Click.
Rauli revealed his true colors, drawing a knife from his belt. The well-worn blade gleamed menacingly under the dim light.
Shuffle, shuffle.
At the same time, three rough-looking men appeared—two in front, one behind Simon—moving with lazy, menacing strides.
"...Well, it doesn't really matter who you are," Rauli said, his voice casual. "What matters is that you walked straight into our trap."
With his backup arriving, Rauli relaxed and gave a small flick of his fingers.
"Drop everything you've got. Backpack, clothes—strip down to your underwear. Actually, forget the underwear too."
"My underwear too?" Simon asked, deadpan.
"What's there to be shy about? You can pick up new clothes at the market," Rauli said, jerking his chin toward a nearby trash heap. His cronies snickered.
"Yeah, that's Langustine's famous lost-and-found! Might even get lucky and find a whole box of junk!"
"Cover your bits and you might avoid jail time."
Simon responded with a bright, innocent smile.
"I refuse."
"..."
The thugs' faces darkened instantly.
"...This little bastard."
"You really don't get it, do you, hick? You think we're joking around?"
The thug on Rauli's right stomped forward, pulling out a dagger with a snarl.
"Guys like you need a few stab wounds to learn their place."
"Hey, wait—!"
Ignoring Rauli's shout, the man lunged at Simon, dagger flashing.
Whoosh.
Simon shifted fluidly, pivoting his weight and exposing his right shoulder. The blade sliced through empty air. In the same motion, Simon grabbed the attacker's wrist with casual ease.
Crack!
With a sharp twist, the man's hand bent grotesquely in a direction it wasn't meant to.
"Aaaghhh!"
The man shrieked, collapsing to the ground and dropping his dagger.
Simon kicked him square in the face with a loud thwack.
"In our territory," Simon said coolly, "we get trash like you sometimes. Hiding among honest citizens, demanding 'protection fees' and pulling the same garbage."
"You... you little—!"
Simon dusted off his hands.
"Cleaning up filth like you is part of a noble's duty. Seems like your neighborhood needs a little sweeping too. I'm happy to help."
"...A noble, huh."
Rauli narrowed his eyes and gave a signal. From the far end of the alley, five more thugs poured in.
"No way we're letting you go now."
Simon exhaled slowly, preparing himself. He had expected two, maybe three. This was a lot more organized—and a lot more numerous.
Eight armed men versus him, unarmed.
Even for Simon, that was pushing it.
Sorry, Father... I might be late getting to Kizen after all.
Simon lowered his stance, his expression turning serious. The gang members tensed, gripping their weapons tighter.
The alley crackled with tension.
Any second now—
"I found you!"
A third voice, unexpected and unwelcome, rang out through the alley.
Everyone's heads snapped toward the source of the sound.
Step, step.
Out of the alley's shadows, a figure emerged—a girl, with silky black hair like the night sky, a youthful face, and a blood-red crescent moon earring dangling from one ear.
Simon judged her to be about his age, maybe a little older.
And now what?
Rauli bit his lip in frustration. What the hell had the lookout been doing? The backup was nowhere to be seen.
"...This doesn't concern you. Get lost," Rauli barked.
The girl snorted, clearly unimpressed.
As she approached, the gang instinctively took a step back, unease written all over their faces.
A primal, bone-deep fear. They didn't know why, but something about her screamed danger.
"Don't lose your nerve," Rauli snapped. "It's eight against two! Quick and clean, before the guards show up."
The girl smiled sweetly.
"Eight against two? I don't think so."
Rustle. Rustle.
The trash bags and debris scattered around the alley began to move, twitching as if alive.
Bones burst through the torn bags, hovering in midair.
"Did you guys know," she said casually, "the building next door used to be a crypt?"
Click. Clack.
The bones clicked and clattered, joining together. Different sizes, different shapes, assembling slowly into skeletal figures.
Rauli and his gang turned pale.
At that moment, one word echoed through everyone's minds.
Necromancer.
Snap! Crack!
In an instant, over twenty skeletons rose from the debris, encircling the thugs.
The gang was frozen, barely breathing.
"G-gah!"
"Ugh!"
The skeletons lunged, grappling the men with bony arms and pinning them in place.
The dead scraped their skeletal hands across the gangsters' faces and jaws in eerie motions.
"Oh dear," the girl said with a wicked smile.
"My little ones seem to want some new friends."
Click!
Clack!
The skeletons clacked their jaws in what sounded disturbingly like agreement. Some gangsters foamed at the mouth; others wet themselves in fear.
...Incredible.
Even Simon was impressed. The skeletons weren't perfect—nothing like Richard's—but to piece together over twenty undead with scraps on the spot? That took serious skill.
"We're sorry, Lady Necromancer! Please, show mercy!" Rauli begged, trembling.
The girl crossed her arms and, for the first time, her smile faded.
"State your affiliation."
The skeleton gripping Rauli scratched his neck with a fingerbone, drawing five thin lines of blood. Rauli squeezed his eyes shut and shouted,
"Cl-Clayven! We're with the Clayven Gang!"
"Oh, I've heard of you. A pretty big outfit, for a bunch of pickpockets and extortionists," she said coldly.
Placing a hand on her hip, her voice turned glacial.
"Tell Clayven himself: Crawl to the guards with your forehead dragging on the ground and your hands tied behind your back. Do it, or..."
Her eyes glinted murderously.
"If when I check, his face isn't smashed beyond recognition, I'll erase your entire gang from existence. In Kizen's name."
At the mention of Kizen, every thug's face drained of color.
Rauli sagged, defeated.
"...We'll do it."
"Good."
The skeletons released them, and the gang bolted like terrified rabbits.
The girl clicked her tongue as she watched them flee.
"Thank you for saving me," Simon said, bowing his head.
The girl turned to him with a bright smile.
"You're Simon Pollentia, right?"
Her voice held no hostility, only curiosity. Simon quickly nodded.
"Yes! May I ask who you are?"
"Who else would I be? I'm your real guide."
Simon's eyes widened.
She's the one!?
Before he could say anything else, the girl grabbed his wrist.
"Come on. Mom's waiting."
"...Mom?"
"Mom!"
Behind Langustine's main plaza, the girl had squatted down, furiously wiping cream off a small child's mouth.
The child squirmed, protesting with muffled noises, but the girl didn't let up.
"I told you to stay put! You always get lost!"
"But—! There was free ice cream at the plaza!"
The child whining under her hands was none other than Nephthys Arkbold—the head of Kizen and the apex of all necromancers.
The legendary Witch of Death... with ice cream smeared all over her face.
Simon didn't even know where to start processing this.
And even more bizarrely, the girl who had saved him kept calling Nephthys "Mom."
Mother and daughter? No way. They look more like sisters.
Honestly, if someone had to be the mom, it would definitely be the tall girl, not the tiny, childlike Nephthys...
"Simon?"
The girl was watching him suspiciously.
"You just had a weird thought, didn't you?"
"N-no!"
She huffed and turned her head away.
Sharp instincts...
"You've had a long journey, Simon!" Nephthys skipped over to him with a bright smile.
She might look like a harmless child, but she was a monster who had lived for over 300 years, terrifying the world.
Simon bowed respectfully.
"It's an honor to meet the Master of Kizen."
"Aw, no need to be so stiff!" she said, waving her hand.
"This is our first time meeting properly since Leshill. Learned anything from Richard?"
"A little!" Simon replied eagerly.
He opened his palm, activating his core and channeling mana.
A pitch-black energy erupted from his hand.
Whoosh.
The dark mana shimmered with a faint bluish hue.
Both Nephthys and the girl leaned forward, wide-eyed.
They looked like they were admiring a precious piece of art.
"Wow," Nephthys whispered.
"It's rare to see dark mana with a blue tint."
"But it's still flickering like a flame. It hasn't fully stabilized," the girl said. "You'll need to learn to control your core more efficiently."
They exchanged brief comments like seasoned experts.
"You did well, Simon."
Simon released the dark mana and straightened up.
"Don't rush yourself. Kizen is a school. You'll have plenty of time to learn."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!"
"Alright, Lorraine?"
Nephthys gave the girl a playful smack on the butt.
"Take good care of our new student."
"...Mom always dumps all the work on me," Lorraine muttered, pouting.
But Nephthys ignored her and skipped away.
"I'm grabbing another ice cream! See you at Kizen!"
"Mom! Ugh!"
Left alone in the plaza, Lorraine let out a small sigh and turned to Simon.
"Well, no helping it. I'll reintroduce myself properly."
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"I'm Lorraine Arkbold. Like you, I'm a student at Kizen."
"Simon Pollentia, from Leshill! I look forward to learning with you!"
"Good. We're behind schedule, so let's head out."
"Where to?" Simon asked.
Lorraine brushed her hair back and grinned.
"It's the start of a new semester, right? Shopping, obviously."