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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“A scouting mission… you say?”
“That’s right. The newly developing village is slowly entering a stable phase. Therefore, I want to find a suitable location for a new village.”
Usually, mercenaries from the hired mercenary corps are sent for such tasks, but as the number of villages in the territory increased, there was a shortage of mercenaries.
Therefore, they had tried to entrust it to Kuman’s side, but they were also facing a manpower shortage.
While pondering what to do, I came to mind.
“We have basic information, but pioneering isn’t such an easy task. We need slightly more detailed information.”
Specifically, it was closer to creating a map.
However, the scouting range was quite wide, and above all, the location was subtle.
‘This is…’
Whether it was a coincidence or not, the cave where Thea had been cursed was included within the scouting range.
“Of course, there will be compensation. I’ll make sure it’s not lacking.”
Although he expressed it as a request rather than an order, considering it an honorary position, in reality, it wasn’t much different from an order.
Since I had even obtained citizenship, unless I planned to leave the territory, refusal was impossible.
However, the offered compensation wasn’t small either.
‘1 gold.’
Considering that the request was for scouting, it was quite generous.
The duration was about a month.
If calculated as a daily wage, it would be over 3 silver, but since he knew I would be working with Kayla, it would be less than 2 silver per person.
Still, with this much, I could be considered as receiving treatment equivalent to a mid-level mercenary. Among them, it was the upper tier.
Mid-level mercenaries typically earned around 1 silver per day. Of course, it varied greatly depending on the request.
Although I had recently earned an unbelievable sum of money, this much was still above the industry average.
“Good. Summer will give you the existing map. After marking the additionally discovered information on the received map, organize it and hand it back to Summer.”
Nevertheless, as an honorary soldier, I was told to request necessary items for carrying out the request from Kuman.
After receiving the map from Summer, I immediately headed to Kuman’s mansion.
“Hm? Isn’t it Sir Jimnis? I heard the lord summoned you.”
“The news travels fast.”
“Haha. Well, you’re quite famous.”
The person who greeted me was Disan.
After I became an honorary soldier, the low-level mercenaries unanimously spoke to me in a respectful manner and showed a slightly awkward attitude.
However, I treated them comfortably, and starting with Disan, I succeeded in forming even closer relationships with other low-level mercenaries by drinking together, rather than the previous situation.
‘I haven’t even spoken a word with the corps leader, Pipis.’
Since he seemed to avoid me, I didn’t approach him excessively either.
“What did the lord summon you for?”
“I received a scouting request. It’s a medium to long-term request.”
“Ah. I heard they succeeded in pioneering a village, so they must be trying to create another new village.”
It seemed that anyone who should know already knew about it.
“I guess they’re also short on manpower over there. Calling you, Sir Jimnis.”
“Originally, they had tried to entrust it to Sir Kuman.”
Disan showed a surprised expression at my words.
He seemed to be unaware of it.
“Oh my, that won’t do. Our schedule is also packed.”
The reason for the lack of manpower on this side was simple. After Kuman established a deal with the Magic Tower, they were so busy moving around that even having two bodies wouldn’t be enough.
“So I heard Sir Kuman refused as well. That’s why the job came to me.”
“Oh, thank you for accepting it. We were about to suffer greatly.”
“I’m also getting paid for the job, so it’s not a loss for me. By the way, since I accepted this request as an honorary soldier, I was told to receive support for necessary items from Sir Kuman.”
“Ah, so… Oh my, then I’ve been holding up a busy person for too long. Please go ahead.”
“Good work. When this request is over, let’s call a few people and have another drink.”
“We’d be delighted. Hehe. We’ll be looking forward to it.”
After having a brief conversation with Disan, I immediately headed inside the mansion.
Then, Albert, who had noticed me, approached.
“You’re here.”
“I received a scouting request from the lord. I was told I could receive item support.”
“Ah. So it finally went to you, Sir Jimnis. I will report it right away.”
Unlike Disan, Albert seemed to be aware of it and answered immediately.
Looking at the items Albert brought, I understood why the lord had told me to go to Kuman and receive item support.
‘Even if they say it’s just lending…’
Perhaps because they had established a deal with the Magic Tower, there were artifacts made by the Magic Tower mixed in.
‘Ignition stones, boundary stones, a tent with temperature control magic enchanted…’
Although they were items at a level that made it embarrassing to call them artifacts since they only had daily life magic enchanted, they weren’t easy to make without the Magic Tower, and the prices weren’t cheap either.
Honestly speaking, each item had a price that matched this request’s payment.
“These are spare items that we use. Since we couldn’t accept the lord’s request, there was an order from Sir Kuman to support you, Sir Jimnis, to the fullest extent possible, so I brought them out.”
“…I must make sure not to lose them.”
“We will accept the loss if it’s an unavoidable situation, but we trust your skills and credibility, Sir Jimnis.”
I had no intention of swindling such things in the first place.
‘It would be useful to have them.’
But it’s fine even without them. Living artifacts are really convenient to have, but they are things that can be managed somehow even without them.
“I will use them gratefully.”
After taking the received items, I returned to the house where my companions were waiting, and the three of them rushed to me.
“What? Why did the lord call you?”
I repeated what I had said and showed them the items I had brought.
Athena and her sister admired the equipment, saying it was amazing when they heard the word artifact, while Kayla glanced at it as if she was familiar with it and lost interest.
‘Well, she said she was once a knight.’
Moreover, from what I heard, she didn’t seem to be an ordinary knight of a rural frontier like this place.
‘She must have been a knight of at least a high-ranking noble family.’
Although I didn’t ask for details, it was a fact that could be sufficiently inferred from the indirect information alone.
“By the way, if it’s a month-long request… what about Thea?”
“We’ll have to take her with us.”
No matter what, we couldn’t leave Thea alone in a place like this for a whole month.
‘Since we received support for artifacts as well, as long as we make good use of the base camp, Thea can stay safely too.’
Athena showed a relieved expression at my words. Thea also seemed a bit afraid to be alone for a month, so she looked as if she was rather glad to be going to a dangerous place.
“For now, let’s do the treatment that we postponed.”
Athena reacted as if she had been waiting for it.
I immediately started the delayed treatment and was able to absorb a portion of the curse clump in Thea’s body after concentrating for quite a long time.
Although it was a really tiny amount, this was the safest method for now.
It wasn’t an easy task, so by the time the treatment was over, my body was drenched in sweat.
However, rather than my own body, I checked Thea’s condition.
Even though I had been careful, it was inevitable to stimulate the curse.
It was a considerably difficult thing for Thea as well.
As expected, Thea was also sweating as much as I was and looked quite fatigued.
“How is it? Does your heart hurt or anything?”
“It’s pounding, but it’s okay. During the treatment, it sometimes hurt like being stabbed, but now it doesn’t hurt.”
“I see. That’s a relief. For now, the first treatment is over. I’ll do something similar once a month like before.”
“…Okay.”
“As you can see from trying the treatment this time, it’s tiring and sometimes painful. Don’t skip exercising, and don’t skip meals either.”
If she lacked stamina, her life could be in danger during the treatment.
“Yes, Sir Inha.”
“…Inha, are you okay?”
Athena, who felt that the conversation had roughly ended, intervened.
Certainly, I wasn’t in good shape either. Exaggerating a bit, I looked like a wet rat.
“This much is fine.”
“…It’s definitely not an easy task… Thank you.”
I nodded my head appropriately at Athena’s words and told her to take care of Thea, then left the room.
However, since there was still work to be done, instead of going to my room, I immediately headed to the basement.
Although I had consumed a lot of mental power, the next task didn’t consume much mental power, so I planned to finish it now.
‘I should engrave the skeleton.’
A month isn’t short, but considering the scouting range, it’s not that long either.
So I had to handle various tasks in advance whenever I could.
Without even resting, Kayla seemed to be worried about me going down to the basement, but she didn’t stop me.
I went down to the basement and sat down in front of the skeleton.
I drew out magic power, arranged it, and immediately used magic.
[Engrave]
Something similar to the seal engraved on my chest was engraved on the skeleton’s skull.
Originally, carrying undead around at all times through engraving is impossible unless you are a high-level Warlock.
You need to have your own subspace, and its size must be secured to a certain extent, but my situation was different.
‘By using engraving, I can utilize the cracks between dimensions.’
It’s not an ordinary subspace. It’s impossible to store items. However, if it’s an undead, it can be temporarily stored.
The engraving on my chest was connected to the demon realm.
It could be called a small dimensional crack, and the undead is put into that crack.
‘Since the crack is so narrow, the undead can’t cross over to the demon realm, but it can stay at the boundary between dimensions.’
It’s my undead, so it’s full of my magic power, allowing it to enter through the engraving.
Ordinary items can’t be stored because the engraving isn’t engraved on them.
If the engraving isn’t engraved, the dimensional crack can’t be used.
By the way, this magic was something I had created in my first life.
‘It’s my original.’
After recognizing the size difference between the engraving’s crack and the demon realm’s crack, I tried it out just in case, and it succeeded.
‘I only found out much later that there was a difference in size between the entrance and exit.’
The funny thing is, even though I made it that way, it was a useless magic for me at that time. It’s different now.
‘I can’t store a tremendous number.’
Anyway, since I only have one undead now, it doesn’t matter.
After finishing the engraving, I put the skeleton into the dimensional crack a few times and took it out to check for any abnormalities.
Fortunately, there were no particular problems, so I immediately erased all traces of black magic, including the barrier in the basement.
Only after completely eliminating even the small possibility of being caught did I seek my room for rest.
‘Currently, the skeleton’s ability is at a level where it can briefly contend with low-level mercenaries.’
Unfortunately, the probability of victory was low.
Still, permanent undead accumulate experience through combat, so in the future, it would possess skills not inferior to low-level mercenaries.
However, the problem is that the speed at which that experience accumulates for a skeleton is slow.
‘I plan to continue strengthening it steadily.’
By the time the monster wave occurs, it will be stronger than most low-level mercenaries.
In fact, even this much can be considered possessing an tremendously strong undead for a 2nd Class necromancer.
It was the result of the second round, constant strengthening, and even pouring money into it.
Moreover, if I grow further, the skeleton will naturally become stronger. Furthermore…
‘It can evolve into a higher undead.’
Higher undead.
‘Warrior, Archer, Mage…’
Depending on growth and strengthening, even a mere skeleton can become as strong as a Death Knight or Lich.
Of course, rather than strengthening a skeleton to that extent, it would be dozens of times more efficient to create a Death Knight or Lich.
‘This much… is more than enough.’
Me, Athena, Kayla, and the skeleton.
On top of that, the equipment is also sufficient.
‘The cave where the Lich’s artifact sleeps.’
An artifact, one that is estimated to be of ancient artifact-grade, slumbers in that cave.
I felt confident that we could conquer that place.
The next day, my party and I began packing our luggage.
In addition to the items I had brought, we also had to pack food, personal equipment, and such.
‘We have a wagon too.’
Since we owned a mule, even if the luggage was a bit much, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
“It seems like we’re lacking food, shouldn’t we go to the castle?”
“We can procure that much locally. And if we pack a month’s worth of food all at once, the luggage will become unimaginably large.”
Athena was from a hunting background, and I also knew how to hunt.
We had also made some of the traps we had used before, so there was no need to worry about hunting.
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