Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 239

Suddenly, things escalated big.

Simon had expected to just do some modest shopping in downtown Rochest, but Serene had already prepared an expensive teleportation circle.

At her urging, Simon stepped on the circle, and suddenly the city of Langerstine appeared before his eyes.

"Hurry up~!"

Said Serene, tugging on Simon's sleeve.

"No, wait, isn't it a grave violation of school rules to go outside of Roke Island without permission?"

"Says the one's addicted to hopping the fence and goes into the Forbidden Forest all the time."

As she said that, she spun around to face Simon and crouched down until she was eye-level with Pier's clone clinging to Simon's shirt.

"It's been a while. Have you been doing well?"

As she playfully poked Pier's clone, Simon translated Pier’s scream that echoed through his mind.

"He said he'll kill you."

"How scary."

Serene stopped playing, turning back to the front as she urged,

"Come on, let's go! Shall we check out the shopping complex first?"

* * *

A rooftop a few hundred meters away from Simon.

Men in black robes holding mana telescopes were bustling about, keeping an eye on the two that just teleported in.

"Confirming the movement on the target. Headed toward Hammelroad."

"Roger that."

As the men scrambled, a black flash of light enveloped the rooftop.

Soon, a black-haired girl in a dark, long coat and with a hat pushed down to obscure her eyes descended from above.

The men all bowed to the girl.

"You've arrived, Lady Lorain."

She nodded.

"Where's Serene?"

"She's traveling to Hammelroad with Simon."

Lorain held out her hand, and the man politely handed her the mana telescope. She kicked a leg up on the roof railing so she could lean further forward and adjusted the telescope.

In the distance, she could see Serene and Simon walking all lovey-dovey.

'…Serene Aindark. What are you up to this time?'

For Kizen, Serene was like a walking time bomb.

Her mind control abilities were so powerful that she was able to manipulate the rankings of other students on the tests.

Recently, there were suspicions that she intentionally sabotaged students marked by the Ivory Tower, knocking them out of Kizen and then scouting the discouraged students.

But all they had was suspicion. They needed proof.

Serene was as clever as a fox, and she acted discreetly enough to leave no evidence behind. There was no way to tell how much of this was her doing and how much wasn't, as she could erase even weeks of memories.

'But it's also not something the adults can interfere with.'

Serene was a 17-year-old student in her first year like the rest of the students, and she was being fairly tested on her skills.

Of course, they could find a plethora of tiny breaches to get her expelled, but the higher-ups at Kizen didn't want that to happen.

Part of it was internal politics, but a bigger part was the influence they gained against the Ivory Tower by having Serene stay under them. In many ways, the Ivory Tower actually wanted Serene to be expelled.

There was also an underlying concern that the Ivory Tower would turn against Kizen in earnest if Serene was sent packing.

So it was now Lorain's job to stop Serene.

There had been countless times where adults interfering in children's matters escalated into major conflicts.

Lorain, a fellow first-year, was the one who had to make the move to keep the fight from getting worse.

'I just need one piece of evidence.'

For Lorain, the best-case scenario was to find evidence of Serene's misdeeds, publicize them, and bring her to justice.

That way, she could expel her and bring the Ivory Tower down a peg at the same time. It could also be possible to imprison her under the laws of Kizen.

And today, the opportunity came.

Serene boldly approached Simon, the Special Admission No.1

'I'm all but certain that the Ivory Tower wants Simon. But I won't let that happen.'

* * *

* * *

"Hyah."

Serene let out an odd shout and clung to Simon's arm.

Simon flinched and tried to pull away, but she only clung to him harder.

"Serene, stop."

Sighed Simon.

She blinked innocently with wide eyes, and then asked in a voice heavy with disappointment,

"I thought you would pretend to be friendly…?"

"...But not this friendly. Why are you going so far?"

"Ah, cotton candy!"

Instead of answering, Serene pointed to the stall in front of them.

"I want something sweet!"

Simon heard a clink as his pocket suddenly became heavier as she talked about buying something. He reached into his pocket and could feel a handful of coins.

'This may be all to uphold the act, but do we really have to do this? And do we really need to go this far?'

Sighing inwardly, he approached the stall and ordered two sticks of cotton candy.

"Oh my, isn't it normal to buy only one and share in situations like yours?"

"No."

The stall owner chuckled and started making the cotton candy.

"You two look lovely together. Are you both a couple?"

"Yes!"

Immediately blurted Serene, clinging to Simon's side. Simon mouthed for her to back off, but he was ignored once again.

"Well, young man, take care of her. It's a shame if a pretty girl like her sticks to you and you don't even look at her."

"Ohoho! It's fine~ He's still a bit shy, you see!"

She and the stall owner were enraptured in conversation.

However, while they were chatting, a feather landed on Simon's body.

[You can hear me, right? If you can, just blink twice.]

He did.

[Don't look, just glance to the side. The man two blocks to the right of here— Not him, the man in a black and blue suit. Yes, him. Also, just above him, leaning against the glass railing on the second floor. Yeah. They're both from the Ivory Tower. We're being followed.]

Simon started to feel dizzy as the already overwhelming situation only got worse.

However, he calmly took the first stick of melted sugar from the store owner and handed it to Serene. He also made sure to gruffly add,

"It's because she's so obsessed. I'm tired of drawing attention and being watched everywhere we go."

She took the cotton candy and smirked.

[Yeah. We're 'being watched' by them.]

As the voice came from the feather, she said something else.

"A little obsession is evidence of healthy affection, don't you think so, mister?"

"Of course."

The stall owner, who gave the second cotton candy to Simon, cleared his throat.

"It's important to be nice while you guys are still close like this. I often regret not doing more earlier. My wife nags me daily that I don't make enough anymore and…"

'I'm really sorry, but I don't really care.'

Simon began to zone out, letting the stranger's family troubles go in one ear and out the other as he pondered on the situation.

Serene is the official successor to the Ivory Tower.

'Why is she being watched by the people from the Ivory Tower, and why does she have to pretend to be friendly with me because she's being watched?'

Simon glared at Serene with these questions.

[The truth is, the elders in the Ivory Tower have begun to question my performance.]

There were two main factions within the Ivory Tower.

The traditionalist faction—including Serene and the current Lord of the Ivory Tower—believed in independence from Kizen and in restoring the Tower's former glory.

The other faction—including Meilyn and her family—believed in harmony and working with Kizen to keep up with the changing times.

Simon knew little more than this, but the problem was Serene's faction.

They had originally planned to kill Simon and take over the Legion. Still, Serene had used her authority to put the assassination on hold indefinitely and said she'd personally convince Simon to join them.

But as the integrated second semester began, discontent began to rise.

It was pointed out that the odds of a successful assassination had now decreased due to Simon's growing popularity, and that Serene hadn't really accomplished anything by withholding the assassination.

So Serene dared to bring Simon out to Langerstine to show off her friendliness to the people in the Ivory Tower.

[Simon, I don't think this is a bad thing for you, either~]

Speaking with feathers, Serene took a bite of cotton candy.

[Please help me, your ally in the Tower, to maintain my authority in it. There's no need to let the Ivory Tower return to their original plans, right?]

She was certainly right.

He didn't need to turn the Ivory Tower against him when Magnus alone was enough of a hassle.

"I have a question."

Simon spoke verbally this time.

"Why are you helping me?"

The actual question went a bit deeper. He was asking why Serene was taking his side here.

"I wonder~"

[Because I think you are an irreplaceable asset.]

In the beginning, Serene didn't care who the Commander would be. All that mattered was the Ivory Tower owning a Commander.

So, if she failed to convince Simon, she planned to expel him from Kizen and then get rid of him.

But then, after going through world-changing events at his side, she changed her mind. She had seen just how remarkable Simon was a Commander.

Who in the Ivory Tower could wield the power of the Legion as perfectly as he could? She realized it wasn't the Legion that mattered, but the one who controls it.

So she got greedy. She wanted to bring not only the Legion, but also Simon to the Ivory Tower.

"I'm telling you, I may not be able to return your investment."

Simon had no intention of going to the Ivory Tower anytime soon, and he couldn't promise he'd go there after graduation.

"But for now, we are the group closest to you, and that's good enough."

It was true that, right now, the Ivory Tower had the upper hand in the battle to recruit Simon two years from now. For now, that was enough.

Simon's face brightened up at this explanation.

'Now I finally understand the situation.'

Serene was essentially playing for the adults. In other words, politics.

Neigghh!

Just then, Simon's gaze shifted. A horse approached from the adjacent road, kicking up dust as if aggravated.

'If we're going to be acting, we may as well do it right.'

Simon grabbed Serene's shoulders and pulled her to the side, wrapping protectively around her with his arms around her back.

"??"

As though she didn't see this coming, Serene's eyes went wide, and all she could manage to do was blink. The carriage screeched as it hurtled onto the sidewalk, barely managing to swerve in time.

Simon looked in the direction of the watcher and spoke softly.

"Are you alright?"

"…"

Serene's cheeks turned a light pink, and then she gave a meaningful smile.

"Do you finally feel like escorting a lady?"

"Was that not what I've been doing this whole time?"

Said Simon, stepping out onto the carriage road.

She giggled and quickly walked beside him.

* * *

Lorain, who had been watching the situation from a rooftop, had a scowl across her face.

'They really are doing all sorts of things.'

Clinging to each other, sharing cotton candy, Simon walking between Serene and the muddy road, and just generally acting like lovers.

'No matter how much I think about it, Simon's not like that. He must be mind-controlled.'

Lorain zoomed the mana telescope onto Simon's body, looking for the feather, but she couldn't find it. Maybe it was hidden in his clothes?

'…'

Lorain felt strangely uncomfortable as she watched the two acting lovey-dovey together.

There was no way she would lose Simon to the Ivory Tower in such an ugly way.

He was a valuable asset to Kizen, and she wanted him to follow her to Kizen after he graduated. Of course, that was entirely up to him, but she thought Serene's method just wasn't it.

"…This won't do."

Lorain took the telescope away from her eyes, unable to bear watching them walking and eating cotton candy.

"I'm going in myself."

——