Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Time of Farewell
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Late at night.
I had not booked separate lodgings in Fernan but instead lit a bonfire near the seaside, staring blankly into the flames as I waited.
Tema and Doben, the Magic Inquisitors, had left at my command.
The Black Necromancer sat beside me, stretching her hands toward the bonfire as if she could feel its warmth.
Then, in a way that felt like she was about to toss a roasted sweet potato into the fire, she spoke up casually.
[Who would have thought you'd know about Dante.]
“…….”
[Getting involved with them isn't the best decision.]
“No choice. They called for me.”
Dante was a secret organization that only came to light in the very late game.
[They actually approached me once, too. Asked if I wanted to dream of saving the continent together.]
“…….”
[I refused, of course. I have no interest in saving the continent. I just wanted to see the end of necromancy with my own hands.]
The Black Necromancer was a woman obsessed to the extreme with knowledge. Even now, the reason she cooperated with me was her belief that I could show her the end of necromancy she had yet to witness.
She had hidden away in her lair and only emerged because Aria had stolen a book containing her knowledge, and she wanted it back.
“I know.”
That said, I had no intention of rebuking her for selfishness.
[Deius, as you know, black mages are a breed that will do anything for their own desires and greed.]
But suddenly.
Locking eyes with her, I felt a distant, tender emotion. Could it really be just to satisfy her thirst for knowledge?
[But what if they were given a greater cause? A reason everyone could accept?]
The Black Necromancer drew closer, pressing against me. No sensation could be felt, but her worried expression was utterly pitiable.
[They become even more radical than when driven by personal desires. And that's exactly what Dante is.]
We were so close that the slightest movement would bring our lips together. If not for the black cloth covering her mouth, they might have touched.
I gazed at her impassively and slowly opened my mouth.
“They're here.”
Kreeee!
A scream echoed.
The startled Black Necromancer hastily pulled back, and at that moment, the foul stench of rotting flesh assaulted us violently, numbing my nose.
The footsteps and screams from beyond the bonfire grew nearer, and soon, a figure pierced the darkness to enter the warmth of the flames.
A man cloaked entirely in robe and hood. Of average build, neither large nor small, he wore a subtle smile on his lips.
Kreeeeaaaa!
In his hand, he gripped a human face that was still alive, screaming.
It was Volta.
“Still alive, huh.”
At my question, the Corpse Sorcerer shrugged.
“About half? It'll die the moment I release the spell.”
I disliked him from the first impression. His raspy voice sounded like insects crawling in his throat, grating unpleasantly.
“Necromancer Deius Verdi. Didn't expect you'd find me so quickly. Guess I set up quite the intriguing incident.”
The creature peeking from Volta's head grinned hook-like.
“I judged it an evil spirit capable of turning the entire kingdom upside down. But it wasn't.”
He nodded at my words and sat across from me.
The Black Necromancer swallowed hard and cautiously positioned herself behind me.
A spot ready to protect me in any situation.
I wondered if the Corpse Sorcerer could even see her, but as he creepily stroked Volta's head while meeting my eyes, it seemed she was invisible to him.
“So why did Dante summon me.”
“Ho?”
He let out a surprised gasp when I mentioned Dante first but replied slyly without showing fluster.
“More capable than I thought? Destroying that evil ghost entrenched in the royal family wasn't just luck, then.”
He knew about the evil ghost in Griffin.
It seemed like a retort from his side, but I wasn't particularly fazed.
“Straight to the point. You've made things very difficult for us. The kingdom's ignorance of black magic made it a goldmine for capable black mages.”
To a black mage, Griffin was like a high-level hunting ground.
Lowly ones who set foot there recklessly would be hunted down and executed by Magic Inquisitors.
But for the skilled, there were no easier prey ignorant of black magic.
Now, with me and King Orpheus attempting reforms on black magic matters, Griffin would start rooting them out.
I thought that might make them hostile, but no.
Rather, the Corpse Sorcerer's voice held a softness.
“But looking at how you've resolved incidents so far and your actions, I thought you were a talent worth coveting.”
“…….”
“So, Deius Verdi. Join us. You already know about Dante, but we don't act merely for our own desires. It's for the greater cause of saving the continent.”
Right. Dante moved for one reason.
They knew this continent was saturated.
With no resting place left for the dead souls, they began wandering the land.
If left as is, the boundary between life and death would vanish, leaving an ambiguous existence.
And Dante aimed to prevent that.
“As a necromancer, you know best. The continent is in danger as it is.”
“Is that why you killed Volta.”
I jerked my chin toward Volta's head impassively, and the Corpse Sorcerer glanced down before shaking his head.
“He deserved death. And I paid the price sufficiently.”
“Paid the price.”
The word choice grated, but he continued obliviously.
“We're different. Unlike barbaric thieves who just take, we pay a fair price for everything.”
“So you paid that price to his mother, Hernu.”
He fell silent at my words, seemingly reluctant, but sighed and replied.
“I gave her what she wanted. We granted her freedom from bondage. That was her demanded price.”
“Volta's life belongs to Volta.”
“Hernu birthed that Volta.”
The conversation ran parallel.
Just as necromancers saw souls as mana clumps or disposable tools.
The Corpse Sorcerer valued human flesh and paid accordingly, like a butcher slicing beef or pork.
It grated immensely.
“You're not about to say life's price can't be measured, are you? You're no saintess, necromancer.”
Snickering mockingly, he steered back to the point.
“Dante needs you. A necromancer who can act publicly. Join us, and we'll help you secure an unassailable position in Griffin.”
“…….”
“We can make you an existence rivaling the saintess. Together, we could achieve multiples of your current results.”
Colluding with them would indeed yield massive results overnight, silencing the church and gradually gaining citizens' acceptance.
But.
“Da, da, darling!”
A distant old woman's cry.
Perhaps noticing the foul corpse stench, Hernu ran toward us tearfully and desperately.
“You said you'd just resolve it! Said you'd give me freedom! I didn't think you'd really kill him!”
Cursing roughly at the Corpse Sorcerer as she approached, she froze upon seeing her son's face screaming.
Despair and anguish dripped from her face.
“Vo, Volta?”
Did her legs give out?
Or did seeing the son she sold evoke guilt?
Hernu knelt and bowed her head, apologizing tearfully as if facing a demon.
“I'm, I'm, sorry. Mommy's sorry. I didn't know it'd come to this. I was just so tired because of you... That's why! I never thought they'd really kill you!”
Glancing at the Corpse Sorcerer, he shrugged.
“A son who beat his mother. I offered her freedom from such a son, and she accepted. I didn't set the price; she did herself.”
She had weighed her son's life against her freedom and accepted the deal.
Now she regretted it bitterly, but it was done.
“The contract is already complete.”
Lifting Volta's head with a grin, the Corpse Sorcerer watched Hernu pound the ground in despair, apologizing to her son.
Kreeee!
Volta's head kept screaming relentlessly, recreating its moment of death in endless agony.
His soul was probably trapped inside.
“Choices are one's own. Don't worry about it. Now, I'd like your answer.”
Rising, the Corpse Sorcerer approached slowly.
Under the strange pressure, he demanded my response.
“Join Dante, Deius. We want you.”
“…….”
His extended hand reeked. Inevitable for a Corpse Sorcerer, yet utterly repulsive.
I pointed at Volta's head.
“Release the spell.”
I no longer wanted the mother hearing her child's screams.
“That will be my answer.”
Volta's death would show the decisive difference between me and Dante, proving them wrong.
“Hm?”
Tilting his head at the cryptic words, he had no attachment left to Volta and released the spell.
My mana surged, enveloping Volta.
Strictly speaking, Volta's head had just died moments ago.
I bought enough time for a final word, and the Corpse Sorcerer realized my intent.
“Last words to your mother? To leave her an unforgettable scar?”
Snickering, he placed Volta's head before Hernu.
Soon, Volta's screaming soul briefly borrowed the flesh to utter one final phrase.
“Urk, uuurk.”
“Vo, Volta! Volta! I'm sorry! Because of this wretched mother!”
With sand caked in his mouth like thick mud, Volta's words barely formed.
Hernu kept smashing her head into the ground apologizing, but Volta managed one phrase.
“Mom.”
“……Vol, ta?”
“Sorry... Mom.”
That was it.
Volta's corpse slumped, eyes closing, his soul entering repose without regret.
“Huh?”
The Corpse Sorcerer stared at the head in confusion. Expecting hatred toward the mother who sold and killed him.
Instead, Volta apologized to Hernu, incomprehensible to him.
“When do you think people learn the most.”
I became the professor providing the answer, speaking calmly.
“The moment of deepest regret and transformation.”
Death.
Volta, suffering endlessly without dying, knew death was coming.
Like leaping from a great height.
Uncertain how long the fall, but inevitable. Even knowing death certain, thoughts raced.
He'd seen his life flash dozens of times, regretted and resented endlessly.
And the result.
He reflected on his actions, forced to accept his end.
Volta was a thoroughly vile man.
A petty villain villages would shun even in death.
A wretched son regretting his birth, tempted to sell himself.
Even such a youth.
Changed so profoundly at death's door.
“Humans can change. Through regret and repentance.”
“…….”
“You said not to claim life's price immeasurable.”
His sneer faded.
Living entwined with death, seeing countless corpses, he seemed foolish.
“Even a foolish youth called a small-time villain grasps the essence at his own death.”
Hernu clutched Volta's head, wailing in anguish. Only now caring for each other, yet parted forever.
“How can you price their lives.”
“……You're different from us.”
The Corpse Sorcerer shook his head, realizing negotiation futile.
“Pity, Deius Verdi. To save the great, one must sacrifice the small.”
“Those blind to the small's value can't save the great.”
He clicked his tongue, and his body collapsed like a simple corpse.
The source of the foul stench leaking earlier.
“Volta! Voltaa! Hwaaaaa! Aaaaaa!”
And so the incident ended.
The Corpse Sorcerer fled, Hernu would be arrested for aiding murder.
Only the mother's screams remained as she clutched her son, weeping.
Soon, Magic Inquisitors Tema and Doben would arrive. I'd ordered them to stand by nearby, and they'd come at Hernu's wails.
Until then.
To give mother and son their farewell.
Pretending to see nothing.
I closed my eyes.