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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It could be considered a minor version of the previous method.
Although it didn’t maximize the effect by torturing them one by one, if there were many invaders, it could be covered by quantity.
It was a moment that made me realize how overpowered my ability to extract magic indefinitely from the demon realm was.
It was a privilege that allowed me to ignore the magic supply, one of the biggest drawbacks of being a warlock.
And I wasn’t forced into a contract with demons either.
‘Done. This should be enough.’
Lastly, I processed some of the orc bones to create an artifact that could control the Land of Death and handed it to Thea.
“This is…”
“It shouldn’t be a problem to carry it around normally. Just remember that since you’re not a warlock or even a mana user, it only responds to a few commands.”
I made it respond only to specific keywords spoken in Thea’s voice.
It could be considered a kind of voice recognition.
‘How to create additional undead…’
Currently, I could hold about seven undead in my seal, and I could directly control about ten undead.
I could create commander-type undead that could have subordinates, but since it was difficult to walk around with undead in normal environments, there wasn’t much point in creating them.
‘It would just provoke nobles or powerful individuals unnecessarily.’
The slightly better method was…
‘I should create two Living Armors and attach them. I’ll make it so the Living Armors can supply magic on their own.’
It seemed better to make them remember the torture sequence and use the first method to enable self-supply.
‘It’s better than skeletons in appearance too.’
With Mutre’s help, I could create them most efficiently.
‘I should fill the remaining four spots with Living Armors too.’
They were less repulsive in appearance.
Although I was tempted by Skeleton Archers or Mages, there weren’t many skilled archers or mana-affinity corpses among those I had.
There were warrior-type orcs and orc chieftains, but they weren’t suitable for making into magicians.
While Mutre was creating additional armor, I made as many black bones as possible.
At the same time, I started dealing with tasks I had postponed.
Notably…
‘Is it done?’
There was the creation of a gift for the maid I had mistakenly offended before.
I had postponed it due to being busy and because the maid tended to be overly afraid of me, but since I would be away for years when I left this time, I decided to resolve it on this occasion.
I had some time left anyway.
‘She seemed to have improved quite a bit recently after moving to the main building.’
There was a time when she would hiccup just from seeing me, but it wasn’t that bad now.
‘Her name was Enri, I think.’
She was the maid who had advised Thea to call me oppa.
The gift I prepared was a kind of cosmetic.
‘Just a moisturizing cream.’
It didn’t have any special effects, just maintaining facial moisture.
This wasn’t easy to make either.
It was close to a combination of black magic and alchemy.
After making it, I hesitated.
‘…Should I give it to Thea, Athena, and Kayla too?’
I hadn’t seen them pay much attention to their appearance…
‘But they do keep themselves neat usually…’
Although it was meant as an apology, you never know.
‘…It is right to take care of close people first.’
If I only gave it to Enri and not to other maids, it would still serve as a sign of apology.
Moreover, she had to live with Thea.
It would be burdensome for her to have something her superior didn’t.
‘Tsk. This is going to be troublesome.’
It was annoying enough to make one, but now I had to make four…
I reluctantly had to make three more.
‘One wrong word and it leads to this…’
I didn’t have to do it.
However, the fact that she gave advice to Thea at that time meant she was one of Thea’s closest collaborators.
The fact that she said such things also meant that Thea was opening her heart to this maid named Enri.
As such, paying attention like this was ultimately an action that would help Thea and Athena, who would worry about her.
That was why I was doing this unnecessary thing.
‘Indeed, the higher up you are, the more you need to be aware of the consequences of your actions.’
It was both annoying and a responsibility.
I first gifted the completed cosmetics to Kayla and Athena.
“It’s a moisturizing cream, so think of it as something to apply to your face. It will keep your skin from drying out.”
“…You could make something like this too?”
“Now that I’ve become 4th class.”
I could do it before too.
I just didn’t because it was bothersome and consumed quite a bit of magic.
“So if we apply this, our skin won’t feel tight, right?”
When I nodded, they both expressed their gratitude.
“You two are mana awakeners, so your skin probably wouldn’t deteriorate easily even without this…”
“No, no! You don’t know how rough and tight our skin gets after training!”
“Is that so? That’s good then. I thought you didn’t care…”
“We just didn’t have a proper method, but if there is one, we’ll use it too.”
“I thought only nobles used things like this, I never imagined you could make it, Inha…”
They both looked at me with strange eyes.
Sensing that they might ask for more if there was anything else, I quickly shooed them away.
One of the other two would go to Thea, and the other to Enri as a sign of apology.
I could make other cosmetics too, but there were no ingredients around here and they were tricky to make.
Becoming stronger was more important than such things.
After they left, I called for Thea and Enri.
“I heard you called for us, Inha oppa.”
“Excuse me, Lord Inha.”
The contrast was clear between Thea, who entered my room naturally as if it was nothing, and Enri, who entered with a highly tense appearance.
“But why Enri? It seems to be the first time you’ve called for a maid.”
“Because there was no need to call before.”
Until now, the maids had thoroughly managed the main building under Thea’s command, and there was no need for me to call for maids separately.
Especially since most of the maids moved to the main building, it was managed even more thoroughly, so there was virtually no need to call for them.
That was why it seemed unusual that I specifically called for Enri.
“I wanted to apologize for the past incident and I also have a gift for you, Thea.”
“A gift?”
“Yes, it’s a gift for you, and it will be a sign of apology for Enri.”
“Ah, no, it’s alright. Back then, I unnecessarily…”
“No, it was my mistake back then. I should have reacted more calmly. I’m sorry, even though it’s late.”
“It, it’s fine.”
“Thea seems to rely on you a lot, thank you. This is not only a sign of apology but also a token of gratitude.”
“Enri does help me a lot.”
Thea reacted as if she was very pleased with my actions.
When I handed over the moisturizing cream, Thea urged Enri.
“What are you doing? Go and receive it.”
“You take one too, Thea. They’re the same.”
Thea grabbed Enri’s hand and approached me to receive what I was giving.
“Thank you, Inha oppa.”
“Th-thank you, Lord Inha.”
Then Thea asked,
“But what is this?”
“It’s called a moisturizing cream. Apply it to your face after washing. You don’t need much.”
I explained its effects and the appropriate amount to use.
As soon as they heard about the effects, their expressions changed.
“It makes the skin firm…! Isn’t this expensive?”
“Well, to convert it to money… I’ve never thought about it since I made it myself.”
If sold, it could fetch silver coins.
Mine had quite good effects.
Of course, such cosmetics weren’t non-existent in this world.
It was natural.
The desire for a beautiful appearance was human nature, so various cosmetics had developed.
Even on Earth, cosmetics had existed since ancient times.
In a world where magic existed, it couldn’t be non-existent.
‘In the first place, I wouldn’t know the manufacturing method if it didn’t exist. It’s not like I developed it.’
Although the methods of making them were different, various manufacturing methods existed, and as Athena said, nobles used such cosmetics without a second thought.
However, even the ones I made would sell for silver coins, which was quite expensive.
The manufacturing method itself was usually a secret.
‘Well, my master taught me all sorts of things during the training process.’
Spirit medicine, poison, cosmetics, enchantments, etc.
I learned widely and diversely.
“Th-thank you!”
As soon as she heard about its effects, Enri’s head bowed at a 90-degree angle.
Thea’s gaze changed as well.
‘…This feels like looking at Athena and Kayla.’
Sensing that it might become troublesome, I quickly drove these two out as well.
Thanks to taking care of the postponed tasks, I was able to focus on producing black bones for a while.
Meanwhile, Mutre informed me of the completion of the armor, and I turned them all into Living Armor.
As I prepared one by one like this, news that we would be leaving soon began to spread throughout the underground dungeon.
It was bound to happen anyway.
It was natural.
During the process of strengthening and improving the Land of Death, Baldur and his three combat personnel learned that I was preparing for when I would be gone.
Anyone who wasn’t a fool could guess the situation.
Then Thea came to me with a troubled face.
“People are really anxious.”
“Just tell them everything. Say that I plan to be gone for about one or two years.”
“Is that okay?”
“They’ll find out anyway.”
That would be better than suddenly leaving.
“If you inform them about the preparations I’ve made and emphasize that I’ll return, it should minimize the anxiety.”
“While we’re at it, I’ll attach two Living Armors to you. Always keep them with you. I’ve instructed them to follow your orders.”
“Thank you, Inha oppa.”
I told her that occasionally one of them might be absent.
That would be when they went hunting monsters, so she should ignore it.
“That thing we talked about before…”
“Right. The Land of Death will absorb the corpses, so ignore it.”
Even though they were dead bodies, when they died after experiencing such pain, negative emotions were bound to remain.
Even that would be utilized by the Land of Death.
It was an economical method in its own way, but since it was inherently inefficient, it didn’t have much significance even if done that way.
‘I should inform the hornorcs soon too.’
I felt I should visit them directly after a long time.
They were allies after all.
They would be our backup while I was gone, so it wouldn’t hurt to show this much courtesy.
After explaining to Thea about the location of the black bones and how to use them, I visited the hornorcs’ village.
“Who do we have here?”
Not expecting my visit, Rithild greeted me with a surprised expression.
“Welcome. It’s been a long time since you visited the village.”
“Is this the third time?”
I had visited once when returning the hornorc children we had taken care of, and once when searching for traces of the Evergreen Forest Village people.
After that, I hadn’t visited directly due to being busy with my training.
There were occasions when Rithild came to visit, though.
‘Still, it has changed quite a bit.’
Unlike the previous large orc tribe, the hornorcs had properly built palisades, and the layout of the buildings was arranged advantageously for defense.
“Somehow, the palisade seems to get bigger every time I visit.”
“We’re increasing the thickness and height. I’d like to make it out of stone if possible, but surprisingly, stones are hard to come by. There seems to be abundant stone materials far away, but it’s distant and quite close to human lands, so we’re hesitant.”
‘He must be talking about the rocky hills.’
I hoped they wouldn’t touch that place.
The emergency escape route of the underground dungeon was connected there.
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