NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14
Queen of the Night, Valentia Roseha. She was not only the Succubus Queen but also an authority in doll magic.
The dolls modeled after living beings soon became Roseha’s followers.
They may be called dolls, but they act and behave as if they have their own consciousness, wielding considerable power.
Roseha, when desired, can possess the bodies of these dolls. Just like right now.
The Succubus before me might look like a doll, but it was undoubtedly Roseha inside.
“Hmm. You have quite the eye, don’t you?”
Her voice, like a sweet whisper, tickled my ear. She had been playfully stroking my nape with her gestures for a while.
If I had been running, I would’ve reacted without even realizing it.
“Tell me, how did you figure it out?”
“….”
“This is something even the elder can’t recognize, you know? You’re not going to spill the beans?”
The elder she referred to was the second-ranked boss of the Tenth Abyss, which meant I had managed to see through a disguise that even the second boss couldn’t.
A seventh-ranked boss with insight that even the second lacks? Clearly, Roseha was filled with curiosity and intrigue, and now it seemed my assumption was precisely correct.
…Maybe I should have just pretended not to know.
I created a mess by acting like I knew something.
“What do you want?”
I turned the conversation dryly.
Roseha stared at me intently, then broke into a playful smile.
“What if you tell me first?”
At this rate, I’d be caught in a trap.
I simply kept my gaze on Roseha, and she accepted my stare with her usual grin.
Reluctantly, I decided to speak first.
“There’s nothing monumental to discuss. In these days of boredom, I heard that a new Seven Lairs was updated. Naturally, that piqued my interest.”
“…Hmm.”
“Coincidentally, the seventh was requesting dungeon support. It’s only natural to support if I want to maintain a good relationship. Although I have my personal curiosity, confronting them under the pretense of support might make the weight of the sixth boss appear heavy to my juniors.”
I noticed Roseha’s level color shift to a light green.
“While preserving the dignity of the sixth boss, I wish to satisfy my curiosity. That’s why I chose this approach, right? If I just observe without revealing anything, it all works out.”
“Sharp as a tack?”
Roseha leaned forward as if bending her waist with her arms crossed behind her back.
As she shot me a mischievous smile, I almost instinctively looked away. I might actually fall under her spell at this rate.
“I have no vile intentions like a skull would. Honestly, I just came to see you. Curiosity? Fascination, perhaps? I wanted to see what kind of man you are.”
“Is that so?”
“Oh, I had expectations too. I worried about what I’d do if my experience fell short since you’re seventh-ranked.”
In an instant, her level returned to normal, devoid of question marks.
I looked around, searching for those question marks, and soon turned to the Vampire standing off to the side.
“So, now that you see me in person, what do you think?”
“…You sure know how to make a girl hot and bothered, huh?”
I knew it already, but hearing such a direct line thrown at me felt oddly exhilarating.
“Way surpassed my expectations. You’ll have to spare some time for me when I come back. Just the two of us.”
“A meeting between bosses of the Lairs, huh? Looks like you want a private negotiation.”
“Negotiation? Well, that’s almost correct. The truth is, I’m looking for some… action?”
…Wait, what did she just say?
“I’d love to roll around with you right now… but this isn’t my original body, you know? Isn’t it better to keep it real for the first time?”
“I’m Undead, though.”
“Oh my, how ungentlemanly of you on our first meeting. I’m the Queen of Dreams. Surely, there’s a way?”
What method could there possibly be if she has no body and can’t sleep?
I hadn’t read anything like that in any detailed setup guides.
Thinking more only leads to a feeling of being sucked into a nightmare.
“I’m busy right now. I’ll formally request a meeting later, so let’s catch up then.”
“Alright. I’ll be looking forward to it. See you then?”
With those words, the question marks disappeared from her level.
From the looks of it, she had returned to her main body as I couldn’t find her anywhere around.
I had met many who drained my energy with conversation, but this was the first time I felt my essence being siphoned off.
Sighing with a cold breath, I turned my body.
“Charlotte. Are you all set?”
“….”
Charlotte was glaring at a vampire, the one that Roseha had just been posing with.
“Charlotte.”
“…Yes.”
“Are you ready?”
“Ah, I’ll do it right away.”
Her flustered demeanor was somehow unsettling.
You’ll have to handle everything when we leave, so what will you do if you don’t get your act together?
‘That’s true for me as well.’
Ever since that slightly contradictory first meeting, I haven’t been able to get my head straight. It was an intense first encounter, but in a different way than with Calandas.
*
“There are quite a few real cases where a knight has removed his helmet and turned out to be a Death Knight. It means that if you don’t look closely, they appear human. Besides, if it’s a Death Knight like the boss who’s good with words, you wouldn’t even suspect it.”
“And if we do get caught?”
“Annihilation.”
“….”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let the boss get his hands dirty; I’ll take care of it myself.”
Somehow, it seemed like our journey would be ominous.
I touched the empty skull atop my head.
Where there should have been deer antlers, only lifeless white hair met my fingers.
I had to wear a helmet, but since I had the antlers, I simply shattered them, trusting in natural healing.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t used anything besides evolution and strengthening magic; I had also had ‘Advanced Swordsmanship’ and ‘Natural Healing’ as constant traits.
They would regrow after some time, and being undead meant I felt no pain, but… for some reason, I felt like I had lost something precious.
“Did you cast the protection magic well?”
“Yes.”
Thanks to Charlotte’s magic, we could move around without issue during the day.
For a necromancer, the undead are equivalent to weapons, so it’s only natural there were spells for operating them even in daylight.
Charlotte would handle the food and bedding for our campsite.
Other than that, there was nothing I needed to prepare. It didn’t matter whether I slept or ate.
Finally, I checked my physical condition.
I hid my body perfectly with armor to look like a knight.
It appeared that the protection magic had been cast flawlessly, considering the sunlight didn’t seem to bother me.
“Just to be cautious, did you take care of the Dungeon Core?”
“I’ve hidden it safely in my 11th rib.”
For reference, I had told her that I possessed the Dungeon Core.
In reality, I didn’t have anything like that, so she could possibly question its existence since I couldn’t show it.
However, many bosses hid Dungeon Cores within them, and since I was one of them, she believed me without a second thought.
If the Dungeon Core were destroyed, the boss would perish, and the dungeon would collapse.
I remembered from the setting book that showing its location and physical form to subordinates was a difficult decision for a core that was a life line.
Charlotte seemed to understand this and didn’t ask any further questions.
Our destination was the tropical rainforest inhabited by the Insect Tribe.
Charlotte said it would take about three days to get there by carriage.
“If we use the portal that the merchants use, we could get there quickly.”
“Merchants affiliated with the association can only use it. It has been an unbroken rule, and not even the Unbreakable Realm could negotiate on it.”
“But the 5th and 6th ranked ones used it just fine, didn’t they?”
“Those individuals have their own dungeon portals.”
Turns out all of them had their own portals.
No wonder the portals seemed different in color and shape.
When I asked how to create a portal, I was told that one had to have a deep understanding of spatial magic.
Regarding magic, Charlotte had a solid foundation. I glanced at her with hopeful eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Looks like she couldn’t do it. I guess that’s why we had to take the carriage.
There was nothing to feel disappointed about. No matter how much of a witch Charlotte was, it was natural that she couldn’t compare to the bosses of the Unbreakable Realm.
“As I mentioned, our identity is that a boss is a wandering knight in search of his lord. I’ll be introduced as that knight’s squire.”
Charlotte also changed her attire from a wizard’s robe to that of a squire.
A tunic made of linen, a woolen cloak, and a traveler’s mantle.
If there were no mistakes, we could pass for a knight and his squire.
“As you know, the undead boss cannot ride a horse, so we must find a carriage. Stopping by a nearby village to find a merchant carriage would be the easiest route. If that doesn’t work, we might have to catch a ride on a carriage heading in the same direction.”
I didn’t want to go to the village because of some unpleasant memories.
“One thing to note is that since it’s early winter, merchant movement might be rare. Even if there are some, they will mostly be dealing with cotton or animal skins and heading north.”
That was in the opposite direction of us heading south.
Now that I thought about it, I realized these minor issues were piling up, making our departure more difficult.
Got it. Who knew these trivial issues would make starting off such a hassle?
“Well, there’s one method.”
“What is it?”
“It’s the skeleton horse. I can summon it right now, and it’s easy to control. But the stares from others would be a big problem. If I ride around on a skeleton horse, the hunting party might just start chasing us.”
“Can’t we just take a road with no people?”
“I humbly apologize, but the road is narrow, and the forests on either side are filled with wild monsters instead of humans. Of course, the boss doesn’t mind either the hunting party or the monsters. But it does mean unnecessary time expenditure.”
Honestly, the thought of taking that risk was more than a little concerning.
“Let’s just take the road for now.”
“Wise choice.”
I had a bad feeling about the village since I was chased by Balmunk.
If I don’t see a carriage to hitch a ride, I could just ride through the forest on the skeleton horse. The wild monsters? Charlotte will take care of them.
*
“Are you two heading south? Then you should join us!”
It was less than an hour after we set off, and fortunately, we encountered a southbound caravan.
But it was quite the sight.
Leading the way was a mule pulling a wagon stacked with expensive furs, iron farming tools, and glass crafts.
Behind it, it was clear that high-quality horses were pulling wagons, accompanied by dozens of mercenaries.
“Just hop on and relax. With a knight like you, we’ll feel secure!”
The pudgy man with a mustache, who seemed to be the leader of the caravan, was actually begging us to join them.
He added that as long as a knight was with them, they wouldn’t need to worry about bandits or monsters popping out in the forest. So that’s what this was about.
Before climbing onto the wagon, I glanced at Charlotte’s expression.
I thought she would nod in agreement, but she shook her head with a strangely anxious look.
‘Is there something I don’t know?’
It’s possible Charlotte sees something I don’t.
I nodded deliberately as if to tell her to speak up.
“Thank you for the offer, but we must decline. The knight wishes to walk for a month without any form of transportation as part of a training regime.”
“O-oh, but if you join us—”
“We must decline.”
Charlotte firmly refused, leaving me speechless.
The merchant, still smacking his lips, awkwardly resumed the halted line.
“What was that all about?”
Once the line of wagons had moved farther away, I casually asked.
After a moment of hesitation, Charlotte lowered her head and responded.
“The symbol on the wagon was from the Berks Trading Company.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“….”
She hesitated again before finally speaking up.
“About three years ago, the daughter of the Berks trading company owner went missing. The owner, frantic, hired mercenaries and hunters. He promised a huge reward for anyone who found his daughter. I was there at the time.”
Her unexpected backstory made me lean in, intrigued.
“The owner said he would pay 20 gold coins for finding her corpse, and 200 for bringing her back alive. And I was the lucky one who found her first.”
“The daughter?”
“Yes, the daughter. Or to be precise, her corpse.”
Oh boy.
“If I brought the corpse, I’d get 20 gold coins. But thinking of the 200 gold made me greedy. Eventually, I resurrected her as an undead and made her look as human as possible.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“I showed the daughter to the owner and got the 200 gold. Then I quickly ran away. Since then, I’ve had a bounty on my head.”
“….”
“Even if I were human, I felt no guilt. In fact, I felt a sense of achievement for deceiving humans. If I get the chance again, I’d probably do it once more.”
I was at a loss for words.
If Satan heard this, he would be scratching his head in disbelief.
“This year, the pursuit has been less intense, but getting on a wagon could lead to serious trouble. I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you, boss.”
“…It’s fine.”
Due to Charlotte’s personal past, we missed the caravan.
Seeing no more caravans heading in the same direction, we headed into the forest.
Once we stepped into the forest, we went deeper. To avoid human eyes, we needed to go further in.
After stepping in, I had to go deeper to avoid any human gaze.
In the thick of the forest, Charlotte summoned the skeletal horse.
Or she intended to do so, precisely.
“…This is.”
“….”
As a faint smell of blood wafted through, I pushed through the underbrush towards the source, where I came upon a heap of corpses.
Twenty-three goblin corpses. And one human knight with his warhorse.
From the looks of it, the knight had fought the goblins bravely until they both perished.
If one knight could achieve this much on his own, he must have been quite strong.
He was probably at least level 40.
Charlotte seemed to share the same thought, her interest piqued by the knight.
After all, resurrecting a knight like that into an Undead would be quite useful.
“…Strange.”
Charlotte stared intently at the knight.
“There’s not a drop of blood on his blade.”
Just as Charlotte said, the knight’s sword showed no sign of blood.
“The back of the knight’s head is soaked in blood. Other than that, there are no wounds or even scratches on his armor. It looks like the goblins killed him instantly with sling shots from the bushes.”
Then, Charlotte walked around the goblins and the warhorse, scanning the area.
“The cause of death for the goblins is all strong impacts or bite marks. And as for the warhorse….”
No matter where you looked, it was ragged and radiated the traces of fierce struggle.
“It seems it was trying to protect its dead master.”
“It seems so. That might just be the case.”
That was only one puzzling question among many.
When a master dies, they typically abandon their horse and run for their lives.
It was hard to believe that a warhorse had fought against dozens of goblins to protect its master.
Just that determination was impressive, but finding that it had actually killed them left me shocked again.
“Calling it an excellent steed would be an understatement. This skeletal horse will definitely be useful to the boss.”
With that, Charlotte unleashed a sinister magical aura.
Then the warhorse’s body quivered, and its skin and flesh started to gradually disappear.
When the last bit of flesh vanished, the skeletal horse rose up on its four legs.
-Hee-haw!
[Lv. 51]
I flinched in surprise at its level.
This wasn’t even a battle troop; just a mount, and it was level 51!
No wonder it was able to take down dozens of goblins.
“I’m sorry. My abilities are insufficient, and this is all I can do….”
Charlotte bent her waist, unable to raise her head.
If this was what she considered insufficient, what level had she been at when things went well?
‘Thinking about it, it sacrificed itself for its master, right?’
What were the conditions for my evolution?
Potential, the threat of death. Finally, if that threat of death comes from sacrifice, all conditions would be met.
I approached the skeletal horse and reached out my hand.
[Evolving the skeletal horse.]
[All conditions met, 100% success probability.]
[Evolution complete!! The skeletal horse has successfully evolved!]
As a result, the skeletal horse’s body grew somewhat larger, and like me, it sprouted deer antlers.
Antlers that looked just like mine? This was like a limited edition!
[Lv. 63]
Seeing the level, I nodded in satisfaction.
I shot a sidelong glance at Charlotte, who looked a bit dazed, and shrugged my shoulders.
“The boss always makes me perfect.”
Why did it sound so romantic? It made me oddly feel good.
“I’ll give you the special opportunity to name it.”
“Are we naming the skeletal horse?”
“Yeah.”
Charlotte put a finger on her chin, deep in thought.
That moment lasted a whopping three minutes.
Just how splendid was her sense of naming?
“How about ‘Golgoli’? Since it’s a skeleton, and it’s been groaning since it died.”
“I’ll name it.”
“Yes.”
Let’s think about the name later.
I hopped onto the skeletal horse and gave a couple of pats on my back seat.
“Let’s go.”
“…Yes.”
I learned to ride in this life, but the nerves were unavoidable.
But it was an excellent steed, so it should be able to handle it, right?
I could hear the muffled groans from behind, but I ignored them.
Am I really going to give my limited edition skeletal horse such a pathetic name?
“By the way, are we just leaving that knight behind?”
“We don’t need an Undead that couldn’t even kill a single goblin.”
True enough.