"What is this monster kid! Get her away from me right now!"
"Huh?"
Nephthys just stood there with an innocent expression, licking her ice cream. When she didn’t back away, Byulya, her hackles raised like a cornered animal, began to emit a potent venom from her entire body.
A radius of several yards around her began to transform into a green zone of extreme poison. Simon quickly evacuated his team members.
"Professor, please calm down!" Lorraine exclaimed, startled.
They were just a step away from a major mishap.
"...Don’t tell me."
Fortunately, Byulya’s reason returned just in time. In her mind, there was only one monster of this caliber.
"...Are you that Witch of Death?"
"Yup!" Nephthys replied with a grin.
Finally calming down, Byulya collected the poison coming from her body and straightened up. The pool of poison on the floor was sucked into her feet and disappeared.
"...Ha, can you even be called a person? You look like some absurd monster."
Lorraine’s eyebrow twitched. "Professor Byulya! That’s out of line..."
"It’s fine. It’s not like she’s wrong." After finishing her ice cream, her cheeks puffed out, Nephthys looked at her and said, "Anyway! Causing more trouble is a problem! The elders chewed me out to recruit you! If you don’t cooperate more, I’m going to get mad!"
Nephthys puffed out her cheeks, pretending to be angry.
’How cute.’ That’s how it looked to others, but Byulya was breaking out in a cold sweat, as if she were genuinely looking at a terrifying monster.
"I heard you were causing a lot of trouble, so I came myself! You’ll go to Roc Island now, right?"
Her wary eyes soon gave way to a deep sigh. "It seems I don’t have a choice."
"Kajan. Please guide her."
Kajan nodded and led Byulya away. Byulya now followed him without any further resistance. Then, her eyes met Simon’s, and she grinned. "See you at school, Simon Polentia."
"Ah, yes! Professor."
After the two and the Thieves’ Guild left, Nephthys turned her head. "Hiii, hiii, my first-years!"
She jumped up and down on the spot, waving her hands. When Lorraine, behind her, signaled for them to raise their heads, the four, who had been frozen like statues, finally lifted their heads.
"Hehe, is it because they’re freshmen? They’re still so young and cute!"
Everyone’s gaze briefly gathered on Nephthys before scattering.
"Are you all hurt badly?"
"We’re fine!" everyone answered loudly.
Simon, who was now used to Nephthys, was relatively relaxed, but the three behind him had tense expressions.
"Well then, head back to your dorms and get some rest. You need to prepare for the semester starting tomorrow! The second integrated semester will be tough in many ways!"
"Yes, ma’am!"
All four of them bowed to her once more before turning to leave. Just then, Nephthys added something else.
"Simon, stay back for a moment!"
Simon stopped in his tracks. "M-Me?"
Late at night, on a street in Langerstine.
From Simon’s perspective, the situation was bound to be tense. He was walking with Nephthys on his right and Lorraine on his left. On the way, Nephthys stopped at a street stall and bought three ice creams. She had originally ordered only two, but the stall owner, oblivious to her true identity, said what a cute little girl she was and gave her an extra one for free.
"Nom, nom."
Of course, she wasn’t the kind of person who would share her ice cream with children hundreds of years younger than herself. Simon, who had been staring blankly at Nephthys eating with gusto, turned his head. A faint smile touched the lips of Lorraine, who had been walking with a blank expression.
"Did you have a good vacation?"
"Ah, yeah. You?"
"Me? I just lazed around at home."
As the two peers exchanged light chatter, they soon arrived at Campbell Road. Simon’s gaze turned to Nephthys. "So, why did we come to Campbell Road?"
Having finished her ice cream, Nephthys was casting a recognition-jamming black magic spell on her face. It was a light disguise, as many people on Campbell Road would recognize her. After casting the spell on her face, she smiled brightly and said, "To give you a present!"
"A p-present?"
"You played a huge role in catching the Saintess of Purification this time, Simon."
At her words, Simon scratched his head awkwardly. "I wouldn’t say it was a huge role."
"If you and Kajan hadn’t handled it so well, the damage would have been far greater. Because of your identity and various other complicated matters, I can’t give you an award openly at the opening ceremony, but I can’t just let it pass without any reward!"
Simon waved his hands in alarm. "Oh, no! You really don’t have to—!"
"Take it while I’m asking nicely, Simon."
Lorraine offered a knowing smile. "Kajan and Serne have already claimed their rewards. You’re the only one left."
"That’s right!" Nephthys chirped, swinging her arms enthusiastically. "Now, shall we go see if your special order has arrived?" She led the way with boundless energy, Simon and Lorraine trailing in her wake.
They arrived at the very shop where Simon had purchased his first Subspace. An attendant guided the trio to the underground showroom, where the most expensive models were displayed like jewels.
"Welcome, Lady Lorraine!" An old woman emerged, draped in a luxurious mink coat, her neck and fingers so laden with gold jewelry she seemed to drip with it.
Lorraine waved warmly. "It’s good to see you, Stephanie."
"I’m as well as ever! And the gentleman beside you..." Stephanie’s eyes gleamed with recognition. "You’re the Kizen student who purchased Gellen Eclipse’s 4,000 UB Subspace, aren’t you?"
Simon’s eyes widened in surprise. "Thanks for remembering me."
"Of course! I always remember my VVIP customers, especially one who made such a lavish purchase right after the entrance ceremony. And lastly..." Stephanie’s gaze fell upon Nephthys, whose face was still veiled by a perception-jamming spell. "The face is different, but I assume you must be Lady Nephthys?"
"Oh! How did you know?" Nephthys asked, surprised.
"Because you’re with Lady Lorraine, and you have a smudge of ice cream on the corner of your mouth."
Nephthys touched her cheek, and the illusion dissolved. She grinned, raising a hand in greeting. "Hi, Stephanie!"
"Greetings," Stephanie replied with a fond smile. "It feels like only yesterday we were little girls running through the fields. Now I’m an old woman bent with age, yet you, Lady Nephthys, haven’t changed a bit."
"Yup! Those were fun times," Nephthys agreed, and the two old women shared a brief, wistful silence.
"Oh, but more importantly," Stephanie said, her tone shifting back to business, "you’ve come for that product..."
"That’s right! We’re here to see it."
"Please wait just a moment."
At a glance from Stephanie, four employees began to haul a massive box into the room. With a collective grunt, they set it on the floor. Inside the enormous container, resting on a plush red cushion, was a single, small necklace.
’Isn’t this... presentation a bit over-the-top?’ Simon wondered.
Nephthys reached out to touch the necklace, but her fingertip was repelled with a sharp ting before it could make contact. A dazzling constellation of magic circles erupted into the air, each one spinning at a different velocity.
"Whoa!" Simon and Lorraine exclaimed, taking an involuntary step back.
"These are all security measures," Nephthys explained. "Now, sign it, Simon."
"S-Sign? Where...?"
"Just use your Jet-black to engrave any letter you want on the runes I point out."
Following Nephthys’s instructions, Simon had to sign all twenty of the shimmering magic circles. The process was so engaging that he felt drained by the time he was finished. Finally, with the security measures disarmed, he was able to pick up the necklace.
He lifted it slowly. A rhombus-shaped artifact, resembling a white crystal, hung from a simple cord.
"Put it on," Nephthys prompted.
Simon did as he was told, carefully fastening the necklace around his neck.
"Next, imbue it with your Jet-black."
"Understood." Simon cupped the artifact in his hand and channeled his dark energy into it. The crystal’s color shifted to a deep, dark blue before it seemed to melt into the air and vanish.
"Huh? Uh?" Panicked, Simon fumbled for the disappearing artifact, but his fingers closed on empty air. Once it was completely gone, he stared at his hand with a devastated expression.
’Did I do something wrong?’
Seeing Simon on the verge of tears, Nephthys and Stephanie burst into laughter. Lorraine just shook her head, a look on her face that said she’d seen more than her share of mischievous adults.
"It’s not gone, Simon," Nephthys chuckled. "The anti-theft magic just activated."
"Anti-theft magic? What’s that?"
"In the heat of battle, a necklace could easily be torn off. This one is now etched onto your body as a pattern. If you look at your chest..."
Before she could finish, Simon was frantically unbuttoning his shirt. Lorraine, who had been observing with mild interest, casually turned her head away. After undoing the buttons and looking down, Simon finally let out a sigh of relief. Just as she’d said, a dark blue pattern was etched onto his skin.
"The preparations are complete," Stephanie announced, rubbing her palms together. "Now, let’s try it out. Using it is simple. Please activate the pattern with your Jet-black."
Simon nodded and circulated the energy within his body, activating the mark. It began to emit a faint, dark glow.
"The Subspace will manifest in any wide, empty space," Stephanie explained. "Focus on the pattern in your mind, then reach out and grab the air behind you."
"L-Like this?" As Simon extended his arm, his hand closed around something solid, as if there were an invisible wall.
"You’ve got it! Don’t think of it as a virtual lever, but as a virtual sliding door. Now, with the image of forcefully sliding that door open...!"
"Fling it open!"
A massive portal, over sixty feet long, tore open diagonally in the direction Simon had gestured. It was so large it nearly filled the entire spacious showroom.
"...Wow."
"The design was inspired by Lady Lorraine’s own abilities," Stephanie added. A faint smile touched Lorraine’s lips. "This is a Subspace exclusively for the undead! While the one you’re currently using is 4,000 UB, this one’s capacity far exceeds 100,000 UB!"
Simon’s jaw dropped. "You’re telling me its capacity is more than twenty-five times what I have now?" He peered into the portal he had opened. It wasn’t a pocket dimension; it was a vast, open plain.
"That’s right! However, it lacks other features, such as an ejection function. It is a Subspace built for one purpose: to store a large-scale undead army!" Stephanie beamed. "Naturally, a Subspace of this scale is not sold on the market. It’s priceless."
Simon was so stunned he forgot to even say thank you, just staring blankly at the portal.
Stephanie’s gaze shifted to Nephthys. "But, Lady Nephthys," she began, lowering her voice. "Isn’t a ridiculously high-capacity Subspace like this something only a top-tier summoner would use? Why would you give such a thing to a first-year Kizen student?"
"Well now," Nephthys said, a knowing smile gracing her lips. "Who knows? Maybe he’ll have a use for it someday."

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