Chapter 776
And so, Simon received Belya’s training in the morning, and Hongpeng’s training in the afternoon.
—Eat a lot! This is really bad for your body!
—Ugh!
—Don’t be such a baby! It won’t kill you. A trial that doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger!
During the day, he chewed poison.
—You’ve suffered a lot indulging my sister’s stubbornness. I’ll teach you the breathing technique for purging poison. But before that, shall we run forty laps around the front yard?
At night, he meditated and trained his body.
The sisters, Belya and Hongpeng, competed with each other, forcing Simon to eat things while training him.
—This is the greatest tonic boiled from a Sky Serpent. It helps with Internal Darkness Divergence!
—This poison is supposed to kill an elephant in one blow, but in reality, it just hurts without being lethal! Perfect to eat!
Why am I alternating between eating tonics and deadly poisons? The question was useless.
Hongpeng’s tonic, made from rather grotesque ingredients, was one thing. But when Belya suddenly brought out poison, bragging that if you eat it your tongue stiffens for four days, or that it makes you hover between life and death, and looked at him with sparkling eyes as if waiting for praise, Simon had no idea how to react.
—……Professor, normally if a person eats poison, they die.
—They won’t die! I’m an authority in this field, do you think I’d let you die? Shut up and eat!
Belya grumbled about how expensive poisons that displayed their toxicity without lethality, and then ended cleanly without aftereffects, really were.
Simon briefly thought it might be better to just drag his aching leg and follow the members instead.
And then, the next morning, when he woke up—
‘……Why is my condition improving?’
His body condition had truly gotten better.
Especially in Belya’s case, he only understood the effects after trying different poisons. The second day hurt less than the first, the third day less than the second. With results like that, he couldn’t even get angry.
Belya explained with a sly grin.
“The ‘Spider-Flower Poison Extract’ you just drank becomes completely harmless once an antibody is formed! And while the poison is still in your body, you can use Blood Poison techniques!”
Simon, as he did when casting Haematology magic, gathered blood into his finger. Then, pricking his fingertip lightly with a dagger, psshh! Blood tinged green spurted out.
When it touched the hide of the monster Hongpeng had hunted, ssshh! it reacted with a hiss. Actual poison had emerged from his body.
“Wow!”
“This is the most basic of Blood Poison!”
Belya folded her arms smugly.
“When fighting a toxic arts user, even a small cut can’t be taken lightly. A skilled toxic user can control the speed and direction of the blood poison the instant they draw blood!”
“And furthermore.”
Simon raised his head.
“A first-class poison user like you, Professor, can release poison without even being injured, and freely control its speed and direction, right?”
“Kya-hahahaha! Even if you praise me, you won’t get anything!”
Belya laughed, shrugging her shoulders and rubbing her nose.
“But since I’m in a good mood, tomorrow I’ll use a poison that feels like it will kill you! Be grateful!”
“……Am I really supposed to be grateful for that?”
After finishing his Blood Poison training, Simon sat cross-legged and began meditation to expel toxins.
As he finished meditating and opened his eyes, Belya casually spoke.
“It’s all in the past now, but I’ve always wondered about one thing.”
“Yes.”
She strode up with a savage grin, baring her teeth.
“Why in the first semester did you take that shitty ‘Monarch Studies’? Even if it wasn’t your major, it’s still hard to believe my general course got pushed aside for something like Monarch Studies.”
Simon flinched and waved his hands.
“N-no! It’s not like that……!”
He explained how it happened.
At the start of second year, first semester, Simon suddenly ended up shouldering the position of Student Council President. Though he didn’t show it outwardly, he worried a lot about whether he could do the job well.
So he planned to take only the minimum required three general courses, and devote the rest of his time to student council duties. Compared to Darkness Dynamics, Katarology, and Magical Combat, Toxicology’s offensive options didn’t appeal much to Simon, and so he decided as such.
But then—
—It’s unacceptable for the Student Council President, who must be a role model for all, to take only seven courses.
Jane insisted there were general courses a council president must take, and forced him to enroll in ‘Monarch Studies’.
After hearing the whole story, Belya finally burst out laughing.
“Ah, so that’s what happened? Here I was thinking my class had actually been shoved aside by Monarch Studies!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
Simon apologized quickly.
“I thought the resistance skills I learned in first year would be enough, but that was arrogance on my part.”
Especially when fighting Ballack, he had felt it keenly.
“So.”
Simon raised his head.
“If you allow me, Professor, I’d like to take your Toxicology class next semester.”
“A student wants to take my class, what’s there to allow or not?”
Belya grinned slyly.
“Good! I’m even more fired up now! Next time, I’ll feed you a poison that will make you feel like you’re about to die!”
“…What?”
Simon wondered why the better he got along with her, the more his life seemed to be at risk.
* * *
That evening, after finishing training and collapsing onto his bed, Feer’s clone called out to Simon.
[Myurr seems to have fled, but I have something to show you!]
While Hongpeng had gone out at dawn to gather monsters for her tonic ingredients, Simon stepped outside.
His legs weren’t fully healed, but once he donned Feer’s Bone Armor, he could move somehow.
And so, wearing Feer, he re-entered the lower grasslands where those terrible events had occurred, arriving at the temple in question.
“This is my first time here.”
Simon muttered as he looked around the temple’s basement.
[This temple was shrouded by Myurr’s barrier of cognitive distortion! No one but I, who can sense the aura of Ancient Undead, could have found it!]
“So Myurr went to lengths to hide this place until the end?”
[Correct!]
Simon and Feer advanced into the deepest basement.
All along the way underground, broken traps and shattered barriers could be seen. Signs of the chaos Feer had caused while pursuing Myurr.
[Here it is.]
At last, the deepest part of the temple.
It was so dark that nothing could be seen.
“Is there something here?”
[Heh-heh! You’ll see soon enough.]
Feer separated from Simon, returning to his skeleton form.
[Light it up!]
Simon pulled a lantern from subspace and lit it.
And then—
“……!”
Simon’s mouth fell wide open.
A massive object appeared.
A battleship? A vessel?
It was an enormous cylindrical metal craft, fused with bio-undead.
But it wasn’t functioning. It seemed to respond only to Myurr’s Darkness.
‘Was that guy really planning to start a war?’
Cold sweat ran down Simon’s back.
Myurr hadn’t been hiding in the grasslands for Eildar Hydra, but for this battleship. The Eildar Hydra had merely been a sentinel summoned to guard the ship.
[It seems Myurr wanted to take this thing with him, but in the end, it fell into our hands!]
“What on earth.”
Simon turned his head.
“What exactly is Myurr’s true nature?”
The Eildar Hydra, this battleship—what were Myurr’s goals, what was he plotting?
At first, Simon thought Myurr’s true identity was that “priest” mentioned in the history books of the grasslands, but now, the scale was beyond that.
[That thing has existed far longer than me, the Master of Legion! Do you know Myurr’s epithet?]
“The Sin of the Dead, isn’t it?”
[Correct!]
He was worshiped as a “god” by the people living under the grasslands.
In some cities, a “war hero”.
In certain regions, a “mythical figure”.
He was an Ancient Undead who had deeply intervened in human history. Many dangerous events related to the undead had occurred because of him, and so he was called the “Sin of the Dead”. The grasslands incident was only a small part of it.
[But then, an event occurred where this Ancient Undead, who had been a dark figure wreaking havoc from behind the veil, was caught and contracted by a mere human. That human was—]
“My father.”
[Exactly! Afterwards, Neftis commanded Richard to annihilate Myurr, but Richard refused, and instead seized his Core and made him one of his generals. For Myurr, it must have been quite the humiliation!]
Simon folded his arms.
“Did Myurr obey orders well when he was in my father’s Legion?”
[Heh-heh! Of course not, he was always aloof and acted on his own.]
The only ones he feared were Richard, and Feer who had fought alongside him. For Myurr, who had existed for thousands of years and manipulated human history, being once captured by a human must have been a deeply traumatic memory.
That was why, when Feer entered this place, Myurr abandoned this vessel without much resistance and retreated.
[The fact that Myurr stirred up trouble in the grasslands without minding me, means he has other plans prepared as well! The people of the continent know Myurr once belonged to the former 7th Legion. If he causes more trouble, the sparks could fly toward us!]
“We’ll have to catch him as soon as possible.”
[No.]
Feer’s eye-lights flared.
[This time, I strongly advise capturing him and then ‘annihilating’ him.]
“……”
Feer, who always valued the Legion’s strength above all else and was often criticized by his comrades, now didn’t even hesitate to say that such a great power as Myurr should be destroyed. It showed how extremely dangerous Myurr truly was.
“Then what is the purpose of all these schemes? Does he want to plunge the continent into chaos like the Dark Alliance?”
[Myurr is on an entirely different path from the Dark Alliance. He follows only his own desires.]
Feer shook his head, then added:
[Myurr seeks to become a ‘god’.]
“……?”
[That much is all I know. Even Richard couldn’t fully understand Myurr’s desire, and so failed to draw out his ‘Geheim’.]
He was, in every sense, a troublesome Ancient Undead. Simon turned his head toward the massive battleship in the underground chamber.
For now, unless it was Myurr himself, it seemed impossible to activate. But Simon was convinced it could be put to good use. At the very least, it could serve as bait to lure Myurr.
“For now, I need to think of a way to extract this thing from the grasslands and move it somewhere safe.”
* * *
It was impossible to put this massive battleship into subspace.
Simon summoned Akemius and Erzebet, who had been returning to Roke Island, to the grasslands, and after removing his subspace ring, he decided to have Herseba remain here as well.
Soon, Herseba would use the Ancient Undead secret technique, “Geheim”, to raise a floating sand fortress and transport the battleship, while the other Ancient Undead would be tasked with escort.
The destination was the Frost Field guarded by the North Star, Xairos. Of all the territories Simon effectively ruled, it was the safest.
Not only was it a place of extreme climate, where blizzards raged all year round, but if necessary, he could request help from the allied 2nd Legion and the Grand Duke.
After setting up the plan thoroughly as a Legion Commander, Simon returned to Hongpeng’s house and lay down as if nothing had happened.
In time, the members who had gone on a grassland tour arrived on horseback. Unlike Kinter’s group and the first-years, who dismounted with cheerful faces, the student council members looked indifferent.
“Ah—well. It was kinda fun, I guess.”
Dick, wearing traditional grassland clothing, yawned and continued.
“It’s not the same tension as when we first came here.”
The other two nodded in agreement. On the first day in the grasslands, even just getting caught in the rain had been fun and made them laugh.
“Maelyn and Dick also fought all the time.”
Kamibarez smiled brightly. Throughout the trip, Dick and Maelyn had constantly clashed, arguing out of annoyance.
“He kept causing trouble and spouting nonsense, what else could I do!”
Maelyn grumbled.
“You’re the one who always interrupts people, mocks every opinion of mine, and doubts everything I say.”
Dick shot back, then sighed deeply.
“I miss my best friend.”
“That’s my line!”
In truth, this grassland tour had been a series of days that made them realize Simon’s absence.
Simon always listened kindly to even the smallest stories. If conflicts arose among the members, it was Simon who mediated. It was Simon who kept conversations flowing smoothly, and Simon who cared for everyone with meticulous attention.
“Hm.”
Kamibarez lifted the bag in her hand.
It wasn’t anything special, but it was a travel gift she had bought for Simon.
“Simon must have been exhausted and bored from rehabilitation training. I hope he likes it.”
“Let’s go quickly!”
The student council members rushed toward Hongpeng’s cabin.
“We’re here, Simon! We’re coming in!”
Bang!
They burst open the door to Hongpeng’s house.
“?!”
They froze. In the still, silent room, Simon was sitting cross-legged on the bed. His eyes were closed in meditation, and a strange aura emanated from his body.
Despite the loud noise outside, he did not stir at all.
His mind was completely empty.
At that moment, Simon’s eyes opened slowly.
Click! Clack!
Then, bones from all over Hongpeng’s house began to gather. From on top of chairs, under the bed, inside drawers, within the wardrobe, the storage spaces burst open, and over a thousand bones began to fly about, dancing.
The scene looked like a school of fish swimming in the ocean.
Clack! Clatter!
The bones gathered in front of Simon and began stacking into a tower. One by one, they fitted precisely, and within just five seconds, a massive bone tower was completed before their eyes. The watching members all dropped their jaws.
Then Simon came out of his meditative state and opened his eyes fully.
Rumble—
Only then did the tower collapse. Maelyn, Dick, and Kamibarez watched, dumbfounded, as Simon smiled brightly.
“You’re all here?”
“Simon!”
Dick shouted excitedly.
“H-how! How did you just do that?”
Maelyn stomped the floor angrily with her foot.
“Not fair, you got stronger all by yourself again? I’ll train too!”
Kamibarez ran up to Simon’s side and lifted the gift from the grasslands.
“Simon! We missed you! This is a gift we bought for you!”
The four of them, reunited at last, laughed and talked brightly once again.
Indeed, not one of them could be missing.
This group was only complete when all four were together.
* * *
The day before the opening ceremony.
Finally, it was time to return to Keyzen. The student council members, the four from Magical Combat, and even the three first-years, all packed their bags and prepared to depart.
“My friends, I shall never forget you!”
“Goodbye!”
Receiving the farewell of the Marlat tribe, Simon adjusted the tie of his school uniform before the teleportation magic circle.
‘Let’s return. To Keyzen!’
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