Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 239

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

Necromancer School’s Summoning Genius — Chapter 239
Everything had suddenly spiraled out of scale.
Simon had expected some modest shopping around Rochester, but Serne had already arranged an expensive Teleportation Magic Circle.
At her insistence, Simon stepped onto the magic circle, and Langoustin’s downtown suddenly materialized before his eyes.
“Come on~!”
Serne tugged at his sleeve as she spoke.
“Wait, hold on. Leaving Rocksum without permission isn’t a serious School Rule Violation?”
“Says the person who scales the walls every day to visit the Forbidden Forest.”
With that remark, she spun around, crouched down, and noticed Pier’s secondary form dangling from Simon’s shirt.
“It’s been a while for you too. How have you been?”
To all appearances, it was just a skeletal decoration.
As she playfully poked at Pier’s form, Simon relayed the thoughts echoing in his mind without filter.
“He says he’ll kill you.”
“How frightening.”
She stopped her teasing, turned away, and spoke with her hands clasped behind her back.
“Come on, let’s go! Should we start by checking out the shopping district?”

* * *
On the rooftop of a building several hundred meters from Simon.
Men in black robes bustled about with Mana Telescopes in hand, keeping watch on the pair below.
“Target movement confirmed. Moving toward Hampton Road.”
“Understood.”
While the men scrambled to keep pace, a crimson flash suddenly flared across the rooftop.
A black-haired girl descended silently, her dark-toned long coat settling around her as she touched down from the air.
Thump.
Tap.
The men bowed respectfully to the girl.
“Welcome, Lorain.”
She nodded in acknowledgment.
“Where is Serne?”
“She’s moving toward Hampton Road with the student Simon.”
Lorain extended her palm, and the man handed over the Mana Telescope with a courteous bow. She propped one leg against the rooftop railing and adjusted the scope.
In the distance, Serne and Simon could be seen strolling together.
‘…Serne. What scheme are you cooking up this time?’
From Kizen’s perspective, Serne was a walking time bomb.
Her almost unfair Mind Control ability wielded enough influence in exams to shift other students’ rankings at will.
Recently, she’d been suspected of deliberately interfering with students marked by the Ivory Tower, knocking them out of Kizen only for the Tower to poach them while they were demoralized.
But suspicion was mere suspicion—there was no concrete proof.
Serne was cunning as a fox, and she moved with meticulous care to leave no trace. There was no way to tell where her orchestrations began and ended. She could erase even fragmented memories.
‘And it’s too ambiguous for the adults to intervene.’
Serne was a 1st Year at Kizen just like any other seventeen-year-old, legitimately taking exams based on her own abilities in a merit-driven institution.
Of course, if they wanted to, they could find some other pretext and expel her.
But Kizen’s upper echelons had no desire to expel Serne. Internal factional politics played a role, and willingly relinquishing this position—holding the Ivory Tower’s successor as collateral—would ultimately benefit only Serne and the Tower.
There was an underlying fear that if Serne left, the Ivory Tower might outright turn hostile to Kizen.
So Lorain’s current assignment was to stop her.
There were countless cases where adult interference in student matters had escalated into major disputes.
Having a fellow 1st Year like Lorain act was the method to prevent this from becoming a larger conflict.
‘If only I had one decisive piece of evidence.’
For Lorain, the ideal scenario was discovering Serne’s wrongdoing, bringing it to public attention, and having her face legal judgment.
That way, she could expel her simultaneously with damaging the Ivory Tower. She could even have her imprisoned under Kizen law.
Today, that opportunity had finally presented itself.
Serne had boldly approached Simon, who held Special Exception 1st Rank status.
‘The Ivory Tower definitely wants Simon.’
But she had no intention of letting that happen.

* * *
“Hup!”
Serne let out an odd cheer and pressed herself firmly against Simon’s arm.
Simon flinched in surprise and tried to peel her away, but she boldly pressed closer instead.
“Wait, Serne.”
Simon’s expression hardened as he spoke. She blinked at him with the innocent eyes of a guileless girl, then asked in the softest voice imaginable.
“Didn’t you agree to pretend we were close?”
“…Even so, you don’t have to cling to me like this. What’s the reason for going this far?”
“Oh, Cotton Candy!”
Serne pointed at a street stall instead of answering, her voice laden with coquetry.
“I want to eat something sweet!”
……
At those words, his pocket suddenly felt heavier, as if something had drained into it. When Simon reached into his pocket, his fingers closed around a few coins.
He wondered: he understood this was all an act, but why go to such lengths with this particular performance?
Sighing inwardly, Simon walked toward the stall and ordered two Cotton Candies.
“Oh my, isn’t it usual for young people to buy one and share it at times like this?”
“No.”
The stall owner chuckled and began crafting the Cotton Candies.
“You two look wonderful together. Are you a couple?”
“Yes!”
Serne answered immediately, pressing herself against Simon’s side. Simon mouthed for her to back off, but she ignored him once again.
“Young man, you take good care of that lady. A pretty girl like that sticks to you like that—if you pretend not to notice, what’s the use?”
“Tee-hee! It’s fine~ I’m just shy at the moment!”
The two of them were perfectly in tune with each other.
As the pair chattered away, a Feather came fluttering through the air and clung to Simon’s body.
-Can you hear me? If you can, blink your eyes twice.
Simon blinked his eyes as instructed.
-Don’t show any sign. Just glance over. See the man two blocks to the right from here—not that one, the man in the dark blue coat. Yes, that one.
-And right above him, the person leaning against the second-floor glass railing. Yes. Both of them are from the Ivory Tower. We just picked up a tail.
A tail?
Simon’s mind raced.
He handed the freshly made Cotton Candy to Serne first, speaking as if pouting.
“Your obsession is too intense. You try to monitor me wherever I go—it’s exhausting.”
She accepted the Cotton Candy and smiled softly.
-That’s right. We’re being “monitored” by those people right now.
A voice flowed from the Feather, and she continued with a different topic.
“Isn’t a little obsession proof of healthy affection? Don’t you think so, sir?”
“That’s true, that’s true.”
The stall vendor handed the second Cotton Candy to Simon’s hand and let out a hesitant cough.
“It matters to show care when there’s affection. I often regret it myself—these days I can’t even earn proper money, and my wife nags me about it every day……”
‘I’m sorry, but I’m not particularly interested.’
Simon let the stranger’s domestic troubles flow through one ear and sank into thought.
Serne was the official heir to the Ivory Tower. So why was she under surveillance by Ivory Tower people? And why did she need to pretend to be close to him because of it?
Simon fixed Serne with a questioning stare.
-Actually, the elders of the Ivory Tower have begun to question my accomplishments.
There were two factions within the Ivory Tower.
One faction, which included Serne and the current Ivory Tower Master, valued traditional principles—independence from Kizen and the restoration of past glory.
The other faction, which included Merin and her family, emphasized harmony with the changing times and advocated for cooperation with Kizen.
Simon was already aware of things up to this point, but the problem lay with Serne’s faction.
Originally, they had planned to kill Simon and seize the Legion for themselves, but Serne had exercised her full authority to indefinitely postpone his assassination, declaring she would personally persuade him instead.
However, when the second semester of the integrated program began, discontent began to emerge.
As Simon’s public popularity grew as a Special Exception 1st Rank, accusations arose that they had missed the window of opportunity for assassination, and that Serne, who had postponed the assassination, had produced no results whatsoever.
So Serne had come out to Langoustin with Simon in tow, displaying their closeness before the Ivory Tower’s people for all to see.
-Simon. I think this isn’t a bad thing for you either~
Speaking through the Feather, Serne took a bite of her Cotton Candy.
-Strengthen my position, which is favorable to you. There’s no need to make the Ivory Tower an enemy, is there?
That much was certainly true.
He was already overwhelmed by Magnus alone; there was no need to make the Ivory Tower an enemy as well.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
Simon opened his mouth.
“Why are you helping me?”
Why are you taking my side within the Ivory Tower? That was what Simon was asking.
“Well~”
-Because I thought of you as an irreplaceable resource.
At first, it had mattered little to Serne who became the Legion Commander. What mattered was the fact that the Ivory Tower possessed a Legion Commander.
So if he failed to persuade Simon, the plan was to expel him from Kizen and then dispose of him.
But after experiencing several incidents and witnessing Simon’s prowess firsthand just now, her thinking had changed.
Who in the Ivory Tower could command the Legion’s power as flawlessly as Simon? The crucial thing wasn’t the Legion itself, but the ‘person’ who wielded it—that was what mattered.
So desire took root. She wanted to bring not just the Legion, but Simon himself to the Ivory Tower.
“I should warn you—I might not be able to live up to your expectations.”
She had no intention of going to the Ivory Tower right now, and she couldn’t promise to join after graduation either.
“But for now, isn’t it true that I’m the closest option? That’s enough for me.”
The fact remained that the Ivory Tower held the strongest position in the recruitment race for Simon two years from now. For the present, that was sufficient.
Simon’s expression finally cleared as he listened to the explanation.
‘Now the situation makes sense.’
The essence of what Serne was doing was performative—showing off for adults. In other words, politics.
Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!
Just then, Simon’s gaze shifted. On the adjacent carriage road, a horse was approaching in agitation, churning up dust as if something had spooked it.
Since he was going to play along anyway, he decided to do it properly. Simon drew Serne close, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her aside, shielding her with his own body.
“??”
Even the legendary Serne blinked in surprise. The carriage crashed onto the sidewalk with a terrible screech, barely managing to veer away at the last moment.
Simon glanced toward the woman tailing them and spoke gently.
“Are you all right?”
……
Serne’s cheeks flushed faintly before curving into a cunning smile.
“So you’ve finally decided to escort a lady properly?”
“I’ve been doing it all along.”
Simon stepped out onto the carriage road and continued walking as he spoke.
She laughed softly and quickly moved to his side.

* * *
From her vantage point on a rooftop, Lorain’s expression grew increasingly rigid.
‘She really does know how to pull out all the stops.’
Clinging to his arm, sharing cotton candy, walking him through traffic—she was acting like they were lovers.
‘No matter how I think about it, Simon wouldn’t act like this normally. He must be under Mind Control.’
Lorain magnified her telescope further, searching for a Feather lodged in Simon’s body, but found nothing. The Feather was likely hidden beneath his clothes.
……
Watching the two of them flirt, Lorain felt an odd displeasure rising in her chest.
She couldn’t let Simon be stolen away to the Ivory Tower through such shameless means.
He was valuable military strength for Kizen, and after graduation, she wanted him to stay with her in Kizen. Of course, that was entirely Simon’s choice to make, but she found Serne’s approach unacceptable.
“……This won’t do.”
Unable to bear watching the two of them stroll together eating cotton candy, Lorain lowered her telescope from her eyes.
“I’m going to intervene right now.”

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