Chapter 44
Episode 44
Well, I was satisfied with the results, so it was fine.
"Good. From now on, you will serve under me and crush my enemies."
At my words, the two jiangshi bowed even deeper.
"We will devote ourselves wholly."
Oh. There was no emotion in their voices, but their loyalty was unmistakable.
This was exactly the feeling of Black and White Impermanence back in those days.
"Good. Rest for now."
"Yes."
Heukgang and Baekgang returned to the subdimension.
Two Copper Jiangshi with egos, no less. This made my forces feel even more solid.
"Now then. Shall we check my control capacity?"
Undead Control Capacity: 20/151
"The total went up a bit?"
Thanks to my level reaching 24, my total control capacity had swelled to 151.
Currently, the two Copper Jiangshi were taking up 20.
Each Copper Jiangshi consumed 10 control capacity, so the math worked out perfectly.
"Hmm. So I could expand to fifteen Copper Jiangshi?"
That meant I could field fifteen reliable Copper Jiangshi like the Black and White Impermanence.
"Then I'd better make more."
If two were already reassuring, how much more reassuring would fifteen be?
The more the better, as they say. Strong subordinates were always best in greater numbers.
"First, the materials."
I took out a corpse I had set aside earlier from the subdimension warehouse.
It was the female corpse whose limbs had been torn apart.
I hadn't had the heart to use her as raw material or turn her into an undead, so I had kept her aside.
"Hmm. Still, turning her into a jiangshi and properly taking responsibility for her would be more respectful."
I used [Corpse Processing] to restore the shattered limbs.
Whoosh...
The torn parts reconnected, and the body regained its complete form.
The body was restored neatly enough that I could picture what she might have looked like in life.
"Good. I've secured one."
Now I needed more jiangshi materials.
"Any other corpses come in?"
I checked the Multidimensional Corpse Pit.
The pit occasionally received corpses drifting in from other dimensions, so with luck I could find a human body there.
But.
"......It's empty."
Unfortunately, there wasn't a single usable human corpse. Plenty of other species had come in, though.
Apparently, human corpses had been arriving less often lately.
"Should I buy some at the market?"
Well, I had DP overflowing, so buying wasn't difficult.
But before that, there was one thing I wanted to try first.
"Hmm. Let me try this first."
I looked down quietly at the secured female corpse and sank into thought.
"Raise Corpse."
The skill activated, and the woman's body twitched with a low gurgle.
Normally, because of my class trait, it should have become an undead immediately....... But apparently, that didn't happen automatically in this lobby.
Well, this wasn't a battlefield, after all.
Walking Corpse.
The lowest-grade undead.
Toward the female corpse that had transformed like that, I used a second skill.
"Self-Reclamation."
Flash!
The woman's body shuddered. Then it abruptly went still.
Had she truly reclaimed her ego?
There was no soul in this corpse. Only remnants of a soul remained.
And yet, a single use of this skill had brought back her ego.
It seemed my past-life knowledge was correct.
According to what I knew from my previous life, a person possessed both a spiritual soul and a corporeal soul.
Together, the two made up the whole soul.
When a person died, the spiritual soul was said to go to the netherworld, while the corporeal soul remained on earth before gradually dispersing.
In other words.
In that case, Self-Reclamation might work by gathering the shattered, scattered remnants of the corporeal soul back together.
Or maybe not.
But it was probably right?
"Are you the necromancer who revived me?"
Her manner of speech was remarkably formal.
Even though she was only a lowest-grade Walking Corpse, she regarded me with striking dignity.
"And if I am?"
She slowly opened her mouth.
"I have one request of you."
"A request?"
A corpse that had only just awakened was already asking a favor.
This was another new template.
Everyone I had revived so far had been in full "Master! Loyalty!" mode, but she was different.
"Give me my freedom."
"......Freedom?"
I instinctively raised an eyebrow slightly.
This was on a whole different scale from the very first words.
Wasn't the usual routine after resurrection to ask "Where am I?" or "Who am I?" first?
But this woman went straight to demanding freedom.
"You. Do you know where this place is?"
"The Dimensional Tower."
She answered in a clear tone.
"I understand at least that this is a place created by some vast will. And that I have been forcibly bound to this place. I also surmise that even my ability to maintain such clear reason is due to the Dimensional Tower's power."
"Oh-ho."
For a corpse that had just awakened, she grasped the situation quickly.
"If you understand that much."
I lightly crossed my arms and opened my mouth.
"Then you probably also know that even if I give you freedom, nothing would actually change?"
At my words, she looked at me calmly without any agitation.
Then she spoke composedly.
"That is my problem."
"......What?"
"It is simply a matter of resolving it myself and surviving myself. It is not something for you to take responsibility for."
"......Huh."
A hollow laugh escaped me before I knew it.
This woman's composure was extraordinary.
She had only just awakened as a corpse, yet she was already saying, "I'll take care of my own survival."
In modern terms, she was practically the embodiment of self-determination.
I liked this spirit.
"You're an interesting one."
I looked at her with a faint smile.
"Then let me ask one thing. How much do you know about the Dimensional Tower?"
"I do not know much."
She answered honestly.
"I only know that it is a place overseen by a vast and mighty divine being."
"Is that so."
I sank into thought for a moment.
She had spirit to spare, but almost no information about the Dimensional Tower.
Then the sensible thing was to explain the reality of her situation first.
"First, let me tell you this."
I slowly opened my mouth.
"Right now you're the lowest-grade kind of undead: a Walking Corpse."
She quietly listened to my words.
"In this state, your body can't sustain itself unless it receives Necromantic Mana or consumes the living. Otherwise it will simply collapse and return to the earth."
In other words, her survival currently depended on my Necromantic Mana.
This was the fundamental limitation of a Walking Corpse.
"And moreover, if I gave you freedom inside the Dimensional Tower, do you know what would happen next?"
"What would happen?"
"I don't know either."
"......?"
She made a slightly puzzled expression.
Well, it was understandable that she'd be baffled by me confidently saying I didn't know.
"I really don't know. To be completely honest, I haven't figured out every part of the Dimensional Tower system myself."
I'd wondered before what happened to everything inside a Floor after it was cleared.
A world that reset when you entered again.
The Stone-Pile Village had been like that.
My guess was that everything got broken down and reconstructed.
Like a game stage resetting.
When a stage ended, it felt as though all the monsters and NPCs inside were reset.
If she got caught in that reset, what would happen? She might be broken down and disappear the moment she gained her freedom.
I explained this to her.
She even had trouble grasping the Dimensional Tower's concept of separate Floors.
That was because the Dimensional Tower didn't just put all knowledge into your head.
Once I'd explained nearly everything, I spoke again.
"So, here's the thing."
I looked straight at her and made an offer.
"How about staying under me for about a month first?"
"A month......."
"Right. Spend that month learning how the Dimensional Tower works. If you still want freedom afterward, I'll release you according to your wishes. I promise."
By my own standards, it was a fairly reasonable proposal.
I wasn't forcibly keeping her bound, and I wasn't forcibly releasing her either.
It was a gentlemanly deal: we would decide after seeing how things went.
From my perspective, I'd actually be losing a useful corpse resource, so the arrangement only cost me.
But.
If she chose to remain under me, I would have gained a fairly useful talent.
She gazed at me quietly for a while.
There was no wariness or hostility in that gaze.
It was simply a look that calmly assessed me as a person.
At last.
Swish.
She slowly lowered her head.
"I am Bihallat, a knight of Elbirant."
Elbirant?
A place name I had never heard before.
It seemed to be a world somewhere in the Dimensional Tower.
"For a time, I shall place myself in your care."
"Good."
I nodded with satisfaction.
A knight, huh.
And with this spirit and clear ego.
She must not have been an ordinary person in life.
Had a surprisingly valuable recruit just fallen into my lap?
"I look forward to working with you, Bihallat."
The corpse knight who had cried out for freedom
thus came under my command on a one-month contract.
* * *
"Now then. Shall I turn on the stream?"
I settled onto the throne and turned on the broadcast.
Ding!
I could see the waiting viewers flooding in all at once.
-My medicine has arrived!
-Corpse-Spirit bro, caught the stream live again today!
-Getting two Mythic Grade items yesterday was seriously legendary
-God Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign has appeared, everyone rise
-Bro, what are you going to show us today!
-Dopamine charging station open, clap clap clap
From the start, the chat window was visibly boiling over noisily.
As always, my viewers were madness itself.
Wasn't this exactly why I streamed?
[TodayMeToo! has donated 1DP!]
That Mythic Grade skill yesterday was insane. Looking forward to today too, bro.
[GukbapChung has donated 1DP!]
Bro, have you eaten? Mining is good and all, but don't skip meals.
[DoorOpener has donated 1DP!]
What are you showing today?
"Oh. Thanks for the donations, everyone."
I lightly waved my hand in greeting.
Donations were coming in nicely from the start—the mood was good again today.