Chapter 70
"Hi. Just pretend I’m not here and carry on as usual."
Loraine kept her introduction simple, then sat down and opened her textbook.
Dick, Maelyn, and Kamibarez glanced at her from time to time while looking at their notes.
‘How are we supposed to pretend she’s not here!’
She was none other than Neftis’s daughter. It was absolutely not an atmosphere where one could relax.
The room felt suffocating.
‘…But still.’
Maelyn shifted her gaze.
‘How does Simon know Loraine?’
She wondered for a moment but quickly accepted it.
Simon had entered the school as Special Admission No. 1, personally recommended by Neftis. It wasn’t strange if he was acquainted with her daughter.
‘She’s beautiful…’
Kamibarez was genuinely admiring her.
Hair like the night sky, ruby-red eyes, and an aura so untouchable it was overwhelming.
Even among Keyzen’s students, Loraine had a uniquely commanding presence.
And Dick, who valued connections more than anyone, really wanted to strike up a conversation with her. But he held back, thinking he was more likely to say something weird and end up on her bad side than actually become friends.
‘Let’s just study.’
Scratch, scratch.
Only the sound of quills filled the quiet classroom. The noisy mood had turned silent, but in fact, it was easier to concentrate this way.
Everyone focused hard on their studies, partly as an excuse to ignore Loraine.
"......."
At that moment, Loraine slightly bit her lip and furrowed her brow, as if something had stumped her.
Simon caught the change and quietly asked,
"Having trouble?"
"…Yeah."
"Where?"
"Here, number 7."
Simon spoke loudly, as if on purpose.
"Oh, really? Maelyn’s good at Katarology."
Maelyn, who had been studying with her head down, suddenly turned bright red and looked up.
She mouthed, “Hey! Quiet down!” But the moment Loraine looked up, she clamped her mouth shut.
Simon chuckled and said,
"Maelyn. Can you explain this one?"
"…Uh, okay."
Maelyn awkwardly approached and stood next to Loraine, then began explaining problem 7. It made sense Loraine had struggled, she didn’t know the formula.
Loraine nodded after hearing the explanation.
"Then if I plug in that formula, it becomes this."
Just from hearing the formula, Loraine started solving the problem smoothly in her notebook.
"Yeah, that’s right! You’re really good at this!"
Maelyn’s praise wasn’t flattery, she was genuinely impressed.
So this is what it means to learn one and know ten? Her grasp was eye-opening.
"But why did you simplify all the values in this part?"
"It’s the only method I know. Is it wrong?"
"Uh, no! It’s not that, this approach is actually pretty interesting. Hold on…"
Eventually, Maelyn, the one who was supposed to be teaching, got more excited. Simon watched and thought,
‘A laid-back genius… something like that?’
There was no doubt about Loraine’s skill.
She was said to be weak at note-taking, but even that felt like she simply lacked motivation or interest, not ability. At least, that was Simon’s guess.
After Maelyn broke the ice, Dick and Kamibarez also exchanged words with Loraine. Everyone had thought she’d be this terrifying and intense figure, but Loraine was surprisingly friendly.
Nom.
She seemed a little hungry and tasted one of the snacks Dick had brought. She nodded, apparently liking it.
"What is this?"
"A grain cookie from Rochest."
Dick quickly replied. Loraine gave a small sound of admiration.
"I didn’t know something like this existed."
"Want me to tell you where to get it?"
The atmosphere began to soften, and Simon looked at them with quiet pride, relieved.
Loraine had originally said she’d only stay an hour or two, but since studying went well, she ended up staying longer, and the other team members gradually let down their guard and treated her comfortably.
Time passed, and night fell. A staff member came and told them it was time to leave the classroom.
"Bye, everyone!"
"Today’s study session was awesome!"
Everyone said their goodbyes. Honestly, they wanted to hang out more for a dinner after-party, but since it was exam season, they all agreed to focus on individual study for now.
Simon offered to walk Loraine to the Keyzen exit.
"…It’s already been a month."
Loraine murmured, then looked at Simon.
"Are you enjoying school life?"
"It’s the best."
Simon grinned.
"You value it that much, enough to risk your life?"
"Yeah."
Simon answered without hesitation.
She slowly nodded, draped her robe over herself, and pulled up her hood. Then she stretched out her arm, and a subspace opened in the air, from which an imposing skeletal horse emerged.
"Thanks for walking me. I’ll be going now."
She placed her palm on the tall skeleton horse’s body and leapt up in one smooth motion.
When Simon patted the creature’s head lightly, the skeletal horse neighed softly and rubbed its head against his palm.
"Simon."
"Yeah?"
Her glowing red eyes shimmered from under the robe.
"Question everything, and trust no one."
"…?"
Leaving only those words behind, she tugged the reins and rode off.
* * *
The exam period passed like a flash of light.
You’d open your eyes, head to school, and suddenly find yourself back in bed, exhausted to the bone.
Due to next week’s midterms, the duel evaluations were slightly overshadowed, and every student dove headfirst into test prep. The professors seemed pleased to see the once-distracted students so focused again.
Simon adopted Maelyn’s study method. Increased note-taking, 20-minute reviews right after each class. He constantly memorized important problems whenever he had a chance and solved past test questions during breaks.
‘…At this point, it’s really a test of stamina.’
He’d learned a lot from preparing for the last duel evaluation. He cut down on sleep, but avoided the insanity of pulling all-nighters. He focused every second of every waking moment.
Now it was routine to move between the cafe, library, and dorm study room after class.
"Aaah! Hurry up!"
While studying at the campus cafe, Dick suddenly clutched his neck dramatically.
"Hurry up and let this week be over! Ugh! This isn’t a life, it’s torture!"
Simon, sitting next to him and studying, chuckled.
"Hey, you."
That was when it happened.
From the window seat at the back, a female student who had been flipping through a magazine glared at Dick.
"Do you all want to die? Can’t you shut up?"
"Ah, s-sorry ma’am."
Dick quickly bowed his head. The girl turned her head away with an annoyed flick.
"……What was that? Isn’t that a bit much?"
Simon mumbled, but Dick instantly raised a finger to his lips and whispered, "Shh, shh!"
"She’s a second-year."
One thing that had changed starting this week was that the second- and third-year students had finally returned to Keyzen.
Since the classroom buildings and dormitories were divided by grade level, it was rare to run into upperclassmen during class hours, but you could occasionally see them around campus cafes or in the library after classes.
It wasn’t obvious at first glance, but second-years had a small red marking on the collar of their Keyzen uniform, and third-years had a gray one.
Third-years especially were rarely seen due to being constantly occupied with missions or practicum work. Even the student council and clan management were mostly run by the second-years.
"You’d better be careful around the upperclassmen."
Dick lowered his voice as he spoke.
"The authority and privileges of a second-year compared to a first-year in Keyzen are like heaven and earth. There’s nothing good about getting on their bad side."
Even Simon, who was new to school life, had that much awareness. The two of them buried their heads back into studying.
The next day.
And the day after that.
Whether sleeping or passed out on a desk, Simon’s head felt like it was constantly spinning with formulas and knowledge from class.
Students frequently had nosebleeds during lectures, and some would even slam their heads loudly into their desks from lack of sleep.
But no one gave up.
As long as you belonged to the group called Keyzen, you couldn’t escape the suffocating pressure tightening around your neck. If you couldn’t endure this level of stress, leaving school was the smarter choice.
And so, a few days later—Jane’s Elementary Black Magic class.
"The time limit for the performance evaluation test is 60 minutes."
The group-based evaluation was held the week before midterms.
Even though it was during the exam period, there were no complaints from the students. That’s because this test served as a practical preparation for midterms.
The class was arranged so that group members sat around a massive test sheet over two meters long and solved it together.
All eight subjects, except Elementary Black Magic, were covered in this test.
‘No doubt about it, having four group members with different specializations is definitely an advantage.’
Simon glanced around subtly.
Groups where students had overlapping majors were still busy arguing about who would solve which section.
"Focus!"
Group leader Maelyn snapped her fingers as she gave rapid-fire instructions.
"I’ll take Katarology, Kami will handle Haematology, Dick’s got Darkness Dynamics, and Simon—you’re on Summonology. If you hit a question you don’t know, mark it with a star and skip it fast. Questions that are confusing or might need double-checking, mark with a triangle. I’ll be going through from question 1 and reviewing them all. And once you’re done with your major, Kami covers Toxicology, Simon takes Magical Combat, and Dick gets Defense Against Holiness. Got it?"
Since Maelyn was responsible for more than half the written exam performance, everyone nodded without complaint.
"There were a lot of Summonology questions. Can I trust you with them, Simon?"
Simon grinned at Maelyn’s words.
"Of course."
Jane glanced at her wristwatch and spoke up.
"Alright. Let the test begin."
Riiip!
Sixteen teams simultaneously tore the covers off their test sheets.
Simon immediately searched for the Summonology questions.
They started at question 41.
41. Which of the following undead reproduces through biological reproduction? (2 points)
① Zombie
② Skeleton
③ Specter
④ Ghoul
⑤ Lich
‘Number 4, Ghoul. A rare case of undead that uses sexual reproduction. The offspring mature to full adults within a month, and there’s no maternal instinct in the parent entity.’
Simon quickly marked ④ and moved on.
42. When modifying a regular zombie into a berserker zombie, which of the following formulas would not be appropriate to add to the magic circle?
① Construct
② Rage
③ Scream
④ Madness
⑤ Seizure
‘It’s definitely ⑤. “Seizure” is already present in the regular zombie formula, so there’s no reason to use a redundant formula!’
Simon’s lips curled up.
He knew all the material and was solving everything with ease! He was so excited, he felt like screaming.
‘So this is how fun studying can be?’
He still vividly remembered the crushing sense of helplessness he’d felt during Jane’s first test.
But now, it was different.
Simon blazed through the test with blazing speed.
Maelyn, who was working her way through Katarology formulas, glanced up and smiled when she saw him.
‘……Hmph, looks like he really did study.’
Back during the group selection, Simon had declared that if he couldn’t surpass Maelyn’s Summonology score, he’d quit Keyzen.
Other students had overheard him, but since it wasn’t a binding contract and Maelyn herself could just let it go, it wasn’t a big issue.
‘Of course, I’m not going to let it go that easily.’
Maelyn no longer wanted Simon to leave Keyzen. Still, she owed him a debt from the Cyclops performance evaluation. Her plan was to surpass Simon in Summonology this time and settle that score.
Of course, she didn’t tell Simon any of this. She wanted him to study with a sense of urgency.
"Hey, Maelyn! Help with Darkness Dynamics, number 25!"
Suddenly, Dick burst in, shouting loudly.
Maelyn, who had been watching Simon with a serious expression, instantly turned to Dick with an irritated look.
"I told you, if you don’t know, just mark it and move on, you dimwit idiot!"
"Ugh, no can do! This uneasy feeling is going to mess with the rest of my answers if I don’t resolve it……!"
"Give up!!"
Superb.