As Simon entered the dormitory of the Necromancer School, he presented several demands before making a contract with Erzebet.
He insisted that she should not kill humans without permission, that she should hunt monsters when she needed to consume bodily fluids, that she should not harm anyone around her in any way, and that she must obey his commands unconditionally.
To include these clauses in the contract, Simon had to refuse Erzebet once.
In his view, Erzebet was more emotional and impulsive than a human.
Rather than feeling like a reliable mentor, she seemed more likely to become a troublemaker for the legion.
He needed to control her firmly.
Now, instead of asking her to join the legion, she was pleading to be allowed to join, which meant Simon had the upper hand.
"I say again, if you come with me to Rock Island, it might be a suffocating life. The ruins of Pier and the Forbidden Forest will be all there is to explore, and you won’t have the freedom you have now."
"Yes, I understand," Erzebet replied, bowing her head.
"You can bind me as much as you want. I will endure anything to be with you."
"......"
This undead suddenly became too compliant, didn’t she? While it was convenient for Simon, it left him a bit bewildered.
"Both my body and heart belong to you. The only thing I ask in return for my absolute loyalty is one thing."
Her eyes sparkled.
"Your affection."
"......"
A wave of discomfort washed over him.
"I’m human, and you’re undead. If you want something... physical, then..."
"If you want that, I wouldn’t mind, but I won’t force you," she smiled sweetly.
"For now, just showing kindness to a girl is enough."
He felt genuinely overwhelmed.
He had never received such a request from anyone in his life.
"Tsk tsk."
Pier clicked her tongue.
"You’re completely smitten."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Regardless, it was burdensome in many ways, but he thought that if this was the price for gaining her loyalty, it was acceptable.
Eventually, Simon decided to formally contract with Erzebet.
"Then, please proceed."
She held her dress top with both hands and spread it wide.
"...... Whoa! What are you doing all of a sudden!" Simon, caught off guard, covered his eyes in shock.
Seeing his reaction, Erzebet tilted her head.
"Didn’t you say we were making a contract?" Her chest opened wide, revealing a black core that pulsed like a heart.
Simon slightly parted his fingers to gaze at the core.
"Ah, how lovely."
How could someone look so cute while being shy? It was hard to believe that this was the same person who had just moments ago been demanding an unfair contract! He felt his heart racing more and more.
"Come on!"
"Ugh."
Simon reluctantly approached her.
Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand over the core that was open between her breasts.
Suddenly, both of their darkness exploded, and they began to writhe madly.
"Ugh!"
"Ahhh!" It was a painful moment, but unlike when he first contracted with the legion, time passed quickly.
As the darkness stabilized, Simon could see his deep blue darkness flowing from him into her body.
"Welcome back to the legion! Erzebet!" Pier exclaimed.
She slowly rose from her seat.
"It’s been a long time since I became an undead bound by a contract."
As Erzebet extended her fingertips, spider webs spread out and stuck to the ceiling.
Soon, her darkness was adorned with the webs, transforming into a softly glowing blue light.
It didn’t look like a grotesque spider web but rather like beautiful fluorescent interior decoration.
From Simon's perspective, it was fascinating.
It felt strongly as if she had truly become his undead, making their bond feel even closer than before.
"How is it? Erzebet!"
"Umm."
She gathered the spider webs and smiled brightly.
"I’m unbelievably weak. You really are a beginner, Master."
"...... Ugh!" Simon leaned against the wall with a hurt expression.
Seeing this, Pier burst into laughter.
"To join the legion and become weaker than when you were a natural undead? That’s a bit ironic."
The undead of the legion are connected to the darkness of the legion commander, and as the commander grows stronger, so does the legion.
The opposite is also true.
Simon's face turned redder than ever.
Pier was laughing so hard she bent over.
"I’m sorry for being a beginner! But since I’m attending Kizen now, in a month or two, I’ll definitely..."
"Still."
She raised her fingertips, summoning the deep blue darkness again, and blushed.
"It’s a gentle, comforting darkness."
"......"
However, the wound to the pride of a seventeen-year-old boy could not be healed.
Simon strode over to the bed and pulled the blanket over himself.
"I’m going to sleep."
"Hahaha! You’re sulking! Are you sulking, boy!"
It was a fact that he was weak, so there was nothing to sulk about.
"Oh dear, I’ve hurt my master’s feelings, so I’ll apologize by your bedside."
"Both of you, get out of here!" The laughter of Pier and Erzebet filled the room.
A mission worth fifty gold.
Even Jane had shown reluctance towards this task, but Simon resolved it just a day after teleporting over.
If he returned to Kizen right away, he might be suspected of how he cleared the task in just one day, so he decided to stay in the territory and train the legion as much as he could.
Simon, Pier, and Erzebet entered the northern mountains of the Arnis territory, where a large habitat of orcs was formed.
"Alright! Then, Master! I will start the tutorial for the spider undead you will control, 'Corpse Spider,'" Erzebet said, placing her hands on her waist.
Around her, the legion-formed spiders were scuttling about for Simon's training.
Instead of the black flames burning in their eye sockets like skeletons, a dark blue light flickered from the tips of their eight legs.
At that moment, Simon raised his hand.
"Oh my, Master. Did you already have a question before the class even started?"
"No, it’s unrelated to the class," Simon scratched his head.
"Are you going to keep calling me Master with that strange title?"
"Hahaha! Are you embarrassed?" She covered her mouth and laughed, causing Simon to turn his face away, blushing.
"No, it’s not that, it’s just a bit..."
"If that’s the case, I’ll just call you Legion Commander. Let’s continue."
She snapped her fingers to signal.
One Corpse Spider approached and shot out a web from its mouth.
"The most essential ability of the Corpse Spider is the web ability, known as 'Web.' It’s both a binding technique and a movement technique."
"Umm."
"Now, control the two Corpse Spiders that have come before you and shoot webs at the trees."
Simon nodded and connected to the thoughts of the two Corpse Spiders.
He then commanded, 'Web.'
Swoosh! Swoosh! The Corpse Spiders shot webs from their mouths, hitting the trees perfectly.
The webs spread slightly upon firing and wrapped around the trees upon contact.
"Well done! Generally, webs shot from the mouth are used for binding, while those shot from the rear are for movement."
The two Corpse Spiders that had demonstrated earlier now shot webs from their rears.
The webs shot high and attached to a tall tree, and the spider moved forward a bit, lifting its body.
It moved as if riding a rope, tracing a pendulum-like path.
"Wow! It moves like that, and it’s faster than I thought!" Then it clung to the targeted tree and sank its fangs into it.
The bark dented, and green liquid began to flow out.
"This is the basic linked technique. Would you like to give it a try?"
"Of course, I’ll try!"
"Then the target is..."
As she looked around, her gaze landed on one side.
She smiled.
"Alright, let’s go with those orcs."
Behind the tree, two orcs were approaching, grunting.
Their skin was gray, their noses flat like a pig's, and their abnormally developed tusks protruded from their mouths.
Gray Orcs.
Monsters that dominated the mountains in this area.
They were once a threatening presence that nearly brought Arnis to ruin.
'So we’re going straight into the real thing.' But since the stage was set, there was no reason not to proceed.
Simon connected to the thoughts of the two Corpse Spiders, and the two orcs were now charging towards Simon.
"Fire webs from your rears."
The two Corpse Spiders turned their bodies and shot webs at the tree opposite where the orcs were charging.
"Lift your bodies and dash forward!"
Thud.
Thud.
The Corpse Spiders moved in a pendulum-like motion.
However, perhaps due to a miscalculation in control, they barely missed the charging orcs.
"Oh dear, what a shame!" Erzebet, blocking Simon's path, summoned her darkness.
But Simon grabbed her shoulder to stop her from intervening.
"Fire!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Cross-operating, he connected to the thoughts of the opposite spider and shot webs from its mouth to block the orcs' movements.
- Grunt! Grunt!
The orcs struggled to escape the sticky webs.
At that moment, the spiders that had flown to the end of their pendulum motion returned and pounced on the backs of the two orcs.
Their fangs sank into the napes of the orcs, who let out a gurgling sound and collapsed.
"Got it!" The writhing orcs eventually became still as the poison spread through them.
"Excellent! Your control is already at a considerable level."
"This is just basic."
- Grunt!
At that moment, gray orcs began to emerge from the forest, perhaps because there was an orc settlement nearby.
"There are quite a few of them."
"I believe this is a good situation to show the power of the spider legion."
"Oh, a fight? Let me out too, boy!" Pier's clone, which had been stuck to his school uniform, said.
When Simon opened a spatial pocket, Pier and the skeleton troops of the legion burst out.
"Since it’s come to this, shall we make the most of our fifty gold?"
"What?"
"Let’s wipe out all the orc settlements in these mountains and then return to Kizen."
As if waiting for those words, Pier grinned widely.
"And we’ll replenish the legion’s troops with their corpses!"
"That sounds fun."
Training and replenishing troops, this was the joy of being a necromancer.
- Grunt!
The orcs, having lost their companions, charged forward with terrifying momentum.
Pier and Erzebet took their battle stances, and the skeletons and Corpse Spiders made threatening sounds, waiting for orders.
"Alright, let’s go."
Simon grinned, baring his teeth.
Finally, the stage was set to properly showcase the power of the legion.