The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 51

Athena made a relieved expression that I had thought about it that far.

When she learned that there was an alternative even in the event of an emergency, Athena actively participated in the meeting again.

She asked why a nearby place would not work and what the basis was for the assumption that the number of Giant Ents would be small there, and I cited the distribution of nearby monsters and the fact that the Giant Ents’ territory was relatively small.

Athena countered that, given that they had such a large territory despite the presence of such strong forces nearby, they might not be as small as expected, but since Giant Ents were advantageous in defense, all monsters were the same in that they would not dare to touch them even if they were small, so Athena was convinced after hearing my explanation.

Athena’s words had some truth to them. However, it was better to go where the probability was high.

“Then the destination is the greenwood forest.”

Of course, there was a possibility that the ant nest in the greenwood forest would be smaller than expected. Even so, it was concluded that it would be better than the one near the small Orc tribe.

We would have to leave Tia behind, but for the time being, she was inside the pioneer territory, so Athena was not too worried.

Rather, Tia seemed more worried that we were going to hunt the ant nest.

“Do we really have to go?”

“It’s the Lord’s request.”

“… “I wish I had the strength too.”

“What are you talking about?”

Athena is started by Tia’s words.

“I’m tired of being left alone, my lady. “I want to go with you.”

“Absolutely not. And your body could be in serious trouble if you misuse your mana.”

Due to the influence of the previous curse, there was a possibility that mana would be contaminated if it was awakened.

Tia’s head eventually droops at Athena’s words.

Tia also knew.

It was almost impossible for a woman to become strong without mana.

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Especially in Tia’s case, her body was not originally in good shape, so mana was essential for her if she wanted to become stronger.

“Have a safe trip. Don’t get hurt… .”

“I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’ll be back soon, so wait here quietly.”

Athena seemed a little uneasy because of Tia’s words, so she spoke to Tia as if to emphasize it, and Tia seemed to think that she had made Athena uneasy with her unnecessary words, so she answered obediently.

Even as we left the pioneer territory, Athena looked back at it several times, looking uneasy.

“Are you worried?”

“Of course. I don’t want Tia to fight… .”

“A certain level of force may be necessary.”

The world is so dangerous. Especially in the frontier, the powerless are bound to be in danger.

“You want my sister to do something dangerous?”

“You can’t keep her by your side forever. If you really don’t like it, find someone you can trust to stay with her.”

“I will keep her by my side for the rest of my life. I will not give my sister to anyone.

“Tia seems to think differently.”

“…She must be lonely. Damn that Youngju. Giving me such a useless request…”

Athena, who had been thinking for a while, said to me.

“Why don’t you just tell Tia that you’re a warlock?”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“You’ve gotten close enough to be friends now… and Tia owes you a lot. Above all, I think what you said makes sense. I want to provide Tia with an escort.”

“You want me to assign my undead as Tia’s escort?”

“Yeah. Is that not possible?”

“You want me to advertise myself as a warlock in the middle of the Frontier?”

“…You can hide it. Like in that basement. Tell Tia to go underground when she’s in danger…”

“She won’t be able to run that far without any strength.”

It was a hasty idea, so it was full of loopholes.

Tia seemed to be quite a weakness for Athena.

But the fact that she thought of having my undead escort Tia naturally showed how much she trusted me.

‘Still, having the undead as an escort is a useful method.’

Even though they may look hideous, there are none more loyal than the undead.

“Well, if you’re really worried, wait a little while.”

“Why? Do you have a way?”

“It will take a long time, but there might be a way if I grow stronger in the future.”

If I develop the specters further, I could conceal their presence.

At that level, it would be easy to exert physical force, so it wouldn’t be difficult to act as a secret escort.

“Really!?”

“However, it won’t alleviate her loneliness. It would be better to have her make friends.”

“…No. People can’t be trusted.”

“That’s overprotectiveness.”

“Lives are at stake. Can’t you be overprotective?”

I understand. She had experienced a separation of life and death once, and when she found her, her younger brother had become a slave.

“What should I do…”

Athena’s worries didn’t end until we arrived at Green Forest Village.

“Welcome, Knight.”

“Long time no see.”

I’m tired of being called a knight. They must already be well aware. What am I supposed to do when they act like that to flatter me?

“But you’ve gotten quite thin.”

“It’s because the food situation isn’t good.”

Of course, if the Frontier is in that state, I don’t even need to see the state of the Frontier Village.

I clicked my tongue and informed the village chief about the purpose of my visit to the village and the authority I had.

“In the ant cave… do you mean the local population? Most of the young men have already been conscripted…”

‘…Somehow, when I said I would give them authority…’

It seemed that they had taken out all the useful people.

I felt cheated.

“No, I guess this is fraud.”

After saying that, he didn’t say a word.

My favorability towards Yeong-ju, which had already been decreasing, plummeted.

“I don’t plan to use it for battle. If the subjugation is successful, I’ll bring back the body. Oh, and by the way, you can eat the Giant Ent.”

“…You mean as food?”

“I’ll make sure that the Green Forest village gets the food first.”

Yeong-ju can’t say anything to me about that.

“… You can ask me whenever you want, Sir Knight.”

Ant Cave

After receiving the village chief’s confirmation, we headed to the entrance of the ant cave.

We knew the exact location and were thoroughly prepared, so there was no problem.

We didn’t encounter any monsters on the way, so it didn’t take long to get there.

“That’s it…”

Athena said, looking at the shallow earthen grave.

The entrance to the ant cave was behind a barricade made of dirt and stones that they had built.

It could be said that ordinary ants also build walls made of dirt or sand grains around the entrance, but Giant Ents are definitely much larger than such ants, so their barricades are quite high.

It was about 1.5m high, roughly.

“I don’t see any ants beyond the wall?”

“It gets deeper as you go inside, so you can’t see it unless you get closer.”

There was a possibility that there were soldiers ants acting as gatekeepers.

‘Of course, most of them are blocking the entrance from inside the hole.’

“I’ll put the skeleton in the front. I plan to release the specter freely. I guess we’ll have to see when we get inside the ant cave, but it probably won’t be that narrow.”

The size of Giant Ents varies greatly, but their height is close to 1m including their antennae, and their length is well over 1m, so they are taller than the average person.

Therefore, the inside of the ant cave was not so narrow that it was impossible to move.

Their eyesight is extremely poor, and they mostly use their sense of smell, antennae, and hearing to distinguish between their opponents.

They communicate using pheromones, similar to ordinary ants.

“Be careful of the ones that shoot acid. It won’t be a big problem if it’s on your equipment, but it can be dangerous if it gets in your eyes. Kayla will be fine, but…”

If acid touches iron, it will corrode slightly, but it won’t be that bad. I also applied a protective agent. However, if it gets on your skin, especially your eyes, you could go blind in the worst case.

“I’m in danger. You’ll be in the back anyway. You said you’d support me with attack magic and curse magic?”

It’s not for nothing that mana exceeds the limits of humans.

If you have a high level of mana, you will become resistant to such toxins, and Kayla, who has a mana heart, will be fine even if she gets hit by the Giant Ent’s acid.

“Especially, no matter how much the ant cave doesn’t interfere with your activities, it’s not like you can run around freely. It might be okay in a room, but it’ll be difficult in a passage.”

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

Still, she wasn’t going to help me with a crossbow from the rear like before, but she was going to fight properly with me and the skeleton next to Kayla.

Kayla, her master, had certified that she would be fine, and Athena had definitely improved her skills compared to the past.

‘But she still said it’s a waste to give her the elixir.’

Thanks to the elixir, Kayla was able to fix her leg and gain a mana heart through the reconstruction of her body.

That’s why she valued the elixir I had very highly, and that’s why she said it was too precious to use on the current Athena.

Her mana control skills have improved noticeably, but considering the value of the elixir, it’s still not enough.

If you look at the actual results, it’s not an ordinary elixir, and I also agreed with her opinion, so Athena is currently not taking the elixir.

“First, let’s confirm.”

I immediately took out Specter and sent it into the sky.

Unfortunately, I am still class 3, so I cannot share my senses, including my vision, through the undead.

However, it is possible for the undead to read my will to some extent, so I was able to confirm it indirectly.

The result of the confirmation was.

“None?”

Specter circles as if to say yes.

“Good work.”

-Woong.

Specter, who responded to my words with a slight vibration, stood quietly behind me.

“It seems like it’s inside.”

Specter did not check the inside. Anyway, we’re going to go in, and we can’t communicate enough to convey the detailed situation.

‘Obviously. There will just be ants scurrying around.’

My physical strength will be important.

Unfortunately, only I can recover from fatigue by receiving the energy absorbed by Specter.

The skeleton doesn’t know what fatigue is, so the two of them need to figure out how to distribute their stamina.

“Then, let’s go.”

We were already prepared.

We immediately crossed the earthen and stone rampart and headed inside.

As we had expected, the pit became deeper and deeper as we went down, and there was a fairly large hole at the very bottom.

It was still slightly above ground level, though.

“…Isn’t it blocked? What is that?”

“Soldier ants.”

“Ants? That?”

It’s a type of soldier ant called a doorkeeper ant.

Their heads are unusually large, so they can block the entrance like that.

At first glance, it looks like a black wall, but that’s the doorkeeper ant’s head.

‘The shell is also quite strong.’

When other ants that have been scouting or hunting knock on the door, they check for enemies with pheromones and open the door.

Of course, they don’t open the door if we knock.

Therefore, we could not enter the interior without killing them.

And that would be the signal for the battle to begin.

They didn’t move even though we had reached the entrance.

I summoned the skeleton and looked at Kaila and said.

“Get rid of them.”

Swish.

Kaila drew her sword and covered it with aura.

‘Hmm….’

Her aura was darker in color and more defined than Rainbank’s.

In terms of realm, it was intermediate level. She still couldn’t use her mana heart properly, but even so, she would have an advantage against experts of the same level.

“Even if it’s just for a little while, we can bring out a superior aura, so once we start handling mana hearts properly, we’ll level up in no time.”

The master also thinks it’s not impossible.

While I was lost in thought for a moment, Kayla, who had moved to the entrance, swung her sword.

Slash!

The entrance to the ant den opened with Kayla’s sword, and transparent fluid splattered around.

Thud.

“Hmm? What was that sound?”