Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 674

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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 674
At last, Hate, the administrator of the 2nd Legion, had returned to Bilkenos.
Though the number of Phantom Dullahans that moved with him had diminished considerably, killing the second brother and uncovering the Northern God’s location was a tremendous achievement.
The Northern God’s location was classified intelligence of the highest order, and it was now the most vital card for maneuvering the Kingdom Army that had entered Bilkenos — without knowledge of the geography of the Northern Region and Frost Field, they had no choice but to rely on the Grand Duke’s orders.
Back in Bilkenos, they immediately convened an emergency council.
Those attending the council were Grand Duke Jin Arscalt, Supreme Commander Ganiro, Butler Godric, and one trusted general and one elder chosen by the Grand Duke — five in total.
Simon was a treasured student of the Grand Duke, but as an outsider, opposition from the high-ranking officials kept him from entering.
“Hello there~”
Simon was sitting and resting near a castle window when a woman approached.
She was the first person Simon had grown close to since coming north to Kalos — Grayson, the milk vendor.
“Ah, hello, Grayson.”
“Would you like some milk?”
She thrust forward her milk container with a carefree smile.
“You look like you’re carrying some worries. At times like that, Reindeer Milk is the best remedy.”
“……A universal cure, it seems.”
“Hehe! That’s right!”
Unsure he could finish the milk in the container alone, he brought cups. Each of them filled a cup to the brim and drank while gazing out at the snow-covered landscape of the Northern Region beyond the window.
Reindeer Milk.
Its distinctive tart aftertaste didn’t quite suit Simon’s palate, but faced with Grayson’s carefree laughter, he couldn’t possibly say it was unpleasant. He drank earnestly.
“I come to this castle every single day to deliver milk,” she said.

“So I can feel the shifting atmosphere of the castle in my bones.”
“That’s interesting. What’s it like today?” Simon asked.
She closed her eyes slightly.
“War will come soon.”
‘!’
“An atmosphere sharp as a blade. When this kind of feeling flows through the castle, great battles always follow. And recently, after such an atmosphere came, there was the war with the three brothers.”
Even as Simon recoiled in surprise, he noted that Grayson’s expression as she spoke of “war” was remarkably composed.
Was it because Northerners lived each day as a continuous battle?
“Will you go to war too, Simon?”
Her sudden question jolted Simon from his reverie, and he answered quickly.
“Yes, it seems I will. I’m the Grand Duke’s student, after all.”
“I hope you return safely! And, ah—”
She smiled carelessly, her upper lip dusted white with milk.
“Before war, milk is essential. Strong bones mean you hunt the Undead better!”
Then she raised her cup. Simon chuckled softly and clinked his cup against hers.
“Thank you, Grayson.”

* * *
The emergency council concluded, and the date of departure was set.
The Grand Duke had already publicly declared she would face the Northern God within the time Simon remained in the Northern Region. The campaign would commence in three days.
Until then, Simon had to raise his capacity as a Legion Commander by any means necessary. Though he did not yet command tens of thousands of Undead as the Grand Duke had confidently stated before the generals, he needed to perform at that level.
With the schedule set, Simon wasted no time and threw himself into training.
He rose before dawn, ran along roads for physical conditioning, and once inside the Inner Castle, he strove to match the Grand Duke’s training regimen as closely as possible.
‘……A monster.’
Of course, it was impossible to match the training volume of someone who had maintained the same routine for over a decade. Simon found the Grand Duke’s Wide-Range Control Ability even more inexplicable than her physical capacity.
After physical training came Legion Commander lessons. Since the Northern God, having lost his three brothers, had concentrated all his forces in “the Abyss,” his own domain, Undead incursions had ceased, leaving no natural opponents for training.
The Grand Duke had no choice but to conduct drills using her own Undead.
A friendly exercise match between the 2nd Legion and the 7th Legion.
[Kahahaha! Don’t back down, boy! Sweep away those 2nd Legion scoundrels!]
Pier, caught up in the competition, bellowed. Simon stretched both arms wide, sweat pouring down his face.
‘Push forward!’
The Skeletons charged at the enemy lines with a rattling sound. The composition was eleven Summoned Undead and thirty Legion-type Undead.
Soon they clashed with the Grand Duke’s Skeleton forces.
Slash!
A Skeleton Rider wheeled around and thrust its spear at Simon’s face. Simon’s eyes flashed, and he issued orders to a rear Skeleton.
The rear Skeleton caught the Skeleton Rider’s spear thrust on its shield, then drove its own lance through the rider’s chest, scattering it.
‘I blocked it!’
“Impressive,” the Grand Duke said, approaching with folded arms and a knowing smirk.

“That makes twelve, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
Since coming to the Northern Region, Simon’s maximum number of controllable Summoned Undead had increased dramatically. From nine to twelve.
‘At this rate, I could even control a true dragon!’
Simon clenched his fist in delight.
The Grand Duke dismissed the troops and declared a rest, and the two of them sat on a nearby rock for a moment, drinking from their water flasks.
“…….”
“…….”
Since the victory celebration, the relationship between the two remained strained.
At first, Simon had found the awkwardness unbearable, but now he’d grown accustomed enough that it was no longer uncomfortable. He thought perhaps it was because the training was so grueling that he didn’t have the energy to dwell on such things.
Then.
“Presumptuous.”
For the first time in a while, the Grand Duke spoke first.
“I have a question.”
And it was a question at that.
Simon’s eyes widened as he looked at her.
“Yes?”
“Your father…….”
Even as she murmured this, her gaze suddenly shifted away.
“Your father is……!”
Then she let out a short breath—”Hah”—and grabbed the Helmet lying beside her, pulling it on. Only after hiding her body behind the armor did she seem to regain her composure, her eyes gleaming between the gaps of the Helmet.
[Is your father truly Yona?]
“…….”
Simon, who had been watching her in silence for a moment, rose to his feet.
[!]
He stepped close and carefully removed the Grand Duke’s Helmet with both hands. As it lifted away, long hair cascaded down like a waterfall. Her cheeks, slightly flushed, came into view.
Simon smiled gently and spoke.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“!”
Her face grew even redder than before.
“And didn’t I keep telling you? That you should look me in the eye when you speak?”
“You’re… you’re being presumptuous!”
The Grand Duke, flustered, snatched back the Helmet and shifted slightly further away as she sat.
She noticed her gaze trying to drift away, so she forced her eyes to focus and looked directly at Simon.
“Is… is Yona alive?”
“Yes.”
Joy kindled across her face.
“Then did he… did he marry?”
“Yes.”
Simon smiled.
It was something he’d learned recently from Pier, but he’d already suspected that she might know his father.
—Richard once came to the Northern Region.
That had been Pier’s answer when Simon complained that his relationship with her wasn’t improving.
Upon hearing that, Simon had wondered what connection might exist between his father and the Grand Duke. Her earlier question to him about who his father was had also been an important clue.
“He married in a small rural domain, and they had me together. They’re living well even now.”
“……I see.”
The trembling in her gradually subsided.
“So it was like that.”
The Grand Duke exhaled slowly.
Relief flooded through her.
All the oppressive feelings, the curiosities, and the various unnecessary emotions—it felt as though she could finally set them down at ease.
She only regretted that she hadn’t asked sooner.
“What happened between you and my father?”
Simon asked.
“It’s nothing of importance.”
She smiled with relief.
“He just went off on his own and foisted his responsibilities onto me.”
The two of them exchanged stories about Richard, their shared subject of conversation. Both acknowledging that Richard was an oddball, they burst into laughter together.
“That sounds like him—he gets scolded by my mother all the time.”
The Legion Commander who had been absorbed madly in directing troops was nowhere to be seen; instead, the Grand Duke quietly observed Simon laughing like a child his own age, speaking of family.
“So it was.”
The Grand Duke left it at that.
She didn’t ask who Yona had married.
Still, whoever she was—a woman who could rein in that notorious Yona and raise his son Simon with his bloodline running thick through the boy’s veins—she was no ordinary woman.
“Enough idle talk. Back to training.”
“Yes!”
But even so, she reflected.
Just as Yona had given her a chance, she ought to give his son the same opportunity to grow.

* * *
A lavish Mansion in Bilkenos.
Boldmont, Earl of the Northern Region and its warden, stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open.
A woman stepped inside. The Earl turned, and a thin smile crossed his face.
“I’ve been waiting.”
She was none other than the merchant who delivered Reindeer Milk to the Grand Duke’s castle every day.
“Grayson.”
The milk seller Grayson herself.
She approached with a pallid, exhausted face.
“I—I am honored to m—meet you, Earl Boldmont.”
“Good.”
The Earl spread his arms wide.
“But it seems a touch lacking in propriety. How did I tell you to show your respect?”
“……”
As she hesitated, the Earl’s eyes narrowed in a peculiar way.
“Surely you wouldn’t want to see your family’s reindeer farm—passed down through generations—end on your watch? And your elderly father, I trust he’s well?”
She bit her lip hard, trembling violently. Then slowly, she prostrated herself on the floor.
“I am honored to m—meet you, Earl Boldmont.”
The Earl’s eyes gleamed with joy.
“Yes, yes! That’s it!”
He laughed—a booming sound—and clapped his hands, then began pacing his chamber.
“You see, every time a Northerner bows their head before me, I feel such a curious pleasure!”
He gripped his own shoulders as he spoke.
“You Northerners are uncontrolled savages, aren’t you? You call me weak the moment you see me, you try to pour beer over my head—and yet here you stand before me, bowing to my power, to my wealth, to my authority!”
His face flushed with excitement, he strode over and lifted Grayson’s chin.
Her face—marked by sorrow—became visible.
“This is natural! This is how things should be! In the South, anyone of high rank and fortune receives a bow, a lowered head. And it’s only you Northerners who refuse this obvious, proper order!”
He released her chin and began pacing his chamber again, his steps long and eager.
“My dream is to build a new North! When this war is over, I will teach the Northerners refinement! If I’m to speak crudely, I might even call it ‘taming’! Of course, I’ll have to teach them how to obey their master as a matter of course!”
He turned to Grayson, his eyes gleaming.
“All the Northerners will prostrate themselves beneath my feet! You are merely the beginning!”
“……”
“My faithful servant Grayson—did you obtain the information?”
She trembled and extended a Note with shaking fingertips.
It contained detailed intelligence about the Northern Region’s council deliberations.
“Your Ability never ceases to impress me.”
He ran his tongue across his lips.
“An Ability to control birds—such a precious gift. Why do the Northerners fail to recognize it? They treat anything that doesn’t aid combat as contemptible. Isn’t that so? I alone have truly seen your worth!”
He unfolded the Note with the reverence of a man receiving a royal decree, and began to read.
“Hah!”
His mouth curved upward as he read.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
His shoulders shook with laughter as he rose from his seat.
“Your farm is yours to keep freely. And your father will soon recover from his ailment.”
“Th—thank you……”
Tears fell freely down her face, heavy with guilt. The Earl smiled with satisfaction.
“Think nothing of it. Your obedience is only the beginning. I promise you this—I will build a North where you need never feel such guilt again. Everyone will become like you.”
He rose from his seat and strode away.
“Butler.”
“Yes!”
The butler who had been waiting outside the door stepped forward.
The Earl laughed darkly.
“I need to see Commander Romario and Knight Kronos at once.”

* * *
Early the next morning.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
Merchants from the Northern Region pushed carts laden with vegetables and joints of meat.
Their destination was the Kingdom Army’s encampment.
“Damn it, why do they want us to haul meat along with the grain?”
“Tell me about it.”
The merchants trudged along, cursing under their breath.
Nominally these were reinforcements sent personally by the King for the Northern Region’s sake, so without proper supplies, there was bound to be talk later.
The central nobility would certainly seize on how the reinforcements were treated to spin it into insults against His Majesty or even treachery—it was as plain as day.
“Politics is dirty work no matter what. We just have to bear it.”
“Don’t even say it.”
The Northern merchants wound through an alley and arrived at the barracks where the Kingdom Army had made their camp.
“For heaven’s sake.”
The Kingdom Army soldiers were shuffling about the barracks with vacant expressions. They were unchanged—hollow eyes, exhausted faces, movements like the shambling of the dead.
“Won’t even acknowledge us when we arrive.”
“Let it be. Today’s rations! Come and get them!”
The merchant shouted loudly, but the Kingdom Army gave no response.
“I said come get them!”
“Ah, let’s just go. Maybe Kronos has cast some curse on the soldiers so they can’t hear anything!”
…….
Then one merchant’s eyes sharpened as he scanned the territory.
He could see the Kingdom Army’s banner snapping in the biting wind.
“Wait, something doesn’t feel right.”
Though the order had come down to stay away from the encampment because the atmosphere between the two forces was so ominous, the merchant quickened his pace toward it.
“Listen! If you get too close…!”
The merchant brushed off his companion and kept walking.
“No matter how I look at it, something’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“The wind direction is reversed.”
The wind was blowing from the northwest, yet the banners and tents ahead were fluttering in the opposite direction.
The merchants continued forward, but the Kingdom Army soldiers made no move to stop them, just standing vacantly.
The moment they passed through the soldiers and reached the encampment.
“Huh?”
Like ripples spreading from a stone dropped in a lake, the air shimmered and the surroundings warped.
The merchants’ eyes went wide.
“W-what?”
Something.
Was terribly wrong.
Whoooooooooosh—
The encampment where the Kingdom Army should have been was empty.
The barracks held no one. The crowds that had been swarming about moments before had vanished like ghosts. The merchants whipped their heads around.
“Wh-where’s the Kingdom Army…?”
The merchants’ jaws hung slack.
“The Kingdom Army has disappeared!”

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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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