Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

A woman in a formal suit with neatly trimmed, short hair stepped behind Bahil and Belya harassing students with a disapproving glare and a clipboard held at her waist.

Bahil clicked his tongue but smiled nonetheless.

"It's nothing, Vice-President."

“…I feel like I just heard a tongue click, but I'll let it slide. The ceremony is about to begin. Please return to your seats."

Bahil returned to the great hall alongside Belya, who was laughing in delight, and the other students.

Just as Jane was about to turn back and go in…

"Professor Jane! We've safely returned!"

Simon greeted her with a smile. Jane glanced back and lightly nodded.

"You have. I am glad you all made it back without much trouble."

"Professor Jane is like a stone. I thought she'd soften up a bit if we got closer to her."

"Is that so?"

Simon laughed.

"I feel like she's quite pleased to see us."

“…You must be crazy."

"Simon~"

Simon looked back toward the voice calling his name.

"Ah, Cami!"

Camibarez approached with short, quick steps, in her uniform after a long time. The bat wings on her back were flapping with delight.

"Hey! What was that? Did Professor Jane say anything?"

Behind her was Meilyn, her light blue hair flowing behind her like a river.

"Nothing, she just said she was glad to see us back safe."

"The Professor Jane did? That's unexpected."

Camibarez came closer and smiled.

"Classes are starting back up now! Let us do our best!"

She cheered as she clenched her fists in excitement.

Everyone's expressions softened. For some reason, they felt relaxed and healed.

"Of course! Let's survive this fourth BDMAT, and go on to the fifth one as we—!"

"You're not dead yet, you trash?"

Rick turned his head.

A huge man, Hector, was sneering with his hands in his pockets.

"What a shame."

Around him, Hector's infamous faction snickered and chuckled.

Hector's expression became serious when, after a good bit of sneering at Rick, he momentarily looked at Simon. Then, he turned his back, saying, "Let's go."

His faction followed after him.

"Hector, come on! Tell us about when you fought against three priests in the neutral area!"

"Wasn't it five priests?"

Meilyn sighed as she watched Hector's group bustle about.

"I wonder when they'll grow up?"

Rick chimed in, chuckling.

"They don't even annoy me anymore. They're just children who need some attention."

Camibarez pushed the three of them forward.

"We should hurry and go in, too!"

* * *

Upon entering the great hall, Simon and his group were stunned.

"Wh-What is all this?"

An astonishing scene unfolded before them. The straight rows of seats in the great hall were gone, replaced by round tables.

And in the center of the room was a buffet with all kinds of luxurious food ready to be eaten.

Chefs bustled around, filling plates with freshly cooked, piping hot meals, and musicians were playing classical music at the front of the stage.

"Wh-What? A banquet?"

“…This is insane."

The students were excited. Simon and his group quickly grabbed one of the round tables in the front before the other students arrived.

They took off their uniform jackets and hung them on the chairs to claim their seats, then went to grab some food.

'There’s so much food I've never seen before.'

Simon, who used to live in the mountains, couldn’t keep his eyes in one place. He could never get used to parties like these. He first filled his plate with familiar foods and returned to the table.

The other three had returned first and were already chatting.

No two people had grabbed the same thing. Rick was all about the carbs and fish, Meilyn preferred salads and pasta, and Camibarez liked meat dishes.

"Would you like to have a glass of wine?"

A tall waiter approached. Rick asked back, surprised,

"C-Can we drink alcohol? Even if we're in school?"

"Nefthis has given special permission just this once."

"Wow!"

It was obvious that Kizen had put a lot of work into this banquet.

"Well, seeing them arrange something like this for us, maybe they felt a little guilty sending students to the neutral area and having us endure such hardship?"

Meilyn sipped her wine gracefully, flipping back her hair. It seemed she liked this kind of occasion.

She seemed easy going when they were together, but at times like this, she had the grace of a high noble.

"Ahh!"

Her eyes widened as she took a sip of the wine.

"This wine isn't one of those cheap ones you would find in a Rochest pub! It has quite the exquisite aroma!"

Simon took a sip as well and nodded pleasantly.

Camibarez sipped on orange juice, perhaps finding alcohol a bit overwhelming.

"L-Let me take the plates away."

Just then, a woman dressed as a maid appeared with timid steps, pushing a cart and stacking the empty plates onto it.

Meilyn delicately finished off the last of her sauteed mushrooms and held out the empty plate.

"This one too, plea— Ah?!"

She was startled and couldn’t help but point at the maid.

"Assistant Teacher?! What are you doing here?"

The woman in the maid's outfit was none other than the chief assistant teacher of Jane.

"Shhhhhhhh!"

She exclaimed, raising her finger to her mouth with a reddened face.

"It's embarrassing, so please be quiet!"

She looked like she was about to cry as Simon, Rick, and Camibarez's gazes locked onto her.

"A-Aren't you supposed to be kind enough to pretend you don't know me at times like this?"

* * *

* * *

"Pfft."

As Meilyn covered her mouth and laughed uncontrollably, the chief assistant teacher's face turned even redder.

‘…Th-This is awkward.'

Simon tried to stand up to put his empty plate on the cart, but the 'maid' pushed Simon back down, telling him to stay seated.

"Wh-What are you doing here, Assistant Teacher?"

Asked Camibarez with a wide-eyed stare.

“Ahem… It's all about making a living."

"?"

The assistant teacher shook her head.

"You guys shouldn't be so familiar with this since you're living in the prime of your lives, but it's all these little setbacks that add up and make you an adult."

“…”

As some kind of bittersweet mood formed, the assistant teacher quickly added,

"Ah, it's not really a big deal. We just got a volunteer request because they were short-staffed here. So we played a game of rock-paper-scissors among the assistant teachers to pick five people, and it ended up like this…”

While talking, small tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm working as a maid after all those years of service…”

"P-Please cheer up."

Encouraged Camibarez.

"Assistant Teacher."

Rick butted in. Knowing his personality well, her eyes had already started watering.

"I'll actually cry if you make fun of me."

"No, no, it's not that… At least you're doing better than that person."

Rick pointed to the side.

Next to their table, Brett, the assistant teacher for Combat Dark Magic, was also clearing dishes in a maid outfit.

His maid outfit was about to rip because of his bulging muscles, and the body hair peeking out from under his wide skirt was causing the students’ appetite to drop in real time.

"Mm."

The chief assistant teacher gave a bitter smile.

"That's cheering me up a bit."

"Yeah!"

And just like that, the mood of the dining room was ripening.

But naturally, when unbridled happiness lasts for too long, you start to question it.

"Ugh, this is making me uneasy!!"

Said Rick, slamming his palm down on the round table.

"Why is Kizen doing this to us? What in the world are they planning to do, feeding us well like this?!"

"Maybe it's something like this…"

Sipping on his wine, Simon continued in a tipsy impersonation of Jane,

"Now, have you all enjoyed yourselves? Well, let’s begin the fourth BDMAT right away!"

At that, Meilyn and Camibarez let out a shriek.

"Hey!! Be careful with what you say. It might come true!!"

"Th-This is Kizen… That might actually happen."

In fact, Simon wasn't the first to make such a joke. In fact, most of the students were saying something similar right now.

Just as the murmuring reached a climax, the lights dimmed and the music stopped

Then, a spotlight shone on the stage, the musicians quickly getting out of the way.

You could see the broadcast servants quickly setting up the standing loudspeaker crystal balls.

Step. Step.

Everyone's eyes focused on the direction of the footsteps.

Simon's eyes widened.

It was Aaron, dressed in a formal suit rather than his usual sloppy attire.

“…”

There was dead silence as a tremendous amount of tension began to surge among the students.

Aaron approached with an expressionless face, checked the standing loudspeaker crystal ball, then looked at the students.

"It's not…"

Aaron smirked at the tense faces of the students.

"It's not what you think it is, so you don't have to be that nervous."

Pheeewww......

Sighs of relief escaped all throughout the hall.

"First, let's get the paperwork done."

As soon as Aaron said that, the servants buzzed around each of the tables, giving the students documents and quills.

'Wh-What is this all of a sudden?'

Simon opened the document and checked the contents.

Name:

Gender:

Major:

Minor:

Usable dark magic and proficiency:

Medical Conditions:

Traumatic experiences:

"Medical conditions and traumatic experiences? Why are they asking us that?"

Meilyn crossed her arms questioningly. Camibarez also mumbling,

"I-It's a little… suspicious. Haha."

"I don't know if I should answer this honestly."

As Rick was racking his brain to pull off some tricks, Aaron said,

"Don't think of trying to pull one over on us, and just write the truth. It will be for your own good."

Just then, a hand was raised. Even without looking at the face, Simon could now recognize her by her posture and the bracelet on her wrist.

"This is Jamie Victoria, Professor! We're still in our first year, so we don't have a major!"

"For the major, write the subject you're most confident in."

Answered Aaron.

"Also, it does not have to be the subject you are responsible for in your group. There must be some who are choosing a subject that isn’t their strong suit because of the group composition. Write the subject that you are best at."

With those words, Meilyn used her quill to draw two lines through the ‘Curses’ she had placed as her major, replacing it with ‘Mechanics of Jet-Black'.

After that, another student raised their arm.

"Will this be seen by other students?"

"Only the authorities of Kizen will be able to see it. Don't worry about that."

And so, the great hall became silent for a moment, yet it was abuzz with quills scratching across parchment.

Simon, who had proudly written 'Summoning' as his major, was pondering about his minor.

'Minors are your second best subject, right?'

Curses, Combat Dark Magic, and Hemomancy naturally came to Simon's mind, but if he had to choose, it was Combat Dark Magic that he was most confident in and used most often.

Since this wasn't really something that locked in your choice, he decided to put down Combat Dark Magic.

'I-I can't help but think of Professor Bahil's angry face, but… it should be fine.'

Aaron stepped up to the stage again after all the first-year students had filled out their documents.

"Let me start with the important announcement first. Also, starting with the fourth BDMAT, there will be some changes, so please pay attention."

Rick pointed excitedly to himself.

"See! I told you, I told you, right? I said there would be changes!"

"Okay, we get it, so can you please shut up?"

Meilyn blushed and looked around. He was an embarrassing groupmate, as always.

Simon turned his head back to focus on the stage and Aaron.

He picked up the standing loudspeaker crystal ball and walked to the far end of the stage.

"First…"

Aaron unfolded a new piece of paper.

"I would like to introduce the necromancer who will be supervising the fourth BDMAT."

Simon's eyes widened.

'You're saying there's another necromancer who'll supervise the test? It won't be Kizen HQ?'

It seemed like something really had changed.

——