Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Named Death Knight
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Simply pulling the lich from its seal and claiming they plotted to overthrow the royal family felt far too pat. There were just too many suspicious loose ends.
In other words, the ones the royal family had subjugated were little more than tails to cut off. Calling the lich itself a mere tail was a stretch, but in the end, the true head remained completely shrouded in mystery.
Due to the sudden chaos, Melissa—who had been stuck in the capital, unable to return to House Cascadia—came rushing over the moment I got back.
"Any injuries?"
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
"I heard the lich emerged. A grand archmage-level one, at that."
"Did it?"
She narrowed her eyes at my response.
"Word is you took it down. You okay?"
"All that fuss for nothing. It wasn't a big deal."
"Hey, you know a lich is at least a 6th-circle monster, right?"
A lich was essentially classified as a monster.
One of the most dangerously elite kinds, no less.
She seemed incredulous that I'd fought one and come away unimpressed.
"I told you before—modern necromancy is fundamentally flawed."
Facing the lich had made it crystal clear.
There had to have been a heretic who derailed the steady evolution of necromancy.
That person had taken the insane gamble of gutting the security aspects to boost efficiency.
Maybe they figured no one could crack it anyway, since hacking wasn't easy.
Or perhaps they left some countermeasures. Either way, everyone from that era was dead, so later generations could only speculate wildly about their intentions.
Maybe those ancient mages had a solution back then, but as necromancy evolved, their descendants forgot it and twisted the art into something grotesque.
Current necromancy definitely had issues.
But I saw it in a positive light.
The development of necromancy was outside my wheelhouse anyway, and at least it proved no one could seriously threaten me with it.
"More importantly... what the hell is that?"
Noticing it from earlier, she cautiously pointed at the Death Knight standing silently behind me.
The Death Knight's eyes flared with a sharp, menacing glint.
"Eek?!"
Sensing the ominous aura, she tensed and gripped the hilt of her sword at her waist.
"Doesn't... seem human?"
"A named Death Knight created by the lich."
"What?! A Death Knight?"
"It's upper Sword Expert level right now, but give it a little time and it'll reach Sword Master strength on its own."
"You sure it's safe?"
Who knew what a weapon forged by the enemy might do.
I understood her concern.
"Full ownership and control have transferred. Plus, its strong ego means it'll have better self-control than regular undead."
Dubious of my words, she stared intently at the Death Knight.
But it just stood there motionless.
"Is this your first undead or something?"
"As if. You've got one right next to you."
At my words, she jumped in surprise and scanned her surroundings.
"Ugh... you know I'm weak to ghosts..."
As she grumbled, a figure emerged from her shadow—and she immediately swung a fist at it.
"Tibel Cascadia! You bastard!!"
Bam!!!
Tibel's specter, with its physical force activated, went flying from her strike in an instant.
"Leon. You left that thing attached to me?"
"Had to. He's in a position where he has to protect you—even burn his soul doing it—after dying in agony and hating you. Besides, that's just Tibel on the outside; the contents are already scraps."
"..."
I tapped the Death Knight's armor.
"Once this guy's turned into a specter, I'll attach him instead of Tibel."
"Hmm... you sure that's okay?"
"Just think of it as a person."
"But undead are... corpses, right?"
She curiously examined the Death Knight from all angles.
"No matter how I look, there's no rotten corpse smell."
Her question was valid.
Most zombie-type undead reeked terribly unless they reached higher tiers.
High-tier zombies looked indistinguishable from humans, but your standard low-tier zombie undead was straight out of a zombie flick from my past life.
"Looks can be deceiving—it's a high-grade undead, so it should retain its human form perfectly."
Curious, she asked,
"Can I see its face?"
"Uh... sure?"
I gestured, and the Death Knight removed its helmet.
Truth be told, even I had never looked inside the armor before.
Once the helmet came off, a man in his mid-thirties with red hair appeared.
"Red hair, of all things."
"Yeah."
Lately, red hair reminded me uncomfortably of the infamous Mielephon family.
"Someone you know?"
"Nah, of course not."
Even as she said it, she furrowed her brow.
"But he looks familiar. I'm not great with faces, though."
We both pondered it, but nothing came to mind.
I had it put the helmet back on.
"Whatever. What does it matter? You didn't make that Death Knight anyway—you saved it from that monster. Speaking of, the royals promised a reward, right?"
Duke Berli had claimed the public credit, but there should still be substantial compensation.
Aware of that, Melissa looked eager for whatever extra we could squeeze out.
"Holding off for now. Who knows what might happen later, and the palace is still in disarray."
"Hey, you gotta fleece 'em when they're disorganized."
My father was fiercely loyal to the crown.
Why was his daughter like this?
I narrowed my eyes at her, and feeling guilty, she averted her gaze.
That was when it happened.
Thud!!
The sudden noise cut our conversation short.
"What was that?"
"I'll check."
The sound came from my room.
Leaving Melissa behind, I slowly approached and flung open the door. In the center of the room sat a blue square box that had fallen from somewhere.
The blue box I'd retrieved from beneath Tibel Cascadia's mansion.
The librarian had called it a lifeform, but how exactly it qualified was still a mystery.
Not knowing what kind of lifeform it was, I'd sealed it for safekeeping first—but had I brought something dangerous home?
"That's the thing you picked up back then, huh?"
Melissa had snuck in at some point and eyed the box in my hands, arms crossed.
"An egg shaped like this? It is a lifeform, at least."
"No egg in the world is square."
"True."
The blue box no longer moved or reacted.
Instead, a faint blue glow seeped from it.
It didn't feel threatening or repulsive.
"Not dangerous, is it? What if it explodes or something?"
"What, you think a lifeform's a bomb? Still, better safe—I'll slap a seal on it."
I didn't worry much.
If it housed something hostile, the librarian would've warned me.
Depending on me is efficient in the short term, but not a good long-term choice.
Whatever. Like that's gonna hurt me.
After Duke Berli sent word that he'd notify us once the investigation into the necromancers progressed, Melissa and I left the capital without delay and returned to House Cascadia.
The relief of coming home after venturing far was beyond words.
"Marquis Vidarr, you know."
"Huh?"
"They say he's completely lost it. Aftermath from losing to the lich, maybe?"
Marquis Vidarr had personally led a pursuit team to rescue his son during the subjugation.
Afterward, he'd started staring into empty space like a man broken.
"For us, it's good news—the head of the noble faction that messed with our house got smashed. But just in case he pulls strings from the shadows..."
"Doubt it."
Strolling the quiet halls of the Cascadia estate, I refuted her worry.
"That guy saw his son's corpse and lost it."
"Huh?"
"Yeah. From our perspective, he was a dog of a man—cold-blooded enough to sacrifice his own kid for the family. But..."
Melissa halted.
"When he saw his son butchered so brutally, something inside him shattered?"
"Not certain, but that's my guess."
"Ha..."
Of course, neither she nor I felt sympathy. No good blood between us.
His son, Goldseon Vidarr, was no different.
But witnessing it made me realize even greed-filled humans have paternal instincts.
"Makes me all mopey for no reason. Shouldn't have heard that. Let's grab something to eat—my stomach's eating my guts. Craving sweets bad."
She hinted at ice cream.
But I boldly grabbed her by the scruff.
"What the—?"
She glared up at me, eyes half-lidded.
"First, there's something I meant to do the moment we got back."
Dragging her resisting form to the training grounds, I tossed her my high-grade sword, Black Night Blade No. 1.
"What's this about?"
"Come at me."
With one hand behind my back, I beckoned with the other. Her face soured.
"I know you're strong, but do we have to—?"
"Need to gauge your level to teach you swordsmanship that fits."
I didn't budge.
"You know the necromancers aren't wiped out yet, right?"
"..."
"Those bastards attacked a marquis house on a whim. If I were them, I'd investigate thoroughly this time. And they'd quickly peg me as the threat."
"Urgh..."
"Obvious who'd they'd target next."
The Death Knight or Tibel's specter were insurance, but her own skill mattered most.
"Fine, say you're right. You think a quick spar boosts my skill? You act like you don't know—I'm early Sword Expert. Growth slows to a crawl from here. That's why people hit walls right at Expert entry..."
As she rambled, I casually lifted one foot.
Boom!!!
Stamping down without hesitation unleashed a massive shockwave in all directions.
I shot her a maximally smug look as she stared blankly, speechless.
"Scared?"
No more words needed.
In a flash, she lunged, her straightforward, fierce blade slicing toward me.
Forgetting even sweets and hunger in the process.