Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Necromancy (1)
The situation was quickly brought under control. It was thanks to the efforts of the Academic Department and the Imperial Knight Order.
In less than two days, all the poisonous fog that had spread throughout the academy was completely dealt with. Those who had been poisoned were also fully treated without any aftereffects.
“So. The Floating Island is going ahead as planned?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
The news Winter brought was a little unexpected. I had assumed they wouldn’t miss a major event like the Floating Island. Still, I hadn’t expected them to announce it so quickly.
What was ironic, though, was everyone else’s reaction. As if they had expected it, they accepted it without much fuss.
“Don’t they usually cancel things when an attack like this happens?”
I casually voiced my doubt, but instead, Winter tilted her head at my words.
“That’s true, but big events like the Floating Island are fine.”
“Hmm?”
“For important schedules like that, they completely seal off all of Museion Island. It’s a level lower than the barrier the Academy Director showed this time, but once they deploy a sealing barrier, it won’t break unless a volcano erupts.”
Was there something like that? I just nodded roughly.
“The students are actually calmer than the higher-ups~”
Canis continued. I didn’t know where Worden had gone, and Aro, like me, was clueless about this kind of thing, so she listened with shining eyes, waiting for Canis to continue.
“Sixty percent of the students at Museion Academy are commoners~ And the lives of commoners aren’t easy~”
As if this was her first time hearing it too, Winter listened with interest.
“Most commoners live through farming or hunting~ And even if not, a lot of them have mercenary parents~ There’s probably no one who hasn’t experienced a monster attack except nobles, right?”
So that was the setting. In simple terms, what Canis was saying was that many commoners had experience with combat.
Since this world constantly faced battles with monsters, people were naturally accustomed to it.
“A lack of awareness about safety. Something like that?”
“It’s a li~ttle different~ but pretty similar~”
As we talked, we diligently worked on Candela. Aro, on the other hand, was working on something else instead of Candela.
“How much should I sell this for?”
“Hmm.”
The smoke bomb Aro was busily handling. As we looked at the Blood Mist, we fell silent. I had thought Candela was already an impressive item, but this was on another level.
“But~ if something like this gets made~ there’s going to be a lot of backlash~”
Canis fiddled with the Blood Mist and voiced her concern. I nodded as well.
Many of the current nobles were magic families. And the Blood Mist we had just created was something that directly countered mages.
“Sure enough~ those stubborn types~ will submit petitions~ If it goes to the Imperial House~ they might even ban its sale~”
“Then we’ll just use it ourselves. A Religious Order that specializes in taking down mages.”
“…….”
Canis’s concern was valid. But I simply shrugged. Even if the Imperial House didn’t accept it, it didn’t matter.
We could just use it ourselves. After all, when dealing with Magus, there was nothing better than this Blood Mist.
At my words, Winter gave an awkward smile. It sounded less like a Religious Order and more like a military force.
“And Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess will probably like it.”
“Ah~ you think so~”
At my next words, Canis agreed as well. The Imperial Princess’s radical and aggressive tendencies could be seen from the Vice-Commander’s actions.
On top of that, I knew she disliked nobles, so there was no way she would ignore this Blood Mist.
“Oh right. Aro sunbae.”
“Hmm?”
“After this, I think you’ll need to come with me somewhere.”
At my call, Aro’s eyes widened, and then she began twisting her body.
“Hng. We’re not at that kind of relationship yet!”
At her words, both Winter and Canis turned to look. I shook my head with half-dead eyes.
“Stop talking nonsense and get ready. We have work to do.”
“What ki~nd of work~ could it be~”
Ignoring my words, Aro kept squirming, so everyone decided to ignore her entirely.
At Canis’s question, I just shrugged. The fact that the Imperial Princess had collapsed was currently a secret.
“Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess has given an order. And to help with that, we need Aro sunbae.”
I didn’t say it outright, but the Imperial Princess had said she wanted to see me once in a nightmare.
She had probably mistaken the Shadow living in her nightmare for me, but I actually intended to enter that nightmare for real.
“What are you planning to do~ with Aro unni~”
“Aro sunbae. You can use necromancy, right?”
At my words, everyone’s hands stopped. At the sudden awkward silence, I tilted my head.
“Necromancy?! Absolutely not!”
“This time~ Winter is right~ Necromancy? That’s ridiculous~”
“Yeah. Necromancy isn’t something you can just casually bring up.”
Winter, overtaken by emotion, tried to stop me, and Canis was also skeptical. Aro, who likely knew the most about necromancy, shook her head with a serious expression.
“Necromancy isn’t ‘Sorcery,’ it’s a ‘curse.’ There’s a reason it’s classified as a curse.”
“But it hasn’t been designated as forbidden.”
“That’s… true, but.”
At my words, Aro let out a deep sigh. There were several ways to enter the Imperial Princess’s nightmare. Among them, I intended to use necromancy, a curse from the Far East.
“Just because it’s not forbidden~ doesn’t mean you should use it~”
“That’s right! I told you before, sunbae. Your body isn’t just yours.”
Canis and Winter pressed in fiercely. I hadn’t expected such an intense reaction.
“Necromancy literally means putting the soul of the dead into a living person. Life and death are opposites. Neither the soul being inserted nor the body receiving it will remain unharmed.”
Aro continued her explanation with calm, sunken eyes. I glanced at Winter. I roughly understood what she was worried about.
“Winter. In the Far East, there is necromancy. In this Empire, there is necromancy. They produce similar results, but fundamentally, there is a big difference.”
“Huh?”
“Necromancy here is a technique that targets the dead. But the Far Eastern necromancy is different. It simply targets souls. In other words, spirit-type beings like elementals can’t be used in necromancy here, but they can be used in Far Eastern necromancy.”
“Uh….”
It seemed Winter didn’t fully understand what I meant. But Canis was different. Only then did she go “Ah~” and grasp my intention.
“You’re saying you’re going to put a divine spirit or elemental into Dabi’s body~?”
At Canis’s words, I nodded. Winter’s mouth fell open.
“No way… Anaye-nim? Well, since sunbae is also an Apostle, it does seem like you could easily commune with Anaye-nim. It’s not completely absurd.”
That wasn’t it, but Winter began analyzing it in her own way and started to understand. I was about to correct her, but I stayed silent.
If I brought up the Imperial Princess, it felt like Winter might really start foaming at the mouth.
***
“……You never mentioned something like this.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“……You said Anaye-nim.”
“I never said that.”
Aro looked dejected. More precisely, she looked dispirited. After finishing the Blood Mist and Candela work, I immediately brought Aro to the Imperial Knight Order’s station.
From there, guided by the Aide we met, we headed to the Imperial Princess’s residence. From that point on, Aro had felt something was off, and when she finally met the Vice-Commander, she became utterly stunned.
This wasn’t something that could be brushed off as a simple date.
“It’s been a while.”
“It’s only been about three days. How is Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess?”
“Her body is fine. It’s the other side that’s the problem.”
The Vice-Commander gave a sorrowful smile. After handing over all our weapons, we were allowed into the Imperial Princess’s bedroom.
“I’m a bit touched you came for a visit.”
“This isn’t a visit. Aro sunbae, please prepare.”
The Vice-Commander looked moved, thinking it was a visit, but I shook my head. At the word “prepare,” she tilted her head.
“Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess told me to meet her in a nightmare.”
The Vice-Commander’s expression froze slightly. At the time, it had sounded like a somewhat romantic phrase, but it had been nothing more than a muttered remark.
“Aro sunbae. This must never leak outside.”
“Huh? Uh?”
“No… Vice-Commander, I’m sorry, but could you cast an oath spell?”
Sensing that my actions were unusual, the Vice-Commander’s expression turned serious. I worried it might come off as rude, barging in like this and making such requests.
“Is she someone you can trust?”
“Yes.”
The Vice-Commander looked at Aro with a cold expression. Someone from the unfamiliar Far East. The truth I was about to reveal was that dangerous.
After staring at Aro for a long time, the Vice-Commander raised her mana. As a strange magic circle suddenly appeared in the air, Aro frowned.
“Please, Aro sunbae.”
“Hmm. Alright.”
Aro immediately recognized what the magic circle was and showed clear displeasure. I coaxed her and asked again.
After a moment of hesitation, Aro nodded and signed the magic circle.
“I, Park Aro, swear to keep everything that happened and was said here a secret until the day I die.”
After the oath was completed, I looked at the Vice-Commander. Unlike before, her face had hardened.
“Vice-Commander.”
“Yes. Student Davide.”
“Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess is of mixed fairy blood. And fairies are beings with exceptionally strong souls.”
The moment I spoke, Aro’s mouth fell open. Not only was it shocking that the Imperial Princess was of mixed fairy blood, but also that what I was about to do was just as extraordinary.
“N-no! You can’t do that right now!”
Suddenly, Aro cut in. She grabbed my collar and desperately tried to stop me. Watching us, the Vice-Commander tilted her head.
“If Her Imperial Highness really is of mixed fairy blood! Your body won’t be able to withstand it!”
“Wait. What are you talking about?”
The Vice-Commander, who had been listening to Aro, looked at me in confusion.
“I told you before that I could stop Her Imperial Highness’s nightmare.”
“You… did.”
“This is how I’m going to do it. Since fairies have strong souls, their mental and spiritual barriers are thick. It’s not something I can just force my way into.”
“No way… So you’re saying you’ll receive Her Imperial Highness’s soul into your own body?”
The perceptive Vice-Commander immediately deduced what I intended to do. Her eyes widened in shock.
“It’s necromancy.”
“I’ll ask just one thing.”
Upon hearing the word necromancy, the Vice-Commander stepped closer to me. She patted my shoulder and continued.
“Can you handle it?”
“Of course. I understand your concern, but Her Imperial Highness’s nightma—”
“I understand. I permit it.”
“…What?”
Both Aro and I were dumbfounded at how easily she gave permission.
Even though it was a situation where the Imperial Princess could be harmed, there was no worry on the Vice-Commander’s face. Instead, she began to smile boldly.
I was surprised she trusted me that much.
“In the past, Her Imperial Highness once had her soul devoured by an artifact.”
“…….”
“It was quite a vicious one. It was something called an Ego Weapon. Her soul was absorbed into the weapon, and five minutes later, she returned unharmed. After that, the Ego Weapon just became an ordinary weapon.”
“…….”
“I wish you good luck.”
Suddenly, I began to feel afraid.