Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Necropolis Assault
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“What?”
Rania momentarily panicked and asked back.
“Why…… No, but if we do that, we might run short of funds to operate the mansion right away.”
“I heard at the grand temple yesterday. The elixir wholesaler that the Lunenbreth family deals with is a complete bunch of scammers.”
The story about hearing it at the temple was a lie, but the wholesaler being scammers was true. Rania blinked in surprise and cautiously asked.
“Scammers? What on earth do you mean?”
“They’re ripping off the elixir prices. For example, they buy a bottle of stamina recovery elixir for five silver coins and sell it for thirty silver coins themselves.”
“That’s…… how that world works from the start.”
Right. I know that too. Right now, some merchant guild has a monopoly on elixir distribution and is raking in a fortune.
But the important thing isn’t about making more money or not—it’s that there’s no need to leak the high-quality elixirs produced by the Lunenbreth family here to the outside.
I smiled faintly and nodded slowly.
“That’s what they say. Anyway, don’t sell the elixirs coming out of here—store them all in the warehouse. I’ll handle the money somehow.”
“The Prince will handle the money…….”
“Prince?”
Right then, Meredes—who moved at nearly wild animal levels—nimbly entered the room carrying a large chest.
“A messenger just arrived from the imperial palace. They said the Prince isn’t feeling well and is still in his chambers, so they left this as a gift from the palace and departed.”
Judging by her flushed face, she seemed to guess what was inside. I got out of bed and pulled out the official letter sealed on the chest.
“Victory commemorative silver medal…… They’re giving this already?”
From my experience in the previous regression, Jess would always try desperately to delay reward payments whenever I accomplished something.
But they paid this out in just one day? As expected, the Saint title must have improved public opinion and put pressure on them?
“Prince, what is this…….”
“It’s the reward money from the previous war victory. Three thousand gold coins.”
“Three thousand gold coins!”
Clunk!
As I opened the chest, dazzling gold coins revealed themselves. Rania staggered for a moment and fell to her knees.
“H-How can there be so much money…….”
“Precisely half—one thousand five hundred—were sent first, and the rest will be sent within a month, it says.”
“I-I’ve never seen so many gold coins in my life.”
Meredes, who had been watching, chimed in too. That was how financially strained the Lunenbreth family was, and Claude blowing a fortune on gambling and pleasures had played a big part in it.
“Take this to the head maid and use it for running the mansion.”
“What?”
Rania awkwardly stood up and said.
“All this money…… is that what you mean?”
“Yeah. There are a lot of places money needs to go, right? Mansion operating costs, the elixir material fees I mentioned earlier. The maids have been working hard lately, so give them extra pay or pocket money.”
“I’m fine. Just being taken in by the Lunenbreth family is a lifelong grace.”
Suddenly, Meredes turned serious and spoke. I gave a wry smile and took out three or four gold coins from the chest, placing them directly in her hand.
“……!”
“Don’t live like some wild beast—go to the market and spend some money. You don’t even have a single set of casual clothes besides your maid uniform, right?”
Oops, that was info I’d learned from repeated regressions…… Did I say it for no reason?
“……Head Maid?”
“It’s fine. It’s grace bestowed by the Prince, so accept it. Meredes.”
But Rania patted Meredes’s back without any suspicion. Meredes, whose face had turned bright red, deeply bowed toward me.
“Thank you, Prince. I will surely stake my life to acquire good casual clothes.”
“Don’t take it like you’re heading to war. Oh, Rania?”
“Yes, Prince.”
“What happened with those sugar bars I mentioned yesterday?”
“I made a few samples. Meredes? Go bring the Prince’s breakfast and the sugar bars we prepared.”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
Meredes promptly went back out. And in less than three minutes, she returned to the room carrying a large tray steaming with heat.
“Here it is, Prince.”
On the tray, along with breakfast, were sugar bars the size of fingers on a small plate.
“As you instructed, I boiled sugar, added honey and milk to the dough, mixed in nuts, put it in molds, and let it set.”
“Mmm…… Delicious.”
Of course, it was light-years away from the chocolate bars I’d eaten long ago in my hometown.
Still, beggars can’t be choosers. The goal from the start was to slam a massive dose of glucose into my brain.
“Package ten of these separately for me. I have to go to the Elstone Earldom this afternoon.”
“The Elstone Earldom? Why there…… No, I see.”
Rania seemed to recall yesterday’s events and quickly changed her expression.
“You said you’ll be running a dedicated countermeasures team for the undead army from now on. Naturally, you’ll need to meet with Count Elstone and discuss important matters.”
“It’s not that important—just a quick talk. Round trip should take about six days?”
I could fly there with flight magic and make it back in six hours, but this time it was for show to the public, so I couldn’t handle it that way. Rania immediately bowed her head and replied calmly.
“Understood. Then I’ll prepare Growth Elixirs and Detoxification Elixirs for you in the meantime. But for six days, it might be a bit tight. Meredes?”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
“I’ll go down to the elixir workshop for a bit. Please attend to the Prince’s meal in the meantime. Then…….”
She bowed to me and hurried out of the room with quick steps. I set the tray on the table, picked up a fork, and asked.
“Eaten yet? Meredes?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Lately, there have been more presences in the surrounding forest than before, so we’ve increased security. I’ve been on patrol in the forest this morning and was on duty until now.”
She must have spotted the person from the palace and rushed over. I speared some tender steamed meat with the fork and brought it to my mouth as I asked.
“The mansion’s security is all handled by the maids? No money to hire separate guards?”
“I’m not sure, but for now, there are only us maids in the mansion.”
“That’s a big problem. You need to deploy people properly. For example…….”
The four sealed priests who were freed from the lich’s seal last night—what were they doing right now? Taking a vacation at the beach?
Anyway, now that I’m starting to get attention, it’s natural for flies to swarm around the mansion.
From my experience so far, mostly scammer investors, scammer knight instructors, scammer alchemists, scammer real estate agents, scammer salesmen…… All scammers. Anyway, useless people slinking toward the remote Lunenbreth mansion.
Give it a little more time, and events targeting my life will start popping up.
This time, they’re just starting a bit faster. With a huge sum of money coming in right away, it wouldn’t be bad to assign some of the sealed priests to mansion security once they arrive.
But Meredes’s gaze has been fixed on the sugar bar on the tray without moving since earlier?
“Meredes?”
“Yes, Prince.”
“Want this?”
I picked up a sugar bar and held it in front of Meredes. She gulped audibly and replied.
“If you give it to me, I’ll gratefully eat it.”
Even though I’d already taken a bite—it didn’t faze her at all. Any other maid would have freaked out and backed away, but as expected of someone who grew up foraging herbs and running wild in the mountains, she had no hang-ups.
“Yeah. Eat it. Keep it secret from Rania.”
“I will. Then…….”
Meredes unhesitatingly popped the sugar bar into her mouth. She chewed for a while, then suddenly widened her eyes like an owl.
“It’s really delicious. My tongue is melting.”
Right. Made with sugar and honey—how could it not taste good?
Come to think of it, sugar bars were originally planned for about a year from now? I didn’t expect to use them this soon, not even a month after regressing.
* * *
Necropolis.
It was a castle of corpses, its framework built from massive bleached bones, its walls plastered with rotting flesh.
From afar, it looked like a giant lump of meat crouched down, but it was a moving fortress capable of actual movement on command.
From the enormous eye socket of that giant, a lich in a red cloak raised his staff and spoke.
“My Lord, give the order. Necropolis is now closer to the empire’s lands than ever before. Just give the command, and I will lead the legion across to establish a foothold.”
“Reckless action. Azran.”
Then, another lich beside him spread his bony arms and interjected.
“The Lord moved the fortress here to first gauge the living’s reaction.”
“Luin. Do you think I don’t know that?”
“We still don’t know how they annihilated our vanguard. So this time, instead of moving rashly, we should lure the enemies to this fortress and confirm with our own eyes. Isn’t that right, my Lord?”
As the two liches voiced differing opinions, the gray-skinned man seated on the central skull throne slowly opened his eyes.
“Azran, Luin.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Can’t you see we’re using Necropolis’s eye right now? You’re both distracted—quiet down.”
He was Crock, the overlord of the undead army.
The lich called Azran hurriedly dropped to one knee and said.
“My apologies, my Lord. But at this rate, the fortress will soon cross into the living’s territory.”
“The reason I brought Necropolis here…… is to scout the enemy’s castle with Necropolis’s eye.”
At the same time, the house-sized eyeball embedded in the space right next to them twitched. Crock rose from the skull throne, his entire body emanating chilling cold.
“Elstone Count has no power to stop us. The empire must have sent reinforcements. Surely the empire’s strongest—the White Knight Order or Rose Knight Order—but no matter where I look, I don’t see them.”
“They might be stationed not at Elstone Castle but somewhere else. Or perhaps they crushed the vanguard and returned.”
“They might have sent Arch Wizards or priests instead of knights. Those move in small numbers, so the fortress’s eye wouldn’t catch them.”
“……That’s possible too.”
Crock closed his eyes again while seated on the throne.
“Listen well, both of you. We don’t know the exact location, but somewhere in that empire is our final key—Rablts.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“It’s been 200 years since Rablts left our side. We don’t know what happened. We must somehow find his trail and bring him back here. Azran?”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Is your decision complete?”
“It is. It was finished ten years ago, and now it’s reached maturity.”
The lich in the red cloak raised his staff above his head. Crock, still with eyes closed, asked the other lich beside him.
“Luin, is your mana decision complete?”
“Of course, my Lord. It was decades ago.”
“Right. Yet the one among you who completed his decision first isn’t by my side.”
Crock leaned against the throne’s armrest with a pained expression. The two liches watched their lord’s face and fell silent for a while.
“……I received the grace of Quincy, god of darkness and death, and stand alone in this world of the dead.”
“Indeed. Thanks to your existence, the world of the dead opened, and we could step into the deeper realms of magic beyond Arch Wizard.”
“But that won’t last much longer. I feel Quincy’s grace leaving my body. At longest, 30 years…… At shortest, less than 15.”
“My Lord…….”
“So we must retrieve Rablts before then. Together, find Quincy’s sanctuary, pass through the wall blocking it with your decisions, and only then…… can I receive new grace and be reborn.”
That was information I hadn’t even heard during my third reincarnation on their side. With an exclamation, I released my stealth and said.
“What’s that? You guys were hiding secrets like that too?”