I Became The Academy Necromancer
Chapter 384: Side Story - Hiking

Just as I had thought earlier, Findenai and Deia naturally joined the table where Illuania and I were sitting.

“Gyaahhhh!”

Findenai let out a cheer, savoring her beer. It seemed like she was in a good mood, enjoying a drink outside after a long time.

Normally, Findenai wasn’t supposed to show her face in public, but she couldn’t just sit still after coming all the way to Norseweden, so she ended up coming here.

Fortunately, since Norseweden was a relatively closed-off city, there wasn’t any problem so far.

If anything happens, Darius will take care of it.

I left it to the highest authority and brushed it off.

If that didn’t work, I could always ask Eleanor or King Orpheus for help.

“I missed this! This meat! This beer! They go so well together!”

Findenai, nearly inhaling the meat and beer, pounded on the table, laughing heartily. Sevia, now nestled back in Illuania’s arms, giggled along, enjoying the scene.

It seemed like she liked it when Findenai acted that way.

“Haub, Norseweden hasn’t changed much.”

Deia, who had been away in Loberne for matchmaking meetings and had just returned to town after a long time, sipped her beer and glanced around.

“The winter preparations seem about the same. It’s a relief that this winter won’t be as cold as we thought.” “

“That’s because the Mountain Lord is gone.”

As I spoke and took a sip of beer, Deia looked at me and asked.

“Does it really make a difference if the Mountain Lord is gone?”

“He was a guardian deity accustomed to operating in cold climates, so he always spread a chill to his surroundings whenever he was present. But now that he’s with Findenai, it won’t be as cold as before.”

“Oh.”

Deia nodded as if understanding, then subtly shifted her gaze toward Findenai.

She smirked as she watched Findenai playing with Sevia, completely oblivious to the conversation.

“I guess she’s actually useful sometimes.”

That single remark told me exactly how Deia felt about Findenai.

“How long will you be staying in Norseweden? I heard you’re planning to visit Graypond as well.”

“Yeah, I should go. So, I won’t stay here for too long.”

I wanted to meet Owen, who, according to Erica, was working hard to become the next Soul Whisperer after me.

“You’re staying here, right?”

Deia shrugged at my question and replied as if it was obvious.

“The Verdi Household is not allowed to enter the capital for a few years, thanks to someone.”

“Ah, right.”

Since I didn’t really care about politics, I had forgotten what she told me last time.

Moments like this made me realize how relaxed I had become.

“Still, I’ll stay for a few days. I plan to visit the Norseweden mountain range and look around a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah. If you leave too soon, Darius will sulk. I’d be a little sad, too.”

Deia smirked and lightly tapped my calf under the table with her foot.

When I didn’t react, she put down her beer mug and slipped off her shoe.

Then, with her bare foot, she slowly ran it along my calf and up to my knee.

Her mischievous smile made it clear that this was an obvious attempt at seduction.

“…”

I shot her a glare, but she only grinned, clearly enjoying my reaction.

“Stop it.”

“Why~?”

Her voice had a slight lilt—was she tipsy?

Why was that?

With Findenai sitting across from me, I couldn’t help but feel like I was doing something improper. In the end, I lowered my hand and grasped Deia’s foot.

“Ugh?!”

Deia, apparently feeling ticklish, covered her mouth. She was probably about to tell me to stop, but the atmosphere shifted into something strange, and I felt a bit uncomfortable.

Still, she wriggled her foot, seemingly struggling against it.

“How long are you planning on doing this?”

Findenai, who had been playing with Sevia, glanced over here indifferently and asked.

“Even if I pretend not to notice, it doesn’t stop, so I can’t really pretend, can I?”

“…”

“I’m too good at reading situations to not know what’s going on under the table.”

That was true. Given that Findenai could track bullets with her eyes, there was no way she wouldn’t notice what we were doing under the table.

We were too close for her not to notice.

“Are you having fun in front of your wife like that?”

With that, Findenai slipped her toes between my legs. The suddenness of her action made me flinch.

“Oh, it’s not standing up, though.”

After checking, she took her foot back.

“…Findenai.”

I glared at her with an incredulous expression, and she stuck out her tongue and made a pouting face.

“If it stood up, you’d be dead.”

The blunt warning from Findenai made it clear that she was a little sulky.

I understood how she felt.

Deia, who openly declared that she was now after me, and Findenai, who was subtly jealous of her.

It was understandable.

“Sevia is watching.”

But I still used Sevia as an excuse.

“Sevia has her eyes closed.”

However, by now, Illuania had covered Sevia’s eyes with her hand, and Sevia was happily enjoying her mother’s teasing.

In the end, I pushed Deia’s foot away, and Findenai didn’t press further.

The fact that a one-year-old baby was right in front of us was one reason, and it seemed that none of us wanted to break the strange atmosphere.

“Jeez, you always make such useless excuses. Whatever, just drink your beer.”

Finally, Findenai pushed a beer bottle toward me, and Deia clinked her bottle in response.

I joined in and did the same.

***

The next day.

Findenai was sprawled out on the bed, suffering from a hangover, while I made a trip to the Norseweden Mountain Range.

Since the Mountain Lord was with Findenai, I thought she might want to visit the mountains, but no matter how much I tried to wake her up, she wouldn’t get up.

She’ll probably go on her own later.

After all, for someone like Findenai, it wouldn’t take long to make the trip.

[Wow, I used to hate mountains when I was alive! But now that I’m dead, it’s not tiring at all!]

On the way up the mountain.

The Dark Spiritualist looked around in delight. It was like watching a dog joyfully prance through a snowy field—except it was a person.

With the snow already piled up in Norseweden, it only added to the excitement.

[I like that the mountain helps clear my mind.]

Walking beside me as if on a casual stroll, Stella seemed to be someone who had always enjoyed the mountains.

The reason the Dark Spiritualist disliked mountains was obvious. She had always hated moving, so naturally, hiking was out of the question.

[Look at all this snow! Whoa!]

The Dark Spiritualist suddenly formed a snowball and threw it at me. I blocked it effortlessly with magic, causing her to pout.

[Boo, that’s no fun.]

“We’re not here to have fun.”

[Then how about we build a snowman? What do you think?]

“I said we’re not here to have fun.”

No matter how much I said it, the Dark Spiritualist ignored me, only lamenting that we should’ve brought Fluffy IV along.

[What do you think, Stella? Should we build a snowman? As a Saintess, didn’t you do this often?]

[I did, quite a bit. Normally, it would take about twenty minutes, but if we use magic, it’ll be done in two seconds.]

[…Well, now I’ve lost all motivation.]

As Stella laughed and told her not to waste time, the Dark Spiritualist’s shoulders slumped.

This was one of those dilemmas for mages. Using magic made things too easy, taking away the sense of accomplishment.

But if you chose to do it manually, you couldn’t help but think, “Why am I even doing this when I could just use magic?”

Of course, some mages still felt a sense of accomplishment from using magic.

But that was only true for a certain level of mages.

For us, magic was as natural as breathing, making it difficult to feel any real achievement from it—just as ordinary people don’t feel accomplished simply by raising their arms.

[We didn’t come here to play, Senior. I’ll build one with you later.]

[Tch, don’t treat me like a kid.]

[We’ll use twigs for the arms, pine needles for the eyebrows, and pebbles for the eyes. And, of course, a carrot for the nose.]

[Oh? That actually sounds fun.]

As the Dark Spiritualist hummed and followed along, I glanced at Stella and gave her a nod of approval.

“You really know how to handle a child well.”

[Well, to be precise, I know how to handle Senior.]

Since the Dark Spiritualist had spent so much time alone, she still had a childlike innocence.

I wanted to preserve that, but when I actually got caught up in it, sometimes I wanted to tell her to grow up a bit.

[And Senior is not a kid.]

“Oh? Even after seeing that just now?”

[The fact that she only shows that side of herself in front of you… proven that she’s not a kid.]

“…”

Stella gave me a meaningful smile before walking ahead. It felt like she was hiding something, but for now, I continued toward the middle of the mountain.

Our destination today was the grave of Emily, a girl who had loved flowers.

Even though Emily’s soul was now asleep within Deus’ corpse, I wanted to visit this place—to let her know that she hadn’t been forgotten.

However, there wasn’t just one tombstone.

- Emily, the girl who loved flowers. She found eternal rest here.

Besides Emily’s tombstone, there was another tombstone I had never seen before.

- At first, he was a complete bastard, but by the end of his life, he was pretty cool.

The playful inscription was clearly written in Deia’s tone.

There was no need to wonder whose tombstone it was for.

His tombstone was quite shabby.

There was nothing placed around it, and no body was buried beneath the ground.

It wasn’t for the Deus Verdi I had acted, but for her real second older brother.

That was what this was.

[So this is why you came?]

Stella, who had been standing beside me, smiled and cleared the snow from the tombstone.

I gave a slight nod in response.

And then…

[Huh? I thought you were going to do it outdoors.]

From behind, the crude remark reflecting the Dark Spiritualist’s taste hit me squarely in the back of the head.

***

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