Chapter 18
Simon couldn’t keep pretending not to notice, so he turned his head toward the window. At that, the girl’s face quickly ducked out of sight.
“……”
Does she not want to be seen?
Simon turned his head back and took out a new chiffon cake. Then, her face slowly peeked back up over the windowsill.
Blink, blink.
The girl’s blue eyes blinked. Every time the chiffon cake neared Simon’s mouth, the speed of her blinking increased.
Suppressing a laugh, Simon opened his mouth.
“You’re welcome to join me, Lady Neftis.”
At those words, the girl immediately popped her face out.
“Ah, how’d you know? Is that okay?”
As if she’d been waiting for this, Neftis hopped over the windowsill and scurried over to sit with her knees together in front of the chiffon cake. She looked up at Simon with her round eyes wide.
The sight of her was like a puppy wagging its tail while waiting, it made him chuckle.
“Of course. Please, go ahead.”
“Hehe, thanks! I’ll eat well!”
She picked up the chiffon cake with her tiny, plant-like hands and began munching away, making little chomping sounds.
Watching her two plump cheeks puff in and out, Simon felt an irresistible urge to pat her head, never mind that she was supposedly the ruler of Keyzen or whatever.
“Would you like some of this, too?”
Simon pulled out more snacks he’d bought at the school store, and each time he did, Neftis’s eyes sparkled brightly.
“I love this stuff!”
She mumbled while chewing on a jam sandwich.
“At home, they never let me eat sweets!”
“…Ahaha.”
And just like that, Simon ended up having dessert time with the great Neftis, a legendary necromancer one might only encounter once in a lifetime. While sharing snacks, the two of them chatted about all sorts of things.
They talked about how he was thankful for the subspace she’d bought, about Loraine, and naturally, the conversation shifted to school life.
“It’s your first time at school, right? How’s it been?”
“It’s fun!”
Simon answered without hesitation.
“The professors are cool, the friends are nice, the classes are fun… I think I might be more suited to school life than I expected.”
She beamed and nodded brightly.
“Haa~ this is nice. Talking with you here in Keyzen like this reminds me of Richard.”
“My father?”
“Yeah! Your dad was a student at Keyzen, too. Didn’t you know?”
It was the first time he’d ever heard that. She chuckled softly and wagged her finger.
“Richard was something else. Unlike you, who’s so calm and composed, he was a total troublemaker, one of the worst in history.”
“…My father was?”
Simon’s jaw dropped.
He couldn’t reconcile the image of his serious, strict father with the idea of a mischievous delinquent student.
“He was ridiculously smart, though. Even while causing trouble, he’d still manage to outwit the professors. I can’t even count how many times I had to chase him down when he tried to skip class and run away.”
“…That’s, hard to believe. Then, did he graduate from Keyzen in the end?”
She shook her head.
“Nope. Dropped out in his second year.”
“…Ah.”
“He suddenly declared that this school was too small for him and just left. There hasn’t been another student like Richard in all of Keyzen’s history. He was one of a kind.”
Neftis placed both palms on the floor and looked up at the ceiling.
Despite her childlike appearance, there was a deep and wistful emotion flickering across her face.
“Yeah, I was young back then, too.”
“……”
Simon wanted to make a snarky remark but held himself back, sensing that now wasn’t the time.
“Anyway! Richard probably explored every corner of Roke Mountain. If you look closely, you might be able to find traces of your father hidden throughout the school!”
“Oh! That sounds fun.”
She got up and dusted off her butt.
“Well, I’ve got evening plans, so I should get going! If I’m late again, I’ll probably get scolded. Hehe.”
“Already?”
Simon blurted it out, a hint of disappointment in his voice and surprised himself.
He had enjoyed their time together so much that he had unconsciously let his feelings show.
“We’ll see each other again soon. Simon.”
Neftis gave a bright smile.
“Thanks for the snacks! Bye!”
As she leapt over the windowsill, something small slipped from her clothes and fluttered down.
Simon picked it up and rushed to the window.
“Lady Neftis! You dropped—!”
Whooosh.
She had already vanished without a trace.
Scratching his head, Simon looked over the note from top to bottom.
“Given the situation… I guess this is for me?”
He muttered to himself and sat down on his bed, then unfolded the paper, which had been folded in half.
It was a map.
The map pointed beyond Keyzen’s interior to a location outside of the school, and the destination was marked with a skull symbol.
A skull? Shouldn’t it be a treasure chest or something?
Simon examined the map carefully. Aside from the destination, there wasn’t much information.
Why had Neftis given him this?
—If you look closely, you might be able to find traces of your father hidden throughout the school!
Simon made up his mind and clenched his fist.
He would set out tomorrow.
* * *
The first weekend morning at Keyzen had arrived.
The place marked on Neftis’s map was in a restricted forest, so Simon decided to depart after nightfall.
Dick and Kajan had left early, and Simon buried himself in catching up on advance studies with his summoning textbook.
He tried looking over other subjects, but couldn’t really concentrate.
Since he’d have to pick a main subject for the upcoming group project soon anyway, Simon decided to dedicate the weekend entirely to Summonology.
—Differences between skeletons and zombies. First is obedience. Skeletons tend to be obedient to the necromancer’s commands, whereas zombies rely on instinct, and their hatred for the living is amplified, making them harder to control.
—Next stage after zombies is ghouls. Though few in number, they’re incomparably stronger than zombies. Wow, they can leap up to 300 meters in one bound?
—There’s even something called a patchwork golem! When can I make one of these?
He hadn’t realized studying could be this fun. Time flew by, and Simon found himself sighing in regret every time he looked at the clock.
After spending the entire day immersed in Summonology, and with the sun beginning to set, Simon finally made his move.
On the dorm’s leave record, he wrote: “One-night, two-day visit to Rochest.”
Rustle.
As he passed through Keyzen’s main gate, dusk was settling in, and he soon arrived at the forbidden forest. The reason Keyzen banned entry to this forest was simple.
Monster habitat.
Though monsters existed in the Leshill Mountains as well, no one knew what kind of creatures roamed Roke Mountain.
Simon stepped carefully.
“There’s a stream to the east, and I can see the school walls to the west. Okay, I’m on track.”
He meticulously checked the map as he walked, and so far, everything was going smoothly.
But the deeper he went into the forest, the more frequently he heard animal cries and spotted droppings. He poked at them with a branch, they were wet and sticky. Whatever had left them had been here recently.
‘…Ssshh, I just want to go back.’
It would’ve been a lie to say he wasn’t scared, but Simon steeled his resolve. Even if he moved slowly, he tried his best to muffle the sound of his steps.
And then—
Grrrrr.
A growl echoed from nearby.
Simon, his body stiff as a board, quickly clamped his mouth shut and lowered his posture.
His eyes, now adjusted to the dark, caught sight of a black silhouette standing under the shadow of a tree. The creature was sniffing around, its nose flaring.
‘It’s a monster.’
At that moment, the monster’s twitching nose turned toward him. From the darkness, glowing eyes locked onto Simon.
Tatata!
‘It’s fast!’
Simon hastily reached for the dagger at his waist. The shining eyes in the dark flashed, and a silver trail slashed through the air with a sharp swaak!
Simon drew his dagger and swung it toward the incoming strike.
Clang!
With a clash of metal, Simon was knocked flat on his back. The monster’s claws swiped again, leaving a long scar on a nearby tree.
‘A werewolf!’
An encounter with one was practically a death sentence for ordinary people. Fortunately, this one seemed smaller, not yet fully grown.
‘If this was before I entered Keyzen, I would’ve run…!’
Simon gripped his dagger tightly and stood up. With his left hand, he channeled Darkness into his ring and pulled an imaginary lever.
Rrrk.
A subspace opened on the ground, and bones shot out from within.
‘Restore!’
The airborne bones aligned themselves in order, beginning from the skull, and soon two skeletons fully formed and stood on the ground before Simon.
‘Got it!’
Simon clenched his fist tightly.
It was the first time he used a necromancer’s technique in a real fight.
It was incredibly reassuring. Beyond combat strength, just not being alone gave him a huge sense of relief.
Now it was three versus one in the blink of an eye. The werewolf, suddenly outnumbered, seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then bared its fangs, ready to fight.
Thud, thud.
Simon summoned two old short swords from his subspace. The skeletons caught the swords as they flew through the air.
Kyaaaargh!
The werewolf lunged forward, and the battle began.
Slash!
A skeleton’s sword strike carved a long gash into the werewolf’s abdomen. But the beast barreled forward and slammed its right arm into the skeleton’s torso.
Crash!
Half of the skeleton’s upper body, made of bone, was blown away. The impact sent a throbbing pain through Simon’s head, since he was linked to the undead.
But in that very moment, the second skeleton slipped to the side and stabbed its short sword into the werewolf’s exposed flank.
Kyaaargh!
The werewolf let out a shrill, pained scream. Simon reached out his right hand.
‘Restore!’
The shattered bones trembled, and as if time rewound itself, the fragments reassembled into the skeleton’s body. The restored skeleton immediately drove its short sword into the werewolf’s chest.
“Now! Charge!”
The two skeletons, swords still embedded, charged the werewolf and rammed it against a tree behind it.
Thud!
The tree shook violently, and leaves fell down all around.
‘Now’s my chance!’
Simon, dagger in hand, rushed in for the final strike. Though the pinned werewolf thrashed violently and destroyed the skeletons—
Thunk!
Simon’s blade pierced the werewolf’s nape before their strength gave out.
A horrible sensation, like tearing through flesh and muscle, traveled up his wrist, but this was a life-or-death moment.
Simon gritted his teeth and forced more strength into the hilt.
Crunch, crack.
At last, the werewolf’s body went limp. As Simon staggered back, panting heavily, his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the ground.
‘…That was close.’
The tension of battle still lingered, making his lips tremble.
‘No time to waste. I need to clean this up fast.’
If other monsters were drawn by the noise and smell of blood, things could get dangerous.
Simon struggled to his feet and attempted another ‘Restore’. One skeleton was too damaged to recover, but the other was barely able to move again.
Simon returned the restored skeleton into his subspace and resumed walking.
‘Come to think of it, this was my first battle since entering Keyzen.’
In just three days, Simon’s combat ability had increased dramatically.
One year here… no, three years—just how strong could he become by then? He couldn’t help but imagine it.
After another twenty minutes of walking—
‘This is it.’
He arrived at the area marked with a skull on the map. Looking around, the place was completely empty.
The only strange thing was that no trees or grass were growing in this spot.
‘Guess I’ll have to dig.’
Simon opened his subspace and took out the shovel he’d borrowed from the dormitory gardener.
Catching the falling shovel mid-air as it spun in circles, Simon rolled up his sleeves and began digging into the ground.
Thud! Thud!
If anyone had seen it, they would’ve been impressed by his skillful shoveling.
The task didn’t take long. The shovel struck something hard.
Simon crouched and brushed away the dirt.
‘A stone floor.’
It was a floor made of special, dark-colored rock.
As he cleared more of the dirt, Simon noticed a hand-shaped indentation in the center of the floor.
He placed his right hand over it, seemed like a good fit. But it didn’t feel like the kind of relic that activated just from contact.
Closing his eyes, Simon activated his Core and released Darkness from his palm.
Wooooooooom!
As Simon’s Darkness flowed into the relic, the floor lit up. Then, with a grinding sound, the stone opened as if by magic.
‘Stairs!’
A staircase leading underground had appeared.
Simon grinned with satisfaction.
What secrets could be hidden down here? Why had Neftis guided him to this place?
Heart pounding in his chest, Simon stepped forward.
Superb.