Rose Empire

Chapter 31: The Necromancer (Part 1)

"Did you find anything over there?"

"No."

While the elders of Ambratu were busy bickering, a group of clergymen dressed in priestly robes were busily searching for something along the coastline near Lan Bay, just outside the city of Ambratu.

If Charlotte had been there, she would have recognized the leader of the group as the same mendicant monk who had appeared during Hith's trial.

What Charlotte didn't know was that the mendicant monk, Borodin, was an inquisitor affiliated with the Feydi Inquisition. For someone like Heath, a mere freeman from the city-state, any official priest from a local church could have sentenced him to death. There was no need for Borodin to travel all the way here personally. He had only participated in the trial because he happened to be passing by.

As an inquisitor of the Feydi Inquisition, Borodin had far more sinister and rebellious individuals to deal with.

The group of pampered clergymen, braving the night sea breeze, had been searching the coastline for a long time but still hadn't found their target. Frustration began to set in.

"The nearby villagers said they saw suspicious people around here. Could it be that those ignorant peasants made up lies to trick us for the reward?" one of the clergymen couldn't help but complain.

The others quickly joined in, criticizing the ignorant and greedy villagers.

"Silence!" Borodin barked. "We've already found the belongings abandoned by that devil. This proves the villagers weren't lying. How can you spout such nonsense and complain just because of a little fatigue?"

The clergymen immediately fell silent, not daring to complain further.

However, another person beside Borodin spoke up: "Even if the villagers weren't lying, we've been searching for so long and still haven't found that devil. It's likely he's already fled. Continuing to waste time here is pointless. Let's all go back and rest, and we can continue gathering clues tomorrow."

This person, though young and handsome, was dressed similarly to Borodin, even going barefoot like him. Clearly, he was also a mendicant monk from the Inquisition.

The young man seemed to have Borodin's trust. After he spoke, Borodin glanced at the small boat docked by the shore, gave up on the idea of searching further out at sea, and nodded, allowing the clergymen to return to the city to rest.

However, in the dark sea right in front of the clergymen, a man was struggling in the churning waves, clinging to a piece of rotten wood as he kicked desperately.

The man was dressed in the attire of the Lesare Kingdom, his face gaunt. He was the same traveler who had been infuriated by Jarod Garcia's rude attitude earlier that day, storming off after being told "none of your business" and "none of my business," and leaving behind a threat.

The traveler had originally planned to swim around the checkpoint Charlotte had set up in the middle of the Lan Bay isthmus under the cover of night.

However, as night fell, the wind picked up over Lan Bay.

Where there's wind at sea, there are bound to be large waves.

After being hit by a few waves, the traveler was swept away by the currents. Initially, he had been swimming slightly away from the shore to avoid being spotted by patrolling soldiers while still keeping his bearings in the dark.

But now?

Where was the shore?

The traveler looked around, but everything was pitch black. Listening carefully, all he could hear was the sound of waves. There was no way to tell where the shore was!

The traveler chose a direction he thought was north and swam forward with all his might.

As time passed, the traveler felt as though he had been swimming for a year. He was utterly exhausted, yet he still couldn't see the outline of the shore. A sense of despair began to creep into his heart.

By now, his legs felt like they were made of lead. If it weren't for the piece of rotten wood he was clinging to, he might have given up and let himself sink into the sea.

Was he really going to drown here today?

He couldn't help but think.

Fortunately, although the traveler had lost his sense of direction, his perception of time was still accurate.

As dawn broke, the darkness was dispelled, and everything around him became clear again.

The traveler looked around and finally saw the distant shoreline. Overjoyed, he mustered the last of his strength and swam toward the shore.

However, when he reached the shore, what awaited him was a stone wall.

The wall was slick from the waves, and the traveler tried several times to climb it but failed. By now, he was completely spent, with no strength left to draw upon.

The hope he had just seen was shattered once more, and the traveler couldn't help but burst into tears.

The sun rose higher, and the sea mist began to dissipate.

The traveler cried until he was exhausted. Just as he was about to give up all hope of survival, a fishing net was thrown down from the top of the stone wall, landing in front of him.

Two small, round heads peeked over the edge of the wall a short-haired boy and a girl with a topknot.

"Grab the net, and we'll pull you up," the boy called out.

"O-okay," the traveler stammered, overjoyed. He quickly wrapped his hands and feet through the net's holes, clinging tightly.

The two heads disappeared, and the traveler felt the net tighten as the people above began to pull. However, the children's strength was clearly insufficient. After a while, the traveler hadn't moved an inch.

The girl's topknot and round eyes reappeared over the edge: "You're too heavy! My brother and I can't pull you up."

"If you can't pull me up, go get your parents!" the traveler urged.

"Oh, I'll go get Mom and Dad," the girl replied obediently before disappearing again.

The traveler remained in the water for a while longer, but there was no movement from above. He couldn't help but call out: "Hey, hey, is anyone still there?"

There was no response from the stone wall. The children must have left.

"Hey, is anyone coming back?" the traveler asked again after a moment.

Still no response.

The traveler's anxiety grew. Were the children not coming back? Had they given up on him? Was he going to die here? Was this some kind of divine punishment?

The more he thought, the more frantic and panicked he became: "Please come back… I beg you… save me… I don't want to die… I don't want to die… save me… God, have mercy on me…"

His words were both a plea for help and a soliloquy.

Suddenly, like an angel sent by divine grace, the familiar topknot reappeared over the edge of the stone wall.

"Hold on tight, we'll pull you up," the little girl's voice said.

Overjoyed, the traveler gripped the net tightly again. This time, he felt a clear force pulling him up. Slowly but surely, his body rose out of the water.

Once he successfully climbed onto the stone wall, the traveler stumbled and collapsed onto the ground. He kissed the earth greedily, the solid feel of the soil beneath him bringing him immense relief.

After the traveler had vented his emotions, a man's voice asked, "Sir, are you a sailor who fell from that large ship?"

The traveler stood up and looked around. He saw a young boy, a young girl, a dark-skinned middle-aged man, and a weathered woman the two children who had saved him and their parents.

Instead of answering the man's question, the traveler asked, "Do you have any food?"

The man was momentarily taken aback, but considering the traveler had likely been adrift at sea for some time, he invited him to his home for a meal to fill his stomach.

The traveler was led to a small fishing village located on a cape that extended into the sea. The eastern side of the cape was a gentle slope, while the western side was a stone wall.

If only he had swum a few hundred meters further, he could have bypassed the stone wall and reached the gentle slope, avoiding the humiliation of crying and begging in front of these people… the traveler thought to himself.

The paths in the fishing village were muddy and filthy, and the air was filled with the stench of fish. The villagers, accustomed to the smell, paid it no mind, but the traveler couldn't help but wrinkle his nose.

What made the traveler frown even more was the meal the woman the mother of the two children served him in the dim, Simple thatched house: coarse black bread and a few slices of equally black salted fish.

The two children secretly swallowed their saliva as they looked at the black bread and salted fish. However, the traveler asked indignantly, "Is this what you're giving me to eat?"

Before the adults could respond, the girl with the topknot couldn't hold back: "How can you talk like that? This is the best food we have!"

The man quickly stopped the girl and apologized to the traveler with a smile: "Sir, we're just a poor village. We really don't have anything better to offer you…"

The traveler pointed to a corner of the Thatched House and said, "There are two chickens over there."

The man waved his hands repeatedly: "Those chickens aren't fully grown yet, and we need them for eggs later."

The traveler's gaze swept over the faces of the two children and their parents. Suddenly, he smiled, reached into his robe with his right hand, and beckoned the man with his left: "Come here and see if this is enough to buy your two chickens."

The man bent down and approached. The traveler's right hand emerged from his robe, holding a beautifully crafted dagger adorned with coral and gemstones. Before the man could react, the dagger plunged into his throat.

The traveler held the dagger, letting the man's blood spray onto his hands, body, and face. He muttered incantations, his eyes glowing with a faint green light as four blue Light Wings appeared behind him.

"Ahhh…"

The woman let out a scream and rushed toward her husband.

The man's body gradually lost strength, and the traveler gently pushed him, causing him to fall backward.

The woman cradled her husband's body, trying to stop the blood gushing from his neck, but it was no use. Her husband stopped breathing, and his skin began to turn a bluish-purple before her eyes.

The two young children were frozen in shock by the sudden turn of events and their mother's screams.

"I'll fight you!" the woman ran to the hearth, grabbed a sickle, and charged at the traveler.

The traveler simply smiled at her, as if watching an insect struggle in its death throes.

At that moment, the man who had stopped breathing stood up with a grotesque, twisted motion. His neck was still tilted back, revealing the dark hollow of his throat.

The woman was so terrified that she stopped in her tracks, her sickle trembling in her hand.

The man if he could still be called that suddenly moved with surprising agility, grabbing his son and daughter by their necks and pinning them to the ground. From his wrists grew sections of bone, pressing against the children's throats.

"Ah…" the woman dropped her sickle.

"If you don't want your children to die, kill those two chickens and cook them for me," the traveler said.

The two young hens were killed, boiled in salted water, and served to the traveler. For someone accustomed to fine dining, the meal was far from delicious, but it was edible. He tore off pieces of bread, soaked them in the broth, and ate voraciously.

The woman sat on the ground, staring blankly at the traveler, her body trembling uncontrollably, as if she were looking at a demon.

After finishing the chicken and most of the broth, the traveler finally regained some strength. He stood up, stretched, and cracked his neck.

The little girl, pinned to the ground by her father's grip, seemed to sense something ominous and suddenly burst into tears: "I don't want to die, Daddy, Daddy, I don't want to die, I'm so scared…"

The traveler snapped his fingers.

The bone spikes on the man's wrists suddenly extended, piercing the throats of the two children.

The crying stopped abruptly.

A massacre spread through the fishing village.

The traveler didn't stay to admire the carnage he had created. He walked around the village and found the communal cemetery used by the nearby villagers.

"Damn the Inquisition!"

"Damn the mendicant monks!"

"Damn the knights!"

"Damn the Viscount of Lan Bay!"

"You brought this upon yourselves! I told you I'd make you regret it, you damned knight!"

The traveler stood in the center of the cemetery, his hands raised high, his face twisted in rage as he cursed incessantly. Behind him, the four blue Light Wings shone brightly.

The ground began to tremble slightly, then a mound of earth rose, and one by one, rotting or skeletal remains emerged from the soil.

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