Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

[Translator – Ramen]

[Proofreader – Artethrax]

Chapter 96

Simon and Count Shun rode a carriage out of the mansion.

“I’m sorry for my disrespect from before, Count.”

As Simon, sitting opposite Shun, apologized while sweating profusely, Shun gave a cheerful smile and a dismissive wave.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Just speak comfortably when we’re in private like you did before!”

“What? I can’t do that…”

“I’m telling you to do that because that’s way more comfortable for me! Okay?”

“O-Okay.”

Shun was a lively boy full of laughter. Even though he was a count, he felt somewhat more playful and modest than the typical noble kids.

Simon didn’t ask how he became a count and received a huge fortune at such a young age. After all, given the situation, it was pretty obvious.

‘His parents must’ve passed away early.’

A boy who inherited the title of the count young and was currently ruling Blue Harbor. Simon felt his curiosity towards Shun increasing more and more.

“That’s Sarah beach, where most of the tourists gather, and there’s a large shopping complex past the alley over there, and……!”

Shun pointed to each of the landmarks outside the carriage and explained them one by one with his cute little hands.

You could feel the affection he had for his territory in his excited voice. Simon also found himself matching the kid’s tone.

“Count, we have arrived at the exhibition center.”

The coachman’s voice could be heard. As Simon was listening to Shun’s guide, surprisingly, they had already arrived at their destination.

The moment Simon opened the carriage door, Shun flung himself out like a cannonball.

“Wait, Shun! You’re gonna trip like that!”

Simon got startled and followed after him.

Shun, who was hurriedly climbing the stairs, lost his balance and fell backward.

Simon ran up from behind, put his arms under Shun’s, lifted him up, and lowered him safely back down on the stairs.

“Oh!”

Shun smirked.

“Huh, you’re pretty good at this, big brother Simon! Yeah! Keep it up!”

“……”

Simon breathed a sigh of relief and made a forced smile. Somehow, he thought this was going to be a tough week.

“Count Shun, welcome.”

The guards standing in front of the exhibition center parted for them, making Shun spin his little body around and grin a boastful grin.

“Originally, the exhibition would open to the public the day after tomorrow. But! I’ll make this a special exception for my bodyguard!”

“Yeah. That’s much appreciated.”

Creeaak.

The huge gate opened, revealing the exhibition hall. Simon’s eyes widened.

‘So this is…!’

The ‘Undead of the Future’ exhibition at Blue Harbor.

Blue Harbor was an island that had been cut off from the continent for a long time, therefore maintaining its own ecosystem. As such, there were many unique species exclusive to the island.

This exhibition focused on the undead created using the monsters of Blue Harbor, exhibiting the next generation of undead being researched. Simon could feel himself getting dizzy seeing it all.

‘I don’t know which one to look at first!’

First, there was the dinosaur-esk skeleton occupying the largest area in the center of the first floor of the exhibition center and giving off an overwhelming presence. If such a skeleton attacked someone, they’d lose their will to fight.

However…

‘Looks like they couldn’t work out how to balance everything on the weight-bearing lower body yet.’

Jet-black strings attached to points all over the exhibition supported the dinosaur skeleton and prevented it from collapsing. It was good that they developed a large skeleton, but unless the lower-body problem was solved, it seemed difficult to be used in practice.

As Simon’s thoughts drifted for but a moment to the contents of the report he’d be submitting to Kizen, Shun, who was standing next to him, suddenly disappeared.

“Shun!”

Startled, Simon looked back and forth to try to find him.

“Kyaha! Hahaha!”

Before Simon realized it, Shun was riding on the back of an animalistic skeleton.

“Giddyup! Giddyup! Go! Let’s go!”

When Shun slapped the skeleton’s back with his palm, the skeleton turned its long head to look back at Shun.

‘Th-That’s dangerous!’

It seemed that it wasn’t just a simple display, having been imbued with summoning magic.

Simon ran forward, a cold sweat going down his back.

He vaulted over the safety fence with one hand and focused jet-black into both legs.

‘Jet-Black Stepping!’

As Simon’s body soared up, the skeleton also widened its maw and approached Shun.

‘I’m faste—!’

Whish!

Simon’s arms trying to cover Shun grabbed nothing but air. Before he realized it, a green liquid had wrapped around Shun’s waist and was pulling him back, leaving Simon to fly head-first into the skeleton.

‘Ouch!’

Simon fell to the floor while clutching at his face.

“Can a so-called bodyguard take their eyes off the VIP like that?”

A man was approaching under the dim lights.

Large slanted eyes, prominent eyelashes, small nostrils, and a long mouth. One hand was tucked into a pocket, and the other had turned into something like liquid, holding onto Shun.

As the man let Shun down, Shun shouted with a broad smile,

“Uncle Pinch!”

The man called Pinch turned his hand back to normal and stroked Shun’s head.

“You need to be careful, alright? There are also moving undead here, so it’s dangerous.”

“I’m telling you, it’s fine! Ah, let me introduce you!”

Shun pointed at Simon and said,

“The strongest bodyguard from Kizen! He’s Special Admission No.1, Simon Polentia!”

“Mm.”

Pinch rubbed his chin and looked up and down Simon. Then, he smiled and held out his hand.

“Name’s Pinch Nickiman. I’m a necromancer too.”

Translator – Ramen

Proofreader – Artethrax

“I’m Simon Polentia.”

The moment Simon grabbed Pinch’s hand for a handshake, Pinch’s hand melted. Simon felt himself jump on the inside, but he remained silent and pocketed his feelings.

“Hahaha! It’s just a prank, a prank!”

Pinch brought his hand back to normal, shook the hand lightly, and then put it back into his pocket.

“You’re a first-year student who came to earn some pocket money, right? I don’t know what kind of naive thoughts you had while coming to this resort island, but you gotta do your job nonetheless. Is that correct?”

He was reprimanding Simon for not properly protecting Shun. At that, Simon placed a clenched fist over his heart and bowed deeply to Shun.

“Please forgive me for my negligence, Count.”

Pinch’s eyebrows twitched.

“Ah, big brother Simon, what’s wrong?!”

Shun grabbed Simon’s trouser leg and shook it.

“And stop scolding my bodyguard, Uncle! That just then was my fault!”

“Haha, what do you mean by scolding? I was just giving my dear junior some advice.”

Pinch cooked up a good reason and glanced over at Simon.

‘Look at this kid…’

Pinch placed Simon as a delicate young master who was wet behind the ears, but it looked like he had some temper.

As Simon raised his head, Pinch cleared his throat before saying,

“So yeah, I heard that you’re a Special Admission No.1 in Kizen?”

“I am.”

“The expectations of someone in your position must be high. Some advice as your senior; don’t assume that all the knowledge you gain at Kizen is the ultimate truth. To be honest, Kizen is somewhat acting up these days. In the past, it truly was a legend, but the current education system feels a bit… old-fashioned, and—.”

“Excuse me, Pinch, but are you…”

Interrupted Simon.

“…a Kizen graduate?”

“……”

The corner of Pinch’s smiling lips twitched.

“Ahem. No, I started from the public necromancer school of Alland.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You’ll probably see them soon, but the top students from Alland, Sierra, and Moyran are sometimes transferred to Kizen. They are more competent than the existing Kizen students in every way possible!”

Simon smiled brightly.

“Woah, that’s great! To be more competent than Kizen? Then, wouldn’t it be unnecessary for them to transfer to Kizen?”

‘……Is this bastard for real!’

He smiles like he doesn’t, but he secretly gets on people’s nerves.

However, Pinch couldn’t slander Kizen directly, so he had no choice but to swallow his anger.

“Ahem. Everyone has their own pros and cons. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“Uncle Pinch! Hurry up, hurry up! You said you’d introduce the undead to me and big brother Simon!”

“Ah, right.”

Pinch quickly managed his expression.

“Let’s stop talking about student-level topics. Isn’t the real beginning of your career as a necromancer after graduating? I’ll show you the workings of a professional.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Said Simon, and he lightly put his hand on Shun’s shoulder. Shun looked up at Simon, as if asking what was up, but Simon said not a word, opting to only smile.

The look in his eyes spoke for him instead.

‘Don’t you dare run off again.’

Shun shivered.

“Come on, you two. I’ll start explaining this design first.”

As expected from a necromancer of Blue Harbor, Pinch was a pioneer in the research of the future undead. There were a total of 100 works in the exhibition center, and 20 of them were Pinch’s.

Hearing Pinch’s explanation, Simon was honestly astonished.

Forgetting his personality and character, he was faultless in terms of skills. He used the monsters of Blue Harbor to build undead with novel functions at high quality.

‘But since it’s an event to showcase completely new undead, they’re somewhat off in terms of practicality.’

Some undead were so helpless that there was no way to use them at all. So, even with his shallow knowledge, Simon picked out some parts and commented on them.

“Wouldn’t it be better to cover the tail of this rocker worm skeleton with protein or chitin rather than forcing it to connect with bones? At this rate, swinging it a few times will overload the joints, and you won’t be able to use them.”

At Simon’s critique, Pinch’s face turned red, and he replied rather sensitively,

“Ahem. What does a first-year student know anyway? Every process has a purpose. Just because you spit out ideas without thinking doesn’t mean that the reality of it can be solved!”

“Ah, I see. I’m sorry for stepping in.”

Pinch pulled a notebook out of his pocket.

“So, where did you say would be nice to cover up with chitin?”

“Huh?”

They walked around the exhibition center while talking about various things. Already bored of this, Shun yawned.

Seeing this, Simon poked Pier’s clone.

‘Pier, you there? Please help me for a while.’

[What is it?]

While Pinch was frantically explaining and Shun was yawning, Simon took off Pier’s clone from his school uniform and held it out to Shun.

“Shun, look at this.”

“What’s this?”

“It’ll move if you poke it, you know?”

Shun poked Pier’s clone with his fingertips. Then Pier said in fright,

[What do you think you’re doing! I’m not a toy!]

“Woah! The skull is opening and closing its mouth when I tickle it!”

“Isn’t it cool?”

[Boy! Get him off me right now!]

“What happens if I pinch it like this?”

As Pier played with him for a while, Shun quickly regained his concentration and excitement. And just like that, they went up to the fifth floor of the exhibition center.

“Now, I’ll reveal the highlight of this exhibition.”

When Pinch removed the white cloth, a large fish tank revealed itself, and inside was a skeleton unlike any Simon had ever seen before.

Its body was alien in nature, looking like a mixture of a jellyfish and an octopus. It was made of bones, and a soft liquid was floating around it to maintain its form.

The most unique part was that the long legs of this jellyfish monster were made of pure bone. It looked like a mechanical leg with a well-fitted clamp, but it was definitely bone.

“Mollusca Undead Overlord.”

Pinch wiped the smile off his face, returning to his serious tone as he said,

“The ingredient used was a deep-sea kraken. It looks similar to a squid, a type of mollusc, if it lived in the deep sea, and strangely, the core structure of the body is composed of bones, so the conditions for a skeleton are met. Moreover, this corpse was not even an adult. No adult kraken has ever been captured yet, you see.”

Pinch placed his palm on the magic circle. With a whir, the Overlord began to move.

‘That’s insane…!’

Simon was so surprised that he lost control of his expression.

Its six long legs made of bone moved freely like the tentacles of the flexible squid. Simon never knew bones could bend so much.

“It has speed as well as cutting power.”

When Pinch took out a sheet of iron from his subspace and lifted it over his head, the Overlord saw it and moved its legs.

Shiiieeek.

As the long leg from the fish tank drew a straight line through the air, the iron plate was neatly split in half. Then, the second leg that followed pierced the center of the fallen iron plate.

‘Woah!’

As a Summoning student, this was like torture for Simon. To think he couldn’t use such a great undead when it was right in front of him.

When Pinch gave a signal, the waiting staff put the cloth over the tank once more.

“Pinch.”

“Yeah? Do you have any questions?”

“If someone wanted to buy this undead, how much would it cost?”

Pinch smiled and placed a hand on his hip.

“Is that a question coming from a Kizen? Or…”

“No, no. It’s just a personal question.”

“Well, this is research of astronomical value. It’s not for sale, and it doesn’t belong to me. But if I still had to name a price…”

After giving it a bit of thought, Pinch said,

“It’d cost at least 10,000 gold.”