Chapter 34

　　At lunchtime, having finished his meal faster than usual, Simon stopped by the Class L lecture hall before his next class.

　　She is not here.

　　The person he was looking for was not among the students inside. The building for his next class was a fair distance away; if he waited too long, he would be late.

　　Hmm, maybe I should come back tomorrow.

　　As he paced anxiously in front of the lecture hall, someone approached. It was a pretty girl with a pink ribbon in her hair, clutching a stack of textbooks to her chest.

　　"Excuse me," Simon said, stepping into her path. "Sorry, just a moment."

　　"Hm?" The girl blinked, stopping in her tracks.

　　"There is a student in your class named Lorraine, right?"

　　"Yeah, that’s right. Lorraine’s in our class. Why?"

　　Simon carefully pulled an envelope from inside his uniform. "I was hoping you could give this to her."

　　The girl froze as if a pause button had been pressed, her mouth hanging open. Then…

　　She let out a sudden, piercing shriek.

　　Why are you the one screaming?!

　　Startled, Simon glanced around frantically. Fortunately, there were not many people nearby, so they had not drawn too much attention.

　　"That’s right, I remember now!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement. She stood on her tiptoes, peering at Simon’s face. "You’re Special Admission Number One, the freshman representative who gave the oath, right?"

　　Simon fell silent.

　　"I knew it! I just knew it!" she squealed. "Aaaah! This is amazing! So the top students really do stick together!"

　　She snatched the letter from Simon’s hand.

　　"Uh-huh! Got it!" she declared. "I’ll stake my life on delivering this to Lorraine!"

　　"You don’t have to go that far," Simon muttered.

　　She offered him a sly smile. "This is probably a stupid question, but I shouldn’t tell Lorraine who it’s from, right?"

　　"It doesn’t matter."

　　"Oh, really? I can tell her?" Her eyes sparkled with an unsettling intensity. A chill of foreboding went through him.

　　"Ah, no! On second thought, don’t. Just give her the letter and don’t say anything else!"

　　"Hohoho! Alright!" She playfully slapped his arm and giggled demurely. "I thought you were bold, but you’re actually just shy, aren’t you?" Her reaction made it painfully clear she was finding the situation incredibly amusing.

　　"Hey." Simon narrowed his eyes. "You’re not getting the wrong idea about this, are you?"

　　"Of course not!" she chirped, her conspicuous wink betraying the words.

　　He suddenly found this messenger completely untrustworthy, but time was running out before class. He would have to sprint just to make it to the building on the other side of campus.

　　"Well, please just make sure she gets the letter."

　　"Leave it to me!"

　　The moment Simon turned his back, a knot of unease tightening in his stomach, the girl dashed into the classroom at an incredible speed.

　　"Aaaaaah! Everyone! Everyone! Guess what I just got outside?"

　　Simon pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

* * *

　　After his classes had ended for the day, Simon made his way to the campus cafe alone.

　　Another first for me.

　　He grabbed the handle, pushed the door open, and a small bell tinkled above him. The sight that greeted him inside made his eyes widen. The cafe was packed, with students filling every table, large and small, their conversations a boisterous hum. Along the walls, others were completely engrossed in their studies, flipping through textbooks with one hand and scribbling notes with the other, all while sipping coffee through straws clenched between their teeth. He was amazed they could maintain such focus with so much activity swirling around them.

　　Incredible. And it gets even more crowded than this during exam season?

　　Just as Simon found an empty seat and began to take in his surroundings, a murmur swept through the room. The chatter suddenly grew louder.

　　Through the same entrance he had just used, a female student with hair as black as night was striding in.

　　"Whoa…" a student breathed.

　　"It’s her, right?" another whispered.

　　The aura she exuded set her worlds apart from everyone else. Her haughty gait, her piercing red eyes that seemed to look down on the world, and her cold, expressionless face—she carried an unapproachable air so powerful it made one question if she was truly a student like them.

　　Lorraine Archbold. The only daughter born in three hundred years to Nephthys, the Witch of Death who ruled half the world.

　　At the appearance of such a celebrity, the cafe became a throng of people trying to get a better look. Lorraine let out a small, weary sigh and lifted her gaze.

　　"Is there a show?" she asked, her voice quiet but carrying an unmistakable edge.

　　With that one question, the students within a thirty-three-foot radius vanished. Those seated farther away couldn’t even meet her eyes, quickly ducking their heads. Having performed the minor miracle of clearing the space around her, she continued forward, the heels of her shoes clicking against the floor.

　　She stopped right in front of Simon.

　　He swallowed hard as a wave of tension washed over him.

　　Why… why does she feel so different?

　　They had gone shopping together, eaten together… he’d thought they had grown close. But seeing her now in her Kizen uniform, she seemed impossibly distant, a figure of immense authority.

　　"L-Long time no see. Haha…" he managed, forcing a bit of courage into his voice.

　　Lorraine remained impassive. Just as a flustered Simon began to wonder if he’d done something wrong, the corners of her eyes slowly curved into crescents, and a familiar smile graced her lips.

　　"Hello, Simon."

　　It was the smile he knew.

* * *

　　With their coffees in hand, they ascended to the third floor. The cafe owner, visibly nervous, had taken their order personally. When Lorraine mentioned she wanted a quiet place, he had immediately unbarred the closed-off third floor for them.

　　Thanks to her deference, they were able to claim a spacious table by an open-air window. A cool, pleasant breeze drifted past.

　　"This is the first time we’ve seen each other since Rochest," Lorraine remarked, sweeping back a lock of her hair, dark as a night sky.

　　Still unable to relax, Simon nodded with a stiff smile. "S-Surprisingly, the uniform looks good on you."

　　"Hm?" She glanced down at her uniform, then fixed Simon with a sullen glare. "Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I look old or something?"

　　Simon’s face flushed as he quickly waved his hands in denial. How did the conversation get here?

　　"No, no! That’s not it!" he stammered. "It’s just… when we met in Rochest, I couldn’t really picture you in a uniform…!"

　　"Why not? Because I look old?"

　　That’s not what I meant!

　　Why did his words always get so twisted around her? From his perspective, the sheer force Lorraine had displayed while cornering those gangsters was that of a seasoned necromancer, not a student. Seeing a girl like that now sitting across from him in the same uniform felt surreal.

　　Why is this so hard to explain? he lamented internally.

　　"I’m kidding," she said, winking as she sipped her coffee.

　　Realizing he’d been played, Simon gave a bitter smile.

　　"Now, then." Lorraine’s eyelids lowered as she slowly crossed her legs. "Why did you want to meet?"

　　The atmosphere shifted instantly. There it was—that unapproachable, mature aura. Simon knew it was time to get to the point. After a final glance around to ensure they were alone, he spoke, his voice low and serious.

　　"There’s a traitor inside Kizen."

　　Simon calmly recounted his story: how he’d gotten lost in the Forbidden Forest while being chased by the guards and had stumbled upon a priest praying before a cross. He omitted any mention of Pier’s help, fabricating a tale about the guards showing up at the perfect moment to save him from a perilous situation.

　　Lorraine listened, her expression growing more serious with every word.

　　"Lorraine, I know it might be hard to believe, but I…"

　　"I believe you," she cut in, raising her head. "More importantly, can you describe the cross you saw in detail?"

　　"Uh, um. As I remember it, a woman was carved into the largest cross in the center. A naked woman entwined in vines?"

　　"That settles it." Lorraine’s red eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "That’s the goddess Deva. The one and only god the priests of Efnel believe in."

　　Efnel, the Divine College, operated directly under the Pope’s authority. It was the ideological opposite of Kizen; where one trained necromancers, the other trained priests. Within the Holy Federation, Efnel commanded recognition and power on par with Kizen. It held a complete monopoly on power, to the point that the ‘Saints’—their greatest military assets—were chosen exclusively from among its female students.

　　Kizen and Efnel. Efnel and Kizen. Which was stronger? Whose students were superior? Such questions were a timeless debate across the entire continent.

　　"How dare they."

　　The glass in Lorraine’s hand shattered, coffee spilling down her fingers.

　　"How dare a priest sneak into Kizen?"

　　She was genuinely furious. A palpable killing intent radiated from her, and though Simon knew it wasn’t directed at him, he couldn’t help but tense up.

　　"Simon."

　　"Yes."

　　"Besides you, who else knows about this?"

　　"Just me and Kamibarez, who was in the Forbidden Forest with me. That’s it."

　　She nodded. "Thanks for the tip. I’ll report this to my mother immediately."

　　Simon had kept this a secret for a reason. Kizen’s own professors were potential suspects. Only Nephthys could be trusted to conduct an investigation from every possible angle.

　　"Let’s go, Simon!" Lorraine shot up from her seat.

　　"Uh, where to?"

　　"The Forbidden Forest. There might be clues left at the scene."

　　Simon’s eyes widened. "Right now?"

* * *

　　Clatter, clatter, clatter!

　　Later that evening, Simon found himself riding a Skeletal Steed for the first time. He’d heard a single one cost as much as a house, and now he understood why. It was faster than a horse, never tired, and the ride was remarkably smooth.

　　"You’re a better rider than I expected," Lorraine commented, her own steed keeping pace alongside his. "Have you had lessons before?"

　　"Just a little, back home."

　　In truth, it had little to do with his riding skills. Simon and the steed were simply in perfect sync; the undead creature was exceptionally obedient to his will. Whenever he held out a hand, it would affectionately nuzzle its skull against his palm.

　　"This way, Lorraine."

　　"Right."

　　Having traveled the path once before, he navigated it with ease. They leaped over the same valley he and Kamibarez had crossed, riding deep into the forest.

　　"It’s around here."

　　"Thanks for the guide. We’ll go the rest of the way on foot."

　　They dismounted. Lorraine opened a shimmering portal to her Subspace, and the Skeletal Steeds dutifully trotted inside before vanishing. Simon smacked his lips in disappointment.

　　I wanted to ride it more.

　　He now had two items on his bucket list for when he finally earned some money: a skeleton forged from a demon’s bones, and his very own Skeletal Steed.

　　Suppressing their presence, they moved silently through the trees. Simon found he could see the forest path much more clearly than when he’d first come with Kamibarez. It was not long before they arrived at the clearing where he’d encountered the priest.

　　"This is it?" Lorraine asked.

　　"Yes, I’m sure of it."

　　With grim expressions, they began to search.

　　The traces are gone.

　　This was definitely the place. But the altar, the decorations, the cross—even the scars on the earth from Pier’s battle with the priest—had vanished completely. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

　　Simon felt a chill run down his spine.

　　"Find anything, Lorraine?"

　　She was on her knees, sweeping her palm over the grass. After a moment, she shook her head. "There’s nothing. Strangely, not a single trace."

　　"Hmph."

　　"Still," she said, rising to her feet and crossing her arms, "that confirms they erased their tracks. Based on your story, Simon, this person is exceptionally skilled. Not just in combat, but in their ability to flawlessly conceal all evidence over a wide area. But the most shocking part is that they serve a god, yet they came to Kizen with a Core implanted in their body. To them, the Core is a power that denies their god."

　　"But if they activate a Core, they can’t use a priest’s Divinity, right?"

　　Lorraine nodded. "I don’t know the exact principles, but according to their dogma, Jet-Black is the cursed power of a demon, while Divinity comes from faith in their god. Whatever the case, it’s a fact that the two powers are mutually exclusive."

　　She turned away. "This is serious. Let’s head back to Kizen. I need to see my mother right away."