A Basket Day Gift and an Unexpected Clue
Hearing that the Ancient Undead had arrived at Pier's Ruins, Simon slipped out through his dormitory window.
Been a while since I've seen them.
The chilly evening wind set the leaves rustling. Simon had drawn his robe close and was strolling leisurely into the thick of the forest when—
"Don't move."
He sensed people stirring all around him. Figures slowly emerged from behind the trees, every one of them clutching a bow or a crossbow—the Watchkeepers, the unit charged with managing the Forbidden Forest and the ecosystem of Roke Island.
Huh? What are the Watchkeepers doing here?
Simon's curiosity got the better of him. It wasn't as if this was his first or second trip into the Forbidden Forest—he had the Watchkeepers' patrol routes and schedules completely memorized during his time at Kizen. There was no reason for them to show up out of nowhere like this.
"Raise your hands. Slowly."
Simon hesitated, weighing his options—then noticed that one of the Watchkeeper's eyes, the man standing at the very front, had turned a deep crimson. It was a woman's eye, round with long, elegant lids, and it blinked a few times as if signaling to him.
Simon raised both arms without protest.
"I'm a Kizen student. Please don't shoot."
"Follow us. Just like that."
Arms raised, Simon walked where the Watchkeepers directed. They didn't bind him or seize his arms; they simply kept their crossbows trained on him as they led him deeper into the forest.
Only after they had gone a fair distance in did the rugged-looking Watchkeeper who'd first aimed an arrow at him stride over.
"Wandering the Forbidden Forest at this hour! You must have a hundred lives to spare, boy!"
Simon didn't answer, only stood there with a stony expression. The Watchkeeper thrust his face closer.
"Can't answer? Hiding something in your mouth, are you? I'll have to check!"
He grabbed Simon's cheek and squeezed it, stretching it out long. Simon's expression grew even stonier.
"Nothing wrong with this one. Next, the clothes—"
"What seems to be the problem, Erze?"
Simon peeled the searching Watchkeeper off his shirt as he spoke. The man grinned slyly, and his body rapidly melted and reshaped itself.
A moment later, out of the web of liquid-stretched threads, Erzebet sprang forth.
[Lord Commander! I have missed you so!]
She flung her arms around him in a fierce embrace.
It was her, all right. Captain of the Spider Unit—Erzebet.
[Every day we were apart, this maiden gazed up at the moon with a yearning heart and thought only of you, Lord Commander.]
"R-right. But why did you transform into a Watchkeeper all of a sudden? Is something wrong?"
[Ah.]
Erzebet ran her long tongue across her lips.
[You have been followed, Lord Commander.]
"What?"
[To dare tail this maiden—needless to say, I shook them off with ease. They appear to be Kizen students. Shall I have the spiders drag them here?]
Simon shook his head. Sota Psyche's face immediately came to mind.
"It's fine. Probably someone from the Student Council, or the Disciplinary Prefects."
[Tails already, after so short an absence—you have truly become somebody, Lord Commander. It puts this maiden's heart at ease.]
Her form shifted once more. Her hair rippled into a bright pink, and her clothes changed into a Kizen girl's uniform—the disguise of 'Elizabeth Weber,' the persona she favored whenever she came and went on campus.
[Ta-da!]
She held up a basket in both hands.
[Basket Day! Is this how it's done?]
"Wait, that—you knew about Basket Day, Erze?"
[Knowing your enemy and knowing yourself is the foundation of a spy. I heard the ten human girls who are my rivals observe such anniversaries, so this maiden decided to follow suit.]
But the basket held no sweet chocolates or candy—instead it was filled with wine and cheeses, the makings of a proper drinking spread. Simon pointed this out.
"I think the contents are a little off."
[And what of it? If it fits in a basket, it counts.]
She hung the basket on Simon's arm with a smile.
[Shall we be off, then? This maiden will guide you.]
"Yes, please do."
Side by side, the two of them made their way to Pier's Ruins, faces bright with laughter.
* * *
Beneath Pier's Ruins.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Skeletons were pounding away on drums and instruments. There was a melody—there was even, remarkably, a beat being kept.
Kekekek! Grrrrrrr! Geeeeeh!
All manner of undead were milling about the ruins in cheerful disarray. As Legion-type Undead, every one of them had a strong sense of self. They fought, collided, tumbled, shrieked—utter pandemonium.
[Take that! Hah!]
Off to the side, Prince was playing with a ball Simon had brought him. Legion-types are strongly influenced by the Ancient Undead they serve, and whether it was Prince's doing or not, even the rank-and-file zombies of his unit were a playful lot. The single ball had thrown the whole place into chaos—until a corpse spider that wanted in on the fun snatched it out of the air and bit into it with its fangs, deflating it at once.
Prince threw an enormous tantrum and came running to tattle to Simon.
[Simon! That idiot from the Spider Unit took our ball and—!]
[Oh dear, why would you crush our little one's spirit so?]
Erzebet stroked the deflated-ball-chewing spider, now sulking, and shot Prince a glare. Simon chuckled wryly and calmed the two captains down.
"That's enough. I'll buy you a new ball later."
Erzebet's corpse spiders were tireless. They were forever scuttling this way and that, always up to something—who knew where they got the food, but bread and fruit and all sorts of edibles kept piling up in front of Simon. He was the only one here who actually ate, and it was far too much; he'd had to wave them off and tell them to stop bringing it.
Akemus's Skullwings, by contrast, were as composed as their master. They perched at a suitable height and quietly observed the scene.
Herseba's mummies, every last one, clung to strips of bandage and swung on them like ropes. Herseba herself, still residing in her staff, was scraping together the ruins' sand and building a tower.
A party of the dead.
It was utterly chaotic—the shrieking was eerie and ceaseless, and half the time he couldn't tell what was even happening—and yet, perhaps because it was his legion, Simon found it oddly comforting.
"All right then. Shall we hear the reports?"
[Me first! I want to go first!]
Prince popped forward with his hand thrust high. Then he stood there, fist raised, staring fixedly at Simon. Knowing exactly what he wanted, Simon obligingly gave him a handshake.
Tap. Tap. Clap. Clap. The routine had grown so familiar that their speed and movements were getting quite polished.
[A few dungeons suddenly popped up in Deathland, so it took a while—had to smash them all first.]
After finishing the handshake, Prince mimed rubbing his shoulders.
There had been a few times over the break when Prince hadn't answered through the ring—the reason, it turned out, was that his main body had been inside a dungeon.
[I crushed the undead bands that dared resist me, Ruler of Deathland, at three sites, and cleaned up the survivors. Oh, and!]
Prince turned his head.
[Time to introduce the new recruits!]
Thud! Thud!
Monsters larger and far stranger than ordinary zombies lumbered into view.
Gigantes Zombies.
Superior variants of the common zombie.
[I never used to be able to subjugate these things with the power of my crown—but lately I can!]
Prince looked back at Simon.
[I'm pretty sure it's because you've gotten stronger.]
"Is that so?"
Simon smiled, feeling a surge of pride. When a Legion Commander grew stronger, the Ancient Undead who moved on his jet-black grew stronger with him. It was exactly why a legion couldn't rely on numbers alone—the Commander's own power mattered too.
[Next, this maiden's report, if you please.]
One by one, the other Ancient Undead began their reports as well.
Over the break, Erzebet had seized a section of the Grave of Vermin, blanketed it in webs, and converted it into a spider nest—working harder than ever to replenish her corpse spider forces.
Akemus reported that he had grown his strength in the Screaming Jungle. The sight of towering Skullwing nests filling the very heart of the jungle was said to be a spectacle in itself—and with even the powerful high-tier native monsters brought to heel, he claimed there was little chance of attack for the foreseeable future.
"You've all worked hard."
The undead lost in the battle against the Northern God—each of them had rebuilt those losses in their own way, and swiftly, over the break.
And finally—
[This is Grayson of the Northern God's force, reporting from the Frost Field.]
A magic circle opened before the beak of an enormous northern bird, and a voice flowed out.
Grayson, the Northern God's confidant and one of the Three Brothers, possessed the power to control dead birds.
[If it pleases you, I will report in Lord Gyros's stead, as he cannot leave the Frost Field.]
"Yes, thank you, Grayson."
The warship of Mur had been safely received in the Frost Field, and it had been decided to store it deep in the innermost chamber of the Hive where Gyros resided. Apparently Gyros had been quite animated at being entrusted with it, declaring that 'the Lord Commander has placed the legion's most vital charge in my hands,' vowing to guard it without the slightest gap—and that if Mur came attacking, he would coordinate with the North's Second Legion to respond.
[Furthermore, per the legion's standing directive, we have continued the search for traces of Magnus of the Fifth Legion and Mur, the Sins of the Dead—and on my way here, we achieved a small breakthrough.]
Simon shot to his feet.
"A breakthrough?"
[Yes. Please place your hand upon the bird's head.]
Simon stepped forward and rested his hand on the bird's head, and his mental link surged stronger.
"Ah!"
The vista rocked, and everything around him turned blue. Beneath his feet stretched a boundless sea, and the howl of wind filled his ears.
It was a scene from the past, seen through a bird's eyes.
Where is this...?
An immeasurably vast ocean. It appeared to be somewhere in the continent's southern waters.
The bird wasn't flying particularly high, so a scattering of islands was visible below—islands gathered together into an archipelago.
[Please focus on the southernmost island.]
At Grayson's prompting, Simon fixed his gaze on the lowest of the islands.
!
Something living was writhing on the island.
[I will magnify the image.]
Time stood frozen as Simon's vision zoomed inward.
This is... no way.
[An Ancient Undead of the Fifth Legion—the Snake Princess, Lamia.]
Her voice rang out across the vision.
[And these are the undead monsters under her command—the Dead Nagas.]
Shortly after, the view shifted, and Simon was back in Pier's Ruins, breathing hard. It took him a moment to steady himself.
Pier spoke up.
[Khekhek! Lamia is the right hand of Magnus's right hands—an utterly trusted confidant! Splendid intelligence, Boy!]
"Can we determine the exact location?"
[We'll need to check a map!]
Pier spread a map across the floor, and Simon and the Ancient Undead crowded around it.
[It is right here.]
The bird under Grayson's control indicated a spot on the map. As Simon studied it, his eyes went wide.
"Wh—hold on a second."
[What is it, Boy!]
"This terrain on the map. I know I've seen it somewhere before..."
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Simon desperately combed through his memory.
-I heard a rumor that the Group Exam is going to be an island survival assessment for the second-years! What kind of test will it be?
-And that's why I've narrowed down a few candidate sites for us.
It was only a little while ago that Dick had said this.
-Serin Island, Chenon Island, the Garaon Archipelago, the Rehlon Archipelago. Counting the other places too, eight sites in all. All areas where Roke Island's logistics moved directly.
The moment the memory clicked into place, Simon sprang up.
"I'm sure of it."
[Lord Commander?]
Simon spoke, his face hard and grave.
"That island—this is one of the candidate sites for this year's second-year Group Exam."