Chapter 607
Simon slowly opened his eyes.
The scenery had changed, but he wasn’t particularly surprised.
A somewhat familiar interior.
He had been here a few times before, this was the school infirmary.
‘…When was I carried here?’
He clearly remembered seizing first place with the power of the Chaos Dullahan he created with Manus, hugging his teammates in joy. But after that, his memory was blank.
“Simon’s awake!”
“Simon!”
The students in the ward rushed over. Among them, the first to run up was a black-haired girl who clasped Simon’s hand with worry in her eyes.
“Are you alright? How do you feel?”
“Ah, Loraine.”
His head was dizzy and hazy, but it was bearable. Simon managed to lift his upper body with effort.
“I’m fine. How did the exam go?”
“Of course!”
Eshu, who had been standing nearby, threw both arms into the air.
“You’re first place, Simon! Thanks to you, both our Group 10 and Group 4 got the highest scores! Absolutely amazing!”
“…Haha.”
Simon nodded absentmindedly.
“That’s a relief.”
“You were incredible! Insane! You’re like a hero, Simon! Should we toss you up in this bed and do a cheer right now?”
“Eshu.”
When Loraine gave her a pointed look, Eshu quickly covered her mouth with both hands and backed off.
“I’m so glad, Simon.”
Toto’s face was pale, clearly worn down with worry. Simon gave a faint smile.
“You look exhausted. Sorry for making you worry, Toto.”
“N-no! As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters…!”
“Still, going up against ten thousand was far too reckless.”
Loraine spoke in a tone of reproach, though she didn’t let go of his hand.
“What were you thinking?”
Her voice carried genuine concern, and Simon felt his chest tighten slightly as he replied,
“I don’t really know myself. Everything just happened so fast, so intensely. But—”
Simon smiled.
“I was sure I could do it.”
Loraine gave him a helpless smile.
“That certainty of yours is exactly what makes it reckless.”
For a moment, he thought her smile looked dazzling. Just then, the leader of Team 4, who had been lingering at the back, stepped forward.
“I’m really sorry, President.”
He bowed his head.
“If I had gotten a better score, you wouldn’t have had such a heavy burden afterward.”
“I told you already.”
Simon shrugged.
“I just did what I could do. Nothing more, nothing less.”
The Group 4 leader scratched the back of his neck with an awkward grin. Eshu, with her arms crossed, grinned mischievously.
“President, do you know how smug that sounds?”
Ahahaha!
Laughter finally broke out in the infirmary, easing the stiff atmosphere.
Knock knock—
With the sound of knocking, the door opened. A doctor from Keyzen’s infirmary, white coat fluttering, walked in.
“You’re awake. That’s good. I need to check the patient’s condition, so students, please return to class.”
“Yes, sir!”
Simon’s teammates and the Group 4 leader stepped back. Loraine folded her hands politely and bowed her head.
“Please take good care of Simon.”
“Haha, of course.”
The students who had come to visit all withdrew, and the door closed.
Now alone in the room with Simon, the doctor suddenly sat down beside him and spoke.
“Now then, take off your shirt.”
“…Huh?”
Simon blinked at the sudden instruction.
“I need to examine you.”
“Oh, right.”
With a hesitant look, Simon unbuttoned his hospital gown.
“How’s your body?”
“Other than being weak and a bit hazy, I’m fine.”
Without any instruments, the doctor began running his bare hands across Simon’s body.
Simon was just starting to think it was a bit odd when he noticed something strange: the hand pressing against his abdomen carried an oddly personal feeling.
“…Erze.”
The moment Simon spoke, the doctor’s hands froze. Seeing that reaction, Simon spoke with near certainty.
“I’m getting mad. What are you doing here?”
The doctor stared at him blankly, and then suddenly, a radiant light burst forth.
But instead of slipping out of a spider’s web, it was like a swan molting—white feathers scattered around.
“Is this what it feels like?”
The light slowly faded.
Sitting there, pouting with her lips stuck out, was Serne.
“…When your man mutters his ex-girlfriend’s name in his sleep, killing the mood?”
“S-Serne?!”
Simon’s face turned bright red in shock. Serne leaned in with a devilish smile.
“Who’s Erze? What kind of girl is she?”
Her platinum-blonde hair cascaded onto Simon’s face, carrying a sweet fragrance that tickled his nose.
“Oh right, I remember now. That was the pet name for your Ancient Undead, wasn’t it? Did that undead ever do this kind of thing to you too?”
Serne mimicked an examination, brushing her palms across Simon’s torso. His face immediately flushed crimson.
“S-stop that!”
“Fufufu.”
Serne flicked her tongue playfully.
“The man who slaughtered ten thousand without hesitation yesterday, dripping in blood with overwhelming charisma… now showing me this helpless look. Thinking of that contrast makes me feel all tingly…”
“Serne!”
“Just kidding.”
She covered her mouth and chuckled.
“Anyway, since even the daughter of Chancellor Keyzen asked me to look after you, shall I continue the checkup?”
Simon recalled Loraine bowing to the doctor earlier.
“It’s the future chancellor’s order, after all.”
Serne slipped her hand into her cascading ivory hair, plucked out a feather, and laid it gently on Simon’s bandaged body, moving it little by little.
The soft yet ticklish sensation of the feather.
It was dizzying, and at the same time, strangely unsettling.
“Why are you doing this?!”
Simon shouted in fluster.
“I told you—it’s an examination. Later, once you’re fully recovered and healthy—”
With a voice sticky like melted candy, she continued,
“You can get your revenge on me the same way, if you want.”
“W-what nonsense are you talking about…!”
Bang!
The infirmary door flew open. First to burst in was the sky-blue-haired Maelyn, crying out in panic.
“Simon! I heard you were hurt! Are you okay?”
But her face instantly flushed bright red.
Simon, lying in bed with his hospital gown unbuttoned, and beside him, Serne sitting with a feather, tickling him mischievously.
Unable to process what she was seeing, Maelyn’s face grew redder and redder until finally—
“W-what are you doing in the infirmaryyyyy?!”
Before anyone could stop her, Maelyn unleashed black magic. A bluish flash filled the room, and in an instant, the ward turned into a winter wonderland, frozen over as snow fell.
“Heheheh.”
Serne avoided the blast and perched lightly on the window sill, waving to Simon.
“I’ll be back later, Simon~ And see you again too, Maelyn!”
Serne jumped out of the window. Maelyn roared with fiery wrath and rushed after her—but this was the 6th floor.
“You wretched—!”
Dick and Kamibarez, who had followed behind, looked utterly dumbfounded. Then, between them, the real infirmary doctor finally appeared.
“Ugh, maybe I overworked myself yesterday. Suddenly got so sleepy… huh?”
He rubbed his eyes open and saw the scene.
The awakened patient.
The wide-open window.
The room transformed into a snowy wonderland, and before it, a sky-blue-haired girl with her face burning red, wearing a guilty expression that screamed ‘I’m the culprit’.
“I-I’m sorry…!”
Simon’s ward was moved to a larger, cleaner room. Maelyn, after fixing the mess she’d made, had to apologize to the infirmary staff over and over before she was finally allowed to leave.
Thankfully, the incident didn’t escalate to the point of the school or department being contacted.
“Man, she’s a real piece of work.”
Dick, who had finally found some good gossip material, was grinning from ear to ear.
“Who else would just throw around ice bombs because she’s mad? Imagine if she barged in on an affair when she’s older, she’d bring the world to ruin.”
“I-I said I was sorry already!”
Maelyn, demurely peeling fruit, blushed furiously as she shouted. Dick let out a squeak and shielded his shoulders.
“She’s mad again! Please, spare me from being turned into an ice statue!”
“You!!”
Simon and Kamibarez burst into laughter. Then Simon’s and Kamibarez’s eyes met, and she gave a sweet smile, fluttering her wings.
“I was really worried about you, Simon!”
“Sorry. This keeps happening lately.”
“Hurry up and get well, Simon!”
Dick crossed his legs with a sly grin.
“Because soon, a big one’s coming for the student council.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Dick at those words. Simon tilted his head.
“A big one?”
“Yeah, well… it’s not confirmed yet, so I can’t say too much. We’ll discuss it once you’re back at the council properly. For now, your recovery comes first.”
Simon scratched his temple.
“Now you’ve just made me more curious.”
“You’ll find out soon enough, so be patient. Oh! Speaking of which, I’ve been curious about something too.”
Dick leaned his head forward with a mischievous grin.
“So, how was the feather play?”
Maelyn’s face went crimson as she hurled a chair at him. Thwack! The corner smashed into Dick’s face, and he let out a deathly scream as he rolled across the floor.
* * *
Simon devoted himself to rest.
Luckily, the weekend was just around the corner. If he’d had to stay in the infirmary through the week, it would have badly hurt his coursework progress.
In any case, many people came to visit him during that time.
Seniors and friends from the Mutant Club, led by Benya and Fitzgerald.
First-year juniors, including Sasha, Arthur, and Princess Molly.
Jaime Victoria, Claudia Menzies, Cindy Vivace—former Class A students from last year.
Seniors and peers from the Department of Summonology.
Direct aides of the Student Council, and even the teaching assistants he had gotten close to.
Even professors came to visit.
Professor Farahan of Defense Against Holiness brought along some baby divine beast kittens, and afterward, Jane, Hongpeng, and Belya—despite their busy schedules—all dropped by Simon’s ward.
—That such a genius should be injured over nothing more than a summon backlash!
Professor Bahil of Katarology, in particular, gave a fiery rant about it. He had brought along piles of curse-study materials as “gifts”, completely filling Simon’s ward.
Bahil even overstayed visitation hours, until the infirmary doctors finally dragged him out by force.
Later, Aron, his direct professor, came in late at night, looking thinner and wearier.
He didn’t say much.
—I’ll prepare the Bone Dragon class.
Simon felt so elated he thought his chest would burst. He rolled off his bed in joy and scraped his knees on the floor.
And so, the weekend ended, and a new weekday morning arrived.
Simon was discharged safely and returned to class.
Since it was right after midterms and the Dullahan performance test, the Summonology professors were more lenient with the curriculum, ending classes earlier than usual.
Simon gratefully packed his bag and, for the first time in a while, headed to the Student Council room.
“Hey, you’re here!”
Inside, Dick, Maelyn, and Kamibarez were already waiting.
Simon donned his Student Council President’s coat and sat down in his chair.
Dick stepped to the wheeled chalkboard, cleared his throat, and tapped the board.
“Now then, let me explain ‘the issue’!”
Simon gave a wry smile.
“I’ve been dying of curiosity. Just tell me already.”
“Okay, okay. Three weeks from now—”
Dick quickly scrawled a single word on the board with chalk.
<Dark Emperor>
“The Dark Festival! A once-every-five-years, national-level event! Co-hosted by Keyzen and the Dark Alliance, it’s a colossal athletic tournament!”
Simon’s eyes widened.
“A-a tournament?!”
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