The Necromancer Who Was Despised

“It was not convenient to borrow knights or soldiers from the Siglen County. That’s why we became fully responsible for the escort… Sir Rainbank will help us on the way there and back, but he won’t be able to stay with us for the whole month.”

Sir Rainbank said to be busy with the development preparations.

“… Will Sir Rainbank also be joining the escort mission?”

“Yes. As I said, he will only be with us for a short while on the way there and back.”

Rainbank.

He is the only regular knight in the Ovalon territory.

‘Maybe… it won’t be a complete loss.’

I had a feeling that the tasks I had planned to assign to Atina might be solved all at once.

Varnish ordered me to come in two days.

I decided to accept the request with only Kayla, using the excuse that I still didn’t get along with Atina, and Varnish accepted my request, saying that I alone was enough.

After seeing off Varnish and the squire escorting him, I announced to the party that I had received another request.

“I didn’t know the successor to the territory would come in person. “There are such inconveniences when living in a pioneering territory.”

“It’s not something that happens often. This is a special case.”

“Then Tia and I will have to live together for about a month?”

“Probably. That’s why.”

“There are a few things I need you to do.”

“Sure. Just tell me.”

Originally, I had planned to investigate the Rain Bank or find a way to infiltrate the secret passage.

I thought I could do it since I found out the location from Disan.

‘But now that I’m escorting the dwarves who came for repairs…’

If I played my cards right, I might get a chance to get in.

And even though Rain Bank isn’t there all the time, he’ll be with me while we travel, so it’s a chance to observe him up close.

‘I wish I could see him fight in person, but that’s probably too much to ask.’

He’ll be taking the safe route, so there won’t be any fighting.

He probably won’t even make a move unless he has to.

Still, there’s a big difference between seeing it in person and just gathering information from rumors.

Besides, Rain Bank is a knight. Even if he has to be escorted in secret, he won’t come alone.

I expected to be able to indirectly gauge his combat level through the people around him.

So, what I wanted to ask Artina was to do the things I had planned to do.

“I’d like you to hunt the monsters I asked for. You have the map, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

“You want me to capture them?”

“No, no. I’m talking about killing the monsters I mentioned and collecting some of their byproducts.”

She probably won’t like it very much.

That’s because, instead of simply collecting monster byproducts after a hunt, she’d have to process them separately for my undead creation.

I’ll prepare them so that she can just put them in, but even so, it’s bound to make her feel uncomfortable since it’s assisting with black magic.

‘But it shouldn’t be that difficult.’

She knows I’m a black magician, and since her brother was cured by my black magic, her perception of black magic isn’t all that bad, so I was able to make this request.

“Okay…? I guess I’ll do it.”

I didn’t go into detail right now, but she seemed to realize that it wasn’t an ordinary task.

“And if I’m late, I’d like you to receive the items I ordered.”

“Oh, the ones you ordered this time?”

“Yes. Most of them are expensive.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of it.”

“Lastly, I’m going to put you in charge of managing the basement.”

“……The basement? That place?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll tell you the details tomorrow.”

I had some time, so I had plenty of time to tell her.

Artina looked a little pleased at my words.

I don’t know why she would look happy when I’m giving her work, but I guess it’s good that she doesn’t hate it.

‘She probably won’t be too happy when she hears what she has to do.’

I had asked her to collect monster byproducts earlier, and I needed to process them in the basement.

That’s why I was going to have her manage it all at once.

After eating the stale dinner and finishing the day early, I walked around outside all day, leading Athena.

That’s why I had no choice but to leave most of the preparations to Kayla.

Fortunately, since the preparation period was short, Vanis said he would provide the basic supplies, so Kayla didn’t have much to do.

“So, you want me to kill monsters, collect their byproducts, and put them in here?”

“…Why are you doing this?”

“It’s necessary for making the undead.”

Athena’s expression, after listening carefully to my instructions, was naturally not good.

After all, I was recognized as a black magician, and I had seen her use black magic or raise zombies, but it was a completely different story for her to directly help with such a physiologically disgusting experiment.

However, she quickly regained her composition and began to ask me actively.

“You mean cut off the goblin’s wrist and put it in here?”

“Yes. Pull out all the nails and collect them. In addition, put the deer’s antlers here, the bodily fluids of the three monsters here, and mix them together…”

There were many miscellaneous things to do.

Unlike raising a normal skeleton, what I was getting Athena’s help with was making a specter.

Unlike when I first raised a skeleton, it wasn’t a situation where it would be okay to fail, so I needed to prepare to increase the success rate.

Fortunately, the quality of the soul’s shadow, which was the key ingredient, was good, so even if the other ingredients were lacking, it would be possible to succeed.

“Just in case, I’ll place skeletons in the basement. However, just in case, make sure the security is thorough.”

The staff should also be left here because they can’t be taken with me for various reasons.

They would also be in charge of supplying magic, so it couldn’t be helped.

So security needs to be even tighter.

“Of course. If I fill each byproduct with your instructions, it won’t be a pretty sight. Even if you’re an honorary soldier, you won’t be able to get past it easily, will you?”

I said that I could understand that the perception of a black magician that I had mentioned before was even more rubbish than I had imagined.

“But it’s strange. I know you called me to help with the undead, but I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would.”

“What’s that?”

“Is it funny? It’s funny to me too. I never thought I’d be looking forward to helping with the undead. Is it because I’ve been receiving help all the time and I can finally repay you a little?”

She wasn’t happy to help with the undead, but she was happy to be trusted and able to help me.

‘It’s not that I don’t trust you.’

I wouldn’t have asked for this if I didn’t trust her.

I wouldn’t have allowed her to enter the research lab in the basement, and I wouldn’t have left the skeletons and staff here.

It was no different from entrusting her with everything I currently had.

“Move all the items I ordered to the basement.”

In addition, I handed her the map that started with Nenson and was completed in my hands, and even roughly taught her the points I knew.

Thanks to this, the day passed by in an instant, and Athena was still smiling brightly, even though she was tired.

“I’ll ask you to take good care of it while I’m gone.”

At my words, Athena nodded as if to tell me not to worry.

When the day came to leave for the request, Tia said with regret.

“I finally got into the development team…”

She seemed sorry that we had to part ways without spending much time together.

“You must come back safely.”

I think it will be a long time before I can return, but there won’t be much danger.

There’s a knight attached.

I put on my gear and took the bag Kylea had prepared for me, heading to the meeting place.

The meeting place was an open space quite a distance from the pioneering area, where Banis was already waiting with several others.

“Oh, you’re here.”

“I’m late.”

“No, you’re not.” In fact, you’re early. We just got here, too.”

His speech was still like an old man’s.

It was really strange to hear such speech from the clear voice of a young boy.

“This is Sir Rainbank, who will be in overall charge of your escort. I believe this is the first time you’re meeting face-to-face.”

“Yes, it is. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Jimnis, who was undeservedly given the title of Honorary Soldier. “This is my slave, Kylea.”

“I’m Rainbank. It’s a pleasure to meet the Honorary Soldier whose name has been buzzing around lately.”

I tried to downplay myself as much as possible in case of any unexpected situations, but fortunately, it seemed that he wasn’t that difficult of a character.

“I’ll be in your care.”

“No, I’ll be in your care.”

“Hahaha. We’ll all be in each other’s care. Since this is the first major task Father has entrusted to me, I’d really like to succeed.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Rainbank said it as if it were a given, and the people who seemed to be his retainers and servants lowered their heads as if in agreement.

“Then let’s set off right away. Oh, Jimnis. “Can you ride a horse?”

“Yes, I can.”

“That’s good. Rickinley.”

“Give them two horses.”

“Yes!”

He was the apprentice knight who had come to my house with Banis two days ago.

Kylea and I each got on a horse, and at Rainbank’s instructions, I took the left side.

“We’ll set off, Your Highness.”

“Very well.”

“Let’s go!”

At Rainbank’s words, our group set off towards Siglen County.

As we moved along quietly, Kylea and I kept watch over one side at a time according to Rainbank’s instructions. After a while, Kylea spoke to me in a hushed voice.

“They’ve even prepared a carriage for the servants. It looks like they really want to minimize the travel time.”

“That’s right. Travel time is the most dangerous time.”

Even so, I was quite surprised that they had prepared a carriage for the servants.

Horses aren’t cheap, and there were over ten of them.

Of course, they weren’t all warhorses. Most of them were packhorses, and the only proper warhorse was the one that Rainbank was riding.

Of course, even if they were packhorses, horses are expensive animals in themselves, so it was clear that the Baron of Orwaran took this matter seriously.

“But I don’t know why the Baron of Orwaran would need a dwarf.”

I looked at Kylea with a strange look at her words.

Originally, she would have heard about the secret passage from me yesterday or the day before, but I had lost the time to explain it due to Banis’s visit and having to leave various tasks to Athina.

Therefore, from Kylea’s point of view, she couldn’t help but have questions about the request.

“There’s no point in knowing. If it was information you needed to know, you would have been told. “Just pretend you don’t know.”

I couldn’t explain it in a place like this, so I had no choice but to say that.

Fortunately, Kayla was also perceptive enough not to question me any further.

When it was time to eat, the servants would get off the carriage and prepare our meals, and all the combatants, including me, had to do was eat the food they prepared.

Of course, we still had to keep an eye on our surroundings.

‘This is quite comfortable.’

That’s why there was nothing difficult about the mission.

In the first place, we hadn’t taken over the dwarves yet, so there wasn’t much danger.

‘If there were any who were after the dwarves, they would have targeted them when they were still with the dwarves.’

As evening fell, Langbank decided on a suitable place to camp, and the familiar artifacts were distributed.

“Master, this is…” .”

“Sir Kuman must have presented this.”

A tent with a temperature-regulating enchantment and boundary stones being set up around it.

Thanks to this, it seemed that everything would be convenient in many ways.

Since the servants seemed busy, Kayla decided to set up our tent.

While Kayla was setting up the tent, Langbank approached me.

I didn’t expect him to approach me first, so I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

“What brings you here, Sir Langbank?”

“I came to inform you about the night watch.”

Although there were boundary stones, unlike me who had only dealt with monsters, we had to be wary of humans as well, so a night watch was essential.

‘If the other side has an excellent magician, they could neutralize the boundary stones.’

“You and your slave will be on the second watch.”

I wondered why he had come in person when he could have sent someone, but Langbank spoke preemptively.

“Just like now.”

“… Excuse me? “What do you mean?”

“Just like now, don’t have useless thoughts, and just focus on the task at hand.”

It seemed that he had heard what Kayla had whispered to me earlier.

‘He’s definitely worthy of being a regular knight. His ears are sharp.’

It was the right choice not to have carelessly spoken back then.