ALL NOVEL Chapter 26
– 0 –
A beautiful beast with silver fur and red eyes.
Hug!
“…!”
“I missed you. My…”
One day, that child came and suddenly burrowed into my world.
– 1 –
“This flower really resembles you. So small and pretty.”
The axe warrior, Long Tyler, who had just recently qualified, thought while grinding his teeth.
Maybe it was time to leave this party.
“Seriously, you say some really nice things.”
“Hey, you compliment me too!”
“Uh, um… you’re also handsome?”
“A bit lacking, but it’s good.”
…So annoying.
It hadn’t been long since they became a couple, yet the sweetness was pouring out. Pouring out.
“You guys. We’re currently inside a dungeon. Get a grip.”
“…”
Tap.
With the words of the party leader, Long, the group fell silent.
As the cave quickly became quiet, the sound of the burning torch was unusually loud.
“Dammit. Did I say that for no reason?”
Noticing that the warrior and mage in question, along with the others, were also watching him, he felt a bit regretful inside.
However, he didn’t relax the tension in his eyes.
In a dungeon, one must always stay alert. That’s what he believed was the secret to his survival up until now.
“Okay. Got it.”
“Anyway, this dungeon is a newbie dungeon, right? So it’s just skeletons and goblins, isn’t it? Why so tense?”
Still, perhaps because it was the leader’s words, the officially qualified mage, Maribel, nodded right away, but the usually cheeky blond guy wasn’t going to keep quiet.
George Holzer.
He was someone whose attitude had never sat well with Long, but recently it had only bothered him more.
His words naturally turned harsh.
“Dammit. Don’t you know it’s common sense to be tense in a dungeon? Didn’t the seniors say that’s how you get caught in traps?”
Once again, Long regretted saying anything.
He thought he wasn’t cut out to be a real leader if he couldn’t even control his emotions.
If some lady heard this, she would probably clap and say, “Always being tormented and showing direction is the virtue of a leader,” but there was no way he would know that.
“No, what traps are there that we haven’t identified in a newbie dungeon…?”
“Stay tense, dammit.”
“Why are you getting all upset…”
However, that regret faded as he found himself snapping at George, who was constantly arguing back.
Seeing George’s somewhat shriveled demeanor speaking his mind in an unpleasurable tone only fueled Long’s anger.
“Shit.”
Honestly, he was good-looking. That’s probably why the entire party had been eyeing the mage to snatch her up first.
After noticing Maribel’s furrowed brow, Long turned his gaze forward again.
He was already taken.
He didn’t want to bother with it anymore.
‘Now that I think about it, that’s also annoying.’
The information about this dungeon came from George Holzer’s inquiry.
He had overheard other adventurers talking about this dungeon while he was drinking and chatting with Maribel at the tavern.
Even though it was a newly formed dungeon, rumors suggested that treasures were discovered upon entering, and over time, more treasures would be added.
‘Let’s see if there’s really nothing at all.’
After hearing the testimony of a female adventurer who had broken through the dungeon and survived, George had followed him around for days, saying they had to hit it big, resulting in their current dungeon expedition.
However, after defeating the goblins at the entrance, the long hallway that began was filled with things that stirred a person’s fear.
Woo…
Kick. Kikik… Kikkik…
The sound of a beast howling in the distance, the flickering torchlight, curves, and points, and the fact that besides their own sounds, nothing else could be heard.
Even the corridor was abnormally long.
“Why is this hallway so long? Damn it.”
Listening to George’s annoyed voice as he took out his frustrations on the dungeon, Long focused his gaze on the walls of the corridor.
It wasn’t just that the hallway was long; the curvature of the walls had also become sharp after a while.
He felt something was strange.
‘Damn it.’
The deep curvatures caused by the torches cast thick shadows that seemed to ripple, and he felt like a monstrous creature was about to leap out.
It felt like he was crawling into the belly of a monster.
His already discomforting mood now was tainted with fear, squeezing his stomach like a vice.
As the party leader, he was responsible. He couldn’t afford to look away from danger.
He couldn’t retreat here.
Every movement of adventurers involved money, and while others might not know, he certainly felt that their party had been dwindling recently.
‘Be vigilant.’
‘I am.’
First, he signaled the two trackers and the archer beside him to keep an eye on the walls.
Finally, when a brightly lit entrance appeared at the end, Long tightened the strings of his nerves even further.
And as he passed through the entrance—
Peraak!
“Gyaaaah -!!!”
Chik-!!
George’s proud face would no longer see the light.
As a powerful force tore off his shoulder from the back line, Maribel’s scream was splattered with his blood and flesh.
Chaos erupted in an instant.
“Enemies…! It’s skeletons!!”
“All around! Enemies are everywhere!”
“Everyone gather! We’ll break through!!”
“Wait, Hans…!”
And just like that, it took no more than a minute for the overwhelming chaos to subside.
The dungeon fell silent again.
Swallowing a total of eight unfortunate lives.
– 2 –
The dungeon is peaceful.
– Clack!
To be precise, I was the only one at peace.
Even when I tried to move, my summons always…
[Clack!]
[Is this enough for you?]
[Clack!]
This way, they only told me to rest.
Since I had never once failed, I had no grounds to argue, so these days I was just checking the loot after battle or managing my summons, and based on Eve’s requests, expanding or altering the dungeon.
Is that a lot? Not really when you actually do it.
Above all, there’s an excessive amount of free time. It’s no wonder I’ve read more books since I came here than I did in my entire lifetime on Earth. Most of them, not even novels, are magic books.
I’m even messing around with chess, which I didn’t really do on Earth. Of course, the opponent is mainly Eve.
It’s comfortable, but… it’s definitely comfortable… but still lacking in some way.
In any case, I was peaceful.
Of course.
“Guh, ugh… live…!”
The fact that we were peaceful meant that it wasn’t peaceful for the people around the dungeon.
Yet again today, a party of adventurers enticed by the curiosity or greed sparked by rumors perished in the ‘Nameless Beginner Dungeon.’
Made up of eight members, it was quite large, and the party composition was splendid, but the reality was it was impossible to overcome over fifty skeletons, a powerful enough force to feel special, with just two experienced and six probationary adventurers.
If they were ordinary skeletons, it might have been possible, but with my army? Absolutely not.
Perak!
Ching!
As I watched the axe break the last adventurer’s head, I soon realized the communication magic device lit up.
It was a cautious communication request from the other side.
“Good job.”
Chuchak!
– Master.
As I activated the communicator after sending words of encouragement to the skeletons, a woman’s voice came through.
It was ‘Talhan.’
Now, my creation, Cerebrum Skull, had already crossed over to ‘Lanhan,’ a city in another country south of Solemio, using the name I had given.
While adventurers could be armed even as beggars or thugs on the streets, continuing to make probationary adventurers disappear in Solemio would quickly attract the lord’s suspicions.
– Do you like the tribute?
For a while more, I would continue roaming nearby cities, selecting beginner adventurers with greed or curiosity.
As for why I kept hopping from one female body to another, I couldn’t be sure, but it was probably more convenient for tricking people.
“Good. I found someone with decent talent.”
– Thank goodness.
Feeling a subtle hint in the vacant space following her words like ‘Isn’t it time to go back yet?’ I merely ended the communication, signaling it was still too early.
After all, Talhan hadn’t yet completed the original order of finding three adventurers, including Velvet.
He… or rather she? Whatever.
She still had to work diligently for a while longer.
“‘Sacrifice appraisal’.”
After feeling the magic dampening my eyes several times and opening them again to inspect the adventurers, a smile naturally spread across my face.
Because I had discovered something good.
“Axe. Come here.”
– Thunk!
As the enormous skeleton that matched its size approached, its body cast a shadow over me.
It was always a reminder of how small I was.
“Want to bow down? You’re completely blocking the light.”
– Clunk!
Hearing my words, the skeleton slightly bent over several times and then simply sat down right there, lowering its head to shrink itself as much as possible.
Only then did its skull come down just below my eye level.
Fortunately or unfortunately, its legs weren’t very long compared to its large size, so its seated height was almost the same as my standing height.
“That’s a bit excessive. But thanks.”
– Clunk!
With a renewed expression of gratitude, the skeleton bowed its head once again.
Perhaps due to its rapidly developing intellect, this fellow exaggerated its reactions linked to its loyalty to my every word.
There were a few more like this.
As I mentioned, kids quickly acquiring intelligence and personalities. Along with developing specialties or attributes, they’ve become elite.
They may not be as cute as Evangeline, but…
Feeling strangely charmed by such displays was a little unfamiliar, yet what could I do but to feel so.
“‘Sacrifice enhancement’.”
As the magic activated, the larger of the two formal adventurers here disintegrated into black magic.
After pulling out that magic to soak the massive skeleton’s body, shortly after, a new line appeared on its status window.
『Specialization: Axe – Specialization in two-edged close combat weapons. Gains bonuses for actions using an axe.』
While I had discovered many adventurers with specialization in blunt weapons like hammers or maces, there hadn’t been up until now a martial artist primarily using an axe.
Because of that, the trait for Axe, who wielded a large double-edged axe, had remained solely as ‘Battlefield Roar’ and ‘Member of Necropolis’ until now.
This was somewhat troublesome for me, and the reason was…
『Name – Axe』
『Title/Entity Name – ‘Giant’ Skeleton』
『Attribute – Health 35, Skill 12, Durability 21, Magic 4, Resistance 13』
Although the attributes of this creature were already close to intermediate rank, it still hadn’t been able to evolve into the official warrior class due to not meeting either of the two conditions.
Even among the other dozen or so soldiers secured at the beginning, who were each opening or absorbing one attribute or other to properly become soldiers or warriors.
Given that ‘Member of Necropolis’ was a trait obtained from me, it had failed to help in the skeleton’s evolution conditions.
“Hey, you two. Go fetch the class-up materials from the storage.”
– Tak!
– Clack!
When I ordered the two skeletons who had been watching after collecting the adventurers, the two, who were chatting away while smiling broadly, immediately snapped to attention, saluted, and ran off.
Noticing that they were pointing toward Axe, it seemed they were indeed discussing him among themselves.
Can’t be sure since the expression system is different, but it wouldn’t be weird to have that kind of vibe, considering how Axe particularly was delayed in his evolution.
Axe, for his part, was just staring straight at me.
With that loyal look, I felt a bit guilty.
I just wanted to give him some traits carefully, but now I was realizing that these rapidly growing intellects also had personal relationships.
“I wasn’t teasing you.”
– Clunk!
When I asked him about it, he was startled and shook his head in disbelief while bowing repeatedly as if feeling sorry for me.
Seeing the ‘sincerity’ in his expression, it turned out that it had been my misunderstanding.
“I can pick up emotions, but it’s inconvenient not to understand all of your conversations completely.”
– Clump!
“Right. It’s not something in the current necromancy, but how about trying it once?”
– Clump?
There wasn’t magic in necromancy to hear the will of summoned creatures that couldn’t communicate.
There must have been someone who used this ability for communication with their summons at some point, but at least it hadn’t been standardized or anything.
It would be nice if there was a necromancer master somewhere.
However, those intelligent beings familiar with necromancy would either be demons from the Demon World or Dungeon Lords, so either way, there was no suitable figure who could be qualified as a master.
Just learning it on my own might be better.
Swaaak!
Even though it had only just been two months since I came to this world, I felt there was a sensibility I had gotten used to while using necromancy over the course of that time, so I could quickly retrieve the magic to insert what I wanted.
– Clunk!
“Isn’t that a bit surprising? I’ll use it safely, so it will be fine. It’s not going to be used on you.”
As I pulled the magic up, the skeleton giant flinched slightly. It seemed he thought I was going to use the power on him.
I was only enhancing the sensitivity of my own senses.
– Clunk!
But the last words I said made the skeleton overly dramatic, raising both arms to showcase his body like a bodybuilding pose.
However, the feeling I got from him was a strong ‘no way!’ making it clear he knew what I meant.
“Should I cast it on you? But my resistance to magic is high. It’ll actually be safer.”
– Clunkclunkclunkclunk!
At my additional words, Axe began shaking his head violently as if having a fit.
From my warrior, I perceived a tremendous feeling of ‘worry,’ blended with a slight touch of ‘fear.’
That small touch of ‘fear’ felt closer to thinking someone would scold him if I were to get hurt rather than directed toward me, making me think I knew who that someone was.
Ignoring him would make me feel guilty instead.
“Alright. I concede.”
– …
“If it hurts, you should tell me?”
– Tak!
After I said I conceded, Axe relaxed heavily, letting out a sigh of relief.
As I looked at him, I rearranged the magic in accordance with the spiritual and dimensional coordinates and carefully pushed it toward the giant.
Since it was focused on ‘function,’ I couldn’t be sure it fit the theoretical framework of necromancy, making me uneasy.
And the first thing I heard was quite amusing.
“Um… want to give it a try?”
– M-Master?
Speaking as if he were a real servant addressing the lady of the house, his words carried a strong tone.
Due to the magic’s means of communication, it was ambiguous whether the voice was old, young, male, or female, but the mere tone made it rather funny.
“Pfft. What’s with that title? Just call me Master.”
It seemed consistent with his appearance, but with the experiment successfully done, it was hard to stifle a smile.
Even though it was only a brief one.
– Oh! Master! The magic worked! It’s real! Hooray!
Suddenly jumping to his feet, the giant skeleton began experimenting with his expressions in this new language.
While clanking and testing his new language for quite some time, he soon calmed down, noticing his sockets had changed gently and then knelt before me, staring intensely.
I felt a seriousness conveyed that was almost bewildering.
– Master.
“What’s wrong?”
– I always know how much you care for and worry about us. But we are always loyal to you and ready to devote ourselves to your orders, so if there’s anything you need, please, before doing it yourself, call on us to help. That’s what I wanted to say.
“… Thanks.”
What I felt from those words was an overwhelming loyalty and affection that felt undeserving.
I pressed down my surging emotions and responded.
– Ah, and.
He quickly transitioned to a tone mixed with ‘laughter’ to lighten the atmosphere.
– This matter is a secret from Evangeline-senpai.
“What?”
When I asked, not understanding at all, Axe scratched his skull with a pointed fingertip while continuing the conversation.
A story that I found quite amusing.
– I can just imagine her getting jealous and being so very mean about it. For a while, she’d probably reprimand me until my skull cracks.
“Well, once the magic is perfected, she’ll be the first to find out.”
– Even knowing that, she’ll still act like that.
“Alright. Got it.”
– Please do that for me. I beg you, Master.
– Tak!
– Clack!
As I was having the conversation, the two skeletons who had brought back the class-up materials were looking at us with envy.
In the end, I cast the magic on them as well.
– Hooray… Axe big brother! Finally! Congratulations on your promotion!
– Master! I’ll swear loyalty from now on! I love you!
“Uh… uh huh.”
They really seemed to enjoy it.
Although I thought, ‘He was a thief in life; is this right?’ I couldn’t help but think that I needed to complete the magic quickly since I felt like it would benefit me too.
Communicating would certainly be nice as well.