The Summoning Department Sweeps the Top
“S-Simon! No—wait, Mr. Student Council President! Do you, um, maybe still hold some kind of grudge against me…… or something?”
“What?”
Meilyn, who had been weighing her options, burst out laughing at that.
Truly, this girl had politics bred into her very bones.
“How is it that all you can think about on the first day of the semester is climbing the ladder?”
“Ah! I'm being serious!”
“No idea. Ask him yourself.”
“Aaaah~”
Elisa clung to her with an uncharacteristically whiny drawl, and Meilyn shook her off with visible annoyance.
“You spent the entire first year getting beaten by Simon. If anyone's holding a grudge, it's you. Simon's got nothing against you.”
“R-really? Whew, what a relief…….”
“Quit fooling around.”
Both their heads turned.
A girl wearing sunglasses even indoors was staring at them from across the hall. Meilyn's expression tightened slightly.
Rank 6. Merdiana.
She was already being hailed as the Empress of Toxicology.
Her nickname was the Queen Bee.
Naturally, it came from the type of dark magic she wielded.
“Simon Polentia becoming student council president carries serious implications.”
She spread her palm open.
“Kizen is a strict meritocracy. Which means any other second-year who takes Simon down can become president just the same.”
“Ha.”
Meilyn sneered coldly.
“You think you can manage what even Chatel couldn't? Be my guest. Give it a shot.”
“The Vice President speaks true! Simon is suuuper strong!”
Elisa had flipped sides in an instant, sticking right back to Meilyn's side like a bat. Merdiana's head turned toward her.
“Politician. You'd better pick the right line while you can.”
“Huh?”
“Before long, the student council president's seat—”
Her gaze slid toward the podium.
“—will be taken by Aseraz.”
The words had barely left her mouth when Byulya's booming voice rang out.
“Rank 5! Aseraz Mikel has chosen the Summoning Department!”
Startled, Meilyn's head whipped toward the podium.
Aseraz chose Summoning? I was sure she'd go with Dark Mechanics or Curses!
“Waaaah!”
And the Summoning Department erupted into chaos.
Rank 1, Rank 3, Rank 5 — all Summoning.
It was nothing short of a clean sweep.
……What are they plotting?
Meilyn's expression darkened as her eyes climbed to Merdiana, Rank 6, rising toward the podium.
Aseraz Mikel.
Simon, seated alone at the back of a table, rested his chin on his hand and watched as she received the enthusiastic welcome of the Summoning upperclassmen.
He didn't know much about her.
What little he did know: she had started from the bottom of the rankings, crushed every single Special Admission student on her way up, and settled into Rank 5 like a comet. And that she was the student who had beaten Meilyn on the written exams in both semesters, taking the overall #1 spot.
Perhaps she received special treatment too, because like Hector, she took a seat among the third-years, where Leonard and Will bombarded her with questions.
“……”
Then, in the middle of answering the seniors, she suddenly turned her head.
Hm?
She was glaring at Simon.
He felt a strange chill run through him — as though something steeped in deep, long-held resentment was washing over his body in a wave.
When Simon didn't look away, she soon turned her head back and resumed her conversation with the seniors.
Meanwhile, the department choices of the rest of the Top 10 were settled in rapid succession.
Rank 6, the Queen Bee Merdiana — Toxicology.
Rank 7, the Ghost Ship Elisa — Spirit Magic.
Both were treated as the face of their departments by the seniors and were made second-year Department Representatives.
“Kizen's own Vice President! Rank 8, Meilyn Villenne, is headed to Dark Mechanics!”
Meilyn chose Dark Mechanics, of course. Jane could be seen shaking her hand with a deeply satisfied smile.
Student council members were barred from holding any other position simultaneously — club presidencies, Department Representatives, all of it — so Meilyn could not become one.
That left the third-years of Dark Mechanics scrambling to somehow get the half-giant Chatel to take the representative seat, but it seemed easier said than done.
“Rank 9! Elisha Rosenfeld has chosen Hemomancy!”
“Rank 10! Jule Vincere has chosen Magic Combat!”
Elisha, newly risen to Rank 9 this time around, became the Hemomancy representative, while the cursed-sword wielder Jule Vincere became the Magic Combat representative.
And with that, the Top 10's department selections were complete. At the same time, every department's second-year representative had been decided.
Better commit this to memory.
Simon pulled a notebook from his shirt pocket and began jotting down their names.
These were the people he would be meeting, negotiating with, and occasionally butting heads with, over and over in the days to come. As student council president, knowing them inside and out was only natural.
Curse Studies:Merida Hugh Ikel
Dark Mechanics:Chatel Maer (presumed)
Summoning:Hector Moore
Spirit Magic:Elisa Celine
Hemomancy:Elisha Rosenfeld
Toxicology:Merdiana Ann Sudden-death
Magic Combat:Jule Vincere
Seriously, what the heck.
Simon let out a hollow laugh after finishing the memo.
How is there not a single easygoing person among them?
Negotiating with the Department Representatives promised to be an uphill battle. Not one of them looked remotely manageable.
Even Simon's own Summoning Department had its representative seat seized by Hector, and Elisa — who currently resented him — had become the Spirit Magic representative.
The only person he might actually be able to talk to was the cursed-sword user, Jule Vincere. Aside from how belligerently he transformed in a fight, the man himself had seemed decent, as far as Simon remembered.
Merida at Rank 4, Merdiana at Rank 6, Elisha at Rank 9.
Simon circled the three new names in his notebook, once, twice, emphasizing them.
How these newcomers come out of their shells will be the key.
While Simon mulled over this and that about running the school, the students' selections continued at a brisk pace.
The overall picture: overwhelming dominance for Dark Mechanics, overseen by Jane. Its sixty seats looked like they would fill in no time.
Hot on its heels came Curse Studies. Bahil, Kizen's star professor, not attending in person was subtly dragging on its numbers.
“Rank 40! Cindy Vivace has chosen Spirit Magic!”
“Rank 62! Sabrina Giuseppe has chosen Toxicology!”
Spirit Magic and Toxicology were filling up fast as well. And every time a Toxicology name was called, Dick at Rank 400 clenched up along with it, his chest tightening with nerves.
“Uuuuuu, khh! Haaak!”
Dick twisted his whole body around, letting out sounds like a man shedding years off his life.
“Ah, my heart can't take this! I knew I should've studied more! This is what karma looks like, people! Khhak!”
“You can do it, Dick! A spot is bound to open up!”
Camibarez beamed at him, clenching her little fists to cheer him on — when the TA's shout rang out.
“Ranks 90 through 100! Please wait below the podium!”
Camibarez shot up from her seat.
“I'm off! Dick!”
“……Yeah. Thanks, Kami.”
Dick waved her off with the face of a man who had aged several years.
A short while later.
“Rank 95! Camibarez Ursula has chosen Hemomancy!”
For the first time in ages, a hearty cheer erupted from the fifth table on the left.
“Ursula! Ursula's here!!”
“We love you passionately!”
“Welcome, little vampire!”
Camibarez sat down at the Hemomancy table, showered with affection from the third-years. With the seniors responding passionately to her every gesture and every word, she had no idea what to do with herself.
Well, Kami will settle in fast anyway.
Watching Camibarez being doted on by the Hemomancy seniors, Simon smiled warmly.
The rankings soon passed the 100s and moved into the 200s.
“Rank 280! Serne Aindark has chosen the Summoning Department!”
A cheer bigger than any before it — a full-on explosion — burst from the Summoning Department. The third-years had completely lost their minds.
“Ha, are the Summoning guys insane?”
“Why is the Ivory Tower's heir coming to Summoning!”
The Dark Mechanics seniors, who had been secretly hoping for her — no, who had been certain she would come to them — were left reeling in shock.
As Serne strode toward the Summoning table, her ivory hair flowing behind her, the third-years of the department scrambled over in a flash. A few boys stretched out their hands, offering to escort her, but Serne glided past with a smile.
“Welcome to the Summoning Department, Serne.”
Even Leonard was wearing a dazed smile. Still, unlike the other upperclassmen making a spectacle of themselves, he remained seated, maintaining his composure.
“You startled me. If you were coming to our side, you could've at least given us a heads-up.”
In answer, she simply let out a soft laugh and flashed him a sly, fox-like smile.
The faces of the male seniors standing behind Leonard flushed bright red. From where they stood, she was nothing short of a bewitching menace that could drive a person mad.
Serne haughtily lifted her chin and clicked past Leonard in crisp, deliberate footsteps.
“S-Serne!”
“Care for a word?”
Several seniors rushed over to her, still clinging to hope. But she only answered with another eye-smile, brushing their offers aside as if deflecting thrown pebbles.
“The rumors were true. No — the rumors don't do you justice.”
Serne's steps stopped. Will, Rank 12, had planted himself directly in her path.
“And I've heard another rumor, too.”
Will placed a hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head up at him, one eye closed.
“That you're scouting talent to bring into the Ivory Tower yourself. That you drop students who fall for your charms out of the school, then scoop them up for the Tower.”
He lowered his voice to something only Serne could hear, baring his teeth in a grin.
“I know all that, and I'm still willing to take the bait. So — does our junior have any interest?”
Tap.
Serne brushed the hand off her shoulder and gave him a bright little smile. Will smirked back, taking it as acceptance —
“Your mouth smells like poop, senior~”
— and the follow-up remark set Will's face ablaze.
Serne swept past the statue-frozen Will and third-years with haughty, unhurried steps. And then —
“May I sit here?”
She sat down boldly in the seat across from Simon, who was sitting alone.
Then she folded her hands beneath her chin like flower petals and smiled her prettiest, most honeyed smile.
“……You.”
Simon let out a small sigh.
“Are you ready to deal with the fallout? These are your department seniors, you know.”
At his question, she smirked — then whispered, deadpan:
“Creepy. Creepy-creepy.”
Simon finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
While Simon and Serne were chatting away, Byulya's enormous voice thundered through the hall once more.
“Rank 287! Lorraine Archbold is headed to the Summoning Department!”
At last, the fate of this second year's most-watched student had been decided.
Shaking hands with Aaron, she stepped down from the podium and made her way toward the Summoning table.
The third-years' reaction went without saying. By now, everyone's voices were hoarse from all the shouting.
“C-come on over, Lorraine!”
“Good to have you. Mm, looking forward to it.”
Still, the Summoning seniors treated Lorraine with a touch more care than the others.
Understandably so — she was the daughter of Nephthys, the master of this very school. Unlike the frantic, red-carpet welcome they'd rolled out for Serne, they kept a certain formality about them, careful not to overstep.
“An honor to have you cheer for me. I'm Leonard, Rank 4 and Department Representative.”
“Hi there! Name's Benya.”
“Rank 12, Will. Hahaha! Never thought the young miss would come this way, though!”
Lorraine bowed her head politely, no different from any other second-year student.
“I am Lorraine Archbold. I have much to learn, and much I do not yet know. I would be grateful for your guidance — please, feel free to teach me freely.”
She wasn't bowing and scraping repeatedly before the seniors like the other students. She was simply mature about it — the sense of one person extending courtesy to another, as an equal.
The third-years, in turn, never dared treat her casually. Even Will, who had shamelessly hit on the likes of Serne, offered Lorraine nothing more than a greeting and sauntered past pretending not to have seen her.
Thud. Thud.
Soon enough, Lorraine walked straight past the seniors and came to a stop in front of Simon.
The seniors were still watching her.
And Lorraine, after one brief glance at Serne seated across the table, turned to Simon with a smile and said:
“Mind if I sit next to you?”