Rose Empire

Chapter 32: The Necromancer (Part 2)

"And you, damn you, Cleon."

Regba Dando hailed from the wealthiest city-state on the Sokya Peninsula Feidi. Not long ago, he was a nobleman of high birth, a wealthy scholar, a renowned orator who had served multiple terms as an elder of the city-state, enjoying a life of luxury and the adoration of his followers.

Until the day the inquisitors of the Religious Tribunal kicked down his door.

In hindsight, Regba Dando realized it was his proud disciple, Cleon, who had secretly betrayed him to the Religious Tribunal, revealing his identity as a necromancer.

Regba Dando had trusted that disciple so much. He had not only taught him diligently but also funded his initiation ceremony and even married his daughter to him. Yet, all he got in return was betrayal.

No wonder Cleon had refused to follow the path of necromancy like him.

Furious, Regba Dando's first thought after escaping with his life was to seek revenge on his disciple and publicly expose Cleon's hypocritical facade. But he never got the chance. The mendicant monk, like a bloodhound catching the scent of prey, relentlessly pursued him from Etuo all the way to Ambratu.

To survive, Regba Dando abandoned his luxurious attire and nearly all his possessions, blending in with a dirty, smelly mercenary group. When the border of the Oran Empire finally came into view, Regba Dando thought he was about to escape to freedom until "None of your business, none of my business" appeared.

Watching the reanimated corpses gather and slowly march eastward, Regba Dando felt a sense of satisfaction. He swore that once he crushed the Ripple Bay Viscountcy and captured that annoying knight, he would strip him of all his flesh except his mouth and turn him into a corpse puppet that could only say, "None of your business, none of my business."

As for whether he could crush the Ripple Bay Viscountcy, Regba Dando wasn't worried at all. Merchants who had visited the Ripple Bay Viscountcy all said there wasn't a single griffin there, and the strongest knight was only a Two-Wing. Meanwhile, Regba Dando was a Four-Wing necromancer.

Isn't it common sense that a Two-Wing can't defeat a Four-Wing?

A day after Charlotte and the others, Knight Jack Moore, who had gone to the Quirk Forest, also returned, bringing letters from Count Philip, Countess Simonne, and Charlotte's future sister-in-law, Monica.

Count Philip expressed understanding regarding Charlotte's decision to close the trade routes, and his tone suggested he didn't mind much. For one, the timber from Quirk Forest was primarily supplied to the Green Plains Duchy and the Oran Empire, with only a portion sold externally. Secondly, Quirk Forest also had a maritime trade route to the Sokya Peninsula, though it only allowed trade with a few city-states on the eastern coast. The western city-states were simply too far away.

Theoretically, due to its unique geographical location, Ambratu also had access to the Ripple Bay coastline and could build docks on the eastern shore. However, the problem was that the Little Sasinians blocked their exit from Ripple Bay, rendering this stretch of coastline effectively unusable. Thus, Ambratu could currently be considered a western city-state.

From Count Philip's perspective, selling to one city-state was no different from selling to another. The Fuso of the western city-states wouldn't be more valuable than the Fuso of the eastern ones. Therefore, he didn't mind Charlotte blocking some of his customers.

Countess Simonne, on the other hand, outright refused Charlotte's request to purchase timber. In her letter, she wrote that if Charlotte needed timber, she could simply ask, and Simonne would give it to her for free.

Countess Simonne was true to her word.

Jack Moore had returned riding one of the Quirk Forest Earl's giant eagles. According to him, a carriage was on its way, loaded with half a cart of mahogany and half a cart of golden peacock wood.

Mahogany was a high-end furniture wood, essential for decorating both imperial palaces and ducal castles.

Golden peacock wood was even rarer. It was said that when cut, the wood revealed golden-red patterns resembling the tail feathers of a golden peacock, hence its name. Due to its beauty and limited supply, golden peacock wood was expensive and typically used only for crafting noble sword hilts or noble ladies' jewelry boxes.

To receive such precious wood for free, Charlotte couldn't help but marvel at the Quirk Forest Earl's wealth. She decided not to hold back and wrote back, stating that she needed a large amount of pine and beech wood for building houses. To show she wasn't freeloading, Charlotte asked Countess Simonne to keep a record of the debt, promising to repay it when she was more financially stable.

Finally, there was Monica's letter. The young countess had included a painting in the envelope, a romantic and picturesque depiction of the Ripple Bay Viscountcy based on Charlotte's descriptions and some of her own imagination. The idyllic scenery in the painting bore no resemblance to the impoverished and dilapidated viscountcy Charlotte faced every day.

Still, Charlotte was slightly impressed by her cousin's solid painting skills.

In the letter, Monica also suggested that Charlotte replant roses around the castle, believing it would be incredibly beautiful.

Charlotte replied that she would seriously consider Monica's suggestion and planned to compliment her cousin's painting in her letter.

However, as Charlotte was writing, Renee hurriedly entered the study.

"Miss, Knight Hermann Green has urgent news to report," Renee said.

"Hermann? Let him in," Charlotte replied.

"Viscountess," Hermann entered and knelt on one knee in a standard knight's salute, skipping any formalities and getting straight to the point. "Two patrol squads have discovered a large group of walking corpses in the southwestern part of the territory! The number could exceed five thousand."

Behind Hermann were two other knights. Charlotte vaguely remembered them one was Adams Bell, and the other was Eric Scamario's brother, Costa Scamario. Seeing Hermann Green kneel, they also knelt.

"Walking corpses?" Charlotte's first thought was The Walking Dead. Was this the start of an apocalypse scenario? But she quickly dismissed the strange thought and guessed a more realistic possibility. "A necromancer?"

"You may rise," Charlotte frowned slightly and then said to Renee, "Go fetch Lilith."

"Yes," Renee responded and left.

Not long after, Lilith appeared in the study, clearly annoyed at having her research interrupted. "What is it now?"

"There might be a necromancer in my territory," Charlotte briefly explained the situation and then asked Hermann and the two knights, "Who saw the walking corpses? Describe what happened."

Hermann looked at the two southern knights behind him. Costa and Adams exchanged glances, and finally, Adams stepped forward to recount the eerie and terrifying scene they had witnessed during their routine patrol.

When Lilith heard that the corpses' eyes glowed with green light, she nodded. "That's definitely a necromancer's ability, and a high-level one at that. It's called 'March of the Dead.'"

With Lilith's confirmation, Charlotte immediately turned to Jack Moore, who had been waiting to deliver another letter. "Go notify all the knights in the territory to gather at the castle immediately. Tell them to bring their full armor and weapons."

"Yes," Jack Moore promptly went to carry out the order.

After issuing the command, Charlotte continued to question Lilith. "Lilith, how much do you know about necromancy?"

Lilith thought for a moment. "Necromancy has been heavily suppressed by the Church. Their traditions are scattered, and the further apart the regions, the greater the differences between the various necromantic sects. However, as far as I know, there are only two sects likely to appear in the Ripple Bay Viscountcy."

Lilith pointed to the map of the Ripple Bay Viscountcy hanging on the study wall. "One is the Laveyu Necromantic Sect from the Kingdom of Lesare to the west, and the other is the Metron Necromantic Sect, which is more common in the Sokya city-states."

"If it's the Laveyu Necromantic Sect, the situation is a bit more troublesome because 'March of the Dead' is a Five-Wing ability in that sect. That means our opponent is at least a Five-Wing."

"In the Metron Necromantic Sect, 'March of the Dead' is a Four-Wing ability. If our opponent belongs to this sect, that's slightly better news. We can hope that they're a novice who just advanced to Four-Wing."

Lilith paused, and Hermann Green, staring at the map, spoke up. "If the necromancer entered from the Kingdom of Lesare, the corpses should have appeared further north. But now they're in the southwestern part of the territory. If this isn't a cunning schemer using deception to mislead us, then it's likely a city-state necromancer who snuck in through Ripple Bay."

"Otherwise, it's hard to explain," Hermann drew a long line on the map from the western border of the Ripple Bay Viscountcy to where the corpses were discovered. "There are plenty of villages and graveyards in the west, so why would the necromancer travel so far to use 'March of the Dead'?"

"The Metron Necromantic Sect? That makes things easier. I'm somewhat familiar with this sect," Lilith nodded. "In this sect, the One-Wing ability is usually 'Corpse Control.' This ability allows precise control over corpses, making them move freely and even grow additional body parts, leading to some bizarre uses. For a necromancer, it's a practical skill for both combat and daily life."

"At Two-Wing, they can awaken an ability called 'Soul Peek.' This allows the necromancer to glimpse the memories of the deceased. The fresher the corpse, the more memories they can see. This gives necromancers access to many secrets, which is a major reason why the Metron Necromantic Sect is popular in city-states."

"At Three-Wing, the Metron Necromantic Sect has two main possibilities: 'Corpse Stitching' or 'Death Miasma.' Both are highly destructive abilities. The former allows the necromancer to stitch multiple corpses together to create a massive monster, while the latter releases a large area of toxic gas."

"At Four-Wing, there's the 'March of the Dead,' as I mentioned earlier. This ability allows the necromancer to awaken a large number of corpses and command them like an army. The combat strength of each corpse depends on the deceased's physical condition, the corpse's integrity, and the necromancer's own power. Generally, reanimated corpses of ordinary people are more agile than they were in life…"

Costa and Adams listened to Lilith's detailed explanation with growing astonishment. At first, they had wondered why the viscountess had called over this little girl who was only about four feet tall. They hadn't expected her to be so knowledgeable.

Before the battle had even begun, the unknown necromancer had already been thoroughly dissected.

Charlotte pondered for a moment. "Does the necromancer have any ability to escape quickly?"

"Escape?" Lilith shook her head. "Not before Four-Wing. After Four-Wing, the Five-Wing ability 'Cold Blood' sacrifices emotions to extend lifespan, and the Six-Wing ability 'Bone Genesis' creates undead minions, indirectly extending lifespan but leaving the necromancer in a half-dead state. There's no ability for quick escape."

The ability to extend one's lifespan through various bizarre means, allowing necromancers to live in a state of undeath, is the reason why, no matter how much the Church suppresses them, necromancers continue to thrive like weeds, impossible to eradicate.

"So, we have a chance to grab this necromancer's head and show him the consequences of sneaking into our territory?" Charlotte said.

Lilith thought for a moment. "There's a chance, but there's a prerequisite."

"What prerequisite?" Charlotte asked.

"You need to find him before defeating his army of corpses. While controlling the march, the necromancer can observe the surroundings through multiple corpses, so most necromancers choose to hide their true bodies far behind the front lines. If the army of corpses is defeated, the necromancer can slip away unnoticed." Lilith nodded. "Perhaps you could consider that a necromancer's escape skill?"

Charlotte stared at the map, deep in thought. After a while, she asked, "How far can a necromancer be from their army of corpses and still control them?"

"I'm not sure. Each necromancer's abilities vary in strength, but I've heard of a legendary necromancer who could control his army from twenty miles away. Surely, a legendary necromancer wouldn't bother coming to a remote place like Ripple Bay, would they?" Lilith joked.

A legendary necromancer, even one from the necromantic sects, would be considered a national treasure in any country. Why would they waste their time causing trouble in a backwater like Ripple Bay?

"So, the necromancer is likely…" Charlotte's finger traced the map.

"Either in Green Fish Village or Cowbell Village," Adams interjected.

Charlotte looked at Adams curiously. "How do you know?"

"I recognized villagers from those two villages among the walking corpses. They're the closest villages to the coast," Adams paused and added, "My former fief was in that area."

Charlotte nodded and turned back to the map. She picked up a piece of charcoal and drew a line connecting the two villages to where the patrol squads had discovered the army of corpses.

"What a straightforward marching route."

Looking at the straight line on the map, Charlotte couldn't help but laugh.

If the necromancer had landed at Green Fish Village on the cape, he must have killed the villagers there and then sent his army marching straight toward Charlotte's castle. Not a single detour, no attempts to conceal his movements, and no effort to hide his intention to attack the Ripple Bay Viscount's castle.

"Well then…"

Swish, swish!

Charlotte drew two curved arrows on the map, starting from the castle and bypassing the main force of the corpse army, heading straight for the rear Cowbell Village and Green Fish Village.

"Since we have to find and capture the necromancer before defeating his army of corpses, let's just avoid the corpses altogether. We'll circle around, staying out of their sight, and strike at the heart of the matter. Those corpses can't possibly move faster than warhorses, can they?"

Charlotte said.

"Of course not. The corpses move at the speed of infantry, but…" Knight Hermann shook his head hesitantly. "What about the castle?"

"Evacuate everyone in the castle to the northern knight's territory. As for the castle?" Charlotte tossed the charcoal aside and sneered. "Let the corpses have it. I refuse to believe a bunch of walking corpses can chew through my castle's bricks."

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