Chapter 503
The battle against the Undead Army was over.
Following the Ganes Guild, even the regular troops of Tarados had joined Simon’s side. The soldiers swung their weapons to ensure the regenerating undead before them would never rise again.
And Simon, the only one who could truly annihilate them, walked among them and finished them off with the Greatsword of Destruction. No more undead soldiers were revived.
“Set up camp here!”
“Move quickly before night falls!”
The day was growing dark. Nights in Tarados were infamous for their bitter cold, so under Simon’s mediation, the two factions set up camp together.
Even in this situation, Serne seemed eager for her band of thieves to pick a fight with the regular soldiers led by Loraine, but Simon held her back.
Ddaang! Ddaang!
While the girls sat resting, Kajan held nails in his mouth and hammered skillfully, quickly putting up a large military tent.
‘Harder than it looks.’
Simon was helping Kajan.
It was simple work—fastening the ropes of the tent to iron stakes—but there was a surprising amount to pay attention to. The tent had to be pulled taut for balance, and sandy ground had to be avoided in favor of firm soil.
“Doing well, Simon?”
A black-haired girl approached him.
“Ah, Loraine!”
“Want me to help?”
“No, no, I can do this by myself.”
Nodding, she squatted beside him and watched.
With someone observing at his side, Simon felt strangely tense. His hammering grew more deliberate.
Thud–thud–
“You surprised me.”
Simon said as he worked.
“That you showed up leading the lord’s army, and that Serne brought along the Ganes Guild.”
Loraine smiled faintly.
“A lot happened.”
She explained she had come on this mission evaluation to block Serne’s schemes.
Learning that Serne was heading for Tarados—the very destination Simon was bound for—she had requested the academy to prepare an additional teleportation circle to Tarados.
But on the eve of the evaluation, contact with the agents dispatched to Tarados had been abruptly cut off.
Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Loraine crossed over to Tarados ahead of Simon.
There, she was met by soldiers sent by the “Executioners”. They even tried to capture her despite seeing the Keyzen school uniform.
“So that’s why there was no teleportation circle to Tarados.”
“Exactly.”
“Persistent as ever~ seriously.”
Serne walked over with her arms folded.
“My, my. Did you really think to follow me even here?”
To evade Loraine’s pursuit, Serne had first accepted a request in another region, then used the Ivory Tower’s teleportation circle to cross into Tarados.
Loraine’s eyes narrowed.
“Of course I followed. Things won’t go the way your Ivory Tower wants.”
Serne smirked, her glowing red eyes flashing.
“You acted like a chained beast back at the academy. The moment you step outside, your true colors show?”
She was pointing at the lock pendant hanging from Loraine’s neck.
The lock was open.
“So—”
Loraine’s voice dripped with killing intent.
“Think carefully before you act. Just one suspicious move, and I’ll strike first.”
“Oh my~ how frightening.”
“Enough, both of you.”
Kajan appeared suddenly from behind the tent, hammer still in hand.
“We can’t just stand here bickering. We need a concrete plan moving forward.”
Kajan immediately called the key figures into the tent.
The coachman who had guided them faithfully, and the client’s younger sister, Lisa.
General Amin, commander of the Tarados regular army.
And Karak, the bandit chief who led the Ganes Guild and claimed to be Serne’s right-hand man.
“I am Amin.”
General Amin began the briefing on behalf of the group.
“This place where we’ve made camp is the entrance to the Executioners' secret base. All prisoners captured throughout Tarados are brought here.”
Simon straightened.
“……What happens to them once they’re taken into the secret base?”
“I’ve only ever seen the ‘gate’ from a distance when it opens. I don’t know what becomes of those dragged inside.”
“Excuse me, forget all that~”
Serne brushed aside her side hair.
“Just tell us how to get inside that so-called secret base.”
Such was her intimidating air that even General Amin addressed her with utmost respect.
“Yes. We estimate that entry into the base occurs only at midnight. All prisoners are transported at night and arrive at these ruins exactly at midnight. The timing has never once varied. If there are too many prisoners, some are turned back, but they’re always brought again the next night at midnight.”
This matched what Loraine had told Simon earlier.
That was why they had set camp here and were waiting for midnight.
“So, how does one open the gate at midnight?”
Kajan asked, and Amin drew a key from his chest.
“Taken from the lord. When the spatial distortion occurs at midnight, inserting this key into the ruins should open the passage to the secret base.”
“Oh, that key! Our boss had one too.”
Bandit chief Karak raised his hand, then quickly corrected himself upon seeing Serne.
“Of course, he’s just my former boss. Now I serve only my queen!”
“Oh my~ such loyalty from an old man.”
Serne laughed, and Loraine’s gaze turned sharp toward her.
“You. What did you do to Black Wolf Ganes?”
“What else~”
Serne shrugged.
“He dared raise a weapon at me, and mental domination didn’t work well, so I wrecked him out of spite. He was a bloody mess, crying as he ran. By now he’s probably dead~.”
“As expected, Your Majesty! None but you could have crushed the Ganes leader so utterly!”
Listening, Simon gave a dry laugh. So that was how she had taken over the Ganes Guild, simply by overpowering them.
“And you? How did you manage to bring the lord’s army?”
Now Serne directed the question to Loraine. She sighed before answering.
“Finding you and Simon was my first priority, but the situation in Tarados was too dire to ignore. So I went to the lord for an explanation while I was at it.”
‘Of course.’
As Neftis’ successor, she felt a grave responsibility for the Tarados crisis.
“I arrested the lord and threw him into the underground prison.”
In truth, the lord’s reputation among the soldiers was abysmal. He forced them into villainous roles and continuously delayed their pay with excuses.
General Amin was far more popular. When word spread that the lord had been imprisoned and Amin had staged a coup, most of the soldiers sided with Amin.
The troops brought here were loyal to Amin, not the disgraced lord.
“Now, back to the main point. This was found in the lord’s treasury, a rough map of the secret base’s interior.”
Amin laid the map on the table. Kajan tilted his head to peer at it.
“Too confidential for an outsider to be carrying.”
“The lord had joined the Executioners. Providing them with manpower made him valuable to them.”
Simon clapped his hands.
“Alright. Then we’ll rest until midnight, use the key to open the spatial gate, and infiltrate.”
He turned to Lisa, who was fidgeting anxiously.
“Don’t worry, Lisa. I’ll rescue your brother.”
“Yes!”
She nodded, and the necklace hanging from Simon’s neck swayed.
[Wait wait! You haven’t forgotten priorities, right? My main body comes first!]
‘I know, Kal.’
Simon looked around at the others.
“You’ll all help me, won’t you?”
Kajan nodded.
“We’ve already agreed. I am your guardian. Whatever happens, I will assist.”
Loraine chimed in as well.
“As a Keyzen student, I can’t just turn a blind eye to Tarados’s tragedy. I’ll give my all to help.”
Serne smiled brightly.
“I refuse~”
‘Huh?’
She then opened her palm.
“Unless, of course, you give me proper compensation.”
“……You.”
Serne was not only a powerful existence in her own right, but also someone Simon didn’t need to conceal the power of a legion commander. Her aid was essential.
Simon exhaled a long sigh and lifted his head.
“What do you want?”
“As always, you’ll have to stamp my coupon.”
Winking, Serne held up three fingers.
“For this job, about three stamps?”
“……”
At first, Simon had tried to ignore her constant talk about “coupons”, but she kept pressing the issue so persistently that he couldn’t help but notice.
What kind of wish was she planning to make once she collected all ten? The thought unsettled him a little.
“Three is too much. One.”
“Three.”
“One.”
“Three.”
“One.”
Neither side budged.
Then Serne, with a playful wink, grabbed onto Simon’s arm.
“How about three—with a private date with me included?”
“Khk! My queen…!”
Bandit chief Karak glared at Simon with burning jealousy.
Simon ignored him and pressed on with the negotiation.
“Then shouldn’t I actually deduct a coupon for that?”
“How cruel!”
“Then, including the time you’re giving me, two.”
“Fine, deal!”
Finally satisfied, Serne extended her hand. Simon grasped it, and they shook.
* * *
Time passed, and dusk deepened.
True to her free-spirited nature, Serne calmly wrapped herself in a blanket and went to sleep, while Kajan carefully analyzed the map of the secret base.
Meanwhile, Loraine set out to prepare dinner.
“I’ll make something simple. Better to eat before a big fight.”
As she picked up a bucket and rose, Simon quickly stood as well.
“Ah, I’ll help too.”
With night falling, the two walked together toward the underground stream said to flow near the ruins.
Since there were no real cooking facilities, everyone had to fend for themselves. Fortunately, Simon’s subspace contained a cooking kit, so they planned to make a simple vegetable soup.
“……”
Carrying an empty bucket, Simon stole glances at Loraine.
Her steps tonight seemed light. Sometimes she even skipped slightly as she walked.
Her expression was unburdened, almost carefree.
So different from how she was at the academy.
“Why do you keep staring?”
Loraine teased him, and Simon flinched, quickly looking away.
“No, it’s just…”
“This? It bothers you?”
She jingled the lock pendant on her necklace. Simon gave a small nod.
He’d wanted to ask before, but her face had always carried a shadow lately, and he feared it might involve personal issues with Neftis, so he had held his tongue.
“During the break, my mother asked me this.”
Loraine brushed her fingers over the lock. Her long lashes lowered.
“How much have you grown compared to Simon or the other first-years at Keyzen?”
“……”
“And I couldn’t really answer.”
Loraine was already a complete necromancer on her own.
Her red ability, when applied to a skeleton, made it strong enough to take down ten skeletons alone. When infused into a Skeleton Horse, it became swifter than any Skeleton Horse in existence.
But the stronger her ability, the greater her dependence on it.
Simon scratched his head awkwardly.
“…She compared you to me? I feel kind of guilty about that.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. And my mother gave another example—Senior Phantasus. He had no ability, yet by honing only curses, he became the strongest in Keyzen. Hearing examples like that, I realized I haven’t grown at all since my first year.”
Simon silently nodded, letting her speak.
“It’s true, I lacked motivation to study in first-year.”
The night breeze blew, scattering her black hair.
“Nothing taught at the academy was stronger than my ability. So instead of learning, I focused on administration, proving myself to the adults as a manager. But in the process, I lost what mattered most as a student.”
Before long, they reached the underground spring. Loraine set the bucket at a hollow where water slowly began to fill it.
The two sat waiting.
“So, restrictions were placed on me.”
She pulled her knees up to her chest.
“Until graduation, I’m forbidden from interfering in academy operations. That was my mother’s order.”
“…That’s why you couldn’t step in during the third-years’ initiation.”
“Right. I have no authority anymore. And secondly—”
She snapped the lock shut, then raised her palm, summoning Darkness.
Pure black surged, without a trace of red—like her hair, shadowy and absolute.
“My ability is sealed within the academy.”
“……”
“Every class, exam, evaluation—I must face them all without my ability, relying only on the true power of a necromancer. The only times I can use my ability are when fighting in the name of the Arkbold family, or when fulfilling my mission of stopping Serne.”
Simon finally spoke.
“It’s not really my place, but… isn’t that too harsh? You’ve always mixed your ability with Darkness to use black magic. To suddenly forbid it…”
“You’re right. At Keyzen, I might be nothing more than below average now.”
She clenched her fist tight, snuffing out the Darkness.
“But as days passed, Simon—”
She turned to him and smiled softly.
“I began to admire you.”
Simon pointed at himself with a startled look.
“Me?”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters