The Dragon and the Deal
When Simon asked to see her divine beast, Lethe scoffed with an expression of pure disbelief.
"You're hilarious, honestly. You ask things so shamelessly that I almost showed you without thinking."
"?"
"You and I are enemies."
She pointed a fingertip at Simon with cold eyes.
"Kindly remember where we each stand. I'm Efnel's Special Admission No. 1, and you're Kizen's Special Admission No. 1! I'm only holding hands with you because of Miss Anna — without her, your head would have left your shoulders half a dozen times by now. Understood?"
Despite the blunt declaration, Simon only smiled. That made Lethe even more flustered, and she raised her voice.
"Argh! What are we, friends? 'Please expose your full strength for me' — you really do say it that easily, don't you? Your demand is an insult!"
"I'm sorry if it felt that way."
Simon bowed his head. Lethe flinched and blinked.
She'd expected him to keep needling her with that grin on his face — an immediate, genuine apology was the last thing she'd anticipated.
"Then how about a trade?"
Simon said.
Having calmed herself and straightened her posture, she asked with studied indifference.
"What kind of trade?"
"You expose information, and I expose an equal amount in return."
"Oh, you are dying to test me, aren't you."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Do I look like I'd fall for a cheap trick like that?"
"Then I'll go first. After I reveal my information, you offer something of equal value based on what you see. How's that?"
She curled the corner of her mouth and folded her arms.
Oh, how very predictable of you. All she'd have to do was watch and then keep her mouth shut.
Simon apparently still thought of himself as a person of conscience — fat chance. The teaching at Efnel was clear: against an enemy, not even the slightest opening could be shown.
"Fine. Go ahead."
Simon nodded with a serious expression.
Lethe suddenly began to feel nervous. What information could he be so confident about?
"The truth is, I'm a Legion Commander."
"……!!"
At the utterly unthinkable words, her jaw dropped. The color drained from her face, her expression went blank, and her stance crumbled.
"There — revealed. Your turn."
"Do-don't-don't-don't be ridiculous!"
She shot up from her seat.
"A Legion Commander at seventeen? That's garbage! If you really were a Legion Commander, there's no way Efnel wouldn't have heard about it!"
"It's true."
"Then show me proof!"
Simon said with a smile.
"That would be after you show me your matching information, wouldn't it?"
"……Argh!"
A necromancer and a priest crossing the border hand in hand. An unforgivable offense at Kizen or Efnel alike — the moment either spoke of the other, their necks were forfeit.
Both were bound to guard each other's secrets absolutely.
With that in mind, Simon had dangled the Legion Commander bait.
Truthfully, he doubted he'd get through this Holy Federation trip without using the Legion Commander's power at least once. If he was going to be found out anyway, better to use it to pry her secrets loose.
"If you don't want to show me, we can just end it here."
Simon said shamelessly.
She glared at him with venom, but Simon didn't so much as twitch, keeping his composure intact.
In the end, Lethe sighed and rose from her seat.
"I shouldn't have bothered talking to you at all. Every conversation with you feels like getting tangled in endless vines."
With that, she activated Efnel's subspace. The air split open, brilliant light spilled out, and a living creature bounded through.
That's — !
Simon had never expected to get more out of her than the Legion Commander revelation.
But this was beyond anything he'd imagined.
It was none other than —
"……A dragon?"
A beautiful white dragon revealed itself, its scales glittering with prismatic light. It was still a hatchling, apparently, as it wasn't all that large.
-Kiiiing.
The baby dragon seemed delighted by the fresh air it hadn't tasted in so long, soaring freely through the sky.
When Lethe stretched out her arm, it came flying as if it had been waiting, coiling its body around her limb. The dragon nuzzled its head against her cheek, then gave her face a big, sloppy lick.
"Aha ha! That tickles, Ran!"
"Ran?"
"That's this child's name."
The dragon, busy being affectionate with Lethe, spotted Simon. Then it smoothly slipped out of her arms and opened its mouth.
She cried out in alarm.
"Ah, careful! Divine beasts are hostile to Jet-Black, so it might bi— !"
Slurp, slurp.
Ran began licking Simon's cheek too.
As Simon stood perfectly still, Ran circled around his body round and round, observing him.
When Simon tentatively stretched out his arm the way Lethe had, Ran came over as if it had been waiting and wound itself around his arm.
-Kiiing.
It seemed comfortable in that position — Ran shook its head side to side happily. Simon's eyes sparkled.
"You're so cute."
After seeing nothing but skeletons, zombies, and corpse spiders at Kizen, meeting a divine beast like this honestly felt therapeutic.
"Over here, Ran!"
-Kiiing!
When Simon ran across the grass, Ran got just as excited, tumbling through somersaults as it chased after him. Watching the sudden game of tag break out, Lethe let out a hollow laugh.
What is this? The moment it sensed Jet-Black, it used to breathe fire first and ask questions later.
It seemed divine beasts took a liking to people who carried holy power within them.
But really — a necromancer communing with a divine beast? Just how many times was that boy going to shock her?
"Ran. Come back now."
Lethe said, holding out her arm.
But Ran didn't even pretend to listen, far too busy playing with Simon. Necromancer and divine beast rolled around in the grass together, wrestling and romping.
"Ah — don't you dare play deaf! Come back here!"
She tried scolding it, but was ignored this time as well.
In the end, Lethe had to run over, grab Ran by the tail, and yank until it finally let go. When the hatchling kept whining and trying to make its way back toward Simon, she had no choice but to hug it tightly to her chest.
"Haha."
Simon said, his shoulders puffing up for no particular reason.
"I guess Divine Beast Studies isn't all about deepening your bond with your divine beast, huh?"
"Shut uuup!"
Lethe shouted, rare color rising to her cheeks.
Such an undignified display, in front of the man who would one day become her most dangerous enemy — the embarrassment was unbearable.
In the end, she sent Ran back into the subspace.
And Simon found himself reassessing Lethe. She was already powerful — how much stronger would she become once she properly handled a dragon as well?
"Ahem! Now then! Back to your turn. Direct proof that you're a Legion Commander — "
"Whoops, let's call it here."
"Get back here, you little—!"
Simon glanced back over his shoulder with a sly smile.
Information exchange, one to one. Simon shows information, she offers information of equal worth. That was the whole of the agreement.
And ending the trade was the right of Simon, the one who'd put his information on the table first.
"I'm no longer curious about anything you have to offer…… Honestly, truth be told, I don't have any Ancient Undead with me right now, so even if I wanted to show you, I couldn't."
"Drop dead! You con artist! Necromancers are all exactly the same!"
"I'll make you your favorite omelet when we get home."
"Don't bribe me with food like I'm some animal!"
Day fifteen of the break.
Two days left until the Holy Federation trip.
Vacation or not, Simon's life was far removed from rest. He'd spent every waking moment absorbing priestly white magic from Lethe and Corpse Explosion from Richard.
On top of all that, he kept up his duties as Richard's heir to the estate. The training Richard had first proposed — wearing bracelets on both wrists and anklets on both legs while crossing the mountain range — Simon continued on his own initiative.
As he crossed the steep ridges, he practiced switching his holy power on and off with his left hand while reading a book on the culture of the Holy Federation with his right.
Lethe, too, was apparently spurred on by the sight of Simon studying like a man possessed, and she began her own personal training outside the hours she spent teaching him.
Huh.
Simon was climbing the mountain range where the next village lay when he spotted two mountain goblins shambling around up ahead. The very monsters the villagers had been living in fear of lately.
-Kirik!
The goblins spotted Simon too and charged. He stopped walking and slipped easily into a fighting stance.
Shhk!
Thud!
Not even a warm-up, really. Within seconds, both monsters lay dead on the ground.
Grade 2 monsters really are easy now.
Shaking out his hands, Simon placed his palm on the fallen goblin's body.
<Summon Zombie>
After experiencing the zombification of the Baekgwi in Deathland, goblins were simple work for him.
Before long the magic circle completed, and the zombified goblins stirred, rising from the ground with stiff, swaying movements.
-Keng! Keng!
Suddenly, barking echoed through the air, and Simon's head lifted.
A Green Gnoll — the so-called predator of the mountains. It had caught sight of the blood the goblins spilled and was smacking its lips. It must have caught the scent of blood and crashed the scene.
Well, perfect timing.
Green Gnolls were Grade 3 monsters, stronger than goblins. He'd been wanting to practice Corpse Explosion in real combat anyway, and here was the ideal opponent.
-Keong! Keng! Keng!
The gnoll lowered its stance and charged in fast.
Simon connected to the zombies' lingering will and issued the attack command. As the zombies grabbed hold of the charging gnoll's body, Simon spread his right hand and prepared the magic circle.
-The principle of Corpse Explosion is the detonation of the 'Core,' came Richard's voice in his memory.
-Every undead has a core, summoned or natural alike. For summoned undead, the 'summoning circle' that drives the zombie serves in place of the core.
Depending on which zombie was to be detonated, the formulas woven into the Corpse Explosion circle varied wildly in kind and difficulty.
Simon interfered with the zombies' summoning circles and finished his preparations.
"Corpse — "
The moment Simon activated the circle and began to clench his fist —
Shhk!
The gnoll's sharp claws took a zombie's head clean off. The blow carved down through its chest, damaging the summoning circle.
Oh no.
The dark magic canceled. The gnoll kicked away the other zombie and lunged straight at Simon.
Simon lowered his arm with a disappointed look.
I got so focused on Corpse Explosion that I neglected my zombie control.
Practice and real combat really were different beasts, he thought.
Only by experiencing more variables, more mistakes, could he reduce his errors at the moments that truly mattered.
Thankful for the valuable lesson, Simon lowered his stance.
Whoosh!
The gnoll's razor claws raked through empty air. Simon's body slipped agilely to the side as his left hand readied white magic.
<Strength>
<Haste>
Holy power tinged red and green wrapped around his body. The gnoll, its attack failed, slapped its hands against the ground and bent its knees for another leap.
Crack!
Faster than that, Simon's kick slammed into the gnoll's face. Its features caved in, and it went flying in a cloud of dust.
A priest's Blessing.
Simon marveled anew as he looked over his empowered body.
He'd have to clash head-on to know for sure, but it felt like it could rival a necromancer's curses. A priest who came into battle already wreathed in multiple Blessings would be a nightmare matchup for any necromancer.
-Krrrrr!
The enraged gnoll kicked off the ground and leapt. Simon spread his left hand.
<Shield of Protection>
A translucent shield of holy power unfolded before him, and the leaping gnoll's body slammed against it with a resounding clang!
Release.
Simon spun his body in place as he dispelled the shield. It vanished, and an arrow-sharp kick drove into the gnoll's torso, still hanging suspended in midair.
WHAM!
The gnoll vomited blood and flew dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. Its wounds looked severe, but its fighting spirit hadn't broken — it staggered back to its feet.
But Simon's assault wasn't finished yet.
Gotcha!
The zombie he'd shaken off earlier seized the gnoll from behind. Simon released the Blessing on his body and this time raised his right hand.
"Corpse — "
A clean catch this time.
At the gnoll thrashing in the zombie's grip, Simon clenched his outstretched right hand tight.
"— Explosion!"
BOOOOOOM!
The zombie gripping the gnoll's nape erupted in a dark blue-green blast.
A moment later, he saw the gnoll's body collapse — its head blown clean off, its upper half devastatingly mangled.
"Phew. I win."
Only now did Simon let the tension drain from his shoulders as he approached the fallen beast.
"Too badly damaged to use as a zombie, though."
A first-rate necromancer could raise any corpse into an undead, but Simon's current level of Summon Zombie wasn't up to it. For now, he simply stowed the wrecked carcass in his subspace.
"Alright, let's keep moving!"
And so Simon finished visiting every village on his list and was on his way home.
"Lethe?"
She was standing in the yard, arms crossed, waiting for him.
Brushing a lock of white hair back with her fingertip, she spoke.
"Get ready. We cross into the Holy Federation before dawn tomorrow."