr. Crow, we shall be arriving in 5 minutes."

After receiving the servant's report, the Crow leaned back against a wall, his hands behind his head.

The rest of the servants were moving around frantically, telling the students to fasten their seatbelts.

'It's been a while since I rode the Nether Whale, as well.'

Simon buckled his seatbelt with excitement.

"There it is!"

From the distant horizon was a giant splash of water, and the students let out cheers from both the excitement of returning to Kizen and the nervousness of returning to Kizen.

Splaaaaash!

Soon, the water right below them erupted, sea foam spraying all around them, and the Nether Whale swallowed the ship whole before diving down.

* * *

"You can unfasten your seatbelts now."

The boat, with everyone on board, safely landed in the belly of the Nether Whale.

The students unbuckled their seatbelts and stood up, chatter filling every inch of the boat. Despite being in the belly of a whale, it was quite warm and comfortable inside.

Servants carried out students' requests, serving them both breakfast foods and desserts. There was a menu to choose from.

Simon chose a cream coffee.

"I-It's a little scary."

Murmured Cami, wide-eyed. She was gesturing to the bright red insides of the whale.

Rick chuckled,

"Don't worry, we won't go down into its stomach. Also, getting off the whale is the real highlight, so look forward to it!"

"The highlight?"

"Yeah, we fall thousands of meters directly into the Kizen campus. The sunrise view is amazing!"

At the mention of such a large drop, Cami's shoulders trembled out of fear.

The moment Meilyn smacked Rick in the back for scaring Cami…

Thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuump!

Suddenly, the ship began to rock. Violently.

"Wh-What happened?"

"Was that an explosion?"

Rick looked at Meilyn in surprise.

"Just how hard did you hit me?"

"Dumbass! Do you think I'm the one who did that?"

Kabooooooom! Poooooooow!

The rocking became increasingly violent, and the agonized cries of the Nether Whale shook the entire cabin. Simon gripped the ship's railing.

'…Just what is going on?'

Then, with a loud bang, the boat suddenly flipped over, slamming him into something and knocking him unconscious.

* * *

Craaaaash!

The sound of waves greeted Simon as he awoke.

He slowly opened his eyes, his mouth tasting of dirt and his head throbbing.

Craaaaash!

Seawater brushed past his body. That was when he realized his head was partially stuck in the sand.

He couldn't tell what was going on. He pushed himself up with great difficulty, barely managing to break through the sandy barrier.

"…Rick? Meilyn? Cami? Where are you guys?!"

Simon called out to his friends and looked around, but the three were nowhere to be seen. In fact, he couldn't see anyone. He was alone on the beach.

Craaaaash!

Simon's eyes snapped back to the seawater. The rushing water was red.

"!"

Simon quickly stood up and turned around. His eyes went wide from shock.

He saw the body of the giant Nether Whale that he was just riding, now floating in the sea with its belly up, presumably dead.

The sea was a dark crimson, stained by the blood of the Nether Whale.

"What in the world happened?"

——