The Necromancer Who Was Despised

“What will you do if they aren’t the people of Green Forest Village?”

“Well, it depends on what kind of people they are.”

They could be mercenaries affiliated with the Merchant Alliance who happened to discover the place.

They can’t be trusted. If they can’t be trusted, they can’t be accepted. Depending on the need… I could just kill them all.

However, those worries were unfounded.

The Giant Ent’s lair that we arrived at following Littheld was definitely the place that we subjugated, and inside it, there was a person with a face that I was familiar with, although they looked haggard.

“… “Sir knight?”

“You’re alive, village chief.”

“Ah, how… .”

The village chief collapsed in front of me and knelt down.

“Lord Jimnis… .”

“I am not a knight. My name isn’t Jimnis either.”

My words caused the village chief to look at me with a bewildered expression.

“… A warlock! Surely not… ”

His face twisted into a grimace of disbelief and betrayal as a thought crossed his mind.

I shook my head as I glanced between him and Litheald.

“I didn’t cause the monster wave. And those Horned Orcs aren’t monsters I created.”

“Why would someone with your abilities remain in this remote area and cause a monster wave? You could have the patronage of royalty.”

A warlock capable of intentionally causing a monster wave. And if they could also create a race on the level of the Horned Orcs, they would be beyond the realm of humans.

‘With that kind of power, you could establish a kingdom.’

It was entirely possible. If you could deliberately create a monster wave and mass-produce a race on the level of the Horned Orcs, would that country even be a problem?

The village chief nodded slowly, as if he agreed with my words.

“Is that so… ”

“So, how did you manage to escape here?”

“We didn’t flee because of the monster wave. We escaped early, knowing that bandits were raiding the villages around Kaesong.”

‘I see.’

If they had known that information in advance, they would have been able to escape.

“We brought a fair amount of food, but… it’s all gone. Some of our people went out to get food and found out about the monster wave. At first, we thought they were bandits, but those who came back alive told us. They said a monster wave had occurred and that Kaesong had been completely destroyed.”

“But… “You’re alive.”

“We evacuated. We were lucky. We’re staying with some of our people at the site of the former Kaesong.”

“What about the monsters… ”

“That area is my territory, so the monsters don’t come. I’ve also formed an alliance with these Horned Orcs.”

“An alliance… with monsters?”

“Horned Orcs aren’t monsters, they’re a different race. They have their own intelligence and speak human language fairly well.”

“We usually call orcs monsters, so it’s a bit unpleasant.”

The village chief quickly apologized when Litheald frowned.

We’re the ones who found you in the first place. I wouldn’t have come this far if he hadn’t told me.”

“… Thank you. “I apologize.”

As soon as he learned the truth, the village chief bowed deeply to Litheald.

Litheald accepted his apology, perhaps surprised by his humility, and the village chief turned to me again.

“You said you’ve taken over the area around Kaesong… ”

“That area is mine, so it’s safe.”

“… Would you be willing to take us in? I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but if we continue like this, we… ”

“How strange. I thought you would ask to be sent to another territory.”

“They never intended to look for us or save us. It would be obvious if we went there.”

I could guess what would happen if I looked back on my past memories.

They would probably treat us like vagrants.

It would be fortunate if we weren’t enslaved.

That’s why they were trying to rely on me.

‘Even though I’m a warlock, I thought they’d be reluctant… ‘

“… You said you were a warlock, but the Lord Jimnis I’ve known has always been fair, honorable, and compassionate towards the weak.”

‘… Was I like that?

I’ve been correcting that I’m not a knight to avoid getting involved in unnecessary disputes while doing my job, and I didn’t even bother the villagers, but that was greatly exaggerated.

“For someone like that to be a black magician, what’s so great about that? Besides, we’ll all die anyway if you don’t accept us.”

I’d rather rely on your mercy. The village chief said so.

‘It would be convenient if you thought that way… .’

I couldn’t help but feel a lot of curiosity.

Originally, a black magician could never receive this kind of treatment.

Besides, there were many people who strangely liked me.

Honestly, compared to the first round… It’s like a completely different world.

I wonder if there were actually so many normal people in this area.

If there were so many normal people, I wouldn’t have had to hide the fact that I was a black magician.

‘Of course, if I had revealed that I was a black magician at first sight, I wouldn’t have been able to build this much trust.’

The environment is also the worst.

The slaves who first came under me, the horned orcs who had no choice but to ask for an alliance even though I was a black magician, the residents of the Green Forest village who would all die if I didn’t take them in.

All of them were in the worst possible situation, so I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about whether I was a black magician or not.

That’s why it’s true that the current residents of the Green Forest village have to believe my existing image and bet everything on it.

I know that in my head, but I can’t help but feel strange every time I reveal that I’m a black magician because of the reactions I get.

‘… Of course, they might be saying that now, but I don’t know what will happen later, so I’ll have to keep an eye on them for the time being.’

Anyway, I had no choice but to accept such an attitude.

“I accept.”

At my words, the village chief banged his head on the floor and shouted.

“I can guarantee your safety. We’ll have to go out to get food, but it won’t be as dangerous as you think.”

After the great tribe collapsed, we became the greatest force in the area, so the other monsters around us are careful and avoid us.

Other than that, it wasn’t difficult to retrieve the animals caught in the traps, and setting up the traps was something I could do if I learned how.

Mutr will do the crafting.

“That much is natural.”

Fortunately, the village chief wasn’t that shameless.

At my permission, the inside of the anthill was filled with cheers.

There were certainly those who were anxious about the news that I was a black magician, but the overall atmosphere was one of jubilation.

At least for now, it seemed that they were satisfied with not dying right away.

“Our alliance is growing.”

“They’re not combatants.”

“Even so, it’s still a matter of scale. To be honest, your group is small compared to your abilities.”

“Well. To me, a group is something I create with my power.”

“Kukukuku. Well, it’s natural for you to think that way as a black magician, and a necromancer at that.”

Rithild laughed out loud as if my words were funny.

Together with Kyla and Athena, I took them back to the underground dungeon, and at the same time, I reorganized the personnel.

“Transfer some of the personnel from the annex to the main building.”

Some of the personnel will remain in the annex. I planned to give them the task of managing the villagers from the Green Forest who had been under me for a longer time and had done a good job, as a reward for their work.

It was a kind of promotion.

‘Tia is going to be busy.’

I’ll take the new people now. Funnily enough, Tia seemed to be quite pleased.

“People! New members! We can do this now…”

She seemed to be more motivated now that there was a larger workforce.

Up until now, there hadn’t been enough manpower to do anything other than manage the underground dungeon, so she seemed happy that there was more that could be done now that there were more people.

It’s not hard to understand.

‘After all, it must be sad when you finally find something you can do and there’s a clear limit to it.’

Especially when there’s a lack of manpower… It’s not like you can do anything about it no matter how hard you try.

If I was skilled enough, I’d give her even undead to work with, but I’m not skilled enough for that yet.

Tia welcomed the people of Green Forest Village and led them to the annex as if she were used to it.

They were quite dirty, so she had them eat a light meal and then bathe outside.

Once they had washed, eaten, and had a safe place to sleep, the people of Green Forest Village, who had been somewhat anxious, began to look more relaxed.

‘The interior is… almost full now.’

I could still take more, but there was no need to make everyone uncomfortable by filling it up completely.

‘I can’t build a village outside…’

If I did, there was a chance that Siglen would notice.

I wanted to avoid that, especially now.

Especially as the day of my departure drew near.

As the number of people increased, the underground dungeon began to come to life.

In particular, the existing residents who had been transferred to the main building seemed to be very satisfied.

They were showing us even more respect and loyalty. It seemed that they were quite impressed by the improved living environment after being transferred to the main building, and by the fact that we treated them better than the newly arrived people from Green Forest Village, even though they were also slaves.

It was only natural to me. They had never caused any problems, and it was especially necessary to give Tia some support.

‘The people from Green Forest Village don’t know much about Tia.’

They had seen her once during the reconnaissance, but that was all. And she hadn’t been with us when we fought the Giant Ents’ Lair, which had left the most lasting impression…

In particular, I wanted to prevent any dissatisfaction with having a young woman in charge of them.

‘I can’t increase Tia’s own power, so I need to make sure that the people who follow her have power.’

It wasn’t much power, but in the current situation, where they could be kicked out of here if they made a mistake, they had no choice but to follow her.

‘Tia isn’t strange, and if anyone gets any funny ideas about that little bit of power, she’ll deal with them herself.’

The former slaves knew very well that I, Athena, and Kyla were very fond of Tia.

That’s why they would never go against her.

If Tia told them to stop, they would.

‘They’ve done well so far, so if I just let them settle in, they’ll continue to do well.’

In fact, Tia had begun to control the people of Green Forest Village well.

She reorganized the interior, made food supplies more efficient, and began to properly store existing food supplies.

Among the people from Green Forest Village were hunters, herbalists, leatherworkers, and even people who lived by gathering, so we were able to get more information about what was edible.

There were some things that even I didn’t know, so it was a great help to the community.

Once the people of Green Forest Village started doing their part, Tia made the village chief their representative and gave him a position to speak for the villagers.

It was a similar position to the existing slaves.

Once the internal order was in place, Tia made a suggestion to me.

“Inha oppa, can we expand the underground dungeon?”

“Expand it?”

“Yes. “I will seek advice from Mutr and do it safely.”

It was a difficult task because of the lack of manpower, especially men. Basically, the physical abilities of human males were superior to those of human females in this world as well.

However, there were quite a few men among the personnel who had been absorbed this time, so there was a fair amount of labor.

“There are also plants that can be grown underground. “I’m going to try various things.”

“If Mutr permits it, I will permit it too.”

It seemed like he planned to expand underground since it was difficult to expand above ground.

‘It’s not a bad thing.’

I don’t really care whether it expands or not.

But it won’t be the same for the internal residents.

There was no reason to oppose.

So the internal expansion was decided, and there were many things that were touched.

It was a little noisy, but it wasn’t a big problem for me since I was researching upstairs.

Tia had completely taken control of the interior, and there were no threats from outside thanks to the war with the orcs and the previous war we had fought.

Tia, Kayla, and I were able to have an environment where we could focus on training again, just like when the underground dungeon was first created. About three months passed like that.

‘Finally… .’

I was able to finish preparing for creating the fourth circle.

As soon as I realized that the preparations were complete, I forbade the party from entering the laboratory for the time being.

“Will it take long?”

“It’s also dangerous.”

At my words, the faces of the three hardened as if they were a little scared.

Preparation

Ascending to the fourth circle is incomparable to the third circle.

It’s true that becoming a wizard requires talent.

However, there are several ways to reach the third circle, but the fourth circle is not like that.

No, there may be some cases where the fourth circle can be reached, but that’s the limit.

It’s possible to create the fourth circle with an extremely inefficient method, but fourth-class magic doesn’t happen with just the circle.

You have to understand and implement the magic yourself. The magic after the fourth class is different in complexity.