Chapter 141
“Hoo.”
Letting out a short breath, Simon raised the ball. The bones attached to it clattered off and began sticking to Simon’s right foot like magnets.
<Bone Armor – Boots Mode>
Unlike the usual Bone Armor, where bones attached at regular intervals, this mode tightly wrapped the entire foot without a gap. Being made of bone, it wasn’t as heavy as expected, and it felt good, firmly locking the leg and foot in place.
Once the boots mode was complete, Simon flicked his wrist and tossed the ball high into the air.
His shimmering eyes traced the ball’s trajectory and timed its fall. After a mental count of two seconds, he twisted his body, slicing through the wind.
He completed two full rotations in an instant, and just at the moment when the rotational force reached its peak, his leg cut through the air like a shining blade, moving straight toward the falling ball.
Rotational force, leg strength, Internal Darkness Divergence, and the pulling power of Bone Armor.
Simon clenched his teeth and kicked the ball. A thunderous boom echoed like a cannonball firing from a turret as the ball shot out in a straight line.
Rexio’s pupils, barely holding on behind a nearly shattered glass wall, trembled with despair.
‘Ah shit, there’s no way I’m blocking—!’
Smash!
The fragile glass wall shattered with a single blow, and the ball slammed directly into Rexio’s face.
“Guhk!”
With a grunt, Rexio flew several meters, spewing a stream of nosebleed as he crashed and tumbled along the ground.
Thud.
The ball bounced a few times on the ground with a hollow sound and then rolled to a stop. Outside the court, the students stood frozen as if time had stopped.
And then—
“This!”
“We won!”
“Niceeeee!”
Explosive cheers erupted like fireworks.
Bred, who had been craning his neck looking for anything to nitpick, blew his whistle with a very displeased look.
“...Final round over. Final winner: Class A.”
“Woooooaaaah!”
Led by Maelyn and Kamibarez, Class A students rushed out, hugged Simon, and shared the moment of joy together.
A little further off, Class C students watched the scene with envy and trembled with the sting of defeat. A few pouted, their lips sticking out.
“What a show. A show. Like it even counts for grades.”
“They act like they won a national championship for a friendly match.”
“Anyone watching would think they topped the finals.”
Hearing the muttering from some Class C students, Maelyn slowly turned her head. Then she stuck her tongue out with a loud “Bleh!” and high-fived the other Class A students. The Class C students’ faces turned bright red.
Whether the score was recorded or not didn’t matter. For Keyzen students, losing in a competition was the ultimate humiliation.
“Sounds like the game’s over from all that noise?”
“Professor Hongpeng!”
From the teleportation magic circle appeared Hongpeng and his assistants, carrying a massive cauldron.
The assistants moved efficiently, laying down firewood and lighting it before setting the cauldron in place. Hongpeng, wearing gloves, opened the lid.
“Wooooaaah!”
White steam shot skyward as bubbling broth was revealed. The savory scent was so divine that even noble-born students forgot their dignity and drooled uncontrollably.
“This stew’s made from Nusluck meat, an environmentally destructive monster!”
At Hongpeng’s words, Simon gave a wry smile.
‘She’s cooking Nusluck again, huh.’
Some students looked uneasy at the mention of monster meat, but no one voiced a negative reaction. The scent alone from the cauldron was too overwhelmingly enticing.
All they could think about was tasting it.
“Don’t worry! I had a bowl earlier, and it’s a work of art!”
Dick’s voice rang out. When a student asked how he knew, he proudly said he’d been invited to Hongpeng’s cabin before.
Jealous looks from all sides fell on him.
“Ugh! That attention seeker’s at it again.”
Maelyn sighed and shook her head, while Simon and Kamibarez exchanged a quiet smile.
“Since it’s a bad monster that harms the environment, scholars should eat lots and lots of it!”
“Yes, Professor!”
“Alright! Class A, come to the front!”
Students lined up, and assistants handed out earthen bowls with a rustic look.
Hongpeng stood at the cauldron, stirring the contents with a giant ladle and personally serving each bowl. When she piled on generous portions of meat, students’ eyes widened with delight.
“Careful, the bowls are hot!”
Students took their food and found spots under the shade of nearby trees. They enjoyed the stunning view while tasting their stew.
“......!”
“This is insane!”
No one made a dramatic fuss. But the moment they took a bite, everyone instantly scooped up another spoonful.
Class C students watched with longing, swallowing hard. Most of them had rarely wanted something this desperately in their lives.
“...They talk tough, but they’ll share with us in the end, for the greater good, right?”
“Of course! That’s how heartwarming wrap-ups go, right?”
Just then, a Class C student who’d gone scouting came running back.
“There’s still some left! I think we can each get half a bowl!”
“Nice, nice!”
They all spun up their happy fantasies, but such illusions didn’t exist at Keyzen.
All remaining stew went to Hongpeng and the assistants.
The assistants ladled it into large basins, and Hongpeng sat right in front of the cauldron, scraping up every last bit.
Class C students wore devastated expressions.
“Ah, Class C! Don’t come over here!”
“Assistant! These kids are begging again!”
“Stand back, students. Rules are rules.”
It was the cruelest time imaginable from Class C’s perspective.
Slurp.
Meanwhile, Serne secretly used her feather to sneak a class A student over and tasted the stew.
“Meh. It’s whatever. What’s all the fuss about?”
She sent the student back with the feather’s power.
Sitting alone on a rock with a sullen face, she looked over at Simon, Kamibarez, Dick, and Maelyn, who were laughing and chatting away.
“I told you, the reason the meat’s so tender is because Simon pounded it with a golem!”
“Ahaha! That’s ridiculous!”
“But admit it, the one at the cabin tasted better.”
“Psh, classic case of nostalgia goggles.”
As Maelyn said that and turned her head, her eyes met Serne’s.
With the biggest smug grin, she turned her head away dramatically.
‘Ah... So this is what that feels like?’
Serne gave a bitter smile and took another spoonful of stew.
And as she kept eating… it wasn’t so bad.
* * *
That night.
After finishing all his classes and personal training, Simon headed to the dorm rooftop. A sign reading <Student Access Prohibited!> and a barrier rope were in place, but Simon silently apologized to the staff and slipped past.
The door to the rooftop was tightly locked. Glancing around, Simon spotted a window and approached. A rope dangled just outside.
‘This must be it.’
Without hesitation, Simon flung open the window, stepped onto the ledge, grabbed the rope with both hands, and leapt out. Using his arm strength, he climbed up and safely made it to the rooftop railing.
‘Ah.’
Under the moonlit sky, a man with faded gray hair sat alone.
His feet were together, head tilted back, gazing up at the full moon. There was a mysterious, solitary aura about him, like a lonely wolf.
Fwoooosh.
As the wind blew, his blade-like hair fluttered, revealing the scarred ear and cheek underneath. There were numerous old wounds, large and small.
“You’re here.”
The man spoke.
Simon smiled and sat down beside him.
“How long have you been like this, Kajan?”
“About two hours.”
“You should’ve gone inside.”
“I like looking at the moon. And once I fall asleep, I can’t get up.”
Kajan quietly opened his subspace. What he pulled out was a bottle of wine and two glass cups.
‘Wine, out of nowhere?’
He skillfully popped the cork with his bare hands and poured the wine into the glasses.
Drizzle.
The red liquid flowed along the rim of the glass. The two raised their glasses, clinked them, and took a sip.
“...It’s good.”
“It really is.”
“I enjoy drinking wine under the moonlight.”
Simon took a sip too, thinking, ‘He’s more poetic than he looks.’
As the flavor danced in his mouth, his senses sharpened. This wasn’t some cheap wine picked up from Rochest. It was top-tier.
When Simon savored the wine, appreciating its aroma, Kajan looked pleased as well.
“Thanks for lending me Erzebet.”
“Oh, not at all.”
There was a reason Simon hadn’t brought Erzebet to Deathland. It was because of the ongoing Forbidden Forest investigation and his cooperative mission with Kajan.
Erzebet was a spy-type Ancient Undead, specialized not in combat but in searching, reconnaissance, and gathering information. She had been scouting suspicious locations at night in cooperation with Kajan.
“She doesn’t seem to trust me very much.”
At Kajan’s remark, Simon chuckled.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of trust.”
“Hm?”
Simon had once asked Erzebet why she always acted so prickly around Kajan.
Lying around at the ruins, she’d pouted and launched into a rapid-fire rant about how he’d hit her in the face during a fight or something. Apparently, there had been some minor mishap during combat.
“As long as she’s competent as an ally, it doesn’t matter. More importantly—”
Kajan rummaged inside his coat.
“There has been some progress in the investigation.”
He held out a photo wrapped around his finger. A picture taken with a magical recorder. Simon’s eyes widened as he looked at it.
It was an image of an altar.
Sticky blood had dyed the surroundings a gruesome red, and beast intestines were hanging down in clumps. And in the center, a large cross was visible.
“N-No way...!”
“Yes, a priest had appeared.”
Kajan brushed back his disheveled bangs and continued.
“When we arrived at the scene, the bastard had already finished the ritual and disappeared. And when we approached the altar, we heard a little click—then boom, a bomb went off.”
Kajan abruptly unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt and lifted it up.
His muscular abs, chiseled like bricks, came into view, but the right side of his abdomen was tinted gray.
It was the mark of a wound that had been healed with a potion.
“It was all a trap.”
“Ah...!”
“I should’ve realized it the moment the goddess statue wasn’t on the cross.”
Kajan let his shirt fall back down.
“For some reason, it seems he must periodically perform this ritual. And lately, the frequency has been increasing.”
He gazed quietly at the full moon in the night sky, then took another sip of wine and continued.
“Something may happen at Keyzen soon. Stay alert.”
“...Yes, sir!”
Simon nodded firmly, his face tense. The two clinked glasses again.
Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was because they shared the same goal, or maybe it was the unspoken bond of both living in Keyzen while hiding their true identities—whatever the reason, their conversation flowed easily tonight.
They talked late into the night.
“By the way, Kajan,”
Simon cautiously observed him and spoke up,
“What was the reason you got held back?”
“……”
Kajan drained a glass of wine without a word.
“It was because of a mission.”
It had happened just last year.
As usual, while conducting a night patrol on Roke Mountain, Kajan discovered a priest performing a ritual in the Forbidden Forest.
After a fierce chase, he lost the priest, but he succeeded in seeing the face under the hood.
“Then...!”
Hearing this, Simon jumped up in surprise.
“You mean you know what the priest looks like?!”
“I’m not finished yet.”
The next day, Kajan skipped all his classes and wandered the school, searching for the face he’d seen the previous night.
Eventually, during break time, he found a first-year male student chatting with friends in a classroom.
He was sure.
No matter how many times he checked, the face matched his memory.
Kajan entered the classroom, and the student immediately panicked upon seeing him. He backed away, then turned to run.
With full certainty, Kajan tackled him to the ground and beat him senseless with his fists. The student passed out, bleeding all over his face.
However—
“He wasn’t the priest.”
Kajan poured himself another glass of wine as he spoke.
“To skip to the conclusion, it was all a trap set by the priest. He wore a biotechnical mask that looked exactly like that student and deliberately exposed himself to me.”
“...Ah!”
A biotechnical mask was a disguise tool used by necromancers to conceal their true face.
“Later, when I went to ask the student why he avoided me, he confessed that someone who looked exactly like me had been stalking him. He said the man would sit by the window of the fourth-floor dorm at night, staring silently at him.”
Simon shivered and rubbed his arms.
“I was given a heavy disciplinary action, and thanks to Lady Neftis, I barely avoided expulsion. But many restrictions were placed on my future activities.”
Kajan clenched his fist tightly.
“That bastard is meticulous and calculating. He moves with perfectly crafted plans.”
“Seems that way.”
Simon nodded. Even during the performance assessment, it was like that. He never imagined the priest would mess with the Cyclops to try and harm him.
“We even carried out a detailed investigation using mental-type black magic on staff and subordinates, but found nothing. Still, one thing is certain. That priest definitely exists on this island. We’ll have to ambush him at the scene.”
“Right.”
Thinking it wouldn’t be easy, Simon raised his wine glass.
“Now it’s your turn. Even if it was only one encounter, do you have any information that might help us identify the priest?”
“Hmm. It’s a bit vague, but—”
Simon looked at a small stone on the ground and continued,
“I left a mark on the priest that only I can recognize.”
Superb.