Chapter 461
"If you don’t like that, then let’s negotiate."
Keyzen had seized the initiative.
Even though Simon would officially become the Student Council President in two days, he didn’t yet have the power to completely overhaul everything.
More importantly, as a half-appointed Student Council President forbidden from interfering with the third-year students, he had to clearly distinguish what he could and could not do.
-The greatest virtue of the student council is 'dialogue' and 'coordination'.
Dialogue and coordination.
Simon opened his eyes, recalling what Jane, the professor in charge of the student council, had said.
The real test comes next.
"For the disposal of this disposable Memorial Crystal, finish all the department welcoming events and initiation ceremonies. Immediately."
Will, who had been listening from behind, tensed visibly.
"Stop here?"
How long had the third-years been waiting for today? They had only completed twelve out of fifty students.
It was absolutely unacceptable.
If this went by, the second-years’ spirit of defiance would only grow.
"Who do you think y—!"
"Will, could you be quiet?"
Leonard replied coldly, and Will immediately shut his mouth.
"Anything else?"
"Promise that from now on, there will be no harsh treatment of underclassmen like Will has been subjected to."
"Fine. I accept."
The surrounding students turned, surprised, to look at Leonard.
"But there’s a condition on our side too. I’ll dispose of that disposable Memorial Crystal in front of my eyes—"
Roll!
The crystal was already rolling across the floor. Simon lifted his foot with a cold expression and stomped on it.
Crack!
The crystal shattered into pieces. Simon turned his back and walked away, having done what he came to do.
"…Cool."
Leonard muttered, mesmerized.
Simon’s coat flapped in the wind as he walked away, the student council armband on his arm fluttering.
Then Will ran forward, laughing hysterically.
"Smashing it on your own! What a foolish thing to do! Leonard! Just let it go and continue…!"
"Attention, everyone."
Leonard turned to face all the students of the Summoning Department.
"The freshman student council ends here. Clean up the remaining seats and return to your dorms."
"Leonard!!"
Will shouted angrily.
Leonard, still smiling, but with a subdued voice, said,
"You ruined everything, Will."
"…No, I was just—!"
"Everyone, hurry up. Wake those who are asleep, gather the trash, and dispose of it."
The second-year students immediately got up and began cleaning. The third-years muttered in displeasure.
"……"
Hector, who had been silently watching the whole scene, quietly finished his drink alone.
* * *
"I’m exhausted."
Back in the dorm room, Simon sank into his chair. His arms hung limply, swinging weakly.
Opposite him, Toto, hesitant and blushing, spoke.
"…Thanks so much for helping today."
Simon, slouched in his chair, gave a faint smile.
"It’s nothing. More importantly, I’m just glad you’re safe."
Simon did feel a twinge of guilt toward Toto.
The main game was controlled by the third-years. That meant the first students caught in the initiation were probably second-years, deliberately targeted to break their spirits.
Considering that, Toto, being his roommate, might have been targeted just for that reason. Simon had resolved that he had to save him.
"…Simon, I’m curious about something."
"Yeah?"
Toto looked at the student council armband on Simon’s right arm.
"If the initiation was the problem, couldn’t you just ban it as the Student Council President? Wouldn’t that have been a clean solution? Why did you even negotiate with Leonard?"
Simon, still slouched in his chair, looked at the ceiling and smiled.
"You know, Toto? Initiations are already banned in Keyzen."
"…Oh."
All forms of hazing and harsh treatment of underclassmen were prohibited.
"But everyone still sneaks around and does it. Do you think the third-year students, who already break the rules, would just obediently stop if the second-year Student Council President forbade it?"
"So… that’s why you had to stop at just halting the initiation."
"No."
Simon straightened up, his eyes shining.
"This is just the beginning."
"Uh… okay?"
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Forbidden Forest.
"Ha! Hahaha!!"
The third-year students of the Spiritology Department were clutching their stomachs, laughing uncontrollably.
On a makeshift stage stood second-year male students dressed as women.
Wearing wigs, ridiculous makeup with lipstick, and even skirts.
The third-years whistled.
"Whoa! You juniors look amazing!"
"You honestly look prettier than the girls in our class!"
Laughter erupted. The second-year male students on stage, mostly elite aristocrats, had never felt so humiliated.
"Focus. We’re starting the choreography."
A sharp-eyed third-year in front of the stage commanded.
"Everyone knows the rules. Mess up, and you’re out immediately. Especially those shaking their bodies—do it properly. Half-hearted or shy? Expect to be stepped on and kicked out."
One student had already been eliminated, rolling in the mud. The cross-dressed second-years stiffened.
"Then, si—"
Beeeeep! Beeeeep!
At that moment, whistles blew from all over the Forbidden Forest. Everyone jumped to their feet.
"What’s that sound?"
"It’s the guards!"
The Keyzen Watch, responsible for the mountains and forests of Roke Island, began emerging from all directions, blowing whistles.
"What are you doing here at this hour?!"
"We’ll arrest you for breaking the rules! Catch them!"
The students scattered in panic as the guards drew their bows and threw nets.
"Wait, how do the guards know we’re here?!"
"Run to the dorms!"
The initiation ceremonies were instantly ruined.
The Spiritology Department students fled, even using phantoms to escape, while the guards yelled and blew their whistles in pursuit.
"They’re serious."
A student from the Darkness Dynamics raised his hands, channeling spirits, ready to confront the guards. A female classmate grabbed his collar, running alongside him.
"Hey, hey! Let go!"
"Afraid of the guards? If you get caught, it won’t end with just a punishment!"
This chaos wasn’t limited to the Spiritology Department.
Hematology.
Toxicology.
Magical Combat.
All departments except Katarology were simultaneously raided by the guards.
"What’s going on all of a sudden?"
"Run! Just give up and go!"
If caught, students would face disciplinary action from the very start of the semester—an absolute nightmare.
Meanwhile, in the Darkness Dynamics Department, a third-year male student, face grim, rose to his feet.
Vwoooom!
He was reckless, wielding black magic in both hands, staring down the guards.
"What are you planning?"
"First, wipe them all out, then cast a memory-scattering curse."
"But that won’t erase their memories completely!"
"Who cares."
As he raised his arms to unleash black magic,
"!!"
His body froze like a statue.
Through the trees of the darkened forest, a sharp gaze glinted behind the guards.
Sweat drenched the back of his neck. Though blurry, there was no mistaking her.
‘Vice chancellor Jane!’
Other students noticed Jane as well, murmuring in surprise.
"…Wow, she really came prepared."
"If you’re caught on-site, it’s immediate expulsion! Run!"
The initiation ceremonies across all departments were rapidly shut down by this external variable.
* * *
"The guards are raiding the locations?"
Toto’s eyes widened as Simon explained from the room.
"Yeah. All thanks to Dick."
Dick, with his extensive information network, already knew the locations of each department’s initiation. Using the student council’s authority, he redirected the guards’ patrol routes to hit the sites.
Each department had set up camps in locations that evaded the guards’ patrols, so they were completely unprepared.
‘And there’s one more thing.’
It would be disastrous if a student confronted the watchmen and someone got hurt.
Simon sent the presence that students feared the most to the scene.
Vice Principal Professor Jane Olivia.
Of course, it wasn’t the real Jane, he sent a corpse spider to summon Erzebet from the ruins. She strolled through the Forbidden Forest in Jane’s form, and the students who saw her would spread rumors.
This was also to prevent the possibility of a late-night initiation ceremony.
“Toto. Earlier, you said we could only stop the initiation at this point, right?”
This wasn’t just Keyzen’s problem. Every human organization has its share of bad customs and injustices.
But teachers can’t completely prevent students from bullying each other.
Commanders can’t fully eradicate the injustices among soldiers.
Simply forbidding it doesn’t eliminate bad traditions.
“Stopping it for now, that’s the important first step.”
Simon took off the student council armband from his right arm and placed it on the desk.
“Our class is almost the only one that hasn’t fully experienced Keyzen’s bad traditions.”
“……Ah!”
“And when we become third-years, I’ll persuade everyone to abolish all initiations. Since our class didn’t go through an initiation, the justification for forcing it on the next year weakens. Next year, we won’t make the second-years go through it.”
Simon smiled.
“Maybe then we can finally break this disgusting tradition.”
“……Simon!”
Toto’s eyes welled up with emotion.
“Amazing! You even thought that far ahead! You really care about this school!”
“It’s not that much.”
Simon smiled awkwardly and looked away.
‘I’m not sure if it’ll go perfectly.’
Even this year, it seemed the third-years of the Katarology Department had mostly skipped the initiation.
Simon still held onto hope.
‘Anyway, the biggest hurdle is over.’
The unofficial student council involvement and the issues with the third-years had ended like this.
* * *
A long day was coming to an end.
In the night when everyone was asleep.
While Toto in the same room snored softly, Simon’s eyes snapped open.
‘I’m dead tired.’
Still, there was work to do. Simon tiptoed like a cat and waved his hand in front of Toto.
Coo—coo—
No reaction. Simon breathed a sigh of relief and slowly approached the window.
Click.
He drew back the curtain and opened the window. Skillfully, he climbed out, closed the window behind him, and pulled out the cloud like a rappel rope, anchoring it to the windowsill. Then he held onto it and slid down safely to the grass below.
‘Good, let’s go.’
He ran toward the Forbidden Forest. At least it was closer than when he was a first-year.
Before long, he arrived at the ruins of Feer. He checked the surroundings once more before entering.
Tap, tap, tap.
The cold seeped up through his shoes with every step on the old stone floor.
Endless darkness, faint voices of the undead… a normal person would probably be too afraid to step inside even if they found the ruins.
Finally, after descending the stone stairs, familiar faces appeared.
[My lord! You’ve come!]
The undead, wrapping their body in wings larger than their own, bowed low. Simon smiled brightly and raised his hand.
“It’s been a while, Akemius… whoa!”
[Commander~!]
Erzebet charged forward and knocked Simon to the ground. Simon groaned as he opened his eyes.
“You startled me, Erzebet.”
[I missed you so much! And right after I arrived on Roke Island, you send me on errands! That’s unfair!]
-Kiriri!
-Kiri!
The nearby corpse spiders echoed in agreement. Simon lightly patted the spiders with a smile.
[Your face looks well, young master!]
And another one.
On the altar, a tall skeleton in a cloak smiled under the moonlight.
Simon grinned in response.
“It’s been a long time, Feer! How have you been?”
[Kuhahaha! Just a few months and you say it’s been a long time? For the undead, time passes in the blink of an eye.]
“That’s true.”
Simon stood and opened the subspace.
“You can come out now.”
A staff shot out of the pocket dimension with a whoosh!
It looked like a strangely shaped staff with facial features, but it was Herseba, recognized as the General of the Mummy Corps of the 7th Legion.
[Ugh! This is so boring!]
She flew around the ruins of Feer freely. Dust around her turned to gold and gathered on the staff.
It soon took the form of a woman riding the staff like a witch.
[Hey, kid! It’s boring in the subspace! Why are you so late?]
“Sorry, sorry.”
[That’s an excuse.]
Erzebet frowned.
[I was the only one who got to hang out with the Commander!]
[I didn’t even get much playtime!]
Herseba, after completing ‘Legion Transformation’, radiated the darkness of the Legion from her entire body. It would have been difficult to bring her outside, whether it was the Holy Federation or the Dark Alliance.
Simon glanced around.
“By the way, where’s Prince?”
[Kuhaha! Prince was destroyed during battle. You have to summon him again!]
“Of course.”
Simon summoned a zombie from the subspace and, with the gray ring on his finger, said, “Prince, come over”. He then brought the ring close to the zombie’s body.
Crackle!
Black lightning struck, enveloping the zombie in dark radiance. It soon transformed into a small boy zombie wearing a faded crown.
[Ah! Why are you so late!]
Prince shouted and ran forward, spreading his palms. Simon briefly did a hand-shake with him and played along.
“All right, is everyone here now?”
Master Feer.
General of the Spider Corps, Erzebet.
General of the Zombie Corps, Prince.
General of the Skullwing Corps, Akemyus.
General of the Mummy Corps, Herseba.
Just looking at them was reassuring. Simon nodded at the five generals.
“All right, then I’d like to hear the related reports.”
[Good!]
The White Tomb Dungeon.
During this vacation, all generals except Herseba had entered the dungeon to find Richard’s new Ancient Undead.
“Hm, but I don’t see any new faces, so I guess they weren’t there.”
[No.]
Feer shook his head.
[I met them in that dungeon. As I predicted, the plague beast ‘Kal’ was there.]
“……Ah!”
[And…]
Feer’s expression subtly changed.
[It is here, in this very place.]
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters