The Necromancer Who Was Despised

They planned to manipulate the severed communication as if it were a conflict between the pioneering territories, which inevitably held each other in check.

‘If that happens… the barony will be finished.’

As a pioneering territory, the food situation is not yet good.

Pioneering territories are supposed to receive support from nearby large territories until the territory is stabilized… but if the territory is isolated, that support will inevitably be cut off.

To be precise, they would pretend to send support, but in reality, they would not send any, temporarily fooling the Siglen count family.

Since there are people connected to the guild within the count family, it’s not entirely impossible, but it’s just as dangerous.

It’s not a short period of time, and it needs to be maintained for up to half a year…

However, the effect is certain.

The territory itself will have no choice but to slowly wither away.

It was said that they planned to buy the time needed for that with money.

In the case of the dwarf’s rental, it was said that the merchants’ guild planned to use a method of extending the rental period with a huge amount of money using their inside man.

Once the money comes in, the county won’t refuse.

If they warned the other party not to touch the dwarf, then Siglen would have nothing to lose, so they would turn a blind eye.

‘If we get caught, we’ll all die… but…’

They made such an extreme choice because they would all die if they were pushed out by Kuman anyway.

‘Since the natives have this kind of mentality, I had no choice but to fail in my first playthrough.’

I’m not the only one struggling to survive.

The Merchant Alliance is a wealthy and influential group, but they are still vulnerable to certain threats.

When faced with competition, they have resorted to desperate measures that could potentially lead to their own downfall.

Despite the risk of being executed by the Grand Lord, Earl Siglen, they have no qualms about carrying out their plans.

‘I’m not the only one who will do anything to survive.’

They are also fighting for their own survival, risking their lives and walking a dangerous tightrope.

In any case, it will be difficult for Baron Owallan to survive if their plan succeeds.

He might be able to break through the blockade, but…

‘I heard that Rainbank was badly injured?’

Apparently, one of the seeds was killed.

In that state, it would be impossible for Baron Owallan to break through the blockade imposed by the Merchant Alliance.

However, there was one thing that the Merchant Alliance did not know.

In a few months, a monster wave will occur, and all the pioneering territories will be wiped out.

In the process, the dwarves…

If we don’t take the dwarves, the Siglen family will start to move, and the Merchant Alliance will not be able to withstand Siglen’s wrath.

From the perspective of a commoner, the Merchant Alliance may seem formidable, but in the eyes of a true noble, they are nothing more than beings who can be crushed at any time.

‘Perhaps they will all be executed or left to suffer a living death.’

I have a newfound appreciation for the immense power that the great nobles wield.

And the Merchant Alliance’s ability to shield us from the eyes of such great nobles, even for a moment, is no ordinary feat.

We’ll see how it goes, but if they are confident, they must have a plan.

Of course, it’s not something they can do repeatedly.

It also means that the Merchant Alliance is wary of Kuman.

‘But if that’s the case… Can’t I take the dwarves?’

The Merchant Alliance will be held responsible.

If I can convince the dwarves, I can seize them during the monster wave.

‘It can’t hurt to try.’

If I succeed, it will be a huge win, and if I fail, I won’t lose anything.

I had a feeling that things might get interesting.

I gathered some of the mercenaries’ belongings, completely erased the traces of dark magic, and then returned to the camp where Kaila was waiting.

“You’re back. You’re late.”

“Ah. I did a little hunting.”

“Hmm? What’s that…”

“There were pursuers. Fortunately, there weren’t many of them, and they were careless, so I took care of them all.”

“Is that so? Hmm… That’s quite a lot.”

“We probably won’t need to go hunting separately. I got lucky.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

I offered Kaila a chance to rest, but she shook her head.

“I’ll be fine for a day. We don’t need to go hunting, so I can rest tomorrow. Besides, I’m riding a horse, so I’ll be fine. You should rest, Master.”

I accepted her consideration.

As soon as the sun rose, I pressed Barnis.

“You’re saying the pursuers are following us?”

“Yes. The ones I discovered yesterday were a small group, so I somehow managed to deal with them by forcing a night battle, but the ones who come after this will be beyond our means to handle.”

Barnis looked terrified at my words.

“Then what should we do?”

“There’s no way. It’s already a miracle that we’ve managed to escape this far. There must be traces left behind since we fought a battle yesterday… .”

If we hadn’t fought, we would have been caught by today.

There’s no way but to escape as fast as we can.

We have to leave it to luck.

I hear that Rainbank has also fallen.

He lost one seed and is currently on the run, but it’s uncertain when he’ll be caught.

I kept uttering negative words and pressing Barnis.

At my words, Barnis began to bite his nails and think about something.

“We will move as soon as we finish our meal. If we manage to escape well, we’ll be able to enter the estate alive.”

I pretended not to know and spoke like that.

“… Jimnis. Where exactly is this place?”

“Hmm… It’s east from Baron Owallan’s territory. We will probably be able to reach Owallan’s estate in about four days if we walk. Three days at the shortest. We will have to go around a lot, but there are many terrains where it’s difficult for horses to move and it’s also easy to erase traces, so the chances of survival are relatively higher.”

“Then how long will it take to reach the rocky hill?”

“The rocky hill, you say? Hm… That’s relatively close. We’ll arrive in about two days. However, it’s very dangerous. But why there… ?”

“We’re going there.”

“… As I said, it’s dangerous. Especially once we pass the rocky hill, there will be nothing to get in the way, so they will be able to use their horses freely. It will take one more day, so we will definitely be caught.”

“No, we have to go there. “This is an order.”

“My Lord!”

“We can only survive if we go there. Jimnis, trust me.”

“… Why do you say we have to go there? If it’s an unreasonable order, I cannot follow it. My life may not matter, but your life is also at stake here. If the Baron knew about this, he would rather commend me for disobeying you.”

At my words, Barnis seemed to stay silent for a moment before finally opening his mouth.

“There’s… a secret passage there that leads directly to the estate.”

I pretended to be surprised.

And inwardly, I smiled in satisfaction.

Return

Under continued pressure, Barnis eventually opened his mouth about the secret passage himself, and I asked if he was sure and double-checked.

“It’s originally a top secret known only to a select few. You must keep it a secret afterwards as well.”

Like that, we changed direction and headed towards the rocky hill.

We had some things we had taken from the mercenaries, so we were more comfortable than before.

‘But it’s still not fast enough.’

I intentionally erased traces and hid myself from time to time under the pretext of checking for possible pursuers, and as the journey continued, the presence of Kyla and me grew stronger, so Barnis couldn’t nag Kyla like he used to.

“This is a fur I took from them. It’s not very good… .”

“I can’t complain in this situation. Thank you though.”

Those weren’t the words a guy who used to say he wouldn’t bring a woman along in a situation like this should be saying.

“But I’m still cold… .”

Of course, I didn’t mention Kyla again.

It seemed like he wanted to light a fire, but if he did, our whereabouts could be discovered.

‘Of course, I don’t see anyone chasing us properly.’

Thanks to wiping out an entire team and scattering horses everywhere in the process, it would be difficult to track us.

It wouldn’t be helpful in the long run, but we even regretted wasting that short amount of time.

In such a situation, we couldn’t light a fire that could provide even a small clue.

So we rested for one more day, and the next day we focused on moving as quickly and safely as possible.

It was only around sunset that we were able to reach the rocky hill, and I asked Barnis as soon as we arrived.

“Where is the secret passage located?”

“Find the black rock that is angular in the shooting range.”

The moment we split up to search for the secret passage following his words.

“…I know the location.”

The dwarf spoke up.

Unlike Barnis, who had a puzzled expression, I asked right away.

“Really?”

“Where is it?”

“This way.”

“Lead the way.”

We found the secret passage door, led by the dwarf.

“Hmm. That’s right. How did you know?”

“…I made the second passage.”

“Hmm?”

For your information, the second passage is the official name of the secret passage.

Barnis seemed a little surprised, perhaps because he didn’t know the details.

“Then do you know how to open it?”

“Let’s try opening it.”

At Barnis’s command, the dwarf began to touch the rocks here and there.

Then, before long, a strange sound began to ring out from the rock.

Thud. Rattle.

And then a gap just big enough for one person to enter appeared at the bottom of the rock.

“You can go in here.”

“I will go first.”

I shook my head at Kyla’s words.

“I’ll go in first. Let me come in last.”

Her feet are not in good condition, so she will be less responsive than me in case of an emergency.

So I entered the secret passage first.

‘…It’s not that special. It’s just as I remember.’

Thanks to the torch, I could check the surroundings.

The passage itself was not large, but it was stable as the walls were filled with stones.

“Kyla! Let them in one by one!”

The first to enter was Hein Dupe, and he received Barnis, who followed him.

Next, Dwarf entered, and I received Kyla, allowing everyone to enter the passage.

By the way, Kyla untied and brought the horse in.

‘It’s better than killing it.’

If the horse was dead near the secret passage, anyone would feel strange.

Anyway, they won’t be able to follow us within a day, and by then the horse will be somewhere else.

This is better.

After confirming that everyone had entered, Barnis instructed Dwarf to close the door, and he sighed in relief only after the secret passage was completely closed.

“Now… we’re safe, right?”

“We’ll be safe from those chasing us. However, I don’t know this place at all… .”

Well, listening to Disan, there shouldn’t be any problems as long as it is managed regularly, but I said that intentionally.

“Is that so? That’s fortunate. Let’s rest for a while.”

Now that we’ve come in, there was no reason to refuse.

“I’ll go and scout ahead a little. Since Dwarf made this place, can I bring him with me?”

“Do so.”

With Barnis’ permission, I took Dwarf and began to scout the inside of the passage.

“… It’s Mutr.”

“Did you make this place?”

“Can I ask about the structure?”

“No problem. The place we entered is usually used as an ‘exit’, and there are two entrances. There is one resting place in the middle, and all the others are straight passages covered with stone slabs. There is one air hole in the middle, but it’s not big enough for a person to go through.”

If it is being managed, there shouldn’t be any problems, said Mutr.

“Is that so? Then there shouldn’t be any threats. You look tired, so let’s rest for a while and then head back.”

Mutr, who had been silent for a while, spoke to me after a while.

“You’re unexpectedly kind.”