Chapter 107
“Now, now, everyone calm down.”
The man who had stepped down from the chair turned around and spoke.
“In the end, Simon will be the one to choose, so isn’t it right to let him make the decision?”
The presidents of the Curse Research Club and the Sadam Club clicked their tongues. The man stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest.
“I am Andre, the third prince of the Dresden Kingdom. And Noble is a gathering of future rulers who will one day govern the Federation.”
A prince…! A member of the royal family is in Keyzen?
As Simon tried to bow in respect, Andre raised a hand to stop him.
“No need for that. In Keyzen, the only thing that determines a person’s worth is skill.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Back to the main point. Noble is an organization that sketches the grand blueprint of the Dark Alliance. Once we’re adults, representing our respective affiliations and trying to get what we want from one another would involve considerable diplomatic costs, but right now, aren’t we simply students? I believe there are promises we can make while we are still students.”
Andre’s eyes gleamed.
“Noble, we move the continent as students.”
So that’s what a power circle meant. Simon nodded in understanding.
“All the students of Keyzen wish to join Noble, but the requirements are strict. One’s parents must be nobles of at least marquis rank or possess wealth and power equivalent to that. Your classmate, Elisa, has also joined our club.”
The one with the Special Admission No. 7 who floated a ghost ship in the sky? Somehow, it made sense.
“But I don’t have anything that could be called power.”
“No! You too qualify. As a student with Special Admission No. 1, you fall under a special clause…”
“Ugh, you talk too damn much. That’s enough.”
The president of the Sadam Club pushed Andre’s face aside and stepped forward. While Andre was waving his finger and repeatedly shouting, “How dare a commoner be so rude!”, she completely ignored him and said,
“First-year, if you join Sadam, I’ll teach you how to fully harness the blood in your SM-1 to wield limitless Darkness.”
This time, the president of the Curse Research Club stepped forward.
“What’s that compared to this? You said you aspire to study Summonology, right?”
He pulled out a magical projector from his coat and activated it. A cursed undead with eyes and a body resembling rotting wood appeared.
“This is a rare type of cursed undead, Dead Baron. We’ve already secured it, and if you want, we’ll provide it to you free of charge. I’ll even teach you how to operate it.”
“Hey, you!”
“Curses are an inseparable field for necromancers, and they have wide utility. If you combine Katarology with your Summonology, the synergy will be…”
“Out of the way!”
Prince Andre shoved both of them aside and came forward to the center.
“What’s the point of any of that! Power, power is what matters! Everything we struggle for here is for future power! Joining Noble is the fastest way to reach the ultimate goal…”
“Get lost already!”
“You move aside! And you stink, take a bath or something!”
“It’s my body’s constitution!”
The three upperclassmen tangled into a brawl. Simon let out a small sigh and bowed politely to them.
“My apologies. I’d like to take some time to think about it.”
Leaving only those words, Simon turned his back and walked toward the dormitory building.
The three watched Simon’s retreating figure with confident smiles.
‘He’s definitely coming to our side!’
* * *
Simon hadn’t been particularly interested in joining a club.
As soon as he returned to the dorm, he unpacked and headed straight to the Forbidden Forest, crossing into Feer’s ruins. He took out all the skeletons and corpse spiders from subspace, and finally, it was time for this one.
[Take it out quickly, Commander!]
“Alright.”
Simon carefully opened the subspace and retrieved the Overlord.
‘Damn, still crazy no matter how many times I see it.’
Even Feer, Erzebet, and the surrounding skeletons and corpse spiders grew curious and came closer to take a look.
But the Overlord, being a highly alert type, waved its long limbs threateningly to keep the undead at bay.
‘It really is fascinating.’
A kraken that evoked images of an octopus, squid, or jellyfish was clearly a boneless invertebrate-type monster.
And yet, it was composed of bones and moved by a necromancer. On the surface, it looked like a model octopus assembled out of bones.
Simon gently ran his hand along the kraken’s limbs.
According to Finch’s earlier explanation, the kraken’s bones were so soft at first that they had to undergo cryo-treatment and be infused with a large amount of flexible mithril. That had proven to be a brilliant move. The result was a blade that was both flexible and razor-sharp.
“Good.”
Simon connected with the kraken’s consciousness and moved its tentacles. Watching the limbs whip through the air exactly as he willed was exhilarating.
Since it was his first time with a monster of this type, his control was still rough, but with a bit of practice, he felt confident he’d improve quickly.
[Would you like to test it out?]
Before he realized it, Erzebet was holding a flat rock fragment and waving.
[Think of this as the target and try to hit it!]
Simon grinned and extended his right arm.
Shraaack!
A single tentacle shot out at terrifying speed. When it changed direction mid-flight, Erzebet flinched in surprise and tossed the rock upward as she fled.
The tentacle pursued it in a curve and pierced the center of the rock.
[I-I’m shocked, Commander!]
“Ah, sorry. Still not used to controlling it.”
But—
He had only swung the Overlord once, yet the sensation in his hand was electrifying. It was an undead with an incredibly satisfying control feel.
[It’s a rare specimen, but neither its power nor speed leaves anything to be desired. It’s worth the price. However—]
Feer crossed her arms.
[The Overlord has a critical flaw.]
“What is it?”
[Its main body has virtually no defense.]
That was true. Since the Overlord wasn’t a naturally occurring undead, its body couldn’t be formed with bones alone.
Thus, it incorporated a great deal of artificial engineering. But if this body were to be destroyed…
[Then it can’t be restored to its original form.]
Finch, the original creator, was gone now.
Once destroyed, that would be the end. The Overlord was an undead that couldn’t use the typical skeleton ability of “Restoration”.
[To utilize it fully in actual combat, you’ll probably have to go through a lot of trial and error. But it can’t be helped. The Overlord is a unique undead, one that only you possess on this entire continent, boy!]
“…A unique undead.”
[Exactly! So no one can teach you how to use it. You’ll have to figure out the method that suits the Overlord yourself!]
“That’s definitely true.”
Simon crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.
“Ah! Then how about this?”
Simon put the Overlord back into subspace.
“If external attacks are a threat, why not just put the body into the safe subspace? And then!”
Simon pulled an imaginary lever again.
“If I open the subspace and only extend the limbs like this…!”
Simon gestured into the air. When nothing happened, he grunted and issued repeated commands, but the Overlord didn’t respond.
“What the, why isn’t it listening…?”
Shraaack!
Suddenly, one of the Overlord’s limbs stretched out from subspace and crashed into the wall of the ruins in front of them.
Bang!
The tip of the tentacle shattered the wall and embedded itself deeply.
‘Wow.’
[Amazing, Commander!]
Feeling the exhilarating feedback in his hands, Simon issued a command to retrieve the tentacle. But again, the Overlord remained unresponsive.
[Since it’s in subspace, the thought connection isn’t stable.]
Feer said.
[The kraken, being a creature that normally can’t become a skeleton, has poor thought transmission. And being inside the subspace weakens it even further.]
‘Hmm.’
The power was undeniable.
But a crossbow that doesn’t fire when you pull the trigger, if you have to pull it repeatedly for it to maybe work, it’s too unreliable to use as a mainstay weapon.
“There’s a lot to improve and research.”
Still, Simon’s heart was racing.
It was now up to him to figure out how to make the most of this powerful asset. There was plenty of room for improvement.
* * *
After spending time practicing how to operate the Overlord in Feer’s ruins, Simon returned to the dormitory.
But there was a note from Dick on his desk. It said the team members were having a study session in an empty classroom and invited him to come by.
Simon grabbed a few textbooks and headed to the building Dick had mentioned.
Outside, the second-year seniors were making their last-ditch efforts to recruit juniors into their clubs. As far as Simon knew, the deadline to join clubs was tomorrow.
‘Clubs, huh.’
It wasn’t like Simon hadn’t thought about it, but none of the clubs had really clicked with him yet. His thoughts were also pretty occupied with the Overlord lately.
“…Hi.”
A voice suddenly came from nowhere, startling Simon into turning his head.
A male student with dark circles under his eyes and slouched shoulders was approaching. Noticing the red insignia on his collar, Simon gave a small bow.
“Ah, senior. Please go ahead.”
“Here… if it’s okay, take this…”
He handed Simon a flyer.
“I mean, it’d be nice if you came by… but I know you won’t… yaaawn.”
Yawning, the student shuffled off elsewhere.
Simon thought he was an odd one and unfolded the flyer.
<Special Undead Research Club: ‘Mutation’>
The name was definitely unusual. And this was the first Summonology-related club Simon had seen among all the ones he’d been invited to.
‘What exactly do they do?’
“Oh? Hey! Simon!”
A cheerful voice called from down the hallway. It was Maelyn.
“What’re you doing at the door instead of coming in?”
She said this and gave Simon a sharp smack on the back.
With an “Ugh”, Simon collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Hey, hey! What’s wrong with you?!”
She jumped back in surprise.
“I’m still… injured…”
“I-I-Injured?! You should’ve said so earlier, you idiot!”
“…You didn’t even give me time to say anything.”
The noisy commotion made Dick and Kamibarez open the classroom door to see what was going on. Both of them had snacks in their mouths.
“…?”
The two looked back and forth between Simon, who was lying on the floor, and Maelyn, whose face had gone beet red as she panicked.
“Maelyn…”
Dick shook his head slowly.
“In the end, blinded by grades and jealousy, you’ve assaulted your friend…”
“That’s not it, you psycho!”
Superb.