Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 247

TW: D*mestic ab*se from a parent (mother)(bolded text will appear before and after)

"Simon Polentia wins!"

There was no applause, no cheering, just dead silence among the nobles.

Today was the Dresden Kingdom's royal ball, and they were at the palace, so the nobles couldn't applaud a prince's defeat. They could only glance at Simon in amazement.

"Prince!"

"A-Are you alright?"

The royal family and nobles who still wished to support him rushed to check on the fallen prince.

However, Lorain and Serene casually strode toward the rightful victor.

"You okay, Simon?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good job, Simon~"

Serene slowly approached him with a soft smile.

"Looks like you're on track now, even without using that power."

"That power?"

At Lorain's question, Serene shrugged.

"You don't need to know. It's a little secret between only Simon and me."

Simon gave a wry smile. Why did she always word things in the worst way possible…?

"Her Majesty the Queen is entering."

"!"

Suddenly, the crowd parted to make way for the newest entrance.

A woman appeared, dressed in a gorgeous dress that would fit no one but the queen of one of the largest kingdoms in the continent. She was a middle-aged woman with a rather plump figure and a cold demeanor.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Everyone bowed to the queen.

She stepped forward and looked down on the fallen Andre. He had just regained consciousness, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the queen. The little blood that had returned to his face instantly drained once more.

"Pathetic."

Her words were cold and devoid of any affection.

"He is an eyesore. Dispose of him."

Members of the Black Knights approached, seizing Andre by the arms before they dragged him away. All throughout, Lorain silently observed the queen.

'This must've all been your plan.'

Unlike the king, who cooperated with Kizen, the queen was the representative of an anti-Kizen faction. She wanted the kingdom to be free of Kizen's influence once and for all.

The sudden interruption of the party, Andre's intrusion, all of it must've been her design. Of course, everything bit the dust when Simon defeated Andre.

"…"

The queen glared at Simon, furious that her plans had been ruined.

Seeing this, Lorain stepped forward to draw the queen's attention while Serene looked directly at the queen as she distracted Simon from talking to her.

Eventually, the queen acknowledged that she wouldn't be able to say anything and turned away.

* * *

TW: D*mestic ab*se from a parent (mother) - if you feel safe to, skip until the mid-credits where there will be more bolded text

After the duel, the ball resumed as normal, although Simon went to get medical treatment. The doctors of the royal family examined him, and thankfully, other than a little fatigue and blood loss, he was fine.

And while he was being treated…

Stomp!

Stomp!

In the queen's private chambers, there was a naked scene of violence.

"What a disgrace!!"

The queen was mercilessly beating Andre with her heels.

Even though she was a normal person and Andre was a necromancer, he couldn't even dare to look her in the eye.

In fact, Andre's cruel personality came from her. When she flipped, matters like blood relation were irrelevant. Excluding Princess Mollie, who the king loved dearly, she had no children who she hadn't beaten.

"Do you think I gave you this chance for you to do something like this??!"

Early in the ball, the queen discovered that Princess Mollie had invited Simon and his party and decided to take advantage of it.

She told Andre, who had a grudge against Simon, to go to them and ask for a duel, promising that she would take care of the aftermath.

It was a great opportunity to wound Kizen's pride, but ridiculously, Andre faced humiliating defeat at the hands of a first-year. The royal family was greatly embarrassed, and Kizen's honor was only enhanced.

In a rare pause to her stomping, she gasped and snorted in anger. Her heels were now covered in blood, matching Andre's stained-red face.

"The promise…"

Concern wormed its way up into her voice as she demanded an answer.

"What did you promise to grant him in your defeat?"

The queen had already heard of the promise from the Black Knights and knew the situation.

Andre had made an R sign on his chest and agreed in the royal family's name to accept Simon's terms.

"…"

Andre, who'd been calmly accepting the regular bout of violence, felt his lip begin to tremble. What little skin could be seen under the mask of crimson blood turned white as a ghost.

"Speak without falsehood."

She declared, glaring into Andre's quivering eyes.

Andre, seeing death waiting for him in his mother's fierce gaze, murmured,

"The exclusive right to raid one of the Kingdom's dungeons…"

The anger in her face quickly grew into something indescribably more bloodthirsty. At the same time, her foot slowly returned to the floor, away from the prince's face. Andre knew what the violence stopping meant, so he cried out in desperation,

"Mother, your highness! I will…!"

"You're no longer my son."

Andre's heart sank. The queen left the room, leaving Andre with his eyes and mouth wide open.

'Stupid thing!'

The potential value of a dungeon was enormous. No one knows what resources or treasures might be in one, and now they would have to hand one of them over to a 17-year-old kid who wouldn't know silver from platinum?

Who knows, maybe the fate of the kingdom will hang on which dungeon he chose.

She was tempted to try and intimidate him into changing his reward to something more modest, but he had Lorain and Serene on his side. It was impossible to threaten them.

'Still, he's a clueless teenager. I'll have to come up with a different reward tomorrow morning.'

* * *

Trigger warning over. Summary of plot-relevant details without triggers will be in the Discord server.

* * *

"I refuse."

Said Simon, relaxing in bed.

The treasurer, who had come with a new proposal from the queen, was baffled by his firm decline.

Contrary to what the queen had told him, Simon didn't even finish listening to the offer.

"D-Dear student…"

The treasurer clasped his hands together with a business smile.

"We are offering a whopping four thousand gold, twice the mission price! That would be enough money to buy several houses! Please reconsider…"

"Woah~ The adults are taking advantage of children~"

Intervened Serene. She had been staying in Simon's room since yesterday and was filing her nails as she sat on a chair.

"Selling dungeon raiding rights can fetch tens of thousands of gold, not just four thousand. You're being too reckless just because we're kids who 'don't know much'."

'Please stop interrupting…!'

The treasurer internally convulsed with anger but struggled to keep a smile on his face.

"Haha! Her Majesty the Queen said she can triple this offer. And not only that, but she will personally award you merit in—"

"Treasurer."

This time, the voice came from the other side. A girl with black hair wearing pink pajamas was lying on the couch, kicking her legs behind her.

She looked up briefly from the book she was reading and said,

"Simon was nominated for an unfavorable duel but fought for his life and won. He is simply asking for the reward he was promised. Was the weight of the Dresden Family's name this light?"

'I'm gonna go insane!'

Before Simon could say anything, those two girls were back-seating him like attorneys.

The bribing strategy wouldn't work. At this point, he needed to change the game plan a bit.

"I'm embarrassed to tell you this, as you are from another country, but…"

His eyes shone with tears.

"The truth is, the kingdom's financial situation is quite tough. Recently, there has been a terrible drought in the grain fields, and even Her Majesty the Queen has skipped meals to share the pain with the peo—"

"Ah, that's your business."

Interrupting the treasurer, Serene set down her hand mirror and crossed her legs seductively.

"What is the meaning of this? If the prince made a promise in the royal family's name, he needs to keep it. Did he think he could get away by making up shabby excuses?"

"I-I'm talking to Mr. Simon here!"

The treasurer looked at Simon, sweating profusely. Simon smiled gently.

"Serene said exactly what I wanted to say."

'Kugh…!'

They messed up with the wrong kids.

The treasurer realized that this was going to be a tough negotiation. At this point, treasonous resentment of Prince Andre filled the treasurer's mind for how he blurted out such a declaration in front of so many people.

'These little! I can't even boss them around with my authority as an adult.'

His gaze moved briefly to Lorain in her pink pajamas.

The whole kingdom could be blown away if that girl whispered in the ear of the Witch of Death.

Rumor has it that the Witch even ravaged Efnel's Sky Island. Langerstine wouldn't even be an appetizer.

"Don't worry too much."

Said Simon.

"I'll choose a dungeon that won't burden the kingdom too much."

"Mister Simon, please reconsider…!"

"Wait, how about this?"

Serene stretched out one leg and placed it on the chair.

Then, she began to strip off her stocking.

"???"

While the treasurer was dumbfounded by her sudden action, she pulled off the stocking, rolled it up, and walked in front of him.

"Give me your hand."

The treasurer held out his hand as if he were charmed, and she placed the stocking in it.

"I'll give you this on the condition that you people hand over the dungeon as promised. How about that?"

"…!!"

The treasurer's eyes trembled as if he had just been given the world. Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation as if his tight chest opened up as if a tangled thread inside was unraveling all at once.

This must be how ancient scholars felt when they unraveled the secrets of runes after 100 years.

"I-I see! Stocking! A stocking, huh? I never thought of such a trick!"

"Then please go ahead and report to Her Majesty the Queen.

"Ah! Yes! Understood!"

"What is he saying all of a sudden? W-Wait a minute!"

Before Simon could stop him, the treasurer ran out of the room at full speed.

Lorain blurted out in pity as she watched the treasurer run,

"You have such a bad personality."

"Hohoho!"

The treasurer ran back to the main section of the palace at full speed, panting for breath. All he could think about was to deliver this good news to the queen.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

The treasurer entered the queen's room.

She was in the middle of an emergency meeting with the officials, and when she saw the treasurer's beaming face, she jumped to her feet.

"You look to be in good spirits! Did you come to an agreement with those kids?"

"Yes, I did!"

The treasurer held up the stocking. The stocking, now full of holes and unusable, slipped down from his hand.

"The stocking! It's the stocking! I have added a condition for us to receive this stocking in the contract!"

"…"

A heavy silence fell over the room.

"Isn't this great!? I definitely thought that the dungeon wasn't a waste for this!"

The officials stared at the treasurer as if looking at a crazy person.

Even the queen and the maids cleaning up the room were sending him disdainful glances.

"I want you to drag him out of here and beat him with a club until he comes to his senses."

"Wh-What?"

The officials grabbed the treasurer by the arms and dragged him from the room.

"Y-Your Majesty! You are doing me an injustice! Please take a look at this! It is a stocking!"

The treasurer had been talking about stockings until the moment he was dragged away.

A bright white feather was stuck to his neck.

——