The Lord of the Sea's Farewell Gift
-Wooooooooooooo!
As dawn poured its light across the darkness, a cry like a great ship's horn rolled out and echoed across the Parona Peninsula.
"What? What is that?"
Meilin bolted toward the sound in alarm, and every other gaze turned with her.
At the far tip of the Parona Peninsula where they stood, and on Parona Island directly across from it—
through the narrow stretch of sea between the two—
Shuuuaaaaaaaaah—
an endless procession of sea creatures was passing through.
"No way!"
Dick's jaw dropped wide open.
"That's a Deimos!"
"Don't be stupid, Dick! That monster whale wasn't supposed to arrive until this afternoon!"
"It's not a Deimos!"
Camibarez shouted, her eyes brimming with tears.
"It's Simon!"
"What?!"
Shuuuaaaaaaaaaah—
At the head of that procession, leading the countless sea creatures, swam a skeletal undead Deimos.
And riding astride its back was a blue-haired boy, arms crossed.
"Simon! It's Simon!"
"Simooon!"
Simon gave his friends a light wave, then his expression turned serious again as he faced forward.
He drew in a deep, slow breath, eyes flashing, and issued his Absolute Order.
[ Eliminate every Naga here. ]
The Deimos connected to his will spread its jawbone wide and sent a colossal ripple through the water. Every sea monster in the waters bowed to the command.
'Charge!'
The pack of Nagas surging toward the shore crashed headlong into the wall of sea creatures—and their formation collapsed like a dam blown apart by a flood. KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM! An octopus monster wound its tentacles around five and six Nagas at a time, while fanged beasts swallowed them whole.
Some of them were Danger Class 3 and beyond. The Nagas may have had numbers, but with an average of Grade 2, they never stood a chance against the open sea.
Crunch!Squelch-crack-crunch!
Holes punched through Naga bodies, tentacles coiling tight until necks snapped.
And there was Simon, commanding the sea itself from his lofty throne atop the waves.
No one could tear their eyes away.
In a single stroke, the tide of battle had turned.
"Whoa! Whoa! Insane! Whoaaaa!"
Dick could do nothing but spew one exclamation after another.
"Simon, you bastard! You actually stole the Deimos's soldiers away?"
"Go get 'em, Simon!"
"Kill them aaaall!"
Camibarez and Meilin jumped up and down in place, cheering until their throats went hoarse.
And behind them, one more person.
"Aaah."
A reporter, eyes trembling as he drank in the spectacular scene, fumbled out his mana camera.
He had just barely enough mana left for a single last shot.
'This is the scoop of my entire life.'
Tremble-tremble-tremble.
With shaking arms, he raised the camera and framed Simon atop the Deimos.
'A Kizen student, and—'
"That's our president!! You're amazing!!"
Hearing Meilin's voice crack with emotion, the reporter pressed the shutter.
'The debut battle of Kizen's new Student Council President!'
The mana camera flashed brilliantly, capturing Simon riding the Deimos and commanding a legion of monsters in a single photograph.
Simon's arrival had completely reversed the tide of battle.
He had put the Deimos—which was supposed to arrive much later—back to sleep with Sleep, hijacked its army, and swept the Nagas away in one grand display of heroics. In truth, it had been a one-man show.
Beyond being a simple victory, this event meant Simon had fastened the first button of his presidency perfectly. To begin his career by rescuing an entire region from a monster invasion was an enormous accomplishment.
The only lingering worry had been the safety of the people who hadn't made it to the lord's castle in time and were scattered in hiding—but once the crisis ended, every one of them returned to the castle unharmed.
Their hiding places had varied—a basement, the forest, a cave—but they all gave the same account: a blond boy in a robe had come to their aid.
Once day fully broke and the Nagas occupying the waters vanished, ships began arriving at Parona. The tourists could board them and leave the island safely.
Simon's group was nearly dead on their feet from the exhaustion of battle, so they decided to rest at Parona a while before departing.
And then—
The moment Simon opened his eyes, he was greeted by the newspaper article the Parona side had handed over—a slightly uncomfortable read.
"Ugh!"
Simon's face flushed red.
In the article's photo, he could see himself perched atop the Deimos, arms crossed, wearing an impressively grave expression.
'I looked like THAT?'
He couldn't believe it. Beside him, Dick had already seen the photo and was rolling across the floor of the room in hysterics.
"Ahaha! Simon! Your expression is SO serious!"
Camibarez said, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Hey! You knew the reporter was there and struck that pose on purpose, didn't you?"
Meilin jabbed him in the arm with her elbow. Simon simply covered his face with his palm.
"Pfft! Khk! Congratulations! Hero of Parona!"
Dick laughed cheerfully and thumped Simon hard on the back.
"Ah! My only regret is that this is just a Parona local paper! If it had been a bigger publisher, this proud figure of yours would've gone out to the whole continent—"
"Please, stop."
Simon was on the verge of dying of embarrassment. Meilin patted his shoulder soothingly.
"Do you know how hard it is to get in the paper? This is credentials, reputation, and assets all in one."
"Oh sure, like getting in the paper is so difficult. The pride of the Langerstein Grand Theatre! The voice of the heavens, Meilin Villenne!"
"HEY!!!"
Scarlet-faced, Meilin shrieked and lunged at him. Dick dodged with nimble grace.
"No running indoors!"
Camibarez moved to break up the fight.
"Gwaaah! Wait, wait!"
With Meilin finally gripping a fistful of his hair, Dick spoke in desperation.
"This is no time for this! There's an urgent problem!"
"Don't try to weasel out."
"I'm serious!"
Dick looked toward Simon.
"Classes start tomorrow, you guys! Did everyone forget?"
All three of them froze mid-motion. Meilin, too, only now let go of Dick's hair.
"If we want to make it back for the opening ceremony, we have to leave right now—and with everything that's happened, the regular ferry routes are all cut off."
"Th-that's a problem."
Meilin looked at Simon.
"Simon. Can't you take us on your Deimos?"
"...My Deimos is a one-seater. And it's worn out from today's fight."
The four of them put their heads together over how exactly they were going to get back to Roc Island.
Knock-knock-knock!
A knock sounded at the door. When Camibarez answered with a cheerful "Coming~" and opened it, a woman in a robe stepped inside—an unfamiliar face.
"Wh-who are you?"
The woman pulled back her hood and bowed politely at the waist.
"Pleasure to meet you, second-years. I am a henchman sent from the Academy."
When she displayed Kizen's crest, the four of them finally relaxed.
"The Academy has received reports of your remarkable exploits."
Tucking the crest away, she continued.
"Along with the Academy's deepest gratitude for your hard work, I bring word that a teleportation circle will be installed here in Parona tonight, so that you may return comfortably tomorrow."
"Nice timing!"
Dick cheered at the top of his lungs.
Simon finally let a smile of relief cross his face, and Meilin and Camibarez high-fived.
"The teleportation engineers are already on site, so it will be finished without trouble by dawn at the latest. I came to tell you to rest easy and relax."
"Thank you so much!"
"Ah, and one more thing."
She gave a sly smile and pointed toward the door.
"This is merely a personal suggestion, but if you head to the Hill of the Whale right now, you'll be able to see a magnificent sight."
"!!"
At those words, the four of them scrambled into their shoes and bolted out the door.
"Everyone, run!"
"Dick, come on!"
"Hey!! You're wearing MY shoes, you brat!"
And so, sprinting at full speed with Jet-Black crackling under their feet, the four of them reached the Hill of the Whale. Their eyes went wide as saucers.
"Wooooow!"
Against the backdrop of the vast, open sea before them, countless sea creatures—far too many to count—were swimming in every direction.
Splash! Splash!
Fish and sea monsters leapt from the surface in perfect unison, as if signaling to one another—a chorus so breathtaking it made their jaws hang open.
They couldn't look away.
"Simon! Everyone! You can see even better over here!"
All the tourists had already evacuated the island, so the only ones taking in the Hill of the Whale now were the four of them, and no one else.
They had the entire place—a tourist spot visible only once every two years—to themselves. They settled down comfortably on the wide open ground, beaming ear to ear.
"The Master has finally arrived!"
Dick shouted.
-Woooooooooooooooo!
Then, accompanied by that great ship's-horn cry, the highlight of the festival finally arrived: the Deimos was passing through the sea.
It hadn't fully revealed itself—only its blowhole broke the surface as it traveled—but even that vast, ink-black shadow alone was enough to overwhelm anyone who laid eyes on it.
"It's HUGE!"
Meilin cried, her eyes going round.
"It wouldn't lose to one of Kizen's Nether Whales, would it?"
"It's incredible!"
While the other three marveled at its sheer size, Simon—who had faced the sea firsthand—was comparatively relaxed.
'Still, it really is on a different scale from the ones I was controlling.'
The sea monsters that Simon's undead Deimos had commandeered were now returning to their true master. Just then, water erupted from the whale's blowhole above the surface.
Shuuuaaah!
The column of seawater shot an unbelievable distance through the air—and came down squarely on the spot where Simon's group was sitting.
"Gwah! What the—?"
"Kyaaaaa!"
Just as the four of them panicked under the sudden baptism of water—
FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
this time the Deimos itself burst up out of the water.
Everyone's mouths fell open. The colossal creature launched into the sky, water spraying around it, and rolled its eyes—eyes that were fixed directly on Simon.
Simon met the Deimos's gaze and gave a small smile.
"Glad to see you're in a good mood."
The Deimos plunged back into the sea, and the force of its dive flipped the ocean over, sending waves surging into the air.
Shuuuaaaaaaaaah!
A great rain fell across the peninsula. The seawater soaked their uniforms through and through.
"Ugh, come ON! Now everything's soaked!"
Meilin's usual grumbling rang out—but her mouth was stretched in a huge grin.
"Ahaha, Simon. You look like a drowned rat."
"You're one to talk, Cami."
Hahahahaha!
Their clothes may have been drenched, but the four of them laughed loud and free. It wasn't even that funny, yet somehow, once the laughter started, it wouldn't stop.
Before them, the Deimos's dazzling ocean show.
Overhead, a crisp, salty sea-rain falling from the sky.
Beside them, their wonderful friends—drowned rats, laughing all the same.
Everything around them was perfect.
"And tomorrow, classes finally start!"
Thrilled, Dick threw both arms up into the air.
"We've got to give our battle cry one more time before we go!"
"Battle cry?"
"What's that?"
"What do you think?"
Dick bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Simon's Kizen 330th Student Council! Let's make this year count too!"
The other three raised their voices with laughter on their lips.
"Let's gooo!"
Shuuuaaaaaaaaah!
As if to celebrate the four of them, another column of water burst from the Deimos's blowhole, painting a beautiful seven-colored rainbow across the sky.
Simon gazed at the scene and smiled.
'School's finally starting.'