I Became The Academy Necromancer

“Hmph.”

Lanhardt’s expression hardened upon hearing my words. Even those around him began to feel the intimidation aura his thoughtful face was exuding.

At that moment, Yun Ye, who had been lying sprawled across the ground, staggered to his feet and began to defend me.

“H-he’s an exceptional Dark Mage. He joined us with the intent of taking revenge on Deus Verdi who caused the souls to disappear.”

“…”

“Additionally, it would have been practically impossible to escape from Wuhua without his help.”

Hearing Yun Ye’s words, the martial artists of the Heavenly Oath Sect standing in line behind him cautiously nodded in agreement.

They were indeed repaying the favor for having saved them.

“Hmm.”

He’s too brutal to be a vampire, yet he doesn’t resemble a mere yokai.

If anything, he was similar to Xiao Hu standing beside me.

Of course, it was likely that neither of them would recognize their similarity to each other.

“If he’s a Dark Mage who has lost his souls… then he must be a Necromancer, right?”

I still didn’t respond, but Yun Ye, seemingly anxious, nodded vigorously.

“Y-Yes, he’s a Necromancer.”

“Did someone muzzle you? You were pretty talkative just a moment ago.”

Despite his sneering tone, my expression didn’t change. If this were Deus’ body, my eyebrow might have twitched. However, this artificial body was devoid of such subtle reactions.

“I’m in the middle of thinking.”

“Thinking?”

“If this is a group led by a fool obsessed with a power he might not even be able to handle, I see no reason to join.”

“…!”

Yun Ye’s eyes opened wide in shock, his mouth agape, while Lanhardt’s subordinates immediately exuded their killing intent toward me.

It felt like I was being struck by hot rain, but instead of flinching, a smirk spread across my lips.

This felt like playing a role-playing game.

To them, I am an arrogant Necromancer confident in his skills.

I was trying to behave and speak like the character I had chosen to portray.

Yet, even if I were in Deus Verdi’s body, I felt that my approach wouldn’t have been too different from this.

“You lack insight.”

While the others openly showed their hostility, Lanhardt merely growled in a low tone.

It was a warning, and he intended to gauge my abilities.

“Or perhaps you are simply lacking self-awareness.”

It felt as though an invisible string was connecting the two of us. His golden eyes bore into me unwaveringly as he voiced a question.

“Do you believe I can’t handle the power of the Ancient Dragon?”

“To be blunt, who on this land can handle the power of a guardian deity?”

“…”

“I also know that you didn’t absorb the full strength of the Ancient Dragon. They were just weakened remains, so it would have been easier to consume.”

But,

“A guardian deity is a spiritual being. It’s not something you can digest that easily. And since you devoured it, that means its remains still linger in the world.”

It was easy to hypothesize about this if I used the manner in which I handled Horua’s sphere as a reference. Although I had unfortunately lost it after I was defeated by Magan, Horua, who had taken the form of a sphere, was gradually growing in strength.

“If things take a turn for the worse, you could end up nurturing the Ancient Dragon within your body.”

Suddenly, all eyes turned to Lanhardt. It seemed like it had finally dawned upon them how dangerous a being their leader had consumed.

“Hooo.”

However, Lanhardt didn’t appear to be particularly surprised. Instead, he stroked his chin as he looked at me with renewed interest.

“You seem to be quite knowledgeable, don’t you?”

“More than most.”

“Prideful, confident in your abilities, and you’ve proven them as well…”

It was clear from his gaze that he was now more intrigued than hostile, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it.

Sensing the tension ease, Yun Ye let out a sigh of relief and added another comment.

“He also knew about the Mountain Lord of Norseweden.”

“Hmmm? Even the Mountain Lord?”

“Well, to some extent.”

I responded vaguely, knowing full well that they’d already decided to accept me.

“Alright, until the day we claim the life of Deus Verdi, we’ll acknowledge you as one of our hunters.”

“That’s as far as I am willing to go as well.”

“Being confident is good. But you’d best watch your mouth.”

“…”

“If you cross the line, I might just feel like tearing you to pieces.”

With that final warning, Lanhardt turned around.

As I watched Lanhardt turn back toward the crumbling city wall, Yun Ye approached me cautiously.

“Well, you certainly have a lot of nerve.”

“Well, if I’d shown any weakness here, it would end up with me being dragged around.”

Additionally, I also wanted to test the depths of that man. If he was able to devour the Ancient Dragon, who was a guardian deity, he was definitely no ordinary individual.

It is hard to call him a vampire.

Though vampires typically lived off human blood, he had transcended that need.

It was not like he had become a vampire king or named creature. In the end, those beings were still bound to the vampire race.

This man, however, had gone even beyond that, leaving me curious as to how something like that was possible.

As I pondered over Lanhardt’s identity…

Swoosh!

An arrow flew over my head and lodged itself into the ground.

Before I could even turn my head in the arrow’s direction, the hunters were already addressing the situation.

“It’s an ambush!”

“It’s the Azure Shield Mercenaries! Led by the Duke’s second son!”

“We already said we’re done with this, but it looks like they’ve come for revenge for the time at the Oaris Plains!”

The Duchy of Valestan really was in the midst of a civil war and I was about to experience it firsthand.

Though the situation was absurd, it was also the perfect opportunity to see just how powerful this group of hunters truly was.

* * *

Recently, two people could be seen entering Erica’s laboratory regularly.

Even after all the assistants had left for the day, they’d sit there quietly as if working overtime, either chatting or studying.

Although Erica found it bothersome that they were using her laboratory like their own private reading room, she couldn’t just kick them out.

After all, one of the two was none other than Eleanor Luden Griffin—the sole princess of this country.

And today was no different.

The assistants had already left, and dusk was settling outside as lights began to flicker on around the academy.

Yet here they were, still seated on the guest sofa, snacking away.

“I heard you received a confession from Leighton?”

Crunch.

Aria asked as she tossed a cookie with chocolate chips into her mouth, causing Eleanor to frown.

“Where did you hear that?”

Aria simply shrugged, dodging Eleanor’s question. One of her best friends, Happy, had seen the confession and immediately informed Aria about it.

“He probably took a liking to you because you gave him the Millennium Library access card, right?”

Aria was speaking bluntly, as if it were someone else’s business. However, since it was true, Eleanor couldn’t really refute it.

Leighton had missed the mark when answering a question about the Dark Spiritualist during Deus’ lecture.

And so, Deus decided to give the prize to the top scorer in his test, which Eleanor won.

However, being a princess, Eleanor had unrestricted access to the Millennium Library, so she’d given the access card to Leighton, who seemed to need it.

That gesture became the spark that ignited Leighton’s feelings for her.

A bittersweet, unrequited love.

Eleanor sighed.

“He told me not to feel pressured. He knows we can’t be together since I’m a princess and he said he was just confessing for his own satisfaction.”

Then came Eleanor’s lament, as if she’d been bottling it up all this time.

“But how can I not feel pressured? He just confessed that he liked me. Even though I turned him down, I still find myself being wary around him. Seeing him struggle around me makes me feel guilty …”

“Wow, uhm… I didn’t expect you to be so serious about this.”

Aria, who’d been all smiles and planning to tease her, slowly put down the cookie and began to think it over.

“Hmm.”

Eleanor gave Aria, who seemed concerned, a soft smile.

“It’s fine. It’s not like I was expecting any comfort or advice from you anyway.”

“…”

“As if you’d know anything.”

Aria was thoroughly irritated by Eleanor, who was behaving like an adult woman just because she had received a confession.

However, she was unable to retort.

In her past life, she had received a confession from Leorus, a friend and classmate—

And he only did so because he was finally able to muster the courage at the very end of his life.

In this life, she had yet to experience anything like a confession.

“Y-You’re acting like you know it all after just one experience! I-isn’t that right, Professor Erica?”

“…Why are you dragging me into this?”

Erica looked puzzled, wondering why she was suddenly included in their conversation.

She had already finished her work but was still sitting there quietly, listening to their conversation, only to get dragged into it.

“Perfect timing. Professor Erica! What should I do in this situation? I turned down Leighton, but now I feel awkward around him.”

“You’re an adult woman, so please give us your advice!”

Forcibly pulled into the conversation, Erica felt their eyes poke at her like needles.

“In a situation like this … hmm.”

Erica began to rack her brain, quickly and precisely, like she was calculating a magic formula.

Ironically, she realized that she too had gone through something quite similar to Eleanor’s situation.

Although—

I was the one who got rejected.

Erica recalled how, after receiving the annulment letter from Deus, he had told her to come find him once she was ready to end things.

Now, she suddenly found herself able to empathize with Leighton’s position.

Even though she wanted to distance herself, to put him out of her mind, her eyes kept following him, and her heart longed for him.

Looking back to that time, the distance between them felt so vast.

But somehow, she had managed to gradually bridge that gap, bit by bit.

“Professor?”

“By the way, do you even have any dating experience?”

Aria’s sharp question cut through the silence as Erica kept her lips shut tight.

Erica felt her words strike her heart. However, she coughed lightly and answered.

“Do not forget, I am engaged.”

It was a somewhat smug statement.

At her words, both girls shot to their feet as if someone had pressed a button.

“History books often speak of how royalty would sometimes steal someone’s spouse, Erica Bright.”

Eleanor, slipping into her role as princess, issued a playful warning.

“Have you still not signed the annulment? Wow, you’re persistent.”

Aria’s words, practically a provocation, revealed that she knew about the annulment letter.

Erica furrowed her brows slightly as she shook her head.

“Breaking off an engagement isn’t that simple.”

In the end, time would determine Erica Bright’s victory.

Just as she stayed back in her laboratory to protect her life-sized Deus doll, Erica had no intention of letting the two girls steal Deus from her.

But perhaps this ignited something.

Aria continued to grumble, but Eleanor’s expression became even more serious.

Folding her arms, she turned her gaze slightly.

Towards a life-sized model of Deus Verdi—the very reason they kept coming here.

Even if it was just a replica, seeing him brought them some peace, even if only a little.

“By the way, is it okay if we talk about something serious?”

A glimmer of intelligence began to take form in Eleanor’s eyes. Before long, she wore an expression that again befitted her role as the villain.

This feels like old times.

While Erica was oblivious to it, Aria felt a familiar emotion rising within her upon seeing Eleanor’s expression.

She clearly remembered how Eleanor’s brother, Orpheus, had been possessed by the Griffin Evil Ghost and committed tyranny, which led the girl to raise the flag of rebellion in order to seize the throne.

Eleanor had proven to be one of the most formidable opponents who had stood in her way, willing to do anything to achieve her goal.

The fallen princess.

As a similar aura of intimidation began to emanate from Eleanor’s entire body, just like that time, Aria gazed at her with worry, even Erica stepped forward towards the princess with great care.

“It’s almost been four months now since Deus… no, Kim Shinwoo, disappeared.”

“…”

“…”

A painful truth that everyone knew but avoided speaking aloud.

Yet, Eleanor pressed on as if pushing through a dense thicket.

“We still don’t know if he’s alive or dead. Honestly… people in the palace are starting to suggest that we hold a funeral for the Soul Whisperer.”

She poured out her despair and bitter feelings. The heavy burden in Eleanor’s heart was no different from the one carried by the other two.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if he’s still alive… or if just waiting like this is the right thing to do.”

If they were students, they should act like students.

The words Deus said every now and then held Aria and Eleanor back, like shackles around their ankles, keeping them at the academy.

Because they knew that if he returned one day, he would be pleased to see them living steadfast, unaffected by his absence.

But still—

“It’s cruel, right?”

It was truly cruel.

Waiting for a man whose return was uncertain, while continuing to live the way he would have wanted them to, was undeniably cruel.

Checkmate.

In the end, they had no choice but to remain here. It felt like they were defeated in a game of chess against Deus Verdi.

“Does he even know how painful it is to wait for him?”

Eleanor’s question settled heavily onto the other two.

However, none of them could respond; they all knew that Kim Shinwoo was doing his best to figure out his own feelings.

Knowing that the wait was painful, he wouldn’t attempt to hold on to them if they grew weary and decided to leave.

That was—

Just too—

Unbearably cruel.

And they hated it.

“Though I still see him in my dreams, I’ve endured too many farewells. The word ‘heartbreak’ now haunts me like a nightmare.”

“…”

“Yes, it’s a nightmare. It’s not real.”

The Kim Shinwoo who once protected her in her dreams.

The confession of seeing him every day and losing him every day began to gradually distort over time.

“I won’t let reality turn into a nightmare. I’m sick and tired of this.”

Eleanor closed her eyes, exhaled deeply, and steeled herself.

When she opened her eyes again, she was a princess with a different resolve from the one she had in the first round.

“In the name of Eleanor Luden Griffin, princess of the Griffin Kingdom, consider this a warning.”

There was a faint sense of hostility.

It cautiously crept up on the other two, elegant yet violent, like an invitation to a duel.

“When Kim Shinwoo returns, I will claim him.”

“…”

“With all my might. Using everything at my disposal. I’ll take and win over the man I’ve decided is my fate. That’s my way.”

Though it was stubborn, this was the answer that Eleanor, who had been left alone for months, struggling with pain and concern, had finally arrived at.

“So if you’re going to fight, be prepared. Because I’m serious.”

The girl who could be called the ruler of this land desired only one man with all her heart and strength.

“Ah…”

After she finished speaking, a bitter smile formed on the corner of her lips as Eleanor realized—

“Is this how Leighton must have felt?”

That it takes so much courage to challenge an unrequited love that was doomed to /genesisforsaken