Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Hassan, Necromancer of the Black Star #2
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Whoosh-.
Something flew through the air between the bushes with a slicing sound.
Thwack-!
It embedded itself right into the head of the bone goblin I had been facing—the one with the oversized right arm, which I'd roughly dubbed Righty.
Grraaah!
Righty’s blue eyes flashed with fury, as if enraged at whoever had shot the arrow into its skull.
At that exact moment, rustling sounds came from the bushes, accompanied by several presences.
“H-Hit! You there! We’ll help you out!”
The ones who emerged were four adventurers, all wearing gray metal dog tags that jingled around their necks—marking them as Iron Plate adventurers.
Two men and two women, a four-person party.
They were armed with short daggers or small shields, long swords, and a longbow—giving their party a pretty solid balance.
Especially the longbow slung on the woman’s back, adorned with a bizarre snake-shaped ornament; it looked quite valuable.
“Skadi! Cover us!”
The woman with the small shield and dagger charged toward me. Shit, had they caught me in the act of necromancy?
“You monster bastard!”
Clang-!
The short golden-haired woman adventurer bashed the small shield into the head of the bone goblin dithering in front of me, then turned her back to me, facing the goblins.
“We’re the adventurer party ‘Skarji’ from the Minerva Guild! We’ll help you out—everyone, get over here!”
Minerva Guild’s adventurer party Skarji?
They positioned themselves with their backs to me, as if shielding me from the bone goblins, squaring off against them.
Their movements were quite nimble and precise—impressive enough to draw admiration.
But their attitude felt a bit off. Didn’t they realize these bone goblins were my summons?
I’d been prepared to be attacked, looking like a shady cultist in my mask and robe.
Thanks to the recent mask festival, though, my masked appearance must have seemed normal. So they’d mistaken me for just some guy caught in a monster attack in the woods.
I had been fighting like I was actually under attack by the bone goblins, after all.
It was an intriguing situation, all things considered.
Hiding a relieved smile beneath my mask, I asked,
“Minerva adventurer party Skarji, right? How strong are you? These guys are pretty tough monsters. Think you can handle them?”
The small-shield woman adventurer replied to my question.
“All of us have total Karma over 10! We’re veterans, so don’t worry! We’ve fought skeletons plenty of times!”
“We even joined the cultist war a few weeks ago—!”
Impressive.
People with total values over 10 were on par with most Bronze Tier adventurers.
They were top-tier among Iron Tier, probably on the verge of promotion. That explained their confidence and their Minerva Guild-style sense of justice.
A balanced four-person party with total values of 10.
I was touched by their intent to rescue me, but at the same time, I couldn’t help thinking this was a great chance to test my minions’ performance.
I had ten minions in total.
All around level 13.
How well would they hold up against these promising up-and-coming adventurers?
So, I shot a glance at my bone goblins through the slits in my mask.
Righty, with the arrow in its head.
Narrowing my eyes at its blue gaze, I sent a silent command.
—Fight.
And I whispered under my breath, too quiet for anyone to hear.
Raaarghhh!!!
Unlike moments ago when it had hesitated against me, Righty let out a thunderous roar of rage.
The other minions followed suit, their blue eyes blazing like flames as they unleashed screams that shook the entire forest.
“Raaah, wh-what kind of monster scream is that?!”
The small-shield woman swordswoman blocking my front shrank back in fear. It wasn’t just her—the whole party’s presence seemed to deflate.
Was this the Fear Emission skill my bone goblins had? Honestly, even I wanted to cover my ears hearing those horrific shrieks.
At that moment, the skinny gray-haired man to my right slammed his staff into the ground and chanted like he was casting a spell.
“Anti-Fear Ritual—.”
Thud, thud, thud-.
He struck the long stone staff into the ground three times, making the bells attached to it jingle.
Hearing that sound felt strangely soothing, overlaying and dulling the noisy roars from before.
A ritual, so like magic?
As if the cowering had been a lie, the adventurers gripped their shields and weapons, steadying their stances. The shield woman shouted loudly.
“Jirkal, nice one!”
The skinny staff-wielder’s name was probably Jirkal. Some kind of wandering priest? Priest Jirkal narrowed his brow and said,
“They’re coming, Kasiya—!”
“I’ve got this!”
Kyahhh!!
The small-shield blonde swordswoman called Kasiya deflected Righty’s massive right arm as it lunged at her, parrying it with her shield.
It was like one of those parry techniques from games.
Righty staggered, unable to balance its huge arm, and toppled to the ground.
So you can use it like that with a small shield on your arm.
Interesting.
But weren’t my bone goblins fighting worse than expected? My face twisted in annoyance.
These guys, no discipline.
Just as I started doubting my necromancy’s utility,
Kerack!
Crunch, crunch!
Excluding Righty as it struggled to rise, the rest swarmed from all sides at once.
“F-Fast!”
“Not your average, average undead!”
Soon the bone goblins were clinging to the party members, sinking claws and teeth into their flesh.
“Someone peel these off them!”
“I’m busy too! These guys are stronger than they look! Just bones and all…!”
Flap, flap.
Thanks to that, not just the frontliner Kasiya with her shield, but the archer woman, priest Jirkal, and the other guy whose role I couldn’t pin down—all got swept into the muddy melee.
“M-My oak shield!”
Small-shield Kasiya was on the verge of losing the shield attached to her arm to the bone goblins. Anyone could see it was a do-or-die moment.
“Th-These! Why are they so tough?!”
Kasiya kept kicking at the bone goblins trying to wrench her shield away.
Gyaack-!
But the sturdier-than-expected bone goblins regenerated their cracked bodies and kept coming.
“They regenerate too! Lerua, spell, how’s the spell?!”
“Almost! Here it comes, here it cooomes—!”
As shield Kasiya yelled, the male adventurer huddled in the corner mumbling something finally raised his hand high and shouted.
“Holy Bolt!”
Zzzap.
A bizarre current leaped from his fingertips—strong enough to see with the naked eye. Lightning magic?
Lightning magic was one of those heavy-hitters, like Elfriedee’s fire or Belmina’s ice.
So the last guy was the mage.
Keruuuugh—!
The bone goblins struck by the lightning all stunned like they’d lost consciousness, then collapsed in heaps, unable to hold form.
The mage Lerua brushed the bones off his body and stood.
“As expected, monsters can’t stand before Lord Jupiter’s holy lightning. Heh heh.”
His hood had fallen, revealing a rather refined-looking boy. Noble?
“But… they won’t get back up, right…?”
The boy mage prodded the scattered bone piles with his long staff, tense.
Of course, my bone goblins regenerated from most attacks, but anything beyond a certain threshold canceled the summon, leaving them in heaps.
Attack magic really packs a punch.
Holy Bolt, huh. Different from regular lightning. Weak to undead attribute or something?
Knowledge gained.
“Phew—. Everyone okay? Any injuries?”
By the time all ten bone goblins had turned to bone piles, small-shield swordswoman Kasiya scanned the area and checked on the situation.
Most had scraped gear, facial cuts, bleeding—minor injuries. No critical wounds.
Decent enough, I suppose?
I considered re-raising the fallen minions, but that’d make my necromancy too obvious, so I held off.
With a mage and priest, they might detect hellish mana or something.
“Phew, those undead were tougher than expected. And so many.”
Kasiya muttered, inspecting her shield. Priest Jirkal replied.
“Their eyes were blue—pretty eerie. Why would undead show up all the way out here?”
The blue long-haired woman with the bow answered his question.
“Probably the festival. Mask festivals draw in the restless dead.”
“That’s just legend. Skadi, how old are you to believe in wandering ghosts?”
“Lerua, I saw a real ghost when I was little, I swear.”
“Yeah, sure—.”
The adventurers bantered among themselves.
Now I could confirm they were a well-balanced party: priest, mage, archer, and frontline swordswoman. Textbook perfect opponents.
And I’d pushed them to the brink, so my bone goblins were adequately usable?
I asked,
“You used lightning magic—can you cast it multiple times?”
“Mana’s limited, so there are restrictions. Can’t go into details, sorry.”
Got it.
If I’d kept reviving the bone goblins, they might’ve had a shot at winning.
Satisfying fight.
* * *
Minerva’s Iron Plate adventurers Skarji.
They periodically cleared this abandoned shrine ruins. It used to be Mars Guild Iron Plates’ job.
Now that Mars Guild wasn’t pulling its weight, it fell to Minerva.
“That’s why we named ourselves Skarji after our initials. Fun, right?”
Kasiya chattered on, even about stuff I hadn’t asked.
Not just talkative—she seemed to be keeping conversation going to reassure me after the undead scare. They were generally friendly to a stranger like me.
“Kasiya, don’t spill too much info.”
Of course, one wasn’t.
The blue long-haired woman with the longbow on her back—party leader Skadi—still eyed me warily.
Not hiding her guarded gaze, Skadi asked,
“So, what were you doing in the woods?”
“Just, y’know, gathering herbs. Gotta eat.”
I showed the herbs from my belt to prove my alibi.
I’d picked some Luna would like, and they came in handy right on time. Lucky.
“Hmm—. Big guy like you, herbs…”
Skadi narrowed her eyes, unsatisfied. Short, plain blonde Kasiya spoke to her.
“Skadi, you still suspect him? If he were a cultist, why’d he get attacked by undead?”
“Me, a cultist?”
“Skadi thought you were one! Cultists wouldn’t get attacked by undead. Funny, right?”
“Yeah, my mistake.”
Archer Skadi grudgingly admitted it, but her instincts were sharp. I was the one controlling the undead, after all.
I imagined what would’ve happened if they’d caught me mid-summon. Probably not pretty.
Lucky for both sides, all around.
Anyway, the kind party escorted me to the forest entrance. Not forgetting a little scolding.
“The woods are crawling with goblins lately—too dangerous alone. Heard there’s a silver-grade monster, Goblin King or something, digging a lair.”
The bright blonde swordswoman’s words piqued my interest.
“Silver-grade monster?”
“Means a subjugation level Iron adventurers can’t handle. Goblin king—creepy, huh? Probably why bone goblins showed up too…”
“Kasiya. Minerva said to keep that quiet. It’s not confirmed!”
“Got it, Skadi. Don’t spill info, right? Anyway, don’t go into the woods alone!”
“Will do. Thanks for the save. Minerva Guild’s Skarji, was it? I’ll spread good word.”
“Heh heh, not why we did it. But sure.”
With that, I parted from the party. I headed out of the forest; they went deeper to hunt more goblins.
“Goblin king, huh.”
Silver-grade monster. Sounds ominous. Too strong for Bronze Tier Hassan. Probably a maxed-out goblin or something.
But Necromancer Hassan?
I tucked away the intriguing info and returned to the city, the western slums, and the shack where Luna waited.
“Luna, I’m back.”
On the first floor, I hung my mask and robes on the wall. The oddly quiet shack atmosphere nagged at me.
Had Luna gone to the market?
“kyungkyung, Luna out?”
Woof, woof.
Two barks—means upstairs.
I headed up, half-worried, and found Luna slumped over a simple vanity, sleeping soundly.
Twilight, a bit early for bed.
Not her bedtime. Tired from making potions? But no stock or jars piled downstairs.
“Luna, slept all day?”
Since the festival ended,
Luna often slept long stretches like this. Like catching up on backlog.
Worrisome enough to make me anxious.
Sleeping day or night, no pattern.
“Luna, wake up.”
I massaged her shoulders and neck with my fingers. She inhaled deeply—hnggg—and
let out a giggling “pffft.”
“Mmm, Hassan? When’d I fall asleep—?”
“Must’ve been beat.”
I kneaded her shoulders and back. She yawned hugely, stretching.
“Ugh, so stiff—!”
But her emerald eyes were clear and wide from deep sleep. Her usual bright, cheerful self—I relaxed a bit.
“Hassan, you’re hurt! Your side! Training again?”
Luna pointed to my side. Right, the goblin scratch had crusted over. Minor; gone in a day.
“Yeah, happens in training. More importantly, Luna, you sleeping too much lately? You sick?”
The thought of Luna ill made me genuinely jittery. If something was wrong with her, I’d rather it be me.
Is this what love’s like?
I checked her pulse.
『Name: Luna Noxdoty Lv. 17 → 20
Strength: 4 → 5
Agility: 10 → 11
Vitality: 3 → 4
Traits: Flailing》Gluttony Lover》Nocturnal》
Status: Nox’s Curse》Erebos’s Curse》』
Level up aside, status looked fine. When’d she level to 20? Fast growth.
“No bad spots?”
“Don’t worry, Hassan. I just binge-sleep sometimes. Once a year or so.”
“Really?”
“Usually winter hibernation. Guess this year’s summer sleep.”
Luna brushed it off. Maybe growing pains. Pretty girls need beauty sleep, they say.
Still, I decided to take her to a clinic first thing tomorrow.
“You worry too much, Hassan. Anyway, tonight’s a meteor shower! Stars’ll rain down—let’s watch!”
“Meteor shower?”
No clue what that was. Stars raining? Like a meteor shower? Imagining the night sky, Luna added hesitantly,
“Just us in the yard—no Paranoya or Hippolyte. Couldn’t play much during festival.”
True, temple knights and undead ruined the fun.
“Sure, why not.”
Luna peered out the window, looking thrilled, so I nodded.
She practically stuck her head out, gazing up.
“Hmm, when’s sunset—.”
Sunset glowed beyond her shoulder, still bright.
Stars, huh.
A night date with Luna—I felt a little excited.
[Author's Note]
This chapter 191 ended up longer than expected... Like 1.5 chapters in one...
And now, really getting into... the main story... Season 3... full throttle...!!!
For real...!!!