Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 143

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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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Summoning Genius at the Necromancer School — Episode 143
Lang Straus.
Professor of Toxicology.
Dead at eighty-seven from a chronic illness he’d long endured.
The news sent shockwaves through Kizen, turning the entire academy on its head.
That his condition had been deteriorating was common knowledge, widely discussed.
He had begun coughing blood during lectures, forcing his Head Teaching Assistant, Francesca, to take over classes with increasing frequency—until recently, when his health had declined so severely that he stopped attending altogether.
—Lang, surely this is enough? You must abandon fieldwork now.
—With your caliber, you could join the Council of Elders, yet you push yourself this hard. Why?
Not only Kizen’s professors but his closest friends had urged him to retire, yet he refused to abandon his calling, forcing himself to the lectern day after day, growing weaker. The overwork only accelerated his decline.
Perhaps this ending was inevitable.
Lang had seemed aware of his approaching death. A will written in his own hand was discovered.
[It is not fitting for a dying old man to burden young students with promising futures. Should I pass and Night of Erebos be opened, I ask that classes continue for the students’ sake.]
[I wish my successor to be Head Teaching Assistant Francesca. I know it is unprecedented, but she possesses far greater talent than this old man—she will become a far greater necromancer. It would be a tragedy to waste her gifts.]
[Hold my funeral at the Eternal Tomb, but keep it simple. Spare the needless ceremonies and traditions.]
[To Nephthys, my great comrade, my teacher, and my dearest friend: I beg your forgiveness as I depart, leaving you alone once more. The curse of time is cruel, but please—do not grieve too deeply.]
…….
Following Lang’s death, Night of Erebos was opened at Kizen.
Night of Erebos was an ancient Kizen tradition, observed when a renowned necromancer of the academy passed away, a vigil in honor of the deceased.
Though necromancers eternally pursued change, progress, and practicality, there was one thing they held sacred: everything concerning death.
During this period, professors and teaching assistants dressed in black. Students kept their School Uniforms but buttoned them fully, wearing black ties—boys in black socks, girls in black stockings.
For three nights of the Night of Erebos, no lights or flames could be kindled; the darkness allowed the departed to rest in peace, eyes gently closed.
Yet to honor Lang’s final wishes, the first and second days proceeded with normal classes. Rather than using Mana Projectors, professors drew directly on the blackboard or used photographic materials, and avoided Dark Magic that produced fire or bright light.
Students returning to the Dormitory after class would lie down to sleep the moment night fell.
The Dormitory had its power systems shut down entirely—all lights extinguished—and when darkness came, all of Kizen was swallowed in shadow.
Even lighting a candle was forbidden unless absolutely necessary. Light in this time was an insult to the dead.
So the days passed until the morning of the third day of Night of Erebos dawned.
The final day would bring the funeral ceremony.
When renowned Kizen necromancers died, they journeyed to a sacred place called the Eternal Tomb. There, rites were performed and Lang would be laid to rest; only then would Night of Erebos truly end.
Every professor at Kizen attended Lang’s funeral.
Among the students, several with ties to Lang were selected to ascend to the Eternal Tomb.
Among those Simon knew, Lorain—Nephthys’s daughter—and Claudia Menjis, a Class A student aspiring to Toxicology, had been chosen to go.
The third-year students in particular were in upheaval; most Toxicology majors had halted all their duties and assignments, returning to Rocksum in such numbers that Lang’s renown was undeniable.
Yet Lang’s will to continue classes could not be ignored, so on the third day of Night of Erebos, instruction took the form of self-study led by teaching assistants.
“Of course Toxicology is first period.”
Dik muttered as he sat down, black tie fastened, unpacking his things.
“…Ugh, I’ve slept so much I’m even more tired. Have I been asleep since eight?”
Simon, who had pulled back his chair beside him, smiled gently.
“Look at it positively. Making up lost sleep isn’t a bad idea.”
The Toxicology class was held not in the usual Practice Hall with its magical cauldrons, but in an ordinary Classroom with only desks and chairs. During Night of Erebos, the fires needed to heat the cauldrons were forbidden.
“Good morning, everyone~”
“What’s with you slowpokes? You came early.”
Kamibarez and Merin arrived in the Classroom.
Both wore black ties as well. Kamibarez, who usually went bare-legged, now wore black stockings, and Merin had tied her long hair neatly with black pins.
“Hey, you guys know this?”
Dik opened his mouth as he always did.
“This Toxicology class isn’t going to be self-study—it’s actually going to be taught normally.”
“How is that possible without the professors here?”
Merin asked, and Dik lowered his voice conspiratorially.
“Well, apparently the teaching assistant who was just promoted to professor—Francesca—didn’t actually go to the Eternal Tomb.”
The eyes of all three widened at once.
“Really? Why?”
Francesca Belmond, Head Teaching Assistant who had followed Lang most closely.
A new tale attended her now.
By protocol, Lang’s entire teaching assistant cohort would have been dissolved, with a new Toxicology professor and staff brought in from outside—but Nephthys, whose comradeship with Lang spanned decades, could not refuse his final request.
Though unprecedented, Francesca was promoted directly from Teaching Assistant to Professor of Kizen.
The irregularity lay in procedure alone; as to her ability, no one questioned her. All in the field were already satisfied with her skill.
“And.”
Dik lowered his voice further.
“Nephthys was going to entrust Francesca—the student the deceased cared for most—with the final rites of the funeral ceremony.”
“Professor Francesca.”
Merin corrected him in a flat tone.
“Right, yes. Anyway, Nephthys made that proposal, and Professor Francesca rejected it.”
The three exchanged glances of surprise. Simon asked,
“Why did she refuse?”
“Well, that’s what I don’t understand either! I heard that scattering the ashes at the end is supposed to be a honorable ceremony.”
“From what I gathered, it had something to do with class scheduling—”
Tap, tap, tap.
All four fell silent at once.
The moment they stopped speaking, Francesca—now a professor herself—swept into the Classroom with her red hair flowing. The Class A students who’d come for the morning lecture went absolutely rigid.
‘D-did she really skip the funeral?’
Perhaps it was the prestige of being Kizen’s Toxicology professor, but she was utterly transformed from her days supporting Lang.
All black from head to toe. A black suit, black shoes, a black scarf draped around her neck. Each step she took sent her red hair and scarf billowing in an almost theatrical arc.
For the first time, she stood before Class A as a professor. She kept her old ritual—gathering her lustrous long hair and tying it back with crisp resolve—exactly the same.
“Class representative.”
Francesca’s first words.
While everyone sat in stunned silence, Jamie Victoria leapt to her feet. She moved with sharp instinct.
“Attention! Salute the professor!”
“Good morning, Professor!”
As all the students bowed in unison, she answered with a gentle smile.
“Welcome.”
Jamie and the other students felt something swell in their chests.
Lang had been somewhat old-fashioned, but he was the only Kizen professor who’d insisted students offer a formal salute. His young successor had chosen to carry on that tradition.
She drew a slow breath.
“Professor Lang.”
The students’ eyes widened.
“He held the present moment above all else.”
She was speaking of Lang before anyone had even broached the subject.
It struck them all the harder because she seemed to be reopening her own wound.
“He drove his failing body to the lectern whenever he could, and that was why. Professor Lang would say it as though it were his motto: do not dwell on the past, do not yearn for the future, but remain utterly faithful to this moment.”
Her voice spread gently through the room.
“The past binds the present, he said, and the future exhausts it. He taught us that a present lived with integrity becomes a rich past and a radiant future. Until the very moment he passed, Professor Lang remained faithful to the present.”
It was more compelling than any lecture she’d given before.
“Though Professor Lang is gone, I will live in the present. I vow to pour all my strength and passion into teaching you, day by day. I believe that when he sees me living this way, Professor Lang will smile down on me.”
It was a brief speech, but Francesca moved every heart in that classroom.
Merin, who had always admired her, felt her eyes grow wet, and Kamibarez was clamping her jaw tight. Sniffles echoed throughout the Classroom.
“Then, let us begin the lesson.”
Francesca’s classes had always been dynamic, but today felt elevated to another plane entirely.
She paced the Classroom with sweat beading on her brow, sketching detailed diagrams in chalk, guiding them through the composition of toxic compounds with meticulous care.
No student or teaching assistant dared to dismiss her as a mere former assistant.
Whether it was the weight of her opening address or something else, everyone followed her as a true Kizen professor, in earnest.
Three hours slipped past.
“Attention. Salute the professor!”
“Thank you for your instruction!”
“Thank you all. Let’s meet again next week.”
The lingering emotion was strong; students filed out slowly. A handful of aspiring Toxicology students who were close to her approached to offer a word of comfort. Francesca received them warmly with a gentle smile.
Ssshhh.
Then Simon quietly withdrew Kazan’s Glasses from his pocket.
Since receiving these, he’d been checking whether professors and teaching assistants were wearing a Biological Face or bore scars on their cheeks.
Simon put on the Glasses and looked at Francesca.
“…….”
Again, there was no difference. No scar on her cheek. Simon reached for the frame to remove the Glasses—
“……Kamibarez?”
Kamibarez, who had been gazing at Simon with a mesmerized expression, startled and flushed crimson. She began flailing her arms.
“Oh, no! It’s nothing!”
“Huh?”
Merin, who’d stowed her bag in a Subspace, approached.
“Hey, what’s with those ancient Glasses? You look like some old bookworm.”
“The season’s passed, but they still have a certain charm.”
Dick, who’d drifted over beside them, smoothly lifted the Glasses from Simon’s face and put them on himself. Then he turned to face the three of them and struck an exaggerated pose.
“What do you think?”
“Gross.”
Merin made a gagging motion, while Kamibarez clapped her hands together with an expressionless face.
“Hmm.”
That was when Dick paused. Then he began scanning Merin’s body from top to bottom.
Merin, who had been standing still, suddenly flushed crimson.
“Hey! What’s with that look?”
“Huh? What?”
“Give me those Glasses!”
Merin rushed forward. Dick quickly spun sideways to dodge and pressed Kazan’s Glasses into Simon’s hand, thumping him on the shoulder.
“Hah! So you’re a man after all, Simon!”
“…?”
“Come on, what are those Glasses anyway?”
Simon put the Glasses back on.
Because they allowed him to see through the Biological Face, there was a faint see-through effect. Of course, it didn’t have the dramatic effect Dick was imagining—just a slightly pale shimmer visible through the School Uniform.
“Hey!!”
Merin lunged forward and snatched the Glasses away.
She put them on with an expression that suggested she’d bite anything she could grab—but there was far less to see than expected.
She clicked her tongue dismissively and handed the Glasses back to Simon.
“Where’d you get those anyway?”
At Dick’s question, Simon shrugged.
“Kazan gave them to me.”
“Wow! That’s unfair! Why are you two so close? I feel like I’m being ignored in the Dormitory lately. Come on, help me get closer to him!”
Simon smiled warmly.
“First, just keep quiet when you’re sleeping.”
“Ugh.”
“Well, I don’t know who you are, but Dick’s definitely in the wrong here.”
“H-hang in there, Dick! You’ll get closer soon!”
The four of them chatted amicably as they left the Classroom. Class A had about two hours free before the next Hematology lecture.
Dick headed to the Dormitory Warehouse. It seemed a large shipment had arrived today for his side business, and they were short-handed.
Merin said she’d stop by the Magical Technology Building with her club friends. It was located right next to the Toxicology lecture hall where Simon had just finished class.
And then.
“It’s been a while since it was just the two of us~”
Kamibarez, her cheeks flushed, smiled brightly as she spoke. Simon also nodded with a gentle smile.
“Let’s go eat, Kamibarez.”
“Yes!”

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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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