CH 109

Chapter 109

The three first-year students, including Simon, exchanged stories before the seniors returned.

The name of the guy wearing glasses was Fitzgerald.

He was a Summoning aspirant in Class M and seemed to be the scholarly type, keen on theories. He didn't master every subject like Meilyn did, but he was talented enough to rank in the top five in the entire school in his major, Summoning.

"I've heard about your golem. I admit that it was memorable."

Fitzgerald pushed up his glasses.

"But it's inefficient in terms of the duel eval. Making a golem outside the arena is difficult to use if the opponent knows about it"

"I agree."

Simon nodded with a smile. Maybe Fitzgerald didn't expect this kind of reply. He lightly held one side of his glasses frames and narrowed his eyes.

"Usually, people get angry when you dismiss their greatest confidence."

"Why would I get angry? Comments are always welcome. By the way, what do you think I should do if the golem tactic is inefficient, as you've said?"

As if Fitzgerald had been waiting for this, words flooded from his mouth.

"Pretend to make a golem. I believe that the effective tactic would be feigning your well-known golem tactic and gaining the upper hand with psychological warfare, and then using other critical attributes to win the match."

Simon blinked in surprise. It was exactly what he was thinking.

"And you are…?"

Fitzgerald’s gaze shifted to face Toto.

Toto let out a bitter smile and quickly replied,

"My name is Toto Amori. I'm in the same class as Simon! I'm also a Summoning aspirant!"

When Simon looked at Toto again, he noticed just how short he was. He might’ve even been shorter than Camibarez, even if just by a bit.

Simon thought that maybe he was related to a hobbit.

"What's your duel eval squad?"

At that question, Toto’s eyes sank to the ground.

"L-Lower squad… And last time I was in the lowest…"

"I recommend giving up Summoning for now and clutching Professor Bahil by the leg."

Advised Fitzgerald while visibly adjusting his glasses.

"I'm not trying to put you down, but it can't be helped if you want to survive in Kizen."

"…But!"

Toto clasped together his fidgeting hands.

"I-I don't have any skills other than Summoning! And above all, I realized it clearly after seeing Simon's first duel evaluation!"

Various emotions had mixed in Toto's gaze toward Simon.

Envy, respect, and the pure desire to compete in the same field.

"I think living a Kizen life of perseverance is the… coolest thing in the world!"

"…"

Simons feared that Fitzgerald would criticize him again, saying that it's inefficient and such, but…

"Being cool is important."

Said Fitzgerald, turning his head. Simon and Toto looked at each other, puzzled.

Thunk!

"Dear first-years! I'm sorry for being late!"

The same cream-haired female student who brought Simon here entered the club room. The three first-year students jumped up from their seats.

"Yaawwwnnn… You're back?"

Dio, who had been asleep on the sofa, rubbed his eyes and yawned. Then, he took a quick look around.

"…What about Piggy?"

"I didn't even expect him to show up! Let's start with just the two of us!"

Dio nodded and stood up into his regular, zombie-like stance with his shambling feet and bent back.

"…This way."

Dio guided the first-years.

Simon thought it was just an old and narrow club room, but surprisingly, when Dio moved a bookshelf, there was a door. After opening the door and going down a set of stairs to a basement, Simon saw a large space illuminated by bright lights.

Fitzgerald, Simon, and Toto stood in a row facing the club leader, her arms proudly crossed in front of her and her long hair flowing down to her waist. Dio, who had brought various documents, walked up beside her with slow steps.

She put her hands on her hips and took in a deep breath before…

"Nice to meet you, dear first-year students!!!"

A booming voice shook the entire room. It was so overwhelming that Simon wondered if she had studied opera.

"My name is Benya Vanilla!"

She raised her finger above her head.

"I'm a second-year Summoning major! And my dream is world domination! I hope we get along well!!"

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - Ramen

Proofreader - Artethrax

* * *

"…?"

Simon blinked.

Was she really a second-year Kizen student? Not a second-year junior-high student?"

"…It’s just like what you guys expect."

Sighed Dio, adding,

"A person like this is the president of the club. It'd be better for you guys to just go to a normal pla— Oof!"

Benya jumped up and landed a double kick on Dio's face. He flew back dozens of meters and hit a wall.

Thankfully, the wall didn't seem to be made out of stone, so it cushioned the impact like a soft mattress, but Dio still fell limp as a fish.

Tap.

She landed on the floor and started to stretch.

"That guy with rock-bottom motivation is Dio Patel. He's just my pawn, so you can ignore him."

"I have a question, Senior."

Fitzgerald raised his hand. She smiled and pointed right at him.

"I like guys who are motivated! What's the question?"

"I'm curious about the meaning of that ‘world domination’ you mentioned before."

Fitzgerald pushed up his glasses.

"Until now, world domination by force has never been realized by anyone in the history of the continent. Even the great Nefthis isn't able to do anything about the Holy Federation, which is protected by the Seven Saintesses."

"A very astute question! I don't really like conquering by force, either!"

She nodded before continuing to say,

"I'll conquer the world with undead!"

"Undead… you say?"

"Yeah! People don't know the true value of the undead! Think about it! There's no such low-cost, high-efficiency labor force like this anywhere in the world! The undead are a gift from the universe to the continent!"

She raised her voice as she got excited.

"Of course, because of the aesthetic issues, people instinctively hate the dead, and above all, because of their aggression toward humans, they’re only used by necromancers who have activated their cores, but I will overhaul this! I'll make the world a lot more prosperous by making the undead widely available to the individual!"

She clenched her fists.

"Dominating by force requires the sacrifice of ninety-nine people for every one person claimed. Now that can't be called domination in a true sense! I'll make even the people of the Holy Federation fascinated by the value of my undead!"

Clap clap clap clap clap.

While everyone else was quiet, only Fitzgerald applauded, wearing a terrifyingly serious expression.

"I'll join."

"Great!"

Simon felt his mind go numb. Maybe eccentrics do attract.

'As expected, this place isn't normal.'

Simon turned his head and looked at Toto.

His face was bright red, and his eyes were focused on Benya's face, who was voicing her opinion passionately with her cream hair flowing down…

"H-How beautiful…"

Gosh, this one was more dangerous than Fitzgerald.

"Gentlemen!"

Benya strode forward and stood in front of Simon.

"Are you still contemplating on whether to join the club?"

"Ah, yes."

"Join, Simon."

Suggested Fitzgerald, standing next to him while fixing his glasses.

"Being able to watch a legend in the infancy of its school days is a treasure that cannot be exchanged for anything else."

Simon smiled as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

As this happened, Toto wobbled a little, clutching his pounding chest.

"I-It's close! To Senior…!"

"Hm?"

Seeing that, Benya strode toward Toto and put her hand on his forehead.

"You seem to have a slight fever."

"H-Huuffff!"

Toto trembled like he had just been struck by lightning.

"I think it's better for you to head to the ward firs—"

"I-I'm fine! I'll join the club!"

As she removed her hand from Toto's forehead, she blinked and smiled.

'S-Senior smiled at me!'

With that smile, Toto shortcircuited.

'…'

Meanwhile, Simon was looking at her hands. There were many scars and calluses, to the point that it was hard to believe that they were an 18-year-old girl's hands.

The dream of world domination seemed absurd, but the passion and effort in it was real.

Judging from the materials in the club room, they seemed to be skilled, too.

'…As a fellow Summoning student, there must be a lot to learn from them.'

Friends who shared interests and topics.

A workshop where you can create and develop undead yourself.

Building connections with the daughter of the president of the Vanilla Group, the continent's best undead production company.

In terms of immediate value, it was inferior to Saddam, Curse Research Society, and Noble, but where Simon's heart was heading was Mutant.

"I'm sorry, but there's something that I want to ask you, Senior."

"Mm! What is it?"

"What do you think I should do if I get my hands on a completely new undead that no one has ever used?"

She answered with a wide smile without any hesitation.

"You'll obviously have to try it and take the risk! Every day where the unknown and daily life coexists makes my heart race! Don't you think that's the best thing in the world?"

"…Ahaha."

Simon smiled and nodded his head.

"I want to join the club, too."

"Alright, gentlemen! You guys all made up your minds, right?"

"…However."

Said Dio, who had been blown back by Benya's kick, returning with his hunched back.

"…It's not like our club is in a good situation, but we have no intention of accepting a first-year student who doesn't meet the standards."

Said Dio while waving the flyer. Benya also smirked and crossed her arms.

"You guys must've seen the conditions for joining, right? The conditions are possession of special undead and high-level control skills!"

In fact, Mutant had enough attractive elements for other Summoning aspirants, too. Forgetting everything else, the presence of Benya Vanilla alone and the chance to make friends with her would've made many students consider joining the club.

However, the conditions for joining were absurdly difficult compared to other clubs.

Possession and operation of special undead.

The classroom progress of the current first-year Summoning aspirants was only at the level of wielding skeletons and other low-level undead.

Simon, who had operated a skeleton archer and created a mud golem and operated it after teaching himself, was definitely an unusual case.

Of course, there were Summoning aspirants who owned 'special undead', but they were but a handful, and strong enough to join a club that was ranked higher.

Mutant, which specialized in 'special undead’, was inevitably a minor club in the grand scheme of Summoning, but the conditions were difficult nonetheless. This was the reason there were only a few applicants.

"Now, let's start the interview!"

Benya clapped her hands and said,

"What kind of unique summons are you guys interacting with? Show me!"

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