Chapter 693
“Education.”
Simon suddenly felt a sting on the back of his head and his back.
“……”
It was the face of Simon as though he had heard some bizarre answer, and the Grand Duke narrowed her eyes.
“Do you have a complaint?”
“N-no, Milord!”
With such a frightening glare, even if there was a complaint, it would sink away at once.
The Grand Duke, hm, crossed her arms arrogantly.
“If you only form a surrounding formation, holes are everywhere, and fools who confuse discharge with conduction at every turn, with just two weeks of training I made you capable enough to slay the North Star. I think my ability as an educator is certain.”
Simon smiled and pointed to himself.
“Maybe that’s just because the student was talented?”
“On the last day, you climb endlessly, I see.”
“I also need to say what I must.”
The two of them stifled a chuckle for a moment, then met each other’s eyes.
Her gaze, which usually wavered out of habit, this time did not look away and stared straight at Simon. Delighted at that, Simon smiled again and made a joke.
“You know, the very fact that you beat up your student in the first place disqualifies you as an educator, right?”
“I think appropriate corporal punishment, for the purpose of correction and reformation, is necessary.”
“In Keyzen, that would be a huge problem! Do you know how many high noble heirs there are? Even professors from the grasslands don’t go that far.”
She snorted through her nose as if it were ridiculous.
“I am the Grand Duke, so I only need to be careful with royals. If their parents’ rank is below duke, tell them to suck it up.”
“…That very mindset itself disqualifies you as an educator.”
The two of them burst into laughter again.
Simon thought it was pleasant. At the same time, he regretted that this was his last time with her.
“Well, that was a joke about pressing down with status.”
She brushed back her hair and continued.
“When I leave the north, I must follow the laws outside the north.”
Simon was more surprised that her talk about education was not a joke.
“But why did you suddenly become interested in education?”
“To be honest, you and Kamibarez impressed me.”
Even in the north, there are those who can open their Core, and there are many excellent warriors hardened by a lifetime of war. But the ability of the young necromancers from Keyzen was beyond what the Grand Duke had imagined.
She wanted to know how Keyzen could cultivate such fine talents.
And she wanted to help children who were growing up.
Not in killing, but in something more productive.
Because she had not been educated herself. She had learned alone, by working herself half to death, and now she wanted to generously share the experience and know-how she had gained.
And above all.
‘I want to keep watching.’
She thought, as she looked at Simon.
‘To see how far you can go.’
“…?”
Simon blinked blankly, then softly smiled.
In the end, the Grand Duke could not hold out, and covered the bridge of her nose, turning her gaze away.
‘Strange elements have been added to Yona, who was once only fond of the opposite sex.’
“Your Excellency the Grand Duke! Young Master!”
Godrick arrived with cold tea, a specialty of the north, and their conversation paused.
Simon sipped the bitter-cool tea and was surprised.
‘Compared to the first day,’
It was delicious.
The ingredients didn’t seem to have changed.
When he returned to Keyzen, he felt like this addictive bitterness would keep coming back to him.
“The monster issue as well, we must keep communication with Xairos, who has become the new North Star.”
With a teacup in hand, the Grand Duke brought up a new topic.
“When you return to Keyzen, how will you keep in contact with Xairos?”
“There’s a liaison. They’ll stay in the north and serve as a bridge between the Grand Duke and Xairos.”
“And who is that?”
Simon smiled.
“Grayson.”
“…That milkmaid, you mean.”
The Grand Duke drank a sip of tea with a slightly bitter expression.
“Grayson’s matter is regrettable.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she now?”
* * *
A small outer village near Bilkenos.
[Heave-ho! Let’s work, work!]
Grayson, now an undead, rolled up her sleeves and started on the piled-up chores.
She cleaned the farm, cleared out the reindeer droppings, and laid clean straw on the ground.
She refilled the dried-up water, and also gave them feed.
She had worried that, being left alone for several days, they might have starved to death, but the reindeer had cleverly jumped the farm fence and grazed outside.
Then, when Grayson returned and filled the feed, they came back to the farm of their own accord.
[Hello, everyone, you’ve been well?]
She washed the dirty reindeer’s fur, milked the reindeer whose udders were swollen, filled the buckets to the brim, loaded them onto an empty wagon, and attached a note.
<Due to recent circumstances, I am sorry for not delivering milk on time. I filled more than usual.>
Even if merchants cut off trade, she couldn’t complain, but as the whole of Bilkenos had been in chaos recently, she thought they might forgive her.
Grayson walked toward the reindeer.
[Here, time for you to eat… ah.]
Some of the reindeer were pressed up against the fence, trembling in fear. These reindeer had once followed her so well, but when Grayson approached, they quickly scattered and fled.
[Sorry, the corpse smell is awful, huh?]
She gave a foolish smile, raised her arm to her nose, and sniffed.
Of course, her sense of smell was gone, so she smelled nothing.
She went to the riverside, drawing water, and glanced at her reflection.
One eye was gone.
Her once-white cheek was rotting away, sunken with holes. The bone of her shoulder was exposed.
A horrific appearance.
Unable to keep looking at herself, she turned her head away.
—Undead are not completely dead beings yet.
The voice of the necromancer boy who had saved her came to mind.
The boy had said, if she cared for her father, if she carried guilt for the north, she should resolve it herself.
But she must not be mistaken.
She was no longer human.
She could no longer deliver milk to the Grand Duke’s castle, nor converse with merchants who came to buy milk. She could no longer use today’s money to buy bread in Bilkenos, nor chatter with friends of her age.
All she could do was quietly tend to the farm in her demented father’s stead, then disappear.
—When you have no more regrets, tell me then.
The boy had also said that.
That made her heart feel at ease.
She was about to tidy the warehouse one last time, holding a broomstick.
[Ah.]
An old man came out of the house.
Clouded eyes, hair white as snow, limbs thin and shriveled.
Most of all, a man who could not remember his daughter, nor even his own name, suffering from severe dementia.
That was Grayson’s father.
[Father! What are you doing outside…!]
Then she suddenly froze in place.
She had spoken out of habit, then stopped in shock.
In this body, she could not go closer.
The moment she turned her back—
“Grayson?”
Her steps halted.
“Is that you, Grayson?”
With a trembling face, she turned around.
A rotten body, a decayed face, bones sticking out.
But.
“…Where have you been, only coming now.”
To someone, she looked no different.
[Father.]
She approached.
[Do you remember me? Do you remember my name?]
“Of course I remember, it’s the name… I gave you.”
[But you don’t even remember your own name.]
“I may not remember a name given by another, but a name I gave… I remember.”
Her father smiled.
“Grayson, my daughter.”
Her shoulders shook.
A body so broken, it could no longer shed tears.
But.
‘Thank you, thank you Simon.’
Even in this body.
She thought it was right that she stayed here.
‘Thank you so much, for giving me a chance.’
* * *
The next day.
Simon and Kamibarez had finished their preparations to leave, and came out to the courtyard of the Grand Duke’s castle.
There was no blizzard, nor bitter cold as usual.
A brightly cleared blue sky.
Two attendants from Keyzen, robed and hooded, had spread a teleportation magic circle in the courtyard and were waiting.
“Thank you for your efforts, both of you.”
“Preparations for the transfer are complete.”
The attendants greeted them. As Simon and Kamibarez followed toward the teleportation circle, a crowd of northerners had gathered like clouds to see the two of them off for the last time.
‘Wow.’
Simon smiled brightly as he looked around.
There were many familiar faces from the two weeks and a little more he had spent here.
The warriors who brawled every time they met in taverns, the innkeepers, the northern generals, even the young riders who had caused chaos in the council hall.
All clapped and cheered.
“Farewell, brother! Come to the north anytime!”
“It was an honor to fight together!”
It was a treatment completely different from when he had first arrived in Carlos North.
“Kami! Goodbye!”
“I won’t forget you!”
“Thank you! Thank you for the blood!”
Kamibarez, too, was waving with teary eyes to the people she had grown attached to. Muscled, bearded uncles rushed up and handed her lunchboxes made only of the dishes she had said were delicious.
Walking a bit farther, familiar faces appeared. Steward Godrick, and Grand General Ganiro.
“Thank you for saving the north, Young Master, Kamibarez. We will never forget it.”
Godrick, whose face had always been sour, now shook their hands with tearful eyes. After greeting him, Simon looked at General Ganiro.
“Is your arm alright?”
“Haha! I’m fine, it’s only an arm.”
With the north liberated, the once hysterical Ganiro had become bold and cheerful.
And last of all, in front of the teleportation circle, the Grand Duke crooked her lips into a grin and jerked her chin.
“Why don’t you say a word, General.”
“Yes! Everyone, hear me!”
The excited General strode forward and raised his arm.
“The north was an abandoned land! No one came to fight with us! Reinforcements turned their backs, and the Watchers sought to use us. So we clenched our teeth and vowed! We would fight with our own strength, without anyone’s help! But!”
He thrust his arm toward Simon and Kamibarez.
“There were those who helped us! Though not born in the north, though not northerners! Complete outsiders, they risked their lives to fight at our side!”
Ooooh!
The warriors roared in response. The General spread both arms wide.
“You are our friends! Return to Keyzen, and whatever happens, the north stands only on your side! Even if it means making the entire continent our enemy, we will gladly fight for our friends!”
Waaaaaah!
The excited warriors’ voices grew raucous.
That’s right!
Let them all come!
Let’s fight!
Everyone cheered. The Grand Duke also smiled and nodded, and the warriors were once more ready to fight.
Ganiro exhaled with vigor, and raised the sword on his back.
“The north!”
Shrrng! Shrrng!
Weapons rose everywhere. Not only warriors, but merchants raised arrows, women raised daggers, riders waved the northern flag high into the sky.
“We will not forget the ‘pride’ you have shown us!”
After the clamorous cheers, silence fell.
What remained were eyes filled with trust.
But it felt like perfect silence.
Simon smiled, clenched his fist, and raised it high into the sky.
Kamibarez, overcome, covered her mouth with one hand and raised the other high.
The attendants, who knew nothing of what had happened, were simply bewildered.
‘Heaven’s sake, is this really that stiff-necked Carlos North?’
‘…What on earth happened while they were here?’
Simon and Kamibarez finished their farewells and approached the Grand Duke one last time. The Grand Duke, smirking crookedly, put her arms around their shoulders.
“Young ones, be understanding. The General must be getting old, he gets carried away when his lungs fill with air.”
“Ahaha.”
“Thank you for coming to the north.”
She spoke with a warm voice.
“I hope we can meet again soon.”
The two answered with strength.
“Yes!”
The Grand Duke looked at Simon.
“Arrogant one.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
“Give my regards to your father. And.”
She hesitated for a moment, fidgeting, then hm, gave an awkward smile and spoke.
“May, may I write to you?”
Simon gave a wide smile.
“I’ll be waiting!”
The last day in the north.
Unlike the first day, with clear skies, warm people, countless applause and cheers, Simon and Kamibarez returned proudly to school.
* * *
After returning to Keyzen.
Everything seemed fine.
“Why are you both so late! This is bad!”
Until they returned to the student council room.
With sky-blue hair fluttering, Maelyn shouted loudly.
“Senior Aizel has returned!”
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