In the end, the prospective student from the Amperji family who had caused the disturbance was completely subdued by Simon. The attendants tied him up tightly with ropes to prevent any more trouble.
"Did you see that? Did you see?!" The freshmen who had watched the whole spectacle from the ship were now completely obsessed with the student council president.
"He seemed so gentle on the ship, but when he fights, he’s so powerful...!"
"Did you see the veins popping on his arm?"
"They said the student council president is only a second-year!"
"He’s only one year older than us? Does he have a girlfriend?" the female students chattered, gathered in an excited huddle.
"That was insane," one of the boys declared. "That guy fights so damn cool. For real."
"He’s in the Summoning Department, right?"
"I thought he was in Combat Magic. He was so fast, and he fought back with his fists."
"You guys don’t know anything. He used those black flames earlier. He’s definitely in Jet-Black Dynamics." The male students had fun dissecting Simon’s fighting style.
"Please be quiet!" The attendants went around trying to get the students to sit down, but they were too riled up after the fight.
Just then, Simon poked his head in through a window. "Hey everyone, it’s dangerous to stand. Could you please sit down and be quiet?"
"Yeees!" they all chimed in unison.
In the blink of an eye, the freshmen were all seated. ’What’s with them? They wouldn’t listen to a word before,’ Simon thought with a faint smile, turning back to speak with the staff. Sounds of swooning could be heard from the female students.
"Arthur Bleman. You’re confirmed."
Meanwhile, Arthur, the last in line, presented his admission certificate, and all the freshmen were now aboard. No more students were arriving at the pier.
Arthur gave Simon a thumbs-up.
"That was really amazing, Simon!"
"Sorry for cutting in, Arthur." In truth, if Arthur had gone all out, he could have easily won.
"Haha! Not at all!" Arthur boomed. "I was reckless with my fists and acted rashly! I learned a great deal from you!"
Just then, the expression of an attendant checking the final count on her documents hardened. Seeing this, Simon asked, "What’s wrong?"
"M-Mr. President." She looked troubled. "One person still hasn’t arrived."
"What?"
Hearing this, a staff member from headquarters hurried onto the ship. "Alright, freshmen! Count off from the front, to the right!"
"One!"
"Two!"
All the freshmen on the ship raised their hands and called out their numbers. A female student at the end of the first floor shouted, "Two hundred! End of count!" and a male student on the second floor shouted, "Ninety-nine! End of count!"
"Total two hundred ninety-nine," the attendant confirmed. "We’re short one person on the second floor!"
With departure imminent, the atmosphere grew tense.
"The freshman who hasn’t arrived," Simon asked the attendant, "what’s their name?"
"Just a moment...!" She flipped through her documents. "Heidi Ferris."
’Ah!’ Heidi. The freshman he had met at the bookstore. The playful girl who hadn’t believed he was a second-year.
’Hehehehehe—’ An eerie laugh echoed from the deck. The prospective student from the Amperji family, tied up and lying face down, was shaking with laughter.
"Well, what a shame," he said, his lips twisting into a smirk. "Looks like she’s not coming. Another spot just opened up."
"Mr. President!" The headquarters staff member, holding a communication crystal, hurried over to Simon. "Could I have a word with you?"
"Yes."
The freshmen, wondering what was happening, leaned out the windows. Simon and the staff member walked quickly along the pier, talking.
"I just communicated with headquarters," the staffer said. "Aside from our Langerstine team, all other students have departed for Roc Island."
"So we’re the only ones left."
"That’s right. And when I reported we were short one person, headquarters issued a new directive." The staff member’s face was ashen. "They said if she doesn’t arrive in five minutes, we are to board the next prospective student in line."
Simon immediately whipped his head around. The prospective student ranked 1,001st, still tied up, was smiling knowingly.
"I find that hard to accept," Simon said persuasively. "That student engaged in indiscriminate violence and even tried to attack our students. You saw it all happen!"
"It’s hard for me to accept it too, but that’s the directive from headquarters. There’s nothing we can do."
For hundreds of years, the number of incoming Kizen students had been maintained at exactly one thousand. That number was a long-standing tradition, and the entire purpose of having prospective students was to ensure they hit that quota, no matter what. If they were short, Kizen would prioritize filling the spot above all else.
Simon stood on his tiptoes and scanned the pier. ’I don’t see the 1,002nd or 1,003rd ranked students around, either.’
It would make sense for a few other prospective students to be loitering nearby, but the only one here was from the Amperji family. Something was off.
Simon walked briskly toward the Amperji student, who was smiling calmly, as if he knew everything.
"You," Simon said, his face hardening. "You had people kidnap a freshman, didn’t you?"
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," the student said in a slippery tone, avoiding his gaze. "Don’t get all worked up. Just untie me so I can get on the ship."
Simon was certain. This guy had kidnapped Heidi to steal her spot. ’Don’t fall for the provocation. Stay calm.’ He took a dagger from his subspace and cut the student’s ropes.
"Ah, that’s better," the student said, standing up and rubbing his neck. "They tied it so tight my blood couldn’t circulate. Alright, let’s hurry up and go to Roc Is—"
"Kneel." Simon kicked the back of his leg, forcing him to his knees. The attendants grabbed his arms firmly to prevent any sudden moves.
"Ah, come on!" A sly grin spread across his face. "Is it really okay for the esteemed Student Council President to beat up a new student like this? Just follow the rules! If one person doesn’t show up, you let a prospective student in. What’s so complicated?"
He wasn’t entirely wrong. Simon’s duty as Student Council President was to escort the freshmen. If he just took this guy to Roc Island, the quota would be met, and the entrance ceremony would proceed smoothly. Besides, this guy had sold his body to dangerous black magic; in a few months, the side effects would weed him out of the competition on their own.
’But.’ Simon gritted his teeth.
’Anyway, it was fun meeting you! Say hi if you see me at school!’
Simon couldn’t give up on Heidi. She had done nothing wrong. To pass the entrance exam only to have her admission unfairly snatched away would mean a life of pain and regret. As long as he was here as the Student Council President, he would never let that happen.
’Find a clue.’ Simon grabbed the student’s shirt and yanked it up, revealing countless permanent magic circles drawn on his body.
’As I thought.’
With a cold, analytical eye, Simon examined the black magic circle on his stomach. Among necromancers, even for the same spell, the composition of the magic circle differs. Just as fingerprints are unique, a necromancer’s habits and the very nature of their jet-black are distinct. Simon had seen this composition before. The feel of this jet-black was familiar, too.
’When Arthur was attacked yesterday.’
The unidentified group that had attacked Arthur. He had thought they were just a petty gang, but when Simon subdued them, they vanished using a strange black magic. They weren’t necromancers, but they had permanent magic circles drawn on their bodies.
’The magic cast on that prospective student, too... this is a necromancer who enjoys using high-risk black magic.’ The puzzle pieces in his head snapped into place. The group that attacked Arthur was connected to this student, and it was highly likely they had kidnapped Heidi. They had probably attacked Arthur to keep him from boarding the ship, but when that failed, they switched their target to the easier Heidi.
’This is it.’
Although he’d gone on a rampage because the forbidden magic had messed with his mind, the reason the student had initially asked to check for an empty spot was because he knew there would be one.
Simon stood up.
"Did you find anything?" the staff member asked, his face anxious.
"How much time is left?"
"We depart in five minutes."
"Can’t we extend the time a little longer?" The staff member frowned, lost in thought. Then, a slight smile touched his lips. "I’ll just have to write up a report, I guess. I think I can somehow get us another ten minutes."
Fifteen minutes.
"That’s enough," Simon said, turning his back. "If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, don’t wait for me. Depart as scheduled."
"Ah, understood."
With a burst of energy, Simon ignited jet-black from his legs like a booster and shot forward. The freshmen watched him go, murmuring amongst themselves, while the prospective student let out a sneering chuckle.
"Wasting your energy. I told you it’s useless."
As Simon ran along the deserted beach, he opened a massive subspace. "Come out, Akemus."
[You called, Young Master!]
A man with pitch-black wings reminiscent of a crow shot out from within.
It was Akemus, the captain of the Skullwing Unit. Simon had brought him along in case of an attack from Magnus, since he might have to leave Roc Island. He had resolved not to use an Ancient Undead in the city unless absolutely necessary, but the situation was urgent.
"Subdue your jet-black as much as possible, and take me to the sky."
[As you command!] Akemus grabbed Simon in a tight embrace and immediately soared into the air on the power of his wings alone. The tall buildings of Langerstine zipped past, and in an instant, they were above the rooftops, the open sky before them.
’Ugh!’ Simon squeezed his eyes shut, enduring the pressure.
A moment later, with a great flap, two black wings spread out against the blue. Simon was above the clouds. The buildings and people below looked like miniatures.
’Good. At this height, other necromancers won’t be able to spot me.’ Simon turned to Akemus. "Akemus! Do you remember the feather you gave me at Pier’s Ruins?"
[Of course, I remember, Young Master!]
Simon’s eyes lit up.
"You said you could find that feather no matter where it is, right?"
Akemus nodded. [Of course.]
Heidi opened her eyes to an unfamiliar place. One moment she was walking, the next she was here. It looked like a kitchen, and beyond it, she could see a sofa and a bed. It seemed ’those guys’ had rented a room to use as a hideout.
Her arms were bound by chains fixed to the wall. Her eyes stung from crying. Her body felt heavy and weak. A bowl of untouched food sat in front of her scraped knees.
"Hey, you haven’t eaten a single bite?" a bearded man with a nasty expression chuckled. "That’s no way to treat our hospitality."
She ignored him and turned her head toward the window.
Outside, the sky was growing bright.
"Oh, no!" She tried to stand, but the clatter of chains pulled her back down. "Please let me out of here...! Please!" she begged, tears streaming down her face. "I’m begging you! I have to go to Kizen today! The ship is about to leave!"
The men who had kidnapped her just laughed.
"I told you to give up."
"It’s probably already left by now."
As the day grew brighter, a vast despair blurred Heidi’s vision. All her efforts to get into Kizen flickered past like smoke: the first time she opened her core; the time she created a jet-black arrow; the trembling fear as she solved the first question of the entrance exam. And the day she finally received her admission letter from Kizen, when she and her parents had hugged and cried their eyes out.
All of it had turned to dust. The day before enrollment. Because she let her guard down and got kidnapped.
’I want to go.’ Gazing at the ever-brightening window, she closed her eyes. ’I want to go to Kizen. I’d sell my soul to the devil to go...!’
One of the men saw her and laughed. "It’s best to just give up. Even if you leave now, you’re too la—"
’CRASH!’
The window exploded inward, and in a shower of glass, the girl witnessed a miracle. Her ears rang with static. Feathers. From the broken window, thousands, no, tens of thousands of black crow feathers swirled into the room, plunging it into a vortex of darkness.
And emerging from the storm of black feathers was a boy in a black uniform.
He slid across the floor, advancing with impossible grace as he closed in on the three men. In the brief moment the swirling feathers obscured Heidi’s vision, the boy passed by. When they settled, the three men were soaring through the air, spraying blood.
Their bodies slammed into the ceiling and walls with sickening thuds.
"What’s going on!" Men from the living room came running, only to be sent flying by a large black feather that shot in from the window.
"You’re not too late," a gentle voice said, calming her heart.
Amidst the softly descending black feathers, the blue-haired boy’s pupils shone. At his gesture, metallic snakes appeared from nowhere, tightened around her chains, and shattered them.
"You’re...!"
As she felt her arms become free, Heidi’s eyes widened. The boy smiled warmly and held out his hand.
"I’ll take you there. To Kizen."

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