Chapter 192
Kajan wore a straw hat on his head and a shabby brown vest, the typical attire of a Langerstine coachman.
"Why is Kajan driving a carriage here?"
Simon's gaze turned to Serne this time.
"And why are you two together?"
No matter how he thought about it, the pairing was unusual. The only point of contact he could recall was a brief moment during the battle with Saint Plema.
"What, can't we be together?"
Serne said playfully, wrapping her arms around Kajan's back. Without changing his expression, Kajan coldly declared,
"If you don't let go in three seconds, I'll kill you."
Serne pouted and pulled away, looking bored. Kajan was one of the few people immune to her mind control.
"I'm on a mission."
Kajan said curtly, pulling down his straw hat.
"And I'll be attending Keyzen again for the second semester. I'll explain more back at the dorm."
Having said his piece, Kajan fell silent. But the word "mission" made Simon's eyes sparkle.
"What kind of mission? Did something happen in Langerstine? I can help!"
"…Simon."
Kajan spoke with weight.
"I know your skills well. But this is a mission assigned to me as an agent, and it's something our team will handle. You just focus on preparing for the new semester like a student."
Simon hadn't expected Kajan to be this cold. Flustered, he stammered,
"B-But we were together during Plema's case…!"
"Yes. We took down the Saint. But that was then, and this is now. You're a student. Don't get your hands dirty with unnecessary matters. Just do what a student should."
Kajan clearly wanted to keep his distance. Though Simon felt a bit hurt, he couldn't deny that Kajan's words were reasonable.
Watching the exchange like it was someone else's house on fire, Serne snickered and jumped in.
"Coachman's being cold, huh~"
Then she wrapped her arms around both Simon and Kajan's necks.
"But we're the legendary 'Saint Killer Trio' from Keyzen, right? We could lend a hand, maybe~"
'…What a terrible name.'
Simon thought, and judging by Kajan's sigh, he felt the same.
"If you don't let go in three seconds, I'll kill you."
"Yessir~"
"And that woman was contacted as an informant and witness. She has nothing to do with the mission."
While the three were chatting, the carriage had already arrived in front of Camellord.
"I'll tell you just one thing."
Perhaps feeling a bit guilty seeing Simon looking down, Kajan opened his mouth again. Simon quickly raised his head, ears perked up.
"Be wary of men with strange patterns painted on their bodies."
"Huh?"
"For security reasons, that's all I can say."
Clunk.
The carriage soon slowed and came to a complete stop. Serne chuckled.
"Well, I'm sure the coachman can handle it. By the way, when are you meeting Maelyn?"
"She said she'd arrive tomorrow. Didn't the Ivory Tower students come together?"
"As you know, we're not that close~"
Indeed, their relationship had always been one-sided love on one end.
Simon got off the carriage and said his goodbyes.
"Thanks for the ride."
"Hoho, don't mention it!"
"…See you at school."
Kajan set the carriage back in motion. Simon stood for a moment, watching it go before turning and walking.
Thanks to that, he'd arrived at his destination, Camellord, without much effort.
He saw the golden floor beneath his feet, and surrounding it were ominous necromancer shops displaying monster corpses, organs, eyeballs, and the like.
At first, such items had been simply horrifying. But by his second visit, he found some of the materials rather fascinating.
Especially when he spotted a Vanilla-brand Snow Gnoll Skeleton, his eyes lit up without realizing, and he stopped right there to examine it.
Recognizing his reaction, Simon chuckled to himself, realizing just how much he had become a proper necromancer.
Resisting the strong urge to buy something, he passed through the entrance area of Camellord and entered a wide, open square.
Necromancers were sitting on benches chatting, enjoying tea time, or conducting business with contracts while spitting passionately. Around them were skeletons carrying luggage and skeleton horses as well.
Simon figured it would be a good time to take a break too, and that's when he saw her.
'Ah.'
In front of the fountain stood a female student wearing a Keyzen uniform. She turned just then, her skirt fluttering, and looked at Simon.
Flowing lilac hair falling over her chest, large sparkling eyes, an adorably sharp fang peeking out, and small bat wings sprouting from her back.
"Simon—!"
She smiled radiantly like sunlight and waved energetically. Her wings perked up with joy, and she bounced on the spot to draw attention. A smile naturally spread across Simon's face.
"Kami!"
After two months, she was even more welcome than ever.
Just as he was about to run over to her, he noticed the large man in black standing beside her.
'Who's that?'
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, the man's body scattered into a swarm of bats and vanished.
Startled, Simon stopped in his tracks, and the swarm of bats surged toward him, in seconds, the man reappeared in front of him.
A crushing pressure slammed down, and Simon froze in place.
His massive frame defied human proportions, with a thick neck and broad shoulders like a field. Yet, his waist tapered down, and his legs were relatively slim. He was draped in a cloak-like black garment.
White eyebrows, a white beard, red eyes, pointed ears, and fangs far larger and sharper than Kami Vareze's cute little ones gleamed menacingly.
'…This man. He's insanely strong.'
Even without sensing Darkness, the man's first impression alone radiated overwhelming charisma.
Simon quickly bowed his head.
"Pleased to meet you, sir."
There was no need to ask who he was.
He was with Kamibarez, a vampire, and possessed such power. Only one person fit.
The strongest vampire, current Vampire Lord.
'Dietrich Von Ursula.'
Dietrich's lips curled at Simon's greeting.
"Prove it, human."
"…Sir?"
"Your worth!"
Dietrich's eyes flashed, and Simon felt a surge of electric current run down his spine.
He didn't know why, but a primal sense of danger sparked, raising every fine hair on his body.
Something huge was coming, from right beside him.
Screeeeeeech!
Simon threw himself aside just in time. A destructive force tore through the fountain and shredded the marble wall behind it.
"Dad!"
Kamibarez ran in to stop him, but a crimson cage dropped from the sky and trapped her.
"Good reflexes!"
The Vampire Lord let out a booming laugh. From within his black cloak, a burly, muscular arm shot out.
"Show me more of yourself!"
As his arm swung, the blow ripped through the air like it could distort space itself, shattering the plaza.
Dodging the attack, Simon shouted,
"Forgive my manners, but I can't bring myself to wound you, sir, when we've only just met!"
"Hoho! Wound? That's the craziest thing I've heard in years!"
Well, of course, this man was a monster known as the Immortal.
If that's how it was going to be…
Simon gritted his teeth and stomped his left foot down on the tiles.
'Open Gate!'
Six Overlord blades shot out. Dietrich didn't even block them, he stood tall. The blades struck his cloak and bent backward.
"What an interesting summon… Hm?"
Simon's body flashed and reappeared at Dietrich's side. His waist twisted, and his leg swept in diagonally.
'Finally baring his fangs, huh!'
Not a bad strike at all, a decent piece of magical combat.
Dietrich smirked and raised his arm, but instead of landing the kick, Simon leapt straight toward Kamibarez.
Slashing open the cage with his Overlord blades, Simon wrapped his arms around her.
"S-Simon?"
Dietrich licked his lips with his tongue.
'Not a bad move. Realizing the difference in strength, and trying to use my daughter as a hostage.'
But for someone like Dietrich, separating Kamibarez from Simon and dealing with him alone would be effortless.
Just as he began to move his arm—
Grab, grab.
Two zombies summoned by Simon clung to Dietrich's cloak from behind. Simon extended his hand, then clenched his fist tightly.
'Corpse Explosion!'
KWA-AAAAANG!
An explosion erupted behind Dietrich as Simon shielded Kamibarez and hit the ground. Debris from the blast bounced off and rained down on his back.
"Ah…?"
Kamibarez couldn't process what was happening, it was all too sudden. Her face turned bright red, and her mind went blank.
While protecting her, Simon looked back.
As expected, Dietrich stood there unharmed, not even a scratch on his cloak.
"Despite being on the defensive, that was a clever counterattack."
His fangs gleamed.
"You didn't shield my daughter to take her hostage, it was to protect her from the explosion, huh."
Dietrich's shoulders rose.
Perhaps his expectations had been too low. He was actually quite pleased. He shouted in a thunderous voice,
"I now grant you the right to stand before me! Raise your head and state your name, human!"
As if he'd been waiting for it, Simon straightened up and answered respectfully.
"Simon Follentia of Keyzen."
"Yes! Simon Follentia! I hereby bestow upon you…!"
BOOM!
Dietrich couldn't finish his sentence. Kamibarez, her hand clenched like a handgun and eyes filled with tears, shouted out,
"Stop it! Just stop! You're embarrassing me in front of Simon! You big idiot!!"
Fragments of the Bloodshot rained down. Dietrich's immortal body was unscathed, not even a speck of damage, but his face looked as if his heart had taken a hit.
Simon, who had been under heavy pressure just a moment ago, finally regained his composure and felt the blood rush to his face.
'What did I just do?'
For a moment, he'd completely lost his senses. Even if the man was the Vampire Lord, using Corpse Explosion on a friend's dad was unthinkable!
The moment he met Dietrich's eyes, he felt like his own combat instincts had completely taken over.
"Ahem! My dear daughter, Kamibarez."
The world's most powerful vampire was now sweating nervously before a tiny girl, not knowing what to do.
"This father felt the need to protect you. I was merely testing whether that human could truly keep you safe, so think nothing of it."
"I can protect myself!"
Kamibarez clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest, her eyes blazing with determination.
"And more importantly, you have no right whatsoever to test my friend!"
It was the first time Simon had seen Kamibarez this angry.
She had gotten mad before, but with such a cute face, it had never left a strong impression. But now, she was pouring all her strength into condemning Dietrich's actions.
While the father and daughter argued, Simon glanced around.
The ground tiles were shattered, the fountain was broken, water leaking everywhere.
Yet the surrounding necromancers didn't seem particularly alarmed. Rather, they looked on with curiosity, as though enjoying an entertaining show.
"Is that a vampire?"
"Looks seriously strong."
"Isn't that guy Dietrich Ursula?"
"No way! Just because someone's a vampire, doesn't mean they're all Dietrich."
Murmur, murmur, murmur.
Somehow, all eyes were now on them. Kamibarez seemed to notice as well, blushing deeply and grabbing the sleeve of Simon's uniform.
"W-Well, I'll be going now! I didn't want to come here in the first place, but thanks for the ride! I'll be with my friends from now on!"
She turned her back and walked off. Simon followed in the direction she tugged his sleeve, glancing back over his shoulder.
Dietrich wore a fiercely intimidating expression, pointing two fingers at his own eyes, then at Simon, the universal sign for "I'm watching you". Simon gave a respectful bow.
"No need to bow to him, Simon! Let's go!"
"Ah, okay."