Chapter 46: Daily Life in Un deth and a Request for Help
A few months after the Seventh Goblin War,
Skeleton Soldier: "Lord Idmon!"
Idmon: "(t) What is it?"
A skeleton messenger came in, running.
Skeleton Messenger: "Our trade caravans were ambushed again! It's the wild goblins. We were able to wipe them out, but they damaged some of the goods."
Idmon: "(t) Hmm..."
It's irritating. Those goblins just won't disappear!
Idmon: "(t) Bon, what do you think we can do to lessen these ambushes? We have our patrols out, but they seem to slip by every time."
Bon: "Milord, I suggest that we form hunting parties... Something like an adventurer's guild would be best."
Idmon: "(t) A guild, huh? Who would be the adventurers then?"
Bon: "Let's make sure that anyone can join. It's mostly going to be hunting parties, but we could also task them with odd jobs. This option also solves our problem of fixing every single problem ourselves."
Idmon: "(t) Ohhhh!! Let's do that right away!"
Bon: "Yes, milord."
We decided to set up an adventurer's guild that would reward adventurers's equipment and money. By the way, the currency that we use is gold coins, the same as the dwarves. They barely have silver or bronze coins. Gold is abundant in the South Region anyway.
These days, most of our problems center around the country's economy and security.
It's hard to believe that we would succeed in making a safe haven here. We even made it into a country.
Also, seeing the skeletons and dwarves get along well is a good thing. The dwarves even have some kind of new religion now. They think that being a skeleton is the second stage in life, and all are willing to turn undead when they die.
At first, this was just a deal I made with King Wargh. He decided that burying the dead is not efficient, and raising them as undead allows them to continue their lives.
The ones who had diseases feared for their lives, but after we made the deal to turn them into the undead, they weren't scared anymore.
They are all living their second lives happily now.
Thinking about it, the dwarves will continue to multiply with the peace that we're enjoying now. With the increase in population, the number of deaths in the future will also increase. It will make them a potential undead army.
You could also count the dwarven army twice their number since all of them are prepared to turn undead if they die in battle.
In the early stages of these policy changes, a lot of the dwarves viewed it as a brutal thing, but King Wargh asserted his dominance by making it happen without hearing out the advisors.
He executed the greedy traitors and removed the advisors' system in their kingdom. He also took command of the nobles' army and placed them under the king's control.
The soldiers appreciated this. Their greedy nobles were mistreating some of them.
This decision impressed Bon. Since our kingdoms are almost the same now, I control the army directly in everything that is technically under my command.
I just give them the freedom to run around when we have peace, that's all.
Lina: "Hmmm...."
Lina was nodding off in her seat beside me.
Is a ghost feeling sleepy? It was weird at first, but Lina forced herself to stay with me at all times. Bon told me it was because of my short life.
She even has a seat beside me now. I told the soldiers that it's just an advisor's position, but they seem to agree on a joke that she's officially my queen now.
Really. These soldiers.
I don't need "alone time" that much anymore. I just sat down in the throne room of this castle in Un deth.
It's more of a conference room, if you ask me.
Sometimes I go to the Dwarven Kingdom for social visits and my equipment. Golb has become my blacksmith now. He fixed my Void Armor and Void Lance.
He said that he would add some more enchantments and wait for a while before he returned them.
As for Dolf, he's going around showing Souta's group around and hunting behemoths in this region.
The Elder Trees seemed to enjoy being mostly free from the goblin infestation that was there before. You could see some walking around when you go out for a walk outside the castle walls.
While I was thinking of how odd things were, something even weirder happened.
Booom!!
The door of the throne room opened with a loud sound. The two ogre skeletons that were guarding the entrance moved to engage the intruder.
But they were thrown away easily.
A creature came in front of me. Bon and the others had spells prepared, but I waved at them to stand down.
It looked like a human that had some of its skin torn off, and it had a weird skin color.
Idmon: "(t) What are you, and what do you need with me?"
Zombie Person: "I, Grave Champion... Name, Harat. Come here and ask for help. We, zombies... get eaten... by fish."
Idmon: "(t)???"
Bon spoke.
Bon: "Fish?"
Grave Champion: "Seamen, sea monsters..."
Idmon: "(t) You're fighting Sea Dwellers and currently losing. Is that right?"
Grave Champion: "Yes, Skeleton King! Help... Us!"
He kneeled awkwardly. His back was torn, and you could see his organs inside. So this is a grave champion.
In the Skeleton King's army before, we never had zombies. Just ghosts and golems. And of course, the skeletons.
If I remember correctly, the late Skeleton Kings told me that they had their own kings. The zombies and the banshees.
Idmon: "(t) Where are you located? We will help. I would like to speak to your king to make it formal."
This plea for help could be an excellent chance for us to get another race in our alliance. We would need all the help we could get.
Grave Champion: "Island... West... King... Yalk... Waiting..."
An island west of here?
Idmon: "(t) The Searcher. Do you know about that island?"
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
The Searcher: "If it's west, it must be the Grave Isles."
The searcher said it was infamous because of its large zombie population.
Idmon: "(t) Okay. Prepare some ships right away and gather a third of our army. We'll help them out."
Bon: "Got it."
Bon and The Searcher quickly went to work.
Idmon: "(t) Harat. Walk with me."
Harat: "Yes...."
I didn't want to concern the others with the newcomer, so I brought him outside to talk.
We went for a walk in town. I wondered how Harat made his way to the castle, but I'll leave that question for now.
Idmon: "(t) How bad is the war right now?"
Harat: "Very bad... We... go extinct."
Hmm. Are the zombies that few already?
Dwarven Merchant: "Good day, Lord Idmon!"
A merchant waved at me from the stalls at the square; when he did, others offered their greetings too.
Smiths and craftsmen were asking me to check their work.
Dwarven citizens were meeting me for the first time.
After a while, they noticed that I was with someone, and they decided to go on with their businesses.
Idmon: "(t) Sorry about that. How is King Yalk, was it?"
Harat: "He is good. Strong, but not enough."
Idmon: "(t) I see. Let's just wait for my army to assemble. We'll back them up as soon as we can."
Harat: "Thank you..."
Just looking at the combatants makes you understand that this is a hard battle for them. The sea dwellers can swarm them from all directions into their islands. I also think that they don't have a good tactician on their side.
The worst part of it is that they can't go on the offensive since the sea dwellers live in the sea. We have a lot of difficulties ahead of us, but we need them too.
We walked back to the castle and had him rest for a while. The people in town continued with their peaceful lives while the rest of us prepared for another war.
You could hardly believe that this place was filled with death and destruction before.
.
.
.
(The Searcher POV)
I went to the research tower of the castle to inform Mag of the situation. We would need a mage group to be part of the relief forces.
Most of the mages are here researching new spells and putting spells in S (storage) crystals. We try to get every soldier a few bags of S-crystals so that their fighting power will increase.
The Searcher: "Mag assembles at least a third of all the best mages in the army. Lord Idmon is going to war."
Mag: "Right away, wonderful! Sir."
Mag always plays with his words, but it's alright. I kind of like it.
Mag, who was writing spell instructions on a scroll, stopped his work and started to shout out commands to his fellow mages.
The searcher: "Sina! You're coming too!"
I had Sina stay here for a few improvements on her body. I enhanced her weapons by putting dual enchantments, like wind and lightning elements, in one of her daggers. I also upgraded her legs to be quicker with wind magic.
Sina: "..."
She's not speaking as usual.
Now, before we go back to Lord Idmon, let me check on these research reports. Hmm. Elemental Enchantments??? By Bon?
.
.
.
(Bon POV)
I had to post a lot of requests on the adventurer's board. We will leave for a while, and Mel, Mag, and Ran will be in charge.
They would have no idea about these things, so I'm doing it for them in advance.
I was looking around the adventurer's guild. It's a hit, huh? A lot of skeletons and dwarves are lining up to be adventurers.
You could see some hybrid groups like a dwarven tanker, skeleton swordsman, and skeleton mage in one group.
This guild is also an excellent opportunity for other soldiers to level up and evolve. Since they rarely see battles when they're on guard duty,.
We're only bringing the best this time. We don't need the unnecessary loss of soldiers.
Skeleton Clerk: "Hello, Head Wizard."
The Skeleton Mages, who work as clerks for the Adventurer's Guild, welcome me.
Hmm. There are even saplings lining up to be adventurers. A lot of them started showing up a month ago. Some of them have humanoid bodies and fight with the power of nature. They would be good soldiers, too.
Skeleton Bully: "Oi! This guild is no place for weaklings! Go home!"
A few meters away from me, a Skeleton Champion was bullying a small skeleton soldier. He was small, even compared to dwarven skeletons. It must be the skeleton of a child.
We had various skeletons from graves left by humans long ago. Their bodies were well preserved, so we were able to save them from death.
A child skeleton, huh?
Child Skeleton: "I'll take you on!"
The child skeleton tried to punch the champion guy, but he was just pushed down.
Child Skeleton: "Oof!"
I decided to intervene since this won't go anywhere.
Bon: "Hey."
Skeleton Bully: "Huh!? Ah! Master Bon!"
Bon: "Don't do that again. Everyone is allowed to be an adventurer. If they get defeated in a quest, it's their fault. They know the dangers, so let them do what they want."
We are all on the same side, but since everyone has free will, it is hard to instill discipline, unlike before, when orders were absolute.
Skeleton Bully: "Um, yes, sir!"
The Skeleton Champion hurriedly got out of the building.
Skeleton Child: "Thank you, Head Wizard!"
Bon: "Child, do your best."
Skeleton Child: "I will! When you see me again, I'm already a great warrior."
I waved goodbye and left the guild.
The next place is the barracks.
There is a group of wizards directly under my command. Since there are only around 50 of them, I keep them under strict supervision and train them every day. This group has been called "Death Magicians."
I train them to use all types of elemental spells, but they specialize in draining life and strength from living things and causing decay.
Mages are under The Searcher's command for research purposes, and I sometimes give them a hand, but once a mage turns into a wizard, I take them into this group.
.
.
.
(Lina POV)
Lina and Lea were in the hall, where they trained their magic.
After training for a few hours, Lina asked Lea something that had been bothering her for some time now.
Lina: "Lea, did you really mean what you said? That I'm pretty?"
Lea: "Of course, Master! Why are you asking?"
Lina: "That's great. Even though I am a ghost, I always try to look good in the eyes of Lord Idmon, despite the fact that it is ridiculous.
Lea: "It's not stupid, Master. A girl would always like to be at her best when she is with her partner."
Lina: "P-p-partner!? Don't be stupid! I am merely an advisor."
She looks down, embarrassed.
Lea: "Don't be shy! I know it when a girl likes someone."
Lina: "Oh, stop it. Lord Idmon does not have time for stupid things."
Lea: "If you say so, Master."
Lina felt down after saying that. She must have regretted it.
Lea: "Master, I saw a shop earlier selling beautiful dresses. Do you want to get a new one?"
Lina's face brightens.
Lina: "Really!? But I'm not good with dresses."
Lea: "No worries, that's why I'm here!"
Lea puts out her biggest smile.
Then the girls went to the store. (By the way, Ran is with them all this time.)
.
.
.
(Souta POV)
Souta and his group (aside from Lea) are in a dwarven pub.
Dwarf: "Is it true that you came from the northern region?"
After drinking a beer, Souta answered.
Souta: "Yes, we did.
Dwarf 2: "Woah! The Deadlands are a scary and dangerous place. No one from our scouts came back from there.
Souta and the others have an illusion cast on them so they can eat human bodies.
However, they don't feel hungry anymore.
Dwarves and Skeletons started to crowd around their table as Souta told them their tales of how they got past the Deadlands.
Everyone seems to be fascinated and amazed by it, except for one.
Old Dwarf: "I don't believe a damn thing you say. If you are such a good ranger, prove it."
The dwarves have their rangers, and they also double as scouts and foragers.
This particular dwarf is an ex-ranger who is quite known in the pub.
Souta: "What evidence do you need?"
Old Dwarf: "Prove it to me right now. There is a church 400 or 500 meters away from here. I want you to shoot it from the inside of this pub."
Dwarf: "That's impossible!"
Dwarf: "Yeah, don't fool around with an old beard!"
Old Dwarf: "If he can't do that, then he's nothing."
Alno was eating and drinking all this time. He must have missed it.
Alno: "Do it, Souta. Hahaha!"
Then he drank some more.
Roln: "..."
Roln was eating and drinking slowly.
Some dwarves started to cheer on Souta. The others are still skeptical.
Souta: "All right."
He conjured a bow with magic.
Old Dwarf: "That fancy bow of yours will never hi-"
Clangggg!!!
The bell sounded so loud, and everyone heard it.
Everyone went outside and saw that the bell had fallen, and Souta's arrow was on the bell tower.
He shot the thing that holds the bell.
Old Dwarf: "What!?"
The bell was a large target, but he hit an even smaller mark, and Souta shot it from that cramped space.
Nobody even saw him draw his bow.
Souta: "Don't overthink it. It's a magic arrow."
The Old Dwarf went back inside the pub, irritated, while the other dwarves cheered for Souta.
It might be weird to see them so happy, but they were underground for a very long time, and they haven't heard any interesting stories for a long while.
Souta would further amaze them by summoning his spirit bear.
(Idmon POV)
Two weeks later, the ship that is going to take us to the Grave Isles is complete. With the help of dwarven artisans and the non-stop work of my skeleton workers, they built the ship quickly.
It was huge, and the boat that Harat used to get here looked tiny. I had his boat hooked up to ours.
The army assembled quickly. It only took them a few days to prepare. They had their equipment sharpened and repaired already. We have five ships to accommodate my armies.
The citizens of the castle were watching our assembly. Some of my soldiers in the Army became citizens. We gave them a chance to turn into merchants and workers. Some became smiths and craftsmen.
Idmon: "(t) Listen!"
I channeled my energy to power up my
Idmon: "(t) I am taking an army to war against the sea dwellers that are threatening to wipe out the zombies in the Grave Isles. Wait for me, and I'll come back with spoils from a huge victory!"
Dwarf: "Yeah!"
Skeleton: "Right on!"
Sapling: "Go! Lord Idmon!"
A cheer came from the people watching us and also from the soldiers themselves.
I can't really drag the Dwarven army into this, and bringing elder trees is out of the question. However, a small group of approximately 200 saplings joined us. They will be a huge help with their natural magic.
The army I brought was around 5,500. I'm not able to bring Bone Behemoths because of their sizes, but I got the best soldiers in this group.
The Dread Heroes and all 4th- to 5th-tier soldiers are with us.
Idmon: "I'll leave everything to you guys then. Mel, Mag, and Ran."
Mel: "You can count on us! Lord!"
So loud.
Ran: "..."
Mag: "We will do our best, magnificent lord!"
Souta's group just arrived. Almost all of our group has boarded the ships already.
Souta: "Hey, wait for us!"
Alno: "A new island!? A great mapping opportunity!"
Lea: "Master Lina!"
It seems that they will join us too.
Our ship set sail after a few more farewells to the people. They were waving handkerchiefs and throwing bouquets for our safe travels.
With all of my advisors joining the trip, I sent a letter to King Wargh to also take care of my kingdom while I'm away. He's a good friend, so I'm sure I can entrust it to him while I'm gone.
We'll be back.