Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 491

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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 of the Necromancer School Episode 491
“A cemetery? A graveyard?”
“Why on earth are we in a place like this……”
The students exchanged bewildered glances.
Just moments ago they’d been sitting in the Classroom scratching away with quill pens, and now they found themselves unceremoniously dumped in the Cemetery.
A grey sky hung overhead, mist coiled between the ground and air, and dark-leafed plants dotted the landscape alongside rows of gravestones. A sinister atmosphere clung to the place.
Simon got to his feet and walked toward the nearest grave.
“To appease the spirits of those lost in the Mahilani Landslide”
That was all the inscription said; the names of the buried were absent.
From the dates carved into the stone, this calamity had occurred long ago. It seemed disaster victims had been buried here en masse.
The graves showed signs of neglect—overgrown with withered vines and weeds, with traces of monsters and stray dogs having torn at the earth.
“Welcome to the Cemetery!”
“Welcome!”
Twin professors approached the students with light, graceful steps.
“We’ve secured all the necessary permits. Rest easy—Kizen has authorization to use this ground for educational purposes.”
“There’s no better place to teach Funeral Magic than a cemetery!”
The twins gestured through the air. A dome-shaped Barrier unfurled, encompassing both them and the students.
“It’s just a sound-dampening Barrier!”
“Shall we begin class then?”
The twins exchanged glances and nodded once, then clasped both hands together and drew a deep breath with a soft hum.
[La―――――!!]
Simon felt the hair on his entire body stand on end. A desolate chill traced down his spine and stiffened the back of his neck.
The other students felt it too, releasing gasps of surprise.
“Whoa, that gives me chills.”
“They sound like opera singers!”
Rather than bright and beautiful, the melody carried an eerie, shadowy quality—it called to mind the Spirit Wailing Song of the deceased.
The twins cut off their sound in unison.
Clap clap clap clap!
Several students found themselves applauding without thinking. The twins let out a haughty snort and turned to face their audience.
“We told you, didn’t we? Darlings?”
“Why did we come here? Darlings?”
The students answered in unison.
“To experience the roots of Funeral Magic, Professors!”
The twin professors nodded approvingly.
“Exactly! From now on, we’ll focus on the very basics of Funeral Magic!”
“The ‘Funeral Song’—we’ll learn how to summon the Undead with it!”
“We’re starting with the most fundamental level, like ‘the school bell goes ding-dong-ding.’ If you can’t keep up with this, you’re unfit to be a Summoner, aren’t you, Lin?”
“Right, Rune! You’d be unfit to be a Necromancer!”
The two girls clasped hands.
“We’ll sing it one phrase at a time!”
“Follow along carefully!”
“Yes, Professors!”
The Summoning Studies lesson had suddenly transformed into a music class. The twin professors sang one phrase, and the students echoed it back.
[Ra-v-ri-ma-đưa ra. anh!]
An overwhelming vocal quality flooded the surroundings. The students, while unnerved by the eerie tone, opened their mouths and followed along.
The professors then offered corrections.
“Make the ‘Ma’ part where the phrases connect a bit louder!”
Up until now, there had been nothing magical about it.
Just an ordinary music lesson.
The only difference was that the lyrics weren’t in the Continental language, and since the song was meant to summon the Undead, the melody sounded strange and was difficult to sing.
Still, it was a short song—just one verse—so memorizing it wasn’t particularly hard. During the brief break they were given, students hummed the melody as they moved about.
And even during the break, the twin girl professors continued their lecture.
“This Funeral Song is of unknown title and unknown author. Among Necromancers, it’s called the ‘Grave Robber’s Song’!”
“Back in the day, tomb robbers would sing this tune at night as they moved through graveyards!”
“When a grave would shift, they’d know there was still a corpse inside it!”
“Of course, these days the Undead can be procured even in the city, so it’s ancient history now!”
The twins’ explanation echoed across the Cemetery like a refrain.
“Well, break time’s over! Everyone, stand up!”
“Now we’ll teach you how to manifest Dark Magic through music!”
There were countless ways to achieve magical effects through music, but what the twin professors were teaching in this first session was the most fundamental method.
A Magic Circle spread in front of the mouth, where one sings to touch the formula of the Magic Circle or the Rune Language, producing magical effects. Direct and simple.
Of course, only after mastering this stage could one sing more powerful versions of the Funeral Song in the future.
‘Oh.’
Trying it firsthand was fascinating.
As he spread the Magic Circle and sang, light flared and faded in specific parts of the Magic Circle in rhythm with his voice.
As if the Magic Circle itself understood the song.
“You have to cut off the Ra-v-ri part cleanly and precisely!”
“If you run it together, it becomes a completely different command, so the Magic Circle won’t respond!”
The twin professors and their assistants circulated among the students, correcting their singing.
Simon, working harder than anyone, had felt his throat growing hoarse, so he was pausing to drink some water.
“How’s it going? Making progress?”
Lorain approached him.
Simon scratched his head sheepishly in response.
“Well. It’s harder than I thought.”
“Want me to teach you a bit? I learned the Funeral Song when I was young, so I know it well.”
Of course it was Lorain.
The power of early education.
“Please do.”
Simon didn’t refuse.
Lorain nodded and spread a Magic Circle in front of her mouth, then drew in a soft breath.
Finally, her lips parted.
“Finde-die Die-be…….”
‘!’
Goosebumps erupted across his skin from just the first note.
A clean, elegant tone that flowed outward. It was unmistakably the same song the twin professors had sung, yet it felt entirely different.
At the same time, goosebumps prickled faintly down his spine—the effect of Funeral Magic was woven through perfectly.
Thud! Thud!
As her voice rang out, the tomb visible before his eyes trembled. This was the result even with the Magic Circle’s output minimized.
If she’d cranked the output to full, it seemed the gravesites would shatter on the spot and the hands of the deceased would burst forth.
“Here, you lift the end of the note slightly. Like this.”
She sang a passage and repeated the process of teaching Simon the key points.
“At the end, let it ring out with a mournful feeling. ein-dickes Schädel üdbrig!”
She stopped singing.
Then she looked at Simon.
“Well, want to try?”
Simon, who had been entranced, suddenly nodded sharply.
“I’ll try!”
Simon stepped forward.
I can do this.
I can do this too.
Taking a deep breath through his nose, he tightened his diaphragm.
“Fin-ded-ie D-ie-be!”
As Simon’s distinctive tone poured from his lips, Lorain’s expression turned startled.
“Ich tre-ffe sie, dieim Grab…….”
The students nearby began murmuring upon hearing Simon sing. Toto and Fitzgerald, who were close by, drew near.
“Schädel übrig――!”
Simon forcefully expelled the final syllable, then wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with a flourish and spoke.
“How was it?”
“Um, well. Simon.”
Lorain’s face flushed slightly. Then she turned her head away, as if gazing at distant mountains.
“You really can’t sing.”
“?!”
Hahahaha!
The watching students burst into loud laughter. Toto especially looked genuinely surprised.
“So there is something Simon can’t do.”
Fitzgerald, nodding in agreement, adjusted his glasses.
“Well, if humans are too good at everything, they lose their humanity.”
Simon’s face flushed hot.
“W-what’s wrong with my singing? The pitch was perfect!”
“It’s not about the pitch~ Simon.”
Serne came gliding toward him, her ivory hair streaming behind her, and wagged a long white finger playfully in front of Simon’s eyes.
“Your rhythm is completely off, isn’t it? Tone Deafness.”
“……Ugh!”
Serne drew in a breath with a sharp intake of air.
“die im Grab gefangen ist――!”
The explosive volume and elegant resonance that poured out as she scrunched her face made the students’ jaws drop.
This mad genius had produced a Funeral Magic effect with nothing but her voice, without even drawing a Magic Circle. The tombs around them were trembling.
“Is this how you do it?”
Serne gave Simon a light wink and turned away. Lorain stood with her fists clenched, her face flushed with frustration.
Simon let out a hollow laugh.
Was singing like a madman a genetic trait of the Ivory Tower family? Right—Serne was an adopted child brought in by the Ivory Tower’s Lord.
‘Anyway.’
Simon collected himself and gave a deliberate cough. He sang the same verse, but the only response from those around him was awkward laughter.
Serne made a cheerful sound.
“Oh, I don’t mind a man who can’t sing well. Besides, I’m better at the things I actually like.”
‘……For some reason, I feel oddly irritated.’
Lorain added her own comment.
“It’s okay, Simon. The Funeral Song doesn’t depend on singing ability. You just have to wake the Undead properly. Tone deafness is a condition that can be overcome.”
‘Lorain! You too……!’
While Simon, confronting the wall of talent for the first time, lay collapsed in despair, the twin professors came chattering over.
“Should we start, Lin?”
“Let’s start! Rune!”
“Alright, little ones! We’re about to conduct your Practical Assessment! Spread out and practice!”
“If you successfully summon Undead in front of us or the teaching assistants, you pass!”
The twins clasped hands and stretched them out to the side. The students’ gazes followed in that direction.
“There’s a Teleport Magic Circle set up over there!”
“Once you pass the exam and receive your score, you can head straight back to the school!”
“After that, it’s free time for the rest of the day!”
At the mention of returning to the school, the students’ eyes gleamed. The twin professors raised their clasped hands toward the sky.
“Then, starting now!”
“Go!”
The moment the start signal fell, the students scattered in a rush. They had to claim the best cemetery spots.
Simon hurried off as well. He found a relatively secluded place covered by trees and took a breath.
‘My first Practical Assessment in Funeral Magic class. I will succeed no matter what.’
Simon’s eyes filled with determination.

* * *
Four hours had passed.
Ninety-five percent of the Summoning Department students who had entered the Cemetery had returned to Kizen.
Serne, who scored an A+, left first, followed by Lorain. Aseraz and Hector were unsurprisingly in the upper ranks, and even Toto and Fitzgerald had departed from the Cemetery.
And then.
“Finde…… die…… be…….”
Simon’s voice was completely hoarse.
‘There are things that can’t be overcome even with effort.’
Shortly after, another male student who had remained until the end with Simon also stepped into the Teleport Magic Circle and vanished.
The Cemetery was now shrouded in pitch darkness.
“You’re alone.”
“All by yourself.”
The two twin professors approached with light, graceful steps.
“Come with us.”
“Underachiever.”
“……Yes.”
Simon followed them deeper into the grounds. Each of them held a Lantern in one hand, illuminating the darkness.
‘Where are they taking me?’
Were they moving to a different location because this place wasn’t suitable?
Or did they intend to punish him?
Either way, Simon, last in his class today, had no choice. He trudged after the twin professors.
And finally, they arrived at a densely overgrown cemetery district completely covered in grass.
While the earlier area had been poorly maintained, at least the tombs had some order; here was total chaos. Bodies had simply been buried with urgency, and the graves were tangled haphazardly everywhere.
“Professor, this place…….”
“Are you going to give up?”
The twin professor Lin asked abruptly. Simon flinched and fell silent.
“That’s right! Giving up is a student’s right too!”
“Just take an F and go back to school?”
…….
Simon’s fists clenched tight. His hoarse voice emerged.
“I want to see this through to the end.”
The twin professor tilted his head at that.
“That’s strange, Lin.”
“Yeah, strange. Rune.”
“You know better than anyone that it won’t work no matter what you try.”
“You know better than anyone that it can’t improve, that the odds are zero percent.”
“So why do you keep challenging it?”
“Why won’t you give up?”
The two twins pressed their questions as if bearing down, but Simon answered with a smile.
“I’ve never thought about why I should give up, or what reason I’d have to.”
The twins’ eyes went blank.
“Oh. Lin’s own words! Thrown right back at us! We got played!”
“No, it was actually Rune who—”
“Don’t lie!”
The two twins bickered for a moment, then simultaneously stopped and stepped back.
“What’s your name?”
“Simon Polentia.”
“Good. I’ll teach you. Simon.”
“The Funeral Song we taught you—it might be that you were never meant to sing it at all, Simon.”
……?
The two twins clasped hands and lowered their voices.
“A shark doesn’t need to learn the sardines’ little song, does it?”
“We’ll show you what truly suits you.”

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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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