Chapter 38


    The next day, the weekend.


    Simon came down to Rochest for the first time.


    Wow.


    Rochest was a very youthful and lively city.


    Buskings and events were held everywhere, and Kizen students were having fun in civilian clothes, dancing, and ying musical instruments.


    Of course, it was smallpared to the big city, Langerstine, but for Simon, Rochest felt more appealing.


    First, Simon opened the map and stopped by the Necromancer shop. Rick personally rmended this store, saying they have the lowest prices.


    As soon as he opened the door, a young employee greeted him warmly.


    Welco Uhh?


    The employee smiled brightly.


    Simon! Its you, Simon, right?


    Whos this again?


    Simon was putting his brain to work because of the employee who suddenly pretended to know him, but thankfully, he revealed himself first.


    Its me, Rowen, the guy you met on the first day of school!


    Ah!


    That great, chatty person who rode the Nether Whale along with him. He was the first friend Simon made aftering to Kizen.


    Hi! I didnt expect to see you here.


    Good to see you again! Youre ss A, right? Im in ss D! ss D is also super tough! I never thought that the half-giant Chatelle Maerre would be part of my ss! But theres Special Admission No.1 is in ss A Oh, right! Youre the Special Admission No.1! Woah, right. Yeah! That moment when your identity was revealed at the entrance ceremony, I could feel a shiver go through my entire body!


    It started again.


    Simon quickly changed the topic before it got even moreplicated.


    By the way, what are you doing here?


    As you can see, Im doing my part-time job.


    Rowen shrugged his shoulders.


    I need to earn some pocket money. Part-time jobs at Rochest are great because their pay is pretty high.


    A part-time job, huh? Not bad.


    Simon was also starting to get worried about his wallet. It was too much for him to prepare the materials for sses with the monthly allowance that the school provided.


    Could I get a part-time job too?


    Mm To be honest, youre a little bitte now! I think the vacant part-time jobs were all filledst week because there are so many people who want to do it.


    Bummer.


    Needless to say, money was important, but he didnte here to talk about that.


    As Simon told Rowen that he came to buy a skeleton set, Rowen kindly showed him where they were.


    20 sets of Ind Rat Man skeletons.


    A huge sum of money was used from the start, but he had no other choice. He needed a lot of skeletons for next weeks Cyclops performance assessment.


    Of course, even if the skeletons lifespan expired, he could incorporate them into the Legions power, so there was no real loss either.


    After buying some other undead materials he wanted for practice, Simon left the Necromancer shop.


    Now, next is


    Simon rustled and took out the note on the things he needed.


    Weapons that skeletons will use.


    This time he headed to the weapon shop.


    You could also buy weapons at the Necromancer shop, but Rick had a clever tip that itd be expensive to buy them there.


    Wee!


    A middle-aged man who ran the weapon shop greeted Simon with a bright smile. As he quickly nced over Simons uniform, his smile deepened even further.


    What are you looking for? A new model of a jet-ck sword made of obsidian was recently released!


    The shop owner handed a sword hanging on the wall in Simons hand and told him to remove the scabbard.


    When Simon applied a little force, the scabbard opened with a clicking sword, revealing a ck and shiny de.


    Th-This is a great sword, but I dont need this much


    Then what about this! Battle gloves for Combat Magic! Since its thetest model, its firepower is!


    I came to buy weapons for a skeleton!


    Said Simon quickly. The shop owners face quickly cooled, and he sat down and pointed to the corner of the store with a nonchnt face.


    There were a lot of cheap swords on the shelf.


    Thank you!


    Regardless of the shop owner, Simon happily ran towards the shelf. Most of them were failures or secondhand products, but it was perfect for the undead to use.


    Simon checked the quality by carefully unsheathing the sword, touching the de, and bouncing it with his fingertips.


    So he bought five swords, five spears, and two shields.


    Ill have all these, please!


    Simon dropped all the weapons on the counter. The shop owner, who was sitting while resting his chin on his hand, asked in surprise,


    Y-Youre going to buy all of these?


    Yes.


    The shop owner started adding up the weapon''s price with a much more loosened-up face. Still, he asked as though he was worried,


    Where are you going to use all this? Aren''t you a first-year? Even if its for a skeleton, operating two or three simultaneously would be the maximum.


    Just preparing in advance, since the de gets damaged very easily.


    A smile appeared on the lips of the shop owner, who was examining the weapons Simon had chosen.


    You still picked the ones that are in good condition at least. Looks like you''ve been handling a sword quite often beforeing to Kizen.


    Its nothing like that. My father just taught me how to pick good weapons.


    Woah, you have a great father!


    The shop owner let out a heartyugh.


    Even though its the era of Necromancers and Priests these days, theres something called fundamentals, you see. Fundamentals! If youre a man, you should carry a good-looking sword on your waist and, you know? Be able to protect yourself with that!


    Absolutely.


    Apparently, this old man had a great sense of duty in his job.


    As Simon chimed in with him, the shop owner kept on bursting intoughter as though he felt great.


    250 silver on five swords of skeleton-exclusive weapon set, 200 silver on five spears, and 100 silver on wooden shields. Its 550 silver in total, but Ill just have 500 silver.


    Thank you so much!


    I should be the one to thank you. A young noble is trying to pleasemoners like us. Ah! Please wait here a moment.


    The equipment merchant went to the back and brought out a bow, arrows, and quivers after a while.


    Its a bow and arrow set with high jet-ck efficiency because its made of ebony wood. Originally, I should get 1 gold for this, but this time, Ill just give it to you.


    Simons eyes widened rapidly.


    F-For free? I cant receive expensive things like this!


    Oh! This isnt my first time doing business in Rochest. Even though Im amoner, I have a good judge of character. Just by looking at people, I can figure out if theyre going home soon, or if theyll survive through to the third year.


    Said the shop owner while putting the bow on Simons pile of weapons.


    Im giving it in a sense for you to be a regr at our store if youre going toe to buy weapons for 3 years. Even better if you introduce our store to your friends.


    But still, 1 gold is too


    Bows dont even sell well in Kizen anyway. Dont be too pressured to take them. You know how it is, right?


    Yeah. I know, but


    It would be rude not to receive it if he went this far. Simon bowed his head in gratitude.


    Pleasee again!


    * * *


    * * *


    Simon headed to the next ce in a cheery mood as he finished his thrifty shopping.


    He also purchased some materials needed for other sses, like Poisonous Alchemy, and ced them in the subspace.


    Pier, Ill be on my way now.


    [Got it!]


    Then, he headed to the ruins to train with Pier.


    He was a little afraid to go back to the Forbidden Forest, but Pier was kind enough to pick him up in the forest. As Simon rode on Piers back, they reached the ruins in minutes.


    Click!


    ck!


    Were you doing well?


    As Simon entered, the conscripted skeletons approached him like puppies greeting their owner. Simon smiled and patted their heads.


    Pier, here. Skeletons for conscription.


    Simon took out the broken skeletons from the subspace.


    Pier clicked his tongue.


    [There are a lot of injured ones, huh?]


    A lot shattered from thest simtion battle, you see.


    As Pier put his hands on the skulls of the broken skeletons, dark blue mes burned like torches in their eye sockets. Now, the Legion had eight skeletons.


    [Now it feels a lot more boisterous!]


    Nice.


    After the conscription of the damaged skeletons was finished, the two sat down facing each other.


    [As I said before, training this time will be pretty tough! Are you ready for it?]


    Yes, of course!


    There was not much time left until the Cyclops performance assessment. Simon was nning on maximizing his skeleton-operating abilities.


    First, Simon assembled the skeletons he had bought from the Necromancer shop.


    Soon enough, six skeletons stood in front of Simon with their weapons, and six conscripted skeletons stood on the other side.


    Simons summoned type and Piers natural type each formed a team. The skeletons also started a war of nerves with each other, making a rattling sound as though they were aware of it.


    [You said that the number of skeletons you can control simultaneously is two, right?]


    Yes.


    If he tried to control more than three units simultaneously, the thoughts in his head got entangled, and themand system fell into disarray.


    Most of all, he couldnt bear it as his mental strength rapidly went down, and a bad headache urred.


    [Hehehe, theres no need to rush things! What matters isnt how many units you can control simultaneously, but how well you can handle them, even if it''s just one or two!]


    Understood.


    [Ill also control up to two units at the same time! Come at me, Boy!]


    Yes!


    Simon stretched out his right arm.


    Charge!


    Two skeletons with swords jumped off the floor. Pier also made his two sword-wielding skeletons charge in.


    ng!


    Kang!


    A continuous sh. The harsh sound of iron hitting iron resounded as the swords collided.


    As Simon was contemting on what move to make next, Piers two skeletons with spears thrust their weapons from behind.


    Ugh, step back!


    Simons skeletons withdrew by a whisker. Then, Piers skeletons with swords in front pushed back the skeletons who lost their bnce.


    ng! sh!


    Simons skeletons took the sword strikes in a precarious position with their backs bent.


    Then, as if they were waiting, the skeletons with spears returned and hit the legs with their spears, and Simons skeletons fell to the floor, suppressed.


    I lost.


    Swallowing his frustration, Simon lowered his arms and turned his head.


    Youre cheating, Pier! You said youll only use two units at once!


    Theres no way he could win since it was 4:2. Pier chuckled at Simonsint.


    [What are you saying! I also controlled only two units, just like you!]


    Huh? What do you m Ah!


    He did, actually.


    Pier first moved the skeletons with the swords, then the skeletons with the spears.


    He then returned to the skeletons with the swords again, crossed to the spears, and repeated the movement.


    [Well, its not much of a big deal. Its called cross-operation! Its to expand the scope of limited control by quickly moving the control of the skeletons.]


    Ah.


    [If you cant connect to multiple skeletons simultaneously, the key is to operate two at a time and make all the skeletons move! Did you understand that?]


    Step step.


    No sooner said than done, two skeletons with spears came forward among Simons skeletons.


    Concentrate.


    He made the skeletons with swords spread their palms. Then, he went to the skeletons with the spears and high-fived the spread palms.


    Like this, right?


    []


    The corners of Piers lips, who had stood still for a moment, rose up.


    [Bwehehehe! Youre certainly fun to teach!]


    What?


    [Its nothing. Lets move on to the real deal if you got the hang of it!


    Ah, yes! Pleasee!


    * * *


    On the first day of the weekend, Simon practiced undead control and cross-operation with Pier. As his skills had improved, Simon could now control up to 3 units.


    The next afternoon, he returned to Kizen. He kept in tune alongside Meilyn, Camibarez, and Rick to practice for the actual fight.


    Simon would try to buy some time with the undeads and the battle would start after striking the Cyclops with four Exhausts and one Dark re at the same time.


    Theyd gradually weaken the Cyclops, and the battle will end in victory after giving it two additional Dark res.


    In order to reduce mistakes, theyd only practiced the same pattern repeatedly.


    It wasnt an Avalon simtion, and it was nothing but an imaginary battle fought in empty air, but that alone was exhausting. Everyone was sitting on the floor, chugging down some freshwater.


    Simon! That tutor you had in Rochest on the weekend Who was it?


    Simon felt a sting at Camibarezs question.


    I-Its just someone I met through my fathers help. Why?


    I think Simons undead control has improved by a lot!


    Yeah. Thats actually true.


    Rick, who was lying on his back in the vacant lot, sat up.


    Now hes using three skeletons at the same time. Is it even possible to improve your skill in such a short time?


    Meilyn also pushed her head in as if she was interested.


    What kind of person are they? A professional Necromancer? From Kizen?


    All of a sudden, the eyes of the three people were focused at once. Simon smiled awkwardly.


    What kind of excuse should I make?