Chapter 191
2 a.m.
With not a single light, the city drowned in gloomy darkness gave off a strange and eerie atmosphere.
A side of Langerstine only known to the locals, unknown to tourists who only imagined a vibrant metropolis.
While everyone was fast asleep, a man in a black hood sat quietly in a terrace chair, admiring the night view.
"Huwaaahhh~"
A dragging yawn broke the stillness behind him.
A man with a bulging belly and a thick beard covering his chin, upper lip, and creeping toward his ears, trudged onto the terrace.
The man in the hood chuckled and tucked the cigar he had been smoking between his fingers.
"Tired?"
"Don't even get me started."
The bearded man smacked his lips and rubbed his eyes.
"Showing up at this hour, raising hell, how could I not be tired?"
"You've adjusted quite well to city life."
The hooded man's gaze fell on the other man's protruding belly and stretched-out clothes.
The bearded man laughed heartily and gave his belly a few pats.
"Sure, it's the kind of neighborhood where they'll steal your nose while you're sleeping, but once you adjust, it's livable. Honestly, I prefer this kind of intense, day-to-day living over herding sheep out on the plains."
"How fortunate for you."
The hooded man's tone suggested disapproval.
The bearded man yawned again.
"I'm sleepy, so let's get to the point. You said even you couldn't track that guy down."
"Tonight's about something else."
The hooded man flicked the cigar off the terrace and pulled a piece of paper from his cloak, a photo taken with a magical camera.
"I'm looking for this boy."
The bearded man blinked at the photo he was handed.
"That's a Keyzen uniform, isn't it? What's with this kid?"
"I hear he's the prized exceptional applicant, number one in the special admissions list at Keyzen. His name is Simon Follentia."
The bearded man frowned.
"...Let me give you some advice. You'd best not mess with Keyzen. Especially not the students. Even out in your rural backwater, you must've heard what happened to Efnelle after they terrorized a bunch of first-years, what Neftis did to her?"
"I know."
The hooded man took the photo back and slipped it into his cloak.
"Just tell me whether you can find him or not."
"Well, I don't even need to look. School's about to start again, so he'll be in this city soo—"
The bearded man flinched and turned around.
"What's wrong?"
"...Someone's in the house."
He tiptoed toward the living room and peeked in. A single rat was scurrying across the floor.
The bearded man let out a sigh of relief.
"Third floor, and still one of those things gets in?"
He muttered in annoyance and grabbed a broom nearby. The rat was too busy nibbling on crumbs to notice him.
"Good boy, just stay right there."
He whispered, raising the broom silently—just then, the rat turned to look at him. Its eyes gleamed like a wild beast.
"...!"
And as if it had been waiting for the cue, hundreds of eyes flashed within the darkness of the house.
"Gehhh!"
The bearded man yelped, dropped the broom, and fell backward. From the floor, swarms of rats began to flood the room.
The hooded man leapt to his feet.
"Shit! It's him!"
"Ugh! Aaaaagh!"
The bearded man tried to flee into the living room, but this time, countless cockroaches clung to the walls, floors, and ceiling, swarming like a hive.
He gagged and covered his mouth.
Srrrrrrrrrrrrk—
Something began rising from the shadows of the terrace.
A person.
They were standing on top of something so writhing and numerous that it was impossible to tell what it was as they climbed to the third floor.
"Ugh! Guhhhhhh!"
The bearded man foamed at the mouth in terror, while the hooded man let out a crooked smile and drew his sword from his waist.
"To think you'd come to us!"
He kicked off the floor and charged.
But at the first step, his skin erupted in blotches. By the second, a hideous rash spread across his body. By the third, his limbs turned jaundiced. And on the fourth step, he collapsed with a guttural groan, rolling on the floor.
"Urrgh! Grrraaahh!"
The swordsman writhed in pain, foaming at the mouth, and the bearded man could only tremble as he looked up at the night visitor approaching from the terrace.
"W-What do you want...! No, p-please spare me!"
"Just now."
The visitor's lips parted.
"Did you say... Simon Follentia?"
* * *
"Simon! Did you pack everything?"
"Yes! Got it all, Mom!"
In the early morning, Simon came down to the living room from his second-floor room. There lay a neatly pressed Keyzen uniform, freshly cleaned by Anna, who had taken extra care not to damage the embedded black magic.
Simon carefully picked up the uniform, as pristine as new.
'Finally, I get to wear this again.'
A small wave of emotion washed over him as he changed.
As he slid his legs into the sleek black trousers, similar to a formal suit, a smooth, pleasant texture greeted him. He fastened the belt, slid his arms into the white shirt, buttoned up, tied a red necktie, and finally threw on the uniform's upper jacket adorned with the Keyzen crest.
In the mirror, the suit-fit of a sharp-looking young man reflected back at him.
'Feels like my first day at Keyzen all over again.'
As he turned this way and that to admire the fit, Anna appeared from the kitchen.
With skilled hands, she popped an apple pie into her son's mouth and tidied his tie perfectly.
She stepped back, clasped her hands together, and beamed with pride as she looked at Simon in his uniform.
"Oh my~ Our son's all grown up. We really raised him well."
"All ready, Simon?"
The door opened, and Richard entered the house, accompanied by a man in a brown robe.
"Who's this, Father?"
"He's a subordinate from Keyzen, dispatched directly by Lady Neftis. He's prepared a teleportation circle in the yard."
The subordinate bowed politely.
"Simon, we've prepared a magic circle to take you to one of Langerstine's outlying cities. From there, it'll be about two hours by carriage to your destination."
"Ah, thank you for going to all this trouble!"
Keyzen was Keyzen, after all.
Simon had felt it during their trip to the Holy Federation, teleportation magic circles were incredibly rare.
At Keyzen, these magic circles were provided freely even to regular students, but in truth, they required astronomical costs, manpower, and effort to operate. Most people never even got to use one in their lifetime.
"I'll be waiting outside."
The subordinate stepped out, and the moment of parting approached.
Richard placed a hand on Simon's shoulder and began explaining everything he needed to be careful of, how to handle professors, what to do if someone found out about the Legion, and more. Meanwhile, Anna was arranging lunchboxes.
To Lady Kamibarez Ursula.
Anna had even prepared lunchboxes for each of his teammates. On the notes, she'd written their names and drawn little hearts, along with a short message asking them to take care of Simon and wishing them all the best in school.
Simon carefully committed all of Richard's tips to memory, packed Anna's lunchboxes into his subspace so they wouldn't be crushed, and bowed respectfully.
"I'll be back."
Once he stepped outside, he saw the magic circle in the yard.
Simon stood in front of the circle, and Richard and Anna came out after him. In the end, Anna shed tears, and Richard gently pulled her into his embrace. She leaned against him.
"Be careful, Simon! Just because you're inside Keyzen doesn't mean you can be as relaxed as you are at home. Put everything you have into stealing the knowledge and expertise of the greatest necromancers of this era!"
"Just come back healthy. Don't skip meals!"
After bowing once more to his parents, Simon turned and stepped onto the teleportation circle.
'I'm finally going. To Keyzen!'
His feet gently lifted off the ground.
* * *
As expected, this was on a completely different level from the teleportation circles he'd experienced in the Holy Federation.
When he opened his eyes, he had arrived in a small rural village. It was a kind of satellite town that existed to support the extremely populous Langerstine.
On the carriage road, many carriages were lined up, their drivers negotiating prices with passengers.
Simon queued up and didn't have to wait long before he was able to board one.
"To Langerstine, please."
"Yes, sir! I'll get you there safely!"
As the carriage set off, Simon began reviewing the remaining vacation homework.
He'd been told it would take about two hours. Time passed surprisingly quickly. While he was focused on solving a few problems, the driver announced that they were approaching Langerstine.
Only then did Simon lift his gaze from his homework and look out the window.
"Wow...!"
Langerstine, capital of the Dresden Kingdom and the port city closest to Roke Mountain.
The awe he had felt when he first escaped from Leshill and saw a large city came rushing back.
All the towering buildings, the endless stream of carriages racing down the roads, and the streets packed with a sea of people.
The carriage Simon was riding stopped right at the entrance to Langerstine.
"Sorry, but this is as far as outside carriages are allowed. This area's pretty territorial."
"That's fine, I'll walk from here. Thanks for the ride!"
After paying and stepping off the carriage, Simon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The blended voices of many people echoed in his ears like a chorus.
'First, I should link up with Kami.'
Dick had said he was in Langerstine on business, and Maelyn was arriving tomorrow. Meeting Kamibarez first seemed like the best move.
Simon started up the hill into Langerstine at a leisurely pace.
'She said she'd be waiting in Camellord, right?'
Camellord was a district filled with shops selling necromancer supplies. Simon remembered visiting it with Loraine before his admission, buying a subspace and his textbooks.
He walked on, reminiscing over various memories.
'Still, this place is steeper than I remember.'
Once again, he was reminded how steep the hills in this city were. You had to walk up them drenched in sweat just to reach the main commercial districts.
There was even a running joke that the only things you gained from living in Langerstine were street smarts and leg muscles.
Clatter clatter!
Just then, while Simon was climbing the hill, a carriage passing along the road came to a halt beside him.
"Hey~ kid!"
Simon stopped in his tracks. The carriage door clicked open, and a pair of sleek, shapely legs stepped out.
Then, the door opened fully, revealing a woman with long ivory-colored hair billowing in the wind.
When Simon stared blankly, she pushed up her sunglasses with her index finger and gave a crooked smile.
"Nice to see you, Simon~ Heading back to school?"
"Serne!"
She was Serne Eindark, the second-ranked exceptional applicant to Keyzen and the official heir to the Ivory Tower.
She squinted one eye and asked,
"Where are you headed?"
"...Why do you ask?"
Simon instinctively became wary in front of Serne. She stepped aside and patted the seat where she had been sitting.
"Langerstine is a mess. Hop in! I'll take you to your destination."
"Nah, you really don't need to—"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Just then, angry shouts came from all over the carriage road.
"Is she nuts?!"
"Why's she stopping in the middle of the road like that?!"
As the furious coachmen yelled, Serne casually gathered her long ivory hair with one hand and elegantly shook her head.
Her velvety hair fluttered, and white feathers shot out from within, embedding themselves in the coachmen's napes. Their faces turned red, and they melted into goofy smiles.
"Hehehehe."
"It's okay to stop a carriage once in a while."
"Gotta live relaxed if you wanna stay healthy, y'know."
Simon gave an awkward smile at how quickly their attitudes flipped.
When the passengers in Serne's carriage begged to get moving, the coachmen started scolding them instead. Langerstine's traffic had come to a standstill.
"You're really gonna keep a lady waiting?"
Serne patted the empty seat again with a bright smile.
"...Haah."
In the end, Simon climbed up into the carriage. When she chirped, "Let's go~" in a cute tone, the coachman flicked the reins, and the horses began to trot.
"Where were you heading?"
She put her sunglasses back on and chuckled softly.
"Camellord."
"You heard him, Mister Coachman."
Through a thin curtain, only the outline of the driver was visible. He turned the horses skillfully, guiding the carriage into a side alley.
Serne stretched out her long legs and crossed one over the other. She then placed her folded hands atop her knees and smiled.
"Once we're back at Keyzen, another intense semester begins, huh? I'll be counting on you."
"Yeah. Thanks for the ride."
"Oh, it's nothing~ One more stamp for the book..."
"I'm getting off."
"Ahaha! I was just kidding!"
He hadn't thought much of it before, but the way Serne kept bringing up 'stamps' was starting to get to him.
Then, she tapped the coachman's back through the thin curtain with her fist.
"Mister Coachman. You're really not going to say hi? It's been almost two months, you know."
"..."
Who could she be talking to?
Just then, the curtain was drawn back, and a very familiar face appeared.
Gray hair, a long scar over one eye, a sharp jawline and piercing gaze like a wolf.
It was all the more welcome because it was such an unexpected reunion.
Simon shouted loudly.
"Kajan!"