Clink. Raulley, revealing his true colors, pulled out a knife. The well-maintained blade gleamed sharply. Swish. Swish. At the same time, one rough-looking man approached from behind Simon, and two more from the front, strolling casually. "......Well, who you are doesn't really matter. And the fact that you've fallen into a trap doesn't change either." As his comrades joined him, Raulley, his expression much more relaxed, crooked a finger. "Put everything you have on the ground. Your backpack, your clothes. Everything, even your underwear." "Even my underwear?" "What's there to be embarrassed about? You can just pick out new clothes at the market." Raulley pointed to a pile of garbage behind them. The other gang members chuckled, chiming in. "Yeah, that's Langerstein's famous spot. Who knows, you might even find a lucky box!" "As long as you cover your important bits, you'll avoid the lockup." Simon replied with a bright smile. "I refuse." "......." Raulley and his group's expressions turned grim. "......This bastard." "Looks like this country bumpkin doesn't understand the situation. Do we look like we're playing around?" The man to Raulley's right strode purposefully towards Simon. "Guys like him only learn their lesson after a good stabbing." "Hey, wait!" Ignoring Raulley's voice, the man lunged forward, pulling a dagger from his waist and thrusting it at Simon. Swish. Simon shifted his weight fluidly, opening his right shoulder. The dagger cut through the air, and in that instant, Simon, having moved to the side, casually grabbed the man's wrist. Crack! As he applied force, the man's hand bent in a direction it shouldn't have. "G-Gahhhhh!" The man dropped his dagger and fell to the ground, screaming terribly. Simon kicked him squarely in the face with a loud *thwack* and said, "We sometimes have them in our territory too. People who mingle with honest villagers and do trashy things like demand protection money." "......You, you bastard!" Simon lightly dusted off his palm. "It's the duty of the lord's heir to clean up such trash in the territory. It seems there are many such people in this neighborhood too, so as someone who does the same job, I thought I'd clean up a bit." "......He was a noble." Raulley raised his arm and gave a signal. Immediately, five more gang members swarmed in from the end of the alley. "In that case, we definitely can't let you go." "......." Simon calmly loosened his body. He had thought there would only be two or three, but there were more than he expected, and they were organized. It was a situation where he had to face eight armed men alone, bare-handed. Even for Simon, this number was honestly a bit overwhelming. 'I'm sorry, Father. I might be late getting to Kizen.' Simon lowered his stance with a serious expression, and the gang members tensed, gripping their daggers tighter. It was a volatile situation. Just as the fight was about to begin, no matter who lunged first. "Found you!" A third party's voice, one that shouldn't have been in this alley, rang out. Everyone's gaze shifted to where the sound came from. Stomp. Stomp. Someone was walking out from the dark shadows of the alley. It was a girl with hair as black and lustrous as the night sky, a face that still held a youthful innocence, and blood-red, moon-shaped earrings. Simon thought she was either his age or a few years older. 'What is it now?' Raulley bit his lip at the appearance of the third party. What had the guy blocking the rear been doing? He was nowhere to be seen. "......This has nothing to do with you. Get lost." Despite Raulley's warning, the black-haired girl snorted dismissively. As she approached, the gang members grew visibly tense, backing away step by step. An instinctive, primal sense of repulsion and fear. They couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, but a very dangerous aura emanated from this woman. "Don't be scared." Raulley said as the gang members began to waver. "It's 8-on-2. We'll finish this quickly and get out of Langerstein before the guards arrive." The girl smiled sweetly upon hearing that. "8-on-2? I don't think so." Rustle. Rustle. As if responding to the girl's movements, the piles of garbage and bags scattered throughout the alley began to move as if alive. Soon, bone fragments tore through the outer layers of the bags and floated into the air. "Do you guys know?" Clack. Clack. The bone fragments began to fit together. Bones of different sizes and types creaked, slowly forming bodies. "That the building just ahead is a skeleton burial ground." Raulley and his comrades' faces turned ashen. At this moment, the same word simultaneously popped into everyone's minds. '......Necromancer!' Clatter! Clack! In an instant, over 20 skeletons surrounded the gang members. The gang members couldn't even breathe from sheer terror. "Gasp!" "Guh!" The approaching undead embraced the gang members with their arms and legs, preventing them from moving. The undead made clacking sounds, their bony hands stroking the gang members' faces or gripping their jaws. "Oh dear." The girl let out an alluring smile. "Our children need new friends, don't they?" Clack! Clack! The skeletons clacked their jaws and palates as if in agreement. Some gang members foamed at the mouth, while others' pants became soaked. '......Amazing.' Simon was also surprised. Although the skeletons were less refined than Richard's, it was an incredible feat to restore the scattered bone fragments around them and create over 20 instant undead. "W-We didn't recognize you, Necromancer! Please, have mercy just this once!" Raulley trembled and bowed his head. The girl uncrossed her arms and, with a slightly serious expression, asked, "State your affiliation." The skeleton holding Raulley slowly began to scratch his neck with its bony hand. As five streaks of blood trickled down his neck, Raulley squeezed his eyes shut and screamed, "Klayven! We're the Klayven Gang!" "Ah, I've heard of them. Quite a large organization for one that just robs poor outsiders." Placing her hand on her hip, she declared in an ice-cold voice, "Tell Klayven himself. He is to crawl from his hideout to the guard station, head bowed to the ground, hands clasped behind his back, and surrender himself." Raulley's face turned white upon hearing that. "P-Please, mercy...! Just turn me into an undead instead!" The girl's expression twisted savagely. [Are you giving me orders right now?] Raulley's body stiffened with terror at the alien voice, as if from an inhuman being. She let out a small breath and returned to her normal voice, saying, "Don't try to send a fake. If I check and his face isn't sufficiently mangled, then I will erase your entire organization from this world in the name of Kizen." The moment the name Kizen was uttered, all the gang members turned pale and lowered their heads. Raulley also seemed to have completely given up, replying, "......I will remember that." "Get lost." As the skeletons retreated, the gang members fled in a hurry as if they had been waiting for it. Watching their tails disappear, she clicked her tongue once. "Thank you for your help." Simon bowed his head in greeting. Only then did the girl say, 'Ah,' and turn her head to look at Simon. "Simon Pollentia. Is that right?" Her tone, as she smiled and asked, thankfully held no hostility. Simon quickly nodded. "Yes, that's right. If it's not rude, may I ask who you are......." "Who else would I be? I'm the real guide." Simon's eyes widened like saucers. So this person? Then she pulled Simon's wrist. "Let's go, Mom's waiting." "......Mom?" *** "Mommy!" Behind Langerstein's Grand Plaza. The girl who brought Simon was squatting, vigorously wiping cream from a child's mouth. The child made 'ooh-boop' sounds and shook her head in protest, but the girl's hands were firm. "I told you to wait patiently! You always get lost!" "But-! There was a free ice cream tasting event at the plaza over there!" And the child complaining while having her mouth wiped by the girl was none other than 'Neptis Arcbold', the pinnacle of all Necromancers and the ruler of Kizen. For someone called the Witch of Death to be walking around with ice cream on her face...... Simon was utterly bewildered. And even more bewildering was the fact that the girl who saved him was calling Neptis 'Mom'. They were mother and daughter? No matter how he looked at it, they seemed more like older and younger sisters. And if he had to choose a 'mom', it would be the girl rather than Neptis, who looked like a 10-year-old child....... "Simon?" Suddenly, the girl was looking at him. "You just thought something weird, didn't you?" "Ah, no." The girl glared at Simon with suspicious eyes, then primly turned her head away. ......Her intuition is amazing. "Welcome back from your long journey, Simon!" Neptis trotted over. She had the appearance of an innocent child, but her true identity was a monster among monsters who had lived for over 300 years and plunged the world into terror. Simon politely bowed at the waist. "I greet the owner of Kizen." "Wow, you don't have to be so stiff." She chuckled and waved her hand. "It's the first time since I saw you in Reshill. Have you learned anything from Richard?" "Ah, yes! Just a little....... Simon immediately spread his palm. He activated his Core and channeled mana to draw out Jet Black. Jet Black immediately flowed up Simon's arm and discharged onto his palm. Swoosh. Simon's unique Jet Black, with a slight blue tinge, rippled like a flame. Neptis and the girl simultaneously leaned forward, their eyes wide. Looking at them like this, they did seem like mother and daughter. "Wow." Both of them's eyes sparkled. Their gaze was like admiring a beautiful work of art. "It's been a long time since I've seen Jet Black with a blue tinge." "But it still has the properties of mana. Rippling like fire means it hasn't escaped its gaseous state." "You'll need to learn how to use the Core more effectively." The two mother and daughter exchanged opinions briefly and nodded. "That's enough, Simon." Simon dispelled the Jet Black and stood straight. "There's no need to be impatient. Kizen is strictly a 'school', so you'll be able to learn much more in the future." "Yes, I'll keep that in mind!" "Then, Lorraine?" Neptis patted the girl's backside. "Please take good care of our new student's guidance." "......Mom always makes me do all the work." The girl pouted and grumbled, but Neptis pretended not to hear and turned her back. "Then I'll just have one more ice cream and return to Kizen, so you know! I'm off first!" "Ah, really! Mom!" With that, Neptis disappeared as if fleeing, leaving only the two of them in the plaza. The girl sighed softly, then turned her head to look at Simon. "Can't be helped. Then, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Lorraine Arcbold. Like you, I'm a student at Kizen." "I'm Simon Pollentia, from Reshill! It's a pleasure to meet you again!" "Alright. We've wasted a lot of time, so let's head out right away." "What are we going to do?" Lorraine pushed her flowing hair back and replied, "It's the new semester, isn't it? We're going shopping."
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