Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 62

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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 Prodigy of the Necromancer School — Episode 62
Simon arrived at first-period Hemomancy class looking hollow-eyed, having stayed up all night.
But his condition was poor. He needed to take notes on what was written on the blackboard, yet the board appeared to split into three versions before his eyes.
‘I must have drained myself too much last night.’
As Simon drifted in a half-conscious haze, Merin beside him nudged him repeatedly with her elbow.
“Hey. What’s wrong with you?”
“…I pulled an all-nighter and my condition’s shot.”
Merin let out a small sigh.
Then she lifted the bag hanging from her desk onto her lap, rummaged through it, and pulled out a white medicine bottle.
“Come on, stick your tongue out.”
“What is that?”
“Fatigue Recovery Pill. I take it on nights when I don’t sleep. Open your mouth.”
Simon opened his mouth awkwardly, and she plucked a single pill between her fingertips and flicked it inside.
“Don’t bite it. Just let it sit there. That stuff is really potent—if you crack it open, the smell will fill the whole classroom.”
Merin then pulled a water bottle from her bag and handed it over. Simon nodded in thanks, unscrewed the cap, and brought it to his lips.
Glug.
“…?”
When Simon turned his head, Merin was blushing deeply, her expression tense for some reason.
“What?”
“Ah, never mind! Just finish drinking before the Teaching Assistants get here!”
Simon pulled the bottle back slightly from his lips, swallowed the water, and gulped down the pill.
“Thanks, Merin.”
Merin, taking back the water bottle, turned her head away, feeling suddenly self-conscious.
Just then, Dick from the desk behind leaned his head forward between the two of them.
“Yikes! You scared me!”
“Hehehehe, I heard it all. Heard it all. Heard every single word~”
As Dick hummed mischievously, Merin reflexively growled at him.
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Whatever it is, just stop!”
Dick withdrew his head and shrugged. Then he noticed Kamibarez diligently taking notes beside him.
“Kamibarez.”
“Yes, what is it, Dick?”
“Nothing major. I just thought, between a boy and a girl, the phrases ‘stick your tongue out’ and ‘open your mouth’ flying back and forth—what kind of situation do you think that actually…”
Both of Kamibarez’s cheeks flushed crimson. And Merin, whose face burned even hotter, began pounding Dick’s head with her notebook.
“You absolute maniac!”
“Ow! Ow! Why are you hitting me! I was just stating facts…!”
“Simon!”
Kamibarez spoke in a trembling voice.
“Y-you can’t say things like that! We’re still minors! I…!”
Simon made an aggrieved face.
‘I just sat here quietly and took a pill. Why am I getting scolded?’
“Now, now, students~”
A voice suddenly flew past Simon’s ears, and the group froze, turning their heads. A Teaching Assistant had appeared at some point, arms folded behind his back, smiling.
“Have you all finished your notes and now you’re just chatting~”
It was the kind of soft, singsong voice one uses when speaking to small children.
“T-Teaching Assistant! That is…”
“All four of you, stand up.”
Ultimately, the four were summoned to the back of the classroom.
“Arms straight out to your sides and touch your ears~ Yes, just like that. If you try to cheat, I’ll get cross, okay~”
Even the punishment felt oddly endearing. The moment the Teaching Assistant stepped away, Merin shot Dick a sharp look.
“I’m so embarrassed! This is your fault!”
“But that’s just it—all I did was state the facts…”
“Don’t fight! We’ll get in trouble again!”
Meanwhile, Simon stood alone, gazing toward the blackboard.
His vision had cleared again somehow. Whether it was the pill working or the adrenaline from standing punished, his drowsiness had vanished.
“Merin.”
“Hmm?”
“That medicine you gave me—it really works.”
At Simon’s compliment, she broke into a smile and puffed out her chest proudly.
“Hmm, of course! This stuff is incredibly expensive…….”
“A pill? What kind of pill?”
“Just be quiet for a moment.”
Just then, another Teaching Assistant from Silaji rushed into the lecture hall.
“Professor Silaji will be about twenty minutes late! We’re moving the break period up a bit.”
He spoke while glancing at his wristwatch.
“You’ll have thirty minutes of rest starting now.”
At those words, the quiet classroom erupted into chatter. As the break began, Simon and his group, who had been standing as punishment, were able to return to their seats naturally.
“Wait, teammates. Look at me for a second.”
When Dick gestured, the three who had been turning back to their seats turned to face him. They gathered in a quiet corner of the classroom.
“What is it now?”
Merin grumbled.
“I was going to mention this at lunch, but since we have time, I’ll tell you now.”
“?”
Dick pulled out a slip of paper from his jacket pocket.
“Heh, I’ve got information about your Duel Evaluation opponents. Let me start with the most urgent—Simon.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You were preparing the Skeleton Archer for this Duel Evaluation, right?”
Simon nodded.
“You should drop that right now.”
“Why?”
“I’m not a hundred percent certain, but your matchup with your opponent is terrible.”
Dick read from the slip of paper with a serious voice.
“Your opponent’s name is Haren Coke. From an infamously powerful Necromancer family in the Oldwin Kingdom. The Dark Magic he uses is Black Hand.”
“Black Hand? I’ve never heard of it.”
Merin, on the other hand, seemed to have an idea, her eyes narrowing.
“……It must be a family-exclusive Dark Magic.”
“Bingo! Simply put, he pulls out something like a hand made of Dark Element from his back, and it’s supposedly excellent at defending against long-range projectiles. It can easily swat away even high-speed Dark Element arrows.”
Simon nibbled at his lip slightly.
If it could swat away even Dark Element arrows so easily.
“The Skeleton Archer’s arrows likely won’t get through, Simon.”
“……Ugh.”
Simon swallowed hard.
He’d made up his mind to go with Summoning, but he wasn’t so stubborn that he’d push forward with the Skeleton Archer despite such an obvious bad matchup.
While Simon was considering other options, Dick continued.
“Black Hand is a powerful method for both offense and defense, but it has a clear weakness. While Haren Coke maintains Black Hand, he can’t use any other Dark Magic.”
“Ah, if that’s the case, the strategy is obvious!”
Kamibarez spoke with bright eyes.
“Curses!”
“Right.”
Merin agreed as well.
“If both long-range and close-range attacks are difficult, you just maintain distance and stack Curse effects to weaken him. It’s an easy win, right? You could just practice Exgust for the rest of the time!”
Simon leaned his back against the wall and pondered.
He’d finally felt fired up again while assembling the Skeleton Archer, and now this variable had appeared.
He found himself thinking that nothing in this world ever went exactly as planned.
‘What should I do.’
Time was limited. Should he push forward with the Skeleton Archer? Or should he break his original resolve and practice Curses instead?
Or perhaps there was another way.
‘…….’
Simon’s eyes gleamed with clarity.

* * *
Days passed quickly, and now the Duel Evaluation was just one day away.
Merin, who had arrived at the lecture hall early again this morning, sat in her chair with a yawn. In the front seats, students who had arrived earlier were huddled together, chattering earnestly about the Duel Evaluation.
“Ugh, I’m nervous. How do I deal with Combat Divination?”
“I heard the Leg Down Curse from Professor Bahil counters it directly!”
“I’m most scared of the Deadly Toxicology students. My Barrier Gauge just keeps getting whittled away…….”
“Sigh, I just hope I don’t face anyone from Curse Studies.”
Merin let out a dry laugh as she listened to their talk.
It would be better to spend time on personal training rather than worrying about opponents and matchups.
Isn’t that enough—if I’m strong and confident in my skills?
She was clicking her tongue inwardly and reaching for her textbook when it happened.
“……Hi, Merin.”
“Whoa!”
She spun around in alarm.
Simon’s gaunt face appeared before her, shadowed by dark circles so deep they looked like bruises. He managed a weary smile. “Merin, you’re looking good today. Did you do something new with your hair?”
“…….”
Merin’s frown deepened.
What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?
“Who told you to say things like that?”
“Dick.”
“Ugh.”
The way Simon mimicked Dick’s tone made her skin crawl. And it didn’t suit him at all.
“Never mind. Why did you come out of nowhere like this? Just tell me what you want.”
“……Medicine.”
“Sigh.”
Merin grumbled but fished a bottle of pills from her bag and handed it over. Once Simon took one of her pills, some semblance of alertness returned to him.
“Do you know how much more anxious it makes me, watching you like this? What’s been going on with you lately?”
“Preparing for the Duel Evaluation.”
Merin’s frown deepened again.
“Yeah, okay. I get it—it’s good that you’re putting in the work. But you’re going to actually collapse like this. These pills aren’t magic fatigue erasers, you know? Even I only take them now and then.”
“I just have to hold out until tomorrow’s Duel Evaluation. That’s all.”
“……You’re insane.”
Class began shortly after.
But even once the lesson started, Simon’s condition only continued to deteriorate.
Throughout the entire class, he couldn’t concentrate, just scribbling strange things in his notebook and muttering to himself.
“Dick! What is wrong with him?”
Merin finally couldn’t help asking Dick. Dick looked troubled too, dragging his hand through his hair with a complicated expression.
“I don’t know. Lately he barely comes back to the room, and half the time when I wake up, he’s already gone.”
Kamibarez, watching with concern, tugged repeatedly at Dick’s sleeve.
“He’s going to collapse like this. We have to do something. Dick!”
“Exactly. You’re his roommate!”
“Do you think I didn’t try? The problem is, he won’t listen to a word I say.”
Dick turned his head away.
Even during break time, Simon was still scribbling strange doodles in his notebook like a madman—completely absorbed in whatever had captured his attention, oblivious to everything else around him.
“I’m guessing he’ll stay like this until the Duel Evaluation is over. My guess is he’s preparing some new Dark Magic technique.”
“New Dark Magic?”
Merin let out a soft laugh.
“What’s the point? He could just practice Exgust a bit and beat the opponent easily.”
“……New Dark Magic is fine and all, but I still think health comes first, you know?”
Merin scratched her head in irritation, then her eyes lit up.
“This won’t do. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”
Dick propped his hand behind his head.
“I’d skip that if I were you. Nothing gets through to him anymore.”
“Just watch.”
Merin steeled herself and walked over to Simon.
“Hey, Simon! If you keep doing this……!”
Simon slowly turned his head.
‘……Huh!’
His eyes were completely unhinged.
When the boy suddenly fixed her with that unsettling stare, Merin faltered, her voice stumbling.
“Y-you’ll ruin your health, and I’ve already told you that several times……!”
“Thanks for worrying about me, Merin. I promise I’ll get plenty of rest starting tomorrow.”
Then he turned back to his notebook and resumed scribbling.
‘This isn’t what I wanted to say at all.’
Merin was still figuring out what to say next when Simon suddenly jolted to his feet. She let out a startled yelp.
“Dick.”
This time Dick flinched and answered.
“Huh? Y-yes?”

“What I asked for…….”
“Oh, news about Professor Aaron? I think we’ll know once lunch period rolls around.”
“Right. Thanks.”
Simon sat back down and returned to his notes.
The three of them turned their worried gazes toward him.
What sort of dark magic was he preparing anyway?

* * *
That evening.
Aaron was entering Kizen.
He wore nothing like his usual rumpled teaching clothes. Instead, he cut a sharp figure in the Kizen Headquarters Uniform, draped with a Black Fur Cloak.
A few of the building’s servants cleaning the halls wouldn’t have recognized him as Aaron.
‘……I’m exhausted.’
The mission had ended earlier than expected.
Today was supposed to be a rest day, but he’d stopped by the Research Room to prepare for his classes.
‘Suffocating.’
As Aaron walked toward the Research Room, he stripped off his overcoat in one motion and loosened his necktie. With each step, his outfit grew lighter, and the bundle of clothes in his right hand accumulated.
By the time he’d shed several layers and reached the Research Room door, he found someone sitting on the floor. With hollow eyes, the figure was scanning through a notebook, muttering strange words to himself.
“……Simon Polentia.”
Simon lifted his head. Upon spotting Aaron, he leapt to his feet and bowed respectfully.
“Professor Aaron!”
“What are you doing here?”
Simon, whom Aaron hadn’t seen in a week, looked somehow hollow and gaunt.
Simon spoke with careful politeness.
“There’s something I’d very much like to ask you about, sir.”
“…….”
Aaron said nothing, only glancing at the watch on his wrist.
“It’s past quitting time, isn’t it?”
“……Ah.”
“I’m joking.”
Aaron chuckled.
“Resolving a student’s concerns is part of a professor’s duty. Come in.”

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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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