The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

7 – Multiple Command Techniques

I stopped walking and looked at Dorothy. Her lower voice calling me a benefactor made me feel uneasy.

There were assorted reasons that I needed her – one clear reason being that I needed a young girl’s blood, as specified in the Necronomicon.

But the main reason for choosing to bring her didn’t lie there.

If I only needed the blood, there were various other means I could have chosen. I wasn’t incapacitated like an old woman, so I could have done most of the housework all by myself.

Having a slave is more expensive to maintain than purchase. If I only needed to get the blood by drawing from her right on the spot, it would have been the end.

The reason why I chose her was because of memories from her childhood, certain memories from her previous life, and regretful circumstances of my current life that I couldn’t bear to contemplate.

There is one common point in all young children in the world who live through hardship. In contrast to adults, they carry no guilt.

I’m not sure why Dorothy became a slave. But it weighed on my heart to think that a young girl had to live the rest of her life as a slave.

While dying in the slums, I too, met an old woman and could live a stable life.

There wasn’t much difference between Dorothy and me. It reminded me of my past, so I took her in.

That alone was enough to harbor and save the girl in front of me.

“Dorothy, we are similar.”

“…”

“I also grew up as a little beggar in the slums. It’s just that I was lucky enough to live as a magician’s assistant by chance. I wanted to emulate the magician who took me in. That is the reason I took you in, Dorothy.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And thank you for not asking before thanking.””I forgot. Thank you for saving me and not running away, Dorothy.”

I bowed my head in gratitude to her. In response, she blushed, showing signs of embarrassment, and lowered her head.

“No.”

“Then will you answer my question too?”

Dorothy avoided my gaze and twisted her hair. Then she mumbled in a small voice.

“···.”

“Huh?”

“No, nothing, I just want to be human…!”

She bowed her head with a flustered expression. I gazed at Dorothy, who went silent and moved forward again.

“Let’s go together, Dorothy.”

I gripped my cane and followed Dorothy.

Dorothy touched her hot cheek. Soon, she smiled reluctantly.

I shouldn’t have seen it. But for some reason, her back, reflecting in front of my eyes, looked joyous.

***

The injured leg had a limit to the distance it could go. We escaped from the deep forest and arrived at the plains. Dorothy suggested we rest here.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

“Okay.”

Dorothy started preparing for the camping. I crouched in a sleeping bag made of cotton and thick wool, and lit the dry grass and branches with a flint.

I spread out the map as the bonfire served as the light. Then, Dorothy put a pot on a rough pedestal made of tree branches and boiled the water.

When the water in the pot begins to boil, Dorothy made tea with the hot water in a cup and passed it to me, who was looking at the map.

“Thank you.”

The plains are cold at night since there are no buildings or trees and it’s an open place. I melted my cold body with the warm tea.

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The hot liquid traveled down my throat and into my stomach. The traces left by the tea naturally made people calm.

Dorothy in front of me was also drinking tea with a calm expression.

I looked at the map. We were currently heading east from Elia Pass located in the south, with the capital of the empire located in the center.

“Let’s see, didn’t I bring a compass…?”

As I could not see a compass from the backpack I’d brought, I frowned. Then Dorothy swiftly took out a compass and handed it to me.

“I brought it.”

“Thank you.”

Through the compass, I confirmed the general position and direction we were heading.

The place where we were camping now was Fall Wind Plains. Looking at the records on the map, there seemed to be a road when looking carefully.

The closest territory was Proit Pass located southeast of the capital.

“We should go to Proit Pass first. Judging by the fact that these plains are marked on the map, there should be a road.”

Dorothy nodded. I told her.

“We’ll use the road from now on. We’ll move as soon as the day breaks tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“Now Dorothy, rest well.”

Dorothy looked around. She then spoke with a nervous expression.

“Guard…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I whispered. From the plain reflected in my eyes, blue flames flicker.

“Wake up from the slumber.”

Then, the ground split and a skeleton crawled up, placing its hand on the ground. Dorothy wore a surprised expression once more.

“Master…”

“Don’t worry. This is a deceased who is protecting us.”

Dorothy swallowed her saliva and stared at the skeleton. The appearance of the skeleton, which had a grim blue glow in its eye sockets, was eerily uncanny.

“Cobweb?”

“Yes. I was able to cast it after I got these eyes. More exactly, I was able to cast it while fighting against Morse.”

“It’s amazing…”

Dorothy stroked the bone of the risen skeleton. The skeleton then turned its gaze to Dorothy, which surprised her alone. As I burst into laughter seeing that, Dorothy swelled her cheek like a squirrel and lay in the sleeping bag.

“I didn’t mean to tease you, I’m sorry.”

“Mm.”

Dorothy seemed tired as she fell asleep not long after she got into the sleeping bag. After confirming the sound of her faint breathing,I pulled out the old man’s translation from my backpack.

The skeletons I had raised were not dead. They were immortals, neither dying nor tiring. Unlike the frail and weak undead seen in other narratives, these skeletons were truly elite soldiers.

Was there really no weakness? Generally, the weaknesses of undead included holy water, sacred spells, and blessed silver.

There was no religion in the Empire. Other kingdoms seemed to have religion, but it didn’t seem like there was any holy power or strength in the priests.

If it was as the old man said, there are priests who believe magic is a divine blessing… but the mages the old man had observed generally didn’t believe in any god.

Unless the weapon was a hammer or mace, capable of shattering bone with weight and force alone, no weakness of the skeleton could be seen.

Only if armor or weapons were given would they potentially become stronger…

I turned to the next chapter in the translation. I had learned the technique of reviving the dead temporarily to fight as minions by shattering their souls. Next was learning command.

I voiced the next sentence out loud.

“If you’ve learned how to awaken the soul, it’s not an exaggeration to say you’ve understood at least half of the necromantic command described in this book.”

“Necromantic command does not use mana like other magics. However, there is a price to pay for every action in this world. Singing strains the throat, swinging a sword exhausts the body, using magic consumes mana… necromancy is no different.”

“Necromancy exacts its toll in mental fatigue. It can be understood by comparing it to a conversation with a person. Ultimately, necromancy involves a dialogue with souls, borrowing their power. Thus, a necromancer will gradually feel fatigued as they use necromancy.”

I hadn’t felt any significant fatigue using necromancy so far. Perhaps because I’d only raised two skeletons in total.

“Talking to a single soul does not impose a mental burden, but if you find yourself conversing with many souls at once, you will understand what this means.”

“The next part describes how to command many souls.”

“Calling many souls is simple. If you whispered before, now you should shout loud enough to wake all the surrounding souls.”

“They will awaken as they did when their souls were called. Many souls will be waiting to become your faithful servants.”

I wonder what ‘many’ means… How many exactly are they saying?

I concentrated. Closing my left eye, I observed the world with only the Eye of the Spirit. In the world filled with black and white, blue flames flickered.

There were many souls in this world. That means there were also many who had died. I stared at the souls left behind by the living.

There seemed to be hundreds of souls in my field of vision alone. Surely, I wouldn’t be able to summon all of them.

“…Have I gone too far?”

I’m no Lich King or Kel’Thuzad… If I could do that, it wouldn’t be a joke. I would have power to take over a city like Elia Ley in a heartbeat.

In this world, the forces a person could possess were limited. Of course, this world didn’t seem to have developed firearms, so I didn’t see any personal firearms. The knights here tended to fight more brutally than in reality.

According to the old man’s stories, if a wizard made all necessary preparations and performed a ritual, they could create disasters like hurricanes or typhoons…

Anyway, the real moment of truth was in the conclusion of this book and in reality.

I stopped myself from testing out the necromancy when I glanced at Dorothy, who had fallen fast asleep.

I guess it’s time to sleep. I crawled into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes.