Necromancer Of The Black Bible (125)

To the north of Kallios Theocracy lies a road that leads on to Valkyr Empire.

It begins in open land but gradually winds into rugged mountains.

In the past many bandits ambushed travelers along this pass and plundered them, but not now.

After a trade agreement was made between the Theocracy and the empire, the Empire established a gate here to reduce losses from raids.

The ‘Rakis Gate’ was built by raising walls between the jagged mountain ravines.

A long line of people wishing to enter the Empire stood before it.

Verdin, hiding in the brush and watching, spoke.

“Do we really have to go through there?”

“Hmm… I’ll think about it.”

Natasha pushed up her black glasses, stroked her chin, and fell into thought.

It had already been a fortnight since she began traveling with Verdin.

By now Natasha had grown used to speaking down to Verdin.

Because Verdin had requested it.

-Speak to me casually. I prefer that too.

Originally she intended to go to her homeland, the Principality of Tarnia.

She wanted to go there and see her father first.

She wanted to explain what had happened and show him how she had changed.

She didn’t know how her father would react.

Whether she could return to how things were before or be turned away.

No matter how she thought about it, her father wouldn’t ignore her.

‘But…’

One fact pressed deep on her heart.

Support had stopped starting in the third year after she came here.

Why had her father cut off support?

Did he cut it off on purpose, or had the supply wagon been raided and it was unavoidable?

Until now Natasha had assumed it was unavoidable, but her doubts only grew.

If it had been because of bandits or raids, why was there no support the following year?

If there was no news from the convoy they would surely find it strange….

Natasha shook her head at that point.

Now was not the time to sink into such endless, pointless thoughts.

She had to decide how to get past that place, as Verdin had said.

Natasha surveyed the surrounding terrain.

Then she closed her eyes and tried to sense any other peculiarities.

‘The mountains are too rough. Even if we use magic to fly, we’d crash halfway.’

Fortunately she found no barriers like wards.

That was good news.

‘What kind of magic could let us pass through the wall without being noticed by them?’

In truth, their appearance was strange to anyone who saw them.

Even their horses were like that.

Eyes that bled a vivid green glow and bones showing through in places.

Greenish sparks remained on the ground with every hoofstep.

They were truly horrible monsters.

Moreover, Verdin carried a faint green translucent spirit form and hid it under tattered cloaks.

‘Am I the only one who’s at least normal?’

Natasha looked at the shadow cast beneath her feet.

But realizing she wore black glasses, she judged that her appearance was also conspicuous.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to her.

‘Come to think of it, ordinary people couldn’t see those spirit forms, could they?’

The countless spirits once commanded by the Lord of Wraiths Penbris.

No one could notice them unless they were Investigators or High Inquisitors with exceptional sensing abilities.

‘If that’s the case…’

Natasha smiled faintly and snapped her fingers.

Her form shimmered and became translucent.

Verdin, seeing this, spoke.

“What magic is that?”

“Etherealization.”

Natasha continued, the shimmer pronounced.

“That’s what I call it.”

“Etherealization…”

“Literally. It’s a spell that turns us into spirits. Can you do it?”

To be honest, Verdin would already be in a spirit state if he shed his cloaks, but the magic was necessary.

They had gathered belongings on the way here, and most importantly they needed to conceal the horses.

Verdin rubbed the sword hilt at his waist and spoke.

“Teach me how.”

“Hm? You can’t use magic?”

“I’m just a knight, not a mage.”

“Ah.”

Natasha smiled brightly and said,

“Then I’ll cast it. Get on the horses.”

Verdin mounted his horse as Natasha had directed.

Natasha then mounted her horse and immediately used the spell.

‘Etherealization.’

At that moment they all shimmered and became transparent.

Natasha gave instructions to Verdin through the Voice of the Soul.

[Keep quiet and follow me. If you don’t speak they’ll never notice you.]

Natasha spurred her horse and Verdin followed her.

A spotless blue sky.

Under the blazing sun they raced across the wasteland.

Crunch, crunch, crunch—

Each step of the skeletal horses raised small puffs of dust with a faint sound, but it wasn’t a particularly strange sight.

Dust storms were common in such wasteland after all.

They rode on toward Rakis Gate.

Passing the long queue of people standing there brought a smile to Natasha’s lips.

She felt pleased to be moving ahead alone while everyone else waited.

Then a huge wall appeared before them.

A sturdy wall rose high into the sky.

Natasha shouted confidently.

[Don’t be nervous, charge!]

Natasha passed straight through the wall, and Verdin followed.

Verdin wore a strange expression, half in disbelief.

Seeing his face, Natasha turned and smiled broadly.

[See? Was I not right?]

[Heh. Indeed.]

A rare smile spread across Verdin’s face.

They rode on for quite some time and only dispelled their ethereal state upon reaching a deserted deep forest.

Natasha took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.

A cool breeze and a clear sky.

And the pouring sunlight.

The sunlight was so bright she wore black glasses, but she was getting used to it now.

The stinging feeling had mostly gone.

It was thanks to learning how to adjust her senses from Damian.

“Ah, this is nice.”

Though she no longer needed to breathe, she inflated her lungs as she had in life and drew in the cool air.

Verdin silently watched her from his horse.

Feeling his gaze, Natasha spoke.

“Was it not fun?”

“It was enjoyable.”

“But your reaction was lackluster.”

Verdin only smiled faintly, but Natasha welcomed even that small smile.

It was the first time she’d ever seen him smile.

That made Natasha proud of the little plan she’d executed.

Then Verdin spoke.

“I sense movement over there.”

“Huh?”

Looking where he pointed, she too felt something.

Human voices and the clashing of metal.

Along with a few small screams.

“Are they fighting?”

“It seems so. Staying here seems dangerous, so we should move…”

“Let’s go take a look.”

“…Oh?”

Verdin repeated, surprised by the unexpected suggestion.

In a forest like this, clashing metal and screams are most likely signs of a raid.

It’s best not to get involved.

But Natasha, as if reading his thoughts, spoke with a certain look.

“We won’t die anyway.”

Hearing it, he realized she was right.

They would not die.

They were already dead.

So nothing serious would happen to them.

“Isn’t your schedule urgent, though?”

Natasha thought for a moment at Verdin’s worried question, then smiled and replied.

“What’s the rush? It’s my own child that I gave away anyway.”

Natasha snapped her fingers and used Etherealization.

So the two of them entered the deep woods where clashing metal and screams could be heard.

In the northwest of the pine forest beyond Rakis Gate.

There was a village called ‘Silvandel’ there.

Silvandel was a village founded when some residents from Viscount Grovebern’s domain drifted in during the great famine, burned parts of the forest, and cleared land for cultivation.

After the famine ended, they voluntarily gave minerals dug from nearby mines to Viscount Grovebern and became part of his domain, but other villages in the duchy looked upon them with disfavour.

The reason was that many fugitives lived here.

Those who committed crimes in other villages fled to Silvandel and were able to settle by observing the village’s special code, the ‘Oath of Silence.’

The Oath of Silence meant not asking about another’s past, and Viscount Grovebern officially recognized it in exchange for the minerals Silvandel provided.

However, for several years the amount of minerals Silvandel provided began to decline.

Displeased, Viscount Grovebern sent a governor to crack down on them.

What Natasha and Verdin saw there was the village residents, unable to bear the governor’s oppression, clashing violently with the governor’s troops.

“Better to die this way than the other!”

“Right! Gather your strength and fight! We outnumber them!”

“Everyone, charge!”

At someone’s shout, armed villagers rushed out.

They overwhelmed the regular troops in an instant and a fierce battle ensued.

The lightly equipped regular soldiers couldn’t cope with the numerical disadvantage.

They desperately held shields to defend themselves but were driven back and unable to respond to the villagers’ vigor.

But the fight did not end so one-sidedly.

A massive knight clad in plate armor appeared swinging a halberd more than three times the usual size.

The knight’s power was truly enormous.

Each swing sent four or five villagers flying, each struck with mortal wounds.

Heads splitting open was a common sight.

Some were impaled by the halberd and spilled their entrails; others were cleaved in half to scream in agony.

It was sheer pandemonium.

The unexpected horror wiped the smile from Natasha’s face.

She watched the knight slaughter the villagers and asked Verdin.

[That one… is he strong?]

[He is the strongest among them.]

[Then will he kill them all?]

[Most likely.]

Natasha’s expression hardened.

Although they were ethereal, Verdin could still study her expression closely.

They were linked to each other anyway.

Verdin was not truly interested in the massacre before them.

Scenes like this happened all the time.

People fought and died over greed, and in the end were annihilated by the strongest among them.

Who was at fault mattered little.

What mattered was that they picked a fight despite being unable to win.

Then Natasha raised a finger and pointed to a spot.

[There’s even a child.]

She was right.

A girl who looked to be in her teens was running toward them.

She was panting, and regular soldiers were chasing her.

The girl looked straight at them and cried out.

“Help me!”