The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 62

After about an hour of additional work.

Pasquale.

The underground of the young lord’s mansion was connected to a secret passage.

“…Huh.”

I could immediately understand why Mutrue had strongly recommended this place.

underground dungeon

“This…isn’t this just a house rather than an underground?”

“It seems like that was also the purpose.”

It wasn’t as large as the three-story underground of Kuman’s mansion, but it was not inferior.

It had a total of two stories. While the upper floor felt almost like a warehouse, the lower floor was literally no different from a house.

It felt like a house made just for people to live in.

‘How many rooms are there… ‘

There was even a private well, a bathroom, and a toilet…it was possible to just stay locked up here.

Moreover, on the upper floor…

“They said there was no food, but they took all of ours.”

Some of the byproducts of the giant Ents that I had handed over were also here.

I even thought that the young lord who had failed to escape in the last round might have survived here for years. At that time, the food situation wouldn’t have been as bad as it is now, so the amount of food stored must have been enormous.

Athena and Tia, who were checking the interior with me, also looked surprised.

In particular, they seemed a little shocked at how luxurious it was despite being underground.

“It’s much nicer than my house. I thought that house was great too, but there’s no comparison.”

‘This much is really nothing…’ ‘

Perhaps because they had lived without much, this much was quite shocking to them.

Still, I was a little surprised that Anita was surprised, considering that she must have been to Kuman’s mansion.

“Are you saying that we’re going to live here?”

“Probably. Mutrue, just in case, check if there’s a passageway here that leads to the surface.”

Quite some time had passed, so the vibrations that had been ringing occasionally had almost subsided.

In fact, it seemed like the massacre on the surface had ended.

Mutrue confirmed that the top passageway was blocked because the building itself had collapsed.

‘There’s no artifact or magical treatment. That’s a little disappointing.’

It means that the convenience is a little lacking.

But this much is satisfactory. Honestly, I could say that it was beyond my expectations.

‘I guess I should use the 2nd floor for living and the 1st floor as my lab.’

It could be said to be the opposite of what I’ve done so far. I usually made the lab deeper, but the structure here seemed to be better at the top.

I was thinking of securing the basement of Kuman’s mansion and making a training space for Athena and Kyla.

‘Because the 3rd floor there has a lot of useful stuff.’

Kyla, in particular, might even like it since she would have lived there before.

‘There are quite a few useful things.’

As we were looking around the interior, Kyla and Baldur were waiting for me at the entrance.

“…I will serve you as my master. Please call me whenever you have something for me to do.”

It seemed like they were trying to accept their current situation.

“Leave the slave management to me. I’m thinking of securing the basement of Kuman’s mansion as well. Are there any slaves left there?”

“… There are. Quite a lot, I’m sure. I left behind all those that weren’t worth the money.”

“Ugh. We’ll need to secure them as soon as possible.”

If anything were to happen in the midst of the internal chaos, there would be casualties.

The secret passage, the basement of the Lord’s mansion, and even the basement of the Kuman mansion. The amount of space that had fallen into my hands was enormous.

‘I guess it was a good thing I listened to Kayla.

To manage this much space, we would need a lot of manpower.

That’s why I thought the slaves, who I had thought we could do without, would actually be quite helpful.

‘We could have them manage things and do chores to support us.’

It seemed like we could create an environment where we could focus on training.

It had started as an act of pity for my former disciple, but it had ended up being helpful for my group.

I ordered Kayla and Mutr to secure the basement of the Kuman mansion as well.

Since Kayla could use Orur, if she worked with Mutr, they would be able to secure the basement of the Kuman mansion in no time.

Since the first basement floor was being used as a warehouse, Mutr would be able to get his hands on various tools, which would make things even faster.

After the two left, Athina and Tia went out to fix up our living space.

That left just Balder and me alone in the space.

“What about the other slaves?”

“They’re all in the passage.”

“Once we secure the basement of the Kuman mansion, we’ll make a living space for them there.”

Balder’s face darkened a little at the thought of going back to a place like that.

From noble mtl dot com

It couldn’t be helped since that space reminded him of the old days. He was still a slave there, after all.

However, I didn’t plan on treating him like a slave.

“From now on, you’ll be receiving more of Kayla’s teachings, along with Athina.”

“At the same time, as I said before, you’ll be in charge of managing the slaves.”

“The slaves will be in charge of the general upkeep of the dungeon, as well as taking care of us.”

“If they’re going to be doing that much, they should be compensated. “Is there anything you want?”

I had been answering the same question over and over again, just with different tones.

“I don’t like slaves very much. Those without hope are too passive and inefficient.”

I didn’t want to see two or three people doing a job that could be done by one person.

“Even though they’re slaves, they won’t be treated the same way they were before. I’m not planning on selling them off. They’ll be given proper rest, a proper living space, and plenty of food. I’ll be cooking for them myself. Hmm… Yeah. “I guess you could think of it as an employer-employee relationship.”

“… So, you’re saying that we’re not slaves, but servants or maids… ?”

The work would be similar, but the treatment would be different.

Slaves were literally the property of their masters, and they didn’t receive any kind of pay or even basic human treatment.

However, servants were different.

They were basically employees, and they received pay, breaks, and even lodging, depending on the situation.

In a society with a caste system, it was common for servants to be treated no better than slaves, but officially, that was how it was.

However, in this situation, we weren’t paying them in money. Instead, we were protecting them from danger and providing them with food and shelter. From their perspective, it wasn’t a bad deal.

Maybe he realized that, because Balder looked at me with a surprised expression.

That expression suddenly seemed familiar.

‘… It’s similar to the way Mutr looks at me… .’

“If that’s the case, everyone will be delighted.”

Valdur, who had been hesitating for a moment, continued speaking.

“Even if they find out that Master is a dark wizard… you know.”

Of course, there will be some reluctance or difficulty.

That’s not a bad thing. It means that I don’t seem easy to deal with for the time being.

‘As long as I’m not a fool, I won’t do anything reckless when I have the power in my hands.’

Still, it’s not good to be stiff and always in fear.

The fear that they might have because I’m their master and a dark wizard will gradually improve over time as long as they are treated well.

‘Humans are creatures of adaptation.’

“As I said earlier, you better deserve treatment and compensation because you do different things from the others. So tell me what you want.”

He helps out with force, acts as a practical opponent for Athena, and manages the slaves.

He’s a kind of middle manager. On top of that, since he was once Kyla’s disciple, it was 無理 to treat him the same as the others.

Valdur didn’t say anything for a while in response to my question.

However, thinking that it would be rude to keep me waiting any longer, he slowly opened his mouth.

“…There isn’t anything.”

“Hmm? You don’t want anything?”

“…Yes. To begin with, I’ve never thought about such a thing.”

“…Have you been a slave since you were young?”

“Yes. I was sold by my parents when I was around 5 years old.”

Then I understand.

He doesn’t have the concept of thinking about what he wants.

He’s lived such a passive life… .

‘Even though he’s so passive, he learned everything he could from Kyla, so he must have some talent.’

I can understand why Kyla was fond of him.

“Don’t you want freedom or anything?”

“What good would freedom be to me in my current situation?”

That’s true. The magic seal won’t disappear, and the outside world is a den of monsters.

Freedom in this situation would be worthless.

It’s better to work as a manager here and be provided with food and shelter.

“Then think about it carefully as you go along. If you think of anything you want, tell me or Kyla.”

“Go on. Go and help Kyla. Tell the others as well.”

It meant that they would be treated as servants, not slaves.

“I understand. I’ll take my leave.”

Valdur bowed deeply to me and went out into the passage.

“Not bad. It’s better to be an employee than a slave.”

“…When did you come?”

“Halfway through? It’s strange. If you don’t have anything you want, why did you train and how did you get so strong?”

I just made him do it, but it’s certainly great that he’s that strong.

Of course, there must have been some kind of reward during the process.

It’s possible that he trained with the goal of getting better clothes, better food, and better treatment.

If not, she might have suffered severe punishment if she failed to do it properly.

Kayla didn’t tell her about the training process.

But this method would only have a short-term effect… .

‘Talent, after all.’

In this case, there was no other way to explain it.

The teacher was okay, but the training environment wasn’t the best, and even though she only trained with her immediate goal in mind, she still achieved such results, so it could only be talent.

‘But Kayla praised Athina more.’

“I think she’ll be a fun opponent once she starts doing it properly… Ah, I’m looking forward to our spar.”

A sudden thought came to her, and she asked Athina.

“Come to think of it, why do you want to get stronger?”

She had saved her siblings, and if you looked at it closely, she had succeeded in getting her revenge.

One would be discouraged after all that, but Athina didn’t show any signs of it.

Rather, after getting her revenge, she looked refreshed and even more motivated.

“Why do I want to get stronger? Hmm… There are many reasons. I’m really weak, you see? I need to get much stronger if I want to keep protecting Tia. I’m not planning on being satisfied here. And I also have to repay your favor, and I can live a better life if I do. And most of all.”

Athina, who had been smiling lightly, continued.

“It’s also fun to get stronger. I won’t have to live the same life as before if I just get stronger.”

It seemed like her past memories and the results she got as she grew stronger were what motivated her.

“What about you? “How about you?”

“To survive. And to be free.”

It was something I always thought about. That was why the answer came out in less than a second.

Athina looked slightly surprised at my firm attitude.

And then she started laughing as if she had lost.

“You’re not ready for me yet. “I have to try harder.”

She shook her head and tried to get up… but she turned around and asked.

“Oh, I almost forgot. “Do you have a room you want?”

It seemed like this was the reason she had come to me.

“Anywhere is fine. They all look decent.”

I said I didn’t care since there were many rooms, enough to accommodate the maids, and they weren’t too luxurious, but they were still good enough to live in.

“Is that so? Then I’ll just do it myself.”

With that, Athina returned to Tia.

After Athina left, I started organizing the basement floor.

Since it was going to be my study, it was going to be the place I cared about the most.

In the meantime, Kayla and Mutr had succeeded in connecting the basement of the Cooman mansion to the underground passage and rescued the slaves.

Fortunately, since they had been rescued relatively early, there were no major issues.

Balder had explained the situation to the slaves as I had instructed, and he had succeeded in controlling them. Although they were afraid that I was a black magician, they had no choice but to listen to my promise of a better life.

I named the basement of the mansion we would be staying in as the main building, and the basement of the Cooman mansion as the annex, and then I ordered Mutr to remodel the annex.

The first and second floors would be used as accommodations, and the third floor training ground was going to be remodeled based on Kayla and Athina’s opinions.

With Mutr leading the way, the slaves cooperated, and Athina and Kayla enthusiastically shared their opinions with Mutr.

Like that, a completely different environment from the chaotic situation above ground was being created in the basement.