Seeing this unfold, Rowley finally understood—he had screwed up so badly there might not even be a word for it.
"W-we didn't recognize a Necromancer! Please, have mercy—just this once!"
Rowley dropped to his knees, shaking like a leaf. Lorain uncrossed her arms, her playful expression gone, replaced by something sharp and cold.
"Affiliation," she said flatly.
The skeleton gripping Rowley dragged its bony fingers down his throat. Five thin lines of blood slid down his skin. Rowley squeezed his eyes shut and screamed,
"C-Claven! We're with the Claven gang!"
"Oh? That Claven." Lorain tilted her head, unimpressed. "For a group of lowlifes that rob poor newcomers, you're surprisingly organized."
She planted her hands on her hips, voice turning frigid.
"Tell Claven this: from your hideout, crawl to the city guards. Head on the ground, hands tied behind your back."
Rowley's face drained of color.
"P-please… just turn me into an undead instead! Anything but that!"
Lorain's expression twisted, shadows flickering behind her eyes.
"[You dare give me orders?]"
The voice wasn't human. It wasn't even close.
Rowley's mind blanked with pure terror.
Lorain exhaled slowly, the distortion fading as she returned to her normal voice.
"And don't get any ideas about sending a fake. If I check and his face isn't sufficiently mangled—then in Kizen's name, I'll erase your entire organization from the map."
The moment the name Kizen dropped, every gang member froze. Knees buckled. Heads bowed so fast Knox thought he heard a crack.
Rowley swallowed hard, half-dead already, and croaked out a single, hopeless answer.
"…Y-yes, ma'am…"
Knox stepped forward with a bright, almost innocent smile—the kind that made Rowley's stomach twist.
"Of course," Knox said lightly, "if you want, you can run. I can ask Kizen not to chase you guys. But… coincidentally, my occupation can chase you too, you know~?"
He said it with that lilting, musical tone—almost cheerful enough to be comforting.
Almost.
Rowley froze. First confusion flickered across his face. Then surprise—eyes widening as if he had just connected a massive, horrifying dot. Then pure terror.
His expression changed again. And again. And again. Like a whole rapid-fire manga panel sequence playing out on his face.
"You…!" he finally choked. "That hair! Those eyes! And that— that ridiculous way you shape mana! No way! Why are you here?! W-White Devil!"
Simon blinked. "White Devil?"
Knox put a hand on his hip, amused. "Hoo? Looks like you've heard about me. So, how about it? Either you run and get chased by Kizen… or you run and get chased by me."
He paused, almost saying something else.
"I believe these choices are fu—"
He cleared his throat mid-sentence. "Ahem. I mean, I believe these choices are fair enough, right?"
Rowley and the others screamed internally in perfect unison: You were about to say fun!! And what part of this is fair, damn it!?
Knox casually pointed at Lorain. "Of course, there's also the original option she suggested."
Rowley's soul left his body a little.
"…Understood…" he whispered in despair.
Lorain narrowed her eyes. "Get lost."
The skeletons stepped back, the floating swords dispersed—and that was all the permission they needed.
"G-GO!!!"
The gang members sprinted away so fast they kicked up dust, vanishing like cockroaches fleeing sunlight.
Lorain clicked her tongue. "Hmph. Figures."
Simon quickly bowed his head. "Thank you for helping me."
Only then did Knox and Lorain turn to look at him.
"Simon Polentia, right?" Lorain asked with a bright, harmless smile. No hostility—just gentle curiosity. Simon felt his shoulders relax and nodded.
"Yes, that's right. If it's not rude… may I ask who both of you are?"
Knox grinned. "Who else would we be? We're your real guides."
Simon's eyes widened like lamps.
Before he could say anything else, Lorain reached out and tugged lightly at his wrist.
"Let's go. Mom's waiting."
"…Mom?"
Knox chuckled and leaned in with the biggest grin yet.
"Yes. Her mother—who absolutely does not look like a mother at all. If my instincts are right, she's probably somewhere near the main plaza of Langerstine."
.
.
.
Behind the main plaza of Langerstine…
"Mommm!"
Lorain, who had dragged Simon along, was squatting down and aggressively wiping cream off a child's face.
The child squirmed left and right, muffling, "Mmph— stop—!" but Lorain's hand moved with military precision.
"I told you to wait quietly! You always wander off!"
"But—! There was free ice cream at the plaza!"
And the child getting scolded… was none other than Nefthis Archbold, ruler of Kizen, pinnacle of necromancers, and allegedly the most terrifying woman alive.
Knox, hands in pockets and smiling, casually narrated:
"Amazing, right? The 'Witch of Death,' the big boss of Kizen, the walking apocalypse herself…
walking around with ice cream smeared all over her face."
Simon blinked rapidly, brain lagging.
Knox continued, as if reading off a script:
"And the girl who rescued you earlier calling her 'Mom'? Shocking, huh? They look way more like sisters. I know, I know—your brain is melting. Totally understandable."
Simon froze.
Knox tilted his head and grinned at him.
"Simon, that's exactly what you were thinking, right?"
Simon jolted so hard it looked like someone stabbed him with a fork.
"Wha—?! No wonder I heard my own thoughts just now! And how did you—"
Then he abruptly shut his mouth.
"…Ah."
A tiny voice chimed in behind him.
"Simon?"
He turned around slowly.
Nefthis—still pouting from Lorain's cleaning—looked up at him with a sweet, innocent smile… the kind of smile that should be outlawed on someone with her kill count.
"Is what Knox said just now true?"
"N-no! Not at all! I don't know what you're talking about—ha ha ha…"
Simon laughed with the dryness of a desert.
Nefthis narrowed her eyes, staring straight into his soul.
Simon melted like ice cream under sunlight.
She huffed, puffing her cheeks, and turned her head away. "Hmph."
Knox elbowed Simon lightly.
"Congrats. You survived your first 'Nefthis Question.' Many don't."
Simon wiped the sweat from his forehead, shooting Knox a dead-eyed stare.
"I almost didn't survive because of you, you know?"
Knox just chuckled, looking way too pleased with himself.
Before Simon could say more—
"You've had a long journey, Simon!"
Nefthis skipped over with light, bouncing steps.
She looked like a cheerful child…Which made it even more surreal that she was, in reality, a three-hundred-year-old living calamity. A legal loli baba in the flesh.
Simon straightened up and bowed.
"I greet the master of Kizen."
"Wow, no need to be so stiff~" She giggled and waved her hand dismissively.
"It's our first time meeting since Leshill! Did you learn anything from Richard while you were there?"
"Ah, yes! A little, but…"
Simon lifted his palm.
He activated his core, letting mana circulate through his body, and drew out the Darkness.
Fsssshh—
Blue-tinged Darkness rose up his arm, blooming above his hand like a flickering flame.
Nefthis's and Lorain's eyes widened simultaneously as they leaned closer. At times like this, they really did look like mother and daughter inspecting something shiny.
Knox, of course, slid into the group like he had VIP access.
Simon blinked.
Even stranger—Nefthis subtly shifted to the side, making space for Knox without even thinking about it.
Then Lorain, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, tugged softly at Knox's sleeve like a curious kid seeing puppies for the first time.
Simon stared at the scene.
A mother and daughter admiring a magic trick…
—upgraded into a mother, daughter, and son?
Or….
A mother, daughter, and son-in-law?
Simon tilted his head, completely lost.
"Wow."
Nefthis and Lorain leaned in, their eyes sparkling as if they were admiring a work of art—pure, innocent curiosity.
Knox's eyes were gleaming too…But for a completely different reason.
Unlike the two, Knox wasn't admiring its beauty.
No—his expression was more like someone witnessing a scene he'd watched a dozen times before.
A déjà vu only he understood.
Ah, this part… it finally shows up, Knox thought.
It was the exact moment from the novel—Simon's signature Darkness manifestation.
To everyone else, Knox simply looked impressed. But to Knox himself?
It felt like watching a famous cutscene from a game he'd already completed.
"A Darkness with a bluish hue… haven't seen that in a while."
"But it still has the qualities of raw mana. The way it flickers like fire means it hasn't left the gaseous phase yet."
"He needs to learn how to use his core more efficiently."
The three of them—Nefthis, Lorain, and Knox—gave short comments one after another, then nodded together like a panel of judges who had reached the same conclusion.
And then—
ping!
A memory flashed in Knox's mind.
A certain scene from the novel.
Back when Simon proudly showed this same Darkness to his father, Richard, inside the carriage. Simon thought the blue tint was something special… only for Richard to crush his pride with a brutally honest:
"It's just cool."
Knox almost laughed on the spot.
So he leaned toward Simon, eyes narrowing like a detective in a comedy skit.
"Simon. Let me guess—you thought your Darkness color was special, right? And then you got hit with the cold, hard truth that it's just 'cool', right?"
He even posed dramatically, like he'd solved a murder case.
Simon froze.
"W–WHAT?! H–How did you know that?! I only said that to my father—!!"
His reaction practically screamed that his embarrassing memory had just been dug up from the grave.
Knox shrugged, shamelessly confident.
"Because your reaction is a common occurrence," he said, lying with the ease of breathing.
Lorain couldn't hold back a small laugh, covering her mouth as she giggled. Knox's ridiculous "deduction" even made her smile sweetly.
Meanwhile, Nefthis just shook her head, sighing internally.
Boys are always boys.
"That's good enough, Simon," Nefthis finally said.
Simon quickly dispelled the Darkness and stood up straight.
"There's no need to rush," she continued, her voice gentle yet unmistakably authoritative.
"Kizen is a school, after all. You'll learn far more from here on."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!" Simon said earnestly.
"Alright. Lorain, and Knox?"
Nefthis planted her hands on her hips.
Then—smack! She gave Lorain a playful slap on the butt before glancing at Knox with a grin.
"I'm counting on both of you to show our new student around."
And with zero sense of responsibility, she added,
"Well then, I'm going to grab one more ice cream and head back to Kizen! So you know! I'm going first!"
She waved as if she were the one being sent off to school.
"...Mom always makes me do everything," Lorain grumbled.
Nefthis, of course, pretended she heard nothing.
Only after Lorain realized her mother had also included Knox in the request did her pout slowly melt into a smile.
Lorain turned to Simon.
"Now that I think about it, we never introduced ourselves, right?" she said, smiling before glancing at Knox, who nodded.
"I'll reintroduce myself. My name's Lorain Arkbold. And this here is Knox Aznable. Like you, we're Kizen students."
Knox lifted his hand casually.
"Hey. Just call me Knox," he said with a gentle, easy smile.
"I'm Simon Polentia from Leshill! Once again, please take care of me!" Simon replied.
"Great," Lorain said, brushing her hair back before grabbing Knox's hand as naturally as breathing.
"We're already running late, so let's get going right away."
"What are we going to do?" Simon asked.
Lorain gave him a confident smile.
"It's the start of the semester, right? We're going shopping."
————————————
Character Voicelines · Lorain: About Shopping
Lorain:sighs …Mom's always ordering people around and fooling off instead of actually working.
Lorain (thoughts): (Wait—doesn't this mean it's basically a date for me and Knox?!)
Lorain (thoughts): (For once, great job slacking off, Mom! ✨(´▽｀)✨)
Knox (looking at Lorain): (・・?) tilts his head
Simon: (…Why do I suddenly feel like I've been completely forgotten?)