Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 53
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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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Necromancer Academy’s Summoning Genius Episode 53
Simon decided to set a trap to capture that mysterious Priest he suspected was Efnel’s spy.
He released Corpse Spiders throughout the area near the Forbidden Forest where the Priest had been spotted and waited.
If the Priest appeared, Simon would be notified immediately, and Erzsebet and Pier would move in. Erzsebet would disguise herself as a high-ranking Priest, approach him, and extract information.
“I apologize, but if our opponent is a Priest, won’t the fact that I’m Undead be exposed quickly? I’ve heard that Priests who wield Holy Power are sensitive to the Undead.”
“That won’t happen. He’s using Dark Element.”
Dark Element and Holy Power were opposing, mutually exclusive forces.
The Priest’s unique ability to sense the Undead only emerged if one possessed Holy Power. And that traitor Priest had abandoned Holy Power in order to use Dark Element.
Even if exposed, Pier and the entire army would swarm in and attack the Priest from all sides.
Even if victory against an opponent who might truly be instructor-level couldn’t be guaranteed, at the very least, Pier and Erzsebet should be able to escape without issue.
“Understood. From now on, I shall study the appearance and behavior of high-ranking Priests.”
“Good, I’m counting on you.”
The trap was set. The Priest would likely be cautious for some time and wouldn’t venture directly into the forest, but Simon could only hope he’d fall into it eventually.
And so Simon released the Undead into the Ruins before returning to Kizen.
* * *
The duty period ended, and a new life in Kizen began.
When Simon entered the Classroom for the first time in a while, the atmosphere was far brighter and more vibrant than usual. Laughter burst out from every corner, and the stream of conversation never ceased.
Everyone was occupied swapping stories from their assignments, and it seemed like even a full day wouldn’t be enough to exhaust all the gossip.
‘Where are the others?’
Dick had claimed sudden diarrhea on the way to school and bolted to the bathroom, so Simon arrived at the Classroom alone. He was glancing around looking for a seat when he spotted a familiar face.
“Merin!”
She’d been chatting animatedly with two other girls, but the moment she spotted Simon, her face flushed crimson and she quickly hid something behind her back. When the two girls giggled and nudged her arm, Merin protested loudly, telling them to stop.
“What’s going on?”
As Simon approached, Merin flinched and took a step back. The other girls greeted him warmly, then turned their attention back to Merin.
“Well, we’d better not be in the way—”
“Ohohoho!”
“You two are dead! I mean it!”
They giggled and scampered off to another corner of the room.
Merin lifted her head slightly to give Simon a pointed look, then let out a small cough.
“You’ve got a brazenly oblivious side to you, don’t you?”
“What?”
“……Never mind. Your denseness is just unbelievable.”
She sighed softly and suddenly thrust forward what she’d been hiding behind her back.
“Here.”
“Uh……?”
What she offered was a beautiful set of Carrot Cake wrapped in elegant packaging. Simon blinked.
“For me?”
“D-don’t get the wrong idea! Please! It’s just because we’re in the same class!”
She practically shoved the cake into his arms and pulled her hands away. Her face burning, she turned aside and fanned herself frantically with her hands.
“Thanks. But where’s this gift coming from all of a sudden? It’s not even my birthday.”
“…….”
She looked at him with an expression that seemed to say ‘do you really not know?’
“Today is Cake Day.”
“Cake Day?”
“Yes! It’s the day girls give cake to boys!”
Simon’s mind raced to process this.
Cake Day—he’d never heard of such a thing in his life.
Back in Leshill, the only occasions he knew of were Thanksgiving, the day for special goat treats, the day to pull weeds—nothing like this. It might well be a custom unique to the city.
And judging by Merin’s reaction, not knowing about this made you a fool or a country bumpkin. Better not to ask and risk embarrassment.
Simon’s mind worked through the situation, and he smiled broadly.
“You thought of me. Thank you, Merin.”
“…….”
Her frantic hand-fanning only accelerated.
“I-it’s not like that! I just felt sorry for you, that’s all! You and Dick won’t even get anything from the girls in your own class, so…….”
“Hi, Simon!”
Just then, two other girls from Class A approached.
“Here, Lemon Cake!”
“And mine’s Black Tea Cake! Thanks for teaching me the Combat Posture during our last Martial Theory class!”
They set their cakes one by one on top of Merin’s. Though Simon felt a bit flustered, he soon broke into a warm smile and spoke.
“Thanks, everyone! I’m glad I could help back then.”
“……Oh.”
The female students’ cheeks suddenly flushed a deep crimson.
“I’ll eat it gratefully.”
“Yeah, okay!”
An awkward yet oddly charged silence hung in the air. Then they waved goodbye first and hurried off to another spot.
“……That was, quite something.”
Merin, who had been watching with her arms crossed, let a bead of sweat roll down her temple.
“But that was three thank-you visits, including mine. So now that’s all of them…….”
“Simooooon!”
Who on earth was it this time?
Simon turned around to see Kamibarez, her face smudged with whipped cream, racing toward him. In her hands she clutched a large box containing a cake.
“Oh, Kamibarez.”
She stood before Simon and took a deep breath. Then, squeezing her eyes shut, she thrust the cake toward him.
“……Simon! I, I, I’ve caused you so much trouble and, and, thank you so much! Please keep taking care of me throughout this semester!!”
With that, she bent at the waist in an exaggerated bow and presented the large cake.
‘What is this Cake Day business, anyway? They’re doing all this because of me?’
Simon felt something bittersweet stirring in his chest. Merin, who had stepped closer to peek, widened her eyes in surprise as well.
“Wow! Homemade cake? That’s incredible…….”
At her words, Kamibarez’s face reddened further, and she shook her head vigorously.
“No, no! Homemade? I just bought it in Rochester…….”
“Kamibarez.”
Simon stepped closer and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. Then he gently wiped away the whipped cream smudged on her cheek.
“Wait, you’ve got something here.”
“……!!!”
Her face burned to its limit. In the next moment, she shoved the cake into Simon’s arms and vanished out of the Classroom like she was fleeing for her life.
“Why is she like that?”
“……Sigh, you really are something.”
Merin pressed her forehead and let out a long breath.
After that brief commotion, Simon took his seat and arranged the gifted cakes neatly on his desk.
Then, taking a moment to breathe, he slowly surveyed his surroundings.
The Classroom was now filled with colorful cakes scattered throughout, and a pink-tinged current of energy flowed between the boys and girls exchanging them.
Now Simon understood—that lively atmosphere he’d first sensed was the combination of reunion joy after the mission, plus the sheer power of Cake Day.
And there, in the far corner of the Classroom, sat Hector.
He was sprawled with his legs spread wide, his expression utterly exasperated, yet incongruously perched on his head sat a ridiculous Pointed Hat. Before his desk rose a mountain of cake boxes.
“Oh, hi there, Hector!”
Just then, a female student cautiously approached him. She was even from a different class.
“H, here! I prepared this…….”
“……Just put it anywhere and get out.”
“Kyaaahhh!”
She added another cake to the towering stack, her face beet red, and bolted from the Classroom.
The sight of Hector unable to even properly rage, just irritably scratching his head instead, was oddly amusing.
‘He’s having a rough time too.’
Simon was pulling out his textbook when it happened.
“Hey~ Simon.”
Simon looked up.
“Oh, Class Rep.”
Jamie Victoria.
After she’d saluted as class representative during Practical Toxicology, the students of Class A had taken to calling her the Class Rep.
With her short green hair and slender frame, at first glance it wasn’t always easy to tell whether she was female or a beautiful boy.
“Cheese flavor, vanilla flavor, or cinnamon flavor. Which do you like?”
She rummaged through the bundle slung over her back as she asked.
“I’m going with cinnamon…….”
“Oh! This one didn’t have many takers—thanks for picking it!”
She held out a Cupcake box to Simon as she spoke. Simon accepted it with thanks and asked, “Are you handing these out to all the boys in Class A?”
“Yep! To say I’m counting on you all for this semester. See you!”
She winked and headed elsewhere. Just behind Simon’s seat, two male students who had been sitting forlorn without a single cake lit up like they’d been saved by a savior as Jamie approached.
……Simon, you.”
Merin, who had settled into the seat beside him, gave him a meaningful look.
“You didn’t know about Cake Day?”
Simon’s shoulders twitched. Seeing his reaction, she shook her head with certainty.
“Let me tell you something. This is a school, a school. If you don’t want to be looked down on by kids your age, you’d better familiarize yourself with basic holidays and the latest trends like these.”
It was a fair point.
But then.
“Is there another holiday like this?”
“Of course!”
“Next time it’s probably the day boys give gifts to girls. What’s it called?”
Merin’s lips curled upward.
“Accessory Day.”
Simon let out a hollow laugh.
“…That’s unfair.”
“Come on, if girls had any conscience, would they give cakes and expect real jeweled accessories in return? It’s just trinkets being exchanged back and forth.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
She smiled brightly.
“Of course, if the boys really want to give gifts, I’m not going to stop them~”
…The world is truly unfair.
* * *
After the chaotic class preparation period ended, the first lesson at Kizen finally began.
The first class was Jane’s Elementary Dark Magic.
“I’ve heard that all of Class A has safely returned to Kizen. As your instructor, I find that satisfactory.”
Jane continued, looking around at the students.
“First, I have an important announcement.”
She took a new document from her assistant and read from it.
“Yes. Starting this week, the Duel Evaluation will begin.”
Ah—
Anxious murmurs broke out here and there. The buoyant mood that had filled the room during Cake Day rapidly froze over.
Jane pressed on with her explanation regardless.
“The Duel Evaluation will continue throughout the entire first semester. The rules are simple. You will engage in one-on-one combat with other first-year students at Kizen. Not just Class A, but everyone from the farthest Class N. All fourteen classes become your competitors.”
She approached the blackboard and held chalk in her hand, sketching a simple diagram.
“The victor advances to the Upper Squad, and the loser drops to the Lower Squad.”
Upper Squad 30%
Middle Squad 30%
Lower Squad 30%
Lowest Squad 10%
“The squads are updated every week. And those students who remain in the Lowest Squad by the end of the first semester…”
She turned to face the students, her voice cold.
“Will be expelled.”
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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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