REAPER SCANS
Necromancer Academy's Genius Summoner
[Translator - Ramen]
[Proofreader - Artethrax]
Chapter 287
The darkness of the forest was exceptionally thick.
In the middle of the forest, amidst the somber hoots of owls, a carriage rolled to a stop, making Simon and the other occupants lurch forward.
The horse pulling the carriage had reached its limit.
Its wound had healed, but it was still exhausted. It staggered to the ground with no sign of wanting to get up. They had no choice but to either camp for the night or abandon the carriage and travel on foot.
If they did set-up camp, they would have to make sure the area was safe, so Simon volunteered to scout the area alone.
'There's no poo or any footprints. I don't think there are any monsters nearby.'
Rustle.
As he was about to head back, a bush shook nearby. Being on complete alert, he immediately fired a round from the Bone Armor – Handgun he had already prepared on his arm.
Thud!
It sounded like he had hit something.
Simon quickly rushed over to it.
Searching through the bushes, he found a white mechanical object. The bone he had fired had hit perfectly in the center, and when he pulled it apart to see what it was made of, he discovered a divine magic circle.
[That's a Creature.]
Pier recognized it upon seeing the magic circle. It seemed he had some experience with these things.
[It is a type of summon that priests use for scouting.]
'If so, Efnel is indeed after us… I see.'
[Kuhehe! Based on how this one seems to be on its own and was methodically working through the brush, Efnel shouldn't be too close. But they will catch up to us soon enough.]
Simon nodded.
'I guess we should give up on camping and get moving right away.'
* * *
Meanwhile, back with the rest of the group, there were two people with strongly opposing viewpoints.
"We should at least get a good rest tonight and leave once it's morning!"
Meilyn insisted on camping.
"Given the urgency of the mission, we need to move now. Get Sasha standing!"
Seiwirr insisted on moving, even if that required them to walk.
"Nonsense! What do we do once we leave the forest without a carriage? And besides, Sasha is hurt!"
At Meilyn's furious argument, Camibarez nodded timidly in agreement. Sasha was glued to her side.
"If she can't move, I believe you guys can carry her."
"No, you see, that isn't the problem here…!"
Meilyn finally decided to make a serious stand against Seiwirr.
"This may not be the case for you, agent, but the rest of us fought in a fierce battle just a few hours ago! We're exhausted!! Besides, if you actually had a communication crystal ball to contact Vengeance HQ, we wouldn't be in the mess! We could just call for backup!"
"It fell from my pocket and got lost in the heat of battle. The heavens weren't on our side, but this is just one of the many variables in the actual field."
"Heat of the battle, you say…??! The only heat you know is keeping the seat warm while the rest of us work our butts off!!!"
Seiwirr shook his head, then pushed his bangs back with the back of his hand.
"If you continue to disrupt teamwork like this, you will have to be prepared for the lowest score, Agent Meilyn."
Meilyn's fists shook.
'It's not like I can hit this bastard or anything.'
He seemed very suspicious, but she had no evidence to prove he was lying.
Rustle.
Meilyn turned her head toward the sudden noise and saw Simon pushing through some bushes as he got back his scouting.
"Did something happen?"
Asked Simon, sensing the tension in the air.
"Simon! Say something, please!"
Meilyn came close and whispered,
"He keeps saying he's right and then uses scores to shut down any form of argument!"
Simon nodded in understanding and took a step closer to Seiwirr.
"First, after my scouting, I believe camping isn't a great choice."
Meilyn's mouth slammed shut as Simon sided at Sewirr. Meanwhile, Seiwirr smugly arranged his bangs.
"You sure do speak the same language as me, Agent Simon! That will be an extra few points in team—"
"I found this."
Simon opened his palm to show something that looked like a doll fragment.
Everyone's faces froze at that.
"Th-This is a Creature, isn't it? So they are really coming after us."
Said Rick in a mixture of fear and annoyance. Simon nodded, dropping the remains of the Creature to the ground.
"Before we fight the priests, let's deal with our internal problems first."
"Internal problems?"
"Yeah."
Simon turned his head.
"Agent Seiwirr."
"Yes."
"Did you really lose your communication crystal ball? Or did you not bring one with you in the first place?"
All eyes turned to Seiwirr, who frowned in displeasure.
"What are you suddenly implying, Agent Simon?"
"Agent Seiwirr, are you really our mentor necromancer?"
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Ramen
Proofreader - Artethrax
Join our discord for updates on releases!
* * *
A lot of things didn't line up.
When they first arrived in the neutral area and spoke to Seiwirr, Simon had seen a blurry name on the letter.
That name wasn't Seiwirr but someone else. However, he didn't manage to read any further.
On top of that, when they were attacked by the priests in Sasha's village—Khelso—the ground was scorched and cracking and buildings were torn down, but when he came back later, everything was completely fine again.
The villagers around them were also oddly calm. Even if it's the neutral area, it's strange to see them setting up stalls selling goods like it was any other day when a fierce battle had just broken out in the village.
Furthermore, Seiwirr didn't participate in the recent battle. He had even conveniently forgotten his communication crystal ball, which would've been enough to prove his identity.
Everything was just so strange.
Simon didn't really press the matter until now, but now that Efnel was about to attack, he thought that it was better to remove any uncertainty.
Seiwirr scoffed at Simon's accusation.
"Isn't this all your imagination? Aren't you jumping to conclusions, Agent Simon?"
"…"
"We're doing great right now. We even retrieved the captured target. I don't understand why you'd want to break our trust and tear apart out teamwork at a time like this. If you keep doing this, I'm going to have to give you the lowest possible sco—"
"Do it."
Everyone's eyes widened at Simon's shocking statement.
"However, I will state in front of the Kizen's disciplinary committee that Agent Seiwirr was never qualified to be my mentor in the first place."
"What?"
Simon looked Seiwirr right in the eye.
"I challenge you to a duel, Agent Seiwirr."
"Simon!!"
"Hey, hey! What's gotten into you?"
Camibarez and Rick tried to stop him, but Simon gave a smile to say that he was going to be fine.
"In Kizen, the only thing that matters is performance. If someone less skilled than me is my mentor, I think the school will understand."
"I can't overlook that statement."
Rrrrrrrrrumble!
A huge amount of jet-black bubbled around Seiwirr's body.
"I'm a union-approved Rank 3 necromancer who belongs to Vengeance! I will not tolerate any further insults!"
As Simon slowly whirred up his jet-black as well, Meilyn grabbed his hand in horror.
"You said Efnel is coming, too! This isn't the time for us to fight among ourselves!"
"It'll be quick. It's fine."
Reassured Simon before approaching Seiwirr.
"This is your last chance, Agent Simon!"
He warned solemnly.
"I have been granted lawful command of you people from Kizen. Apologize immediately and obey my orders!"
"If that's what you want, then show me what you got."
Simon took another step toward him.
"How dare you!!"
Seiwirr formed a magic circle on his palm and activated a dark spell. Smoke flowed out from his back like a massive cloak that carpeted the group behind him, and from that smoke rose six blurry giants.
Rick unknowingly let out an exclamation.
"It's a descension spell from necromancy! He's descending six at once?!"
Prince Andre, who had reached the second year at Kizen, had only used a single descended entity in his fight against Simon. But Seiwirr had brought out six.
"This really is your last warning."
Seiwirr pushed his bangs completely back, lifting his chin as he sneered at Simon.
"Back off."
But Simon kept walking.
Seiwirr's eyes shook in panic. He had expected Simon to back down at this point
"Ahem! I-It's not too late yet! I shall forgive you if you back down right—!"
"Let us continue. This is a duel, isn't it?"
"One! Final! Chance!"
The four spectators blinked in surprise at the sudden turn of events.
"Don't test my patience! Stop right there, Simon Polentia!"
Again, Simon ignored him. At last, Seiwirr flung his arm down to command his spirits to attack.
"Surrender!!"
The six descended spirits swung their weapons.
Swoooooosh!
And they stopped just right before Simon's neck. Simon's groupmates screamed in horror.
What's more, Simon dared to push his neck into one of the descended spirits' weapons. However, instead of decapitating him right there and then, it passed right through his body.
"Illusions."
Simon stretched out his hand to touch the body of the descended spirit, but again, it just passed through. The eyes of everyone watching widened in surprise.
"You've been tricking us with your illusions from the beginning, haven't you? From the blank letter to the fight against the priests in the village."
"Kugh…!"
Seiwirr stepped back with a red face, then turned and began to flee into the forest.
Fwhiiip!
In less than a moment, an enchanted rope flew in and wrapped around Seiwirr's legs.
'Ugh!'
He fell to the ground with a grunt.
"Where do you think you're going~?"
It was Rick.
Seiwirr was dragged across the ground to where the students and Sasha were gathered.
"W-Wait, agent Rick! I know you trust m—"
"Oh man… The more I think about it, the shitter I feel."
Spat Rick, stomping on Seiwirr's foot.
"So you've been playing us all this time?"
"Kuhugh! N-No, that's not…!"
"Move, commoner."
Meilyn approached, clenching her fists.
"I have a business with him, too."
"N-No!"
"Guys, wait."
Simon tried to stop them, but Meilyn shouted back in fury,
"Hey, don't stop us now!"
"Let's at least hear what happened first. We can beat him up afterwards."
"So either way I'm going to end up getting beaten!"
In the end, Seiwirr, who claimed to be their mentor, was subdued by the students. They tied him up and forced him to spill the truth.
Seiwirr was a rookie who had only been in Vengeance for a year. His claim of being a union-approved Rank 3 was a lie, and he was just a Rank 1 necromancer. Of course, the fact that he graduated from Kizen was also a lie. He was a dropout from the Alland necromancer school.
He was inferior in many ways as a professional necromancer, but his illusions were of considerable skill. Thus, he was assigned undercover missions for Vengeance.
However, despite his excessive arrogance, he was full of mistakes. His reputation at Vengeance fell quickly, and he was soon found to be practically useless.
He was harshly scolded by the president of Vengeance and told not to even dream about ranking up to Rank 2.
In the end, Seiwirr found out that his name was on the list for layoffs in the second half of the year. No one in the necromancer industry would ever hire him if getting fired by Vengeance was on his record.
He had to survive. He had to achieve something to survive.
And then, just in time, two big missions came in for Vengeance.
It was the dispatch for Kizen students and the retrieval of a potential Saintess candidate.
Seiwirr came up with a great idea. Rather than sitting back and getting fired, he decided to accomplish both of the missions at the same time.
Seiwirr lurked in the village, waited for the students of Kizen to arrive, and then when they reached the neutral area, he cast an illusion to bring them to him.
He then convinced the students that he was their mentor and carried out his plan to accomplish the important mission: he would secure the saintess candidate with the power of students.
He left the task entirely to the skilled Kizen students, while he waited from a distance under the guise of education. As expected from students of Kizen, they were magnificent and succeeded in securing Sasha.
Now, if he could return to Vengeance HQ proudly and declare his success, he believed that would change the way his boss and coworkers viewed him.
"…You're totally insane."
However, his identity had been discovered by the students and he ended up tied up.
Squatting in front of him, Meilyn boomed,
"Do you think Kizen is some joke? Do you think missions are a joke?! Why do we have to go through this trouble because of your damn greed?!!"
"I-I'm sorry."
Seiwirr, who had been acting so smugly, had prostrated himself on the floor, throwing away all his pride in a matter of minutes.
Meilyn glared at him fiercely as her anger only burned stronger. Rick also threw in his own thoughts.
"Should we just tie him to a tree and leave him there to feed the monsters? We could just say he was killed in battle."
Tears quickly formed in Seiwirr's eyes.
"P-Please! I'm so sorry! P-Please, please spare my life…!!"
Then, Simon stepped forward.
"I'd like to question him further, but there's no time. We must get to safety before Efnel's pursuit becomes more serious."
Having said that, Simon turned to Seiwirr.
"Agent Seiwirr, there's something I need you to do."
"Wh-What is it? I'll do anything to save my life!"
Simon grinned like a devil.
"You'll be our bait."
——
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