The Snake Princess and the White Shadow
Roke Island.
Grand Duke Jean's laboratory.
Whfff— whooo—
Jean had tossed aside her usual restrictive uniform and was exercising in training clothes. Bracing one hand against the floor with the other pressed to her back, she held a handstand position, supporting her entire body.
Weighted apparatus clung to her wrists and ankles.
With steady breaths, she was progressing smoothly toward the numbers she had set as her target, when—
Knock knock.
A knock sounded from outside the laboratory.
"Professor Jean. It's the Head Assistant."
She answered while continuing her push-ups.
"What is it on a weekend?"
"A student has suddenly requested a visit. What should I do?"
Someone who needs to see my face this very moment.
She'd been irritable lately with that so-called new student council sniffing around and making a nuisance of itself.
"Send them aw—"
"It's Simon Polentia, sir."
Her movements froze with a jolt. A moment later she pushed herself up using nothing but arm strength, landed squarely on her feet, and snatched the towel she'd left on the desk.
"Tell him to wait ten minutes!"
A short while later, there came a knock, and Simon stepped carefully inside.
"I'm sorry for showing up without any notice, Professor Jean."
She waved a hand breezily. Once the Head Assistant who had escorted Simon closed the door and left, the corner of Jean's mouth curled up.
"You came sooner than I expected. Care for a cup of tea?"
"Ahaha! Thank you!"
No sooner had Simon answered than he suddenly pressed himself right up against the office door. Then, with a grave expression, he confirmed the sound of the Head Assistant's footsteps fading into the distance before dashing over and pulling every curtain in the room shut.
Jean, who had been brewing the tea, blinked at the sight.
"You're awfully jumpy today. What's going on?"
Simon only gave a silent nod and opened his subspace.
This time, Erzebet, the Ancient Undead of the 7th Legion, came bounding out. She too bustled about following Simon's lead, weaving cobwebs throughout the office and deploying a barrier.
"……?"
Has the whole 7th Legion gone mad all at once?
Jean eyed Simon and Erzebet with that look on her face.
Only after the airtight barrier was complete did Simon finally relax, dismiss Erzebet back into his subspace, and sit down properly in front of Jean.
"……Just what in the world do you think you're doing, in front of me of all people."
Jean said curtly. Simon, having double-checked the barrier's condition several times over, at last straightened up in his seat.
"Grand Duke. I've… picked up a new Ancient Undead."
"Is that so."
These inland teenagers and their dramatics over the smallest things. With that thought, she calmly took a sip of her tea.
"I think I found the Snake Princess Lamia."
PFFF—!
A spray of tea burst into the air.
Kghk! Glk! Cough!
She set down her teacup, one hand clutching her throat while the other thumped her chest, then glared.
"What did you say? Are you trying to play a joke on me, you insolent brat?!"
"I'll show you."
He'd assumed she wouldn't believe him, of course.
Simon opened his subspace and summoned Lamia.
Pyuu-ung!
What Simon held up in both hands and presented before Jean was an infant-stage Dead Naga.
But appearances meant nothing to the undead. What mattered was the vast reservoir of jet-black energy and the presence of her sentience within—and above all, Simon's own jet-black could be felt flowing through this Ancient Undead.
"How is this possible…?"
Shock bled across Jean's face.
"That is without question the 5th Legion's—"
"Pier also seems sure it's the Snake Princess Lamia."
When Simon let go, Lamia floated up, bobbing in midair. She wriggled through the air as if swimming, fluttered about the room, then settled onto Simon's shoulder and licked his cheek with her tongue.
"HOW?!"
Jean leapt to her feet with a shout, then belatedly realized how loud her voice had been and shut her mouth.
Simon pointed at the barrier Erzebet had woven in advance and shrugged reassuringly.
"Let me explain from the beginning."
Grayson's new flock had discovered Dead Nagas in active territory.
Dead Nagas were a specialized undead handled only by the 5th Legion, and furthermore, the location of the sighting turned out to be one of the candidate sites for this year's 2nd-year Kizen Group Exam.
He had immediately led every available Ancient Undead to the scene.
There, Pier sensed the presence of an Ancient Undead, so they entered at once—and found Lamia in her weakened state, unbound by any legion contract.
After engaging her, they captured Lamia, performed Legionification, and brought her back. Through every step of the process, Magnus had shown no movement whatsoever.
Such was the course of events.
"……Haha."
Leaning back in her chair, Jean let out a laugh of sheer incredulity and looked at Lamia. The weakened Lamia was playing around, blowing bubbles from her mouth.
"What do you make of this?"
Simon asked, his face stiff. Jean's expression hardened in turn as she replied.
"Are you certain that creature is the Snake Princess Lamia?"
"Pier isn't one hundred percent certain either. But…"
Simon took out the materials Erzebet had gathered and spread them before Jean.
Mana Recording Device photographs of the Snake Princess, wanted posters drawn by those who had seen her directly, and the like.
Jean examined, above all, the photograph of the Snake Princess standing beside Magnus with particular focus, then spoke.
"Identical."
The shape of the raked crest behind her ears.
The distinctive pattern on her neck.
The color of her eyes—and even the scales missing on her right side.
"It is a mysterious phenomenon, to be sure. But if we force ourselves to think of it in practical terms…"
Crossing her legs, she closed her eyes for a moment before speaking.
"Magnus, the 5th Legion Commander, may be dead."
Magnus had come under attack from Kizen Headquarters and vanished without a trace, his stronghold lost.
What if he had suffered a fatal wound in that assault and disbanded his legion himself before dying? That, Jean suggested, could explain why Lamia's legion contract had been dissolved and left her in such a state.
"Of course, it's not unheard of for legion-type Ancient Undead to weaken when they lose their Legion Commander. But I've never seen one grow younger like this."
Jean reached out her arm to touch the bubble-blowing Lamia at play.
Instantly Lamia flinched back, radiating hostility—then, a moment later, something bluish-green began to glimmer before her forehead.
"Hm?"
"Grand Duke! Look out!"
Kurururung!
A bolt of lightning made of water shot out, and Jean jerked her head back. The water blast that grazed her head struck the laboratory ceiling with a rumbling crash.
"How dare this creature—!"
"I-I'm so sorry!"
Simon hurriedly grabbed the rampaging Lamia and calmed her down.
"She can't tell friend from foe yet, and she can't control her strength."
Jean let out a long sigh and turned her head.
Cracks had spidered through the barrier Erzebet had deployed, but thankfully the building itself remained standing.
Simon quickly returned the mischievous Lamia, who was tugging at his hair, to his subspace.
"What should I do from here?"
"……"
Jean closed her eyes, deep in thought, before speaking.
"We are Legion Commanders. We must be prepared for the worst."
"And the worst would be…"
"The possibility that Magnus is alive, and that all of this is one of his schemes."
She laced her fingers together as she continued.
"For the time being, I advise you not to treat the Snake Princess Lamia as a full fighting asset of the 7th Legion. Confine her somewhere safe and secure, keep her under close watch, and take your time verifying her condition. That will serve you best."
She was warning him not to let his guard down around Lamia just yet.
Simon nodded.
"I'll report to Lady Nephthys myself. She'll be busy with other matters at the moment, but I can at least get her opinion on this."
"Yes, Professor."
"Stay vigilant. And do not grow careless."
Her eyes narrowed.
"No amount of caution where your safety is concerned is ever too much."
Simon bowed his head.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Pier's Ruins were far deeper than they appeared.
Descend the narrow spiral staircase from the ruin's entrance for a long stretch, and a vast open chamber emerges. In terms of floors, this was the topmost level.
The floor below it housed the storage nests for Erzebet's Corpse Spider eggs, and further down still lay Akemus's Skullwing roost.
Pier's Ruins could supply a modest number of legion-type undead in this way. However, productivity here fell well short of the legion's true strongholds—the 'Maggot Mound' or the Screaming Jungle—hence the outdoor bases being built.
And the place Simon headed to this time was the deepest point of all in Pier's Ruins.
"This is where you'll be living."
Simon released Lamia into an underground room of reasonable size.
Pyuu-ung?
Lamia zipped around the space, exploring her new environment at high speed.
Simon chatted with Erzebet for a while as he watched her—when suddenly,
Thud.
Lamia flopped limply onto the floor.
"What's wrong, Lamia?"
Simon picked her up and examined her, but nothing seemed amiss. When he reached out with his sentience, he sensed 'thirst,' so he brought out a basin of water for her.
Pyuung!
But Lamia picked up the basin, splashed a full cupful of water over her own body, and then—flop—collapsed back onto the floor, spent.
[She's milking it, my Lord.]
Erzebet said with a soft hoh of a laugh.
[It seems she doesn't care for the room.]
"I-is that so?"
[Compared to the undersea cavern she once lived in, this is nothing at all.]
Simon folded his arms.
"So I need to build her a minimal living habitat, huh."
[Hoho! You speak as though you're raising a pet.]
Erzebet laughed elegantly, covering her mouth.
[Undead need neither food nor water, my Lord. So long as we have jet-black, we can simply exist.]
"But Lamia does seem to need water?"
[Which is exactly why it's an act, my Lord.]
Simon turned his head back to look at Lamia, sprawled across the floor.
For a moment her eyes met his—then she let out a defiant little pyuung and looked away. Somehow, he found himself smiling.
Still, it does feel a bit cruel to just leave her like that.
In the end, Simon gave the order.
On the night as the weekend wound down, when no students were out and about, the undead of the 7th Legion slipped out of the ruins and got busily to work.
Slap!
The Skullwings flew low over the Forbidden Forest, ferrying up seawater in buckets, while the Corpse Spiders trudged along carrying water pails atop their heads.
The hauled seawater arrived at the ruins, and in the meantime Simon had dug out a pit. Herseba smoothed the ground perfectly solid, hardening it like metal so the seawater wouldn't leak out.
[Simon! How's this?]
Prince, bored and volunteering to help, had brought back some strange, seaweed-like things.
[Couldn't we decorate it like the stuff we saw in that undersea cavern back then?]
"Good thinking."
And so they fashioned the pit into something like an aquarium, then released Lamia into it.
Pyuu-ung!
Lamia was instantly overjoyed, splashing about and playing in the pool. She sprayed water droplets in every direction in delight, then latched onto Simon's face and licked his cheek with her tongue.
"I'm glad you like it."
A heartwarming scene unfolded, and even Prince—perhaps seized by the urge to play—climbed in and started splashing around with Lamia.
Simon looked at Erzebet.
"I'm counting on you all to watch over her for now."
[Of course, my Lord! Leave her in our care.]
Watching Prince and Lamia splashing together, Simon's thoughts grew complicated.
Until Magnus's whereabouts come to light, I can't afford even the slightest lapse in vigilance.
And yet, Simon thought, he hoped she would truly become one of them.
The next morning.
The weekend was over, and daily life resumed.
Simon left the dormitory early in the morning alongside Toto and arrived at the Summoning Department building.
"Hey, Simon!"
"Morning."
Simon walked along, trading cheerful greetings with his classmates. From a cluster of girls chattering excitedly, Eshu beamed brightly and waved—"Team Leader—!"—and Simon waved back.
Then, as he was weighing where to sit, Simon caught himself stopping mid-step. He slipped his body behind a pillar and only turned his head.
In the distance, a white-haired boy could be seen walking alone.
White.
The mysterious transfer student from the Three Great Necromancer Schools.
Someone Simon had never once managed to hold a real conversation with.
Whenever Simon thought of Lamia, he couldn't help thinking of White as well.
Because White and Magnus—
They look spine-chillingly alike.
Aaron himself had been so unsettled the first time he laid eyes on White that he could barely keep his composure. But Kizen Headquarters had concluded that there was no connection whatsoever between Magnus and White.
Lamia is the Snake Princess in a younger form. Then what if…
A chill crawled up his spine for no good reason.
Simon watched White, but the boy just kept gazing out the window at the birds.
Before long, Aaron entered the lecture hall along with the teaching staff.
Aaron was wrapped head to toe in bandages. One arm was propped up in what looked like a splint, and he still didn't seem to be in good shape.
Yet he walked forward with a perfectly composed face and picked up a piece of chalk with his uninjured hand.
"I'm glad every one of you made it through unharmed. And—"
He lifted his head and swept his gaze across the students.
"All of you now begin class in possession of a Death Knight's core materials. Well done."
YEEEAAAH—!
FWEEEEET!
Cheers and whistles rang out from every corner. Aaron held up his chalk and began scrawling swiftly across the blackboard.
"Then let's begin."
Corruption
"This will be a new kind of class—unlike anything you've seen before."