Chapter 697
After finishing his talk with Aizel, Simon entered the student council room.
“Ah.”
“You’re here?”
In the subdued atmosphere, the student council members lifted their heads with tense expressions.
They were at their own desks working, but it was clear they couldn’t help being distracted.
“......What did Senior Aizel say?”
Vice-president Maelyn asked on behalf of everyone.
“We’re not fighting today, right?”
Kamibarez clasped her hands together tightly, speaking with worry.
“Should I prepare laxatives?”
Dick asked, his eyes gleaming gloomily. Simon shook his head.
“Professor Jane must have pulled some strings. The duel with Senior Aizel has been postponed until after finals.”
“Th-then!”
“Until finals are over, we can still be together, right?”
“We don’t have to split up yet!”
Waa—!
The members cheered in relief. Maelyn and Kamibarez clapped their palms together and hopped around, while Dick climbed onto a desk, whistling and waving his uniform jacket around.
‘Can it really make them that happy.’
From his quiet seat in the corner, Malcolm chuckled and got up.
“It’s my shift, so I’ll head out to work.”
“Mm, thanks.”
Malcolm tapped Simon’s shoulder before leaving the room.
Simon also hung his student council coat on the rack and sat down.
“By the way.”
At Simon’s words, everyone’s heads turned uneasily. Even Malcolm, who had been leaving, opened the door again and poked his head back in.
“I’ll do my best so that we can keep our place even after finals.”
At those words, everyone looked at Simon with touched expressions. Maelyn gave a snort and smiled.
“Ah, forget it. We’re not worried about that. More than that, isn’t keeping your first-place rank as a second-year the real priority?”
“Well, that’s true....…”
“Even if it’s not this semester, you could take a little break and then meet again in third year! I’d be fine with that too!”
Maelyn and Kamibarez weren’t doubting Simon’s skill, they were only speaking that way so as not to burden him.
Feeling their warm intentions, Simon felt grateful.
“No, really. Simon could even beat Senior Aizel! I mean it seriously!”
Dick blurted without reading the mood. Maelyn gave him a piercing glare, and like a mouse frightened of a cat, he reflexively hunched his shoulders.
“You, the commoner, is the worst! You know that?”
“W-what did I do!”
Simon and Kamibarez exchanged a smile.
Thus, the first day of Simon’s return ended in the student council room.
* * *
Because Dick had raised a ruckus about celebrating the student council’s continuation by going out to Rochest, Simon got back to the dormitory later than usual.
After collecting the Golem’s Core, Simon strolled leisurely toward the main gate of the Summonology dormitory.
The weathered but elegant wooden house, the forbidden forest spread out like a painting behind it, the scattered bones for workshop use in the garden, and even the gargoyle statues at the entrance.
It had only been a few weeks since he was last here, yet everything at the school felt familiar and dear again.
Simon pulled his jacket tighter and opened the door.
Crackle, crackle—
Inside was warm. The sound of a fireplace tickled his ears, and the orange glow soothed his eyes. No matter how many times he came, the student dormitory felt less like a dorm and more like an inn tucked deep inside a forest.
Simon was about to report to the dorm manager when—
“Well, look who crawled back alive.”
From afar, in the lounge, Hector scowled.
That menacing face hadn’t changed.
Simon gave a bright smile.
“Thanks for worrying, Hector.”
“Do you want to die.”
Hector exhaled heat like a dragon, irritated.
A low growl followed, like a dragon truly rumbling in its chest.
“To delay your return just because of some special class, it seems you’ve started to take life at Keyzen too lightly.”
He crossed his arms arrogantly.
“While you’ve been busy making up for lost time, I’ve kept climbing higher. This semester, I’ll replace you as the top student.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
As Hector pulled his body back into the lounge, he muttered,
“At least now that you’ll soon step down from being president, you’ll have some spare time.”
“Ah, that. I decided to continue until finals.”
From the lounge came a loud click of the tongue. Simon laughed out loud as he walked away.
When he reached the lobby, the dorm manager welcomed him warmly.
“Thank you for your hard work. Are you here to file your return report?”
“Yes. Here to sign. If there’s anything I left in the lobby storage during the dispatch period, I’ll mark it here, right? Also, I heard room cleaning service is available if my roommate agrees?”
“Yes, just book it by tomorrow morning. If your uniform’s barrier is broken or needs repairs, let me know too.”
Simon handed over the uniforms whose barriers had worn out.
She then kindly packed him a few things—adhesive medical supplies, fatigue relief packs—as part of the service.
“Then, please rest well.”
“Thank you.”
Simon took his belongings and moved along.
‘I wonder if everyone else is safe, without injuries.’
“Ah.”
“President! You’re back!”
In the lobby, a few fellow students called out, approaching him. Since it was late, they were all in comfortable clothing.
Simon happily exchanged greetings with his classmates, then asked,
“But what are you all heading out for?”
“To prepare for tomorrow’s major performance evaluation, down in the underground workshop. It’s the Arachnea assembly assignment.”
A girl with braided hair pointed toward the floor with her finger.
“Since finals are near, all the high-scoring performance evaluations are piling up.”
“I see. Thanks for letting me know.”
No wonder things were quiet—turns out there was an evaluation tomorrow.
‘A performance test right after coming back, huh.’
Simon swallowed his tears inside.
He had planned to collapse on his bed and sleep the moment he lay down, but at the very least, he’d have to skim through the textbook once.
“Simon?”
Just then—
A girl with black hair and red eyes walked up.
The daughter of Neftis, and the next Chancellor, Loraine Arkbold.
At her appearance, the surrounding students smiled knowingly and made way.
“Ah, Loraine.”
“I’m so glad you came back safely.”
She placed her hand on her chest, letting out a sigh of relief.
Her black hair was still damp, as though she had just showered, and there was a faint fragrance of soap.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
As always, she worried about Simon with a mature air, carefully looking him over. Each time she drew closer, the scent lingered on the bridge of his nose.
And then—
“You came back quite late.”
She spoke so, gazing intently into Simon’s eyes.
Her look carried the meaning that she already had some suspicion.
He knew, after all, that Loraine was one of the few people aware that he was the commander of the Traitor Legion.
When the entire Alliance had been in an uproar over the Traitor Legion incident, Neftis had suddenly created an unscheduled ‘special class’ curriculum, sending Simon away to a place far from people’s eyes.
Fortunately, the uproar over the Traitor Legion had been somewhat dampened by the recent border provocations of the Holy Federation.
‘Don’t tell me you got caught up in one of my mother's strange tricks again?’
That was what Loraine was asking with her eyes.
But Simon could not answer in a place like this. When he hesitated, she lowered her lashes and made a new suggestion.
“Shall we go to a cafe tomorrow?”
At first glance, it sounded like a date invitation. From afar, classmates were whispering with excited faces as they watched.
‘Loraine’s making her move!’
‘Just after he’s returned, this is the chance.’
‘Where’s Serne? Strange that she’s just letting this slide.’
Simon scratched the back of his head awkwardly with a sheepish smile.
“Would the day after tomorrow be alright? Tomorrow’s packed with make-up classes.”
“Mm, then I’ll look forward to it.”
She turned her back, smiling gently toward Simon.
“You must be tired, sorry for keeping you, good night.”
Simon felt his face grow hot without realizing it, and waved back. She too, perhaps heading off to prepare for her performance evaluation, descended toward the underground workshop.
As Simon watched her leave, the tension drained away, and fatigue came crashing in all at once.
‘I-I’m dying here.’
At this rate, he wouldn’t even manage to skim the textbook before the performance evaluation, he’d collapse into the pillow and pass out right away.
Simon climbed the wooden stairs toward his dorm room.
Creak—
Creak—
Perhaps from the exhaustion, his vision wavered and swayed.
At last, with effort, Simon reached the front of his room.
Knock, knock.
“Toto, it’s me. I’m coming in.”
There was no reply from Toto, only the faint sound of water.
‘Must be washing up.’
Simon opened the door and entered the dorm room. From the bathroom came the sound of running water. Simon unpacked on the bed, then sprawled out for a moment.
Now that he was in the room, the tension fully released, his body grew sluggish. He felt like he might fall asleep at any moment. If he closed his eyes now, he’d open them in the morning.
‘No, can’t sleep.’
Simon fought back the drowsiness, pulling a book from his bag.
‘It was Arachnea, right? Is that also some kind of spider-type undead?’
He flipped through the table of contents to the Arachnea section when—
Knock, knock—
A knock came from the bathroom door.
Then, the door cracked open and a hand stretched out, asking for something.
“What do you need?”
Simon asked.
The hand disappeared, then a wet towel dropped out.
Must be out of towels. Though tired, Simon grabbed a dry towel and walked over.
Bang!
Suddenly, the bathroom door flung open. Simon flinched in shock, stumbling forward.
Through the hazy steam, someone appeared.
“!”
Taller than Toto.
And more importantly—
“??!”
It wasn’t a man.
Simon froze in place.
“Hm~”
The girl wrapped Simon’s towel around her body, stepping lightly out. Simon whipped his head aside in panic, shouting,
“W-wait! Why are you in my room……!”
“Excuse me? What are you saying.”
The girl with platinum-blonde hair smiled.
“This is my room.”
Shrrrk—
Shrrrk—
Suddenly, the walls and wallpaper around them began to change. In no time, Simon and Toto’s dorm room transformed into a strange, unfamiliar room.
Simon belatedly noticed the white feathers stuck in the walls dissolving into the air, erasing the evidence.
‘Then, could it be!’
The official heir of the Ivory Tower.
Serne Eindark, covering herself with the towel, curved her lips into a meaningful smile.
“No matter how long it’s been, still, you wanted to see me that badly? Simon.”
Simon’s drowsiness vanished completely, his face flushing red as he shouted,
“Serne! Why are you doing this……!”
She calmly sat on her bed with a light smile.
Then, she lifted a glass of juice.
“The president of Keyzen’s student council sneaking into a girl’s room to peep. If this got out, wouldn’t the whole school be in an uproar? Don’t you think?”
Simon pressed his throbbing forehead.
“......What’s your real purpose here?”
“Simply because I missed you, Simon?”
Her bright smile only made his head pound worse. Quietly, she murmured,
“Then why make me jealous, with that person—”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing at all.”
Serne crossed her legs, raising her finger.
“Then as the price, won’t you tell me first? What happened in the north.”
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