Chapter 38

　　The next day, Saturday, Simon went down to Rochest for the first time.

　　"Wow."

　　Rochest was an incredibly young and vibrant city. Impromptu concerts and events filled the streets, where Kizen students in casual clothes danced, played instruments, and reveled in their freedom. It was modest compared to the sprawling metropolis of Langerstine, but Simon found Rochest far more charming.

　　He unfolded a map and headed for a necromancer shop Dick had personally recommended as the cheapest in town. As he opened the door, a young employee greeted him cheerfully.

　　"Welco— Huh?" The employee’s face broke into a wide grin. "Simon! It’s Simon, right?"

　　Who is this? Simon racked his brain, but thankfully, the young man introduced himself.

　　"It’s me! Rowen, from the first day of the entrance ceremony!"

　　"Ahh…!" Simon remembered. The incredibly talkative guy from the Nether Whale. He was, for all intents and purposes, the first friend Simon had made at Kizen.

　　"Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here."

　　"Good to see you, man! You’re in Class A, right? I’m in Class D! It’s super tough! I never imagined the half-giant, Chatel Maer, would be in our class! But Class A has Special Admission No. 1… oh, right! You were Special Admission No. 1! Wow, yeah, that’s right! The moment your identity was revealed at the ceremony, I got chills all over…!"

　　There he went again. Before he could get swept up in the verbal torrent, Simon quickly changed the subject. "So, what are you doing here?"

　　"Working part-time, as you can see." Rowen shrugged. "Gotta earn some spending money. The pay for part-time jobs in Rochest is pretty good."

　　A part-time job, huh? Not a bad idea. Simon was starting to worry about his own finances. The monthly allowance from the school was barely enough to cover his class materials.

　　"Do you think I could find a part-time job, too?"

　　"Hmm, honestly, you’re a little late," Rowen said. "All the openings were probably filled last week. There are a ton of people who want to work."

　　"That’s a shame."

　　Money was important, but it wasn’t why he was here. Simon explained that he needed to buy some skeleton sets, and Rowen kindly showed him where they were.

　　Twenty sets of Island Ratman Skeletons.

　　It cost a significant amount, but it couldn’t be helped. He would need a large number of skeletons for the upcoming Cyclops evaluation. Besides, even if they were destroyed, he could simply incorporate them into the Legion, so it wasn’t a true loss. After picking up a few other undead materials he wanted to practice with, Simon left the shop.

　　Alright, next up.

　　He pulled a crumpled note from his pocket.

　　Weapons for the skeletons.

　　His next stop was a weapon shop. He could have bought them at the necromancer shop, but Dick had tipped him off that they were overpriced there.

　　"Welcome!" a middle-aged man greeted him with a bright smile. His eyes quickly took in Simon’s Kizen uniform, and his smile widened. "What can I help you find? The new obsidian Jet-Black swords just came in—they’re quite sleek!"

　　The shop owner promptly took a sword from the wall and pressed it into Simon’s hands, urging him to unsheathe it. With a little pressure, the sheath clicked open, revealing a gleaming, Jet-Black blade.

　　"It’s a f-fine sword," Simon stammered, "but I don’t need anything this fancy…"

　　"Then how about this! Combat gloves for Combat Magic! It’s the latest model, so the firepower is—!"

　　"I’m here to buy weapons for skeletons!" Simon cut in.

　　The shop owner’s expression instantly cooled. He plopped down in his seat and gestured indifferently to a corner of the shop where a shelf was crammed with cheap swords.

　　"Thank you!" Simon said cheerfully, ignoring the man’s attitude as he hurried over.

　　Most were factory rejects or used goods, but they were perfect for undead. Simon carefully inspected them, unsheathing blades, testing their edges, and flicking them with his fingertips to check their quality. He ended up buying five swords, five spears, and two shields.

　　"I’ll take all of this!" Simon announced, dumping the weapons onto the counter with a clatter.

　　The shop owner, who had been resting his chin in his hand, sat up in surprise. "Y-You’re buying all of this?"

　　"Yes."

　　The man’s face relaxed as he began to tally up the prices. Still, he seemed a bit concerned. "What are you going to use all this for? Aren’t you a first-year? You can probably only manage two or three skeletons at once."

　　"I’m just stocking up," Simon explained. "The blades get damaged so easily."

　　A smile touched the shop owner’s lips as he examined the weapons Simon had chosen. "You managed to pick out all the ones in the best condition. Looks like you’ve handled a blade or two before coming to Kizen, eh?"

　　"Not really, but my father taught me how to choose a good weapon." "Well now, you have a fine father!" The shop owner let out a hearty laugh.

　　"These days may be the age of necromancers and priests, but you can’t forget the fundamentals! A man should have a fine sword hanging at his hip, eh? He should at least know how to protect himself with it!"

　　"Of course," Simon agreed.

　　The man clearly took great pride in his profession. Pleased by Simon’s response, the owner kept laughing. "Five swords from the skeleton set, 250 Silver. Five spears, 200 Silver. Two wooden shields, 100 Silver. That’s 550 Silver in total, but I’ll make it an even 500."

　　"Thank you!"

　　"No, thank you," the owner replied. "A young noble like you, humoring a lowly commoner. Ah! Wait here for just a moment."

　　He disappeared into the back and returned with a bow and a quiver of arrows. "This is a bow and arrow set made of ebony, which has high Jet-Black efficiency. It’s normally worth one Gold, but I’ll give it to you on the house this time."

　　Simon’s eyes widened. "F-For free? I can’t accept something this expensive!"

　　"Nonsense! I haven’t been doing business in Rochest for just a day or two. I may be a commoner, but I know how to read people. I can tell at a glance who’s going to be sent home soon and who’s going to survive until their third year." The shop owner placed the bow on top of Simon’s bundle of weapons. "I’m giving this to you in the hopes that you’ll become a regular at my shop for the next three years. And it’d be even better if you introduced your friends to this place, too."

　　"But something worth one Gold…"

　　"Bows don’t sell well at Kizen anyway. Don’t worry about it and take it. You know how to use it, right?"

　　"Yes, I do, but…" When he put it like that, it would be rude to refuse. Simon bowed his head in thanks.

　　"Come again soon!"

　　Having finished his savvy shopping, Simon headed to his next destination in high spirits. He bought a few more materials for his other classes, including Venomology, and stored them in his Subspace.

　　Pier, I’m heading out now.

　　[Got it!]

　　He set off for the ruins to train. He was still a little scared to enter the Forbidden Forest again, but Pier had kindly come out to meet him. Riding on the ancient undead’s back, he reached the ruins in minutes.

　　Clack! Clack!

　　"Have you all been well?"

　　As Simon entered, the Legionized skeletons approached him like puppies greeting their master. He smiled and patted their skulls.

　　"Pier. Here are the skeletons to be Legionized." Simon took the remains of the destroyed skeletons out of his Subspace.

　　Pier clicked his tongue. [So many casualties.]

　　"A lot of them were destroyed during the last simulation."

　　As Pier placed a hand on a broken skeleton’s skull, a dark blue flame ignited in its eye sockets, burning brightly like a torch. The Legion now numbered eight skeletons.

　　[Now it’s starting to feel a bit more lively!] Pier declared.

　　"It’s nice," Simon agreed.

　　After the damaged skeletons were incorporated, the two of them sat down facing each other.

　　[As I said before, this training will be quite tough! I trust you’re prepared?]

　　"Yes, of course!"

　　There wasn’t much time left until the evaluation. He planned to push his skeleton management skills to their absolute limit this weekend. First, Simon assembled the skeletons he had bought. Soon, six skeletons stood before him, weapons in hand. Opposite them stood six of the Legion’s skeletons. Simon’s summoned skeletons versus Pier’s Legion skeletons. As if they understood, the two groups clacked their bones, engaging in a silent war of nerves.

　　[You said the number of skeletons you can control at once is two, correct?]

　　"Yes."

　　When he tried to control more than three, the commands in his head would get tangled, and the entire system would fall into chaos. Worse, his mental energy would drain at an alarming rate, triggering an unbearable, splitting headache.

　　[Hehehe, no need to be so hasty! What’s important isn’t how many you can control at once, but how well you can handle even one or two!]

　　"Understood."

　　[I, too, shall control only two at a time! Come at me, boy!]

　　"Yes!" Simon thrust out his right arm. Charge!

　　Two sword-wielding skeletons kicked off the ground and lunged. Pier sent two of his own charging to meet them.

　　Clang! Clang!

　　The harsh sound of steel striking steel rang through the ruins. As Simon contemplated his next move, two of Pier’s spear-wielding skeletons suddenly thrust their weapons from behind.

　　…Ugh, fall back!

　　Simon’s skeletons retreated by a hair’s breadth. Pier’s sword-wielders immediately pressed their advantage, forcing Simon’s off-balance skeletons back.

　　Clang! Clang!

　　They parried the blows from a precarious, unstable posture. As if on cue, the spear-wielders returned, sweeping the legs of Simon’s skeletons with their spear shafts, knocking them to the ground and pinning them.

　　…I lost.

　　Swallowing his disappointment, Simon lowered his arm. "That’s cheating, Pier! You said you’d only use two at a time!"

　　It was four against two; there was no way he could have won. Pier chuckled at his protest.

　　[What are you talking about? I controlled them two at a time, just like you!]

　　"What? What do you mean… Ah!"

　　That was right. Pier had moved the sword-wielders first, then the spear-wielders. He had returned to the swordsmen, then alternated back to the spearmen, repeating the process.

　　[It’s nothing that special. It’s called Cross-Operation. A way to expand your limited control by rapidly shifting your command between skeletons.]

　　"…Ah."

　　[If you can’t connect to multiple skeletons at once, the key is to operate two at a time to get all of them moving! Understand?]

　　Thump, thump.

　　Before Pier had even finished speaking, two of Simon’s own spear-wielding skeletons stepped forward.

　　Focus.

　　He had the sword-wielders hold out their palms. Then he switched his focus to the spear-wielders and had them high-five the outstretched hands.

　　"Like this, right?"

　　After a moment of silence, the corners of Pier’s mouth curled up. [Bwahahaha! You certainly are a rewarding student!]

　　"Huh?"

　　[It’s nothing. If you’ve got the hang of it, let’s move straight to a real fight!]

　　"Oh, yes! Bring it on!"

　　***

　　On the first day of the weekend, he trained in undead control and Cross-Operation with Pier. His skills improved dramatically; he could now control up to three units at once. The next afternoon, he returned to Kizen to practice with Meirin, Kamibarez, and Dick, coordinating their movements for the real battle. The plan was simple: Simon would stall with his undead while they hit the Cyclops with four Exhausts and one Dark Flare before engaging directly.

　　From there, they would continue to weaken it, and two more Dark Flares would secure their victory. They drilled the same pattern over and over to minimize mistakes. It wasn’t an Avalon simulation, just a mock battle against empty air, but it was still exhausting.

　　Soon, they were all sprawled on the ground, gulping down water.

　　"Simon! That tutoring you got in Rochest, who was it with?" Kamibarez asked.

　　Simon flinched. "Uh, just someone my father introduced me to. Why?"

　　"Because your undead control seems to have gotten much better!"

　　"Yeah, it definitely has," Dick agreed, sitting up from where he’d been lying spread-eagled. "You’re using three skeletons at once now. Is it even possible to improve that much in such a short time?"

　　Meirin’s interest was piqued, and she leaned in. "Who is it? A pro necromancer? Are they affiliated with Kizen?"

　　Suddenly, all three of them were staring at him. Simon gave an awkward smile.

　　…What kind of excuse should I make?