Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 499

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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 499
Simon and his party arrived safely at the Harlem District of Tarados.
As Simon looked around, he was startled by conditions far more wretched than he’d imagined.
The people of the Harlem District sat along the streets like gaunt zombies, waiting for nothing but the day of their death—their bodies in such extreme malnutrition that ribs jutted visibly through their skin at every joint.
The buildings were dilapidated, the alleys desperately narrow, and the desiccated river choked with refuse.
Bodies could be found lining the streets without much difficulty. Flies swarmed and wild dogs gathered, yet no one moved to drive them away.
A city where no hope lingered.
That was the Harlem District of Tarados.
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Why did we come to a place like this?”
The necklace trembled as Kaleth’s fragment cried out.
“The original body’s senses feel even fainter than when we first entered Tarados! We’ve come too far, haven’t we?”
“We need to gather information first, at least.”
Having entered a Closed Territory cut off from the outside world, intelligence gathering was not a choice but a necessity.
If Kaleth’s fragment could tell him in real time whether they were drawing closer to or farther from the original body, it would be easy to find it—but now it seemed the connection wasn’t precise enough for that.
For now, he’d have to pound the pavement and hear the living testimony of locals. Erzsebet was already scattered among her spiders, gathering information.
‘I hope we can meet the one who made the request in this village.’
The patron who had reached out to the Kizen students for help.
He wanted to know who they were, what kind of person they might be.
They would also know the situation of Tarados better than anyone. Finding this person felt like the ‘key’ to passing this Mission Evaluation.
“To think the city has fallen into such a state……”
The Coachman, who had said Tarados was his hometown, looked around as though he couldn’t quite believe it.
“In its heyday, Tarados was a city of vitality and youth, where countless adventurers and merchants came and went. Now it’s hard to find even a trace of those days.”
“That heyday——”
Kassan, walking at Simon’s side, turned to glance back.
“That was when the Gold Mine Dungeon still existed, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Simon also turned to look back.
“Is the dungeon still there?”
“It couldn’t be. I heard that after the Dungeon Master died, it vanished without a trace……”
Swoosh!
That was when it happened.
A ragged little girl, no more than seven or eight years old, burst forth with a pop and shoved the Coachman aside, diving into the alley. The Coachman stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Are you all right?”
Simon hurried toward him.
“Y-yes! I’m fine.”
“But——”
Kassan scratched at the scar on his right cheek and continued.
“Check your things first.”
“Eh?”
The Coachman got to his feet and patted himself down, then with an “Oh!” of alarm began frantically searching through his clothes.
“M-my money pouch!”
Tap-tap-tap!
The little girl ran deeper into the alley, her breath coming in ragged gasps—hah, hah, hah.
Most adults would wedge themselves fast in alleys this cramped, but with a frame her size, running was still possible.
‘I’ve got it! I’ve got it!’
Hope flickered like firelight in her eyes.
‘With this money, I can help my brother……!’
“Hey there.”
The girl rounding the corner of the alley froze in shock, a scream tearing from her throat. A blue-haired boy was crouched there, smiling warmly at her.
“Stealing is a bad thing. Won’t you give that back?”
‘What! What! H-how did he catch up to me?’
She stepped backward, one foot at a time, then spun and bolted.
But she didn’t get far. A man was blocking the path behind her as well.
“It’d be strange not to run into a pickpocket in the Harlem District.”
A terrifyingly scarred man was there, moving toward her down the narrow alley with a sinuous, flowing stride—more like some boneless creature than a person.
“Here.”
Simon opened his palm.
“Give it back.”
“N-no way!”
The girl clutched the money pouch to her chest and curled into a defensive crouch. Simon’s expression turned rueful.
“Wait, just a moment!”
Gasp! Heave! Wheeze!
The Coachman’s voice came in late, his breath ragged and labored. He was staring at the girl.
“Lisa! Is that really you?”
The pickpocket girl finally lifted her head.
“Oh, mister?”

* * *
“Haha! Sorry the place is so shabby! There’s not much, but make yourself comfortable!”
Simon, Kassan, and the Coachman accepted the pickpocket girl’s invitation and entered her home.
Simon couldn’t help but stagger back in shock.
‘People actually live in a place like this?’
What was supposed to be a room was nothing of the sort—just a space haphazardly constructed by partially exposing the building’s bare wall.
It was wretched and filthy. The stench of mold hung in every corner, and the thin mat spread across the floor was torn to shreds. The wallpaper hung in tatters, and the window had long since ceased to serve any purpose.
“Would you like some water?”
She brought water in a decrepit cup. Seeing the murky yellow liquid with something unidentifiable bobbing in it, Simon smiled politely and declined.
“Lisa! Where’s the toilet?”
The Coachman shouted as if pressed by urgent need.
“Go outside the house, then walk straight that way—toward the dried-up fountain. Turn right from there, and you’ll find the public toilet!”
“…Public toilet?”
“Yes! Everyone in this village uses it! If you’re lucky, you’ll only have to wait in line for three hours! If it’s urgent, just go anywhere on the ground and come back!”
Simon let out a bitter laugh. It pained him to hear a girl her age speak so casually about such things as if they were perfectly ordinary.
The Coachman trudged toward the public toilet with resignation, while Kassan looked around the perimeter of the house.
Now only Simon and the pickpocket girl remained.
“How do you know the Coachman?”
“We lived in the same village for a while. I was close with his children.”
She spoke those words, and then continued quietly.
“They all died. His wife too. After that, I had no idea where he went, so I never expected to meet him here.”
The atmosphere grew heavy. Simon wiped sweat from his brow and glanced around nervously.
“Do you live here alone?”
“With my brother.”
Her expression darkened further.
“He was taken by soldiers.”
“…”
Whatever he said, the conversation would only lead to despair, so it simply died.
Now he understood why the people on the streets of Harlem District had stood there with such hopeless, vacant eyes.
At least this girl called Lisa, this pickpocket, could still speak and clung stubbornly to life. In this Tarados, she was almost unusual.
“Why was your brother taken by soldiers?”
She lifted her head and looked at Simon’s face intently. Though she seemed wary of him as an outsider, Simon met her gaze without flinching and waited seriously for her answer.
“…You absolutely cannot tell anyone else about this.”
“I promise.”
“My brother—”
Her lips parted.
“He went outside to seek help and was caught.”
“Outside?”
“Yes. To important people who live outside Tarados. He wanted to tell them what was being done to us. Normally, residents of Tarados are forbidden from contacting the outside world.”
Simon straightened his posture.
“How did he request help?”
“I don’t know the details.”
The girl lowered her head dejectedly.
“He said that soon important people from above would come and help us. That they would report everything happening in Tarados to the entire Dark Alliance. That’s what my brother said.”
Things were starting to make sense.
As Simon conversed with her, he worked steadily to draw out the answers he wanted.
Before long, the girl had opened her heart, treating him like a friend. She seemed desperately in need of someone to talk to.
“Your brother is truly remarkable.”
“Of course! My brother was scouted by the Revolutionary Group!”
The existence of the Revolutionary Group.
“He saved up money. Kept saving and saving. To seek help from outside.”
Lisa spoke.
“The other members of the Revolutionary Group said my brother betrayed them! But it’s different! He said this Revolutionary Group was corrupt too, that there was no other way, so he took the money they collected and went outside Tarados!”
“The way to seek that help—”
Simon, now fully grasping the situation, pulled out the Request Letter and unfolded it.
“You mean the commission to Kizen?”
Her eyes widened.
“Kizen? Kizen? Yes! I’ve heard that name before! I think I heard my brother muttering it!”
Now it was certain.
The requester was a member of the Tarados Revolutionary Group.
And Lisa’s brother.
“Lisa.”
Simon produced a Student ID bearing Kizen’s mark from his pocket.
“I’m the person your brother summoned.”

* * *
Shortly after, Simon, Kassan, the Coachman who’d returned from the restroom, and Erzsebet, who’d come back from gathering intelligence, were all present in Lisa’s home.
The house was rather cramped, so they had to sit pressed closely together.
“Well then! Allow me to share the information that my spiders and I have gathered!”
Erzsebet, transformed into a pink-haired student, drew a V with her fingers and affected a cheerful demeanor. Simon, knowing her true age, simply smiled.
Behind the wall, spiders had woven cloth into a sign reading “Revolutionary Strategy Meeting,” lending the space a surprisingly resolute atmosphere.
“But the people in this village wouldn’t even speak to us. How did you get any information?”
“Hehehehe! An attractive woman possesses many means of lowering a person’s guard, you know.”
“…What kind of means, exactly?”
Kassan, whose pride had been wounded after failing to gather intelligence in the Harlem District, asked.
“For instance, wrapping them in spider silk and hanging them from a high place?”
Erzsebet shrugged as she answered.
In any case, from the information she’d brought back, it seemed Tarados was currently divided among three factions.
Ganess, the black wolf who commanded the Ganess Guild of thieves.
The Lord, who directed the territory’s regular military, and his subordinate, the Iron-Blooded General Amin.
And the third.
“They call themselves the Gyeolsa, or so I’m told.”
Erzsebet winked toward Simon.
That “Gyeolsa” was almost certainly the mad faction that wielded the blade.
“Nothing is publicly known about them. No one even knows their true identity. But it’s said they entered this territory at some point and have maintained a close relationship with the Lord.”
“That’s suspicious.”
Simon observed.
“I’ve heard the name mentioned before, going back and forth from there.”
The Coachman interjected abruptly.
“When I worked as a coachman in Ebrun, I saw many strange items circulating from outside, and they all seemed to be purchased from that faction.”
Lisa offered her own remark.
“I heard my brother say it like it was a habit—that the Gyeolsa is the shadow puppet master behind everything! That they’re manipulating both factions from behind the scenes!”
“Is, is that so?”
Impressive.
Lisa’s brother, Simon’s requester, seemed to have already arrived at the truth.
“Yes! The territorial soldiers arrest villagers who commit crimes, and the thieves kidnap villagers. But neither side has facilities to hold prisoners!”
Kassan picked up the thread.
“So the conclusion is that it’s the ‘Gyeolsa’ that actually receives and makes use of the captives. Those who instructed the thieves to kidnap orphans, vagrants, and the mentally disabled from outside Tarados were probably the ‘Gyeolsa’ as well.”
“And the artificial Chimera monsters that roam the Tarados Wasteland. That confirms it.”
They were the ones who had subjected the blade-wielder to experimentation.
All the clues gathered so far converge into one.
“The root cause is the Gyeolsa. Smash them and it’s over. However.”
Erzsebet spread her arms.
“It may prove more difficult than expected. To capture them, we must first contend with the Lord and the Ganess Guild. Tarados is more fortified than it appears.”
The method they’ve employed is as follows.
The Gyeolsa sponsors both the Lord and the Ganess Guild with massive financial resources.
The Ganess Guild roams the wasteland and kidnaps people indiscriminately, sending them to the Gyeolsa. However, they leave the villages and cities guarded by the Lord’s soldiers untouched.
The Lord’s soldiers protect the villagers from the Ganess Guild in exchange, imposing enormous taxes upon them. To raise the levied tributes, the villagers must endure grueling labor or pay an equivalent price.
When villagers refuse the taxes, the Lord’s soldiers withdraw without hesitation. Thereafter, a major offensive by the Ganess Guild begins, and the villagers are captured and sent to the Gyeolsa.
Unable to withstand the bandits’ assault, villagers venture outside their settlements, where they face one of two fates: consumed by the Chimera monsters that infest the wasteland, or captured by the pursuing thieves.
‘Vicious.’
That was Simon’s assessment.
They’ve created an appearance of conflict between the Lord’s soldiers and the thieves while exploiting the villagers. Many of the people here still regard the Lord’s soldiers as their protectors from the bandits, but in truth, they’re all cut from the same cloth.
They merely engage in displays of combat, but they say the two sides rarely truly clash head-on.
“It seems the Revolutionary Group was formed precisely for this reason—to build independent strength and escape from beneath these two powers.”
“Exactly.”
Their purpose was to raise funds for garrisoning the Lord’s Military here, and simultaneously prepare the military strength and means of self-sufficiency to fight bandit gangs even after the soldiers withdrew, ultimately requesting external aid to liberate Tarados from occupation.
But Lisa’s Brother had said the Revolutionary Group was corrupt as well.
Even the upper echelons of the Revolutionary Group would have been bought by the Gyeolsa.
“So then, what would be our best course of action? There are two paths available to us.”
Erzsebet spoke, her gaze fixed on Simon, their commander.
“We could eliminate Ganess Guild and the Lord, severing the Gyeolsa’s limbs before engaging in earnest battle. Or we could strike at the Gyeolsa’s headquarters before they even learn of our existence, crushing them with a surprise assault.”
…….
Simon closed his eyes for a moment, considering, then spoke.
“I’ve decided.”

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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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