Chapter 497: Episode 497

“I don’t think this is a problem that can be so easily dismissed.”

The moment Simon snapped his fingers, bones erupted from the ground, knocking aside the thugs’ weapons. The leader’s sword, pressed against Simon’s neck, was sent flying. In that same motion, Simon spun, his leg whipping around to connect with the leader’s head.

In the distorted stretch of a single moment, Simon clearly saw the man’s face ripple like liquid under the force of the impact. Then time snapped back to normal. The leader’s body shot away like a bolt of light, shattering a market stall before crashing through the wall behind it and vanishing into a cloud of dust.

With their leader dispatched so brutally, the remaining thugs froze in shock. Simon vaulted onto a cargo carriage, his momentum carrying him forward to kick the nearest thug in the face. He landed on the other side, simultaneously striking a second thug in the ribs and a third in the jaw. An axe swung toward him, but he saw it coming and arched his back, letting it whistle harmlessly over his head.

’Whoosh!’

As he straightened, he wrapped his Cloud around the axeman’s leg and yanked with tremendous force.

He heard them collide. Simon darted to the side, kicking the legs out from under two more thugs before vaulting back over the carriage.

“W-What did I just see?”

It had all happened in the span of a few breaths. Simon casually shook out the hem of his robe and launched himself back into the fray.

’Whoosh! Whoosh!’

Every time the black blur of his robe flashed past, thugs fell like dominoes. He moved like a storm, vaulting back and forth over the carriages, his legs spinning like a windmill. The remaining men writhed on the ground, screaming and clutching at broken bones.

“Get him! Get in there!”

“Don’t give him any space! Close in!”

A sword lunged for Simon’s exposed back. But as if he had eyes there, he summoned a bone to block the strike before sending another to smash into the attacker’s face.

<Bone Armor>

’Swoosh…’

Simon turned, crooking three fingers in a beckoning gesture. Instantly, three of the thugs were encased in Bone Armor and began attacking their own allies.

“Y-You bastard! What are you doing?!”

“It’s not me! My body won’t listen!”

As Simon’s fingers danced over an imaginary keyboard, thugs fell at the hands of their comrades. The technique was less effective against other necromancers, but against ordinary men, Simon considered Bone Armor to be one of his most vicious weapons.

While manipulating his puppets, Simon suddenly ducked. A volley of arrows zipped past, embedding themselves in the carriage behind him.

’They’re fast.’

He spotted archers on the rooftops, bows drawn and aimed at him.

“Nice shot!”

“Keep firing!”

’Thwip! Thwip!’

As arrows rained down, Simon took cover behind a carriage. Bones flew to his outstretched right arm, rapidly assembling over his limb.

<Bone Armor – Handgun Mode>

Simon immediately stepped out from behind the carriage and raised his arm. Each time a bone bullet shot from the launcher, an archer on the roof was knocked down like a carnival target. ’Thwack! Thwack!’ He twisted at the waist to fire, then fired again while sprinting forward. His skill was almost supernatural, firing with deadly accuracy without even looking.

’Even for a Kizen student…!’

’Is he really this strong?’

Their will to fight shattered in an instant. A few thugs turned to flee, but Simon, anticipating their move, spread his fingers. The three thugs still encased in Bone Armor flew to block their path.

’Crack! Splat!’

The armored puppets began to mercilessly beat down their fleeing allies. The men fought back in desperation, but the Bone Armor moved of its own accord, parrying every blow.

“Oh…!”

One of the puppets, a large man, sent a former comrade flying with a single punch, smashing him through a carriage. The thug inside the armor felt a surge of pride.

“This suit is incredible! With this, I could…!”

Just then, two of the puppets turned to face each other. The skull helmets protecting their heads retracted, and the weapons in their hands rose in unison.

“N-No!”

They brought their weapons down on each other, self-destructing in a shower of bone and gore. The empty suits of Bone Armor then flew back to Simon, ready to be equipped onto new victims.

“Hahahaha! Good job holding out, everyone!”

Simon looked up. A thug was standing on a carriage, arms raised to the sky, a triumphant grin on his face. Above him, a large magic circle pulsed with dark energy.

’A necromancer among them?’

“Farewell! This is the original black magic I’ve dedicated my life to!”

<Finral Original – Slingsycle>

Six black orbs descended from the circle with a metallic shriek. Simon retreated as the jet-black spheres smashed through the carriage in front of him.

“He’s running!”

“He can’t escape that!” the thugs cheered.

Simon simply traced a few patterns in the air with his fingers and smiled.

“This is easy.”

He stopped and held his palm out toward the incoming orbs. A black circle instantly unfolded before him, filling with complex formulas and symbols.

<Finral Original – Slingsycle>

Six identical spinning orbs shot from Simon’s magic circle, colliding with the originals and neutralizing them completely. The necromancer’s jaw dropped.

“H-How did you copy the original spell I dedicated my life to?!”

“I understood its composition the moment I saw the magic circle.”

“Impossible! I concealed the core formula with jet-black!”

“It was obvious. A circulation rune combined with a shotgun formula, wasn’t it?”

“H-How did you know?!”

This time, Simon held out his left hand, drawing a new magic circle.

“If it were me, I’d do it like this.”

<Simon Remake – Slingsycle>

Six new orbs, much larger and faster than before, shot out in a wide arc. The necromancer, Finral, hastily fired his own spell, but Simon’s orbs pulverized his and continued on their path.

“No waaaaaay!”

’Th-th-th-thwack!’

His body was battered by the orbs and sent flying into the sky. Simon lowered his arm, a leisurely smile on his face.

“That’s enough,” a voice growled.

’Clank!’

Simon turned his head. The thug leader he had taken out first was back on his feet, blood streaming from his crushed nose. In his hands, he held a gruesome biological weapon that looked as if it were stitched together from corpses. Pieces of monster flesh and eyes were visible on its surface, with a launcher at its center. The weapon was clearly heavy; the leader’s arm muscles trembled with the strain of holding it.

“This was meant for a client, but I have no choice! Put your hands up if you want to live!”

Simon merely shrugged, as if to say, ’Go ahead and try.’ A vein bulged on the leader’s forehead.

“I’ll blast you to pieces!”

’Whirrrrrr!’

An engine-like sound revved from within the weapon as a maw opened to reveal a cannon. Just as it was about to fire…

[Der König ist Zurück――!!]

A haunting melody flowed from Simon’s lips. The biological weapon immediately began to vibrate and malfunction, firing wildly into the air.

“Grrrgh! What did you do?!”

“It’s a technique called ‘Dirge’,” Simon explained calmly. “More importantly, that’s an interesting weapon you have.”

He appeared in a flutter of his black robe, the sole of his shoe suddenly filling the leader’s vision.

“I’ll be putting this to good use.”

’Thwack!’

The thug leader’s consciousness vanished.

—

With their leader captured, the Ganes Guild surrendered. Simon’s skeletons bound them tightly with ropes.

“You have a knack for choosing the most troublesome path, Simon.”

Kajan, who had disappeared during the fight, returned. He had two struggling thugs in headlocks. Trailing behind him, several unconscious men were being dragged by a rope attached to his belt.

“Good work, Kajan.”

“A word of advice,” Kajan said, his tone flat. “It’s best to fight only when you can be certain of subduing everyone. If even one escapes to warn their comrades, it becomes a headache.”

Simon grinned. “Of course! I had complete faith that you would cover me.”

“You have a silver tongue,” Kajan muttered, scratching his scar awkwardly.

While Kajan finished tying up the fugitives, Simon approached the crate that had started it all. He shattered the old lock with a burst of black magic and lifted the lid.

’Rattle, rattle!’

A small hand shot out from the gap, trying to hold the lid shut. Simon was startled but quickly softened his voice.

“It’s okay. The bad men have all been arrested. You’re free now.”

He felt the resistance in the small fingers slowly fade. Simon opened the crate. Inside, a grimy boy was curled up, his mouth gagged with a cloth. A surge of fury toward the thugs rose in Simon’s chest, but he took a deep breath and pushed it down.

’Click! Clack!’

He opened the rest of the crates on the carriages. One by one, children emerged, blinking in the daylight. They huddled together, trembling and hugging one another, their eyes darting around nervously.

“Is everyone okay?” Simon asked, gently stroking one boy’s hair. “Where are you from?”

They remained silent, flinching at his every move. Bruises and welts, the clear marks of abuse, covered their skin.

Finally, a little girl whispered, “Lendran.”

’So there’s a Lendran territory.’

After she spoke, the other children began to open up. They came from all over the Dark Alliance—from small territories he’d never heard of to large cities like Langerstine.

“Simon. Over here, too.”

Kajan ripped the tarp off the back of a carriage, revealing a cage with iron bars. Inside, adults sat gagged and bound.

“Get them all out.”

“Understood.” Kajan grabbed the bars and, with a surge of jet-black, twisted the metal apart. He helped the prisoners out one by one.

“Hey!”

“What’s all this commotion!”

City guards, alerted by the residents, came running. Their eyes widened at the sight of the captured thugs and the freed prisoners.

“We need your cooperation,” Simon said, as he and Kajan presented their second-year student IDs. The guards immediately straightened up, their demeanor becoming respectful.

Simon tucked his ID away. “Regarding this incident, I would like to speak with the highest authority in this city.”

—

The investigation revealed that all the victims had been taken from other regions. Most were orphans, while the adults were homeless, had no family, or suffered from intellectual disabilities. The Ganes Guild thugs claimed they were merely transporters who knew nothing, paid by a client to move cargo.

“I will contact the Dresden Kingdom,” Simon informed the lord of Ebrun. “Once the kidnapped people have recovered, I will help return them to their homes or find them new places to settle. As for the thugs, please have them transported to the capital, Langerstine.”

“Ah, yes. Yes, of course,” the lord replied, though his expression was clearly reluctant.

Simon understood. The man was afraid of retaliation for getting involved in Tarados’s affairs.

“Interesting,” Kajan said, his voice cutting through the tension.

’Thump!’

He propped his feet up on the lord’s table.

“‘Why did you have to cause this trouble in my territory?’ That seems to be your complaint.”

The lord flinched. “N-No, not at all! How could I dare!”

“The fact that your neighboring territory, Tarados, fell into such a state is partly due to Ebrun’s neglect and indifference. I wondered how word of this hadn’t spread. I looked into it and found you even ordered the closure of all information guilds that tried to establish themselves here. This is still just a suspicion, but…”

Kajan’s eyes flashed with cold light.

“Is Ebrun, perhaps, an accomplice?”

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