Starlight Over Roke Island
Watching Lethe sit by the window with the tangled moonlight at her back, Simon found himself thinking, once again, how many times today he'd doubted his own eyes.
“Hold on, wait a second!” Simon bolted upright in bed, his mind snapping into focus. “Why are you here? What about the other necromancer agents?”
“I sneaked out, obviously.” She stepped down to the floor with a light, silent motion. “Don't worry. I left a note behind.”
“A note?”
“‘Necromancers cannot be trusted under any circumstances. During the Starfall, I have no intention of entrusting my back to a wicked archenemy who denies the Goddess, so do not come looking for me.’” She clenched her fist, and starlight sprang up with a sharp crack. “‘If you chase me down, I'll return to the Holy Federation.’ That's what it said.”
Is—is that a threat? Simon laughed helplessly. How could a single person be so absurdly unreasonable?
But thinking it over, it was actually quite masterful. As of right now, the Holy Federation was officially aiding the Dark Alliance, and Kizen's agents needed Lethe's cooperation. There would be a token search, certainly—but considering the ferocity she'd shown all morning, they wouldn't dare move too aggressively.
Wait. Then that means… Simon's pupils wavered. The way she treated me so coldly this morning was…
Lethe narrowed her eyes. “Is there something on my face?”
“No, no. Nothing at all.”
“Anyway~ so this is the room you live in.” With her hands clasped behind her back, Lethe let her interested gaze wander around the dormitory room, and Simon suddenly felt self-conscious, scrambling to protest. “Wait! Don't just wander around like that!”
“Oh, come on. What's the harm?”
Mmmm—
Just then, Toto stirred in his bed, rubbing at his eyes. “Simon, is something going on…?”
Tap!
Simon rushed over and pressed his hand to Toto's forehead. Caught in the grip of Sleep, Toto settled back down with a peaceful smile. Simon tucked the blanket over him, silently relieved.
“Careful. If word gets out that a girl was in here, it's a death sentence.”
“Is that the sort of crime that gets a student council president hanged? Kizen is quite strict, isn't it?”
“…That was a figure of speech.”
He'd heard that in strict Epnel, getting caught like this left both parties half dead. He decided not to ask what being half dead entailed.
“By the way, how did you even find this place? The dorms are way out here—it couldn't have been easy.”
“I asked around.” Lethe shrugged as if it were nothing. “And I hurried, because anyone can see you'd be sulking in a corner somewhere.”
“I-I was not sulking!”
“You were upset that I didn't play along with your little act. It was written all over your face.”
Simon's ears burned scarlet as he shouted, “That never happened!”
Ahaha! She hid her mouth behind her sleeve and laughed mischievously, her bright voice spilling out to fill the room. “Well then, I'll pretend that's how it was. Time for me to go.” Lethe pointed out the window. “Leaving? Where to?”
“That's for you to decide.” She crossed her arms as if the question were ridiculous. “It's my first time on Roke Island. I came here assuming the student council president would guide me to a nice, quiet spot for the Starfall.”
That much was easy. Simon smiled as he walked toward the coat rack. “I thought necromancers couldn't be trusted?”
A smile touched Lethe's lips as well. “One of you, I'll allow as an exception.”
Whoosh! Simon swept his robe over his shoulders with a flourish, fastening it neatly, button by button, ready to head out—
“…”
Somehow, Lethe looked flustered. When their eyes met, she stared up at him, almost accusingly.
“What? Is something wrong?”
“…No, it's just…” Turning her gaze away with a faint flush, she said in a sulky voice, “Today, I'm wearing black.”
“?”
When Simon tilted his head in complete incomprehension, Lethe exploded. “I don't want any misunderstandings, so wear that robe flipped to the white side! Seriously, now.”
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it—the two of them were wearing robes of exactly the same design. The white-and-black reversible robe the two of them had picked out together back when he visited the Holy Federation.
“So that's what you came wearing.”
“Shut up and put on the white side! Black is mine!”
“Fine, fine.” Chuckling, Simon did as he was told and changed into the white robe. “Shall we go, then?”
Simon stepped up to the windowsill and held out a hand. Lethe stared at it for a long moment, then batted it away as if it were hopeless, stepped onto the sill first, and leaped out.
Still the same as ever, I see. Simon smiled quietly and followed her out the window.
Outside the dormitory, darkness lay thick upon the world.
Simon led Lethe straight to the Forbidden Forest behind the dorms. Towering trees rose high overhead, and above their crowns the night sky stretched out, strewn with stars and a great swollen moon.
“Roke Island, indeed. The atmosphere is deliciously eerie.” Lethe's eyes had gone round as she glanced about.
“The route there might get a little rough.” Simon pulled a golem core out of his subspace and dropped it to the ground. “Security's been massively tightened for the Dark Festival. Not just the forest sentries—we could run into minions or the Disciplinary Committee too.”
“No problem at all. We just smash everything and go, right?” Lethe lifted her chin, utterly confident. Simon snorted with laughter and swept both arms wide.
Summon Golem
Dirt and stone responded to Simon's jet-black energy, clumping thick and fast around the golem core, and the gathered materials were molded with care into a sleek, streamlined body. In an instant, Simon's signature mode of transport—the Golem Board—was complete.
“Ready to go?” he said, climbing aboard. Lethe looked back and forth between him and the board, then spoke up. “And what about that divine beast carriage you were always bragging about?”
“Obviously can't use that at Kizen.”
Lethe clicked her tongue and climbed on behind him. “Hold on tight.”
Viiiiiin! The jet-black energy hummed to life and the wheels began to turn. Fidgeting awkwardly with her hands, Lethe finally settled them on Simon's shoulders.
FWOOSH—!
The two of them were hurled violently forward. “Whoa!” The speed was greater than she'd expected, and Lethe leaned a little further into Simon's back. “Is—is this thing actually safe?!”
The Golem Board was tearing through the densely packed forest at a terrifying pace. Simon answered in a perfectly calm voice. “It's never flipped over once. …So far.”
“That sounds weirdly ominous!”
Simon cocked his ears, listening for sounds on the wind. “About time for them to show up.”
Piiiieeeng!Piieeng!
Sure enough, whistles began shrilling from every corner of the Forbidden Forest. “Intruders! Stop right there!”
They'd been running rather conspicuously, so the sentries had spotted them immediately.
Warnings of danger, threats to shoot if they didn't stop—the sentries' clamor grew fiercer, but Simon only accelerated. Before long, he heard the distant creak of bowstrings drawing taut.
“Pardon me for this.” Now it begins. Simon pulled the hood up over a bewildered Lethe's head, then yanked his own down deep.
Shaaaang!Shaaaaaaang!
Arrows came flying from all directions. Lethe's face went white—it seemed she hadn't expected them to actually shoot. “Wh-what do we do?! They're really firing!”
“Those people aren't shooting to hit, anyway.” Steering the Golem Board with one hand, Simon reached out to the side and—with a showman's flair—plucked an arrow from where it had buried itself in a tree. “Sentries aren't allowed to injure Kizen students. And look—this one's blunt, see?”
Instead of a sharp arrowhead, the tip was rounded, and inside it a small magic circle was clearly visible.
“A weakening curse. It'll slow you down if it hits, but it won't kill you. Relax.”
“…Why do you know all this so well?”
“How many times do you think I've snuck out of the dorms by now?” From the very start of first year, Simon had been slipping out of the dormitory to treat Pier's Ruins and Rochest like his own backyard, and by second year he had, without quite realizing it, become a master of midnight escapes.
Lethe let out a disbelieving laugh. “And you're the student council president.”
“Big drop coming. Hold on tight.”
Clunk, clunk! A cliff appeared in the distance—and the Golem Board's speed instantly doubled, tripled. And then—
FWOOOOM!
Suddenly the ground vanished from under their feet, and a weightless sensation washed over them. Lethe's eyes went perfectly round as she looked down.
“Ah.”
They were flying.
Beneath the luminous night sky, the forest spread out in endless waves—and beyond it, the brilliantly blazing moon, and the far-off glitter of the sea. Her heart had dropped into her stomach, and yet somehow Lethe couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.
“Welcome to Roke Island, Lethe.”
With that greeting, Simon flexed his fingertips.
Bone Armor
Skeleton bones sprang from the board and lashed themselves into makeshift wings, their frames sealed over with black jet-black energy like a thin membrane. Almost at once, the Bone Armor's drag took hold, the Golem Board's fall slowed, and it began to descend in a long, smooth glide—like a hang glider.
“You okay?” Simon called back over his shoulder. In answer, Lethe simply smiled, bright and wide.
Before long the two of them landed safely outside the Forbidden Forest and raced along the coast, the cool sea wind rushing past as they followed the shoreline.
But the peace didn't last long.
“Halt right there!”
“What are those things?!”
The coastal road was being guarded by the Disciplinary Committee. The moment they spotted the pair, they began hurling curses. “Hang on tight!”
Hood pressed low, Simon drove power into his legs. The Golem Board skewed left, floated half off the ground, slammed the brakes, spun in circles on the spot—dodging curse after curse.
“Wh-what kind of movement is that?!”
“He's no ordinary student! Keep firing!”
Over there, they couldn't use attack spells like jet-black elemental circles either—merely firing harmless curses was the best they could manage. Simon burst clean through the Disciplinary Committee's encirclement and looked up.
Oh, come on. A tense smile flickered at the corner of his mouth.
More than a dozen of Malcolm's doppelgängers were blocking the road. Not only had they set up a barricade—every single one of them stood waiting with a magic circle drawn on their open palm.
So Malcolm's doppelgängers can cast spell circles now, huh. The clones were guarding the carriage road and the hillside too. Lethe poked her head out over Simon's shoulder. “It looks like they intend to stop us right here, no matter what!”
“Don't worry.”
SHAAAAAASH!
Simon wrenched the Golem Board in an extreme turn and made a break for the sea. The Disciplinary Committee members guarding the front line could only react with bewilderment.
“What the—?! Why is he heading for the ocean?!”
“Stop, you lunatic!”
The prefects scrambled after them. Simon grinned, opened his subspace, and released something into the sea. Splash—! Then he threw the board into another hard turn and accelerated up the slope of a nearby sand dune jutting from the shore.
“Lethe! Copy my movements!”
Simon dropped into a crouch and gripped the side of the Golem Board. “Ugh, you're making me do all kinds of nonsense, honestly!” Even as she grumbled, Lethe mirrored the motion exactly—though the smile glowing on her face made it obvious she was having the time of her life.
Simon raised the board's output, using the dune as a launching ramp to soar into the air.
Vuuuuuung!
While the Golem Board hung in the air, Simon angled its underside toward the sea. And then—
The whale-bone undead that had been lurking beneath the surf rose into view.
Deimos — Naval Warfare Summon
SHOOOOOOSH! A water cannon, its power dialed down to a minimum, fired out and pushed the Golem Board's body forward in one long, smooth surge. Simon and Lethe's bodies soared upward as if carried on the current, sailing clean out of the encirclement.
“What the—?!”
“They FLEW?!”
Like dogs that had lost the chicken they were chasing, the Disciplinary Committee members could do nothing but stare helplessly up at the sky.
Nice one, Deimos! Simon had his naval-combat summon slip back beneath the water and stand by in hiding.
“Chase them, Head! If we hurry now we can still catch them!” a committee member urged.
That summon… I'm certain I've seen it… Malcolm, Head of the Disciplinary Committee, mused for a moment—then snorted a small laugh and shook his head. “No, forget it. Let them go.” With that, he raised a communication crystal to his lips. “All units, cease pursuit. Don't leave your zones chasing them for nothing. Remember our actual duty.”
Having escaped the encirclement in one bold stroke, Simon and Lethe kept moving—through forest and along the sea, and now climbing into the mountains.
SHAAASH—! Up the steep slope at last the Golem Board ground to a halt. Simon dismounted. “This is my favorite night view on all of Roke Island. Ready?”
“Of course. May I look forward to it?”
The two of them stepped forward together and looked down over the cliff at the foot of the hill.
“Whoa…!”
The vast night view of Roke Island unfolded at their feet in a single glance. The games were over, but the night festival was still in full swing—stalls and buildings glittered with light all across the island. Lethe couldn't look away from the dazzling scene, and Simon felt a flush of pride he couldn't quite suppress. “Not bad, right?”
“…It's all right, I suppose.” A faintly bashful light rose over Lethe's face as she allowed herself a small smile. “For a place where necromancers live, it's decent enough.”
“Do you always have to add that part?”
The two of them looked at each other and laughed.
“Honestly, I never expected it to be like this.” Lethe lifted her head. “The sea running red with blood, walking corpses swarming across the land, the trees and grass blackened and twisted—”
Are you describing a dungeon?
“That's what they taught us at Epnel. The wellspring of all evil, the demon's den, a place doomed to utter ruin beyond any hope of purification.” Lethe gazed at Simon with her golden eyes for a long moment. “But after what you've shown me tonight… my thoughts have changed. A little.”
“How so?”
The corner of Lethe's mouth curled upward. “Let's just say… it would be a bit of a shame to let Ever Kire smash a view like this.”
Simon smiled back. “I'm glad you feel that way.”
It was still a little early for the Starfall. The two of them sat down together, taking in the scenery and chatting idly, until the lights in the buildings below began going out, one by one.
“Well then—it's my turn to show you what I can do.” Lethe rose from her seat and began undoing the necklace that sealed away the Saintess's power. “I'm beginning.”
A vivid star-shaped sigil bloomed in her eyes as she fixed her gaze upon the night sky.
And that alone was enough.
“Ah.”
The stars of the night sky began to shine, dazzling and radiant.