The Necromancer Who Was Despised

“Tia, you should receive yours too. It’s the same.”

Tia grabs Enri’s hand and comes in front of me, receiving what I’m giving her.

“Thank you, Inha oppa.”

“Th-thank you, Inha-nim.”

Then Tia asks.

“But what is this?”

“It’s called a moisturizer. Apply it to your face after washing it. You don’t need a lot.”

I tell her the effects and the appropriate amount to use.

The expressions of the two change drastically when they hear the effects.

“My skin will become firm…! Isn’t this expensive?”

“Well. To convert it to money… I’ve never really thought about it, since I make it myself.”

I could probably get paid in silver if I sold it.

Mine has pretty good effects, too.

Of course, it’s not like there aren’t any cosmetics like that in this world.

Of course not. It’s human nature to desire a beautiful appearance, so various cosmetics have been developed because of that.

Cosmetics have existed since ancient times, even on Earth. There’s no way they wouldn’t exist in a world with magic.

‘Well, I wouldn’t know the recipe if they didn’t exist in the first place. It’s not like I developed them myself.’

There are many different recipes, although the methods of creation are different. As Athena mentioned, nobles use these kinds of cosmetics casually.

But the ones I make are expensive enough to sell for silver.

The recipes themselves are originally secrets.

‘Well, my teacher taught me everything during my training.’

Elixirs, poisons, cosmetics, enchantments, and more.

I learned a wide range of things.

“T-Thank you!”

Enri’s head bowed 90 degrees as she listened to the effects.

Tia’s expression changed as well.

‘…It’s like how they look at Athena and Kayla.’

I had a feeling it was going to be a bother, so I quickly kicked these two out as well.

Thanks to getting rid of the things I had put off, I was able to focus on producing Black Bones for a while.

During that time, Mutre informed me that the armor was complete, and I turned all of it into Living Armor.

As I prepared one thing after another, news that we would be leaving soon began to spread throughout the underground dungeon.

It was going to happen anyway. It was obvious. I knew that Baldur and his three subordinates were preparing for my absence as I strengthened and improved the Land of the Dead.

They weren’t fools, so they must have guessed the situation.

Then, Tia came to me with a troubled expression.

“Everyone’s really anxious.”

“Just tell them everything. I’m going to be gone for about two years.”

“Would that be okay?”

“They’ll find out eventually anyway.”

It was better than just leaving right away.

“If I tell them about the preparations I’ve made and assure them that I’ll be back, we can minimize it.”

“I’ll give you the two Living Armors while I’m at it. Keep them with you at all times. I’ve instructed them to follow your orders.”

“Thank you, Inha oppa.”

There will be times when I’m away for a while. I told her to ignore those times, as I’ll be out hunting monsters.

“And that thing….”

“Right. The Land of the Dead will absorb the corpses, so ignore them.”

Even though they’re dead bodies, they tend to leave behind negative emotions after suffering so much before they died. The Land of the Dead will make use of that as well.

It’s an efficient method in its own way, but it’s still basically inefficient, so it doesn’t make much of a difference.

‘I should probably let the Horned Orcs know soon.’

I realized that I should visit them in person for the first time in a while.

They’re allies, after all. They’ll be the ones to support me while I’m away, so it wouldn’t hurt to show them some courtesy.

After explaining to Tia where I had put the Black Bones and how to use them, I visited the Horned Orc village.

“Who is this?”

Rithild greeted me with a surprised expression, as if he hadn’t expected me to visit.

“Welcome. It’s been a long time since you’ve visited the village.”

“Is this the third time?”

I’ve visited here twice before: once when I returned the horned orc children I had taken care of, and once when I searched for traces of the people of the Green Forest Village.

I haven’t had the chance to visit in person since then because my training has been so busy.

Littheld has occasionally come to visit, though.

‘It’s changed quite a bit, though.’

Unlike the previous great horde of orcs, the horned orcs had built proper fences, and their building layout was designed to be advantageous for defense.

“Why does it seem like the fences get bigger every time I visit?”

“We’ve been increasing their thickness and height. I’d like to build them out of stone, but it’s surprisingly difficult to obtain. There’s a place far away that seems to have plenty of stone, but it’s too far away and too close to human lands, so we’re hesitant.”

‘He must be talking about Rocky Hill.’

I hope they don’t build there.

The emergency escape route for the underground dungeon is connected to that place.

‘Well, actually, they can’t build there.’

Not only is it too far, but most of the land in between is plains.

It’s too likely that humans would notice them, so they couldn’t do it, and they don’t have enough manpower to carry enough stones to build a stone wall there.

That’s why Littheld always seems so disappointed.

After we had exchanged some small talk and updates, Littheld finally asked the main topic.

“So… you didn’t come all this way just to chat, did you… ?”

“I’m planning to clear out the underground dungeon for a long time.”

“The underground dungeon?”

“How long do you mean by a long time?”

“A year at the shortest, two years at the longest.”

“… Are you going to the human realm?”

“Yes. “I crossed the wall a while ago.”

“The wall? Congratulations. I didn’t think you were the type for dark magic, but in the meantime… ”

“I told you I wasn’t planning to abandon the place, right?”

“Yes. You’re planning to leave Tia behind.”

“I’ve strengthened the defenses. The Land of the Dead is stronger than when you first saw it, and I’ve assigned some escorts to Tia.”

“… That’s amazing. Dara using fourth-class magic as soon as she crossed the wall… Well, she already had a track record, I suppose.”

Littheld brushed off my achievements as if they were nothing.

“You’re telling me this because you want me to prepare for the worst-case scenario, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Even if something happens to you, I’m sorry, but it will be difficult for me to provide support. If an overwhelming number of enemies attack… Just come to the underground dungeon.”

I informed him that the underground dungeon was in the process of being expanded.

“There won’t be as much of a space shortage as before. There’s also plenty of food in storage.”

“You mean you’ll help us, albeit with some limitations. Don’t worry. “Our alliance will remain even in your absence.”

I nodded with a smile at his reassurance.

“Ahahaha. I didn’t know you trusted us this much. Enough to entrust us with your main base… ”

I did so because I had already prepared a way to escape, even if they turned against me.

If anything happened to Tia, a signal would be sent to me through the living armor.

To be precise, I instructed her to break one of the living armors.

Since they were under my control, I could tell when an undead was destroyed.

‘I can repair it with a few black bones, anyway.

Then I’ll just come back immediately.

‘The secret passage, which has now become an emergency exit, would allow me to escape, so even if nothing else happens, Tia will be able to survive.’

It’s a bit unfortunate, but Tia was my first priority over the people of Evergreen Forest or the servants and maids who were slaves.

Even if everyone else died, I intended to save Tia.

After receiving Lithild’s confirmation, I accepted his offer, took a tour of the transformed village, and enjoyed a meal before returning to the underground dungeon.

He told me to just go to sleep, but I declined, saying that I still had something to do before leaving.

After returning to the underground dungeon, I immediately looked for Kayla.

“Did you call for me?”

She spoke to me as soon as she entered.

“I’m using the present you gave me well. It’s definitely useful. “If I had known it would be this good, I would have used it in the past.”

“Hmm? “You didn’t use it?”

“It was expensive, and because of that guy who was after me, I tried not to pay too much attention to my appearance.”

As a knight, she had to maintain a certain level of dignity, so she didn’t completely neglect her appearance, but it was close.

“If I had paid attention to my appearance there, that guy would have said I was trying to look good for him, so there was no need to do that.”

She didn’t want to do anything that would make him happy.

“But it feels good to wear it. It’s a different feeling.”

“… If you use it all up, you’ll probably ask for more.”

Instead of answering, Kayla just smiled.

“So, why did you call me?”

“I think it’s about time.”

“… “You mean Athena.”

“Hmm… I could feed her now, but… ”

I’m not sure.

“But I can’t keep putting it off forever. Isn’t she almost at intermediate?”

This is an absurd rate of growth.

If she’s an expert intermediate, that means she’s at a level higher than Rainbank, who had trained her whole life.

“My swordsmanship is lacking, but my magic and divine arts are at a sufficient level. I can always learn more, and I definitely have a natural talent for controlling mana and generating and controlling aura. My total mana is lacking, though… ”

I can solve that by giving her an elixir.

However, Kayla wants to create a mana heart for her, not just increase her total mana, so she’s been putting it off.

“If her mana doesn’t keep up with her level, we’ll just have to fill it up.”

“Even if her mana increases to her current level, she’ll still be barely at intermediate. Advanced is completely impossible.”

“… “I don’t expect that much.”

Advanced isn’t a dog’s name.

Kayla only recently became advanced.

Warriors and mages can’t be directly compared, but expert intermediates are comparable to 4th class, and advanced is comparable to 5th class.

Of course, it’s not a simple comparison of strength.

Honestly speaking, it’s several times harder for a mage to break through a wall, and even if they do, a warrior has a much greater advantage in a one-on-one fight.

To put it bluntly, even a 5th class mage could lose to an expert intermediate in a one-on-one fight.

No, to be honest, they would lose more often than not.

Of course, that’s a different story if the mage is prepared.

If this is a dungeon created and prepared by a class 5 magician, even if ten superior experts, who are called peers because of their expertise as magicians, were to rush in, there was a possibility that they would all be killed.

‘However, necromancers are a bit different depending on the person.’

When they reach class 7, which is called a high-ranking magician, their ability to fight one-on-one also becomes powerful, but similarly, if a warrior becomes a master, a miracle occurs where the warrior becomes a tactical weapon.

‘Well, it’s really rare for a knight to become a master.’

It is said that for a top-class expert to overcome the wall and become a master is more difficult than for a class 6 magician to become a class 7 magician, which is called a high-ranking magician.

Compared to the number of top-class experts, the number of masters is extremely low.

Class 7 magicians are also rare, but when you compare the number of class 6 magicians with the number of top-class experts, there is a difference of almost 10 times. The number of class 7 magicians is only about half that of masters.

The difference in ratio is enormous.

“Since we’re going to leave soon anyway, we should do everything we can.”

“… It’s a bit of a shame. If we had fed it when it was intermediate, or rather, advanced level… .”

“… “You were planning to wait until advanced level?”

“If it were Athina, it wouldn’t take 5 years, or rather, not even 3 years to get there without an elixir.”

“That’s impressive, but… .”

“… There’s no choice. The master of the elixir is the master, and it’s not as if you don’t know what the image of a black magician is outside. However, it would be fine if we just went a little slower… .”

“There’s a reason we have to go quickly.”

“May I ask?”

I hesitated for a moment.

It’s not that I don’t trust Kayla.

It’s because it was such great information.

Suddenly, I remembered Kayla and Athina’s words asking me to trust them a little more.

‘Tsk, what’s the point of hiding it.

“Don’t ask me where I got the information. It’s hard to explain.”

At my words, a smile spread across Kayla’s face.

Unlike before, it seemed that she was happy because I gave her a proper reason, which she thought was a sign of trust.