Chapter 775: Episode 775

Simon and Meirin sat side by side, chatting about this and that. Perhaps Meirin no longer suspected Simon of being Pion, as she even began to share her deeper thoughts about the commander.

"I told Pion," Meirin said, brushing back her light blue hair to look up at the bright, star-scattered sky over the prairie. "That I’ll always be cheering for him, so he shouldn’t give up. It’s a bit funny for an ordinary student like me to try and understand his struggles, though."

Was it the atmosphere? Or perhaps the lingering effects of his recent time travel? Whatever the cause, a lump formed in Simon’s throat.

As the Commander of the Legion of Betrayal, how long had it been since he’d received such genuine support and encouragement? He couldn’t let it show, however. Forcing his turbulent emotions down, he raised his head, letting the night breeze cool his flushed face.

"I think Pion would be grateful to hear you say that," Simon replied softly.

"Yeah."

Simon sent her a silent word of thanks. ’Thank you, Meirin.’

---

Morning dawned. It was already their fourth day on the prairie, leaving only a few days until the new semester began.

"Ztudentz! You came all the way out here, zo we can’t juzt let you wazte your time, right?"

Perhaps feeling guilty that she couldn’t give her students proper memories of their long trip, Hongfeng proposed another prairie tour. Her health was still too poor to guide them personally, so she gathered volunteers from the Marlat clan to accompany them instead. The Matu Department students and the first-years were thrilled, but the Student Council members hesitated.

Simon was injured and in no condition to go outside. Worried about him, the council members initially declined the tour.

"I’m fine, so go ahead," Simon insisted. "It’ll make me more uncomfortable if you guys miss out because of me."

In the end, he practically had to push them out the door. Sasha had thrown a tantrum, insisting on staying behind to nurse Simon—clearly with ulterior motives—but Molly eventually dragged her away. After waving them off as they rode away on horseback, Simon flopped onto the sofa in Hongfeng’s house.

"I’m really zorry, Zimon," Hongfeng said, approaching him. "Az a profezzor, I have no excuze. Becauze I dragged you into thiz, Zimon..."

"You know that’s the tenth time you’ve said that, right?" Simon replied with a smile. "I’m fine."

She had been caring for him with such extreme devotion that he was starting to feel guilty.

"If you don’t recover before the zemezter ztartz, Zimon, my heart will break." She sat down on the floor. "Zo, we will begin your rehabilitation training now."

"T-Training? Here?"

"Yez!"

Hongfeng had decided to spend the remaining time teaching Simon various skills since he couldn’t join the tour. She introduced him to different breathing techniques, meditation methods, and even ’Dharma Circles’—a substitute for runic magic circles used exclusively by Matu Department majors. She was practically giving away her department’s secrets like a bargain sale. Naturally, these were all techniques he could perform without using his legs.

"Now, ztretch."

Simon closed his eyes and began to meditate. He felt his distracting thoughts melt away, leaving his mind perfectly clear.

"Now!"

Simon’s eyes snapped open, and he cast a dark spell. By channeling dark magic immediately after Hongfeng’s meditation technique, he drastically reduced his casting time. The sharp spike in his physical condition and concentration worked wonders.

"Wow!" Simon bounced in his seat with a childlike grin, experiencing the sensation for the first time.

Hongfeng smiled in satisfaction. "But your focuz iz ztill lacking."

Hongfeng began to interfere with his meditation. She kept talking to break his concentration, and even brought over a ball of fur to tickle his nose.

"Ah!"

She even blew into his ear. That was simply unbearable. When Simon looked back with a bright red face, Hongfeng was giggling.

"Professor!"

"Waz the joke too zevere?"

Spending time together like this, Hongfeng’s usual bright expression was gradually returning. He learned systematic stretching and massages to relax his body. He also worked on his rehabilitation, moving his leg muscles little by little.

During mealtimes, he was fed incredibly potent herbs and foods that Hongfeng had originally saved for herself. He ate a root of wild ginseng the size of a human torso and drank a decoction made from the liver of a Firegrass Bird—a creature said to survive solely on morning dew. Thanks to her efforts, explosive vitality surged through his entire body, aside from his injured leg.

It was truly a ’forced health package’ that made him stronger just by sitting still. Simon adamantly tried to refuse, insisting he couldn’t eat such precious ingredients, but Hongfeng wouldn’t take no for an answer.

"Here, zay ahh—"

Dinner was a thick stew apparently made from a turtle-type monster. Hongfeng held up a spoon, pushing it toward his mouth. Breaking into a nervous sweat, Simon leaned back.

"Um... The injured part is my leg. I can move my hands on my own."

"But you are ztill a patient, Zimon. I have a duty to nurze you zince you were injured becauze of me."

Left with no choice, Simon opened his mouth. She carefully fed him the meticulously brewed stew. Seeing him chewing silently, his face flushed with embarrassment, she patted his head like a proud parent.

"Have one more zpoonful!"

’It’s nice to be pampered like this, but it’s kind of embarrassing.’

The next morning brought the results of the forced health package. ’Wow.’ In just one day, his leg had improved to a ridiculous degree.

Considering he hadn’t even been able to stand due to the throbbing pain yesterday, it was a massive improvement. The pain had subsided enough for him to comfortably sit up. Color had returned to his face, and his body felt so light and strong he could practically fly. How long had it been since he’d woken up feeling this refreshed?

"Are you awake, Zimon?"

Hongfeng was already boiling another batch of healthy ingredients. The entire room was filled with the rich scent of restorative medicine; just smelling it made him feel invigorated.

"Yes, good morning, Professor."

As Simon greeted her, his sharp eyes caught sight of fresh scratches on her shoulders and legs. Come to think of it, he recalled seeing her sneak out of the house at dawn. Worried, he asked, "Professor, where did you go early this morning?"

"To the reztroom."

Answering nonchalantly, she went back to boiling her concoctions. Simon, who could now move his legs slightly, stealthily pushed himself up. ’It’s morning, so why are the cabin curtains drawn?’ He carefully approached the window and reached out to pull back the curtains.

Suddenly, Hongfeng appeared like a ghost. With a swift motion, she forcefully yanked the curtains back shut, a bright smile on her face. Before he could react, she scooped him up and plopped him back onto the bed.

"A patient zhouldn’t do that," Hongfeng scolded lightly, returning to the counter. "Zince you’re awake, ztart your healing meditation."

"Professor, I just saw something outsi—"

"Ztart."

Left with no choice, Simon crossed his legs and began his meditation. He could have sworn he’d just seen a mountain of monster corpses piled up in the front yard, the surroundings painted in a sea of blood. But it was such an absurd sight that he figured it had to be an illusion.

---

By the time Simon finished his breakfast, the front yard had been completely cleaned up. He stretched alongside Hongfeng, enjoying the cool breeze and warm sunlight. Afterward, they went back inside for more meditation training. He learned the basics of Dharma Circles and received one-on-one coaching to refine his existing Matu movements.

"You aren’t uzing 100% of your muzclez. Try to feel the movement of your zhoulder a bit more when you throw a punch."

It was such close-contact coaching that he couldn’t help but feel a little flustered. After the drills ended, she helped him stretch. More meditation and breathing exercises awaited him immediately after.

"P-Professor!"

He sat on the floor with his legs spread wide, stretching his body forward, while Hongfeng climbed onto his back to press him down.

"You can ztretch down a little more."

Her voice was right by his ear. Her cascading hair brushed against his cheek as the palms pressing against his back applied more force.

"Juzt a little more."

"W-Wait! Ah!"

Still, Hongfeng was always right. If she said he could stretch a little further, he could. If she said his muscle movement was wrong, correcting it instantly yielded better results. While Simon was pushing through his rigorous training regimen...

"Look at these two!"

The door flew open with a loud bang, and Byulya marched in, her eyes glaring.

[Zizter, you haven’t gone back to Kizen yet?] Hongfeng asked in the Prairie language.

Byulya frowned. "That’s right! I stayed behind and drank with Father because I knew you’d pull something like this! You monopolize my cutie the moment I look away? You’re always like this! Pretending to be nice while pulling this kind of crap behind my back!"

"What are you zaying, Zizter. Zimon waz injured, and I am helping with hiz rehabilitation out of a zenze of rezponzibility."

"Oh, really? It’s not because you realized his true worth and went crazy for him?"

’What on earth are they talking about?’ Simon listened blankly as the sisters bickered in a strange language.

"Are you the only one who gets to teach him, you wench?! I’m going to teach him too!"

Shouting that, Byulya grinned, revealing her sharp, triangular teeth. Simon felt a sudden, unprovoked chill run down his spine.

"Hey, Student Council President. Looks like you’re getting all the pampering in the world."

She trudged over and rummaged through the medicine cabinets and bowls. After inspecting the ingredients, she let out an impressed "Oho," smiled meaningfully at Hongfeng, and then turned to Simon.

"Sure, these expensive elixirs, restorative medicines, rich foods, and health-boosting training regimens... It’s all fine and dandy. But in the long run, it’s not actually that great for you."

"What nonzenze are you zpeaking now..." Hongfeng muttered, glaring at her sister.

Byulya just shrugged. "True health, ironically, comes from damaging your health."

"Excuse me?"

"A body that adapts and survives in harsh conditions is what’s truly strong. Do you know why the Imperial Army, which had the strongest weapons and physical conditioning in history, collapsed to a bunch of mountain stragglers?"

"An epidemic," she answered her own question. "It’s the same reason city kids drop like flies at the slightest cough compared to country kids. When you’re young, you have to eat a little dirt and chew on raw, wild forage to temper yourself."

She clenched her fist tightly. "The body of a necromancer, which houses jet-black aura, is especially unique. You have to temper it by putting it under extreme stress, building healthy antibodies with toxins."

"Just look at those muscleheads who only look healthy on the outside—their condition plummets the moment it rains, and they drop dead under the scorching sun. The one who survives is the strong one."

"Pleaze ztop zpeaking nonzenze in front of my ztudent."

Simon quietly looked between Byulya and Hongfeng. Twin sisters who looked so alike, yet couldn’t be more different. They were born in the same place, but because their environments were completely different, they had developed into entirely different types of necromancers.

Hongfeng had trained her body to the absolute extreme. She boasted firm, copper-toned skin and a muscular physique, possessing the endurance to survive a month without food or water. Her fists could shatter castle walls, and her leg strength allowed her to soar through the sky with a single leap.

Byulya’s body, on the other hand, wasn’t physically trained in the same way. She had a slender, lithe frame. However, no disease or external interference could shake her. She possessed a body that internally generated and secreted poison, and her animalistic senses were so highly developed that she could turn any battlefield to her advantage.

It was impossible to determine whose strength was superior. Hongfeng had her philosophy, and Byulya had hers. They were sisters, yet they possessed completely different kinds of strength. Simon found that aspect incredibly fascinating.

"Then let’s do this," Byulya said. "In the morning, I’ll take the kid around and thoroughly pump nasty poisons into him to train his resistance. In the evening, you can use that meditation or breathing or whatever to draw the toxins out and make him healthy again. No problem with that, right?"

It was a perfect balance of building immunity and maintaining health. Hongfeng nodded in agreement. "Zoundz good."

Simon pointed at himself with an awkward smile. "Do you not need to hear my thoughts on this?"

"Shut up, hurry up and change your clothes, and get out here!" Byulya grinned. "You want to beat Balak, right? Let’s train you properly before the semester starts!"

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