Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Spendthrift Necromancer (79)

Second Arrangement (5)

A disciplinary committee was convened.

Merhen and Dolores.

The two were summoned before the faculty.

“Student Merhen. We heard you were the first to pull Lady Dolores's hair. Is that true?”

“It is. But…….”

“Ah, enough.”

The professors answered indifferently and looked toward Dolores. Until that morning, she'd possessed a full head of beautiful golden hair.

Now things were different.

It had been chopped into a short bob.

“Lady Dolores. Surely Student Merhen didn't use a dagger or something?”

“Ahem, Professor Rammer. Haven't you heard yet?”

Several professors whispered among themselves.

After hearing the circumstances, Rammer repeatedly cleared his throat.

So that infamous problem child Kern had done it.

The man from the Swordsmanship Department who had come over to attend Magic classes was famous even among the professors.

He'd become even more infamous after arriving and simply sitting through lessons without demonstrating a single proper spell.

Either way.

That was something for the two ducal houses to resolve.

Professor Rammer had no desire to become involved, so he hurriedly asked other questions.

As the questioning continued, Merhen's face grew darker and darker.

She had been bullied and insulted for nearly a year.

That was why she'd exploded.

But nobody here listened to her side.

Dolores was the daughter of an influential ducal house.

And her magical talent was good enough to keep her at the top of the class.

Merhen, meanwhile?

A commoner and a halfwit who couldn't manifest a single spell.

It had been decided from the beginning whose side the professors would take.

And this place called itself an Academy that pursued equality?‘Bullshit.’Nothing but pretty bullshit.

Reality was completely different.

Rammer smiled coldly at Merhen.

“Student Merhen. We have already secured testimony from those around you. You apparently have such poor social skills that you don't possess a single close classmate, and you even went into debt to indulge in luxuries, lacking even ordinary self-control?”

“…….”

“That must be why you attacked a fellow student without the slightest hesitation. The nature of your offense is extremely serious. And…… your grades are terrible outside the written examinations as well, aren't they? One can infer ten things from seeing one. I believe your usual conduct is obvious.”

Nobody was on her side.‘……

It was only a matter of time anyway.’Merhen clenched her fists.

No matter how high she scored on written tests, it meant nothing.

She always received the lowest possible marks on practicals, which carried far more weight.

So she constantly hovered near the bottom.

Expulsion had been coming sooner or later.

Thinking of it that way eased her depression a little.‘What do I do once I'm out…….’She felt a small pang of regret.

Before it came to this, she should've tried until she thought she would die.

She should've done something more.

If only she'd been capable of manifestation.

At least she wouldn't have been expelled this helplessly…….

Rammer pushed up his glasses.

“I propose that Student Merhen be expelled. This is all for the honor of Frail Imperial Academy.”

“Ahem. I agree.”

“As do I…….”

That was when.

Boom!

The disciplinary chamber door exploded inward.

The one who appeared was Kern.

“I can't listen to this garbage anymore. Is this place filled only with idiots?”

“What do you think you're doing! Do you have any idea what kind of meeting this is……!”

“This kind of bastard is a professor? Tsk. At least the Swordsmanship Department was staffed by human beings.”

“You insolent brat!”

The professors erupted in fury.

Duke's son or not, his words had clearly crossed a line.

They were professors, and he was only a student.

Then.

Dozens of streams of sword energy burst from Kern's blade.

The professors paled at the sinister sight and hurriedly deployed defensive magic.

But before their spells could even fully form.

The sword energy had already shattered their barriers and stopped before their throats.

Kern approached the professors, who had gone perfectly still.

“See? You are idiots.”

Kim Minwoo smiled coldly.

For professors at the Imperial Academy, their skill was pathetic.‘They're not even War Mages.’War Mages.

A type that occasionally appeared in fantasy worlds, distinguished by being thoroughly accustomed to combat.

Those Mages didn't stand still behind defensive magic and pray like these idiots.

They knew how to move.

These guys, on the other hand, were flowers raised in a greenhouse.

The pathetic type who thought standing elegantly in place and chanting magic solved everything.

The easiest kind of stupid Mage to kill.‘Though the Necromantic Sword Art in the ring is strong too.’It was an S-rank Skill.

And the more Mana he poured in, the more sword-energy streams it produced.

To suppress all the professors at once, Minwoo had spent more than 4,000 Mana.

It wasn't strange that their defensive magic had been shattered instantly.

He approached Dolores.

“Hey.”

Dolores had been staring dumbly between the subdued professors and him. She hurriedly answered.

“Y-Yes?”

“Why aren't you telling them the truth?”

“What…….”

“You bullied her. Didn't you?”

“…….”

“Didn't you?”

“I-It wasn't exactly bullying…….”

“It was. You kept throwing things at her from behind, talking shit about her, doing all that sneaky garbage. You're a duke's daughter, aren't you? Aren't you ashamed to do that to a commoner?”

Dolores bit her lip hard.

Her hands visibly trembled.

“……

Why are you doing this to me?! Like you said, I only messed with one commoner!”

“I already told you. That's none of your business. Still haven't learned? Want the rest of your hair cut off?”

The Necromantic Sword touched the hair at the back of her head.

Dolores's face went pale.

She reflexively imagined the remaining hair there.

At least right now, she could still claim she'd deliberately changed her hairstyle.

If he cut any more, she wouldn't even be able to show her face outside.

The professors had already been subdued, so there was nobody to help her.

Dolores shouted urgently.

“D-Don't! What do you want?”

Kim Minwoo whispered quietly.

“Apologize. Never touch her again. And make this incident disappear. Do that and I'll let it go.”

“…….”

“Think carefully. You're going to keep seeing me. Every time you bully her, I'll cut off that much hair.”

“I-I'm telling Father everything! You think my family will sit still?”

“Go ahead. Put escort knights on yourself if you want. But if even the head of the Swordsmanship Department can't beat me, do you really think that'll help?”

“…….”

“Or are you going to get me expelled? You can't.”

They were both ducal houses.

The difference in their families' power wasn't overwhelming. Both houses possessed roughly equal prestige.

Cutting some hair instead of cutting off a head couldn't accomplish much.

At most, they might demand compensation.

Minwoo could just pay it.

“Sniff. H-Huwaaah.”

Dolores burst into the most miserable sobs imaginable.

Minwoo didn't care. The Necromantic Sword remained against the back of her head.

“Three seconds. Choose. Three, two, one.”

“Waaaah! Fine! I'll do it, you fucking bastard!”

“Looks like the parties involved have reached an amicable agreement?”

This time, Minwoo stared at the professors.

A literal blade-to-the-throat negotiation.

The plump pigs' answer was practically predetermined.* * *Mutual fault.

The disciplinary case ended with Merhen and Dolores both receiving demerits.

It was possible thanks to the enthusiastic cooperation of Dolores and the professors.‘They can probably handle it.’The professors in that room were typical opportunists who bowed to power.

Minwoo had caused a scene, but Kern was still the child of a prestigious ducal house.

The whole affair would probably be quietly buried.

And even if it wasn't, that was fine.

He had the Swordsmanship Department Head backing him, so the aftermath would work itself out somehow.

It wasn't like he'd killed a professor.

He left the disciplinary committee with Merhen.

“……

Thank you.”

“I was the one who pushed you into it. Helping this much is only fair. How do you feel?”

“A little…… no, I think I feel a lot better.”

Merhen certainly looked lighter, as though she'd finally thrown something heavy off her shoulders.

Perhaps some of the anger that had been knotted inside her had finally been released.

Now that Minwoo had stormed the disciplinary committee and caused a scene, word would spread quickly.

That should reduce the number of students willing to bully Merhen too.‘Now I need to solve the root problem.’He looked at Merhen.

Everything had ultimately happened because she couldn't manifest magic.

If she could manifest it, her aptitude was excellent enough that she'd rise quickly.

At the very least, her Academy life would become far happier than it was now.‘Though there's no way it ends with something this small…….’Compared to Cedric's Trial, this one was taking more time, but the fundamental difficulty was extremely low.

All he had to do was make one girl happy.

And for that, he'd receive a ridiculously powerful summon on Cedric's level?

The exchange didn't make sense.

There was a very high chance something more was waiting.

“Merhen. Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“If someone asked you to become undead, would you do it? Assuming you could become incredibly powerful.”

She tilted her head at the sudden question, then answered.

“……

I don't really understand why I would. If you become undead, your emotions die, your five senses disappear, and there's nothing but disadvantages.”

“Suppose you'd been expelled from the Academy and received that offer afterward. Would you still feel the same?”

“I think so. There haven't been many moments in my life I'd call enjoyable. If I became undead before ever really living properly…… I think I'd feel terribly cheated.”

“I see.”

“Why are you suddenly asking something like that?”

“I was just curious.”

Why was the stage based on the period when she'd still been human?

Because she hadn't enjoyed Academy life?

That felt uncertain.

Even if she'd been bullied and eventually expelled.

Once she became something like a Banshee Queen, she could easily repay any grudge from her human life.

She probably would've taken revenge until not even bone fragments remained.

It wasn't a situation that should leave some enormous lingering regret.

That was why Minwoo had asked.

He wondered whether her regret had something to do with becoming undead.

Her answer made that possibility seem extremely likely.

There was only one being Minwoo could imagine capable of turning Merhen into a Banshee Queen.‘Death Lord.’Perhaps the Death Lord of the past would personally appear on this stage.

Then discover Merhen and turn her into undead.

Even if Merhen didn't want to become one, there was no answer if he forcibly raised her.

Maybe that was why she'd carried such regret.

Because she'd endlessly yearned for the days when she was human.‘Then is the main theme stopping the Death Lord of the past?’It was only a hypothesis.

But for some reason, Minwoo felt that was probably what would happen.

Otherwise, he still couldn't think of any strong reason this stage needed to take place during her human years.‘That would also make the difficulty comparable to Cedric's.’Everything so far had been far too easy.

It wouldn't be strange for something huge to appear.‘Better keep that possibility in mind.’He returned to the classroom with her.

The students subtly moved out of the way.

The noble girls who had bullied Merhen did the same.

With Dolores lowering her head, what could her followers possibly do?

Keep their eyes down.

Unlike before, Merhen made room for him without resistance.

He naturally sat beside her.

Before long, a professor entered and began class.

“As you all know, practical examination season begins next week. You will form pairs with one student from the Swordsmanship Department and enter the Demon Forest.”

The Demon Forest.

A place Academy students entered together once a year.

Its defining feature was the demonic energy gathered there, producing all kinds of mutated monsters.

Despite its frightening name, apparently it wasn't actually all that dangerous.

The students could finish the exercise without major accidents as long as they were careful.

Minwoo looked at Merhen.

Fortunately, he was still officially registered with the Swordsmanship Department.

Who he'd form a pair with was practically already decided.