Necromancer Academy's Genius Summoner

Chapter 174

A second-year Efnel student wearing a knockoff uniform.

It seemed intriguing, so she decided to play along with her for a while. Rete stood from her seat and politely bowed.

"I didn't know a senior was in my car. Please forgive my rudeness."

Ellen, who was confidently folding her arms, twitched.

"I-I'm your… senior?"

"Indeed."

Rete unbuttoned the robe she was wearing and placed it to the side.

Underneath was Efnel's school uniform, which consisted of a white shirt and skirt like Ellen's, but the vibrancy of the clothes was different. It was so obvious when the two of them stood side by side.

Ellen's uniform looked incredibly awkward all of a sudden.

"My name is Rete Sardegna. I am a first-year in Efnel and a direct junior of you, Senior. I enrolled as the First Chosen student."

Ellen's face went visibly pale. The girls who pushed Ellen forward and giggled behind her had also stopped laughing.

"What's wrong, Senior?"

Rete, who was bowing respectfully with her hands together, only raised her head. She was grinning.

"Your face looks pale."

"I-I-I-It's nothing! No, nothing! Ohohoho!"

…A real one had appeared.

She never thought there would be a real Efnel student on this train. On top of that, she also called herself the First Chosen.

Ellen, drenched with sweat, looked behind her in a cry for help. But the girls had already run.

"Ellen Zile? Ellen Zile…"

After frowning and pondering for a while, Rete opened her mouth.

"I'm terribly sorry, but this is my first time hearing your name. May I know which subject you major in?"

"M-Mechanics of Divinity. I-I mean… Yeah! Ohoho!"

"Oh~ I see."

Rete clapped her hands and smiled kindly. Ellen gulped and forced a smile as well.

'Will she let me pass just like this? If I get over this crisis, I'll just get off at the next st—'

"What a coincidence."

Rete took out a communication crystal ball from her pocket.

"I was just about to make a report to my advisor. If your major is Mechanics of Divinity, you must know Professor Rahell, right?"

"P-Professor Rahell…!"

"Would you like to say hi?"

Sweat dripped from Ellen's brow.

If Professor Rahell caught her wearing a fake school uniform, everything would be over.

Seeing the girl stuttering so badly she couldn't even speak, Rete nodded as though she saw through everything and put down the crystal ball.

"Do you know that impersonating an Efnel student…"

Rete's voice turned cold.

"…is a horrible felony?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Simon, who had gone to the toilet, was returning to his cabin.

'Wow, that's interesting. How can a toilet be on a train? I wonder how they dispose of everything.'

While distracted by this and that, Simon belatedly noticed the strange atmosphere.

A heavy silence had fallen across the once-noisy first-class car.

'Did everyone fall asleep?'

Simon went back to room A2, feeling puzzled.

"Huh?"

A slightly disconcerting sight unfolded.

Rete was sitting with her legs crossed, swirling her wine glass. Next to her, a girl wearing the same Efnel school uniform as Rete was kneeling on the floor with her arms raised.

"Ugh! Straighten your arms and press them against your ears!"

When Rete barked the order, the girl raised her arms in surprise.

"Don't rest your butt on your legs! Raise it! Don't straighten your knees, either. Yes, stay that way. If you don't want to die, that is."

A girl taking the punishment with trembling legs… Simon thought that she seemed very familiar.

"You're back."

Rete said flatly when she saw Simon. Ellen, who hung her head low in embarrassment at the arrival of a third person, timidly moved her eyes to look at Simon.

"Huh?"

Ellen's eyes began to quiver.

"H-Huhhhhhh?"

This person shouldn't be here at all. Ellen was so surprised that she broke her stance.

Simon also recognized her, smiling bitterly and offering a handshake.

"It's been a while, Ellen."

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - Ramen

Proofreader - Artethrax

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* * *

Ellen Zile.

She was a priest from Efnel who Simon met on his first mission after enrolling in Kizen.

An expelled student from Efnel, she came over to the Dark Territory through a broker to find work so she could feed her younger siblings. That was where she bumped into Simon.

"You were still doing that?"

Said Simon, pointing at Ellen's fake uniform. Her face flushed red, and she murmured,

"I-I'm sorry. I was going to quit after that day, but… There's a difference in commission fees between working as a priest of Efnel and a general priest, so…"

"That's insane."

Spat Rete after hearing everything.

She checked again to see if the cone of silence she had just drawn on the wall was working properly and returned to her seat.

"Not only did you impersonate an Efnel student, but you went over to the Dark Territory to work under that fake identity? Has the planet gone mad?"

As Ellen lowered her head, Rete continued,

"Still, you were indeed in Efnel once, so I was going to treat you like a senior. But you're just a cheap shit. I'll contact Sky Island right now and call the inspectors."

"P-P-Please, no!"

Begged Ellen, clutching Rete by the leg.

"Ugh! Let go of me!"

"If I get caught by those people, I might really get killed! If I die, my siblings will…!"

"You shouldn't have done this in the first place if it was really for your younger siblings!"

Rete kicked Ellen off her leg.

"Don't worry, if you ever end up dying or being imprisoned, I'll take responsibility and send your siblings to a proper abbey."

"N-No! Please!"

No matter how badly Ellen sobbed, Rete was an immovable wall.

"S-Simon! Please, help me!"

"There's no point in clinging to him."

Rete feigned a laugh.

"This is the Holy Federation. What kind of power would he hav—?"

"Don't worry, Ellen."

Simon patted Ellen on the shoulder.

"Rete won't send you to prison."

"Simon…!"

Ellen's eyes welled up with tears. At Simon's words, Rete burst out laughing.

"How ridiculous. Who are you to make such a claim?"

"Because, in fact, Rete also sinned. It was her who brought me here."

"Hey!! You crazy bastard!"

Screamed Rete as she grabbed Simon by the collar.

"Do you want to die?! Why are you telling her that?!"

Simon chuckled.

From Simon's perspective, it would be a pain in the ass if Ellen was caught. It'd be bothersome if Simon's name came out of her mouth or if his identity was revealed while she was being interrogated or tortured.

After quickly grasping the situation, Ellen clapped her hands with a much more joyous expression.

"Aha! So that means we're now a group bound together by a common destiny! I see!"

"Kugh…!"

Rete irritably released Simon's collar and sat down on the bed. Then she glared at him.

"…I'll remember this."

"I'm sorry… But if Ellen—who knows my identity—got caught, we'd both be in trouble, right? I don't think there's a need to take such a risk."

"That's true, but I didn't want to get involved with her in this way, either."

"Don't worry. Ellen is a person of few words."

When Simon looked at Ellen as though asking her to confirm, she nodded her head with a face full of loyalty.

Rete frowned regardless.

"By the way, Senior, when did I tell you to put your hands down?"

Ellen, who immediately became an obedient lamb at the words of Rete, shot her hands back up.

She then talked about how she was on her way to a new mission. She figured she could stay with them throughout the train trip because she was getting off after them. She also mentioned that her seven siblings were doing well.

"But there's one thing I’m confused about. You're wearing such an obvious fake uniform, and yet you didn't get caught by all the inquisitors on the train?"

Ellen laughed in embarrassment at Rete's question.

"I'm still clearly a priest! When I told them that these clothes were just cosplay, they let me get away with it. Although they looked at me like I was pathetic."

"That's nothing to brag about."

Inquisitors were meant to find heretics and judge them. Impersonation wasn't their responsibility, so they just seemed to overlook her.

Simon looked at Rete.

"Can't you let her put her arms down already?"

Two hours had passed, but Rete was still punishing her as if she had committed a murder. Simon felt bad for her, her arms shaking as she approached her limit.

"Don't interfere. This is a problem between priests."

Rete scoffed.

"This isn't even punishment. It's child's play for a dropout who impersonated Efnel. Right, Senior?"

"Y-Yeah! That's right! Ahahaha!"

It was then. As if an alarm had triggered, Rete flinched and said,

"The inquisitors are coming. Senior Ellen, you also return to your seat. Quickly."

Ellen, face turning pale at those words, bowed to the two and returned to her cabin.

Rete quickly removed the cone of silence drawn on the wall with a swift motion, sat down, and fixed her hair.

Simon felt tension rushing to him, took out the scripture he borrowed from Rete, and pretended to read.

"Hm."

Rete tilted her head.

"Pretending to read that… Don't you think you're overdoing it a little?"

"I'm planning to act like a fanatic."

"Oh, is that so? Just don't get caught."

Tap. Tap.

Indeed, the inquisitors had appeared. They were passing through the hallway with weapons and torture devices held in their hands.

There was a deadly silence on the train.

"We'll hold a brief interrogation. Please cooperate."

Perhaps because this place was of priests and their families, but the inquisitors were polite compared to the ones Simon saw in the market.

Simon eavesdropped on the interrogations going on in other rooms.

There was nothing too difficult. They just asked questions that were common sense. Simon figured it would be easy if it was just this level.

Tap. Tap.

Finally, the inquisitors stopped at Rete's and Simon's cabin.

"We're sorry to interrupt your rest."

Senior Inquisitor Baccara bowed more politely than ever. His gaze was glued on the uniform Rete was wearing. The other inquisitors on the back also looked at Rete and flinched.

"Looks like you've boarded at the last station. We will be holding a short interrogation. Please forgive us the sin of doubting the faith of the both of you. I'd be very grateful if you cooperate, as this is just an order from the superior authority."

Rete nodded her head sassily.

"Yeah, yeah. Do as you wish."

Baccara asked a few simple questions, and Rete spat out the answers as if asking him why he would ask such obvious questions.

Even when the questions got a little twisted, she had no hesitation in giving answers that dug into the core of the question. The inquisitors were astonished by the solid faith of the student of Efnel.

"This will do for the questions. Finally, we'll do a physical check."

"Ah, so annoying… Are you serious."

"We're very sorry."

Baccara nodded his head while looking to the side. A female inquisitor walked over and said,

"Dear priest, let us now move to the dressing room."

Rete felt uneasy about leaving Simon alone, so she gnashed her teeth.

"Do we really have to do this by the book?"

"I'm sorry. Recent times have been quite troubling, so… please cooperate.

Even if she was a student of Efnel, there was no way to stop inquisitors who were following formal procedure.

As she walked along with the female inquisitor, Rete anxiously looked back at Simon. Simon nodded in reassurance. Rete also nodded and headed to the dressing room.

"Alright, now it's your turn, priest. First, you—"

"Senior, wait."

At that moment, a young inquisitor squeezed in.

As soon as he entered the room, he stomped on the table in the center of the room.

"It's been a while."

Simon's eyes widened.

It was Methyn, the inquisitor whom he had met at the night market.

"You slippery fellow. Escaped me back then, huh? You won't get away from me this time."

Said Methyn while sniffing the air.

"Hehe! This smell of jet-black… You're dead meat. I'll reveal it all here!"

"Methyn!"

Baccara put his hand on Methyn's shoulder.