A few days later.
Morning evaluation of first year's delivery.
Even before dawn, while everyone was still asleep, Simon sneaked out of the dormitory. He passed through the Forbidden Forest and arrived at the ruins of the Pier.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!
Like villains preparing to dominate the world in a secret underground lair, conscripted skeletons and corpse spiders line up and walk into the giant subspace Simon has opened up.
"By the way, are you two coming with me too?"
(Of course we're going too, Commander!)
Said Elizabeth, Captain of the spider troop.
(I don't think I'll be able to sleep peacefully leaving you with the Prince.)
Pier, who was sitting at the altar, also spoke up.
(There's no telling when and how Magnus will move when you're outside of Roke Island! It never hurts to be careful with this kind of external activity!)
Seeing the undead Legion enter the enormous subspace, Simon scratched his head.
"B-But still, I doubt I need to bring this much…"
Not that Simon was going to fight. 200 skeletons and 100 corpse spiders. And on top of that, two Ancient Undead. When the Prince and the zombie army that joined them later were added, it would be enough to wipe out a large estate in a single day.
Simon decided to make sure.
"There are too many people observing this evaluation. Please don't come out unless my life is in great danger or something. I will see what I can do on my own as much as possible."
If the Legion moved, it would leave a trail. They had gotten to this point because Pier had been found by Magnus in the Forest of Screams when he had gone off on his own. Moving as a whole Legion, they had ended up giving Magnus too much information.
(Then how about this!)
Pier said, the dark blue flames in his eye sockets burning fiercely.
(We will only intervene if your life is in danger… or if we as a Legion must respond to an attack by Magnus' Legion! What do you think?)
"Okay, that's a good condition."
As the two of them continued to discuss the details, Elizabeth's cunning eyes shone.
* * *
After completing his preparations, Simon exited the ruins of the Pier and returned to Kizen.
As he climbed the hill where the teleportation circle was located, he saw many students talking, their faces a mix of excitement and nervousness.
"Simon~ Come here!"
Camibarez waved his hand. Next to him was Rick, laughing and talking, and Meilyn with her arms crossed.
"you're here!"
"Hurry up! You're late, as usual!"
Simon hurried over and joined the three of them.
"Wear this."
Meilyn gave him something.
It is a desert robe made of a well-ventilated fabric. It includes a turban to keep out sand.
"Meilyn bought it for us!"
Already wearing his own robe, Camibarez spun around in place. Simon also took the robe and smiled brightly.
"Thank you, I will make the most of it, Meilyn."
Meilyn cleared her throat in embarrassment and waved her hand dismissively.
"T-That's something I should do naturally as the group leader!"
Everyone was wearing the robes Meilyn had bought and chatting. The main topic was neutral territory.
"A neutral area, huh! I never thought there would come a day where I would go there!"
Hearing Rick's comment, Camibarez flapped his wings and nodded.
"I-I couldn't even sleep a wink! It was a bit scary, but… I'm glad you guys are with me!"
"Same here."
Simon agreed with a smile.
This is the first time they've been on the same mission together. They get along well, and each of them can do their own thing, so it's pretty reassuring even though they're heading out.
Camibarez smiled pleasantly when Simon agreed. He let his arms swing behind his back in a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
"Ohh, how sweet of you, Cami."
Meilyn hugged Camibarez tightly from behind.
"Stay with your brother, okay? Don't get lost! And don't follow anyone suspicious!"
"Yes, big sister!"
Camibarez has learned to take the joke now.
He usually squirmed at the slightest discomfort, not quite understanding what the jokes were about, but Rick's presence—at least half of what came out of his mouth was a joke—forced him to adapt.
"I'm very curious to know which necromancer will be our mentor."
Rick immediately followed Simon's words.
"I don't expect much! All the adult astrologers are crazy, so I want someone who's not too crazy!"
"I think you're asking for a lot…"
Seize.
Suddenly a woman's hand covered Simon's eyes from behind.
"Guess who?"
Simon was shocked.
Wait, this voice…?
Simon immediately pulled his hand away and turned around.
"Hi, Simon!"
He almost screamed.
It was a woman with long flowing hair. Simon recognized her immediately.
'E-Eliza?!'
Surprisingly, Elizabeth was wearing the Kizen uniform. Her white blouse looked a little tighter than usual on her adult body, she had opted to tie her blazer around her waist, and her tie was loose around her neck. Her hair was also dyed pink.
'Aren't you in subspace?'
"Simon…"
Meilyn said while pointing at Elizabeth.
"Who's he?"
"Ah, you know…"
As Simon fell silent, his mind going blank, Elizabeth pulled her arm through his and smiled broadly.
"Nice to meet you! My name is Elizabeth Webber! I'm Simon's childhood friend, from the same hometown as him! I'm in Class E, Summoning major!"
…He had never heard of such a background.
'Eliza!'
Simon signaled her with his eyes to return to subspace, but the pink-haired Elizabeth smiled broadly as if she had no intention of doing so.
"C-Childhood friends?"
Camibarez covered her mouth with her hand and looked back and forth between Simon and Elizabeth. Then, she looked down at their linked arms.
"O."
On the other hand, Meilyn looked at Simon with a cold face.
"You said you were from Les Hill or something. Why didn't you tell me you had a friend from your hometown coming to Kizen?"
"N-No, you know…"
"Actually, I moved to another plantation. Then I found it in Kizen."
Elizabeth handled this situation cleverly.
"…Hmm."
At that time, Rick was looking at Elizabeth with a very serious face.
Simon was shocked. With Rick's intelligence network, it was no surprise that he knew everyone in Class E. Maybe he immediately noticed that there was no girl named Elizabeth in the class?
"Huh?! Simon, you bastard. I'm so jealous…"
He's an idiot.
Rick jumped at Simon and grabbed him by the collar.
"If you know such a good childhood friend?? You should have introduced me to him a long time ago!!"
Meilyn interrupted from the side.
"Hey, are you really Simon's childhood friend? How long have you known him?"
"Oh, hello. I-I'm Camibarez Ursula! I-I'm not Simon's childhood friend, but…!"
It slowly turned into chaos.
Simon desperately kept his cool and grabbed Elizabeth's wrist.
"Sorry, I'll just talk to him for a minute!"
With that, he pulled Elizabeth away and entered the dense forest.
* * *
* * *
Simon was cornered in a tree and said,
"What are you doing here, Eliza!"
He smiled.
"That's a bit of a departure."
"Deviation? Don't you realize we're in danger with Magnus L—"
"Don't you realize I was trapped in the rubble for an entire semester?"
Simon was about to continue scolding him, but he looked a little guilty hearing that.
"Fufu. You do realize that I joined the Legion just for you, right? I'm well aware of our situation, but I've been spending all my time in the ruins, scouting with the spiders to see if Magnus' legion really landed on Roke Island, and even if you did come to the ruins, you were busy training with Pier. I was wondering if I could go out for the first time in a while, but it looks like I won't be able to because of this whole Magnus thing."
He put his hand on his chest.
"That's why I decided to go out this time! I'll gladly accept any punishment if it means I can stretch my legs."
'…Hmm.'
Come to think of it, he hadn't been paying much attention to Elizabeth lately.
Simon sighed.
"I'll try to be more considerate from now on. But if you plan on straying like this next time, at least let me know first."
"I will remember that."
Luckily, Elizabeth returned to subspace without much resistance.
At that moment, there was a commotion on the side of the teleportation circle. Simon rushed over, it seemed like they were about to set off.
'Everything was so busy from the start. Oh my…'
Just in time, he saw his group mates walking towards the teleportation magic circle.
"Mr. Simon Polentia. Is Mr. Simon Polentia there?"
"Yes, here!"
Simon hurried and caught up with the group.
Camibarez looked at Simon and asked,
"Simon! What happened to Elizabeth Webber?"
'That's a lazy fake identity.'
With a fake laugh, Simon replied.
"He went back to his group. Haha."
"Elizabeth is really great. I can't believe there's a girl like her in Kizen."
Then, the teleportation manager spoke up.
"Then is everyone here?"
"Yes!"
It wasn't just Simon's Group 7 in the teleportation circle, but also members from various classes.
The manager held up a document and said,
"Okay, you guys go to the neutral area."
Wow!
The students outside the teleportation magic circle cheered.
They were happy because their chances of reaching a place other than neutral territory had increased, even if only slightly.
"Still, they said 90% will go to neutral areas."
Meilyn grumbled in a sullen voice.
"Group leader, please step forward."
Meilyn and the other group leaders stood in front of the manager. The manager handed each of them a thick envelope.
"These letters should contain information about your delivery location and your astrologer mentor. All you have to do is go to him. Good luck."
"Thank You!"
Then, they all took their respective positions in the teleportation circle.
The four of them stood in a circle, hands clasped together. Simon reached for Camibarez's hand first, because he was shy. He felt so small inside.
"We'll leave now!"
The four of them felt their feet leave the ground at the same time.
* * *
As the teleportation began, Simon felt like he was traveling on an endless slide through a world of abstract art.
Every time he closed his eyes and opened them again, the scenery changed. That meant they had traveled a very long distance.
Just when he thought it was too much to bear…
His feet felt heavy and he could feel the ground. The roar of the teleportation had stopped, and he could smell the salty air.
Finally, as he slowly lifted his eyelids, a sharp light shone in.
'Ugh.'
The sunlight was very bright. He waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust.
"I-Is everything okay?"
"…Ughh, I think I'm still alive."
The other three people who teleported with him fell in disarray.
Simon walked over to them.
"Do you want me to help you up?"
Meilyn, who fell to the ground, opened her eyes.
And the first thing he saw was Simon smiling and offering his hand with the sunlight shining brightly behind him.
.Meilyn?
After being stunned for a moment, Meilyn said, "Woah!" in surprise and grabbed Simon's hand. Then, she stood up with his help.
"…Thank You."
He spoke in a very small voice. Simon smiled and helped the others up.
'So this place is…'
After dealing with the pressing matter, he slowly looked around.
Neutral area.
It was neither the land of the necromancers nor the domain of the priests, but a place that was completely neutral and free. At the same time, it was a lawless zone that was notorious for its lack of peace.
The sun was very hot from the sky, and the area was filled with oddly shaped houses that looked more like mounds of earth. The soil was reddish brown, and the hot wind brought humid air.
"L-Look! The sea is black!"
Camibarez pointed to the sea at the edge of town.
It was the black sea, the ocean around here. He heard that the sea monsters on this side of the ocean were much stronger.
'It feels like we're in a whole new world.'
Simon's heart was already beating fast.
It was unsettling to be dropped off in such a strange and unusual place, but he was glad that the people around him were the same as usual.
"Huzzah! Still, it's refreshing to breathe in the outside air!"
Seemingly having the same thought, Rick took a deep breath and said,
"It's so boring and suffocating being cooped up in Kizen. You should get some fresh air once in a while to live! Hehe."
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Meilyn said while putting her finger to her lips. The sudden appearance of the four of them caused some people to whisper and stare.
The four of them put their robes back on and looked for another place to stay for now. They went to a corner behind a building.
"Let's open the letter from the manager first."
"Yes, of course."
Meilyn took the letter from her pocket, and the three of them gathered around her.
"I'll open it now, okay?"
Meilyn said in a serious tone, and the three nodded. She slowly opened the seal on the envelope.
Pzzzzt!
Maybe if it was enchanted with black magic, black electricity crackled and flowed out.
Meilyn took out the letter inside and opened it.
"W-What is this?!"