Chapter 206
Neftis had gifted Simon a large-capacity subspace.
Simon bowed several times, expressing his gratitude, and Neftis patted his head, saying he’d earned it. More precisely, when she stretched out her arm and jumped up and down, Simon had to crouch down briefly so she could reach.
On their way out of the shop, while Neftis and Stephanie were chatting, Simon stammered,
“B-but, is it really okay to just accept this? You said it’s something you can’t even put a price on.”
At that, Loraine gave a mischievous smile.
“You accepted it so quickly when my mom told you to try it on.”
“N-no! That was just...”
“I’m joking.”
Letting out a rare laugh, she continued,
“More importantly, how are your father and mother doing?”
“They're doing well, thanks for asking.”
“They were my mom’s comrades, so I really should go visit them with a gift sometime.”
Loraine thought Simon was unusually mature and composed for someone his age.
Like he carried different burdens on his shoulders? There were even rumors going around that Loraine had already begun to influence the management of Keyzen.
“So, what were you doing the day before school starts?”
Loraine asked.
“Doing vacation homework at the dorm with my group members. Our dorm’s really nice. We’re using the space under the clock tower. Want to come by if you’re free?”
She shook her head.
“Thanks for the invite, but I’ll pass. If I suddenly show up, it might make things awkward for the others. Besides, I need to prepare for school tomorrow too.”
“Did you finish your vacation homework?”
She raised the corners of her lips.
“About to start now~”
It’s worth mentioning again—despite Loraine having black magic skills far beyond a student’s level, her written grades weren’t exactly great.
* * *
After parting ways with Neftis and her daughter, Simon returned to the clock tower.
“Wait! This is wrong! Who told you to write the curse formula like this?!”
“Dick! This part’s wrong too!”
Everyone was in the final push.
Dick, in the center, was being bombarded with all sorts of nagging and advice from the two girls as he struggled with his homework.
“Please! Just leave me aloneeeee!”
Dick, screaming in frustration, looked up at Simon entering the dorm like he was a savior.
“Simon! Help me!”
“Sure.”
Simon changed into slippers and sat across from Dick.
“Want me to check your Summonology?”
“Ah! Not that subject!”
Too many cooks tended to spoil the broth, but with four brains combined, they managed to get Dick’s vacation homework to a roughly acceptable state.
Simon and Kamibarez then sat side by side and wrapped up their own homework.
“I’m looking forward to the opening ceremony tomorrow~”
She said as she put down her quill. Catching the new topic, Dick quickly jumped into the conversation.
“We’ll get to see the new professors at the ceremony! Did you know? It’s not just Professor Belya of Toxicology who's new, Haematology’s getting a new professor too!”
“Yeah.”
“Yup.”
Dick fell silent. That wasn’t the reaction he wanted.
“T-then, you don’t know who the new Haematology professor is, right...?”
“Professor Walter Han.”
Simon replied briefly.
“I actually saw him this morning, Dick.”
Kamibarez said with a bright smile. Dick clutched his forehead with a bitter expression.
“......Man, that was supposed to be my trump card info.”
“Hey!! Didn’t I tell you to stop fooling around?!”
Crash! came the sound from beyond the wall, and then Maelyn popped out, now in pajamas. Her hair was tied up with a string, and her freshly washed face was glowing.
Dick, caught slacking, quickly pretended to be studying.
“Maelyn! Let’s have a pajama party!”
Kamibarez clapped her hands as she said it. Maelyn nodded.
“After we make the boys finish all their homework.”
“Hehe, looks like it won’t happen tonight.”
“......Sob. Stop bullying me, all of you. I’m the one who even secured this dorm, and this is how you treat me.”
“You want praise for that? You should’ve just done your homework earlier.”
As the three of them chattered noisily, Simon crossed his arms with a smile.
“Anyway, about the integrated second semester. I heard it's a semi-wartime curriculum, how’s that going to work?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Maelyn said, resting her chin on her hand as she sat down.
“At the start of the break, it felt like war could break out any second. But now they’re saying things have calmed down on the Holy Federation’s side, right? So I don’t see why we wouldn’t just go back to peacetime classes.”
“Why did things calm down, anyway?”
“Oh, that, that!”
Dick jumped in excitedly, sensing a story he could tell.
“They say that weird cult—Blood Heaven Cult or something—drew all the aggro! They tried to pit the Holy Federation against us!”
“Yeah. It was a huge issue even in the Dark Alliance.”
At that point, Simon quietly averted his gaze.
Looking back, it still felt surreal that he had been right in the middle of that historic moment.
'Lete, Ellen, Lady Israfil… I wonder if you're all doing well. I hope Metin’s recovered from his divine burnout.'
Then Dick came up and slung an arm around Simon’s neck.
“Hey, what are you daydreaming about now? Don’t keep all the juicy thoughts to yourself—share some with me!”
“Haha! No, it wasn’t anything juicy.”
Late into the night, the four of them laughed and chattered, finishing up their preparations for the new semester.
* * *
Early dawn.
“Yaaaawn.”
“Yaaahm.”
Simon packed his bags while listening to the yawns of still-sleepy Dick and Kamibarez.
Maelyn, as tireless as ever, kept nagging, while Simon, thanks to his strong constitution, swiftly got everything ready and even cleaned up without complaint.
“Thanks for the good times!”
With Dick’s shout, the four of them left the clock tower dorm. They walked along the still-quiet streets where a few shopkeepers were sweeping their yards, preparing for the day.
Before heading to the gathering point, the four stopped by the bookstore.
Originally, they had planned to buy second-semester textbooks the day before, but unforeseen events pushed that to today. Of course, buying textbooks in Rochest was expensive, so most students bought them here before heading to Roke Island.
Inside the store, it was crowded with other first-years who came for the same reason.
“Oh! It’s Maelyn!”
“Simon!”
They ran into familiar students from Class A. There was Jaime Victoria, the master of questions and honorary class rep, and also Cindy Vivace, the ace of Spiritology in Class A.
While Maelyn and Jaime chatted away, Cindy nudged Simon’s elbow with a grin.
“Hey, how’ve you been?”
“Same old, same old.”
Simon replied while holding onto his wallet in his pocket. Seeing that, Cindy laughed brightly.
“I’m not gonna steal it this time, jeez!”
Seeing the other Class A students for the first time in two months made him really happy. It also made the reality of school starting hit harder.
Kamibarez and Dick joined in, and soon everyone was catching up on how they’d spent the break.
Meanwhile, Maelyn and Jaime were too absorbed in their chatter and had drifted a little farther ahead. Jamie let out a whistle.
“Wow~ You got even prettier over the break! Look at that shiny hair!”
“Thanks for the flattery.”
Maelyn replied flatly, but she wasn’t in a bad mood. She had, in fact, put a lot of effort into growing her hair for her stage performance.
“Ah, but I’m a little jealous.”
Jaime sighed.
“My group’s all girls. But you’ve got two boys tagging along.”
“W-what do you mean tagging along?!”
Maelyn shouted, her face turning red. Jaime caught her reaction and gave a knowing smile.
“Come on, tell me. Which one?”
“H-hey! Don’t! The others will hear...!”
“Is it Dick, maybe?”
“Are you insane.”
Maelyn answered with a completely serious expression. Jaime, satisfied with the answer, giggled mischievously.
“If you ever need help, you can come to your big sis~”
"That’s not it, so cut the crap and mind your own love life. Didn’t you say you liked Hector?"
This time, it was Jaime’s face that turned red.
"Hey!! If you really say that out loud...!"
"What are you two talking about?"
But their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Cindy Vivace. She was infamous among the girls for being extremely loose-lipped.
As both of them fell silent at once, Cindy seemed to misunderstand and looked at Maelyn.
"Wow, Maelyn, you like Hector? That’s... a taste."
"...Wanna be frozen or burned?"
Having purchased all their textbooks, the four of them stepped out of the bookstore.
There were many routes to enter Roke Island, but most who came to Langerstine rode the Underworld Whale. Simon’s group was no different.
"This is my first time riding the Underworld Whale!"
Kamibarez said excitedly. Dick, chewing on some dried jerky he bought as a snack, asked,
"Then what’d you ride during the entrance ceremony?"
"I flew in on a huge eagle-like creature from the Kingdom of Carlos! It perched on a building, then lifted the whole thing and dropped us onto Roke Island."
"...Whoa, as expected of Keyzen. The scale’s nuts."
The four of them arrived at the pier.
Just like before, a massive ship was docked, and attendants were managing the students, ushering them aboard. Dick was busily explaining things to Kamibarez.
"Once we’re on the ship, the Underworld Whale comes and swallows us whole!"
"Wow!"
"You four."
At that moment, a man wearing a cloak adorned with black crow feathers looked over at them.
"Enough chatting. Move along. You’re holding up the people behind you."
"Ah, yessir! Sorry, sir!"
Dick bowed and quickly ran toward the ship.
"Guys, did you see that? That was a Crow!"
The "Crows"—an elite organization of necromancer agents forming the core combat force of Keyzen HQ. Even professors like Bahil belonged to it.
Maelyn’s expression turned serious.
"Looks like it’s not professors this time. If the Crows showed up, something must be wrong."
"Oho."
Dick’s eyes gleamed. He loved conspiracy theories. A nervous Kamibarez quickly shook her head.
"D-don’t you think you’re reading too much into it? Maybe they’re just short on staff?"
"Let’s board. We’ll get scolded again."
Simon said. The four of them sat down together, and soon other students began to board as well.
Hector and his group could be seen too, but fortunately, they didn’t notice Simon’s group and went down to the lower deck.
Eventually, all the Keyzen students who had been in Langerstine were aboard. After receiving the headcount from attendants, the Crow agent was the last to board.
"Agent, we’ll be arriving in five minutes."
At the attendant’s report, the Crow waved his hand wearily. The attendants scurried around, shouting for everyone to fasten their seatbelts.
‘It’s been a while since the Underworld Whale.’
Simon fastened his belt, heart pounding.
"There it is!"
A massive wall of sea spray surged up from the horizon. The students, half nervous and half excited at the thought of returning to Keyzen, erupted in cheers.
Swooosh!
The towering spray burst open, and from within emerged the Underworld Whale, swallowing the entire ship before diving back into the sea.
* * *
"You may now remove your seatbelts."
The ship, along with everyone aboard, had safely arrived inside the Underworld Whale.
The students immediately began chattering noisily as they unbuckled and stood. Despite being inside a whale, the interior was warm and comfortable.
Attendants moved about, serving the students snacks and desserts. There was even a menu to choose from.
Simon picked a cream coffee.
"I-it’s a little scary."
Kamibarez, eyes wide, looked around the whale’s crimson innards as she spoke. Dick chuckled and said,
"Don’t worry, we’re not going all the way into the stomach. And wait till you see what comes next, it’s the real highlight!"
"Highlight?"
"Yeah, we drop straight from several thousand meters in the sky down to the Keyzen campus. The sunrise view then is the chef's kiss."
At the mention of thousands of meters, Kamibarez shuddered in fear.
Maelyn was about to slap Dick on the back, scolding him for scaring Kami, when—
KWAANG!
Suddenly, the ship began to shake violently.
"W-what was that?"
"An explosion?"
Dick looked at Maelyn in alarm.
"How hard did you hit me?!"
"You idiot! Like I could do that!"
KWAANG! KUUUUNG!
The tremors grew more intense, and they heard the Underworld Whale crying out in pain. Simon grabbed onto the ship’s railing.
‘...What’s going on?’
His vision began to blur.
Then—BANG! A thunderous roar, and the ship jolted violently as Simon lost consciousness.
* * *
Swaaashhhhh!
The sound of waves crashing.
Simon slowly lifted his eyelids.
His mouth tasted like dirt, and his head was ringing.
Swaaashhh.
Seawater washed over Simon’s body. He realized he had his face buried in a sandbank.
He couldn’t make sense of anything. Planting his arms into the ground, he struggled to raise his upper body.
"...Dick? Maelyn? Kami? Where are you guys?"
Simon called out for his friends as he looked around, but none of them were there. He was completely alone.
Swaaashhh...
His gaze turned belatedly toward the sea. The waves coming in were red.
"!"
Simon jumped up and turned around. What he saw through the thick sea fog made his eyes widen.
The massive Underworld Whale he had just been riding was floating far away, belly-up. The sea was dyed red with the blood pouring from it.
"What the hell happened?"
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time