Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Simon was making his way through the thick forest.

Behind him were the skeletons carrying the wooden house he made yesterday.

‘This is what I like about Summoning, after all.’

After learning Summoning, his hands and shoulders were always light.

Even when he entered a place full of monsters like now, he felt comfortable. His summons would rush in and kill any monsters before Simon even found it.

All Simon had to do was just pass by the finished site and collect the tongue-pad points.

There were countless other advantages that large numbers gave, but it would be a waste of breath to mention them all.

‘Huh?’

Simon, who was taking the lead, stopped in his tracks and looked at the defecation of a monster on the grass.

And a footprint next to the defecation… It looked like Simon had entered the area of activity of a level 2 monster, ‘wreckers’.

“Everyone, let’s up the pace.”

At Simon’s orders, the walking speed of the skeletons carrying the house quickened.

[By the way, Boy.]

Pier spoke to Simon.

[Didn’t you say you’re going to the center in one go? What kind of method are you planning to use?]

“Ah, it’s simple.”

When Simon came out of the jungle through the large leaves, a panoramic view unfolded before their eyes.

Swaaaaaaaaa!

The sound of running water filled their ears.

“I’m going to get on a boat and go with the stream.”

[Get on a boat? When are you going to make…… Hah!]

Pier’s clone moved his eyes to see the wooden house the skeletons were carrying.

‘I see! Now that I look at it, it wasn’t a house, but a wooden boat.’

“Now, come down slowly.”

Rattle.

Rattle.

Simon also helped the skeletons, carrying the tree house on his back and carefully descending the steep rock face. Pier continued the conversation.

[The idea itself isn’t bad, but a river usually flows from the inland to the sea, right?]

“I’ll explain.”

Simon drew a picture in the air with his one free hand.

“Imagine a large island in the center and four small islands surrounding it. Are you following along?”

[Mhm! I understand.]

“I heard it from Rick, so apparently this whole area isn’t ‘Kera Island.’ “

Simon gestured to a large land in the center.

“Only this central island is called Kera Island.”

[What?]

“The correct name for this area is ‘Kera Archipelago’. The rest of the islands are separate islands from Kera Island. In other words…”

Simon pointed to a water stream between the islands. It surrounded Kera Island and the Kera Archipelago. It was where Simon was right now.

“This isn’t a river, but an ocean.”

[Oho!]

“He said it tastes salty when you try to drink it, so It’s not a river, but an ocean that flows from island to island.”

Simon checked the time with his watch and opened the subspace.

“And the currents at this time of the day are said to always be the exact same.”

[Wooof! Woof!]

[Grrrrr!]

Then he heard a dog barking in the forest.

‘Crap!’

A group of six-legged wreckers found Simon and started running toward him.

By the look of it, they had come here after the smell.

“Everyone, hurry up!”

Simon and the skeletons upped their pace going down the cliff.

However, the opponent was a native monster here. They were able to come down the steep cliff smoothly.

‘They’ll catch up if it keeps going like this.’

Fighting on a cliff like this would be really dangerous. Simon quickly put his brain to work and stared at the seawater flowing below.

“Stop! Let’s just drop it here!”

Simon and the skeletons slightly bent their knees and threw the wooden house.

The house fell into the water with a splash.

[Woof! Woof! Woof!]

Simon pulled all his skeletons into his subspace and ran.

“Huap!”

Then, without looking back, he leaped down the cliff with all his might, stepping on jet-black, the claws of the wreckers barely grazing Simon’s uniform.

‘Perfect timing!’

Poooow!

Simon landed right in the treehouse as it was being swept away by the current. The boat swayed from the impact, and the seawater formed white foam as it drenched Simon’s body. However…

‘It worked!’

Simon clenched his fists. The boat didn’t sink, and he managed to get on properly.

In the distance, wreckers barked as all their efforts turned into vain.

[Kuhehehe! Good! Very good!]

Pier laughed as though teasing them. 

Soon, the wooden boat began to float away with great speed.

The speedy journey was surprisingly pleasant, water droplets splashing over and over.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I’ll turn the tables in one go.”

It was still early in the morning.

While most of the Kizen students were asleep after exhausting themselves building a shelter, making a fire, and hunting prey, Simon was making his way to Kera Island, the destination in the center, almost like a free pass.

You couldn’t compare his speed to other students, and the fear of being attacked by other students was greatly reduced, since it was dawn. 

[Bwahahahahaha! This is great!]

Simon and Pier moved forward smoothly, riding on the current.

* * *

Translator – Ramen

Proofreader – Artethrax

* * *

“I came here just in case, but…”

Rick let out a deep sigh. Seven Kizen students were standing behind him with weapons.

He was standing at the area where you could go up to the central Kera island from the other four islands of the Kera archipelago. Each island was connected by a huge bridge made out of rock.

At first glance, it looked like a natural bridge that had been on this island from the very beginning, but in reality, it was a bridge built by Kizen for Island Survival. Due to dark-magic enchantments, it was effectively indestructible if you didn’t dish out quite a bit of firepower.

On this bridge, the team that Rick had put together were confronting the students on the other side of the bridge.

‘Well, I mean, there’s no way that they aren’t blocking this place.’

Rick scratched his head.

In order to advance to the center, you definitely had to go through this place. So he purposely started moving from the crack of dawn when others were sleeping, but other students were guarding it, as he expected.

“What are we going to do now, Rick?”

Asked a male student carrying a skull scythe.

Rick was absolutely trusted by the team members here.

He possessed all the knowledge and life skills that other noble students didn’t have, such as finding his way easily even in a dense jungle, knowing how to build a shelter, finding edible fruits, and butchering monsters.

Within just one day, the entire team was deeply dependent on Rick.

“Mm.”

Rick folded his arms and pondered for a moment.

“I don’t think there’s any good ideas in a terrain like this. I’ll go and try to negotiate with their side. I’ll try to trade it out by giving them food, but if that doesn’t work, we gotta take the bull by the horns.”

“Got it.”

“I believe you, Rick.”

It was when Rick took a deep breath and was about to walk toward the bridge.

“Uhh, what’s that?”

“It’s a person!”

Clamors could be heard from everywhere. Rick turned his head and looked towards the side of the sea, and soon, delight filled his face.

‘Simon!’

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

Simon, on a wooden boat, was approaching the central Kera island along with the current.

“Woah! After seeing that rapid current, he actually thought of riding on a boat?”

“……Truly exceptional.”

Rick desperately held back his smile and looked down at Simon’s face.

‘As expected from Simon! You crazy bastard!’

Rick had also imagined going across by riding on the sea.

However, he came to the conclusion that it was practically impossible.

First of all, it was impossible to change direction by rowing when considering how strong the current was. Moreover…

“Shoot him! Shoot that bastard!”

The students on the other side of the bridge wouldn’t just leave you alone. Jet-black arrows and various other dark spells began to pour toward Simon’s ship.

‘I need to help him.’

The team members here were just the ones he met to fulfill the needs of each other, but Simon was different. He was the most important friend he wanted to be with for the next 3 years.

Rick looked back and shouted,

“Everyone, now’s the time! Let’s cross the bridge!”

“……N-Now?”

“That guy on the boat over there is taking all their attention! We need to cross now!”

At Rick’s push, the other students also nodded. Soon, everyone rushed toward the bridge while shouting.

“They’re coming from the other side of the bridge!”

“Shoot them down first!”

The firepower that had been focused on Simon was dispersed toward the bridge. Simon looked at it and smiled.

‘Thankfully, they started moving too. Now’s my chance.’

The current was getting faster, and the ship’s direction was getting closer to the landing point Simon wanted.

‘Now, a little bit closer, a little bit closer……’

Whaaaam!

The ear-piercing sound of cannon firing burst forth.

As Simon raised his head, there was a slight shadow around him. A large jet-black cannonball was falling toward Simon’s ship.

It looks like there were skilled ones over the bridge too. The trajectory was so precise that it’d be impossible to dodge it.

Simon grinned and collected jet-black in his legs. Then, without hesitation, he jumped out of the boat.

Kaboom!

Simon’s boat was hit head-on by the cannonball and fell to pieces.

“Whoooop!”

What he did from now on would be crucial. Simon opened the subspace and dropped a skeleton.

The skeleton’s arms were hugging onto a water hyacinth obtained from the jungle earlier. Water hyacinths were plants that floated on water. The same was true for the skeletons he was using, their bones also floating.

‘Over there!’

The skeleton accurately fell in the direction Simon wanted, holding the water hyacinth. Then, Simon stepped on it and jumped again.

Repeating the act of dropping a skeleton using the subspace and stepping on it. It was like jumping across stepping stones.

“Woah!”

“……How does that make sense?”

The jaws of the students who were watching dropped after seeing the almost stunt-like acrobatics. As the attack from the ground became harsher, Simon laid the skeletons on the water’s surface and started running.

‘Jet-black stepping!’

Whoooosh!

Simon, who flew several meters in the air to avoid the jet-black arrows, spun a full 360 before landing on the ground.

He immediately opened the subspace and pulled out the remains of the skeletons. Most of them only had their lower bodies left.

Then, Simon looked back and stretched out his right arm.

‘Restore!’

The bone fragments being carried away by the current floated up in the air before flying like lightning and assembling themselves with the bodies of the skeletons inland.

In an instant, more than ten skeletons were restored, and only the water hyacinths were carried away in the rapids.

“Let’s go!”

And just like that, Simon fled to the forest along with the skeletons.

‘Wheew. For real, that guy……!’

Let out Rick, in admiration after seeing that. Not only Rick but, of course, the other students across the bridge were wide-eyed.

“Who is that guy?”

“So you can use skeletons like that too, huh?”

And then, all of a sudden, one of the students across the bridge turned his back and left the formation without permission.

“Hey, wait! Why are you suddenly moving?”

The student next to him grabbed his shoulder. At that moment, a black devil arm burst out from the man’s back and smashed the student.

“You’re crazy!”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Betrayal at this timing?! Haren Cork, who pulled out the black hand from his back, said with a smirk,

“Deal with them yourselves. I’ve got something else to do.”

After leaving those words, Haren ran toward the line of trees Simon disappeared into.

——