The Spinning Skeleton Knight
An hour earlier.
While most of the students had already completed their Skeleton Knights, Simon was still pouring every ounce of focus into assembling his own.
"Now!"
Simon's Skeleton Knight swung its sword.
Whiiiirrrrrr-
The moment the blade swept through the air, the waist rotated along with it, sending the entire upper body spinning around twice. The watching students were doubled over, clutching their stomachs in laughter.
"S-sorry, Simon. Pfft!"
Even Toto had turned beet red, hands clamped over his mouth. It was, objectively, a comedy act of a scene — yet among all the students, Simon alone was staring at it with heightened excitement, his eyes sparkling.
"This is awesome!"
"......Huh?"
Toto looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
* * *
And an hour later, Simon and Aseraz stood on the platform, each leading their own Skeleton Knight.
"Undead dueling. You all did plenty of it in your first year, so I trust you remember the rules. The summoner is strictly forbidden from using dark magic directly, and the first undead to lose its head loses."
"Yes, sir!"
"Yes, sir!"
Simon and Aseraz answered with vigor.
'Simon Polentia.'
Aaron's head turned.
'You've always had a genius for pulling out the unexpected.'
Just remembering the sight of that boy converting a two-legged walking skeleton into a four-legged sprinting one still gave him chills.
But this time was different. The undead was a defective unit — and worse, it was a Skeleton Knight. With armor fitted over it, disassembling the bones into a new configuration was impossible.
'Still, he stepped forward intending to win. So he must have a reason.'
Once both students were ready, Aaron gave the word.
"Begin."
Thud.
Step.
Simon and Aseraz squared off.
"Sorry, but I have no intention of going easy on you."
Aseraz raised her slender arms. Her Skeleton Knight lifted both of its swords and settled into a flawless, no-frills combat stance.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Simon replied as he readied his own Skeleton Knight. Seeing it, she frowned.
"......What exactly do you think you're doing?"
Identical to Aseraz's, Simon's Skeleton Knight had come out as a twin-blade wielding two swords. A murmur rippled through the students.
"Did you even complete the mental attunement? Did you actually study the Skeleton Knight's nature before commanding it? Or is this just your idea of insulting me?"
"None of the three."
Simon allowed himself a small smile.
"But I'm going to win."
Sparks practically flew from her eyes.
"Then go right ahead and try!"
Thaaat!
Responding to her will, her Skeleton Knight charged fiercely, arms spread slightly with both blades lowered in the ideal twin-sword posture.
The stance of Simon's Skeleton Knight, meeting it head-on, was rather peculiar.
Step!
Step!
It simply flung both sword-bearing arms out wide to either side like a pair of wings.
"St-stop that!"
Aseraz shouted, voice thick with indignation.
The twin blades of her Skeleton Knight traced a perfect angle and flew at the opponent's neck.
'Got it!'
Vwuuum!
But both swords cleaved through empty air. Watching from behind, Aseraz had the eerie illusion that her target had simply vanished — Simon's Skeleton Knight had bent its waist impossibly far backward to dodge.
"No cheap tricks!"
Her Skeleton Knight scrambled to react, dragging its blades downward — and in that same instant, Simon's Skeleton Knight extended its coiled knees and drove forward in counterattack.
'The timing is perfect!'
Simon deactivated one of the magic circles connected to the skeleton. At once, the solid line at its waist snapped loose, and the Jet-Black that had been twisted like braided rope began to unwind.
Whiiiirrrrrrr!
With both arms spread, the Skeleton Knight spun like a top, swords still in hand. Aseraz's Knight hurriedly drew its two blades together into a guard, but—
Kakakak!
Sparks scattered, and both swords were simply batted away.
'What?!'
A heartbeat later, Simon's Knight swept past Aseraz's and landed on the ground.
Sliiide-
Its rotation spent, the Skeleton Knight sank to one knee and came to a stop.
At the very same moment, the opposing Skeleton Knight's head was sailing high into the sky.
'Spin!'
Aseraz's pupils trembled.
The watching students had their jaws hanging wide open. Her Skeleton Knight's head thudded to the floor and rolled away across it.
Aaron lowered his arm and called out.
"Victory to Simon Polentia."
WHAAAAA!
No one had seen that ending coming. The students gaped at each other, trading frantic, breathless chatter.
"What — what was that? Did you see that?"
"How did he do it? The skeleton was just spinning around?"
Aseraz let her arms fall in blank disbelief.
Simon's Skeleton Knight struck a magnificent pose, both swords raised high — and then its waist started wobbling and bent backward again, dignity thoroughly compromised.
"You'll explain to your classmates exactly how that was done. Simon Polentia."
Simon nodded.
"The knight I purchased had a defect around the waist area. So I simply separated the upper and lower body."
"Separated it?"
"Yes."
Swish.
Simon pulled something from his pocket — an artificial cartilage-like object that glowed blue. When he tugged at its ends, it stretched out long and springy.
"It's the same material used to make Skeleton Archer joints. I connected the upper and lower body with it, then personally twisted it up like a top and sealed it with a magic circle so it wouldn't unravel. The activation is simple — remotely release the seal, and the twisted cartilage snaps back into place, sending the sword-wielding Skeleton Knight spinning at high speed for ten seconds."
Simon traced a lazy circle in the air with his fingertip.
"It was a defect, but I got lucky figuring out this gimmick! Wouldn't it be incredible to spin all the knights the moment they're deployed from subspace? I'm thinking of refining it a bit more and registering it as a Pentamonium patent."
"......"
Aaron simply pressed a hand to his forehead.
Even as his head throbbed, the corner of his mouth was curling upward.
"You absolute lunatic."
* * *
Simon had finally earned an A+ on his first practical assessment: Skeleton Knight Construction.
Whistling a cheerful tune, he tucked the spinning knight neatly away into subspace and stepped out of the lecture hall.
He would have loved to amble off to a leisurely lunch, but his next class — his major course — started immediately after, so he bought nothing but a sandwich from the campus store and got moving.
The other students were doing the same, eating as they walked.
"Next up is Summoning Materials. The lecture hall is pretty far!"
Toto said, consulting his notebook.
"How far are we talking?"
"Here."
Toto spread out the second-year campus map tucked inside his notebook and pointed.
"Whoa, that's quite a hike."
"Yeah. About the same distance as Professor Hong Peng's outdoor class."
And since that class was in barely an hour, the Summoning majors had to hustle. Fortunately, the sprawling second-year campus had carriages running free of charge within its grounds.
Riding the carriage, crossing a bridge, passing through a forest — the place where they finally arrived was:
GoooOOOoo-
The entrance of an enormous cavern.
"They hold class here?"
"You could convince me it's a dungeon."
As the students stirred uneasily, someone suddenly burst out of the cave's darkness. Beside Simon, Toto let out a strangled "Waah!"
"Good day to you all."
A strangely dressed man.
He wore an unidentified martial uniform, a band wrapped around a freshly shaved head. Indecipherable tattoos marked his face beneath the eyes, and his gaze drifted, unfocused. Pressing his palms together, he bowed to the students.
"I'm the teaching assistant assigned to guide this lesson. Everyone, please follow me."
Leaving only those words, the assistant turned and walked into the cave's darkness. The students, murmuring among themselves, hurried after him.
Drip- drip-
The sound of water dripping in the cave rang out with startling clarity. Somewhere in the distance came what sounded like crashing waves, and the scrape of rock against rock.
Simon looked around with curious eyes.
'How deep does this place go?'
After about twenty minutes of walking, they came upon railway tracks laid through the cavern.
"Please put on your helmets and board the train."
Toto whipped his head around nervously.
"Good grief — we're going even deeper than this?"
FWOOSH-WHOOSH!
"Huk!"
"KYAAAAH!"
The students screamed and ducked low as a swarm of bats came streaking right over their heads.
'That scared me.'
Simon looked up too. The assistant here merely watched the passing creatures with the placid expression of a man observing common birds.
"Alright, everyone aboard."
The rail cars were built to seat three people each. Simon, mindful of the diminutive Toto, handed him a safety helmet hanging on the wall and put one on himself as well.
Grab!
Then suddenly, a hand seized Simon's wrist and yanked.
"Come on, hurry~ Simon!"
"S-Serne?"
She winked at him.
"Dark places are scary, you know. You have to stay with me. What are you dawdling for?"
"What — that's not the point—"
And so Simon found himself dragged over to stand before the rail car.
Apparently not meant for carrying people, it was smeared black with soot in every corner.
"Hmm~"
Serne, clearly displeased by the sight, grabbed the hem of her skirt and hopped up and down in place.
That ability of hers was a marvel no matter how many times he saw it.
A cascade of white feathers spilled shimmering from her body, fluttered down over the rail car, and transformed into a luxurious feather bed and carpet.
Filthy everywhere else — but this one car looked like first class.
"Come on, sit with me, Simon."
Just then, a darkness settled silently into that luxurious car — and out of it, as if she'd been sitting there all along, appeared a black-haired girl.
Serne's face contorted violently.
"Why are you here of all places? Uninvited?"
Lorraine didn't even turn her head, answering coldly.
"There's precedent, isn't there? I'm not letting you have Simon all to yourself."
"Ugh, seriously~ You obstruct me at every single turn!"
The train was due to depart shortly; there was nothing to be done. Serne grumbled as she climbed aboard, and just as Simon stepped toward the car to join them—
"Train One is now departing."
Out of nowhere, the assistant popped up and entered that final car, bumping Simon backward.
Clunk!
The train departed that very instant. The assistant bowed, fists pressed together at his waist. From somewhere came the unmistakable sound of Lorraine and Serne — left behind without Simon — shrieking in outrage.
"......"
Clunk-clunk!
And so Train Two arrived at the rail beside Simon. From the darkness emerged a brand-new assistant dressed in the identical outfit.
"Students, please board the next train."
* * *
Clunk- clunk-
Train Two departed. Simon stared up at the cavern ceiling with a helpless smile.
'How on earth did it come to this?'
He'd assumed he'd be riding with Lorraine and Serne, but when he came to his senses, he was wedged in between a pair of men.
"U-uuuh!"
To his right sat Toto, who had chased after him. Terrified out of his wits, the boy clutched one of Simon's arms and trembled.
And to his left.
"......"
Hector.
He too had been separated from the friends he'd meant to ride with, and looked in an exceptionally foul mood. Being as huge as he was, Simon ended up crushed against the side of the car.
Simon and Hector sat in uncomfortable silence, with only the frightened Toto's "Hiek! Hiek!" punctuating the gloom.
"Shut your mouth."
Hector's lips parted.
"Tch-tch-tch-tch. You're loud, runt."
It was aimed at Toto. Under Hector's pressure, the boy clamped his mouth shut, hiccuping all the while. But whenever something frightening flashed by, he still let out a squeak and squeezed Simon's arm tighter.
Simon studied Hector for a moment, then spoke up.
"Hector."
"Don't talk to me."
Hector's reply was icy, but Simon decided that an awkward attempt at conversation beat sitting in strained silence.
After first year had ended, he couldn't remember a single proper conversation with the man.
"Didn't you get chewed out by the third-years the other day? You shoved me out of the department welcoming ceremony before it even started."
"Quit babbling nonsense."
Hector's eyes sharpened.
"And by regulation, a department representative may only make recommendations — he cannot interfere with Student Council affairs. That's the only reason I didn't stop you."
"Huh."
"But the reverse holds equally true. You being on the Student Council doesn't entitle you to meddle in department business either. That's overreach."
Simon allowed himself a slight smile.
"And yet if you cross the line like you did last time, I'm afraid my Student Council won't have a choice but to step in."
"......You little punk."
Two pairs of burning eyes locked head-on.
After glaring at Simon through a long moment of silent friction, Hector suddenly let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.
"That business at the initiation ceremony, though — blocking it like you did. Personally speaking, I'm grateful."
Simon's eyes went wide.
Wait — what did he just say?
"But there won't be a second time."
Having said that, Hector said nothing more until the train arrived.