Chapter 402
Two days passed, and the students who had taken the alternative promotion exam returned to Roke Island.
‘I couldn’t get discharged after all.’
Just as Simon clicked his tongue and stared out the window, the door opened with a sliding sound.
“Ah!”
A girl with light purple hair, eyes brimming with tears, appeared. Simon waved his hand with a soft smile.
“Long time no see, Kami.”
She looked like she’d burst into tears if poked, and indeed, fat drops rolled down her cheeks. Then, she smiled more brightly than ever before.
“Simoooon!”
She ran up and buried her face in Simon’s chest as he sat on the bed. A subtle lavender scent lingered in the air, and her tears soaked into his hospital gown.
Simon gently patted her on the shoulder.
“Hey! Simon!!”
“You’re really okay?”
Following her, Maelyn and Dick burst into the room, panting and red-faced.
It was clear they had run full speed up the slope after coming through the teleportation magic circle.
Simon smiled nonchalantly, not wanting to worry them.
“I’m fine. Totally fine.”
Only then did Maelyn and Dick’s expressions show deep relief.
From Simon’s chest, a hiccup-filled mumble could be heard—words that seemed to say, ‘I’m really glad.’
“...Geez, don’t make us worry like that. I could barely focus during the exam!”
Maelyn said with a pout, crossing her arms.
“Hey, Simon! Do you even know how crazy things got?”
Dick flailed his arms, his face still flushed with excitement.
“Come on, spill the story about fighting the Blood Heaven Cult!”
“C-Calm down.”
Simon began explaining what had happened, at least within the limits of what he could share.
All three of them were left speechless when he told them about the Blood Heaven Cult led by Sillage.
“I-I’d heard the story, but hearing it from Simon makes it even more shocking.”
Kamibarez bowed her head deeply.
The revelation that Sillage and Walter were the same person, and that he was the mastermind and archbishop of the Blood Heaven Cult, was a twist right out of a nightmare.
Dick leaned back against the window and said,
“So yeah, now Lady Neftis is smashing the cult to bits. She even tracked down ‘Inquisitor General Leight’ and looked ready to kill him. Things are pretty tense on Roke Island because of the war atmosphere.”
“Luckily, it looks like there won’t be a war with the Holy Federation. The Inquisitor General isn’t actually behind it.”
Maelyn blinked.
“You sound pretty sure.”
“I talked with Lady Neftis.”
The four of them continued chatting, unraveling the details of the recent chaos.
Then Simon suddenly blinked and looked around at them.
“Wait a minute, how did your promotion exams go?”
At his question, all three of them lowered their heads at the same time and went quiet. A heavy atmosphere settled over the room.
“N-No way...”
As Simon glanced nervously at them, he noticed Dick’s eyebrow twitch, Maelyn covering her mouth to stifle a grin, and Kamibarez clearly fidgeting like a terrible actor.
Simon couldn’t hold back his smile.
“Congrats, everyone!”
“Waaah!”
At last, the three burst into cheers, their faces beaming.
“Second-years! We’re finally Keyzen second-years now, Simon!”
Overjoyed, Kamibarez jumped up and down and hugged Maelyn.
“Yep! Now we’ve got the same qualifications as pro necromancers!”
“Hehehe, first-year kids next year better be ready! This senior’s gonna smother you with affection!”
Dick rubbed his palms together with a creepy smile. Maelyn quickly snapped at him.
“Hey! You don’t get to celebrate yet. You passed the exam, but your overall grades were so borderline, nothing’s confirmed!”
“Ehh, I’m sure it’ll all work out.”
“Honestly, the only ones with confirmed promotions are Simon and Maelyn. I’m a little worried about my finals and performance scores.”
Simon gave a soft smile.
“It’s going to be fine, Kami.”
At those words, Kamibarez gave a puppy-like smile in return.
“Yes! Simon!”
Bang!
Just as the mood warmed up, the door to the ward burst open and an unexpected visitor entered.
“What the—how did he find this place?”
Dick muttered in surprise.
The boy who had surpassed Shatel and claimed first place in this exam.
It was Hector.
Ignoring the others, he looked directly at Simon, who lay in bed.
“Is your body okay.”
The three looked stunned. Hector, asking after Simon?
Simon simply gave a small nod.
“Hurry up and recover and keep your promise. You’ve got three days.”
With that, Hector turned to leave.
“...Oh, come on! Do you really have to do that in front of a patient?”
Step.
Hector, just about to close the door, froze. Maelyn growled and shouted.
“Simon’s a patient! He ended up like this saving us! He doesn’t have to respond to your selfish challenge—!”
“The choice,”
Hector turned again, looking at Simon,
“Is his to make.”
“...You!”
“I said three days because that’s when the second-year promotion ceremony takes place.”
Hector clenched his fist.
“Let me make this clear, I’m not waiting till the end of break.”
“Alright. A promise is a promise.”
Simon smiled lightly.
“See you after the promotion ceremony.”
A grin tugged at Hector’s lips too.
“I knew you’d say that.”
Whoosh!
Hector spun on his heel and strode out, his uniform fluttering. A moment of cold silence passed.
“You idiot! What do you mean, ‘see you after the ceremony’? You’re supposed to go home!”
Maelyn shrieked.
“Y-Yeah! Fighting right after getting discharged...”
Kamibarez clasped her hands together and nodded.
“Ahem. I respect it.”
Dick suddenly lowered his voice and tried to act profound.
“Men have fights they can’t avoid—”
As Maelyn and Kamibarez shot daggers at him, Dick quickly backtracked.
“—Maybe! But this might not be the time! Hahaha! Recovery comes first. Yep.”
Simon calmed everyone down.
“Thanks for worrying, really. But I’m fine. My body’s healing steadily, and... I’ve got something I want to try against Hector.”
“Something you want to try?”
Simon grinned and held out both hands.
“Yeah. I developed a new technique while I was in the hospital. Wanna see?”
“...In the hospital?”
The three of them looked at Simon like he’d gone completely insane.
* * *
A day before the second-year promotion ceremony, Simon was discharged.
In the meantime, the comprehensive first-year rankings were released.
It was the combined total of the first semester and both terms of the second semester.
Midterms, finals, performance evaluations, duel assessments, mission evaluations, dispatch evaluations, the BMAT, and the promotion exam—all rolled into one.
“I did it!!”
Spinning in his dorm chair, Simon held his report card high in the air.
[Rank 1, Simon Follentia]
A gold-shining rank one mark. And next to it, the word ‘Top Student’!
He couldn’t believe it. He checked and checked again.
He was so happy, he nearly cried.
Without any prior learning, he had entered with only his Core unlocked and made it this far.
Just for today, he figured it would be okay to feel proud of himself.
‘Honestly, it was super close.’
His midterm scores nearly dragged him down. Thankfully, due to Keyzen’s system that emphasized practical ability, and the war-prep nature of the integrated second semester, the weighting of the first semester had been reduced, allowing him to clinch the top rank overall.
Had it been a normal first and second semester, Simon might’ve been pushed out of the top ten. In fact, the score difference between him and second and third place was minimal.
‘Guess I really can’t let my guard down next year either.’
Still, top is top. He felt great. Smiling from ear to ear, Simon scrolled down to check the rankings below him.
[Rank 2, Shatel Maer]
As expected, second place was the half-giant Shatel.
He’d been defeated by Simon in the duel evaluation, and by Hector in the promotion exam, but with a well-rounded performance across practical and written evaluations, he secured second place.
[Rank 3, Hector Moore]
This was a victory of sheer willpower.
Hector, a non-special-admissions student, had made it to third place through blood-sweat effort. His scores were nearly on par with Simon and Shatel.
In truth, Simon, Shatel, and Hector were so close that it was hard to definitively rank the three.
[Rank 4, Merida Hugh Ikel]
Special Admission No. 4, Merida Hugh Ikel, maintained her position with a stable performance and landed in fourth place.
She was the younger sister of the legendary Keyzen student council president, Phantasus Hugh Ikel.
‘She’s scary.’
Looking into the details made it even more impressive.
Despite flunking both her midterms and finals worse than Simon, she scored top-tier across all practical and performance evaluations. She even consistently ranked in the Top 10 for the BMAT.
If her written test scores had just been mid-tier, she might have overtaken Simon.
‘...Looks like I won’t get to relax in my studies next year either.’
Simon gave a wry smile at the mounting pressure and scrolled down to the next name.
[Rank 5, Aseraz Mikel]
[Rank 6, Meridiana Anne Sudden Death]
He had never seen their faces nor heard their names before.
That was the terrifying part about Keyzen.
Non-special-admission students, with overwhelming growth rates, easily outperformed their special-admission peers and broke into the top ranks.
With the best talents of the Dark Alliance gathered here, there was no telling what kind of monsters would suddenly explode with potential and surge into the top ranks next time.
At Keyzen, there were no eternal champions, and no eternal underdogs.
[Rank 7, Elisha Celine]
Still, to uphold the pride of the special-admission students, the ghost ships’owner Elisha secured Rank 7, matching her Special Admission No. 7.
[Rank 8, Maelyn Villene]
‘Maelyn! Congrats!’
Maelyn, a non-special-admission student, proudly broke into the Top 10.
Though she had some weaknesses in practical exams and real combat, and her crisis response was lacking, she had an overwhelming advantage in written tests, placing second in both the midterms and finals.
Had it been an ordinary second semester, she might have aimed for the Top 3.
As a reference, the top scorer for both midterms and finals was Aseraz Mikel, ranked fifth.
[Rank 9, Elishia Rosenfeld]
[Rank 10, Jule Vincere]
A girl named Elishia placed ninth. Though not a special-admissions student, Simon had heard of her—she was quite famous.
And Special Admission No. 5, the curse sword user Jule, secured tenth place.
In Jule’s case, it was understandable.
His pure combat power was comparable to Simon, Shatel, and Hector, but choosing the curse sword meant his other subject scores suffered. He essentially earned his rank through combat power alone.
Other special-admission students, like Special Admission No. 8 Lord Raheim Northfold of Snowfield Castle, and No. 10 gang member Malcolm Randolph, were pushed out of the Top 10.
‘And, and...’
Simon nervously scrolled further down the rankings.
“Ah!”
[Rank 95, Kamibarez Ursula]
“Thank goodness, Kami!”
Though talented, Kamibarez, with her timid and kind nature not befitting a necromancer, managed to make it to second year with a solid rank.
She had gone all-in on Haematology, so her other subject scores were average, but since second year focused on majors, she’d likely climb even higher in the ranks.
‘Dick’s the real worry.’
Simon’s eyes scanned down, down, further down the list.
‘By now...’
He scanned through the 200s. Dick’s name was nowhere to be found.
Anxiety began to churn in his gut, cold sweat forming on his brow.
‘Hey, Dick! Don’t tell me...!’
Simon couldn’t imagine school life without cheerful Dick. Frantic, he scrolled through the 300s.
“Please...!”
And then—shockingly:
[Rank 400, Dick Hayword]
Pfft!
Simon finally burst into loud laughter.
Out of 400 students promoted to second year, Dick was exactly 400th. What a hilarious guy, even as a friend.
Simon, at last, slumped back in relief.
‘...The Blood Heaven Cult saved Dick.’
Due to the incident with the Blood Heaven Cult, one of the benefits Keyzen HQ granted students was the expansion of second-year enrollment.
Normally capped at 350, this year’s second-year class had been expanded to 400.
An ironic situation. It really made him feel like you could never predict what life had in store.
“Let’s see how the others did.”
Simon scrolled from the bottom and checked the ranks of his other friends.
Toto placed 382nd. And students who didn’t care about grades at all—like Loraine, Serne, and Kajan—passed through the mid-ranks.
In the top ranks, familiar A-Class aces like Jaime, Cindy, and Claudia appeared. Fitzgerald, also part of the Mutant Club, was all the way up at Rank 20.
“Hahhh.”
And finally, he checked once more.
The very top.
One out of a thousand entrants.
[Rank 1, Simon Follentia]
No matter how many times he looked, it made him happy.
Simon turned his gaze toward the window. Just imagining telling his father back in Leshill filled him with joy.
‘Father! You’ll praise me this time, right?’
* * *
The next morning.
On the dawn of the second-year promotion ceremony, the Underworld Whale and various ships were busy transporting people to Roke Island.
Ahead of the upcoming event, students’ parents and relatives were arriving.
Their faces shone bright, having heard the good news of their children’s promotion. Their arms were full of flowers and gifts.
Step, step.
Among the crowd, there was a spot where the eyes of many women were drawn.
“Who is that?”
“...Oh my goodness.”
The crowd murmured as it parted left and right. A gentleman in a neat suit and glasses walked calmly down the dock.
“Ah!”
At that moment, a lady, distracted by watching him, slipped on her heel on the dock’s surface.
Just as she was about to fall into the sea—
“Are you alright, milady?”
The gentleman dashed forward like lightning and caught her in his arms. Their faces now close, hers turned bright red.
“T-T-Thank you so much!”
The gentleman gave a gentle wink.
“No need to mention it.”
From all around came the shrieks of middle-aged noblewomen.
Dusting off his clothes lightly, the gentleman looked toward the dormitory.
‘This school hasn’t changed a bit.’
Fiddling with his fake mustache and adjusting his glasses, he looked around with sentimental eyes, then gazed toward the dormitory.
‘Soon, I’ll see you. Simon.’
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters