Chapter 647
"I'm nothing to him."
Lete said flatly as she popped a grape into her mouth.
"Hohoho! That’s what they all say."
"And what about you? What do you think of Simon? Aren’t you teasing me because you like him?"
Eshu laughed lightly.
"We’re really just friends! Ah, of course, if he insisted that he liked me and confessed all passionately, I might give it some thought."
"Might?"
She shook her head.
"The rivals in our department are too strong. I don’t want to get into fights with friends, and I don’t have the confidence to win him over anyway."
Lete closed her eyes and took a sip of wine.
"By rivals, you mean people like Loraine, or Serne, right?"
"Oh, you know already?"
"I’ve already met them. Simon introduced me."
Just as those words ended, Serne could be seen striking up a conversation with Simon. Lete watched them with a blank expression.
"Then how about this question?"
Eshu, who was also watching, smiled meaningfully.
"Outsiders will have to leave the island soon, right?"
"Yes."
"Wouldn’t it bother you to leave behind the childhood friend you grew up with?"
"……"
Lete plucked another grape, popped it into her mouth, and thought for a while.
Then, with a small sigh, she smiled as if admitting defeat.
"Fine, I’ll say it does bother me."
"I knew it!"
Eshu’s eyes gleamed as she raised her glass. Lete raised hers and clinked it.
"You’re fresh from your hometown, so you don’t know much, right? Want me to tell you Simon stories I experienced this semester?"
For the first time, Lete’s lifeless eyes lit up.
"That sounds fun! Any embarrassing stories?"
"Of course!"
* * *
Though it was a rare party, Simon was having a hectic time.
Meeting people from all sorts of classes and exchanging greetings was draining his energy.
‘Being Student Council President is tough.’
Some had even come all the way to the Summonology Department’s party just to see him, so he couldn’t rest easy.
During a brief break, he sat down with a weary face when—
"Hey! My best friend!"
A familiar voice, along with an arm thrown around his neck.
"Ah, Dick!"
"Haha, you alright? You look half-dead."
Dick handed him a drink filled with ice. Simon grabbed it and downed it in one gulp.
"Ahh, lifesaving. Thanks."
"Don’t mention it."
"Simon bro!"
"We came too!"
From afar, Bill and Al, Dick Hayword’s younger brothers, waved.
Each of them was already chatting with a girl by their side. That bloodline was consistent, Simon thought.
He waved back.
"But Dick, what brings you here? What about the Toxicology party?"
"The atmosphere was dead boring, so I slipped out and came here."
Chuckling, Dick dragged over a chair and straddled it casually.
"Everyone hoped for at least second place in the last exam, but we ended up fourth. Because of that, the third-years like Senior Ballack are in a foul mood. Even at the party, everyone’s just rolling their eyes and tiptoeing around them."
"Yeah, I can imagine."
"But more importantly!"
Suddenly, Dick’s eyes sharpened.
"I heard from Maelyn and Kami! Your childhood friend came from your hometown? Name’s Rena?"
"Yeah."
"That’s her, right?"
He pointed at a gray-haired girl sitting on a bench not far away.
Lete was cheerfully clinking glasses with Eshu and chatting away.
"Come on, don’t you remember? Last time you said that Elizabeth Weffer was also a friend from Leshill, right?"
"Ah, that……!"
No wonder it had felt fishy. He had already used that excuse once.
The name Elizabeth Weffer was just a cover identity of Erzebet disguised as a Keyzen student.
"Another beautiful childhood friend, following Elizabeth! Man, Leshill must be overflowing with handsome men and beautiful women! I’m definitely visiting during break!"
"Calm down, Dick."
"Spit it out!"
Suddenly, Dick lowered his voice.
"Where is Elizabeth Weffer? She’s not in the second-year roster, and I thought maybe she got expelled, so I checked the first-year list from last year too—nothing! I even asked kids from Class E, and none of them had ever heard of a pink-haired girl!"
Simon’s eyes darted nervously.
So Dick had caught on here.
"You gonna introduce me or not?"
Dick grinned wickedly, like a villain hatching a scheme.
Sweat trickled down Simon’s face.
"There are… complicated circumstances!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Must be another Kajan thing, right? You two were hanging out even during the Dark Emperor incident."
Thankfully, he seemed to interpret it that way.
Since they’d been roommates, Dick knew Kajan was a secret agent.
"And the reason I can’t introduce you is because…"
"Because?"
"Elizabeth… she… likes you."
Freeze.
Dick raised his palm. Then, like a tragic hero, he shook his head and covered his face with his other hand.
"Ughh, it was short but sweet! Farewell, my love!"
"……"
Simon silently handed him a wineglass. Dick drained it in one go, then set it down with a flushed face.
"Kyaha!"
Dick gazed absently toward Lete, then suddenly dropped his head.
"I have a request, Simon!"
"Sounds like I’ll refuse, but say it."
He lifted his head with determination.
"Take me to Leshill! The land of beauties! My true love must be waiting there!"
Simon sighed lightly, then slung Dick over his shoulder. Looking to the side, he called out:
"Bill! Al! Your brother’s drunk!"
"Ugh, really! We told him not to drink too much!"
"Why does this school even allow students to drink?!"
Bill and Al came grumbling, while Dick flailed, insisting he wasn’t drunk.
"Do I look drunk to you? Huh?"
"Brother!"
"Let go! Do I seriously look drunk?!"
"You are drunk."
"And what’s your proof, huh?!"
Without a word, Simon gestured. Bone Armor wrapped around Dick’s body, and he was quickly whisked away toward the dormitory.
"I’m not druuunk!"
The flailing of a boy heartbroken in love was pitiful.
* * *
"So basically…"
Lete summed up with a somewhat dazed look.
"On the day of the entrance ceremony, he saved a kidnapped freshman and brought her back to school. You taught arrogant third-years a lesson, won every exchange event with other schools, defeated a professional assassin during an evaluation, and with just one Dullahan cut down ten thousand monsters?"
"Yup! Yup!"
Lete rested her chin on her hand, now looking sullen.
"Honestly, aren’t you just a Simon fan club member? You’re not telling me any embarrassing stories—these are all legendary exploits!"
"It just came out that way while I was talking."
Eshu laughed awkwardly.
"But it’s all true! And that’s just what he accomplished during second year. I heard he was amazing even back in first year, but I didn’t know him then."
"……"
Lete rested her chin on her hand.
She had always assumed Simon was popular everywhere and now she understood why.
He was leaving behind weighty footprints in the school.
"Unbelievable."
She gave a dry laugh.
"He sure crafted himself a good image. If people knew Simon’s real nature, they’d be shocked."
"His real nature? What do you mean?"
Eshu’s eyes sparkled.
"Are you curious?"
"Of course!"
"The truth is… Simon is…"
But Lete trailed off into thought.
Dozens of memories of Simon’s gentle smile floated through her mind.
Simon—standing in front of her to protect her. Simon—taking her hand. Simon—meeting her eyes in the cramped wagon. Simon—sitting silently beside her despite being covered in wounds. Simon—swinging the Scythe of Holiness. Simon—raising the power of a Saint. Simon—boldly shouting as he blocked the false goddess.
-I’m the proof that goddess is fake, Lete.
Biting her lip, lost in thought, Lete finally let out a resigned smile.
"Honestly, I tried to force something bad out, but nothing came to mind."
"Right? Right?"
Eshu laughed knowingly.
"Guess that’s just the kind of person he is."
By then, Simon had finished greeting the guests and sending the drunken Dick back. He was walking toward them.
Eshu raised her nearly empty wineglass.
"It was brief, but we’re friends now, right?"
Friends.
A Saint befriending a necromancer—how ironic.
She could have ignored it. After all, she was wearing an artifact that impaired recognition, so in a few days, Eshu would hardly remember her face.
But.
-For now, let’s worry less about the future and focus on the present.
For some reason, Lete smiled and raised her glass as well.
Clink!
They emptied the last of their wine together.
Lete chuckled.
"You really remind me of my roommate."
"Roommate?"
Eshu widened her eyes, then giggled.
"Whoever she is, she must be a refined and graceful beauty, right?"
Lete burst into laughter.
"You’re exactly alike."
"Lete."
Simon approached. Eshu exchanged a meaningful glance with him before stepping aside. Lete said:
"Sorry. Not much time left, but you’ve been so busy."
"It’s fine."
The temperature had dropped sharply, and it was getting cold. The two decided to stop by Simon’s dorm room to grab their robes before heading out.
Simon climbed the stairs, while Lete nimbly scaled the wall and slipped in through the window as if it were second nature.
"Alright, let’s go."
Simon draped his robe over his uniform as he spoke.
But then—
Bweep! Bweeep!
A strange bird was perched on the bed.
"What the…?"
"Must’ve flown in when I opened the window earlier."
She glanced at the mirror disinterestedly, fixing her hair.
The bird toddled closer and stared intently at Simon. Something like a letter was tied to its leg.
"Looks like a kind of carrier pigeon."
Simon untied the letter and examined the envelope.
"Who sent this?"
Lete, still fussing with her hair in the mirror, suddenly turned crimson when she saw the letter.
‘No way…!’
Her pupils trembled violently. Just as Simon was about to open the letter—
"Don’t read it!!"
She panicked, rushing forward and snatching the letter from his hands.
"What’s wrong?"
"That’s my letter!"
Lete held out the envelope.
"See? It’s mine, right?"
She hastily clutched it to her chest. Simon blinked in confusion.
"Well, yeah. But since it’s addressed to me, shouldn’t I be allowed to read it?"
"No!"
Her face blazing red, she shouted.
"I already told you everything I wanted to say directly! There’s no reason to read it! L-let’s just go already!"
"……Alright, fine."
Simon turned away without protest.
Relieved, Lete sighed inwardly. But at that moment, Simon secretly moved his fingers. The letter slipped right out of her grasp.
"!?"
Simon caught it with Cloud and grinned playfully.
"Thought I’d let it go just like that?"
"You!!"
Lete yelled and lunged for it. Simon quickly held the letter high above his head.
"You wrote it for me anyway, didn’t you?"
"Give it baaaack!"
She stood on tiptoe, swiping furiously, but couldn’t reach because of the height difference. Pressing harder and harder, she made Simon lose his footing.
Thud!
The two of them toppled together. Lete barely managed to wrest the letter from his hand.
Her face turned so red it looked like drops of scarlet would spill from her skin.
"You’re dead…!"
Knock knock knock knock!
They froze.
"Simon, Toto, I thought I heard a girl’s voice in there. Open the door, please."
At that, Simon’s face went ashen.
It was the dormitory supervisor’s voice.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters