Chapter 805
The harbor in front of Rochest.
“Is this the last load?”
“Seems like it.”
Heave-ho!
Dockworkers were hauling cargo onto the ship. Freight bound from Roke Island to Langerstine piled high on the deck.
And right beside them, Erzebet and Simon were walking along.
“You sure about this?”
Simon was wearing nothing but a robe, while Erzebet was in disguise. A top-class suit with sunglasses, a clipboard tucked under her arm.
On this island, only two types of people dressed like that: Professor Keyzen or headquarters staff.
“This isn’t the first time. Leave it to me, Milord.”
When the woman in formal attire appeared on the docks, the workers’ faces paled.
She stopped in front of the pier, arms crossed, standing silently. Soon after, a bearded man—seemingly the leader—emerged, chuckling nervously.
“O-oh, welcome! What brings a high-ranking officer from headquarters here without notice…?”
Even though Erzebet said nothing, he bowed low immediately.
With elegance, she extended her palm. The bearded man grimaced but handed over the ledger. She flicked through the papers and then nodded toward Simon.
Simon climbed aboard, pretending to inspect the cargo.
“Overloaded.”
Erzebet snapped the ledger shut with a sharp smack.
As if on cue, wails erupted.
“Milord! If you catch every little thing like this, trash like us will just starve to death!”
“We’re not committing crimes here, we just loaded next week’s supply a bit early! To meet the deadline, this was the only way…”
Erzebet smiled sweetly.
“Rules are rules.”
“……”
The sailors’ eyes turned to her. The bearded man coughed loudly, exaggerated, then shuffled over. He slipped what looked like an envelope of cash into her suit pocket.
“Ha-ha… it’s not much, but…”
“Oh my, heavens. What do you take me for?”
“Ha-ha-ha! Life’s about living together, isn’t it? If things get too strict, it just makes everyone miserable!”
After a brief back-and-forth, she reluctantly accepted the bribe.
“No helping it then. Ah, just as well, I also happen to have business in Langerstine…”
“O-of course! Please, come aboard! We’ll get you there quickly!”
Afraid she might change her mind, the sailors scrambled like lightning onto the ship. The captain shouted, “We’re departing! Departing!” with crisp precision.
“Ta-da.”
Boarding the ship, Erzebet spread her arms as though she had performed magic.
Simon let out a deep sigh.
“All well and good, but why actually take the bribe?”
“Because humans must pay a price to feel a strong sense of responsibility for keeping secrets.”
She answered with a mischievous smile.
“If you just use authority to suppress them, they’ll only resent you. But if there’s an exchange—a price—they feel grateful, satisfied, and reassured. After all, they bribed us, so surely it will be fine.”
“…That’s the strangest nonsense I’ve heard in a long time.”
With that, the ship carrying Simon and Erzebet cut through the waves.
They worried about getting stopped midway, but since the departure had already been cleared by Keyzen’s side, the ship safely passed through the barrier into neutral waters.
“Shall we stop at Langerstine first, Milord? Or…”
“Let’s hurry.”
Simon said.
“It’s been quite a while since Grayson discovered the Dead Nagas. I want to see the site as soon as possible.”
“As you wish.”
Erzebet went to speak with the captain, telling him she would disembark early at Langerstine.
The captain agreed instantly, practically pushing her along. It was clear he just wanted to be rid of the troublesome woman.
Simon then summoned Deimos, the whale-bone undead for aquatic travel, concealing its form beneath the waves. With Erzebet, he slipped away from the ship.
Once they were far enough that the ship disappeared from view, Simon opened subspace.
From within, the commander of the Skullwing unit, Akemius, spread his black wings and soared upward.
Erzebet and Deimos were sent back into subspace.
[I will ensure your safety, Young Master.]
“I’m counting on you.”
Whoosh!
Akemius wrapped his wings around Simon and ascended into the sky. A jet-black dot cut swiftly across the heavens.
Even during high-altitude flight, the space between Akemius’ feathers was surprisingly snug.
Like lying under a blanket, cocooned. Even the noise was muffled.
But—
“Ugh…”
The motion sickness was brutal.
It was Simon’s first time traveling such a long distance on Akemius’ back, and his condition deteriorated quickly.
He found himself appreciating the greatness of teleportation circles anew. He even briefly considered laying a flower at the grave of the great archmage who had first devised them.
[We have arrived, Young Master. Right ahead.]
Akemius shifted his wings so Simon could see. Simon peeked out cautiously.
Below stretched a vast ocean view, dotted with a cluster of islands.
[This is the Garaon Archipelago.]
Simon’s expression turned grave.
“So the 5th Legion is here.”
In truth, the odds of Magnus himself being stationed on such a remote island were slim.
But Magnus was still targeting Simon. If he intended to interfere in this group exam, the matter was very serious.
He couldn’t allow others—especially his friends—to be caught in the conflict of legion commanders.
“Let’s descend right away.”
The Garaon Archipelago—one of the candidate sites for the 2nd-year group exam.
Which meant, without a doubt, Keyzen’s people or their hired explorers would be present.
If Akemius, radiating overwhelming Darkness, approached directly, they’d be spotted instantly.
So Simon had him land in the middle of the sea first.
Simon pulled out a small boat from subspace, covered it with Erzebet’s web to conceal their presence as much as possible, then rowed it himself toward the island.
Swishhh—
Arrival.
It was a beautiful island, with a white sandy beach. Waves crashed, and newborn baby sea turtles were swimming through the surf toward the ocean.
“Peaceful.”
[Nothing particularly special to see here.]
It was good that they hadn’t been attacked by the 5th Legion upon arrival, but the problem was that the island was far larger than expected.
For the two of them to search the entire place, a weekend wouldn’t be enough. So first, they headed to the location where Grayson’s bird had spotted the ‘Dead Nagas’.
A rocky zone full of strange formations. Waves crashed furiously against the stones.
‘This is the place.’
Simon recalled the scene he had seen through Grayson’s thoughts, then tapped the clone of Feer hanging from his clothes.
“Feer, do you sense anything?”
["Keh-heh-heh! Nothing at all. Not even a trace!"]
They had rushed here with long-distance flight, but trying to find the 5th Legion now felt like searching for an oasis in a desert.
[I’ve already scattered my children.]
Erzebet pointed behind her.
Hundreds of Corpse Spiders scuttled away in all directions.
[If they find anything, I ordered them to report immediately.]
“Good work, Erze.”
[Then shall we enjoy a cozy little date on this island?]
“…Sorry, but we don’t have time for that.”
Simon shook his head.
“There will be Keyzen’s people dispatched to this island. Let’s find them and gather information.”
[So be it.]
They set out at once.
The Corpse Spiders soon located a dispatched camp of humans, surprisingly close by.
The camp had about ten tents, large and small, with people in brown uniforms—looking like archaeologists—passing time with dry jokes. There were traces of a fire, and the rocks bore the marks of having been used as a latrine.
[They’re coming!]
At that moment, two researchers approached.
Simon and Erzebet clamped their mouths shut, hiding their presence as much as possible behind a rock.
Soon—splash—an unmistakable sound was heard.
[The girl will draw their attention.]
Throwing on her web disguise, she appeared in the form of a man dressed exactly like the researchers.
“Hm?”
The researchers, mid-relief, blinked.
“Who are you? You look like one of our camp, but I don’t recognize…”
Their eyes lost focus, their bodies went limp, and they collapsed. Simon had crept behind them and cast Sleep.
Out of courtesy, Simon quickly adjusted their pants to preserve their dignity.
Erzebet came over, rummaging through their belongings, checking IDs, then flipping through the documents they carried.
“Did you find anything?”
[As expected—they were dispatched by Keyzen to investigate this island. Seems they were scouting for a suitable test site.]
“What about ties to Magnus or the 5th Legion?”
She double-checked the documents thoroughly. Simon swallowed hard as he waited.
[Nothing. They’re just ordinary researchers.]
Simon sighed.
Meanwhile, Erzebet once again cloaked herself in webbing, then transformed into the likeness of one of the sleeping men.
[I’ll extract the information myself.]
Since Simon lacked the acting skills to pass unnoticed, Erzebet decided to go alone.
She strode casually toward the group of researchers by the tents, joining their idle chatter with ease.
When asked why she was alone, she cursed about Bilbo—saying she thought it was just a small one, but it turned out large, stinking so badly she couldn’t bear to stay near him. The others burst into laughter and teased back.
Combining a few words with the props and papers she’d seen, Erzebet acted just like the real man. Her impersonation was uncanny—truly befitting a spy.
“By the way.”
Erzebet brought up the topic smoothly.
“Bilbo the coward swore he saw a snake-like monster last night, making a huge fuss. Anyone else see it?”
“Oh, I was with him when he saw that.”
One man spoke.
“On the opposite island, there were a few monsters standing in a row. They looked like nagas. Their bones were exposed, almost like undead. I didn’t want to provoke them, so I stayed still.”
“The opposite island?”
“Yeah. Geholla Island.”
Success.
Having no further reason to linger, Erzebet wrapped up the conversation with jokes, then excused herself, saying nature called again.
She slipped back, and Simon and Erzebet set off running without hesitation.
[That’s the one, Milord!]
Far off from the main cluster of islands, it was called Geholla Island.
Simon immediately pulled a boat from subspace and rowed hard toward it.
And then—
[I feel it!]
Even before reaching the island, Feer’s clone shouted.
[The aura is faint, but it’s unmistakably that of an Ancient Undead!]
Now it was a race against time.
Simon rowed furiously, landing on Geholla Island and preparing for battle at once.
“Come, Prince.”
Simon summoned his zombie, calling forth Prince, then released Akemius and Herseba from subspace.
Erzebet stretched webs across the island to form barriers, stationed Corpse Spiders, and had Akemius prepare the Skullwings for aerial combat.
[Boy, don’t you think this could be Magnus’ trap?]
The staff-form Herseba floated close, speaking. Simon clenched and unclenched his fist.
“Even so, if the 5th Legion is really here, we have no choice but to check. Feer! What about the aura of the Ancient Undead?”
[Still just one signal.]
Feer, in his Bone Armor state, answered. Erzebet licked her lips.
[Ufufu! If this ambush works, we might be able to eliminate a major piece of the 5th Legion’s might right here.]
Simon pressed down firmly on Feer’s helmet.
“Prepare.”
In one hand he gripped the Greatsword of Destruction, in the other, Herseba. He marched forward, followed by Erzebet, Prince, and Akemius.
All of his core forces were deployed, save for Xairos guarding the north.
Before them lay an undersea cave cleverly concealed by rocks. Erzebet gestured lightly, then spoke.
[No barrier, either.]
Simon swallowed hard.
“Let’s go in.”
The 7th Legion and the 5th Legion.
The battle between the two forces was just ahead.
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