Chapter 18

　　Finding it difficult to keep ignoring her, Simon turned his head toward the window. At that, the girl’s face swiftly ducked out of sight.

　　Is she trying not to be seen? Simon wondered. He turned back and took out another chiffon cake. As he did, her head furtively peeked back over the windowsill.

　　The girl’s blue eyes blinked. Each time the chiffon cake neared Simon’s mouth, her blinking grew faster. Amused, Simon finally spoke.

　　"Why don’t you come in and have some too, Lady Nephthys?"

　　At his words, the girl’s head popped right up. "Oh! How did you know? Can I really?"

　　As if she’d been waiting for the invitation, Nephthys vaulted over the windowsill, trotted over, and sat before the box of cakes with her knees neatly together. Then she looked up at Simon, her eyes wide and round. She looked so much like a puppy waiting with a wagging tail that he couldn’t help but chuckle.

　　"Of course. Please, have some."

　　"Hehe, I’ll dig in!" she chirped.

　　She picked up the chiffon cake with her delicate, bracken-like hands and began to eat, making small, happy sounds. As he watched her little cheeks puff out, Simon felt an overwhelming urge to pat her on the head, forgetting for a moment that she was the supreme ruler of Kizen.

　　"Would you like some of this, too?" Simon offered, pulling out more snacks he had bought from the school store. Each time, Nephthys’s eyes sparkled.

　　"I love it!" she exclaimed, her words slightly muffled by a mouthful of jam sandwich. "They never let me eat sweets at home!"

　　"…Ahaha."

　　And just like that, Simon found himself having a dessert party with the great necromancer, a figure most people would be lucky to see once in their lifetime. They shared snacks and chatted about everything from his gratitude for the Subspace ring to stories about Lorraine. The conversation naturally shifted to school life.

　　"You said this was your first time at school, right? How is it?" she asked.

　　"It’s fantastic!" Simon answered immediately. "The professors are amazing, my friends are kind, and the classes are fascinating… I think I’m surprisingly well-suited for school."

　　She beamed and nodded. "Ahh, this is nice. Talking with you here in Kizen reminds me of Richard."

　　"My father?"

　　"Yep! Your father was a student at Kizen, too. Didn’t you know?"

　　It was the first he had ever heard of it. She giggled and wagged a finger at him.

　　"Richard was really something else. Unlike your composed self, he was an absolute troublemaker—a legendary problem child."

　　"…My father?" Simon’s jaw dropped. The thought of his dignified, strict father as a delinquent was impossible to reconcile. The two images simply didn’t connect in his mind.

　　"And on top of that, he was brilliant," she continued. "He’d cause all sorts of chaos but still run circles around the professors. I can’t tell you how many times I had to go drag him back after he skipped class."

　　"…Th-That’s hard to believe. So, did he graduate safely?"

　　She shook her head. "Nope. Dropped out in his second year."

　　"…Ah."

　　"He just up and left, saying the school was too small for him. We’d never had a student like that before. Richard was a special case in many ways." Nephthys rested her arms on the floor and gazed at the ceiling. A deep, distant emotion flickered across her face, belying her youthful appearance. "Yes, I was young back then, too."

　　He wanted to offer a witty retort but thought better of it and held his tongue.

　　"Anyway! There probably isn’t a single corner of Roc Island that Richard didn’t explore. If you look closely, you might find traces of your father all over the school!"

　　"Oh! That actually sounds like fun."

　　She stood up and patted the dust from her bottom. "Well, I have an evening appointment, so I’d better get going! I might get scolded again if I’m late. Hehe."

　　"Already?" The word slipped out before Simon could stop it, surprising even himself. The time with her had passed so quickly, so enjoyably, that he had spoken without thinking.

　　"We’ll see each other again soon, Simon." Nephthys gave him a bright smile. "Thanks for the snacks! Bye!"

　　Just as she was about to leap over the windowsill, a small, folded note fell from her clothes. Simon snatched it up and rushed to the window. "Lady Nephthys! You left this—!"

　　Poof.

　　She had already vanished without a trace. Simon scratched his head and examined the note.

　　"Given the circumstances… I guess this is for me?" he muttered to himself, perching on the edge of his bed. He unfolded the paper.

　　It was a map. It showed a path through Kizen to a point outside the school grounds, the destination marked with a skull. A skull? he wondered. Shouldn’t a destination be marked with something like a treasure chest?

　　Simon studied the map carefully, but there was no other information. Why had Nephthys given him this?

　　—"If you look closely, you might find traces of your father all over the school!"

　　Her words echoed in his mind. Simon’s resolve hardened, and he clenched his fist. He would set out tomorrow.

　　***

　　The first weekend at Kizen dawned bright and clear. Since the place marked on Nephthys’s map was in the Forbidden Forest, Simon decided to leave after dark. Dick and Kajan had already left for the day, so Simon immersed himself in his Summoning textbook, determined to get ahead. He briefly considered studying his other subjects, but he couldn’t focus. With the group assignments looming, he had to choose a major soon anyway. He decided to go all-in on Summoning this weekend.

　　The difference between skeletons and zombies, he read, completely absorbed. First, obedience. Skeletons are submissive to a necromancer’s orders, while zombies rely on instinct, their hatred for the living amplified, making them difficult to control.

　　So the next stage after a zombie is a ghoul. Their numbers are small, but they’re incomparably stronger. Wow, it says they can travel up to three hundred meters in a single leap?

　　There’s also something called an Abomination! When will I be able to make one of those?

　　He never knew studying could be this exhilarating. Time flew by, and Simon sighed with regret every time he glanced at the clock. After pouring the entire day into his studies, he finally set his plan in motion as the sun began to set. On the dormitory’s overnight leave register, he simply wrote, Visiting Rochest for two days, one night.

　　He slipped out of Kizen’s main gate and reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest as dusk settled. The reason for the school’s strict prohibition was simple: it was a monster infestation zone.

　　Monsters lived in the mountains near Leshill, too, but he had no idea what kind of creatures roamed Roc Island. Simon moved forward with caution.

　　He checked the map meticulously as he walked, confirming his position: the stream to the east, Kizen’s walls to the west. So far, everything was going smoothly. But the deeper he ventured, the more frequent the animal cries became, and he began to spot fresh droppings. He poked a pile with a branch; it was moist and mushy. Something had been here recently.

　　…Hmph, I really just want to go back. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t scared, but Simon steeled himself, slowing his pace to silence his footsteps.

　　And then.

　　"Grrrrrrr."

　　A low growl echoed from somewhere nearby. Simon’s body went rigid. He clapped a hand over his mouth and dropped into a crouch. His eyes, now accustomed to the gloom, made out a dark shadow standing under a tree. It was sniffing the air, its nose twitching.

　　A monster.

　　Suddenly, the creature’s head whipped around. Glowing eyes pierced the darkness, locking onto him.

　　It’s fast! Simon’s hand shot to the dagger at his waist. A pair of eyes flashed in the dark, and a silvery blur shot toward him with a sharp whistle of displaced air. He drew his dagger and swung.

　　CLANG!

　　The impact of metal on claw sent him sprawling backward. A second swipe missed him, carving a long scar into the trunk of a tree.

　　A werewolf! It was a dangerous beast, an encounter that was a death sentence for most people. Fortunately, it seemed to be a juvenile, smaller than a full-grown adult. Before Kizen, I would have run, but…!

　　Simon scrambled to his feet, dagger held tight. With his left hand, he channeled Jet-Black into his ring and pulled an imaginary lever.

　　A Subspace portal tore open on the ground, and bones erupted from within.

　　"Restore!"

　　The scattered bones flew through the air, assembling themselves around a skull with disciplined precision. In moments, two fully formed skeletons stood before him.

　　It worked. Simon clenched his fist, a thrill running through him. It was his first time using a necromancer’s skill in a real fight, and the feeling was incredibly reassuring. Beyond the added combat power, the simple fact that he wasn’t alone was a profound relief. In the blink of an eye, the odds had shifted to three-on-one. The werewolf flinched, but it quickly bared its fangs, its will to fight unbroken.

　　Thud. Thud.

　　Simon summoned two worn shortswords from his Subspace. The skeletons snatched them out of the air.

　　"Graaaah!" The werewolf lunged, and the battle began.

　　One skeleton’s blade left a long gash across the werewolf’s abdomen. The creature ignored the wound, slamming its right arm into the skeleton’s torso.

　　The single blow sent half the bony frame flying. Simon, linked to his undead, felt a sharp, throbbing pain in his head. But in that same instant, the second skeleton circled around and plunged its shortsword into the werewolf’s exposed flank.

　　"Grrrraah!" the beast shrieked in agony.

　　Simon thrust his right arm forward. "Restore!"

　　The shattered bone fragments trembled, then flew back into place, re-forming the skeleton’s body as if time itself were reversing. The restored undead immediately stabbed its sword into the werewolf’s chest.

　　"Now! Charge!"

　　With their swords still embedded, the two skeletons dragged the werewolf forward, slamming it against a tree.

　　Thud! The tree shook violently, showering them with leaves.

　　This is my chance! Dagger in hand, Simon charged in for the final blow. The pinned werewolf thrashed wildly, its claws shattering the skeletons.

　　But Simon’s dagger found the werewolf’s neck an instant before his skeletons’ strength gave out. The gruesome sensation of tearing flesh and muscle shot up his arm, but this was life or death. He gritted his teeth and forced the blade deeper.

　　Finally, the werewolf’s body went limp. Simon stumbled back, panting heavily, until his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

　　…Th-That was close. His lips trembled from the lingering adrenaline. No time for this. I need to clean up. It would be disastrous if other monsters were drawn by the noise and the scent of blood.

　　Struggling to his feet, Simon attempted another restoration. One skeleton was too damaged to be repaired, but the other was patched up enough to move. He stored it in his Subspace and pressed on.

　　Come to think of it, this was my first real fight since coming to Kizen. In just three days, his power had grown immensely. If he could survive here for a year—no, three years—how much stronger would he become? The thought was intoxicating.

　　After another twenty minutes of walking, he arrived.

　　"This is it."

　　He stood in the area marked with a skull on the map. It was a barren clearing, completely empty. The only oddity was that no trees or grass grew in this specific spot.

　　I guess I have to dig. Simon opened his Subspace and retrieved a shovel he’d borrowed from the dormitory groundskeeper.

　　He caught it with a cool flourish as it spun through the air, then rolled up his sleeves and began to dig. His shoveling was so skillful it would have impressed any onlooker. It didn’t take long for the tip of the shovel to strike something hard. Simon crouched and brushed away the dirt.

　　A stone floor. It was made of a special, blackish rock. As he cleared the earth, he found an indentation in the center—the shape of a human hand. He placed his own hand over it; the size was a near-perfect match. But he knew a relic like this wouldn’t open so easily.

　　Closing his eyes, Simon activated his Core, and a current of Jet-Black flowed from his palm. As his power flooded the relic, the floor began to glow. Then, with an unbelievable grinding sound, it slid open.

　　Stairs!

　　A staircase leading deep underground was revealed. Simon grinned triumphantly. What secret was hidden here? Why had Nephthys sent him to this place? His heart hammered against his ribs as he took the first step down.