Suspected Necromancer

Chapter 5 – Luciana

It began when the apothecary I used to go to changed.
Before them, an old woman handled the medicine. But now, a young woman had taken her place.
I think she said she was the old woman’s granddaughter.
Though I call her young, she was actually older than me. I think she was around 20 years old.
She had long and beautiful black hair and a slender figure. She had a mole at the corner of her right eye that accentuated her good looks.
I wonder why she was working as an apothecary.
I’m pretty sure she could have found a better job if she wanted to.
But ever since that young woman started working there, the store has been doing better than ever.
Being beautiful sure has its perks. Oh, yeah, I’m also beautiful, so I get those perks too, right?

You haven’t heard of that apothecary?

Well, it’s been a long time since she worked there.
Even Sir Knight doesn’t know everything there is to know about the city, huh?
Beautiful people tend to get married quickly, you see. Were you interested in that lady?
Too bad.

Anyways, one day when I went to that store, she said to me:

“Thank you as always, Luna-chan”

With a smile that could melt your heart.
I was surprised.
Even if I introduce myself to people, the amulet would make them forget my name as soon as I walk away.
But since most people could only vaguely remember me, hearing my name made me happy.
For the first time, there was somebody other than my master who knew about me.

Why didn’t the amulet work on her?

Maybe she was naturally resistant to magic?
This kind of amulet doesn’t work on mages, and there are rare cases where it doesn’t work on non-mages either.
Well, that doesn’t matter now.
The most important thing is that I finally made a friend, just like Dorothy.
In this kind of situation, the one who says they’re friends first wins.

Her name was Luciana, and we started talking more often.
We don’t really talk about anything special, just various things like the newest gossip, trendy stuff, and people’s relationships.
She even taught me about types of men that were ‘good’ or ‘no good’.
Talking with Luciana made me feel a little more grown-up. I had nobody else to talk to like that.
For me, speaking with Luciana became one of my favorite things to do.
When I’m with my master, we mostly just discuss magic. He fundamentally lacks the concept of enjoying a conversation with someone.
Even during meals, he doesn’t say a word. It’s quite troublesome.
I kept Luciana a secret from my master.
If he found out that there was someone the amulet didn’t work on, he might have made me wear an even more potent invisibility charm. I might have been forbidden from going shopping in town.
Isn’t that awfully boring?

How much did I tell Luciana about my master?

Well, I told her that I was a mage. Given that I was delivering potions, she probably figured that much out herself.
Oh, the potions she normally deals with are different from the ones I deliver. Mine require magic to be processed properly.
So, she could tell that I was a mage.
But my use of necromancy was a secret.
If people found out that my servant was a skeleton, they might freak out.
But Luciana never pried into my secrets. A girl my age became an apprentice to a mage, so she probably knew that the situation was complicated.
That’s one of the good things about Luciana. She didn’t ask about unnecessary things.

Also, she was knowledgeable about makeup and cosmetics too. Maybe because she worked as an apothecary.
Sometimes, she would put makeup on me.

“I think this shade of rouge suits you, Luna-chan.”

She would say as she applied it to my lips.
Since I was at ‘that’ age, I felt delighted.
When I saw other girls around my age dressed beautifully, I couldn’t help but feel a bit envious, you know?
But my master never even noticed when I had lipstick on.
Not that I wanted him to notice, but it still made me think about how clueless he is.
This must be why he hasn’t gotten married yet.
People who don’t notice such things are hopeless, you know?
Sir Knight seems like a perceptive person, though. You’d notice, right?
Oh, just for the record, even without makeup, I would catch the attention of men wherever I went. Since I’m beautiful.
It’s just that because of the amulet, men didn’t approach me. But otherwise, I would have been quite popular.
Do you understand? If you do, that’s good.

Also, at this point, my master started teaching my necromancy.
At first, I was just working with mice and other small animals. Controlling something like a human right away is impossible. The larger the creature, the more difficult necromancy is, you know?

What about controlling a dragon?

That’s something that requires a lot of talent and a really good teacher. It would take around 50 years of training, even for a genius. Without talent, it would be impossible even if you spent your whole life studying.
You have to devote yourself to magic from a young age, and once you become an old man, then maybe you’ll be able to do it.
Besides, bones are tricky. The longer they’ve been dead, the harder it is to use magic on them. It’s preferable to use recently deceased bodies.
When I started, I practiced with fresh mouse cadavers.
Mice are small and not very intelligent, so they’re not particularly useful. But from there, I moved on to dogs, cats, and finally, I learned to manipulate human corpses.
Well, it took me about 20 years to get there.
My master, who can control skeletons, is quite an impressive necromancer, you see.
I didn’t really understand how skilled my master was until I started learning magic. The more I learn, the more I appreciate his greatness.

Can my master control dragon bones?

I don’t know.
First of all, dragon bones aren’t just something you can find lying around, right? They’re very rare.
I’ve never tried it myself.
But my master isn’t actually that old, so I think it would be tough even for him.
No matter how talented you are, in the end, it’s the years of training that matter.
Is the necromancer Sir Knight is looking for able to manipulate dragon bones?
Someone like that would be incredibly skilled. That’s the level of an archmage.
Unless you lived an exceptionally long life, it’s impossible to reach that level.

Now, where did I leave off?
I was telling you about when I was diligently practicing necromancy with dead mice.
Actually, I wasn’t directly controlling the mice. I was summoning and sending spirits into the corpses.
I used some low-level spirits for the mice. As you progress to higher-level spirits, you can summon them into larger bodies.
This is the basics of necromancy. It’s easier since you’re dealing with spirits instead of souls.
As you begin to use more advanced necromancy, you can bind the lingering souls of the deceased to their bodies and command them.
That’s how ghouls and skeletons are created.
It’s an advanced necromancy technique, but since you don’t have to spend energy to summon spirits, once you learn how to do it, you can command a large number of undead at once.

How many undead can my master control?

For ghouls and the like, I think he can control quite a lot. But I don’t know the exact number.
There’s not much point in controlling too many. It’s not the goal of a mage.
The goal of a mage is to master magic itself. There’s nothing else to it.
That’s how people are, right?
Whether they’re artists, poets, scholars, they’re all the same.
They strive to master their field because that’s what they want. It’s not about any other purpose. The journey itself is the goal.
Even though I was forced into it, I still walk the path of magic. That’s why I intend to work hard and improve, just like my master.
Lately, I’ve become capable of controlling the corpses of slightly larger animals too.
I’m putting in the effort, you see.

Well, that’s about the extent of my magic abilities.
So, some time after becoming friends with Luciana, another person who was unaffected by the amulet appeared.
This time, it was a boy about my age.