Chapter 780
In front of the student council hall building, Claudia’s protesters had occupied the grounds.
The ‘student council’s direct subordinates’ who were guarding the building could not lay a hand on the Keyzen students unless an order was given. They were only pacing helplessly inside.
“New Student Council, explain yourselves for this incident!”
“Explain!”
All around, the cries of first and second-year students rang out. What had started as a small-scale picket protest had now grown into a mid-sized demonstration.
They had surrounded the student council building completely, timed to coincide with the council’s arrival.
“Senior Claudia!”
A freshman came running in a hurry.
“Ballack is coming!”
“I see him too.”
Claudia spoke in a tense voice.
Suddenly, the surrounding sky darkened as though storm clouds had gathered. In an instant, everything grew dim, and a thick fog enveloped the area.
Step. Step. Step.
In the silence, heavy footsteps echoed. Everyone swallowed hard, clutching their pickets tighter, eyes fixed straight ahead.
Through the black mist, a mass of puppets was approaching. For now, only faint silhouettes were visible.
Whooosh—
And then, through the smoky haze, a hulking man emerged.
His shoulders spread wide, his thick neck and coarse skin bore scars and wounds, and his eyes were sinister. His thinning hair and drooping dumpling ears stood out.
From the metal mask that covered half his face, a toxic breath hissed out with each breath.
“......!”
The new overall first rank of the third-years, the undisputed strongest in Keyzen.
The Student Council President, Ballack.
Wearing the black coat symbolizing the Student Council President over his shoulders, he radiated an overwhelming presence as he walked. The suffocating fear made the students flinch unconsciously and close their mouths.
‘W-was Ballack always this intimidating?’
‘His charisma is insane.’
They had heard that he was overshadowed by Aizel until now, but seeing him in person, everyone felt crushed by his sheer aura, unable to even open their mouths. The new student council members trailing behind him wore sly smiles.
Hup.
At that moment, Claudia raised her voice, holding her picket.
“We denounce the third-year faculty and the new student council who decided on the improper replacement of the Student Council President!”
Only then did a few students come to their senses, forcing out shouts of “We denounce!” Some trembled in fear, but still responded.
Ballack, walking among the protesters, shifted his eyes toward Claudia.
[That’s a familiar face.]
A heavy voice, muffled from within the mask, flowed out.
Claudia was in the Department of Toxicology, and naturally, she had encountered Ballack, the third-year representative of Toxicology, several times in the dormitory.
Though she was in no position to oppose him, being within his direct sphere of influence, Claudia had stepped forward for what she believed was right.
She spoke boldly.
“You’re right, senior.”
[Why oppose this matter?]
“Because the process is neither proper nor just.”
Beside Ballack, the former Spiritology representative, Sota Psyche, scowled fiercely.
“What the hell, you brat? A second-year dares….”
Ballack silenced Sota with just a glance, then looked back at Claudia.
[Here, strength is justice itself.]
“Even if that’s so, to replace the president’s seat without a rightful process is unjust.”
Fwoosh!
Ballack moved again. His massive student council coat, far larger than Simon’s, fluttered, and his voice boomed.
[If you have complaints, speak to Simon Follentia. If he truly believes in his own strength, he will come to seize my seat through the right of challenge.]
Claudia’s eyes flickered.
‘……Right of challenge?’
* * *
Finally, it was the first day of the new semester, the day of the first major class in Summonology.
The first day of the semester was always the most lively. Students reunited after the break, laughing brightly, chattering noisily.
Just then, Simon entered the classroom with his bag slung over his shoulder.
“……”
“……”
The excited chatter quieted slightly only around Simon.
Simon greeted his classmates first.
“Hello.”
The students flinched, then, as if rehearsed, forced bright smiles and raised their voices.
“Ah, hello Simon! Hahaha!”
“Did you have a good break? Student cou—urk!”
A male student, about to call him the same way he always had, got elbowed in the ribs by a girl beside him and doubled over.
‘Get a clue!’
An odd atmosphere of pity seemed to form, but Simon himself didn’t care about the issue. Rather, it was others who seemed more wary of him.
He took a seat as usual, set down his bag, and pulled out his textbook.
“Waaah! Hello! Hello! Long time no seeee!”
With an energetic greeting bursting forth, someone popped up in front of Simon.
Her tangerine-colored bob cut swayed, accented with a hairpin, round eyes sparkling, and a bright, unfeigned smile—she was Eshu Arzel, from the same Summonology Team 10 as Simon.
“Long time no see, Eshu.”
Simon smiled back warmly, and she grinned wide, showing her teeth.
“Did you spend your break well? You look healthier! You always looked tired, but your skin seems to have more color now! Did the president maybe go on some grand retreat during the vacati—ack!”
She clamped her mouth shut like a guilty criminal.
Then, self-punishing, she knocked herself on the head, making Simon laugh.
“I’m fine, Eshu.”
“……Ugh, sorry. I was trying not to mention it, but I blurted out again. Oh! Then, let’s settle it now. What should I call you from now on?”
“You can just call me Simon.”
“Ah, um.”
Her expression looked strangely hesitant. Slowly, she parted her lips.
“Okay then, Si……mon…… aaagh!”
Blushing bright red, Eshu hopped in place, curling her fingers in embarrassment.
“It feels so awkward suddenly calling you by name after always saying president! I’m embarrassed!”
“You’re being dramatic.”
Classmates who had known Simon since first year all called him Simon, but those who met him in second year mostly called him ‘Student Council President’ or simply ‘president’.
It was like how Class A’s Jaime was called ‘class rep’. The impact of the position had cemented the title and image.
“Now that everyone else will be calling you Simon, if I do too, it’ll be boring! From now on, I’ll call you squad leader! Squad leader!”
“Haha, do as you like.”
Eshu plopped into the seat before him, chattering away energetically.
Simon couldn’t help but wonder where such explosive energy came from. She was even a work-study student, meaning she had woken up earlier than others to clean and handle chores, yet she was still this lively.
Just as Simon was starting to get dizzy from her nonstop chatter—
“Ah, hello!”
Toto, who had come to school with Simon but detoured to the restroom due to his chronic stomach troubles, returned. Eshu waved.
“Yoo-hoo! Toto!”
“Ah, hello Eshu.”
Toto blushed as he greeted her. Having worked part-time together over the break, they seemed a bit closer now.
“Now we just need Lady Loraine, and Team 10 will be complete! We all survived!”
“Yeah.”
While not as harsh as in first year, second-year students with low grades were cut without mercy.
Usually, this culling happened at the end of a semester, and sure enough, the classroom seemed a little emptier than before.
‘So the semester begins again like this.’
Simon sat down and looked around.
The most prominent figures immediately caught his eye.
Fifth overall rank and first in written grades, Aseraz Mikel.
The mysterious transfer student, White.
The head of the Mutant Club, Fitzgerald.
And—
‘Hector.’
Right then, Hector, wearing the armband of the second-year department representative, entered the lecture hall. As always, the room buzzed noisily with his faction.
And then Hector’s eyes met Simon’s.
“……”
Simon nodded slightly in greeting, but Hector turned his head away and walked toward the back where he usually sat.
At that moment—
“Oh, you were already here? Nice to see you, Student Council President!”
Simon turned his head.
One of Hector’s faction members, a boy Simon only vaguely knew by face, was waving his hand.
“Ah, sorry! I should call you former president now, huh?”
“……”
“Being president isn’t everything in school life. Don’t make that gloomy face, cheer up.”
It was common in Keyzen. People couldn’t resist mocking someone who had fallen, just as they couldn’t resist envying someone successful.
‘When he was Student Council President, he got respect, but now that he’s back to being a regular student, Hector as department head holds more sway!’
The balance of power had shifted.
The boy intended to turn Simon, once compared to Hector, into a laughingstock. After speaking, he looked around with a broad grin.
But then—
“……”
“……”
An uncomfortable silence filled the classroom.
‘There’s a limit to being clueless.’
Pierre Buckley, Hector’s long-time faction member and right-hand man, rubbed his forehead.
That boy had only recently joined Hector’s faction and had been invited to his house over the break.
He must have been overexcited by the connection to the Moore family, desperate to prove his loyalty somehow.
But it backfired.
“Your words are out of line, aren’t they?”
“Who does he think he is? Ruining the atmosphere on the first day.”
The mood turned cold.
Right now, the school atmosphere was extremely favorable toward Simon, with strong sympathy on his side. While some had once envied and resented him as a parachuted president blessed by Phantasus, now that he was thought to have been unjustly ousted, it was different.
‘And on top of that—’
Pierre glanced at Hector.
Hector’s expression was twisted in grim displeasure.
‘Even Hector doesn’t view this incident well, you idiot!’
Thinking it was the right timing since Loraine and Serne hadn’t arrived yet, the boy had blurted out his remark—worst possible move.
As the atmosphere soured, the boy looked to Hector for help, but Hector only scowled, threw his bag down on a seat, and sat in displeasure.
The rest of the faction stayed quiet, taking nearby seats.
The boy who had spoken shrank and tried to sit close as well, but Pierre quietly said,
“That’s not your seat.”
They didn’t need fools.
In the end, the boy who had soured the mood had no choice but to bow his head deeply and go apologize to Simon. Eshu and Toto glared furiously at him, but Simon kindly told them not to mind it.
“The difference in class is obvious.”
“If you don’t have sense, you should leave quickly.”
Seeing his peers step up so actively for him, Simon looked somewhat bewildered.
A moment later, Loraine arrived, followed by Serne.
Eshu, fuming with indignation, tattled to Loraine about what had just happened. As Loraine’s quiet anger turned toward the boy, he desperately averted his gaze.
From the back, Serne leaned close and whispered softly in Simon’s ear.
“Angry, aren’t you? Disgusted? At the Keyzen headquarters people. You worked so hard for the school, and this is the result.”
“……”
Hearing that, Loraine bit her lip tightly.
But this time, even she couldn’t refute Serne’s words.
“I told you, I’m fine.”
Simon smiled.
“Being a challenger like this, it feels more comfortable. It gives me motivation.”
“Sometimes it’d be nice if you showed some anger.”
Serne shook her ivory hair lightly and gave a playful wink.
Soon after, the assistants began to appear one by one at the front of the hall.
“The professor will be entering now.”
The students scattered around hurried to their seats. Then came the dragging sound of slippers, and Aron walked in with his messy, tousled hair.
Still in his easygoing T-shirt and shorts, with stubble showing he hadn’t shaved in days, he looked as carefree as ever.
Thud.
Stopping at the lectern, he swept his gaze around once and spoke.
“Did everyone enjoy their break?”
Yeees—!
Lively responses echoed. Aron received papers from the head assistant and began.
“Before we start the second semester, there are some important announcements. Some are related to the department, and some concern the school as a whole.”
The room fell utterly silent.
Students eager on the first day pulled out notebooks, ready to take notes.
“First, the most important departmental announcement. It concerns the Summonology major class.”
He picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board.
“This semester, the goal for our second-year Summonology department is this.”
Tack.
Tack.
Tack.
On the green chalkboard, white chalk danced, writing out one character at a time.
By the second character, students’ eyes widened.
By the third, they started rising from their seats.
By the fourth, exclamations rang out.
By the fifth, nearly everyone was on their feet.
Bang—
“Think you can achieve it?”
On the board was written none other than the summoning beast everyone dreamed of.
<Death Knight>
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