Chapter 632
Step. Step.
A refreshing breeze drifted through the pleasant morning air. Chosen by Lete, Simon walked side by side with her along the park path.
“...So this is how it turned out.”
“Do you have complaints?”
Lete spoke curtly, and Simon quickly waved his hand in fluster.
“No, no. I don’t mean it like that. I was just thinking—wouldn’t it be safer to tour the island inside a carriage guarded by agents?”
“I told you already, didn’t I? Ever Kire is not on this island.”
She replied in her signature cynical tone, hands shoved into the pockets of her robe.
“Since it seems the necromancers can’t fully trust my foresight, I had no choice but to agree to the patrol. If that’s the case, isn’t it only fair that I choose the way of patrolling that’s comfortable for me?”
“Alright, got it. But won’t people recognize your face?”
Lete was still dressed in the adventurer’s outfit she had first worn, with only the hood of her robe slightly covering her face.
“Don’t worry. I came wearing an artifact that interferes with facial recognition.”
Saying so, she lifted up the festival map.
“So, you’d better guide me around properly, guide.”
“I’ll do my best. Where should we start?”
“Well, since we’re supposedly looking for fanatics as our patrol duty, wouldn’t it be better to focus on crowded places?”
She tapped several spots on the map.
“The street market, the shoreline... oh, the club booths look fun.”
“...Didn’t you just say we should go where there are a lot of people?”
Simon leaned in, pointing at the map she was holding.
“At this time of day, the place with the most people is the stadium! There’s one right nearby—the Ringcastle Arena. Want to go there?”
“....”
Lete stopped walking and stared fixedly at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing at all.”
She sighed quietly and gave a small nod.
“Go ahead, lead the way.”
“Sure.”
The two of them walked toward the arena, chatting here and there.
If the necromancer agents were watching from afar, their presence wasn’t noticeable. That gave them a certain degree of freedom.
“Hey! Simon!”
“Simon~!”
A familiar voice rang out.
Maelyn and Kamibarez were running toward them.
“Maelyn! Kami!”
“Why haven’t you been answering your messages, you idiot!”
As soon as she arrived, Maelyn exploded with fury.
“The student council doesn’t get breaks! Do you know how many incidents have erupted lately?!”
“S-sorry.”
Simon quickly apologized, then added,
“I had some things to take care of.”
“Things to take care of, huh, you—!”
Maelyn cut herself short when she noticed Lete standing silently at Simon’s side.
“Who’s this?”
“Oh, let me introduce you.”
So the moment had come this quickly.
Now Simon had to introduce Lete to his necromancer friends. A rush of tension swept over him, and he rattled off the story he had prepared.
“This is Rena. She’s a friend from my hometown, Leshill. She happened to visit the Dark Emperor festival, and we ran into each other by chance. Since it’s her first time on Roke Island, I was just showing her around the school.”
The hometown-friend story.
Cliched, yes, but for a mountain boy who’d spent nearly seventeen years living in isolation, it was the best excuse he could muster.
And the name Rena—she’d already used it as an alias during their trip to the Holy Federation.
“And these are my classmates and fellow student council members—Maelyn Villene and Kamibarez Ursula.”
After introducing them, Simon quickly stole a glance at Lete.
He wasn’t hoping for them to be friendly. He was just worried—what if she revealed the blatant disgust she had once shown toward necromancers?
“Pleased to meet you.”
Contrary to his fears, Lete bowed politely and greeted them. Lifting her head, her ash-gray hair fluttered as she smiled with her eyes.
“My name’s Rena.”
“Hi there!”
The sudden appearance of a new girl their age made Maelyn greet her in a bright, lively voice.
“I’m Keyzen’s vice president, Maelyn. If you’re Simon’s friend, you can speak casually with me, okay?”
“Of course.”
“I’m secretary, Kamibarez Ursula!”
“A pleasure to meet you.”
“You’re so pretty! Where did you get your hair done?”
“You’re beautiful yourself, Maelyn. I had my hair styled in a city I visited before coming to the Dark Emperor festival. But seeing you makes me want to grow mine longer.”
“Really?”
Somehow, these two were hitting it off splendidly.
Right on the spot, the girls burst into cheerful chatter without pause.
“So, what’s your relationship with Simon?”
“Friends. Childhood friends from back home.”
“Hee~h, childhood friends.”
“Yes. I worried a lot when Simon suddenly left to become a necromancer. But now, seeing him as Student Council President—it makes me happy. Please take good care of him.”
“Oh my, why are you telling me to take care of Simon?”
“Because you’re the vice president. I meant that you should support your president well.”
“Ahaha! That’s what you meant? Got it.”
“Yes.”
Simon took a nervous step back, his face tense.
What was this?
They were smiling and talking normally, but... why did it feel like some strange current was flowing between them?
“Rena. Is this your first time in the Dark Emperor festival?”
At that moment, Kamibarez pricked up her ears and joined in. Lete quickly shifted her gaze to her.
“Yes, it’s my first.”
“Then you definitely need to visit the street market! The pudding and carrot cake are delicious!”
“Oh, thank you for the tip.”
Kamibarez moved closer, chattering away as she gave her guidance like a diligent student council member.
Lete gazed at her for a moment, then spoke.
“It might be rude to say this to a noble, but...”
“?”
“You’re adorable.”
At those words, Kamibarez’s face instantly flushed red.
“Uh, th-thank you.”
Seeing her embarrassed, Lete’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
She didn’t show it much, but Lete had a fondness for cute things. It looked like her relationship with Kamibarez would turn out well.
“A-and, um, the shoreline here has beautiful night views!”
“No, the best night view spot is up on the hills near the teleportation circle.”
Maelyn cut in abruptly.
“Night views are fine.”
Lete answered with a gentle smile.
“Simon already showed me yesterday.”
“!!”
Maelyn whipped her head around, eyes blazing as she glared at Simon.
Kamibarez also began sneaking sideways glances at him, clearly bothered.
BOOOOOM!
At that moment, a small explosion rang out from the nearby park. Startled, Maelyn and Kamibarez reflexively summoned Darkness to their legs.
“Maelyn! We need to hurry!”
“You’re right.”
“What happened?”
Simon quickly asked.
“We got a report that some students started fighting—we were on our way to break it up!”
“Sorry! We’ll go first!”
The two dashed off, stepping on Darkness as they rushed toward the park.
The noisy surroundings fell silent all at once.
“No need for us to go help, then.”
Lete remarked, slipping her hands back into her robe pockets, already back to her usual calm demeanor.
“Yeah. With those two, there won’t be any problem.”
Soon ice shards flew, blood splattered, and Maelyn’s furious cry rang out: “Stop it already, you bastards!”
A moment later, the commotion subsided.
“Hm.”
Lete folded her arms and curved her lips into an odd smile.
“Impressive. I’d love to face them once on a real battlefield.”
“...Don’t say scary things like that. We’re here to prevent that from happening—to stop the war, remember?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Lete replied as she strode ahead.
“To protect world peace.”
* * *
The Ringcastle Arena was in the middle of a third-year match. The stands were packed, the crowd roaring with excitement.
In the front rows, men chugged beer and burst into boisterous laughter. Food scraps littered the ground everywhere, enough to break the backs of the cleaners scurrying to keep up.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Simon wandered about the arena, carefully scanning every corner for traces of Ever Kire.
‘I hope Agent Alastair’s team has made some progress.’
Despite a critical manpower shortage, investigations carried out by Neftis’ inner circle were proceeding rapidly. They were chasing the traces of Ever Kire who had escaped through the harbor. Signs of skirmishes had even been found, yet Ever Kire kept twisting reality to evade capture, making conventional pursuit methods nearly useless.
And yet—
‘...Is it really Ever Kire herself outside the island?’
Both Lete’s foresight and Alastair’s investigation pointed to Ever Kire having fled Roke Island.
But Simon still felt uneasy. Against an ability-user who distorted reality, he had to consider every possibility. He couldn’t afford to let his guard down yet.
Phew.
After checking the vicinity, Simon’s gaze briefly wandered into the arena.
‘So, I finally see him in person.’
Ranked 2nd among all third-years—Ballack.
A man wearing an iron mask, exhaling toxic smoke with every breath.
His body was wrapped in a heavy coat-like garment that covered him so tightly not even his uniform showed.
And now, Simon saw him breaking through the other students single-handedly.
<Ballack’s Original – Poison Fang>
From him spread waves of poison, sweeping students away en masse.
Darkness shields, defensive magic—it didn’t matter. Every barrier gauge was reduced to zero, teleporting his opponents out of the arena. The overwhelming firepower was absolute.
“Urghhhk!”
“Wha—?!”
The poison cloud surged, even approaching the audience. Nearby spectators instinctively shrank back.
An invisible barrier protected the stands, but when the poison struck it, sizzling and flickering lights crackled across it—dangerously close to being breached.
Everywhere Ballack passed, poison puddles overflowed, and toxic mists bloomed. Students clutched their throats in agony, then pressed the forfeit button to escape the arena. Within moments, the arena had transformed into a land of death.
—Th-this match’s rules were supposed to be about scoring goals with the ball, but...
The announcer stammered.
—There are no students left in the arena except for Ballack! Continuing the match is impossible. Ah, the referee has just declared the game over! The winner is... Toxicology Department!
To ignore the rules and end the match like that...
Watching, Simon gave a wry laugh.
‘...Incredible. Could our senior Leonard even beat him?’
And then another thought struck him.
If second place was that strong, just how powerful would Aizel, the first place, be?
When Aizel returned, Simon would have no choice but to fight him for the Student Council Presidency.
“Do you really have the leisure to sit here watching matches?”
A sudden voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Beside him, Lete looked unimpressed, shooting him a sharp glance. Simon smiled faintly, pulling himself together.
“What did you think?”
“No signs of holiness here in this arena.”
She shrugged.
“Probably the same for the others.”
“Good work. Let’s move to another location.”
“Yes.”
Lete stared into the arena one last time, then asked,
“Do you also participate in these matches?”
“Of course. I agreed to do one match per day. Why, interested?”
“Oh?”
A sly smile tugged at Lete’s lips as she crossed her arms.
“Sounds fun. I’ll be sure to watch that one.”
“Haha, that’s a bit embarrassing.”
As Simon laughed and glanced around, he suddenly spotted a familiar face.
Shining black hair, like the night sky. Ruby-red eyes.
A girl.
Simon’s heart leapt, and without thinking, he called out:
“Lo...!”
Swish.
His view was abruptly blocked. Lete had grabbed him, pulling him behind her.
“What’s wrong?”
“That person.”
Her face hardened with tension.
“Something feels off. Be careful...”
“Ah, Simon!”
At that moment, she noticed him too and walked over.
“You came to cheer for the third-year seniors as well?”
It was Loraine.
Then her gaze shifted.
“And beside you... who’s this?”
“...”
They didn’t seem to know each other.
But their expressions twisted oddly, like mismatched puzzle pieces forced together.
The young Saint... and the daughter of the Witch.
In the arena, they had crossed paths.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters