The Necromancer Who Was Despised

“What? Why did the Lord call you?”

I repeated what I had said and showed them the items I had received.

The Atina sisters looked at the equipment with curiosity at the word artifact, and Kayla looked at it briefly as if she was familiar with it and lost interest.

‘Well, I heard she used to be a knight.’

Hearing the story, it seems like he wasn’t a knight from the countryside.

‘At least, he must have been a knight from a high-ranking noble family.’

I didn’t ask for details, but I could infer enough just from the indirect information.

“But if it’s a month-long request… What about Tia?”

“I’ll take her with me.”

I couldn’t leave Tia alone in this place for a month, no matter what.

‘I’ve received support for the artifact, so if we make good use of the base camp, Tia can be safe there.’

At my words, Athina looked relieved. Tia also seemed a little scared to be alone for a month, so she looked rather relieved to be going to a dangerous place.

“First, let’s do some healing that we’ve been putting off.”

Athina reacted as if she had been waiting.

I immediately started the treatment that had been postponed, and after concentrating for quite a long time, I was able to absorb some of the curse that was clinging to Tia.

It was really a tiny amount, but for now, this is the safest method.

It wasn’t an easy task, so when the treatment was over, my body was drenched in sweat.

However, I checked Tia’s condition rather than my own body.

No matter how careful I was, I had to stimulate the curse.

It must have been quite difficult for Tia as well.

As expected, Tia was also sweating profusely and looked quite exhausted.

“How are you feeling? Does your heart hurt or anything?”

“It’s pounding, but I’m okay. During the treatment, it sometimes felt like it was stabbing me, but now it doesn’t hurt.”

“Okay. That’s good. The first treatment is over. I’ll do something similar once a month, like before.”

“…Yes.”

“You’ll find out after this treatment, but it’s difficult and sometimes painful. Don’t skip exercise, and don’t skip meals.”

If her stamina was insufficient, her life could be in danger during treatment.

“Yes, Lord Inha.”

“…Inha, are you okay?”

Athina, sensing that the conversation was about to end, interjected.

I’m definitely not in good shape. To exaggerate a little, I looked like a drowned rat.

“I’m fine.”

“…It’s definitely not an easy task… Thank you.”

I nodded slightly at Athina’s words, told her to take care of Tia, and left the room.

However, since I still had things to do, I headed straight to the basement instead of going to my room.

Although I had used up a lot of mental energy, the next task wouldn’t require as much, so I thought I’d finish it now.

‘I should engrave the skeleton.’

A month may not be short, but considering the range of reconnaissance, it’s not that long either.

So I should take care of as many things as I can in advance.

Kayla seemed worried about me going down to the basement without resting, but she didn’t stop me.

I went down to the basement and knelt down in front of the skeleton.

I drew out my magic and arranged it, and immediately used magic.

[Engrave]

Something like the seal engraved on my chest was engraved on the skeleton’s skull.

It is normally impossible to carry an undead being at all times through engraving, unless you are at least a high-level black magician.

You need to have your own subspace, and it should be of a certain size, but my situation was different.

‘Through engraving, you can use the gap in dimensions.’

It is not an ordinary subspace. It is impossible to store items in it. However, if it is an undead being, it can be temporarily stored.

The engraving on my chest was connected to the magic world.

It could be called a small gap in dimensions, and the undead being is put in that gap.

‘The gap is so narrow that the undead cannot cross over to the demon world, but it can stay on the boundary of the dimension.’

Since it is my undead being and is filled with my magic power, it can enter through the engraving, so I cannot store ordinary items.

Ordinary items are not engraved with the engraving.

If they are not engraved, you cannot use the gap in dimensions.

For your information, this magic was created by me in the first round.

‘It is my original.’

I tried it on a whim after realizing the difference in size between the gap in the engraving and the gap on the magic world’s side, and it was a success.

‘I only found out later that there was a difference in size between the entrance and the exit.’

The funny thing is that I created it, but it was a useless spell to me at the time. It is different now, though.

‘You cannot store a huge number of them.’

Anyway, I only have one undead being right now, so it doesn’t matter.

After finishing the engraving, I put the skeleton in and out of the gap in dimensions several times to check if there were any abnormalities.

Fortunately, there were no major problems, so I immediately erased all traces of black magic, including the barrier in the basement.

Only after completely eliminating even the slightest possibility of being followed did I go to my room to rest.

‘The skeleton’s current ability is at a level where it can fight a low-level mercenary for a while.’

Unfortunately, the chances of winning were low.

However, since a permanent undead being gains experience through combat, it will eventually possess skills that are not inferior to those of a low-level mercenary.

The only problem is that the skeleton’s experience accumulation speed is slow.

‘I plan to strengthen it steadily, though.’

By the time the monster wave occurs, it will be stronger than an average low-level mercenary.

In fact, even at this level, it is considered a very strong undead being for a second-class necromancer.

It was the result of consistent strengthening in the second round, as well as spending money on it.

If I grow further, the skeleton will naturally become stronger. In addition.

‘I can also evolve it into a higher undead being.’

A higher undead being.

‘Warrior, archer, mage….’

Depending on growth and strengthening, even a skeleton could become as strong as a death knight or a lich.

Of course, if you are going to strengthen a skeleton to that extent, it would be dozens of times more efficient to create a death knight or a lich.

‘At this level… it is more than enough.’

Me, Artizea, Kyle, and the skeleton.

We are also fully equipped.

‘The cave where the lich’s artifact is hidden.’

It is a cave where a relic, or rather an artifact presumed to be an ancient relic, is hidden.

I felt confident that I could conquer it.

After daybreak, my group began packing.

In addition to the items I had brought, we also had to pack food and personal equipment.

‘We do have a wagon, after all.’

Since we had a packhorse, even if we had a lot of luggage, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

“It seems like we don’t have enough food. Don’t you think we should visit the Frontier Town?”

“We can procure that much locally. And if we pack a month’s worth of food, the luggage will be much heavier than we can imagine.”

Athena is a former hunter, and I can hunt to some extent as well.

I had also made some of the traps that we had used up, so I wasn’t worried about hunting.

I also had enough knowledge to distinguish between edible and inedible things, so I wasn’t worried about starving.

‘I did live in poverty in the last round, after all.’

I knew more about survival than I thought.

“I’m trembling because it’s been a while since I’ve gone out.”

Tia seemed quite nervous.

“It’s okay. “The teacher will be with us the whole time.”

Athena reassured Tia.

The plan was to set up a base camp near the center and explore the area around it.

‘We can’t carry all this luggage around, though.’

Tia and Kayla were going to be the main guards for the base camp, so it was natural that most of the luggage would be left there.

In terms of efficiency, it was inevitable that Athena and I would be more suited for reconnaissance than Kayla, who had injured her leg.

‘Still, Athena and Kayla will take turns resting occasionally.’

I didn’t really plan on resting.

I intended to finish the reconnaissance mission as quickly as possible and head to that cave.

I checked the map I had received from the lord and set my direction.

‘For today, we should head to Green Forest Village and rest for a day.’

It couldn’t be helped. The destination was far, and from that village onward, it was the land of monsters, so there weren’t any proper roads.

The Ovaland territory was expanding diagonally from the first village, Frontier Town, at its center.

Unlike the relatively quickly expanded northeast, only one village had been established in the southwest, and its development had completely stopped. The place I had to scout this time was this southwest direction.

The reason for the halt in development was simple. The territory’s resources were insufficient to expand in both directions simultaneously.

The baron thought that the northeast would be a little easier to develop than the southwest, so he focused his efforts there.

In the end, it was a decent choice. In fact, including the one that was successfully established this time, they had managed to build three villages in the northeast.

On the other hand, the neglected southwest had only one village.

For your reference, to the southeast of Frontier Town is Earl Siglen’s territory, and to the northwest is just the land of monsters. In fact, you could think of it as gradually eating away at the land of monsters and expanding the human territory.

‘There used to be a new development territory quite far to the southwest, I think.’

That one also collapsed with the monster wave.

If the development had gone smoothly, Ovaland Barony and that place might have become neighboring territories.

‘But it’s all gone now.’

We left the house and headed towards Green Forest Village along the road.

It was more of a trail than a road, just a path that people had walked on.

Because of that, we couldn’t go fast, and since the distance was quite far, we had to keep moving diligently.

Still, as a result of our steady progress, we were able to arrive at Green Forest Village before nightfall.

Initially wary of us, the villagers’ attitudes changed abruptly upon seeing the crest of the Lord engraved on the badge.

It was a badge of rank higher than the one I used, given to me when I became an honorary soldier.

The village chief, upon receiving news of our visit, rushed over to greet us in person and offered his own home as our lodgings, treating us with the utmost hospitality.

After finishing our meal, I called the chief out separately.

“You called, Sir Knight.”

Even though I told him I was only an apprentice knight, the chief never changed his form of address.

Since this was a village we would only be passing through anyway, I couldn’t be bothered to argue and just let it slide.

“I have been ordered by the Lord to scout the area. Can you tell me anything about recent local trends?”

“Recent trends, you say…”

Ideally, I would learn about the territorial influence of the surrounding monsters, but I didn’t think he would know that much.

“Any monsters appearing nearby, newly emerged demons, suspicious sightings, anything is fine.”

At my words, the chief seemed to think for a moment before spitting out information one by one.

“There is no significant difference in the monsters appearing recently. However, their numbers have increased, and the frequency of their appearance has also gone up. Demons are occasionally seen, but they do not attack the village.”

The monsters, he says, do not raid the village as a tribe.

There were occasional cases of herb gatherers or hunters being attacked, but that had always been the case in the past, so it was nothing unusual.

‘It’s something common in borderlands, after all.’

In that sense, the location of Nenson’s house was exquisite. Despite being quite a distance from the frontier, it had never been attacked by monsters or demons.

“As for sightings…”

The chief hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“W-well, there was a report of an orc sighting.”

“Orcs? Don’t you see orcs from time to time?”

“Yes. Orcs have been common since the pioneering stage. However, their tribe is far from our village, so we have never encountered them. But I once heard a strange story from a herb gatherer.”

“A strange story?”

“W-well, he said he saw orcs talking like humans…”

“By any chance, did that orc have horns?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. I’m sure he mentioned something like that…”

“Can you summon that herb gatherer now?”

“I’m sorry. He recently… passed away due to an accident.”

He must have died, then.

It’s not unheard of.

This is a village built on the border of monster territory. Danger is always nearby.

‘Even if it weren’t here, it’s not a strange world to die in at any moment.’

With that information about the orcs, there was no more useful information to be had, so I sent the chief away.

‘Have the horned orcs already appeared?’

Horned orcs.