Chapter 225
Chapter 225
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Contract (1)
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"The ghost soldiers are vanishing."
"Did Master succeed in killing the black sorcerer?"
"Who knows."
Azad, Raiza, and Ashtar relaxed their stances as they watched the ghost soldiers, which had been pouring in endlessly, disappear.
They kept their guard up just in case, but it didn't seem like anything else would appear.
As expected, aside from the three of them, not a single bug could be found in the barren field.
Raiza placed his index finger to his ear and sent a transmission to Jamie.
"Master?"
-Ah. Yeah. Can you hear me?
Unlike before, Jamie's voice came through clearly.
It seemed the problem had been resolved.
"Where are you? Did you take down the black sorcerer?"
"You're connected to Master?"
"Where is he?"
"Everyone, quiet. Speak, Master."
Raiza hushed his younger brothers and focused on Jamie's voice again.
-Me? I'm right behind you guys.
"Behind us?"
"Behind? There's no one back there."
Azad looked behind them, but he couldn't spot so much as an ant. Then, a sigh came through Raiza's earpiece.
-Tell that idiot to look farther.
"Farther..."
Raiza glanced at the rundown house behind them.
Leaning against a tree right next to the house they were supposed to guard stood a familiar figure.
Azad and Ashtar spotted him too and waved their arms frantically.
"Master!"
"Is it all over?!"
The two bolted toward Jamie faster than anyone else.
They looked just like dogs spotting their owner.
Raiza cut the transmission and shook his head at his pathetic brothers.
But he was curious about what had happened too, so he quickly ran after them to join Jamie.
However, Jamie still had unfinished business.
"All of you, stand by for now."
He glanced inside the house and gave the order to the approaching trio.
Suddenly unable to move forward, Azad tried to shout in panic.
Jamie had anticipated that and cast a silence spell on them.
Azad's mouth gaped wide as he yelled, but with no sound, it was just a silent tantrum.
Ashtar and Raiza were under the same spell.
But unlike Azad, they weren't the hyper type, so they just stood there quietly.
"I'll wrap things up and come back, so play house or something in the meantime."
Was that Azad mouthing, 'We're all grown up—what do you mean play house!'? Must've been an illusion.
Jamie approached Irina, who sat slumped in the room, staring blankly.
He comforted her with words.
"You've been through a lot."
"...Did you know everything, priest?"
Irina looked at Jamie and asked in a deflated voice.
"It's more like I found out. That's why I brought you here."
"I see."
With that, Irina let out a quiet sigh.
She hugged her knees and gave a bitter smile.
"Failure never felt so real until now."
"What do you mean?"
"Honestly, up until recently, it didn't feel real at all. Me, the matriarch of one of the top noble houses in Syltear Kingdom, living in a shack like this? I kept thinking it was a dream, that I'd wake up from this nightmare after a good sleep... But today, it finally hit me."
"Madam."
"Lady Bianca. It must have been agony. Dreaming of a future that could never be, in a nightmare beyond comparison to trash like me... Forced to do things you never wanted, rotting away inside like hell itself."
"..."
"But you know, I was a little jealous. You lived in pain incomparable to mine, but at least you stayed in that time. At least you only carried that era's suffering. You didn't have to know your house fell, your retainers all died, and your vile enemy ascended the throne."
Even Irina, who had comforted Bianca to the end, was ultimately a victim herself.
She too had endured horrific times, and that horror hadn't ended yet.
Her body was frail, her children still young.
A woman who had never dirtied her hands now had to do anything to survive, whether she wanted to or not.
"Will death bring peace?"
"Death is..."
Jamie looked up at the sky.
The stars filling it seemed ready to pour down to the earth any moment.
"Death is just emptiness. Nothing remains. Only regrets follow you to the end."
"You say it like you've experienced it."
"Well, something similar."
"I see."
There were no more words of comfort to offer.
Telling her it'd be okay felt like a lie.
Besides, he wasn't the meddlesome type.
Jamie scratched his head awkwardly, then turned toward a rustling sound from the next room.
The door burst open, and two children who had been leaning against it tumbled inside.
"Ow!"
"Ouch!"
Pivion and Fiona rubbed their sore spots unnecessarily, then noticed Irina and Jamie staring and gave awkward smiles.
"Heh heh... We weren't trying to eavesdrop or anything..."
"W-We weren't eavesdropping!"
Unlike her brother, the little sister had a bold personality, no matter how you looked at it.
Jamie chuckled and stepped back.
The kids, who had been glancing nervously, cautiously approached their mother.
"Mom..."
"Mooom..."
Irina looked at her two children and silently raised both arms. They immediately burst into tears and burrowed into her embrace.
"Waaah! Don't die! Don't die, Mom!"
"Eeeeng! Don't go, Mom! Don't leave!"
Irina smiled faintly and gently stroked her son and daughter's heads.
"Mom's not going anywhere. Why would I leave my babies?"
"Hiii... No more talk of dying. Ever."
"Ever!"
"Yes, yes. I won't say anything like that again."
Jamie watched them for a moment, then quietly turned away.
There was nothing more for him to do here.
He'd let them have family time for now and talk later.
Now that he knew their story, he couldn't allow them to stay in this rundown place.
That's when he spotted a necklace on the floor.
It was the black one Bianca had worn.
"Hm."
Jamie stared at the necklace before pocketing it.
With that, he headed to where the trio waited.
"Hua! If you'd just told us, we would've stayed put. Why silence us too?!"
As expected, the moment the silence spell lifted, Azad raised his voice in protest.
Jamie shut him down with a swift chestnut.
Ashtar shook his head at Azad, who had fainted and collapsed.
"That's why you don't mouth off..."
He nudged Azad's head with his toe, but there was no reaction.
Jamie's chestnuts packed enough power to knock out even undead.
Ashtar vowed never to act up.
Raiza ignored the pair and spoke to Jamie.
"Looks like the issue's resolved."
"Quite the heartbreaking tale."
"I see."
"You all did well."
"No trouble at all."
Raiza shook his head, and Jamie chuckled, patting his shoulder.
"Head back and rest. I've got more to do."
"Understood. Ashtar, grab Azad."
"Damn, this pathetic senior..."
Ashtar sighed and hoisted the fallen Azad over his shoulder.
Jamie opened a gate with Defying Heaven, and the two bowed before stepping through.
Jamie dismissed the gate and ventured deeper into the forest.
There, he took out Bianca's necklace from his pocket.
And spoke to it.
"Thought you'd ascended..."
Talking to a necklace out of nowhere.
Any stranger would've called him mad, but fooling the greatest black sorcerer in history was impossible.
The necklace began to tremble, and purple-black mana rose from it.
It gradually took form, manifesting before Jamie.
Bianca appeared, calmer than before.
Tears still lingered in her eyes.
"An undead with tears. You're full of surprises."
Bianca stared at Jamie silently.
He'd thought she'd ascended to join her comrades from Irina's arms, but she'd faked it and hidden in the necklace.
He didn't know why yet—that was next.
"Why linger in this world? Weren't all your attachments resolved?"
"I still have things to do. I wanted to give her some peace of mind, even if just a little, so I made it look that way."
"A considerate gesture."
"Me staying would only hurt her in the long run. And now this body..."
She checked her form and grimaced bitterly.
Understandable for a once-honorable knight turned undead.
"So this 'thing to do'—revenge, I assume?"
"Yes. My enemies are probably still laughing it up in Syltear Kingdom's royal palace. I'll show them the same hell. Only then can I face my departed comrades. I... failed once already."
She hadn't completed her commander's order, dying to an enemy ambush.
In the process, the sole legitimate heir, the crown prince, was killed too.
It turned her comrades' sacrifices into meaningless deaths.
Bianca clenched her fist.
"With this power, I can at least go down fighting."
Already strong, she'd gained far greater might as a Death Knight.
Plus necromancer-level control over undead—she could start a war if she wanted.
But Jamie knew how foolish that was.
Undead couldn't roam freely on this land.
'Surviving this long is a miracle.'
In this world ruled by the 12 Gods, undead were virtually nonexistent.
Any that existed were rare, in areas the gods largely ignored.
What if a Death Knight led an undead army?
Forget attacking Syltear—they'd be swiftly purged by paladins from the churches.
"That'd be the real dog death."
"You don't know till you try. I'm grateful to you. Black sorcerer or not, you helped me regain my senses."
"You don't grasp your situation."
"Doesn't matter. If I can drive my sword into the king's heart, what comes after is fine."
Jamie crossed his arms and sighed deeply.
She was hopeless.
Peeking into her past had shown him she was stubbornly principled.
Jamie rarely made offers to others, especially undead.
Subjugating with force was enough.
Bianca was different. Not a normal undead, she'd fully assimilated his power—a special case.
Honestly, he didn't want her dying pointlessly.
So he proposed.
"Join me. I'll handle your revenge. This is a contract."
Bianca stared at him silently.