Chapter 213

Chapter 213

"P-Professor Bahil!"

Rekon knelt before Bahil. He then pointed to his chest with a trembling hand.

"Y-You remember me, right?"

"Of course, Rekon."

A soft smile formed on Bahil's mouth.

"I heard your voice in the distance and immediately recognized it was you, Rekon."

Rekon's face lit up.

"I-I beg you! There must be some mistake, throwing me away like this! If you can tell them"

"Ah, actually, the reason I came here"

Bahil's smile faded.

"is to say goodbye."

"What?"

Bahil put his fedora onto his head, covering his eyes in shadow.

"You're a reasonably competent student, and if it had been a normal curriculum instead of this integrated second semester, you might have survived quite a while, perhaps even made it to second year."

"Th-That's right! I can still"

"But most importantly"

All the cheeriness was gone from Bahil's voice.

"A necromancer who can't fight priests isn't needed in Kizen."

Rekon stiffened at those words.

"It's good that we filtered you out here. No matter how good you are, a soldier whose general pisses his pants at the sight of divinity is bound to fall prey to the priests in a war. Ahh, honestly"

Bahil grin was that of a devil.

"By filtering you out, we were able to save so many lives."

Thud.

As if hit by a curse instead of words, Rekon felt his heart ache and collapsed in despair.

Bahil gestured to the servants, watching Rekon as the servants grabbed him by the arms and dragged him away.

""

Silence filled the courtyard.

"It is the right of the winner to mock the loser."

Bahil pressed down his fedora and looked around at the jeering students.

"But there's nothing worse than laughing at someone out of envy when you don't even deserve to feel above them."

The silence grew heavier, and a few students gulped. As Bahil turned away, the assistant teacher who had caught Rekon hesitantly ran up to him.

"Professor Bah"

"You'll be punished, Assistant Teacher Arita."

She paused.

"To think that you couldn't even handle a simple problem like this because of your personal feelings. Was this really an issue that I had to interfere in?"

It was highly unusual for a professor to reprimand an assistant teacher in front of the students.

She audibly gulped and bowed her head in resignation.

"I'm sorry. I'll take any punishme"

"I'll send a letter of recommendation to Moiran, the public school for necromancers."

She looked up, startled.

"Rekon is a pretty decent guy. I'm sure they'll gladly take him if it's Moiran. Then it's up to him to get his act together and become a top student there so he can come back to Kizen as a transfer student. Either that or he can just fall apart."

The assistant teacher's eyes began to water, filling with tears.

She bowed sincerely.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Professor!"

Bahil gave her a quick wave before walking away.

As the students on their way to the Great Hall moved out of his way, Bahil stopped beside where Simon and Rick were standing and softly said,

"I'll see you in class."

Simon looked up, startled. Bahil was already gone, quickly walking into the Great Hall. As soon as he was out of sight, the students erupted into fervent whispers. The main topic was, of course, Bahil.

"Starting now"

Rick clapped in determination.

"my major will be Curs Ouch!"

"Grow up, you dumbass!"

The two turned around to see Meilyn and Camibarez, already changed into their new uniforms.

"When did you guys get here?"

"Only now. We heard the commotion and came over."

Replied Camibarez.

Rick eagerly nudged Simon a few times.

"Hey! Hey! Did you see that? You guys heard it, too, right? Professor Bahil told me he'll see me in class! Do you think I'll be asked to be his direct disciple?"

Nervously replied the students.

"Also, the themes of the tests can be a bit extreme. Some students may come in first on one test but be last on the next. My advice is to avoid over-specializing and to improve your general skills so you can increase your overall level as an elite necromancer. But if you still insist on following one path, make it versatile enough to handle any situation alone."

Then, a student from the front row raised her hand.

Aaron continued his explanation, acting like he didn't see her hand, but after speaking for a bit he looked at her with a frown. Perhaps her hand waving side to side was annoying him.

"What is it, Jamie Victoria?"

At this point, there wasn't a professor teaching Class A who didn't know the name of Jamie, the master questioner.

She jumped to her feet and asked the question loud enough for every other student in the massive hall to hear.

"My name is Jamie Victoria from Class A! I was wondering when the themes for each test will be announced!"

"They won't be."

Jamie froze, her arm still raised. The other students whispered to each other in bewilderment as well.

"You'll have to figure out the test themes on your own. The content of the lessons, the topics in the performance assessments, the flow of supplies, rumors, legends, and folklore. We will provide hints in various ways. There may even be clues in the professors' jokes, so pay close attention."

As the students gasped in disbelief, Rick looked like he was about to squeal in delight.

"That's wild! Wow! So, it's a war of information? Doesn't this guarantee that the semester will be fun? Ehehehehe! Y'all are dead, for real!"

Simon silently massaged Rick's shoulders. He had to survive in Kizen.

"Of course,"

Aaron continued,

"I'm sure there will be false rumors and gossip to eliminate competitors. I'd say that keeping rumors to yourselves and focusing on improving would be for the best."

Somehow, Simon felt like Aaron was looking at Rick and talking to him directly. Rick, feeling the same, was smiling through his sweat.

"Well, that took us a while, seeing as we had to explain everything in depth."

A servant standing at the back was flicking his hand to the side, gesturing for him to cut it short.

"That's it for the briefing on the new test. We shall now begin the actual ceremony."

With the test explained, Aaron stepped to the side and became the master of ceremonies.

Simon expected the introverted professor to be like a fish out of water taking that role, but he was surprised at how well Aaron handled it.

The four kingdoms' national anthems and the school songs were played quickly or omitted.

There were speeches by representatives from each kingdom, an announcement from the facility manager, the Commander of Keepers gave some notes, and then the time for the oath had arrived.

"Now for the taking of the oath, led by the student representatives. The top male and female student, when called upon, shall come forward."

Aaron held up a slip of paper in his hand.

"Normally, the grades from the first semester's final exam would determine the top, but due to special circumstances we will do it the same as the entrance ceremony. Special Admission No.1 Simon Polentia and Special Admission No.2 Serene Aindark, please come forward."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Simon stood from his seat, anticipation in his eyes. Rick was more excited than Simon, slapping him on the arm, while Camibarez clenched her fists and cheered him on.

""

Meilyn, on the other hand, looked very displeased. She gave the two of them a dirty look, and Rick and Camibarez returned to their seats.

Clearly, she wasn't happy that her arch-nemesis, Serene, had been chosen to represent the girls.

As Simon walked up to the front of the stage and waited, Serene walked past the students with a queenly gait.

She walked partway up the stairs, stopped, held her right hand out to Simon, and smiled.

She was asking for an escort.

"Hey, please don't do this."

Simon panicked and tried to decline, but Serene acted as though she hadn't heard him and beckoned with the hand, waiting.

Every second that Simon hesitated delayed the ceremony, and the broadcasting servant cleared his throat.

Out of options, Simon took Serene's hand and escorted her to the stage like a gentleman.

Meilyn's eyes burned with rage as she watched.

"%!@#!&%!@^!!! She's doing that on purpose to taunt me!"

Camibarez desperately grabbed Meilyn's arm, holding her back.

An equally enraged man kicked the seat in front of him, knocking it over with a person still on it.

"Dammit! I should've been up there if things went normally, not him!"

"Hold it, Hector!"

Hector's faction grabbed him and held him back.

Meilyn and Hector went on a rampage, but Aaron had the ceremony proceed regardless.

"All rise. Repeat after the student representatives and take the oath."

The sound of nearly 900 students rising to their feet filled the room.

Simon and Serene exchanged a glance and nodded.

A piece of paper with the words of the oath floated in front of them, likely conjured there by a servant.

The two straightened their backs, raised their right hands into the sky, and began.

"I swear."

"I swear!"

Behind them, 896 students were repeating every word they said.

Simon took a deep breath and continued.