Chapter 564
"......."
After safely finishing the mission entrusted to him in Keyzen, and after witnessing the past of Maelyn and Serne, Simon returned to his lodging room.
Because there were simply too many people on the 60th floor, he once again had to share a room with Merida. This too had only been barely secured thanks to Mird’s efforts.
Simon spread a blanket on the floor, lay down, and stared blankly up at the ceiling.
"Haa."
His mood was unsettled.
Maelyn and Serne.
Back in their first year, Simon finally understood why Maelyn would stiffen and radiate hostility whenever Serne’s name came up.
Maelyn never liked talking about Serne.
What little he had heard from her was that Serne’s talent was so overwhelming that the elders even changed the Ivory Tower’s laws to hand her the position of Ivory Tower Master. That was all.
Simon too had only assumed the two had simply become rivals for succession, and that their relationship soured because of Serne’s attitude and provocations.
But to think there had been such a serious matter between them…
‘Why did Serne deceive Maelyn? Was it just sudden greed for the Tower Master’s seat? Or else…’
As he was deeply lost in thought, there was a thump! beside him.
Turning his head, he saw that Merida had fallen off the bed.
‘...Good grief.’
Simon turned his head away. He considered lifting her back up onto the bed, but touching someone sound asleep didn’t seem like a good idea.
Just as he tried to resume his thoughts—
"Uuung—"
Merida, who had fallen to the floor, rolled over and suddenly grabbed Simon’s leg tightly. Startled, Simon sat up.
"M-Merida!"
She had first hugged her pillow in her sleep, and now she was using his leg like one.
Simon shook her shoulder.
"What are you doing? Hey, let go! That hurts!"
"Uuungh… Phantasus brother…"
She started rubbing her cheek against his leg affectionately. Simon froze stiff in shock.
"Take me with you too… zzz…"
Thankfully, she went still. Seeing her drift back into deep slumber, Simon let out a long sigh.
‘Guess that’s it for sleep tonight.’
Rustle—
Before long, she released his leg and lay properly on her back, snoring peacefully again.
‘Better move her before she bothers me again…’
Simon sighed, lifted her up with effort.
But then, almost reflexively, Merida’s hand shot up and touched Simon’s forehead.
<Sleep>
Ugh!
Thud!
Simon collapsed to the floor, knees aching. In his arms, Merida cracked her eyes open faintly.
"It’s not even morning yet. Don’t wake me."
Rubbing his sore knee, Simon muttered,
"You don’t even realize you woke me up? And quit throwing curses at me out of nowhere already."
"Sorry."
She snapped her fingers, cancelling <Sleep>. Sliding out of Simon’s arms, she climbed back onto her bed and lay down on her stomach.
Simon, too, lay back down on the floor, pulling his blanket over himself.
…Stare.
She was propped up on her elbows, quietly watching him.
"What?"
"Where do you sneak off to every dawn?"
Flinch.
Simon’s shoulder twitched slightly. Did she really know everything?
"To… the bathroom…"
He blurted the first excuse that came to mind, and immediately wanted to smack himself.
"There’s a bathroom in this room too."
"N-no! Well, you see… since we’re in the same room, you know… it might, uh, smell…"
"You used it yesterday with no problem."
The more excuses he made, the worse it got. From the start, it was a hopeless excuse.
But—
—You must not disclose the details of this mission even to your partner, Merida.
He couldn’t tell her about his secret assignment.
While Simon racked his brain desperately—
"If you don’t want to talk, then don’t."
She rolled over and lay flat, staring at the ceiling.
"Everyone has their secrets."
"......."
A quiet stillness settled over the room. Simon felt genuinely grateful for her consideration.
"By the way."
Simon spoke to shift the mood.
"You were talking in your sleep earlier. Something about Phantasus-senior."
"......."
No reply.
‘…Wait. Was she actually flustered? Her?’
As the silence stretched on endlessly, Simon grinned.
"You must really like him, huh?"
"......."
Since she was lying down, he couldn’t see her expression clearly. At last, she muttered flatly,
"Secret."
Too late. You’re exposed.
Seeing her embarrassed was such a rare sight that the usually-bullied Simon couldn’t resist some mischief.
"Phantasus-senior stayed at my house for a while. When he passed on the Student Council President position, he mentioned you too."
Startled, Merida sat bolt upright, wide awake.
"What did Phantasus brother say about me?"
Even with her normally monotonous tone, her emotions bled through vividly.
Simon smiled triumphantly.
"He said it was a se—"
Boom!
A curse exploded beside his head. Merida’s voice was chillingly sharp.
"If you say ‘secret’, I’ll curse you."
Of course. When it came to her brother, she was utterly serious.
Having personally seen what happened to Mird, Simon broke into a cold sweat.
"He said… for your sake…"
"? What?"
"…to make the school a better place."
Her arm lowered.
She collapsed back into bed, pulling the blanket up to her head.
‘Wait. Don’t tell me… she’s embarrassed?’
Flutter, flutter.
Her blanket rose and fell repeatedly as she squirmed inside. Watching her fidget like that, Simon found her unexpectedly cute and stifled a laugh.
"Phantasus brother…"
She peeked her head out of the blanket, looking at Simon like a bundled caterpillar.
"Why did he choose you as Student Council President? Even giving you his <Sleep>?"
Simon crossed his arms.
"Good question. I really wonder about that myself."
"I was curious too. That’s why I tested you before the dispatch."
"And what was your result?"
Her sleepy eyes half-closed.
"…I don’t accept it. Won’t accept it. Never will."
Simon thought wryly that she probably never would, no matter what.
"If he was going to hand it down to a second-year…"
Her voice softened, a little dejected.
"I thought he’d give it to me…"
Simon closed his eyes briefly, then spoke.
"I debated whether to tell you this. But Phantasus-senior also said something else about you."
"? What was it?"
—Of course I thought about recommending my little sister as president!
—Ha! But my sister’s too small-minded! Living under Phantasus’ shadow, she’ll never lead her own life! Her talent surpasses mine, sure, but her mindset’s the problem!
Hearing this, Merida’s face grew serious.
"…Living her own life."
"I think he’s got a point."
Simon shrugged.
"Your main spell is <Sleep>, and your second strongest is Darkness Water Arts. Both are things you copied from Phantasus-senior, right?"
"......."
"How many original spells do you actually have?"
She pouted.
"I don’t need them. If it’s Phantasus brother’s magic, that’s enough."
"There’s your answer."
Simon spread his hands with a bright smile.
"Before being Phantasus’ little sister, who is ‘Merida Hugh Ikel’ as a necromancer?"
"......."
"Thinking about that is where it starts. If you can live more on your own terms, I think even Phantasus-senior will see you differently."
Merida seemed to ponder silently for a while before muttering,
"Arrogant."
The way she said it, swaddled in her blanket like a cocoon, made Simon chuckle.
"Sorry if it came off that way."
She quickly turned her back toward him. Simon too leaned back, arms behind his head, closing his eyes.
‘Haa.’
He’d lightened the mood with a story about the Ikel family, but once more, thoughts of Maelyn and Serne’s relationship left his chest heavy.
If only things between them were as clear as with Phantasus and Merida.
He pondered that a while.
* * *
Next morning.
A problem erupted.
"Wake up! Hurry!"
"Please move at once!"
On the 60th floors where Simon was staying, a problem erupted on the 68th floor.
"History Recreation on the 68th floor!"
"Of all times, it had to break out during the festival!"
Without even having breakfast, Simon and Merida were being guided by Mird as they rode the magic circle elevator upward.
"What’s ‘History Recreation’?"
Asked Simon. Mird pulled out her staff with a grim face.
"It’s when a dungeon tries to recreate a past event that happened in this tower."
"What kind of event?"
"What kind of events do you think a dungeon has experienced?"
Mird’s eyes hardened.
"The Great Massacre that occurred 300 years ago, when the Gate first opened."
Clunk—
The elevator stopped. The moment they stepped out, scorching heat and sparks burst out at them. All three raised their arms to shield their faces and retreated.
"This is…!"
Blazing flames were erupting everywhere, and monsters swarmed.
The sight before their eyes was a massacre. People spat blood and died, screaming.
"Don’t be deceived."
Mird said.
"All those dying people are fake."
‘So this is History Recreation.’
This was on a whole other scale compared to the other anomalies Simon had witnessed in the tower. The entire floor was engulfed in flames, teeming with monsters.
‘Terrifying.’
It was fortunate this dungeon was trapped inside the tower.
If it had escaped and learned more history and time, the entire continent would have been engulfed in fire, the history of terror repeated once more.
"Uuugh… But why do we have to go out there?"
Merida rubbed her sleepy eyes. Already on edge, Mird snapped at her.
"Are you kidding me?! As dispatched students being paid, it’s obvious you must hel—"
Realizing it was Merida, she hastily bowed.
"I-It would be an honor if you would lend us your help!"
"Let’s go."
Simon strode forward.
All around, members of the Ivory Tower were already fighting monsters, along with other Ivory Tower kids like Mird.
Even visiting participants had joined the fray.
"We’re lucky! To experience the so-called History Recreation firsthand!"
"Let’s enjoy it!"
Simon had already realized since the first day: the people here weren’t exactly normal.
Either way, in the firestorm, dozens—hundreds—of alien-type monsters kept pouring out. Their top priority was to slaughter the gray humans of the past, but when the Ivory Tower people fought back, the monsters attacked them as well.
"We must hold them on this floor at all costs!"
Shouted one man of the Ivory Tower, rallying the fighters.
"To repeat the tower’s tragedy and show it to us humans again! But we will win, as we did 300 years ago!"
"They’re coming!"
Fierce battles raged at the front. Ivory Tower necromancers, who favored using staves like old magicians, fired spell after spell from their tips.
Simon, Merida, and Mird slipped away around the side of the battlefield.
"As students, we’re ‘explorers’. Somewhere on this floor there’s a Core causing this incident. If we destroy it, the History Recreation will stop!"
"Can we destroy it?"
"Well… technically, it’s the adults’ job, but if we manage it ourselves, wouldn’t that be even better?"
Fwoooosh!
The three dashed through the blazing inferno.
"There! I found a Core!"
Merida pointed to a wall where a pulsing Core swelled, larger than the ones they had seen before.
Mird raised his staff.
"I’m not sure if that one’s the real thing, but—!"
Crackle!
Dark lightning assembled at her staff and shot forward.
Kwooooom!
But four-legged alien-type monsters leaped into its path, shielding the Core with their bodies.
"No need to rush!"
Simon froze monsters left and right with <Sleep>. Mird’s eyes bulged.
"W-what the? How did you stop them?"
"A Sleep curse!"
"…A curse actually works on them?!"
At that moment, Merida stepped forward.
"Simon."
"Yeah? Tell me."
While smashing a monster’s chest with his elbow using Magical Combat, Simon turned and froze another with <Sleep>.
"I’ll prepare a wide-area curse bombardment. Cover me."
Flap!
From her subspace, she pulled out… a blanket. Simon’s smile twisted awkwardly.
"…This really is for curse bombardment, right?"
She climbed onto the blanket, lay down, and then used an anti-gravity curse to float up into the air.
"Mmm… zzz…"
Closing her eyes, she fell into deep sleep. The magic circle woven into the blanket lit up with power.
‘!’
Simon felt a chill run down his back. Above her, countless star-like magic circles spread across the tower’s ceiling.
<Phantasus’s Original – Lost in a Dream>
As she squirmed in her sleep on the blanket—
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
A torrent of curses poured down from the circles. Every single one was <Sleep>.
"Impossible!"
Mird cried out in disbelief.
The poor accuracy was made up for by sheer overwhelming quantity. A relentless carpet-bombing.
In an instant, dozens of monsters froze mid-charge, locked in <Sleep>.
"Nice, Merida!"
Simon sprinted forward. The rain of curses also shielded him from monsters trying to intercept.
‘Incredible. So this was her hidden trump card all along?’
No wonder she ranked 4th overall. If they had fought in a duel exam, Simon would have struggled immensely.
When she fell asleep, she became a fortress of curses, endlessly unleashing them across a vast range.
Even her sleep-talking curses must have been side-effects of this technique.
"Hup!"
Simon drew an artifact axe from subspace. Monsters protecting the Core were pinned down by the falling curses, leaving a path clear.
"Bone Armor."
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
Bone fragments covered Simon’s body, swelling him into a giant. He grew several heads taller, bulkier, like a fortress clad in bones.
<Bone Armor – Heavy Armor Type>
Gripping the axe with his now-massive right arm, Simon swung down at the Core.
KWOoooom!
The 68th floor trembled. With one strike, the axe bit deep into the Core.
"One more!"
He drew the axe back. Monsters tried to throw themselves into the defense, but all were caught by Merida’s rain of curses and froze in place.
‘…Amazing.’
Mird stared, arms limp at her sides, dazed.
—Why, when we spend five times as much, can’t Ivory Tower kids even reach the heels of the Keyzen students!
The Ivory Tower Master’s words came to mind.
Mird had thought it was just exaggeration, just a scolding to discipline them.
But—
"HAAAAH!"
KWOoooooom!
It was the truth.
Simon’s second full-power strike shattered the Core. Monsters crackled away into nothingness.
"History Recreation is collapsing!"
"Someone destroyed the Core!"
"Uwoooooooh!"
Cheers erupted all around.
Simon released the fortress-like Bone Armor. Merida slowly floated back down from the air.
‘…So this is Keyzen.’
Mird hated to admit it, but—
The sight of the two standing there after their battle was blinding.
Step, step.
They approached each other, palms raised.
Smack!
A powerful high-five. Then both staggered and collapsed face-first on the ground.
"Release yours first!"
"You release yours first!"
…Of course, they still had their silly sides.
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