Chapter 85
Morning began to break.
Maelyn, who had been lying under Simon’s robe, let out a soft groan and lifted her upper body.
She sat there blankly for a moment, then looked around quickly.
“...Simon?”
Simon was nowhere to be found.
There was only a campfire with embers still glowing, some scattered fruit, and skewers ready to be grilled. Alongside them was a note from Simon.
<Sorry, I had a personal matter to take care of, so I’m heading out first.>
Upon reading the note, her expression turned sullen.
“...What the heck, it’s not like I wanted to team up with you anyway.”
Grumbling aloud for no real reason, she pouted and reignited the campfire flames.
‘Be careful, Simon.’
* * *
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
At the same time, Haren Koak and his team members were combing through the jungle.
‘Where the hell did that bastard go?’
Haren had spotted Simon crossing the river into Kera Island and immediately chased after him, but due to the dense, tangled jungle and the constant attacks from monsters, he ended up losing his trail.
It wasn’t looking good.
He had, by sheer luck, been given an opportunity by “that person”, but at this rate, he might have to return to Keyzen without accomplishing anything.
‘Tch.’
Haren reached into his inner pocket and fiddled with some feathers. Of the five feathers he’d had, he had already used two.
Irritated, he scratched his head roughly and looked back.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing? Search properly, you punk!”
“Y-Yeah! I’ll do better!”
The boy, who was sniffing the ground like a dog, couldn’t even make proper eye contact with Haren.
The other team members watching this scene looked utterly bewildered.
Who wouldn’t be?
‘...Why is Malcolm acting like a total loser around that guy?’
The one sniffing the ground was none other than Special Admission No. 10—Malcolm Randolph, who had once fought evenly with Hector.
Every member of the group was there because of Malcolm. Even Haren was one of the students who had latched onto Malcolm for his power and influence.
But now, suddenly, the roles seemed completely reversed.
What’s more, Haren wasn’t even trying to lead the team toward the mansion. All he cared about was circling the forest in pursuit of Special Admission No. 1, Simon Follentia.
“Hold on, Haren.”
Unable to stand it anymore, a female student approached Haren.
“How long are you going to keep wandering around like this? This is already day three. If we don’t make it to the mansion soon, it’ll be dangerous. The entire central island’s about to become a battlefield!”
Haren casually picked at his ear.
“You’ve been bitching nonstop. If you don’t like it, get lost from my team.”
“Your team? Since when was this your team? Malcolm is the leader of this team!”
“Oh yeah?”
Haren sneered and turned around to look.
“What do you think, Malcolm?”
As soon as Haren asked that—
Thud!
Malcolm dropped to the dirt, pressing his forehead to the ground and sticking his butt up in the air.
“Of course you’re the leader, Haren! You’re the only one fit to lead!”
“Haha!”
Malcolm’s bizarre behavior made the girl bite her lip in frustration.
‘No matter how I look at it, something’s not right.’
Her name was Emily. She was in Class M, just like Malcolm, and they were in the same team.
It was unthinkable for someone as proud and competitive as Malcolm to behave like this.
“Tell me the truth. What did you do to Malcolm?”
Emily demanded, and Haren simply shrugged.
“What nonsense is that? Did I do anything? He’s just obsessed with me, isn’t he?”
“Don’t lie!”
She activated her Core and opened her palm. A magic circle appeared instantly in her hand.
“Return Malcolm to his original self, right now!”
“Wow, unbelievable.”
Haren scoffed.
“Think about it. Logically. Does something like black magic that can force someone into submission even exist? I mean, maybe. But could a first-year student like us use such powerful mind-type black magic?”
“......”
Not just Emily, but everyone present had no counter to that.
Saying he used some trick, or that he found Malcolm’s weakness, those were just guesses. The most frustrating part was that Malcolm himself offered no explanation.
‘But this girl... she’s getting real annoying, always yapping around me.’
Haren smirked slyly and said to Emily:
“Alright, fine. I’ll give you a hint.”
“......?”
“But you can’t tell anyone else, got it? Come closer.”
As he gestured, Emily’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Emily! Don’t go!”
A male student standing behind her called out.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but Malcolm is done. You should get away from these guys—”
“No, I’ll go.”
Emily stepped confidently toward Haren.
She had to uncover the curse Malcolm was under. And if Haren tried using it on her, so much the better.
Emily was rare among necromancers, someone with a natural resistance to curses.
If he tried to curse her, she could analyze it based on her reaction. If things got dicey, she had five teammates nearby.
As Emily approached, Haren gave a greasy grin.
“Closer. I said others shouldn’t hear.”
“......”
Though anger boiled inside her, she held it in, for Malcolm’s sake.
She shut her eyes tight and stepped up to him. Just then, Haren grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Kyaa!”
“Emily!”
The boy who had been watching immediately drew his Darkness Blade.
But nothing really happened.
Haren merely leaned in and whispered a few words into her ear, then stepped back as she nodded.
“Huaaam~ Boring.”
Haren yawned and looked at her.
“Hey, girl. Sit like a dog.”
“......!!”
Everyone in the group looked outraged.
“You bastard! That’s way over the line—!”
However—
Emily actually crouched on the spot, sticking her tongue out like a dog. Everyone’s faces turned pale.
“What? She’s doing exactly what I told her.”
Haren shrugged and chuckled.
“Alright, now dance or something.”
“Emily! Don’t do it!”
As Emily started to stand to comply, one teammate rushed over and held her back tightly.
“Why are you acting like this?! Snap out of it!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Haren clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.
“This is a goddamn comedy show! Ah, this is killing me!”
“Hareeeeeeen!”
Finally, the boy with the Darkness Blade couldn’t take it and charged at Haren.
Crack!
A staff came flying from the side, smashing into the boy’s face and sending him flying.
The other students stepped back, eyes wide in fear.
“Oh dear, did you forget who’s standing next to me?”
Next to Haren, who was speaking, stood Malcolm, brandishing his staff with a murderous aura, ready for combat.
“Tch, wasting more feathers on these bastards would be a shame. Doesn’t look like they’ll listen, anyway.”
Haren gestured with his hand.
“Just take care of them all, Malcolm.”
With just that one command, Malcolm lunged like a demon.
It didn’t take long before all the remaining students were lying on the ground.
* * *
At the same time.
Simon had returned to the very place where he’d fought Maelyn, searching for clues. But he wasn’t getting anywhere.
‘Why did Viccrum appear right at that moment?’
Simon recalled the battle with Maelyn.
Was it the noise from the intense fight that provoked it? But that didn’t quite make sense, there were battles happening all over the island.
Maybe it was just sensitive to fire? That seemed iffy too.
‘Feer, does anything come to mind?’
[…]
Feer, who usually enjoyed chatting, had become uncharacteristically quiet since the encounter with Viccrum.
“Is something wrong?”
[Hm. No, nothing really. If I had to say something, the biggest reason Viccrum grows is rage. Meaning—]
‘He might harbor hostility toward me?’
Simon crossed his arms. That could make it a case similar to Erzebet, who held a grudge against the Legion.
But that didn’t entirely make sense. Viccrum had been incredibly loyal to the Legion, even to the point of self-sacrifice.
[However—]
Feer’s projection spoke up.
[I’d need to leave subspace to be sure, but… it definitely felt different from the Viccrum I knew.]
‘Hmm.’
[Be careful, boy. I have a bad feeling.]
‘Yeah. I’ll proceed toward the center and search thoroughly as I go.’
Simon pressed forward without hesitation.
Indeed, as he moved closer to the center, the frequency of monster appearances decreased, while signs of Keyzen students became more frequent.
It was now day three.
With everyone's Tongue Pad points relatively high, defeating other students had become more beneficial than hunting monsters.
Crunch.
Simon stopped in his tracks. At some point, the surrounding noise had gone eerily quiet.
He scanned the area with a tense expression, and spotted someone hiding behind a tree.
‘...What the?’
A hand was visible, hugging the tree from behind. Why bother hiding if you're going to do that?
“If you have business with me, come out.”
At that, the person hiding behind the tree revealed themselves without resistance.
“...!”
Simon’s face went beyond pale, drained white.
She wore a Keyzen uniform, but it was a face that absolutely shouldn’t be here. A face that couldn’t, or rather, mustn’t appear.
‘Why are you… here…?’
It was Ellen Zile, the expelled student from the Efnelle mission.
She waved and smiled.
As Simon took a step forward, she quickly turned and bolted into the woods.
“Wait!”
Simon chased after her in a panic. Gasping for breath, he followed her deep into the forest, where she crouched, gazing at a flower blooming on the ground.
As he approached, she smiled sweetly and ran again.
‘Who the hell is pulling this crap?!’
His head spun. He could tell at a glance that this wasn’t the real Ellen, but he had no choice but to chase.
Ellen Zile climbed trees, danced like a ballerina, and even brought her hands together in prayer.
No matter how hard Simon ran, he couldn’t catch up to her.
And finally—
“Huff! Huff!”
He arrived at a clearing in the forest.
“...!”
What he saw before him was a massacre.
Nearly twenty Keyzen students were writhing on the ground, screaming in agony.
“S-Save… us…!”
Crash!
From above, a crimson-red spear descended from a tree and pierced through a student’s body. He screamed as if actually impaled and then went limp.
Soon after, a forced teleport activated, and all that remained was a clump of magical energy ejected by the Tongue Pad.
Squelch! Crack! Thud!
Hellish scenes unfolded everywhere. Screams echoed like a twisted harmony.
Nearly twenty students were being eliminated without even putting up a fight. One by one, they vanished, leaving only the magic clumps behind.
“Stop! Stop it!”
One student shouted toward the sky.
“Why are you doing this to us?! What did we do wrong?!”
At that moment, his body was bound by thick chains and fixed into a frame.
The frame was a bloodstained cross. During the Hundred Years’ War, Efnelle would execute necromancers by hanging them on crimson crosses.
A symbol of death.
The cross was raised into the air, where sharp spears were already waiting.
The student, sobbing in terror, screamed out:
“Pleaaaaaase stop!”
Thud! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
Spears stabbed him countless times. His body went limp. The barrier on his protective suit disappeared, and the forced teleport activated.
Simon saw, in the final moment, a feather flutter down and touch the student’s forehead.
On the ground, other students were still struggling to escape. One was caught in chains and locked into the stocks of a massive guillotine.
“Stop! Stop! Please!”
“I’ll do anything! Just let me—!”
The guillotine fell mercilessly, silencing them.
“......”
Simon watched it all with a cold expression. Then, he lifted his head.
Sitting leisurely in the trees, as if watching a show, was someone obscured by deep shadows, only a silhouette could be seen.
“You’re all such drama queens.”
A youthful voice rang from the darkness.
“You’re wearing protective suits. It’s not like you actually die. And when you go back, your memories will be cleanly erased too.”
“......”
Simon clenched his fist.
“What’s the point of all this?”
From the shadows, a girl with ivory hair smiled chillingly.
“…For fun?”
Superb.