The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 182
“What’s that, Ottrioka-sun?”
“Could it be… but, no… it doesn’t make sense… but….”
Ottrioka stammered, looking like he couldn’t believe it.
But soon, he regained his composure and asked me seriously.
“You… no… did you surpass the wall?”
I had planned to reveal it from the start, so I calmly affirmed.
“Yes. Currently, I’m at the 7th Class. That’s why only a few of us were sent.”
The deployment of magicians.
Specialized necromancers for war.
We may be few, but we’re not just anyone, and as such, we can change the tide of war.
The three of them looked shocked, and at the same time, a small glimmer of hope appeared in their eyes.
◈ Support
Since we already knew the latest situation through the guys who attacked the village, there was no need to discuss it at length.
When I told Youngju that I had annihilated one of the enemy’s special units that attacked the village, he was extremely grateful.
I explained to Youngju what I could do and how I planned to move.
While it would be good to take care of the remaining enemy units that had entered the territory, it wouldn’t be efficient.
Special existences like Masters or magicians are certainly capable of changing the tide of war.
However, even they are fundamentally alone.
There are exceptions like necromancers, but currently, I don’t have any undead to control, so it’s meaningless.
After all, as an individual, there’s a limit to what I can do at once.
In this situation, simply defending one location or searching for and killing the remaining enemy units hiding within the territory would be quite inefficient.
So, I wanted to plug the hole in the front lines that allowed the enemy units to enter the territory and then, centered around that, increase the undead and gradually invade the territories supporting the enemy.
“There are things I need to discuss with you beforehand. I also have conditions I’d like to propose.”
Fundamentally, this is a deal with the Crown Prince.
However, that doesn’t mean we can’t negotiate with the Lord of Doirem’s territory at all.
As he himself said, he had never heard about this support before, and the situation was so bad that it was hard to reject my conditions.
“What is it?”
As expected, Youngju asked with a slightly tense expression.
“First, I need to increase my undead army. I’ve only recently become a mage, and my current power is insufficient since my previous forces are being used elsewhere.”
I spoke the truth, but Youngju didn’t seem particularly disappointed.
That’s because I’m a mage. Although a necromancer’s power decreases significantly without undead, that doesn’t change my abilities.
I proved it by handling the separate unit that attacked the village earlier. Just because my current power is insufficient doesn’t mean I’m weak.
I can only provide the best performance, and that’s why I’m setting conditions.
“Therefore, I need some preparation to reclaim the lost stronghold.”
“…You want me to hand over the corpses.”
“That’s right.”
I looked at Youngju, who had a serious expression, and waved my hand.
“It’s not like I’m asking you to hand over the corpses of our allies.”
Even if the current situation in the territory is bad, if our former comrades, who fought alongside us until recently, become undead and fight, it’s likely to shake our allies’ morale.
This could deal a significant blow to Youngju’s reputation.
“It’s enough if you provide the enemy’s corpses. I plan to use them to supplement my power.”
“Will you provide that?”
“There’s no need for you to do it directly. There will be abandoned ones, so just give me permission, and I’ll take care of it.”
That’s convenient for both me and Youngju.
It would be a waste of manpower if I had to collect the corpses one by one.
Moreover, there’s a risk of spreading bad rumors and killing our allies’ morale.
“I suppose that’s not difficult…”
“And, I’d like you to recognize the villagers of the place I directly conquered as my spoils.”
“…….”
Youngju fell silent for a moment at my words, which sounded like I was going to take the villagers as some kind of slaves.
It seemed that, as a necromancer, I was prone to all sorts of dark imaginations.
When I was active in Doriem, I didn’t have a bad reputation as a necromancer.
Thanks to my busy public activities, I didn’t have time for that, and my good relationship with the mercenary guild and the tower helped to spread more positive rumors.
So, it seemed that Youngju didn’t expect me to make such a request, and it led to all sorts of imaginations.
Of course, my reasons were different from what he imagined.
‘Did I just agree to that?’
This was Prina’s request.
When I met her before coming here, she asked for this.
Although it’s true that many refugees have flowed in and the kingdom’s help has increased the population, the fact remains that the population is still lacking compared to the territory’s area.
She wanted to fill that gap with this opportunity and asked for my cooperation.
However, I asked if it would be okay to convert the villagers who believe in the Goddess, and she said she would discuss it with the archbishop and make it happen.
Although I didn’t attach much importance to it, it was a request from my fiancée and ally, and it also helped to block the crown prince’s subtle influence, so I agreed.
But now that my request overlaps with hers, the atmosphere has become awkward.
“…Alright. It’s only natural to guarantee a mercenary’s spoils of war… Ah, calling me a mercenary is…”.
“It’s fine. It’s true that I came here as a mercenary, after all.”
It’s true that some people might feel insulted if a mage is treated like a mercenary, so I was cautious. However, I didn’t care much about it.
“Anyway, those who have enemies in the Goddess Church were all thought to be executed, and as long as the land is secured, it’s enough, so I won’t interfere with how you use the directly secured residents.”
“Thank you for your cooperation. I’ll consider the request fee as paid.”
The lord’s face brightened at the mention of the request fee.
As a mercenary with the guarantee of the Dorieleum branch, he could have received the request fee, but he didn’t need the money, and the previous requests were enough, so he decided to stop there.
“It’s fortunate. Due to the sudden war, the territory’s finances are not good, and I was worried about it…”
Just maintaining the mercenaries fighting on the front lines was already a burden, and he was worried about how much more he would have to pay to hire mages.
At least he had some savings set aside due to his previous greed, which had helped him hold on until now.
However, those savings were dwindling at an alarming rate, and it was getting dangerous.
From the way he spoke openly, it seemed like he wanted to end the war quickly.
After successfully negotiating with the lord, I immediately turned to Colmail and said:
“We need someone who knows the area well to restore the broken front lines and enter the interior of the Juturs territory.”
I wanted a guide or an informant.
Colmail nodded at my words.
“There’s a suitable person. They’re currently moving on the front lines, but I can pull them out.”
That was enough.
The lord was quite apologetic that he couldn’t provide much support even with the mage’s help, but from my perspective, it was better this way.
It was especially convenient that I could move independently.
The lord also said he would trust my judgment on that matter.
After meeting with the key figures of the territory, I used the corpses of the processed mercenaries to create undead.
The commander became a skeleton knight, the bishop became a commander-type undead, and the two priests became mummy priests.
I turned the remaining mercenaries into a single drake.
Although I had secured over 100 corpses, only five undead were created, and they were all commander-type.
It didn’t matter that I didn’t have any low-ranking undead.
“Anyway, as long as I secure the corpses, I can mass-produce mid-to-low-ranking undead anytime.”
My control was not a problem.
As a 7-class necromancer, I could control thousands of mid-ranking undead and still have leftover power.
The only issue was that I needed a tremendous amount of magical energy to operate them, and I couldn’t control them individually, so I didn’t do it.
It was unlikely that I would lack control with so many high-ranking undead already under my command.
“The legion commander is a different story, though.”
I created another skeleton horse and bound it to the knight.
It was unclear how many troops I would have, but it was a good start.
While I was creating the undead, Otriocka came to visit and had a brief conversation with me, saying that he would do his best to maintain his junior member status in the mage tower.
It seemed like he wanted to leave a small connection with me, and I had no reason to refuse, so I agreed.
He also asked about the 7-class secrets, but it was clear that he hadn’t been a 6-class for long, so I told him it was meaningless to reveal it now.
In reality, establishing his current knowledge and paving his own way based on that was still lacking.
Originally, I was going to receive guidance and go to the front lines separately, but due to the Juturs’ mercenary corps, I was struggling with supplies, so I accepted the lord’s request to move together.
In reality, there was a surprise attack by the mercenary corps aiming for supplies, and the newly created undead played a significant role there.
Thanks to that, over 100 skeleton warriors were added under the commander-type undead, and two more mummy priests were added under a new commander-type undead.
“It seems like the two priests and one bishop are moving as a team.”
It seemed like the basic unit.
The soldiers in charge of supplies looked at my undead with fear and admiration.
As soon as we arrived at the front line, the knight who received the order from Colmail attached a mercenary to me.
It was a familiar face.
“You’re…?”
“Eryan?”
It was Eryan, the mercenary from Jutters who had guided us before, and now worked for Dolem.
He said he had moved from Jutters to Dolem and was active on the front line.
If it was Eryan, he would know a lot about Jutters, and since he was active on the front line, he would also know a lot about the surrounding area.
“Good choice.”
“Huh. I heard you left Dolem, but you’re back? Rumor has it you became an official dark mage.”
“I’m just helping with this war, I haven’t completely returned.”
“Is it true you became an official dark mage?”
“Yes.”
Eryan nodded at my confirmation.
“If you’ve become an official dark mage, why are you participating in this dangerous war instead of staying in a safe place?”
“It’s necessary. If this place falls, my own territory will also be affected.”
“I see.”
He seemed to understand, and extended his hand.
“Anyway, I’ve received an order to cooperate with you, so let’s work together for a while.”
“Likewise.”
The guy who used to boast about Jutters with pride was now working with me as a member of Dolem.
“It’s not a long time, but…”
“What do I need to do?”
There was no detailed information in the order, so I explained my tasks to him again. During that process, he found out that I had reached the level of a mage, and his expression changed to one of great surprise.
“W, what impudence…”
“Don’t worry about it, just do as you normally would.”
“…Is that okay?”
He seemed to have a quite bold personality, judging from his words.
“I wondered why you participated in this dangerous war, but I guess there was a reason. As a mage, and an official dark mage at that, you’re capable of turning this situation around.”
Eryan nodded, seeming to understand.
“First, you said we need corpses? That’s easy.”
He said there were still many unprocessed corpses from the recent battle.
“Those crows will starve for a while.”
“Not the corpses of our allies, right? We promised not to touch those.”
“…What do you think I am? Don’t worry. There are a lot of abandoned Jutters corpses lying around.”
Eryan said with a slightly bitter expression.
I understood. He used to be a member of Jutters before the war, after all.
There were probably many familiar faces among the pile of corpses.
However, it seemed that I had already made up my mind to turn them into undead, and there wasn’t much of a disgusted reaction.
“Follow me. I’ll guide you.”
◈ Support
His words were true; the corpses were piled up in a heap.
At a glance, there were over a hundred.
“If we leave them like this, it’ll be a breeding ground for diseases.”
From noble mtl dot com
“We burn them periodically. Right now, we’re in a situation where we’re being pushed back, so we don’t have the mental capacity to do so.”
“Periodically burning them… does that mean the number of enemies is that high?”
“It’s a mess. Not only did the knights from the temple join in, but the surrounding territories and the goddess’s faction also sent troops.”
“We managed to hold out.”
“We received periodic supplies of mercenaries. If you listen to the rumors, it’s clear where they came from. Lately, the frequency of surprise attacks has decreased significantly.”
It’s likely that the royal family is providing the mercenaries.
“Still, it’s not like they’re completely absent, which is why the corpses are piling up like that.”
The state of the corpses suggested that they were relatively recent, perhaps around two days old.