Chapter 299
"Hey, isn't that Agent Seiyur?"
Seiyur, who had been trying to sneak out the back door carrying his office belongings, flinched at the shoulders.
"It is Agent Seiyur, right?"
Led by Simon, the team members swarmed over.
"Ev, everyone…!"
Seiyur wanted nothing more than to crawl into a mouse hole, but because the team surrounded him, he missed his timing to escape.
"Hmph."
Dick looked coldly at the bundle in Seiyur's hands.
"Looks like you got fired from Vengeance."
Seiyur's face twitched, and then he hung his head low.
Gone was the self-assured man who used to flick his bangs with the back of his hand while bragging about his heroic feats. Now, sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, unkempt beard, and dried, brittle hair could be seen.
He looked like a completely different person from before.
"What happened to you all this time?"
Simon asked.
Seiyur finally lowered his head deeply and explained what had happened.
He said he had been investigated by the Dark Alliance. Although, as a result, the Dark Alliance had gained from the incident, such as weakening the Holy Federation's influence in the Neutral Zone, the crime of falsifying official duties was heavy.
In the end, he was sentenced to permanent expulsion from the necromancer community.
"Per, permanent expulsion…?"
Kind-hearted Kamibarez lowered her eyebrows in sympathy, but Dick, hands in his pockets, said coldly,
"Serves you right."
Seiyur flinched again. Maelyn joined in.
"Wow, for once I agree with a commoner. I also can't forgive you for hiding the communication crystal until the very end."
With Dick and Maelyn pressing him, Seiyur's head drooped like a withered flower.
"Hah, I have nothing to say to you students. It was all because of my greed and rash actions. …I'll live my life repenting forever. I'm sorry."
'Hmm.'
Seeing someone who used to be so full of confidence now bowing with such a lifeless expression made Maelyn, despite his crimes, feel a little sorry for him as a person.
"Seiyur."
At that moment, Agent Blark and his secretary approached. Seiyur lowered his head even further.
"Take care."
"You caused nothing but trouble, but still, thanks for your work until now."
Surprisingly, the two reacted quite plainly.
"I truly have nothing to say to you two either… I'm sorry."
Seiyur trudged toward the exit. Watching his back, Blark sighed.
"Feels bittersweet."
Dick replied,
"I thought you'd be glad to see him gone."
"He caused trouble every other day and was a loss to the organization, but there was a reason I kept him. Whatever else, he was phenomenal when it came to the Illusion World."
The secretary nodded.
"Exactly. If he had just been content with espionage work, but no, he kept trying to overreach himself, and that's how he ended up like this."
"..."
"Alright, alright, enough talk about the guy who's gone. Students, let's get to Keyzen before it's too late. I'll give you a ride."
Just then, Maelyn was standing with her arms folded, looking unusually serious.
"Maelyn?"
"Ah, ah."
By then, the others were already following the secretary. She forced a smile.
"Kami, before I teleport, I'm going to the restroom real quick."
"Okay, sure."
As she was trotting toward the restroom, Maelyn suddenly turned sharply and slipped out through the back door Seiyur had taken.
She saw his slouched shoulders as he walked away.
"Seiyur, wait a second."
Seiyur turned around.
"A, Agent Maelyn?"
"Here."
She took a business card from her inner pocket and handed it to him.
Seiyur accepted it with a bewildered face.
"…What's this?"
"You said you can never work as a necromancer again, right? Then you have to find another path."
She brushed her hair back by her ear and cleared her throat with an exaggerated little cough.
"It's the business card of the owner of Langerstine Grand Theatre. Take this to the main theatre and meet the owner. Tell them Maelyn Villene sent you, they'll understand."
—Whatever else, he was phenomenal when it came to the Illusion World.
Maelyn agreed with Agent Blark's words.
Especially when they first went to Kelso Village to find Sasha, to create that many priest illusions and pretend to block all those attacks by himself… in a way, it was impressive.
After all, everyone except Simon was completely fooled.
And if you looked at his face… though he had a greasy, over-buttered style, overall, he wasn't bad-looking.
Maybe not as a necromancer, but as an actor, he might have great potential.
"Go there and beg them to let you do whatever job they have. They'll let you in."
Seiyur, holding the card, looked dazed. It seemed he had never once considered acting.
"Th, thank you for thinking of me. But how does a student from Keyzen have theatre connections…?"
"Ack, ah! Never mind! Don't ask!"
Maelyn flushed and yelled before running off as if to escape.
Seiyur stared blankly in the direction she had gone, then looked down at the business card again.
Langerstine Luiba Grand Theatre. Theatre Owner Luiba.
'A second life…'
His gaze stayed fixed on the card.
* * *
"Finally back in Keyzen!"
Dick threw both arms in the air and shouted.
From the now-familiar teleportation magic circle hill, the Keyzen campus could be seen below.
"Good job, everyone!"
"Great work~"
Everyone exchanged bright smiles and greetings.
"Man, getting some fresh air is nice for a day or two, but the Neutral Zone is so bleak, Keyzen's the best!"
Simon smiled and replied to Dick.
"When we crossed into the Neutral Zone, you said Keyzen felt stifling and it was nice to be outside."
"That's how it is, before you go to the bathroom and after you go, your mindset changes."
Everyone chuckled quietly. Maelyn checked her watch.
"We've got plenty of time. Let's rest for the day and meet tomorrow with a fresh start! Dismissed!"
Simon headed to the male dorms, Maelyn and Kamibarez to the female dorms.
Dick, worried about how his business had been running in his absence, decided to head straight to Rochest.
'Feels like we were out for months.'
When Simon entered the dormitory, it was different from the usual lively atmosphere. It seemed most of the students on dispatch evaluation had yet to return.
Climbing the stairs, he reached the fourth floor.
In this familiar scene that felt just like coming home—
'Huh?'
—there was one unfamiliar thing.
On the fourth-floor hallway floor, a thick trail of blood was smeared like a path.
Simon's drowsy expression instantly hardened. The hairs on his body stood on end as tension surged through him.
He held his breath and slowly followed the trail.
'Tch.'
Unfortunately, the blood trail led right to Room 409.
With his face taut with tension, Simon gripped the doorknob.
'Open Gate.'
Six subspaces opened around him, Overlord ready to strike at any moment.
Then he opened the door.
Click!
The moment it opened, he saw someone collapsed on the floor of 409. A gray-haired man lay on the dorm floor, covered in blood.
"Ka, Kajan!"
Simon dropped to one knee and shook his shoulder.
"Stay with me! Kajan!"
"He wasn't willing to talk."
"!?"
Out of nowhere, a third person's voice came from within the otherwise empty room.
Simon's shoulders trembled as he raised his head. There had been no sign of anyone inside, yet now, strands of long hair swayed into view.
Someone was sitting on the windowsill.
Hair so long it could be mistaken for a woman's, a slender jaw, and a chilling voice.
"He said he'd just wait, but then decided to pick a fight. Anyway—"
Simon realized that the worst kind of crisis had arrived.
"I've been wanting to meet you, Simon Follentia."
That sticky, oppressive Darkness—Simon had never seen him before, but he could guess.
A man using the exact same Darkness as the Ancient Undead Talaze he had once fought.
Magnus Alban.
The 5th Legion Commander was standing before him.
'...'
His body and thoughts froze.
They say you can be so shocked you can't speak, this was exactly that. The color drained from his face, his lips went dry.
If he made the wrong move here—
He would die.
[Be careful, boy.]
Feer's voice in his head was deadly serious.
[That man might as well already have his hands around your throat. Make an opening to summon the subspace. If I can get out, I can take him.]
Revealing a Legion openly within the school might mean giving up his life at Keyzen, but right now, this was a matter of survival.
Simon steeled himself and raised his head.
"…Who are you?"
For now, he chose to show hostility.
It was only natural—after all, his roommate had been attacked.
"Recently, I heard a very interesting report."
Magnus ignored the question and went on.
"In a place called Kelso in the Neutral Zone, an incomplete Saint of Purification appeared, and the one who defeated the Saint was a mysterious wanderer. And the one who broke through the barrier and went in was that same wanderer, yet traces of a large-scale battle were found. Isn't that fascinating? So I sent my men to investigate."
The corner of his mouth lifted.
"And they found the same wavelength as an Ancient Undead I've been desperately searching for."
Simon swallowed dryly.
"At the time, most of my surveillance was tied up on a kid named Loraine, and then this happened. Which means it wasn't Loraine. And coincidentally, among the students assigned to that mission, your name appeared."
Magnus leaned his head forward.
"The name I've been watching closely all this time, Simon Follentia!"
Shhhk!
Sensing Magnus's movement as an attack, Overlord's blades poured down.
Thud!
Thunk!
But the blades were blocked by some invisible wall.
"Hmm."
He grabbed one of the blades rushing for his face with his bare hand and examined it.
"I don't feel the power of a Legion in this."
Vwoooom!
Simon's spinning kick came for his jaw. With an annoyed look, Magnus blocked it with a single raised finger, speaking in a languid voice,
"Not this obvious stuff."
His other hand reached for Simon's throat.
"Show me your real power. Otherwise, you die here—"
Crack!
A red spike dropped from the ceiling and pierced into Magnus' palm, pinning his hand.
With an indifferent expression, Magnus looked up.
"What's this?"
In that instant, a man clad in crimson bone armor appeared in front of Simon.
Craaaash!
Magnus, who hadn't budged an inch, was kicked in the chest, sent flying through the window with a shattering crash.
When Simon looked up in shock, the skull mask covering the man's face came off, revealing a familiar face.
"It's dangerous, so stay back."
Simon's eyes widened.
"Professor Aron!!"