Chapter 583
Simon witnessed a boy with blue hair who looked exactly like him—like a doppelganger.
The boy was busily following White around, and it was obvious who he was even without asking.
‘It’s Erze! What the hell is she doing there?’
Sure enough, the boy noticed Simon watching, turned around, and even waved with a smile.
“Why? What’s wrong, Simon?”
Loraine tilted her head and approached.
“Something happened? You’re sweating buckets.”
“No, no, no. It’s nothing!”
Simon forced a laugh, desperately trying to pull his friends’ attention away.
“C-could you wait here just for a moment? I have an urgent matter to take care of… 5 minutes! Just 5 minutes will do!”
“Urgent matter? All of a sudden? What is it?”
Loraine blinked in confusion. Next to her, Eshu covered her mouth, raising her eyebrows up and down suggestively.
“Go on, we’ll wait~”
“?”
Loraine glanced at Eshu with a puzzled look, but Eshu only giggled.
Serne also seemed to catch on and waved her hand vaguely, when Toto suddenly cut in.
“I’ll come too! I’ll come with you!”
He wants to tag along? That was troublesome, but as long as Simon could get away from this place, it didn’t matter too much.
“Th-then I’ll be back!”
“Yup~ hope your business goes nice and smooth.”
Leaving behind Eshu’s cheeky remark, Simon and Toto hurried into a deserted alley nearby.
“Ugh, I held it in too long.”
Toto began fumbling with the waistband of his uniform pants.
“Gotta pee quick…”
‘Sorry, Toto.’
Simon unfolded the prepared Sleep spell and cast it on Toto. Toto went limp, collapsed, and quickly fell into a deep slumber.
“Phew.”
Simon lifted his head.
“You can come out now, Erze.”
Sssshk!
Something dropped down from the empty wall.
It was Simon’s own figure, hanging upside down, his ankle bound by spider silk.
[Legion Commanderrr! I missed you so much!]
She let out a sobbing sound and threw herself at him. Simon turned his head aside, refusing to look.
Having his own figure cling to him like that—it was grotesque to say the least.
“What are you doing here?”
She blinked at Simon.
[The order to track White given to this lady. Have you forgotten?]
“So why the hell are you tracking him in my form?”
[I thought it might draw White’s attention, my lord.]
She untangled her legs from the web, dropped properly to the ground, and bowed politely.
[Since he seems obsessed with you, I thought if he saw you, he might follow.]
“…That’s too dangerous.”
Simon sighed deeply.
Still, he had delegated full authority over intelligence gathering to Erzebet, so he couldn’t exactly complain further.
“So, did you find anything?”
[Other than seeming a bit absent-minded, he acted like an ordinary student. Though he looks suspiciously similar to Magnus, he showed no strange behavior.]
“Hmmm.”
Then Erzebet raised a finger.
[But there was one odd thing.]
According to her, on the third day of the assignment, White suddenly lost energy as if his body had been drained, and his activity dropped sharply.
The dispatch supervisors got furious, but White ignored them.
Eventually, they threatened to contact Keyzen and have him sent back if he didn’t meet his quota today. Still, White didn’t react.
But that evening—
While sleeping deeply, White suddenly opened his eyes and dashed out of the dormitory.
[That was the first time this lady lost track of his trail.]
“Why?”
[He vanished. Just like that, in thin air.]
Her expression grew grim as she explained.
[It seemed he used a teleportation magic circle someone had prepared. But teleportation circles always leave behind traces after use—yet there were none.]
Simon’s eyes gleamed sharply.
‘If it’s the Blood Heaven Cult’s Warp Gate…!’
A powerful spatial magic capable of infiltrating even into dungeons.
That technique leaves no trace.
Still, this was only conjecture—he couldn’t recklessly connect White to the Blood Heaven Cult or the Executioners without solid proof.
“So then?”
[I had smeared my scent on White’s body for tracking. I waited near the place he disappeared… and after only 5 minutes, he reappeared.]
Her face froze as she spoke.
[But the scent I marked was completely gone. Not a trace remained. Then White casually walked back and finished all the backlog of tasks in one go.]
“……”
His sudden burst of efficiency satisfied the supervisors, and he safely passed his dispatch evaluation.
Hearing this, Simon folded his arms.
“Suspicious. Seriously suspicious.”
He couldn’t believe he was tangled up with someone like that.
[Is it really that suspicious?]
“Of course!”
[If we’re talking suspicious, vanishing from the dorm all the time, being the Legion Commander, using holiness, fusing holiness and darkness…]
A sly smile curled her lips.
[Even having a connection to an active Saint. Don’t you think you’re the more suspicious one, my lord?]
‘……’
He had no rebuttal.
‘Guess I really am the shadiest one in Keyzen.’
“Alright. We’ll talk about the details after we return.”
His teammates and Serne were probably still waiting.
“Keep watching White. Report to me the moment he does something strange again.”
[As you command.]
Suddenly, she brushed off her spider silk disguise, returning to her true form, and spread her arms wide.
[Then, the reward for this mission?]
“…Ugh.”
Simon’s face turned red.
“Do—do we really have to do this now?”
[Yes!]
Hesitant, he turned his head aside, then clenched his eyes shut and lightly hugged Erzebet.
[You must pat my back too, my lord.]
Simon obediently did as told.
[Ehehehehehe.]
Her mouth gaped open, drooling in delight.
[Ahhh~ That embarrassed face of yours, my lord… It is the greatest reward a lady could hope for at this age.]
“Happy now?!”
Simon quickly pulled back.
“Keep up the good work with the surveillance!”
[Your will is my command, Legion Commander.]
Bowing politely, Erzebet soared away on her spider silk.
Simon sighed and turned his head.
Snoooore— snoooore—
Toto was still asleep without a care in the world. Because the Sleep curse had hit him mid-action, he lay face-down in only his boxers.
‘Somehow, I feel guilty about this.’
Simon walked closer.
Then Toto grinned foolishly in his sleep, shaking his head side to side.
“Eh, Eshu…! Not there…!”
What the hell was he dreaming about?
Simon clapped his hands sharply.
“Gah!”
Toto jerked awake and wiped away the drool dripping from his mouth.
“S-Simon?”
“You alright?”
Simon squatted beside him. Toto blinked groggily.
“Uh… what happened…?”
“You… you rushed in here, bumped your head on that pipe, and passed out.”
Simon pointed at a creaky pipe in a believable spot. Toto nodded without suspicion.
“…R-really? How long was I out?”
“About five minutes. You okay?”
“Y-yeah! Oddly enough, even though I fainted, I actually feel refreshed—like my head’s clearer and my condition’s better! So weird!”
“That’s good to hear.”
“And I think… I had a fun dream too…”
Toto furrowed his brows as if trying to recall something, then his face suddenly flushed red.
“Ah, nothing! It’s nothing at all!”
He flailed his arms in protest. Simon simply stared at him quietly.
“I heard Eshu’s name slip out of your mouth earlier.”
“!!”
Toto’s jaw dropped wide open, his cheeks glowing like a furnace.
The reaction was so easy to read that Simon couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“I’ll keep your secret.”
“Really? You swear?!”
Even as they left the alley together, Toto clung to Simon’s arm, repeatedly making him promise to keep it confidential.
Phantasus-type Sleep spells grant the target pleasant, positive dreams—or dreams they subconsciously desire.
‘Which meant…’
“Do you… like Eshu, maybe?”
Simon suddenly asked. Toto’s face turned crimson again.
“N-no no no! How could I ever… like Eshu…!”
Too strong a denial often means yes.
After being teased earlier by Erzebet—who was far older—this time Simon had the chance to tease his same-aged roommate, which felt refreshing.
‘It must’ve started during Serne’s bravery test.’
The two had been running around together, terrified and clinging close. For teenage boys and girls, something like that could easily spark feelings.
Simon found this new reaction from his roommate rather positive.
—Simon, you still don’t fully understand Toto. He’s always held back by his timid personality despite his potential. Experiencing a role like this could be a huge help for him.
That had been Fitzgerald Ingels’ assessment of Toto.
Indeed, back in first year, Toto had suffered from extremely low self-esteem. But recently, he’d begun changing—handing out flyers during the club season, even taking the role of drill captain to discipline the first-years. Bit by bit, his personality was shifting to be more active.
Toto could definitely grow further. Perhaps even his fear of the opposite sex could be overcome through romance.
“I’ll root for you, Toto!”
“Wh-what are you rooting for?! Don’t say things like that!”
By the time Simon and Toto returned, the situation had nearly exploded.
Loraine was shouting furiously, her face twisted in anger. Serne stood nearby with arms crossed, smiling, but radiating murderous energy.
Between them, Eshu struggled desperately to stop the two, sweating bullets.
Thrown into the role of preventing an all-out war between Keyzen and the Ivory Tower, she was barely hanging on. Even with her famed friendliness, she couldn’t manage to mend their feud.
“What? Fighting again?”
At that moment, Simon stepped in with a bright smile.
As if by magic, the two girls—seconds away from clawing each other’s hair—abruptly straightened up, brushing their bangs or forcing a smile.
“Honestly, it’s so childish I don’t even know what to say~”
“…You. Just wait until later.”
Once again, Simon had saved the continent.
Eshu simply stared at him in disbelief, as if to ask how he did it.
“Well then, gentlemen, looks like your business is taken care of. Shall we get going?”
“Yes!”
Back to the main task—there were two things they needed in this city.
Ingredients to cook with during their lodging period.
And various undead materials for the upcoming Dullahan creation.
Simon didn’t know if there were actual necromancer supply shops in the city, but surely there’d be places dealing in monster corpses.
“Let’s split into teams.”
Simon suggested.
“Two people for food, three people for undead supplies.”
“Then I’ll go with Simon~”
Serne beamed sweetly and clung tightly to Simon’s arm. Loraine’s eyes blazed murderously at the sight.
‘Just as expected.’
Simon had planned this from the start. His intent was to handle Loraine and Serne himself, while giving Toto and Eshu some time alone together.
Serne would inevitably choose Simon’s side, and Loraine, unable to stand it, would also join them.
All they needed to do was depart naturally and—
“How about drawing lots instead? Wouldn’t that be more fun?”
Out of nowhere, Eshu interrupted, proposing a lottery. The others nodded in agreement.
‘Damn.’
“How should we do it? Coin toss? Or maybe rock-paper-scissors, and the winners go together?”
Simon panicked.
At the very least, he had to control the rules of this game.
“Let’s do it by drawing lots.”
Opening his subspace, Simon pulled out some leftover wooden skewers from class (used for Dullahan material prep). He clenched them in his fist so the ends weren’t visible.
“Whoever draws the cut ends goes together.”
“That sounds fun!”
The others immediately agreed.
Simon carefully gathered Darkness into his hand, planning to manipulate the skewers.
‘I’ll make Loraine and Serne draw first, then shave down the rest with Darkness so…’
“Then I’ll go first!”
But Eshu suddenly leapt forward, grabbing a skewer. The others followed quickly, mixing up the order.
And so, moments later…
‘…How did it end up like this?’
Simon sighed inwardly.
“We’ll be back!”
Eshu was cheerfully waving, her hand resting on Simon’s shoulder.
Behind them, Loraine and Serne glared daggers at each other, openly hostile. Between them, Toto stood with a tearful expression.
‘…I’m doomed.’
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters