Chapter 621
Simon had finally regained some leisure.
The match he was supposed to participate in today was over, and his first-place standing in the Summonology Department was still secure.
On the first day, his nerves had been stretched tight because of worries about the Dark Emperor, but from the second day onward, he felt at ease. With some spare time, he decided to walk around—half stroll, half patrol.
‘So many people.’
During the Dark Emperor Festival, the entire Roke Island was packed with people.
Not a single street was empty. Every road was lined with stalls, and spectators laughed cheerfully as they chatted about the matches.
“Mom! They say ‘Ballack’ is going to appear at the Woodville Arena!”
“Shall we go see him?”
Simon felt his ears perk up. He even thought about watching Ballack—the strongest in Keyzen since Aizel was absent—but for now, his duty as student council came first.
“Hey, aren’t you the president of Keyzen’s student council?”
“We really enjoyed your match!”
As he walked, more and more people began recognizing him, even without his council president coat.
Everywhere, people tossed him encouraging words.
Not only Simon, but even students wearing the Keyzen uniform received cheers of “Do your best!” as they passed. Some stall owners even handed out food for free.
Since Simon was a council member, he refused several times, but eventually bought an ice cream.
Dududududu!
‘Ah.’
On the carriage road next to the walking path, carriages constantly went back and forth, kicking up dust. Simon quickly turned his back toward the road to shield his ice cream.
“Hurry, please!”
“We’ll be late for Shatel’s match!”
A young couple urged their coachman along. Everyone was passionately enjoying the Dark Emperor Festival.
Feeling proud that he had contributed, even a little, to such a festival, Simon kept walking.
Before he knew it, eating his ice cream had carried him all the way to the Market Square in the center of Roke Island.
This was the densest cluster of stalls in Keyzen, a place first-years flocked to the moment classes ended. There was even a popular restaurant list circulating closely among them.
“Try crispy fried shrimp!”
“Thank you, customer!”
It was lunchtime, so the square was buzzing. Simon paused to watch families dining with Keyzen students.
‘My parents couldn’t come because of their duties.’
A pity, but even if they had visited, with his student council work, they probably couldn’t have spent much time together anyway. Simon resumed his patrol.
And then—
“Hey! My best friend!”
He bumped into Dick. Dick, sitting at a restaurant table, waved vigorously. Across from him sat two freckled boys who resembled him.
“Hello, Simon brother!”
“Great to see you, Simon brother!”
They were Dick’s younger twin brothers, Bill Hayword and Al Hayword.
“Wow! It’s been a while, both of you. Have you been well?”
Since they were his best friend’s brothers, Simon sat down for a moment to chat.
Bill and Al chattered noisily about the morning’s matches, while Dick, with his nose in the air, boasted again.
“All this? My work! Every stall here, not a single one without my touch, you hear?”
Bill and Al snorted, then looked at Simon as if asking if that were true. Simon smiled and nodded.
“It’s true. Without Dick, the festival wouldn’t have even started.”
“You hear that?”
“Oooh~!”
Bill and Al whistled, looking at their older brother with renewed respect.
“To be honest, we didn’t believe Dick brother was really the student council treasurer until we came to Roke Island!”
“How could someone ranked in the 400s get into the student council? We laughed at the thought!”
“Hahahahaha!”
The twins burst out laughing. Dick’s lips twitched, but he shrugged, pretending to be calm.
“You two would cry to go home after just a month at Keyzen. Getting into Keyzen itself is way out of your league.”
The twins ignored Dick’s bluff and turned back to Simon.
“Oh right, Simon brother!”
“We opened our Cores!”
Simon’s eyes widened.
“W-what? Really?”
The twins spread their palms open. Struggling for a moment, they finally managed to form a tiny black droplet beneath their hands.
It was unmistakably Darkness.
Simon gave a wry smile and glanced at Dick.
“How’d this happen? Did your father allow them to become necromancers?”
Dick shook his head.
“Of course not. Dad still wants them locked away in the warehouse, raised as warehouse keepers for life. But since these guys kept begging to try Keyzen next year, I scraped together some savings and paid for their Core opening.”
Simon looked at Dick with genuine admiration.
“You really acted like a proper older brother.”
The cost of Core opening was enormous. On top of that, life at Keyzen was expensive. For Dick to give such a sum to his brothers was no small choice.
Simon lowered his voice.
“But is it really okay? Shouldn’t you at least tell your father?”
“I made a promise with them.”
Dick smirked faintly.
“They’ll take Keyzen’s entrance exam next year. If they fail, they give up and inherit the family business. If they pass, Dad won’t be able to oppose.”
True enough. Entering Keyzen was such a huge event that even high-ranking nobles held banquets. No father would tell his son to keep being a merchant after passing.
Dick quietly added,
“......Look how happy they are. Life’s only once. Forcing them to give up their dream without even trying? That’s too cruel.”
Simon was deeply moved, patting Dick’s shoulder.
“You’re awesome, really.”
“Hah, and you’re only realizing that now?”
Dick chuckled, then looked at his brothers still struggling to squeeze out Darkness.
“But listen, you two. If you fail Keyzen, that’s it. I don’t deal with those three other necromancer schools—Aland, Sierra, Moyran, whatever. Got it?”
“Wow~ Elitist!”
Watching the Hayword brothers fool around together, Simon was enjoying himself when—
“H-hold on! Student!”
A plump middle-aged woman waddled up.
“That armband! You’re...!”
Simon rose from his seat.
“I’m from the student council, ma’am. What happened?”
“My wallet! Someone took my wallet! That person over there!”
A pickpocket.
Simon’s face hardened.
“Bill, Al. I’ll head off. Have fun, okay?”
Dick also stood.
“Wait! I’ll come—”
“Stay with your brothers, Dick.”
Simon smiled and waved.
“It’s family time.”
Dick smacked his lips awkwardly, then sat back down.
“Alright. Thanks.”
“I’ll see you at the council room tonight.”
Running alongside the woman, Simon asked,
“What did the thief look like?”
“Blue clothes! A blue outfit and a hood!”
Without hesitation, Simon pulled Darkness into his legs, then leapt onto a stall rooftop, soaring through the air.
‘Found him.’
From above, he spotted the man in blue with a hood, running frantically.
Simon flicked his finger, sending a skeleton’s bone to wrap him in Bone Armor.
“W-what is this?!”
The thief, still sprinting, was forcibly redirected back toward Simon and the woman.
At a nearby table, some men drinking beer burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“I’ll return your wallet now.”
Simon handed the wallet back to the woman, then delivered the thief to nearby guards. Onlookers even gave him a small round of applause.
‘This area will need heavier patrols.’
With so many people, accidents were bound to happen.
Disputes between stall owners and customers, students picking fights over department rivalries, skeleton servers going out of control, there was no shortage of incidents.
As Simon busily moved to handle things—
“Hey, isn’t that Simon-senior?”
“Council President-senior Over here!”
This time, some first-year Mutant juniors eating nearby spotted him—Sasha, Princess Molly, and today Arthur was with them too.
“Simon oppa! When’s your next match?”
“Sasha! Don’t call the council president oppa so rudely!”
“Hahaha! Simon-senior! Long time no see!”
The noisy first-years gave him no peace. Smiling, Simon walked over.
“Hey everyone. Having fun?”
“Yeeees!”
The first-years answered with lively voices. Simon scratched the side of his head.
“Somehow, I feel bad. First-years can’t participate in the matches by rule.”
The Dark Emperor Festival was a department competition.
Since first-years didn’t belong to any department yet, naturally, they couldn’t take part. While all of Roke Island was heated in the joy of the festival, the first-years still had to attend normal classes.
“Not at all.”
Princess Molly swept back her long hair and smiled.
“Some graduating classes never even get to see the Dark Emperor Festival since it’s only once every five years. I think our class is lucky.”
“She’s right!”
“The matches are so fun! Student Council President, thank you for making such a wonderful festival!”
At that, Simon waved his hands in fluster.
“Ah, no, no! I didn’t make anything. I hardly did much.”
“Wasn’t all this the Student Council President’s doing?”
To the first-years, Simon seemed that amazing.
“And you guys.”
Checking the clock hanging on a nearby stall wall, Simon addressed the juniors.
“Isn’t it cutting close to prepare for your next class?”
The first-years all flinched at once and averted their eyes.
Busted.
“I’ll clean up what you ate, so hurry and run.”
“S-sorry!”
“Excuse us!”
Finally realizing the danger, the first-years scrambled to get ready.
While tidying up after them, Simon noticed a bag left on a chair. He lifted it and shouted quickly.
“Arthur! You need to take your bag!”
Arthur, who had already rushed far ahead thanks to his extraordinary physical abilities, came sprinting back at tremendous speed and stopped in front of Simon.
“Thank you! Haha! That could’ve been disastrous!”
“Pay attention.”
Smiling, Simon flicked Arthur on the forehead.
“Stop being so careless.”
“Y-yes! Sorry!”
“And don’t just dash off alone. Look after your classmates, too. You’re the only boy among them here, aren’t you?”
“Ah! That’s true. I’ll keep it in mind! Hahaha!”
Sasha, who was putting her things into subspace, let out a snort of laughter.
“You’re really trying to teach gentleman’s manners to that zero-awareness idiot king? Impossible.”
“It’s not idiot king! It’s mercenary king!”
Simon chuckled warmly at their bickering.
And then—
“!”
Suddenly, a chilling shiver ran down his back.
‘What… is that?’
His blood turned to ice. His heart pounded, sweat trickled down his nape.
Sssrrrrrk—
Behind him.
Something dreadful was passing by.
Don’t turn.
Don’t turn.
Don’t turn.
Every cell in his body screamed a warning.
Red lights flashed. Alarm bells rang. Simon’s world was stained crimson like blood.
If he so much as turned—
Not only himself, but the first-years, the Hayword brothers, everyone nearby—
They would all be dragged into it.
‘.......’
His eyes bloodshot, veins bulging across his hands.
Simon calmly raised Darkness and spread it through his body.
‘I can’t avoid this. I have to look.’
Fully prepared, Simon slowly creaked his head around.
But.
Murmur murmur murmur!
Time returned to normal speed. What he saw was just the countless crowds bustling past.
He rushed about, scanning the area.
But “it” had already melted into the throng.
“Simon oppa?”
Sasha tilted her head.
“Something wrong?”
“N-no. Nothing.”
Simon wiped the sweat from his brow.
“You’ll be late. Better get back to class, right?”
“Mm.”
At last, the juniors left.
Simon immediately tapped Feer’s avatar.
‘Feer! Feer! Did you feel anything?’
A moment later, Feer’s voice rang.
[What is it, boy?!]
‘Something strange, just now, something…!’
His mind tangled, still rattled. But Feer said he hadn’t sensed anything suspicious.
‘What was that?’
Simon walked quickly with the crowd.
‘Did I imagine it?’
How could “something like that” just pass by casually in such a bustling place?
‘What exactly did I sense?’
And—
‘What’s really happening in this Dark Emperor Festival?’
Simon heightened his senses to the utmost and broke into a run.
‘I’m not too late.’
He sprinted in the direction the thing had gone.
It wasn’t quite a pursuit—more like chasing an unpredictable impulse—but he couldn’t stop.
He had to move.
“......”
Thud.
Finally, Simon halted, staring into the backstreets beyond the market stalls. This deserted place was littered with cooking utensils and crates of food.
Simon stepped boldly inside.
Swish!
With his senses sharpened to their limit, he caught a hand reaching from behind.
Reflexively, he grabbed the wrist, yanked it down, and lunged forward with a punch.
< Hongpeng’s Original – Chwita >
Pukak!
But something sharp rose up, deflecting his fist and breaking Chwita.
‘!’
Strong!
Simon tried to follow with a kick, but his opponent countered with a clash of legs, breaking his movement and closing the distance.
“Calm yourself, Simon.”
Thwack!
Thud!
Both their fists stopped just short of each other’s faces. Panting, Simon finally saw who it was.
Faded gray hair, fierce eyes, a sharp jawline, and a long scar slashing across the right eye.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
Simon lowered his fist, relief washing over his face.
His old roommate from first year, who disappeared every night. In truth, an agent who entered Keyzen under direct orders from Neftis.
“Kajan!”
It was Kajan Edvalt, Simon’s greatest ally time and time again.
Scratching the scar at his eye as he always did, Kajan spoke in a heavy voice.
“Hope you’ve enjoyed the festival enough. There’s an incident.”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters