Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Necromancer
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“Guhhh!”
“Ow! It’s so heavy!”
“Pianos are supposed to be this heavy, right?”
Owen bowed his head one by one to thank the soldiers sweating profusely as they helped move the piano.
The soldiers accepted the water bottles from the boy, cheered him on to do his best, and then left.
This was Mountain Path Village, the first place to be attacked.
After their great warrior fell to me, the Marias Tribe had abandoned this stronghold and fled back into the depths of Marias Great Forest.
It was like rats scurrying into their holes, but Knight Captain Gloria had no intention of letting it slide.
She had even received a royal order to drag back the culprit who massacred the kingdom’s people, even if it meant venturing into the Great Forest.
But I had no intention of following.
I had my own task to attend to.
Just as Saintess Lucia had appeared to warm welcomes from the soldiers, boosting their morale and lending her strength.
I, on the other hand, needed to provide repose for the departed souls.
And so, I had gone to the trouble of airlifting a piano to the ruined village square.
As I waited a moment, the Black Necromancer approached.
[The soldiers who just helped with the piano have all left. It’s just you and that boy in the village now.]
“Good. Thanks.”
[I’ll take my leave too. As a former black mage, my presence wouldn’t help.]
The Black Necromancer vanished.
I closed my eyes calmly and settled my mind.
Even in summer, a cool breeze carried dark clouds that naturally gathered, blocking the blazing sun.
It might rain soon.
With that thought, I slowly extended my hand and created a round barrier over Owen’s piano.
Now, even if it rained, no water would seep in.
Water bottles were placed beside the piano in case the boy grew tired.
“Begin.”
“Yes, understood.”
Owen, now dressed in the old-fashioned performer’s outfit he used to wear while wandering cities, sat before the piano and slowly moved his fingers.
Dong.
The keys pressed down, and a sound resonated.
Those sounds connected into a melody.
A funeral dirge to call forth the souls who met death amid injustice and suffering.
Like moths swarming toward light in the dead of night.
Hundreds of souls began gathering toward me upon hearing Owen’s performance.
I could summon them far more efficiently with Remegaton, but that carried a coercive element, so I chose not to.
I didn’t want to strip away their freedom once more, even after death, for those who had suffered unwanted ends.
Looking up at the gathered souls, I asked.
“How was it?”
No one answered.
They simply waited calmly for my next words.
“Yesterday, you drove off the great warrior. Does your heart feel a little lighter now?”
Only then came a flood of responses.
Some said it was exhilarating.
Some said it was relieving.
Some trembled in fear.
Some wept and vented their injustice.
Some lamented that it meant nothing.
I nodded calmly as I listened to them all.
Amid it all, one soul asked me.
[What was the right answer?]
“…….”
[You called us here, so you must know. What should we have done?]
They each harbored different emotions, yet demanded I pick the right one from among them. I gave a gentle smile.
“The emotions you all hold—they’re all the right answers.”
[……. ]
“You met unjust deaths. Sadly, you must accept that your lives ended here.”
It was tragic.
A cruel declaration.
But it needed to be stated clearly and firmly.
There were many souls who delusionally believed they were still alive, and most of them turned into evil spirits.
It wasn’t only grudges from before death that mattered.
Even ordinary souls could become evil spirits through emotions born after death.
Especially when so many died at once, they could form a single thought entity and wander like yokai.
Harsh as it was.
“There is no longer a place for you on this continent.”
I declared firmly, and they divided into those who accepted it with their emotions and those who didn’t.
[You’re cruel. You are cruel.]
[I did nothing wrong!]
[At least save my children! Please! They’re still just kids!]
[Save them! Why do I have to die? I’m not dead yet!]
Predictable reactions.
I knew it was cruel.
But it was my duty, the only thing I could give them.
[Then why did you prepare this place for us?]
The soul of an elderly man who seemed to be the village chief slowly approached me.
Meeting his gaze, I slowly turned my eyes to survey them all. From young villagers to children, village women, the vigilantes who guarded the barricades, and even the dispatched knights who had died.
Looking at the countless people, I replied softly.
“To listen.”
[……. ]
“Your stories, the sorrows you held inside. Please share them with me before you go.”
I am Necromancer Deus Verdi.
“There must be so many tales within you. You’ll be entering a long slumber soon. To ensure that rest goes undisturbed.”
A gathering prepared for the departed souls.
“Let’s sit together and talk. A little extra sleep can’t hurt, right?”
I slowly bowed toward them in courtesy.
“Please, grant me the chance to be your comfort.”
The long farewell had only just begun.
* * *
Before leading the knights into Marias Great Forest, Knight Captain Gloria stood watching Mountain Path Village with her childhood friend, Saintess Lucia.
The overcast sky looked ready to pour rain at any moment, and fittingly, the faint piano melody drifted out from the village.
And then.
Sobs mixed with tears, shouts of anger, deep sighs of resignation.
Finally, voices of gratitude.
Amid the varied sounds, Gloria felt complex emotions for the first time in her life.
Was it joy, disgust,感動? She didn’t know, but it was clear the necromancer inside was doing something for the departed.
Before her, Saintess Lucia prayed with her eyes tightly shut.
Not wanting to interrupt her prayer, Gloria waited, and after about ten minutes, Lucia slowly opened her eyes.
She had to enter Marias Great Forest too, so she couldn’t linger.
“Let’s go.”
At Lucia’s words ending the prayer, Gloria hesitated a moment before giving in to curiosity.
“What’s Deus Verdi doing in there?”
“Hm?”
“All these huge noises are coming out. It doesn’t look like it’ll wrap up in a day or two.”
She was right.
It would probably take quite a while.
He wouldn’t send off even a single soul lightly. That’s the kind of man he was.
And that’s why Lucia could entrust it to him.
“He’s comforting the departed.”
Because he’s a necromancer.
A being who comforts souls.
As if she’d been waiting for those words, Gloria made a subtle expression.
“Is that even possible?”
“Hm?”
Lucia tilted her head in surprise that a knight like her would ask such a thing.
Thinking it didn’t suit her, Gloria continued anyway.
“They’re people who died unjustly, after all. What can an outsider like him really do for massacre victims?”
It wasn’t wrong.
Lucia knew it was impossible to fully resolve everything—it would be arrogance.
“Right. At best, it’s just passive actions.”
Listening, empathizing, conversing, debating, arguing. He’d spend a very long time with the departed.
“But if you think about it the other way, no one else can do that for them.”
Gloria was momentarily speechless. It was true.
The one act neither she nor even the saintess could perform. It was something only Deus Verdi could do.
“He doesn’t comfort with sweet words. He doesn’t persuade them to close their eyes now.”
He just weeps with them, that’s all.
Hearing that, Gloria wondered if Deus Verdi even had tears.
The cool-headed man seemed devoid of tear glands altogether.
But.
“There are our knight order members in there too, right?”
“Of course.”
“……I hope he treats them well.”
Recalling the members who had fought by her side, Gloria slowly closed her eyes.
It wasn’t a prayer to the gods.
She wasn’t in the mood, and it felt like sending a letter to the wrong address, her wishes going astray.
The knight captain’s prayer was directed toward the man inside, shedding tears.
Her heart felt a bit lighter.
Not just because he was comforting even her fallen comrades.
But because, if she were to close her eyes on this battlefield someday, he would see her off—and that thought brought deep relief settling in her chest.