Damn Necromancer - Chapter 79

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Extravagant Necromancer (79)
The disciplinary hearing convened.
Merhen and Dolores.
The two were summoned before the faculty.
“Merhen, is it true that you grabbed Miss Dolores by the hair first?”
“It is. However——”
“That will be all.”
The professors answered dismissively, then fixed their gaze on Dolores. This morning, her hair had been abundant and golden.
Now it was different.
It had been hacked short in jagged, uneven lengths.
“Miss Dolores, surely Merhen didn’t use a short sword?”
“Ahem. Professor Rammer, you haven’t heard the news?”
A few of the professors whispered among themselves.
The professor in question coughed awkwardly once he understood the circumstances.
That idiot Kern had caused this mess.
The student from the Sword Arts Department who’d come to take magic classes was notorious among the faculty.
He’d become even more famous for sitting through lessons without demonstrating a single spell of any real competence.
In any case.
This was a matter for both noble families to resolve. Professor Rammer, eager to avoid entanglement, hurried through his remaining questions. With each exchange, Merhen’s face grew darker.
She had endured harassment and humiliation for nearly a year.
That was why she’d snapped.
But not a soul in this room had listened to her side.
Dolores was the child of an influential noble family.
On top of that, her magical talent was excellent enough to rank among the top of the class.
But herself?
A commoner without a single Manifestation to her name. The faculty had already decided whose side they’d take.
An academy that claimed to pursue equality?
‘Nonsense.’
Just hollow nonsense.
Reality was nothing like that.
Rammer smiled coldly as he regarded Merhen.
“Merhen, we’ve already gathered all the surrounding testimonies. You lack social skills to the point of having no close classmates, and beyond that, you’re so devoid of self-control that you pile on luxuries while drowning in debt, isn’t that so?”
“……”
“So you attacked a classmate without the slightest hesitation. Your guilt is grave indeed. And furthermore——your grades are abysmal except for the written exams. They say when you see one thing, you understand ten; your usual conduct speaks volumes.”
No one was on her side.
‘……It was only ever a matter of time anyway.’
Merhen clenched her fists.
It meant nothing to score well on the written exam.
She always received the lowest marks on the practical exam, which carried the greater weight.
So she remained perpetually trapped in the lower ranks.
Expulsion was simply inevitable.
The thought brought a strange, hollow comfort.
‘What will I do once I leave……’
Regret began to creep in.
She wished she’d struggled harder before it came to this. Wish she’d tried something, anything, just a little more.
If only she could have achieved a Manifestation.
Then at least she wouldn’t have been expelled so helplessly like this……
Rammer pushed his glasses up as he spoke.
“I recommend the expulsion of Merhen. This is for the honor of the Frail Empire Academy.”
“Ahem. I concur.”
“As do I……”
That was when it happened.
Bang!
The door to the disciplinary office exploded inward. The one who appeared was Kern himself.
“I can’t stand to hear another word. Did you only recruit idiots to be professors?”
“What is the meaning of this! Do you know what kind of proceeding this is!”
“And here I thought the Sword Arts Department at least had decent people in it. Guess I was wrong.”
“How dare you be so insolent!”
The professors erupted in indignation.
Even for a child of a noble house, this was clearly crossing the line.
Aren’t they professors, and he just a student?
That was the moment.
Dozens of sword strikes erupted from Kern’s blade.
The professors, startled by the eerie aura saturating the strikes, deployed Defensive Magic.
But before the spell could even complete.
The sword strikes had already shattered their defense and pressed against their throats.
He approached the professors, frozen in place.
“See? You really are incompetent.”
Kim Min-woo spoke with a cold laugh.
So these were the professors of the Frail Empire Academy—their skills were pathetic.
‘Not even War Mages.’
War Mages, as they were commonly called.
A type occasionally seen in fantasy worlds, characterized by one thing: they had battle experience.
Such mages didn’t stand passively casting defensive spells like these fools, hoping for salvation.
They knew how to move.
By comparison, these idiots were nothing but hothouse flowers—pampered things who thought standing still and reciting spells prettily would suffice. The easiest kind of stupid mages to hunt.
‘Though the Necromancer’s Blade in the Ring is quite powerful.’
It was an S-rank skill, no less.
The more mana he poured into it, the more sword strikes it unleashed.
He’d dumped over four thousand mana to suppress the professors in one blow.
It was hardly surprising the Defensive Magic had burst open.
He walked toward Dolores.
“You.”
Dolores, who had been staring at him and the suppressed professors with wide, stupefied eyes, answered frantically.
“Y-yes?”
“Why aren’t you speaking properly?”
“What do you—”
“You’ve been tormenting her, haven’t you?”
“……”
“Haven’t you?”
“I wasn’t exactly tormenting her, but……”
“Yes, you were. Constantly throwing things at her from behind, spreading rumors, being underhanded about it. You’re from the Duke Family, aren’t you? Doesn’t it shame you to do this to a commoner?”
Dolores bit her lip hard.
Her hands trembled visibly.
“Why are you doing this to me?! All I did was touch one mere commoner, as you say!”
“I told you. It’s none of your business. Haven’t you come to your senses yet? Want me to cut more of your hair off?”
As the Necromancer’s Blade touched the back of her head, Dolores’s face drained of color.
She involuntarily recalled what her back of her head looked like.
Now, at least, she could claim she’d changed her style.
If more were cut here, she wouldn’t be able to leave the academy at all. The professors were already subdued and useless.
Dolores cried out desperately.
“D-don’t! What do you want?!”
Kim Min-woo whispered quietly.
“Apologize. And don’t touch her again from now on. And bury this whole incident. Then I’ll let it go.”
“……”
“Think carefully. Do you want to keep seeing me? If you torment her, I’ll cut that much more of your hair.”
“I’ll tell my father! Do you think the family will just sit idle?”
“Go ahead. Have bodyguards assigned to you. But the Sword Arts Department head can’t even beat me—do you think they’d manage?”
“……”
“And if they try to expel me? You can’t do it.”
They were both from ducal families.
The power difference between their houses wasn’t overwhelming. The two families’ fortunes were comparable.
Cutting off hair—not cracking her skull—was something they couldn’t make a real fuss over.
At worst, they’d demand compensation. But a little money would settle that.
“Hic… sniff—”
Dolores burst into the most pitiful sobs.
Regardless, the Necromancer’s Blade remained at the back of her head.
“I’m giving you three seconds. Choose. Three, two, one.”
“Waaah! I’ll do it! I swear I will, you bastard!”
“So you’ll do it? It seems the two parties have reached an amicable settlement.”
This time he stared directly at the professors. An actual situation where someone was brandishing a blade and threatening. The answer from these portly pigs was no different from already decided.
* * *
Mutual fault on both sides.
Merhen and Dolores received demerits together and the disciplinary hearing ended.
It was possible thanks to the enthusiastic cooperation of the professors and Dolores.
‘Well, I can manage this.’
The professors present were typical flatterers who bowed before power. They’d caused a commotion, but this side was also a noble house’s child of some standing.
This incident had a high probability of being swept under the rug.
Even if it wasn’t, that didn’t matter.
With the backing of the Sword Arts Department Chair, whatever came after could be handled one way or another.
After all, they hadn’t killed a professor.
He left the disciplinary hearing with Merhen.
“……Thank you.”
“I pushed you toward this, so helping you out to this degree is only proper. How are you feeling?”
“A little, or rather… quite relieved, I think.”
Merhen’s face had definitely grown lighter, as if she’d shed something heavy. The resentment that had been festering seemed to have loosened its grip somewhat.
Word would spread quickly once it got out that someone had caused a scene at the disciplinary hearing itself. The students who’d been tormenting Merhen would likely back off now.
‘Now I need to solve the fundamental problem.’
He looked at Merhen.
All of this stemmed ultimately from her inability to achieve Manifestation.
If she could just Manifest, she’d advance rapidly given her excellent aptitude.
At least her academy life would become far happier than it was now.
‘Of course, it won’t end there, but….’
Compared to Sedric’s case, it would simply take more time; the fundamental difficulty itself was quite manageable.
It was just a matter of making one girl happy.
For that, they were handing over a summoned creature as powerful as Sedric?
The math didn’t add up.
There was a very high possibility something more was involved.
“Merhen. May I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“If someone suggested you become Undead—if you could become an extremely powerful being—would you do it?”
She tilted her head at the abrupt question before answering.
“……I’m not sure why I would. Becoming Undead kills emotions, strips away the five senses, and it’s just a disaster all around.”
“Even if you were expelled from the academy and received such a proposal, do you think you’d feel the same way?”
“My answer would probably be the same. I’ve had so few genuinely happy moments in my life. If I became Undead without ever having truly lived… I think I’d feel quite bitter about it.”
“I see.”
“But why are you suddenly asking something like that?”
“Just curious.”
Why was the stage of her human years still unfolding.
Because she couldn’t enjoy academy life?
It was unclear.
Even if she’d been tormented and then expelled, it still didn’t sit right.
At the level of a Banshee Queen, she could easily avenge whatever grudges she held from her human days. She would have retaliated so thoroughly there wouldn’t be a bone fragment left.
It wasn’t a situation where deep regret would linger.
That’s why he’d asked the question.
To see if that regret was somehow connected to her becoming Undead. Her answer just now had revealed it was very likely.
An entity capable of turning Merhen into a Banshee Queen.
No matter how he looked at it, there was only one possibility.
‘Death Lord.’
It was possible that the Death Lord of the past might come directly to this stage.
Then he’d find Merhen and turn her into Undead.
Even if Merhen didn’t want to become Undead, if she was forcibly raised, there’d be no help for it. Perhaps that’s why she carried such sorrow—she would spend her eternity yearning for her human days.
For the life she could never have.
‘So then, is preventing the Death Lord of the past the main theme?’
It was speculation.
But somehow, it felt like that was how it would play out.
If that wasn’t the case, he still couldn’t think of a compelling reason why the stage of her human years would continue.
‘It would need to be at a difficulty level similar to Sedric’s for this to work.’
Everything so far had been absurdly easy. It wouldn’t be strange if something major appeared now.
‘I should keep that in mind.’
I returned to the classroom with her.
I noticed students quietly slipping out of my way.
The same went for the young noblewomen who had been tormenting Merhen.
With Dolores bowing her head, what could her cronies possibly do?
Better to keep your eyes down.
Unlike before, Merhen vacated her seat without hesitation.
I settled naturally into the chair beside her. Shortly after, a professor entered and began the lesson.
“As you all know, next week marks the beginning of the practical exam period. You’ll be paired up with students from the Sword Arts Department in groups of two, and you’ll enter the Demon Forest.”
The Demon Forest.
It was a place academy students ventured into once a year.
The distinguishing feature was that demonic energy gathered there, spawning all manner of twisted monsters.
Despite its ominous name, it wasn’t nearly as dangerous as one might think.
Students could complete their practical training without major incident as long as they were careful, or so I’d heard.
I looked toward Merhen.
Fortunately, she was registered with the Sword Arts Department.
It was all but certain who she’d be paired with.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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