The Necromancer Who Was Despised

The Minotaur chieftain tried to resist with all his remaining strength, but all he managed to kill were the undead Minotaurs that were once his subordinates, and he ended up kneeling before Kyla.

A silence fell over the party.

The Cereo party, who hadn’t been able to help at all in the battle, couldn’t do anything but remain silent. Tildi moved hurriedly to check on Athena and Kyla’s conditions.

However, there were no wounds, so all Tildi could do was restore a bit of their stamina.

“It seems like there are still some cubs and females left.”

“… We should take care of them.”

There were no captures.

We collected the spoils of war and, after recovering our stamina, raided their main base.

The females and cubs tried to resist, but they were no match for us who had annihilated their main force. They weren’t at a level where they could handle the remaining members.

Before long, there wasn’t a single Minotaur left alive in the cave.

“… Are those the artifacts you were after?”

“… Their size is adjustable. I heard they were sealed… They don’t seem to be ordinary items.”

“I was a bit surprised too. I’m a bit disappointed. They’re not even relic-grade… Maybe their actual effects are nothing special.”

If they’re not even relic-grade and can be adjusted in size to this extent, their other functions must be lacking.

I phrased it so that it would sound that way.

“At the same time, we can expect that much more performance from the sword.”

“… Indeed, even if it’s just size adjustment, if it has that much performance while sealed… .”

While the armor had excessive functions for something useless, the sword didn’t have such functions, meaning that it would be faithful to the sword’s original function.

‘Well, in truth, both of them are amazing items.’

“First of all, congratulations.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we found them easily.”

“… It doesn’t seem like we did much.”

In reality, all they did was tell us the terrain, and the first to discover the Minotaurs’ traces was Athena.

“You got your hands on the items you wanted… Do you plan on returning right away?”

“No. There’s still something I need to investigate.”

Originally, this was a place I wasn’t interested in, but there were many things I couldn’t just pass by, such as the murals and the divine power.

‘If we return just like this… Information will leak out.’

I did make a secret pact with Cereo’s party, but there was a high chance it would be revealed once the request was over.

That’s why I planned on checking everything during this opportunity.

After a short break, we headed deeper into the cave.

And there.

“… … Is it a temple… ?”

“There are ruins in a place like this….”

We were able to find a huge, half-collapsed ancient temple.

Ruins

Cereo and his party looked around with very surprised expressions.

“This place…?”

“Don’t move.”

Cereo immediately stopped Labid when he tried to touch the surroundings.

“You shouldn’t touch the ruins recklessly. You never know what might be there.”

‘He has common sense.’

It’s like a wizard’s dungeon. No, to be honest, most of the traps in the ruins were usually more dangerous than those in a wizard’s dungeon.

‘Because the past was a more formidable world.’

It’s not for nothing that artifacts from the past are more powerful than modern artifacts.

Just as the performance of relic-grade artifacts found in ruins is superior to that of modern artifacts, the traps in the ruins are all incredibly dangerous.

Traps that gradually weaken or break over time are common.

However, among them, there were some that remained intact with their original abilities despite the long years that had passed, and such traps always boasted a terrible level.

Therefore, ruins are both a big moneymaker and a space that can never be conquered without the proper qualifications.

‘I’ve never heard any rumors that there was something like this in the past.’

The murals we saw on the way were also not something we had ever heard of.

The murals alone would have been enough to spread rumors, so the fact that there were no rumors about the ruins means that they must have been covered up.

‘It’s highly likely that they were destroyed.’

Except for the entrance and the middle part, everything else must have been destroyed. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to hide all traces of the ruins.

‘…What the hell is this place?’

“…What should we do? If it’s an investigation of the ruins… To be honest, I don’t think we’ll be of much help.”

Cereo said calmly.

However, there was an unconcealable anxiety mixed in his eyes.

‘It looks like he’s afraid of being silenced.’

Of course.

As valuable as relic-grade artifacts are, the value of ruins is truly enormous.

Therefore, when ruins are usually discovered, hyenas swarm in and security is taken very seriously.

In addition, we are skilled enough to challenge the ruins.

He didn’t seem like he would guarantee the safety of people who weren’t even part of his party and who had only been hired as guides.

‘Even if he says that we care about our reputation.’

The ruins were worth the risk.

In addition, I don’t know what we will get from the ruins, but if we use it well, we might be able to do business with the mercenary guild.

‘The mercenary guild is also a profit-making group after all.’

Depending on the price, they might turn a blind eye.

That’s why I couldn’t help but worry a little.

‘Originally, I was thinking of slowly eating away at the inside.’

In addition, if the Minotaur’s forces had been a little weaker, I had planned to get them involved in the battle.

‘I had also considered making them run away to survive.’

In such an urgent situation, if I had made a slight misjudgment, I could have legally sent them to hell.

The request amount was large, and if I used it well, I could even tie them up like slaves.

However, there were so many strange things that I gave up on that plan.

Strange murals, faint divine power…

‘Now it’s the ruins.’

To be honest, I was more interested in this than revenge.

“Just in case, let’s act together for now. The request is actually over, but we can’t go back in this situation. I believe you will understand.”

Such a treasure was discovered. It was not a situation where I could obediently send them away because the request was over.

“…Of course.”

Kereo looked a little relieved that I didn’t kill him right away.

‘Hold for now.’

Maybe he’ll be useful in an unexpected way. So for now, I chose to just watch.

“If you contribute to the political situation, I am willing to share some of the results.”

“I will take it into consideration.”

Kereo answered every question, but he was cautious.

However, unlike him, his party’s eyes lit up.

It seemed that the opinions of the party and the leader were divided.

Of course, I guess they’re still just thinking about it.

“That…”

I looked in the direction Kyla was pointing.

There was a pattern engraved on what appeared to be the entrance to the temple.

‘I’ve never seen it before….’

It’s strangely familiar.

“It’s the pattern engraved on the Minotaur’s shield.”

“Ah.”

It was a melee, and there were many other things to worry about besides that place, so I didn’t think about it right away.

On the other hand, Kyla, who had fought directly in the melee, seemed to remember it relatively accurately.

“It seems that the Minotaurs were also attacking this place. The shield is one of the spoils of war.”

“Does that mean the crisis is over?”

“I don’t think so.”

Kyla points to a spot.

There were traces of wear and blood stains there.

“These are relatively recent traces. It seems that the crisis was still ongoing.”

This is a little better.

I thought it might end sooner than I thought.

‘The temple is big, but it’s not so big that it would take days to look around.’

The fact that the Minotaurs are still attacking….

“…Is there a guardian?”

“That’s a high possibility.”

A guardian who protects the ruins. It could be called a kind of protector.

“It’s not supposed to be ordinary… .”

The rewards were rarely ordinary in the case of ruins where there usually were guardians.

The higher the guardian’s level, the more it was the case, but seeing that the Minotauros tribe still hadn’t conquered it all, it shouldn’t be weak.

“Should I go check it out?”

At that moment, Athena stepped forward.

“Judging from the traces that are out, it doesn’t seem like it’s a structure that would trap you inside, and honestly, I’m confident that I can come out alive if the Minotauros have been persistently challenging it.”

It wasn’t a bad idea.

However, there was no reason to send her alone.

“Let’s go together.”

After instructing Baldur and Cereo’s party to set up a base camp, I headed inside the temple, leading Kyla and Athena.

“The divine power is a bit strong.”

“… But isn’t the interior too dirty?”

I clicked my tongue in dismay as I entered the interior of the temple.

Even from the outside, I could feel a faint divine power, but it was even more intense inside.

On top of that, it was a mess everywhere because of how many times the Minotauros had challenged it.

Bloodstains, corpses, and piles of bones… .

Since this was the entrance to the temple, it was the worst looking.

‘It doesn’t seem like they’ve been challenging it for a year or two?’

There was also the possibility that the tribe was larger.

‘It’s strange that it hasn’t been discovered for so long.’

If it was large, the chances of it being discovered would be higher… .

Well, the territories of monsters and humans were always changing.

On top of that, there hadn’t been many attempts to expand the territory toward the monster forest in this area… .

‘To begin with, it hasn’t been that long since the Doriem fiefdom became this big.’

I think that they’ve been building on the power they’ve accumulated since two generations ago to increase their reputation.

It reached its peak in the current generation.

Before that, it was just an ordinary rural fiefdom, and expanding the territory by taking over the monster forest was like a dream.

That’s why there weren’t many humans who came this deep, and at the same time, it seemed like the location of the cave was so crappy that it couldn’t be discovered.

As soon as we entered, the space that we could see was connected to several rooms.

We looked for the places that the Minotauros had conquered and began searching those places first.

“Hmm… It seems like this was a warehouse. It seems like most of their equipment came out from here.”

Of course, there were only traces, and nothing was left.

Other than that, most of them were human living spaces.

‘There’s no gold or silver coins… .’

Rooms that didn’t have much value.

We roughly looked over the interior of the temple, but thanks to the Minotauros messing everything up, there was nothing to harvest.

“… The only thing left is this place… .”

We didn’t find a basement in the lower level either.

Since it was all conquered, it wasn’t difficult to look over it once.

We could search in more detail later. The remaining place was more important.

“… The divine power feels strong.”

Is it because I handle magic? Divine power is quite an unpleasant feeling.

Of course, it’s not that bad. If it were, I wouldn’t have been able to have a normal conversation with Tildi.

However, the concentration here was too high, and because the concentration was high, it was enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable.

It’s not severe, just like the feeling of seeing a slightly creepy bug.

Maybe Tildi felt this way when she looked at me.

‘No, the feeling a priest gets when looking at a black magician might be a little different.’