Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 238
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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 — Chapter 238
I’d arrived in Rochester.
I wore trousers I’d borrowed from Richard, with just a plain white shirt on top.
I’d come out early in the morning, so I was tired. With my hands thrust in my pockets, I yawned once and looked around.
‘This is something else.’
Sure enough, being a weekend in Rochester, couples were visible everywhere.
Male and female students clung to each other like they couldn’t get enough of one another, and watching them made me feel oddly self-conscious.
But I couldn’t see any sign of Serne.
‘Not that we ever actually agreed on a meeting spot in the first place.’
I pulled out the letter and checked it again — it only said to come down to Rochester by noon, with no mention of where we should meet.
‘…What am I doing standing here?’
That’s when I was heaving sigh after sigh.
Flutter!
A pure white feather drifted down and landed at my feet.
Moments later, another flutter—a feather descended and settled on the tile floor.
‘Serne’s Feather. Is this calling me this way?’
I followed the feathers without hesitation. Wherever I walked, another feather fell, showing me the way forward.
I passed through a narrow alley and emerged onto a broad street with a carriage road.
‘They’ve stopped.’
The feathers had ended abruptly. I stood on the roadside looking for more when an unfamiliar girl suddenly came running from the opposite direction and stumbled, losing her balance.
It would’ve been dangerous to ignore her.
I caught her before she could fall.
“Are you all right?”
Her eyes were closed as if she’d lost consciousness. When I tried to say something else, she suddenly raised her head.
And then.
“Do you know what love is?♪”
She started singing out of nowhere.
“Thoughts of you keep coming to mind, my heart racing all day long♬”
This was an incredibly strange person.
I stepped back from her with a bewildered expression.
The girl danced with brilliant pirouettes like a ballerina, then took the hand of a boy walking up from behind.
“What is love?♩”
“What is love~”
Now the two of them sang a duet. Suddenly, nearby passersby began to join in their song.
“Love sometimes brings tribulation♬”
“Like a shadow, always following me♩”
A spontaneous chorus suddenly erupted in the middle of Rochester’s streets.
One by one, people who had been going about their business joined in.
The song grew louder and louder.
Windows creaked open on the second floor of residences as a housewife hanging laundry began to sing, and a bickering couple opened their mouths as if they’d never quarreled at all.
“Where did we come from, and where are we going?♪”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Children, beggars, newspaper vendors—everyone danced in rhythm.
I was just standing there in stunned amazement when suddenly someone shoved me from behind.
“Whoa!”
I stumbled toward the carriage road, and with perfect timing, a carriage came to a stop and its door swung open.
“Love guides us♪”
A woman I’d never seen before, sitting in the carriage, pulled my arm and drew me inside, then sang.
The coachman immediately set the carriage in motion.
“Love polishes and refines us♪”
The carriage came to a quick stop.
The moment I stepped out, people dressed identically appeared at the alley entrance, playing instruments and dancing as they guided me forward.
By now I’d grasped the situation and followed them with a stern expression. I pushed through the door and entered a restaurant where staff in uniform sang in chorus.
“Love is~♪”
The dazzling sound of piano keys reached my ears. I followed the sound up to the second floor.
“Even if it’s just my own sweet delusion, I don’t mind♪”
A male and female employee sang together, hand in hand.
At the far end of the second floor, a woman played the piano with brilliant finger movements.
“Love is~”
As she sang and played, everyone in rhythm danced in time with her music.
“Mysterious and beautiful♬”
Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum.
Dum-dum.
Da-ran.
The moment the music stopped, every staff member erupted into fervent applause.
Amid that thunderous ovation, the girl at the piano rose slowly from her seat, gathered the hem of her skirt, and bowed her head. Then she gave a light clap of her hands.
Blink. Blink.
Light gradually returned to the eyes of the staff members, whose pupils had been vacant.
They returned to their tasks without a second thought, sweeping the floor with brooms, serving patrons, and heading back to the kitchen to prepare patties.
“Welcome, Simon.”
The piano girl placed her index finger to her lips and smiled brightly.
The official successor to the Ivory Tower, a girl who wielded the power of Mind Control through feathers.
“…Serne.”
The male waiter who had been dancing until a moment ago approached and bowed to them both.
“How many are in your party?”
He spoke as though he were seeing Serne for the first time.
“Two of us~”
“This way, please.”
The two were led to a seat just behind the grand piano—the finest spot in the establishment. A simple pre-meal tea was served, and she raised her cup with elegant grace.
“How do you like the event I’ve arranged? Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Sigh.”
Simon covered his forehead with a complicated expression.
“…You’re one of the most extraordinarily strange people I know.”
“That’s hardly how one compliments a lady.”
She winked at him.
“Please don’t worry too much. It’s merely an event created by controlling some passersby for about a minute. There won’t be any aftereffects or risk of accidents.”
“That’s not the problem here.”
“So, so! How was the event?”
…Well.
If he had to describe the feeling, it was like watching a scene from a play, and he was the protagonist who had stepped into that production.
But at the same time, he felt afraid.
He was afraid of Serne’s power to orchestrate something like this so easily. If she set her mind to it, plunging an entire city into ruin would be nothing.
What exactly was she plotting by staying in Kizen?
“Consider it an honor.”
Just then, Serne stretched her long legs and crossed her right leg over her left, smiling.
“There aren’t many people qualified to face me alone like this.”
Dignified voice and bearing, an unfathomable charisma. Most of all, that unique aura that emanated only from her.
If there existed someone destined to stand above all mortals as a queen, surely it was she.
It made sense that she had taken hold of Class C.
In Kizen, where children of every great power gathered, controlling an entire class was no simple feat. It became clear to him that she possessed something beyond even her Mind Control abilities and her position as the Ivory Tower’s successor.
In any case, the conclusion was simple.
‘Dreadfully burdensome person.’
Simon followed her lead and took a sip of tea before speaking.
“Why did you call me here?”
She didn’t answer, merely pretending to tend to her nails.
A waiter approached and laid tablecloths before each of them. Then, with a polite “Pardon me,” he handed Simon a letter.
Once the waiter disappeared, Simon’s expression darkened.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t use others like this.”
She chuckled softly.
“I didn’t use a feather—I simply asked him. Requested he pass the letter while laying down the tablecloth.”
“….”
She was definitely toying with him.
Simon sighed inwardly and opened the letter.
“Huh?”
The moment he glimpsed the royal seal on the letter, Simon was taken aback. He nearly spilled his tea when his elbow accidentally struck the cup.
“Wh-what is this?”
Simon showed her the letter in alarm.
“Why do you have a letter from the Dresden Royal Family?”
She tilted her head as if to ask why he would ask such a thing.
“Because I was asked to deliver it.”
“??”
The Ivory Tower is an autonomous region that answers to no kingdom’s authority. This is the first I’ve heard of the Ivory Tower being close to the Dresden Royal Family.
“Princess Molly of Dresden—you know of her, yes?”
The moment a familiar name surfaced, Simon’s tension eased perceptibly.
“I do.”
The memory remained sharp as glass.
They’d met during a Duel Evaluation.
An Overlord Debut Match, no less. A special exception tenth duel against Malcolm Randolph, who wielded Doppelganger magic.
At the time, Prince Andre, a second-year student, had lent Malcolm an artifact—a Black Knight’s armor—as retaliation for Simon’s refusal to join his club, Noble.
Yet in that Duel Evaluation witnessed by thousands, Simon had methodically dismantled Malcolm, Black Knight armor and all.
Andre, furious, had summoned Simon for a confrontation and nearly laid hands on him—until Princess Molly arrived and had him escorted away.
After that incident, every transgression Andre had committed using his royal privilege came to light, and he was expelled from Kizen, as far as Simon knew.
-I swear on my name that neither my brother nor the Dresden Royal Family will trouble you further, Simon. I came here in secret, so please allow me to offer a proper apology in time.
And at the end, she had said this.
The letter’s contents connected to that very moment. It was written in Princess Molly’s own hand, expressing her desire both to apologize then and to invite Simon to a ball being held at the royal palace.
Serne elaborated.
“It’s a Named Request from the princess~ Once you’re back at Kizen, the administrators will call you right away.”
‘A Named Request!’
Unlike ordinary requests, where students collected notices from the Dormitory bulletin board, a Named Request meant the requester selected a specific student directly. Only power brokers with real influence over Kizen could issue such requests, as far as Simon understood.
And judging by the letter’s contents, while the stated purpose was Royal Guard duty, the real intention was to have him attend the event and lend it prestige. The detailed dress code made that much clear.
“Of course, I was invited too!”
Serne waved a letter bearing the royal seal from her bag.
“The princess wanted Kizen’s most outstanding male and female students! You can picture it, I’m sure?”
Simon nodded.
A royal invitation, especially one sent by Princess Molly herself, left no room for refusal. Making an enemy of the kingdom served no purpose.
Since he’d likely stay within the palace walls, there seemed no need for Magnus to worry.
Yet Simon felt an odd unease.
It was right to pay his respects to Princess Molly, who’d stopped Prince Andre’s tantrum, but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the notion of the royal family summoning Kizen students to showcase their power and influence…….
“And this! The Named Request compensation alone is 2,000 Gold.”
There might be others who’d find that distasteful, but Simon was not among them.
‘Thank you, Your Highness!’
His allowance from Richard was already running thin.
He’d picked up a formidable new technique called the Royal Guard. He wanted to push harder on skeleton procurement.
Once he received the request fee, he planned to go straight to Rochester and recruit more Skeleton Archers—and if he could manage it, acquire some Mages as well, expensive though they’d be.
Summoning Magic was a money pit; larger budgets were always better. Simon was already fantasizing about how to spend the not-yet-received gold when Serne suddenly spoke.
“So you’ll do it?”
Simon gave a light nod and glanced at her.
“Separate from the job—I have a question.”
“Ask away.”
“Why go to the trouble of calling me to Rochester, using even that debt coupon, just to tell me this?”
I’d have learned about the Named Request anyway, once I got back to Kizen and settled into my studies.
Then Serne planted her elbows on the table with a soft thud, cupped her chin in her hands, and smiled knowingly.
“Do you have something to wear to the ball?”
“…….”
Of course he didn’t.
Catching Simon’s hesitation, Serne’s eyes crinkled with amusement.
“Which means we should go shopping together~”
This was the real objective all along.
Simon regarded her with suspicion.
“……Does it have to be just shopping?”
She opened her palm and began folding down her slender fingers one by one.
“You escort me all day. Carry my bags. Tell me I look pretty when I try things on. Don’t scowl when I touch your arm.”
Just hearing the list made his head spin.
A strong instinct told him this would be far more taxing than the actual job.
“I’ll think about it if you use two Debt Coupons.”
“Wow—so catering to a girl for one day is worth the same as risking your life fighting the Saint of Efnel? Where’s your conscience?”
He’d half expected as much, but as expected, there was no negotiating.
“Here’s what I’ll do instead! I’ll cover all the shopping expenses—and your ball attire too. How’s that?”
He’d heard ball gowns were pricey.
And if he managed to slip in a few small wants during their shopping spree, that would be fair game. On balance, this didn’t seem like a losing trade.
“All right, understood.”
“Let’s get ready. We’ll depart at once!”
* * *
At that same moment.
While the students bustled about—some rushing off on early-morning outings, others to their studies—there remained one who slept on, blissfully unaware of the world.
A room adorned in cream and pink, its frilled curtains draping one corner, a display shelf lined with delicate stuffed animals beside them.
And in the bed lay a girl in pajamas.
She jolted awake at the vibration of a Communication Crystal ringing from her desk, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
“……What’s this about so early in the morning.”
Still half-asleep, she trudged across the room and activated the Communication Crystal.
“Yes?”
-Miss Lorain, Serne Aindark has begun to move.
Her drowsy crimson eyes sharpened in an instant, all trace of sleepiness vanishing.
“Where?”
-Rochester. There is one current Kizen student accompanying them as a partner.
“So they’ve brainwashed someone else. Who is it?”
A grim voice came through the Communication Crystal.
“They are traveling with the student Simon Polentia.”
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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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