Shing.
Rowley revealed his true colors and took out his knife. The well-sharpened blade radiated of brilliance.
Tup. Tup.
At the same time, one from behind Simon and two from the front approached him with brisk steps.
"...Well, it doesn't really matter who you are. And that doesn't change the fact that you fell into a trap too."
Rowley, having a more relaxed expression on his face as his comrades joined, wagged his fingers.
"Put everything you have on the food. Including your bag, clothes, and even underwear."
"Even underwear?"
"What's there to be ashamed of? You just have to pick up new clothes from the market and wear them."
Rowley pointed at the pile of trash behind him. The other gangs also chipped in with giggles.
"Mhm. That place is the specialty of Langerstine. Who knows? If you're lucky enough, you could find a chest."
"You'll be able to avoid being sent to prison if you cover your important parts."
Simon answered with a smile on his face.
"I refuse."
"..."
Rowley and his comrades' expression became ferocious.
"…This bastard."
"Looks like you can't grasp the situation because you're a bumpkin. Do you think we're joking around right now?"
The man to the right of Rowley strode towards Simon.
"This kind of bastard needs a bit of a stab to get themselves together."
"Hey, wait!"
The man who ran off, ignoring Rowley's voice, pulled out a dagger from his waist and thrust it at Simon.
Swish.
Simon twisted his right shoulder, shifting the center of his body like flowing water.
The dagger flashed through the air, while Simon, who moved to the side, quickly grabbed the man's wrist.
Crack!
When he applied the force, the man's hand bent in a direction it shouldn't.
"K-Kuaaaaaaaagh!"
The man whose dagger missed fell to the floor and let out a terrible scream.
While kicking him in the face, Simon said,
"It also happens sometimes in our estate. Scums who mix with good people and do things like racketeering, you know.
"...Y-You bastard!"
Simon lightly shook the dust off his hand.
"It's the job of the heir of the lord to clean up such garbage in an estate. There seems to be many people like that in this city too, so I thought I'd clean up a bit since I'm up for doing the same job. "
"...So, you were noble."
Rowley raised his arm and signaled. Five more gangsters came from the end of the alley.
"Then I really can't let you get away."
"..."
Simon calmly warmed himself up. He thought it would be two or three at most, but the gang was more numerous and organized than he thought.
A situation where he alone had to deal with 8 men with weapons with just his bare hands.
No matter how strong Simon was, the number of people he had to face was honestly a bit too much.
'I'm sorry, Father. Getting to Kizen might take longer.'
Simon lowered his stance with a serious expression, and the gang members also tensed and strengthened their grips on their daggers.
A volatile situation.
The moment when the fight was about to start, no matter who pounced in.
"I found you!"
The voice of a third person, who shouldn't have been in this alley, echoed. Everyone's eyes moved to the place where the sound was coming from.
Step. Step.
Someone was walking out of the dark shade of the alley.
It was a girl who still had a youthful look. Shiny black hair, as if she had painted the night sky, and wore a blood-red moon-shaped earring.
Simon thought she was around his age or several years older than him.
And what the hell was that now?
Rowley bit his lip at the third person's appearance.
What was the guy watching his back doing? He couldn't even see where they had gone.
"…It has nothing to do with you. Get lost."
Despite Rowley's warning, the black-haired girl snorted scornfully.
As she got closer, the gang members took a step back, a tense expression on their faces.
An instinctive and primitive sense of fear. They didn't know the exact reason, but the girl had a very dangerous aura.
"There's nothing to be afraid of."
Rowley said as the gang members were shaken up.
"It's 8 vs 2. We just need to get rid of them quickly and leave Langerstine before the guards arrive."
Hearing that, the girl smiled.
"8 vs 2? I don't think so."
Up and down.
As if reacting to the girl's movements, the garbage dumps and bags scattered all over the alley started moving like they were alive. Soon after, the trash bags' surfaces were torn and bones floated in the air.
"Did you guys know?"
Rattle. Click.
The bones began to put themselves together. Different sizes and types of bones creaked and slowly formed a body.
"That the building in front of you is a skeleton tomb."
Rowley and his comrades' faces turned white.
At this moment, the same word popped into everyone's mind simultaneously.
'...Necromancer!'
Rattle! Rattle!
Over 20 skeletons surrounded these gangs in an instant. Petrified, the gang members couldn't even breathe.
"Kuhugh!"
"Kugh!"
The approaching undead grabbed the gang members with their arms and legs to prevent them from moving.
With a crackling sound, the dead swept the gang's faces down or held them up by their chins with their boneless hands.
"Oh my goodness."
The girl let out an alluring smile.
"My children need new friends, apparently."
Chatter!
Chatter!
The skeletons made a sound by clashing their top and bottom jaws in agreement. Some gangsters foamed their mouths, and others wet their pants.
"That's amazing."
Simon was surprised too. It was less complete than Richard's skeletons, but it was a great feat to create more than 20 instant undead by restoring the remains of the bones lying around.
"I failed to recognize that you're a necromancer! Please have mercy just once!"
Rowley lowered his head while trembling. The girl unfolded her arms and asked him with a slightly serious expression,
"Tell me your affiliation."
The skeleton that grabbed Rowley started to scratch his neck slowly with its bony hand. Rowley screamed with his eyes shut as five drops of blood flowed down his neck.
"It's Claven! We're from the Claven group!"
"Oh, I've heard of it. That's a pretty big organization for the pickpocketing of poor outsiders."
She put her hand on her waist and said in an ice-cold voice,
"Tell him directly. Crawl and go to the guards in the form of voluntary appearance with his head on the floor and hands on his back, crawling the moment he leaves the hideout."
Hearing that, Rowley's face turned white.
"P-Please have mercy…! Just turn me into an undead instead!
The girl's face contorted fiercely.
[Are you the one giving orders now?]
Rowley's body stiffened with fear at the sound of a foreign voice that sounded as if it were uttered by an inhumane existence.
She let out a small sigh, returned to her original voice and said,
"Pulling off petty tricks like sending a fake won't work. If that bastard's face isn't grinded enough when I check, then I'll erase your entire organization from the world in the name of Kizen."
The moment the name Kizen dropped from her mouth, all the organization members dropped their heads in shock. Rowley also responded as if he had accepted his fate.
"…I'll make sure to remember that."
"Get lost."
As the skeletons stepped back, the gang fled away, as if on cue. She clicked her tongue once, looking at them running as fast as they could.
"Thank you for your help."
Simon bowed his head in gratitude. The girl turned her head, saying "Ah," and looked at Simon.
"You're Simon Polentia, right?"
Fortunately, there was no sign of hostility in her tone of voice when she asked that with a smile. Simon nodded his head quickly.
"Yes, you're right. If you don't mind me asking, who are you…?"
"Who else would I be? I'm your real guide."
Simon's eyes widened to the size of a lantern.
So, this was the one?
At that moment, she grabbed Simon's wrist.
"Let's go. Mother's waiting for you."
"...Mother?"
* * *
"Motheeerr!"
Behind the square of Langerstine,
The girl who had brought Simon was squatting and wiping the cream off a child's mouth.
The child made a 'Ooof' sound and moved her head like she hated it, but the girl was skillful.
"I told you to wait patiently! You always get lost!"
"Buuut! Theeere was a free ice cream tasting event in the square over there!"
And the identity of the child whining while her mouth was wiped clean by the girl was none other than Nefthis Archbold, the apex of all necromancers and ruler of Kizen.
To see a person called the Witch of Death with ice cream all over her mouth... Simon was very confused.
And what was even more confusing was that the girl who saved him was calling Nefthis, 'Mother'.
The two of them were in a mother-daughter relationship? No matter how you looked at it, it only looked like an older and a younger sister.
And if you had to choose the mother, it would be that girl rather than Nefthis, who looked like a 10-year-old child...
"Simon?"
Before he realized, the girl was looking his way.
"Were you thinking of something funny just now?"
"N-No."
The girl, who had been glaring at Simon with suspicious eyes, quickly turned her head away.
...What a strong intuition.
"Good work on your long trip, Simon!" Nefthis approached with quick short steps.
Although she had the appearance of an innocent child, her identity was of a monster among monsters who had lived for over 300 years and terrorized the world.
Simon bowed politely.
"I'm humbly meeting the owner of the Kizen."
"Woah, you don't have to be so formal."
She giggled and waved her hand.
"It's the first time I've seen you since Les Hill. Did you learn anything from Richard?"
"Ah, yes! It's just a little, but…"
Simon spread out his palm. He activated the core and flowed mana in to draw out the jet-black.
The jet-black passed through Simon's arm and was immediately released there.
Swoosh.
Simon's unique jet-black with a slight blue tint surged like a fire.
Nefthis and the girl came forward simultaneously and widened their eyes. Looking at them like this, it seemed that their mother-daughter relationship could be right.
"Wow."
Both of their pairs of eyes lit up. They gazed like they were appreciating a beautiful work of art.
"It's been a while since I saw a jet-black with a blueish color."
"But it still has the properties of mana. To see it surging like fire means that it hasn't been able to get out of the gaseous state."
"He needs to learn to use his core more effectively."
The mother and daughter exchanged their opinions briefly and then nodded.
"That's enough, Simon."
Simon released the jet-black and stood up straight.
"You don't need to be impatient. Since Kizen is clearly a school, you'll be able to learn a lot more in the future."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind!"
"Well then. Lorain?"
Nefthis slapped the girl's butt and said,
"I'm counting on you as the guide for our new student."
"...You always use me like this, mother."
The girl pouted her lips and said sullen words, but Nefthis didn't even listen and turned her back.
"Then, I'll return to Kizen after eating one more ice cream. So, I'll be going on ahead!"
"Ah, for crying out loud! Mother!"
In that way, Nefthis disappeared like she was running away, leaving only the two of them in the square.
The girl let out a small sigh and turned her head to look at Simon.
"I guess I can't help it. Well, I'll introduce myself again. My name is Lorain Archbold. Just like you, I'm a student from Kizen."
"My name is Simon Polentia, from Les Hill! Nice to meet you again!"
"Okay. Since we're running late, let's get going."
"Get going for what?"
Lorain replied as she brushed her hair back.
"It's the new semester, isn't it? We're going shopping."