Chapter 704
Student City, Rochest.
“Cheers!”
“Yaaay!”
Men and women clinked their wine glasses, chatting boisterously.
It was late at night in a tavern. Two students, whose faces still looked youthful at a glance, sat in robes as if to hide their identities, gulping down wine.
Both of their faces were flushed red, clearly drunk.
“Rea-lly, do we have to study even now?”
The girl hiccupped as she spoke.
“We have to study for the exam, too. Hm? Honey.”
“It’s not even exam season yet! If we don’t drink now, when else can we?”
“Well, that’s true.”
The two burst into loud laughter, gazing out the window.
Outside, it was pitch-black night.
By this hour, even students who had snuck out of Rochest had already returned to their dormitories, and townsfolk had closed shop and left. The two of them, calling this ‘youth’, kept pouring down wine.
“Honey, want me to tell you a scary story?”
“Oh, really? I love scary stories.”
The young man raised both hands above his shoulders, putting on a spooky smile.
“You know the fanatic Ever Kire, who attacked during the Dark Emperor Festival? It’s said Lady Neftis killed her, right?”
“Mmhm.”
“But the truth is, she’s still alive, eyes wide open.”
“Kyahh—!”
The girl shrieked so loud it could split ears, pounding the boy’s shoulders with her fists. The tavernkeeper frowned at the noise, but since they were Keyzen students, he couldn’t do much except click his tongue.
All the more excited, the boy continued.
“Even Neftis killing her, in truth, was just Ever Kire manipulating reality! They say that fanatic is still buried deep beneath Roke Island.”
“Ah, so scary!”
Immersing himself in the tale, the boy lowered his voice, speaking in a chilling tone.
“And within the school, she’s been building her own followers to perform a resurrection ritual! People carrying crosses, marching around....”
Clang—!
The sound of shattering glass rang out. The boy laughed.
“Breaking another one? Honey, you must be really drunk. Let’s stop here for today.”
“T-that, thatthatthat, th-th-th-that...!”
Her hand shot forward, her eyes wide open, as if the alcohol had completely left her system.
“Over there, over there!”
“Oh come on, your timing is too obvious. You think I’ll fall for that? Not happening.”
The boy chuckled as he turned his gaze toward the window.
And then he saw it.
People in dark robes, marching through Rochest’s streets, carrying ‘crosses’.
“Uwaaaah! Aaaaaaaahhh!”
Crash!
He toppled backward off his chair.
“U-ugh! Uuugh! Crosses! What is this! What the hell is this placeee!”
“Honey!”
Abandoning his girlfriend, the boy bolted off in a panic. His pants were soaked yellow. The girl, too, burst into tears as she chased after him.
“...Honestly. Kids these days.”
Watching them rush out, the tavernkeeper let out a long sigh and went to fetch a mop.
Then he glanced at the window they had been staring at.
“What on earth did they see?”
There was nothing there.
Clicking his tongue, he carried the mop outside.
“....”
“....”
Behind a nearby building, people in black robes hid, breathing in silence.
* * *
The next morning.
Mutant Club, basement.
“....”
Simon sat, Chaos Dullahan summoned before him, lost in deep thought.
Ever since his defeat against Aizel, he had been struggling to find a way to overcome him.
‘I need a brand-new technique, one that can overturn the entire match in a single blow.’
Sleep, Cancel Spark, Wind Surge—these were merely basic requirements to even stand against Aizel, not a decisive strike that could secure victory.
Simon weighed all the black magic he could use, one by one. Naturally, his thoughts settled on the Chaos Dullahan.
Fueled by chaos, piloted directly by the former Swordmaster, Manus—the Chaos Dullahan.
‘This really is my strongest card. But still....’
It felt 2% short.
Since the Dark Emperor, he had yet to find any practical use for it in actual combat.
The drawback of its ridiculously long preparation time for summoning was one thing, but even if the summoning succeeded—
‘I still don’t feel like it could reach Senior Aizel.’
On the floor, Manus’ skull glared at Simon, brimming with displeasure.
Simon quickly waved his hands and smiled.
“No, no, I’m not saying you’re weak. I mean that the Dullahan’s body has its limits.”
Simon turned his attention to the chaos magic circle required to move the Chaos Dullahan.
Crackle!
A violet spark flashed across his palm.
‘Once a Chaos Dullahan is completed, its performance can’t really improve much. Then should I aim to amplify the chaos itself?’
A new chaos spell.
After scribbling possible variations into the chaos magic circle for a while, Simon eventually smacked his lips. No matter how much he thought, he just couldn’t see the way forward in this field.
‘No, no, think broader. Chaos has a wide variety of Darkness variations, but it’s lacking on the Holiness side. If I could learn a new way to apply holiness, maybe I’d find a breakthrough?’
But the problem was, how would he even go about learning new holiness techniques?
‘...Holiness, holiness. A new application of holiness to generate chaos.’
As Simon groaned, pulling at his hair in frustration—
The announcement rang out.
—Simon Follentia, Student Council President! Simon, Simon Follentia, please come to Professor Jane’s office immediately. Repeating once more!
‘?’
Simon lifted his head.
Did something happen?
* * *
An hour later.
“....”
“....”
Simon and Maelyn had been summoned to Jane’s office.
The two stood straight in a parade rest posture, sneaking glances at one another.
From the looks of it, they were called in as president and vice president of the student council. Their eyes met briefly.
‘I didn’t do anything wrong!’
Maelyn whipped her head side to side as if to say so, then narrowed her eyes at Simon. Her look seemed to say, ‘Didn’t you screw something up?’
But Simon had no idea either, so he quickly shook his head.
Tap.
Finally, Jane finished her paperwork. She set her glasses down on the desk, lifting her gaze slowly to alternate between the two.
Just standing in front of those cold, violet eyes was enough to make anyone nervous, guilty or not.
“The reason I called you two is that the midterm evaluation report for the 330th Student Council has come out.”
She handed over a file folder. Simon took it and began to check, Maelyn leaning in with curiosity.
“You may read while listening. The overall grades of the 330th Student Council are satisfactory.”
Simon flipped through the papers.
There were ten categories evaluating the student council’s performance. The highest ratings were in areas like external festival management, budget execution, and faculty satisfaction. At his side, Maelyn was practically vibrating with glee, quietly squealing.
‘This isn’t just satisfactory, is it?’
Overall, the evaluation was quite excellent.
Reading with growing joy, Simon suddenly paused, letting out a hum as he swallowed hard.
<Student Satisfaction: ★★★>
“Student satisfaction is a little low.”
Being a student self-government body, this was arguably the most important category—yet out of five stars, they had only three.
“That’s fine. Once you break down the statistics, it’s easy to understand, so I’m willing to overlook it.”
“Meaning...?”
“The third-years, in particular, gave a lot of poor marks.”
Maelyn’s face flushed red with fury. Simon, watching her mood swing so extremely, gave a wry smile.
“On the other hand, the first-years—being the majority—gave high marks, so that evens things out.”
Among the first-years, Simon was a hero ever since saving the kidnapped freshman on the very first day.
Besides, with a second-year as president, the first-years naturally accepted it without resistance.
In fact, many even wondered why the current student council should be replaced just because the third-year top student had returned.
“Now, to the main point. Look at the bottom category.”
<Student Communication Activities: ★>
Upon seeing it, Maelyn jumped up in protest.
“Th-that can’t be, Professor! We worked so hard! We improved the walking paths based on complaints, and even replaced the poorly rated cafeteria...!”
“Those fall under facility management, vice president.”
Jane, fingers interlaced, looked at Maelyn.
“This category evaluates how much effort the council put into engaging with students, listening to their concerns, and resolving them. It’s about direct communication.”
“B-but Dick clearly said he handled that well!”
Jane did not answer immediately. Instead, she gave a faint smile. Maelyn’s ears turned bright red, her hands clasping together as she bowed her head.
“I-I’ll correct it.”
“Yes, you will.”
Jane leaned back in her chair.
“The 330th Student Council is responsible for the first semester. If these numbers don’t improve—”
Her gaze shifted to Simon.
“—then regardless of your duel with Aizel, it’ll be hard for you to carry the council into the second semester, let alone into your third year.”
‘!’
A checkmate.
The 330th Council had been promised they could maintain their posts until the end of the first semester. That meant their achievements wouldn’t be stolen by the third-years—good news. But the responsibility was theirs alone.
‘Correcting Student Communication Activities.’
Even if the student council was less influenced by Keyzen, there was no way they’d keep a failing council in place.
This became an even more urgent priority than Simon’s duel with Aizel.
Leaving Jane’s office, on their way back to the student council building.
* * *
“God damn it! Seriouslyyy!”
Maelyn clutched her head in agony, her cheeks burning crimson with humiliation.
“To be humiliated like that in front of Professor Jane? If I ever catch that commoner, he’s dead!”
“Calm down.”
Simon soothed her with a gentle smile.
“She wasn’t scolding us, was she? The midterm evaluation came out like this, so she was warning us that if we don’t correct it, it could cause problems later.”
“...That’s true, but still.”
Maelyn pouted with a sulky face, then closed her eyes.
Her anger lasted only a moment, she seemed to already be considering what to do next.
“First, let’s fully make use of the student council counseling center we set up. I think the issue is lack of publicity. We’ll mobilize underlings, launch a big promotion, and, hm....”
After pondering briefly, she turned to Simon.
“Simon, when’s your afternoon major class?”
Simon checked his wristwatch.
“In thirty minutes.”
“I still have an hour and a half left, right? Then I’ll go around the dorms and check if any letters were dropped into the suggestion boxes.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”
If Simon focused on big events and external affairs, Maelyn was meticulous and frugal in running the school.
“Listen carefully! We don’t have time to spare anymore.”
Nervously, Maelyn bit lightly on her fingernail.
“Before the real final exam season begins, I want to clear away the backlog and focus on my personal grades. And you want to focus on that weird ‘Down-with-Senior-Aizel special training’ of yours, don’t you?”
“It’s not training, it’s just supplementary lessons....”
“As if! Who would believe that? Not even an idiot!”
Maelyn snorted through her nose, then looked back at Simon.
“Anyway, whatever’s in the suggestion boxes, we’re going to handle it all! Once we document it and report it, it’ll count as achievements.”
“Got it.”
“Stay sharp, Simon!”
Up on tiptoes, Maelyn leaned her face close.
“Soon, performance evaluations, finals, and every other schedule will all come crashing down! We finish everything as quickly as possible, got it?”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Then I’ll see you in the student council room after your class!”
Waving her hand, Maelyn ran off with her skirt fluttering. Simon also pulled out the golem board from subspace.
‘Alright, time to focus.’
* * *
As Maelyn had said, after finishing both his afternoon and supplementary classes, Simon entered the student council room.
“Ohhh, you’re here!”
Dick, sprawled across the sofa, waved lazily. Kamibarez wasn’t there yet, probably still stuck in supplementary lessons.
As Simon walked in, he casually exchanged a high-five with Dick.
“I heard the news. You and Maelyn got chewed out by Professor Jane, huh?”
Dick spoke. Simon shrugged, hanging the Student Council President’s coat on the rack.
“Seems like Maelyn’s angry with you about that issue.”
“Eh, come on. I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Where else would you find a treasurer as competent as me?”
Wearing his trademark sly grin, Dick pulled out his eye mask.
“Then, Simon! I’m gonna sleep for thirty more minutes, wake me up when....”
“How the hell can you sleep right now, you moron!”
Smaaack!
Maelyn, storming in behind, hurled a textbook full swing straight into Dick’s face. With a bizarre scream, he toppled off the sofa.
Simon shivered slightly at the sheer impact of the hit.
“Crazy! Why’d you hit me?!”
Dick, a mark forming on his face, leapt up. Maelyn stomped toward him and stood firm in front of him.
“Open your damn eyes! Our ‘student communication activities’ only got one star! One star!”
She planted one hand on her hip and waved the report right in his face with the other.
“You were the one who said you’d handle that, weren’t you?”
“...I really did everything though?”
Dick, baffled at the one-star rating, peered over the report.
“I had underlings pick up trash, handed out ice cream on hot days....”
“It’s not supposed to be the underlings, we. have. to. do. it. ourselves!”
She jabbed his chest with her finger, pushing him against the wall. Dick winced and turned his head aside.
“B-but, as long as the students are happy, does it matter who did it? The report must be wrong.”
“Unbelievable!”
Maelyn, fuming, stomped away—only to turn to Simon.
“Simon. Let’s just handle this ourselves.”
“Y-yeah.”
“I checked every suggestion box in the dorms and the plaza, and only found two letters.”
She pulled out the two letters.
“We’ll each take one and deal with the problem personally. Which one do you want?”
Handling student concerns.
It was Simon’s first time dealing with such work, but as president, it was something he had to do. He pointed to the one on the right.
“Then I’ll take this one.”
Maelyn handed him the letter on the right, tucking the other one into her own chest pocket.
“We’re starting right away! Got it?”
“Got it.”
“I’ve got a study session this evening, so I’ll head out first. Keep me updated as things progress! Bye!”
Waving again, Maelyn left. Dick, rubbing the sore spot on his face, got up.
“She really lives a busy life.”
“Yeah.”
Simon chuckled as he sat down in the president’s seat. He gave the letter a once-over. Just plain white stationery, nothing special.
“But what kind of problem could it be?”
“Ehh, obvious.”
Dick shrugged.
“What kind of worries do kids our age have? Romance, obviously! ‘I like this boy, what should I do?’—bet it’s something like that.”
“...You think so?”
“Of course! The angle is obvious. We’ll be the messengers of love!”
Simon tore open the sealed letter and read the contents.
“...!”
Goosebumps crawled all over his body.
“See? Told you it’s about romance, right? A crush?”
With a grave face, Simon showed the letter to Dick.
Dick’s jaw dropped, his face going stiff.
<Please save me. Goddess Dave is trying to kill me.>
For a moment, Simon and Dick just stared at each other in silence. Dick rubbed his shoulders uneasily.
“Whoa, that’s creepy. Must be a prank, right?”
“...It’s way too serious for a prank.”
In the Dark Alliance, Goddess Dave was a name one didn’t even dare mention.
The same went for crosses or any symbols of the goddess.
Though an old tale, there was a famous incident: a noble was executed for placing his knife and fork in the shape of a cross during a banquet.
“This letter was sent four days ago.”
Simon checked the date on the letter.
“Thankfully, it’s not too old. We have to go right away.”
“Wow, you’re fearless. You’re really going today?”
Simon nodded, fastening his coat.
“The sender’s name is Auror Serum. Look up her profile.”
“Okay, okay, got it.”
Suddenly fired up with excitement at this new case, Dick dashed to the shelves and pulled down the student registry.
Flipping quickly through the pages, he spoke.
“You know the info student council can access is limited, right? You want me to do some personal digging too?”
“Yes, please.”
“Ah, found her. Auror Serum. Pretty unusual name.”
Dick stopped turning the pages and skimmed the entry.
“Second year, Spiritology major, female student. Overall rank, 184th? She’s smart. And... wait a sec.”
“What is it?”
Dick raised his head with a slightly stiff expression.
“She doesn’t live in the dorms.”
* * *
Simon immediately went through the Forbidden Forest and descended into Rochest to meet the client.
‘She lives in Rochest, huh.’
Not the dorms, but Student City Rochest—that’s where she lived.
He had heard stories of such people.
Commonly called ‘boarders’. Students who left Keyzen dorms and lived outside.
There were many reasons. Some got expelled after accumulating too many demerits, others simply couldn’t handle communal life.
Among demi-humans, fairy students were notorious for scattering pollen while sleeping, making it impossible to live with others in the dorms.
And the second-year Top 10, representative of Magical Combat, sword-user Jule, was also famous for boarding. He was said to fight nightly with his sword for dominance over his body, even swinging it in his sleep.
The former case was due to racial traits, the latter due to powers used, but both types simply couldn’t stay in the dorms.
‘I wonder what her case is.’
More detailed info was being gathered by Dick at the school. Simon, his face tense, followed the address.
‘She says Goddess Dave is trying to kill her....’
Unbelievable, but the state of the writer seemed serious, so he hurried.
‘Here it is.’
Far from the city center, a decrepit house, barely standing.
For a Keyzen student, the conditions looked terribly poor.
‘Second year, right?’
Simon cleared his throat and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Excuse me.”
No response.
“Auror Serum, second year, right? I’m from the student council.”
Knock, knock, knock.
“No one’s home?”
At that moment—
Creeeak, the door cracked open slightly.
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