Chapter 9

The Necromancer of the Mine (1)

Kaaang -!

A day basking in sunlight for the first time in a while.
In the training grounds, Delline's sword and mine clashed energetically.

"Waaah, there it goes again."

I stared blankly as my practice sword flew high into the air.

"Be honest. You used mana, didn't you?"

I narrowed my eyes at Delline, but he shook his head with a serious expression.

"No. That's not the problem."

As he spoke, Delline stepped right up to me and grabbed both my shoulders.

A moment later, my fallen practice sword hit the ground with a clang!

"Younger brother."
"Cut out the creepy nickname. What's the problem?"

It had already been a week since the trial by duel ended.
Since Father had acknowledged my swordsmanship anyway, I'd been enthusiastically dragging Delline into sparring matches.

But the result?
Total defeat.

The biggest reason was Delline's monstrous strength and stamina.

No, seriously, my technique is better now.
Want proof? My five consecutive Meteor Swords?

"Klein. Did you work out the way I taught you yesterday?"
"Uh… huh?"

My voice cracked at the direct hit to the heart.

"So you didn't. Right?"
"W-Well, that's…"

The slower my answer became, the closer Delline's face moved toward mine.

That muscle-brained monster obsessed with stamina and exercise.

"Wait, listen to me first!"
"Talk. I'm listening."

After barely stopping Delline, I desperately began defending myself.

I had perfectly logical reasons.

Seriously, what use does physical strength have to a necromancer?
Wouldn't it be far more efficient to spend that time dissecting one more corpse or developing another mana circuit theory?

And what?
Tear your muscles apart on purpose to build your body?
Waste three or four hours a day doing that?

Utterly inefficient.

"So what I'm saying is, exercise is really just an unbelievably foolish—"

I launched into a lengthy explanation about why I didn't work out.

And as always, I failed.

"That just means you're lazy, Young Master."

By the time I returned to my room after dinner, the sun had already set.
The moment I started explaining myself, Delline had dragged me away and trained me for three straight hours.

Watching me collapse onto the bed completely exhausted, Arin casually added her comment.

"Lazy? Can't you see I'm reading right now?"
"You said it's just a knight novel anyway. That means you're playing around."
"You little…"

Unable to think of a rebuttal, I silently turned my head and opened the book again.

'The fact that she can't read is actually helping me this much.'

The cover was from a knight novel in the library, but the book I was actually reading wasn't a book at all.
It was completely blank inside.

The pages were densely filled with my nightly notes:
anatomy, mana circuits, and detailed spell arrangement diagrams.

"Ah, but did you know something weird's been happening lately?"

"Weird? Like what?"

As usual, the gluttonous maid with a cookie in her mouth pointed toward the window.

"You know when we clean in the mornings?"
"Yeah?"
"They say there are tons of handprints all over that window."

Pffft—!

At those words, I nearly spat out the tea I was drinking.

"Young Master, are you okay?"
"Cough! Cough! Y-Yeah… I'm fine. So, then?"

Arin shrugged while watching me cough violently.

"Yeah. Mary from the room next door was like, 'These handprints were made from the inside—!'"

Cold sweat instantly ran down my back.

The late hours after Arin went to sleep were my research time, where I tested the spells I'd recorded.
Actual spirits and the spiritual entities I created roamed all around the room, so marks like that were inevitable.

"I'll have to tell her someday…"

Honestly, secretly conducting research like this had its limits.
And with Father Garrison already suspicious of me, there was no telling what he might do.

No matter what, I needed to secure both safety and a proper research environment away from that priest.

Knock knock.

Just as my thoughts deepened, I tilted my head at the sound coming from beyond the door.

"A knock? At this hour?"

Dunkel, that priest bastard, and Arin never knocked before entering my room.
From the moment I arrived at this mansion, I'd told them they could come in freely, and now even if I told them not to, they'd still barge in anyway.

Which meant the only person who would knock at this hour was…

"Young Master Klein. It is Berkman."

Just as expected, it was Berkman, Heinkel's butler.

"What is it?"

I opened the door and asked.

Berkman bowed deeply before speaking.

'Sure, I protected the family's honor during the trial by duel, but isn't this treatment a bit excessive?'

As I wondered that while observing how much more polite he'd become lately, Berkman gestured for me to follow him.

"His Grace the Duke is calling for you."

***

"Your Grace. Both young masters have arrived."
"Send them in."

Once Duke Heinkel gave permission, the butler opened the door and led us inside.

"Apologies for the late hour, Berkman."
"Not at all. I shall return to escort them once your conversation concludes."

With those final words, Berkman left the room.

That left only Delline and me standing side by side—
and Heinkel silently seated in his study, reading a book.

'What? Did we do something wrong?'
'No? Maybe it's because you refuse to work out.'
'He's not you. You think Father would summon me this late over exercise?'
'Didn't he do that to you before? He did to me.'

"A letter arrived. Count Cornwell has withdrawn from all affairs due to personal reasons."

Heinkel spoke while Delline and I silently conversed through lip movements.

"It seems that created a gap in the eastern mine security he used to oversee."

Hearing that, I nodded.

'Well, his delirious state should last well over a decade, and even if he recovers, he'll suffer lifelong aftereffects.'

Imagining his ruined state, I shrugged.

Serves him right.
I nearly died because of him.

"And within that mine… there have been sightings of this."

As he spoke, Heinkel pointed at a drawing lying on the desk.

A twisted skeleton with holes riddling its body.

Delline's eyes widened at the sight.

"A zombie… appeared inside the mine?"

At those words, Heinkel nodded.

"There are already more than ten witnesses, and I've heard there have been reports of deaths as well. Therefore—"
"I'll go."

The moment I heard that, I immediately spoke first.

Undead, a mine, and the reason we'd been summoned.
What came next was obvious.

"Klein. Are you certain?"
"Yes."

Strangely enough, the moment filled me with emotion.

Before the trial by duel, even if something like this had happened, Father and Delline would have handled it themselves.
I would never have been given a choice.

The fact that I was now being entrusted with work meant only one thing—

My value here had finally been acknowledged.

'At the very least, I guess he finally sees me as someone capable of pulling my own weight. Or maybe this is some kind of test?'

Even while reading the mission overview Heinkel had handed me, my thoughts only deepened.

If I wanted to fix this dangerously unstable household, I needed to earn Duke Heinkel's trust.
I was already in a situation where I'd have to create work for myself if none existed, so having something like this fall into my lap was actually perfect.

'And if it's related to undead, I might even be able to investigate those bastards I met before.'

As I finished my calculations internally, Heinkel finally gave the order.

"Then depart tomorrow once your preparations are complete. Dunkel will accompany you, so I am not overly concerned."
"Understood."
"Mm. And Delline."
"Ah, yes?"

Now that my assignment had been decided, Heinkel tossed something toward the silently standing Delline.

"Did you really think I summoned both of you for no reason?"
"Ah…"

He really didn't expect it.
I spun around grinning while listening to the ambiguous noise that sounded somewhere between a sigh and a groan.

"You already know where you're headed without me needing to say it, correct?"

At those words, Delline's expression became even more sour.

In his hands was an absurdly thick fur cloak.

"There have been reports of movement at the Northern Great Wall. Go confirm it."

The moment I saw Delline's face and heard those words, I understood instantly.

As expected, the ones who get the easy jobs are always the quick-witted ones.

***

Crackle—! Crackle—!

Watching the firewood burn steadily at regular intervals made all stray thoughts fade away.

"It's done."
"Ah, yes."

At my words, Dunkel tore off a chunk of roasted venison from over the campfire.

"Does it smell that bad?"
"I can endure it. But Young Master, you…"
"I'm not picky about things like that either."

Chewing through the venison, I looked up at the star-filled night sky.

This was my first long-distance journey since reincarnating.
For fifteen years, I'd been trapped inside churches and mansions.
This was the first time I was visiting an entirely new place.

Whenever I looked at the rapidly changing scenery during our travels, I was reminded once again of how different the world was from two hundred years ago.

And during the trip, I'd discovered something unexpected.

"I should at least help with something…"
"See that lump of charcoal over there? Staying still is helping enough."

The supposedly elite knight commander-level Dunkel turned out to be completely useless when it came to survival skills like cooking or hunting.

"Y-Young Master… I honestly don't know what to say…"
"Then don't say anything. Just eat. I'll roast more."

Rip—! Riiip—!

I shoved my fist between the hide and flesh, exposing the meat of the deer we'd hunted.
After trimming away some fat and carving out the lean cuts, the job was done.

'I spent over a decade running from the Allied Knights Corps. Experience like that doesn't just disappear.'

Looking at the neatly butchered venison, I smiled to myself in satisfaction.

"Um… did the Church teach you how to do things like this, Young Master?"
"I picked it up by watching."

Dunkel stared at my work in disbelief.
Well, from his perspective, a fifteen-year-old noble boy leaving home for the first time shouldn't be capable of this.

"Sometimes when I look at you, Young Master, I feel that you're completely different from other noble children your age."

When you lay beneath the night sky wrapped in darkness, conversations naturally begin to bloom.
As Dunkel poked at the fire and spoke, I pushed myself upright and answered.

"What, because my mouth's filthier than theirs?"
"Well… that too."

Honestly, I nearly laughed when he added,
'Even the knights can't match how foul your mouth is.'

"But hiding your swordsmanship talent, and then that trial by duel… when I was your age, I couldn't even imagine something like that."
"Ah…"

"And because of that, sometimes… just sometimes, I think ridiculous things."

Dunkel spoke cautiously, scratching his cheek awkwardly as he looked at me.

"Like… maybe Archimond really was reincarnated."

"…."

I stared silently into the flames for a moment before casually laughing it off.

"If I really were Archimond reincarnated, do you think I'd leave this place standing?"

At that, Dunkel laughed as well and responded.

"You're right. According to the records, he commanded an undead army in the millions. The current North would probably just get flattened."

"The current North…"

As he said those words, Dunkel's face seemed to darken slightly.

"True."

I answered shortly and slowly lay back down.

We still had a long road ahead of us.
We'd need to depart as soon as dawn broke.

***

"So that's the mine?"
"Yes. The entrance is over there."

A towering mountain rose in the middle of the plains.
Spotting it from afar, I frowned as I looked toward the entrance.

"What should we do? It'd be best to head in before sunset—"
"No."

Places overflowing with undead develop corresponding signs.
Marks made of demonic energy invisible to ordinary swordsmen or mages.

"…This is worse than I expected."
"Huh?"

At Dunkel's puzzled response, I waved my hand dismissively and unfolded the map, pointing at a nearby location.

"First, let's head to this village. There's something we need to prepare."

After saying that, I looked once more toward the distant mine entrance.

The density of demonic energy gathering there was at colony-level intensity.

That mine had already become a necromancer's workshop.