Chapter 72.1 - The First Year at the Academy - A Pledge (1)
Chapter 72.1. The First Year at the Academy – A Pledge (1)
Two days passed in the early afternoon, and I was at home, diligently preparing for the day.
I prepared food and wine, carried them into the living room, and set them on the table.
The council was in an uproar over the Lislia incident.
We, merely hired hands, were dismissed early, and Elphimia, as one of the parties involved, was pressed for questions and asked for cooperation. We had given the keys to the "Trephas Masnito" the hidden house of the ghosts, to the dean, but they needed her ability to break in.
She suspended her search for her grandmother until she settles down.
"Here they come!"
When the preparations were ready, "Battle Axe of Destruction" came in with Markant in the lead.
I had invited them to my home as a thank you for suddenly sending them out to help. We could have gone to a bar, but neither they nor I were in the mood for that.
I was told that the council paid me handsomely for my services as an adventurer. I heard it was a bargain for such a short time of work. No doubt, it included hush money.
"Oh, there's even a table and chairs. It looks more like a house than before."
"It was a house before. Come on, take a seat."
The party began without any formal greetings.
Everyone poured sake and served food as they pleased.
I bought all the food. I've lived alone for a long time, so I've learned to do a little, but I still eat out.
"Cold!"
Markant stirred the ale with relish.
Drinks are kept cold in a large basin.
Since the users of freezing magic can produce ice, they are not sober enough to eat during the summer months. At least at the high-class inns during the examinations, liquor and water are often served cold. Incidentally, when I was in Reedwald, I was producing the ice.
This year, my mother and Meredith will be mourning. We don't have that many users of ice magic.
As we enjoyed our cold drinks and chatted over hot meat, the topic naturally turned to the events of the last time we were there.
Everyone begged me to go on, so I told them the details I had been putting off.
The counselor didn't believe us even when we told them he was Esard. It turned around because Esard was excellent. The magic guild still has the research materials he left behind.
Even so, there was still no proof that Lislia was dead.
So, at the last minute, she confirmed it with us, or more correctly, with Elpimia. Her "Basic Appraisal" didn't seem to read properly, but if we suspected her as undead, we would notice disturbing skills such as "Unholy Embrace" and "Lamentation of Calamity". It is proof enough.
The rest was the same as the attachments presented to the council members.
Esard failed to raise the dead. When that happens, how does that material work?
After hearing everything, everyone sinks into their thoughts.
Soon after, Markant stirs his drink and opens his mouth.
"Revenant, huh? If you're undead, act like an undead."
"You've never seen him before?"
Together, "The War Axe of the Breach" nods.
"Undead that looks like people – that's what I heard, but that was beyond my imagination."
"Right. Well, I rarely see undead up there."
"When I do encounter them, it's something like Wraiths and Specters. The middle and higher level of the undead doesn't come close to the realm of the human species. The best example is the "Mad Emperor of a Hundred Sins".
Yadi, the "Mad Emperor of a Hundred Sins".
He was said to be the worst emperor in the world. But he was defeated and slaughtered in a mountain after a series of betrayals. However, after his resurrection as an undead, he slaughtered the traitors and the emperor's people. He created the Land of the Dead in the mountainous region with them as his puppets. It still exists in the western part of the United Kingdom of Hazel, a magical land that even adventurers do not want to go near.
"I wonder if the land of my birth is comfortable?"
"That sounds like a likely story."
Valerie's casual mutterings met with Danil's agreement.
Unless the entire land is abandoned like a labyrinth, the human realm will be restored even if it is destroyed.
There was little groundwork for powerful undead to arise, and powerful undead like the Revenants rarely occurred. If you wanted to do a full-scale investigation, that would be difficult without going to the Land of the Dead.
"Well, I wondered, was The Axe of Sacred Strike that powerful?"
Lislia's entire body turned to ash at the touch of her fingertips.
Cleansing the upper undead is no mean feat.
Markant shakes his head at my question.
"It's a special effect, though I've never seen anything like that before. I'm not sure."
"That's something that–"
Valerie opens her mouth and continues, troubled.
"I think it's because she accepted death, annihilation."
"That's absurd. They're undead, remember?"
What else could it be?"
He asked her again, and Markant was at a loss for words.
The exchange between the two reminded me of Lislia.
Suddenly, the image overlapped with that golem.
It was like a robot without any substance. I wondered if that was also a kind of golem.
And if Esard had not given the order, or had died before he could give it–?
Her creator is gone, with no role or purpose.
An empty revenant may be born.
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