Necromancer Academy's Genius Summoner – Episode 3
Clink.
Rowley, revealing his true colors, pulled out a knife. The well-kept blade gleamed with a sharp shine.
Swish. Swish.
At the same time, one rough-looking man approached from behind Simon, and two more from the front, strolling lazily.
"...Well, it doesn't really matter who you are. And the fact that you've walked into a trap doesn't change either."
As his companions joined in, Rowley looked noticeably more at ease and gestured with a flick of his fingers.
"Drop everything you've got. Your bag and clothes. Leave not even your underwear."
"Even underwear?"
"What's there to be shy about? Just pick out some new clothes at the market."
Rowley pointed to a pile of garbage behind him. The other gang members snickered.
"Yeah, that's one of Langerstine's famous sights. Who knows? Maybe you'll be lucky and find a box or something."
"As long as you cover your privates, you might avoid ending up in jail."
With a cheerful smile, Simon replied.
"I refuse."
"..."
Rowley and his crew's expressions turned grim.
"...You little shit."
"Must be some bumpkin who can't read the situation. Do we look like we're joking right now?"
The man on Rowley's right strode toward Simon.
"A punk like this needs to get stabbed a few times to get a clue."
"Hey, wait!"
Ignoring Rowley's voice, the man dashed forward, drawing a dagger from his waist and thrusting it at Simon.
Swish.
Simon smoothly shifted his weight, exposing his right shoulder.
The dagger sliced through empty air, and in that instant, Simon had slipped around to the side and casually grabbed the man's wrist.
Crack!
With a firm grip, the man's wrist bent in a direction it never should have.
"G-gyaaaaaaah!"
The man dropped the dagger and collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony.
Simon kicked the man in the face with a loud thud! and said,
"We get guys like you back in our domain too. Scumbags hiding among good people, pretending to collect protection fees or some such trash."
"...Y-you bastard!"
Simon lightly dusted off his hands.
"Cleaning up that kind of trash is part of the heir's duty. Looks like there's plenty of it in this neighborhood too. So I figured I'd help clean up a bit."
"...So, you're a noble."
Rowley raised his arm and gave a signal. Five more gang members rushed in from the end of the alley.
"Then that's all the more reason we can't let you go."
"..."
Simon calmly loosened up. He had expected only two or three, but there were more than he thought, and they were organized.
A situation where he had to face eight armed men with his bare hands.
Even for Simon, this was honestly a bit much.
'Sorry, Father. I might be late getting to Keyzen.'
Simon lowered his stance with a serious expression, while the gang members tensed, gripping their daggers tightly.
A volatile moment.
Just as it seemed a fight could break out at any second.
"Found you!"
A voice rang out, clearly a third party who shouldn't be here. Everyone turned toward the source of the sound.
Step. Step.
From the shadowy darkness of the alley, someone was walking out.
A girl with hair as black and glossy as the night sky, a youthful face that still bore signs of adolescence, and blood-red, crescent-shaped earrings.
Simon figured she was either his age or slightly older.
'What now…?'
Rowley bit his lip at the new arrival.
What the hell was that guy at the back doing? He was nowhere in sight.
"...This has nothing to do with you. Get lost."
Despite Rowley's warning, the black-haired girl snorted as if amused.
As she got closer, the gang members instinctively took a step back, their expressions tense.
A primal and instinctive sense of rejection, of fear. They couldn't explain why, but this girl radiated a sense of overwhelming danger.
"Don't be scared."
Seeing the gang's hesitation, Rowley spoke up.
"It's 8 to 2. We wrap this up quick and get out of Langerstine before the guards show up."
Hearing that, the girl smiled sweetly.
"8 to 2? I don't think so."
Rustle, rustle.
As the girl moved, the trash heaps and bags scattered around the alley began to stir as if alive. Then, ripping through the surface of the bags, bone fragments rose into the air.
"You know what's funny?"
Click. Clack.
The bones began to assemble. Different shapes and types of bones creaked and clicked as they slowly formed bodies.
"The building right up front? It's a skeleton storage."
Rowley and his crew turned pale.
At that moment, the same word popped into everyone's head simultaneously.
'...Necromancer!'
Clack! Clack!
In an instant, over 20 skeletons surrounded the gang members. Paralyzed with fear, they could barely breathe.
"Guh!"
"Ghk!"
The approaching undead restrained the gang members with their bony arms and legs.
The dead caressed their faces with skeletal hands or tilted their jaws upward.
"What should I do?"
The girl flashed a bewitching smile.
"My little ones say they want new friends."
Clack!
Clack!
The skeletons clicked their jaws together as if in agreement. Some gang members began foaming at the mouth, others wet their pants.
'...Incredible.'
Simon was astonished too. While the quality was inferior to Richard's skeletons, creating over 20 instant undead from nearby bone remnants on the spot, this was remarkable skill.
"W-we didn't recognize a Necromancer! Please, have mercy just once!"
Rowley trembled as he bowed his head. The girl uncrossed her arms, now wearing a somewhat serious expression.
"Tell me your affiliation."
The skeleton holding Rowley slowly raked its bony hand down his neck. Five streams of blood began trickling down, and Rowley tightly shut his eyes and shouted,
"Claven! We're with the Claven gang!"
"Oh, I've heard of them. For a bunch of thugs who rob poor outsiders, you're part of a pretty big group."
Placing her hands on her hips, she spoke in a voice cold as ice.
"Tell Claven this. From the hideout, crawl to the guards with your head on the ground and your hands tied behind your back."
Rowley's face turned ghostly pale.
"P-please have mercy...! Just turn me into an undead instead!"
The girl's expression twisted into a snarl.
[You dare to command me?]
The voice, alien and inhuman, froze Rowley in terror.
She let out a quiet breath and returned to her normal voice.
"Don't try to send a fake. If I check and his face isn't sufficiently mangled, then in Keyzen's name, I'll wipe your entire organization off the face of the earth."
The moment the name "Keyzen" was spoken, every gang member went pale and lowered their heads. Rowley too, as if resigned, answered.
"...Understood."
"Get lost."
When the skeletons withdrew, the gang members bolted as if they had been waiting for the moment. Watching their tails tucked and running off, the girl clicked her tongue once.
"Thank you for helping me."
Simon bowed his head in greeting. Only then did the girl turn her head and look at him.
"Simon Follentia, right?"
She asked with a bright smile, and fortunately, there was no hostility in her tone. Simon quickly nodded.
"Yes, that's right. If it's not rude, may I ask who you are…?"
"Who else would I be? I'm your real guide."
Simon's eyes went wide like lanterns.
Then that means she's—?
Just then, she grabbed Simon's wrist and tugged.
"Let's go. Mom's waiting."
"...Mom?"
* * *
"Mommm!"
Behind the main plaza of Langerstine.
The girl who had brought Simon was squatting down, roughly wiping cream from around a child's mouth.
The child squirmed and turned her head away with a muffled "Mmph", but the girl's hands were precise and unrelenting.
"I told you to wait quietly! You always get lost!"
"But still—! There was a free ice cream tasting at the plaza!"
And the child, whining as she got her mouth wiped, was none other than Neftis Arkbold, the ruler of Keyzen and the pinnacle of all necromancers.
The so-called witch of death walking around with ice cream smeared on her face… Simon was thoroughly bewildered.
Even more bewildering, the girl who saved him was calling Neftis "Mom".
They were mother and daughter? No matter how he looked, they seemed more like sisters.
And if he really had to guess who the mother was, he'd have picked the girl,not the one who looked like a ten-year-old child...
"Simon?"
At some point, the girl was looking straight at him.
"You were thinking something weird just now, weren't you?"
"N-no, not at all."
She stared at Simon with suspicious eyes before huffily turning her head away.
...Her instincts are sharp.
"You've had a long journey, Simon!"
Neftis came over with quick little steps.
She looked like a cheerful child, but in truth, she was a monster among monsters, one who had lived over 300 years and spread fear across the world. Simon bowed politely.
"I greet the master of Keyzen."
"Wow, no need to be so stiff."
She giggled and waved her hand.
"It's our first time meeting since Leshill. Did you learn anything from Richard in the meantime?"
"Ah, yes! A little, but…"
Simon immediately opened his palm. Activating his core, he circulated mana and drew forth the Darkness.
The Darkness instantly ran up his arm and formed above his palm.
Fsssshh.
Simon's unique Darkness, tinged with a faint blue, wavered like flames.
Neftis and the girl both stepped closer, eyes wide. At moments like this, they really did look like a mother and daughter.
"Wow."
The two of them stared at it with eyes gleaming, as if admiring a beautiful piece of art.
"A Darkness with a bluish hue, haven't seen that in a while."
"But it still has the qualities of raw mana. The way it wavers like fire means it hasn't left the gaseous phase yet."
"He needs to learn how to use his core more efficiently."
The two exchanged brief opinions and nodded in agreement.
"That's good enough, Simon."
Simon deactivated the Darkness and stood up straight.
"There's no need to be impatient. Keyzen is a school, after all. You'll be able to learn much more from now on."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!"
"Alright, Loraine?"
Neftis gave the girl a playful smack on the butt and said,
"I'm counting on you to show our new student around."
"...Mom's always making me do everything."
The girl pouted and grumbled, but Neftis turned away, pretending not to hear.
"Well then, I'll go eat one more ice cream and head back to Keyzen! So you know! I'm going first!"
"Ah, seriously! Mom!"
Just like that, Neftis vanished as if fleeing, leaving only the two of them behind in the plaza.
The girl sighed lightly, then turned to look at Simon.
"No choice, huh. I'll reintroduce myself. My name's Loraine Arkbold. Like you, I'm a student at Keyzen."
"I'm Simon Follentia from Leshill! Once again, please take care of me!"
"Great. We're already running late, so let's get going right away."
"What are we going to do?"
Loraine brushed her hair back and answered,
"It's the start of the semester, right? We're going shopping."