Monarch of Death

Chapter 52

13. The King’s Order (3)
‘

After escaping at night, Karnak and his party headed back to Derat City. Alius reunited with them and was overjoyed.

“It is truly Hatoba’s guidance!”

He was so happy that Karnak felt embarrassed.

“……If you recommend us, what benefit will you get?”

“Because I’m in a position where I can’t help but care about performance.”

Of course, they have accumulated enough results so far. Wasn’t that why he became a first-class interrogator at such a young age? But human greed had no end.

“If three of my referees join the King’s Order, my rating will be even higher. I don’t know if I can get over it.”

Serati said as if it was new.

“I’m surprised.”

She didn’t know that Alius, who only thought he was a good man, would have such a desire to succeed. However, he was also a good person.

“If you become a special interrogator, you will have greater authority, and then you can save more subjects. How could I not be greedy?”

Alius was greatly disappointed. Having just attained the first rank, he had never recommended a shadow hunter to the King’s Order. Since this was the first time, he was more careful in picking and choosing people.

That’s Karnak’s party, Serati, and Riltain, who participated in Operation Trist City. However, three were lost because Serati became a knight of Karnak. Moreover, even the remaining Riltain gave up joining. The reason was that he lost confidence while dealing with Straf.

Well, it was only natural that he couldn’t use his hands or feet and was miserable. So, did he even quit being a shadow hunter and go back to practicing magic?

“You have no idea how happy I am that the three of you are back. This increases the chances of saving subjects from the cultists.”

Barros and Karnak secretly exchanged magic messages.

[As expected, Mr. Alius is a good person.]

[I think Jae is better than him?]

Their eyes turned to Serati. She put on a blank expression.

[Why are you looking at me?]

Now that she had become a member of Karnak’s family, Serati had also been included in the secret magic message system. While the three of them secretly chatted, Alius wrote a letter of recommendation with one stroke.

“Of course, this is just a letter of recommendation and does not guarantee to join the team…”

Handing over the documents, he put on a confident expression.

“I’m sure everyone can do it. May Hatoba bless you!”

»»————-　★　————-««
North Territory, Baron Zestrad.

It took three days from there to Derat City, the largest city in the North. Also, it took an additional ten days to travel from Derat City to the capital of Yusteel Kingdom. It was by no means a short distance, and travel in that era was truly dangerous, so even Karnak and his friends couldn’t relax!

……He thought.

“Did you come without anything?”

Looking at the gigantic city across the plain, Drunta, the capital of the Yusteel Kingdom, Barros smiled.

Karnak replied nonchalantly, “At most, there is no way that a big incident could happen in a small country like Yusteel?”

Serati, who was listening next to her, asked in a bewildered tone.

“……Nothing happened?”

On the way, they also met a group of bandits, and the necromancer found, two of them were captured and handed them over to a nearby church. Encounters with pickpockets and robbers were so common that he didn’t even count them. It was Serati who had been biting her tongue the entire time, saying that the world was going crazy in an era of turmoil.

“What do you mean that nothing happened at all?”

“Huh? That’s about it. Isn’t it normal when you’re just traveling?”

“What kind of lives did you two live in your previous lives?”

Karnak and Barros searched for memories.

“Come to think of it, we usually do the theft, right?”

“We were the necromancers.”

“We also did robbery and pickpocketing, but we’ve never been victimized.”

He didn’t think much of it because it was a sight he’d always seen while traveling, but originally, the guy who unfolded that scene was Karnak himself. It was said that the world was peaceful enough except for these two human beings.

“Oh, it’s true that the world is really chaotic right now.”

“So, let’s get this out of the way.”

As he moved his steps again, Karnak gazed at the panoramic view of the massive city of Drunta, the royal capital.

“Can we go to the King’s Order headquarters now?”

»»————-　★　————-««
Drunta, the capital of the Yusteel Kingdom, was the largest city in the kingdom, built along the Zaltan River. The royal castle stood tall in the center, and towers and churches lined the streets. Most of the buildings were two or three stories.

Numerous citizens came and went in that magnificent city. As it was the capital of a country, the population was no joke either. Passing through the countless crowds, Serati looked around. Derat City was also a well-known city in the north, but it looked like a village compared to the capital.

“Wow, it’s amazing, as expected, of a place where a king lives.”

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On the other hand, Karnak and Barros were reluctant.

“It’s still a small town.”

“It’s still a small city. Well, it’s nice that it’s small.”

“……What town are you comparing to?”

“Thea Krahan.”

“Rontoras.”

Thea Krahan is an archipelago in Laceania, and Rontoras is the capital of Felmeier, the most powerful country in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance. Both of them were far stronger in national power than the Kingdom of Yusteel, so of course, the size of the capital must be much larger.

“Well, even those two cities were small compared to Necropolis.”

Serati laughed at Karnak’s arrogant attitude.

“Just hearing the name Necropolis, you’ll know what it’s doing.”

He didn’t usually give a city such a gloomy name. It must be the capital of the undead empire that Karnak founded in Bona Mana’s previous life. Karnak scratched his head.

“Is the name too explicit? But when I tried to name it, nothing came to mind.”

“Thanks to that, the whole city was full of necro in my previous life. Necropia, Necropolis, Necro Wall, Necro Cross road mark. There was nothing that wasn’t attached to the fretboard with a necro. Maybe?”

“Hey, Barros, you agreed that it was a suitable name back then!”

“You knew it only after naming it. Finding the way is difficult because it all starts with necro.”

Not all undead were unconscious puppets like zombies or skeletons. Many undead have egos, such as Death Knights, Vampires, and Liches.

“Thanks to that, there have been many appeals to change the name.”

Serati was surprised by Barros’ words and asked.

“Do you have any complaints even if you become undead? I thought you just obeyed thoroughly.”

Karnak replied instead.

“The original version is a human being. Living or dead, a human being is a human being. If you have an ego, that’s natural.”

“I thought that if I became undead, I would be unconditionally loyal to the caster.”

“Loyalty and dissatisfaction are two separate domains. Come to think of it, it seems that the more loyal you are, the more dissatisfaction you have.”

“Why do you look at me while talking, young master?”

As they chatted and continued walking, they gradually saw their destination. The King’s Order headquarters was located on a street north of the capital, Drunta. Upon entering, Barros inspected the building out of habit.

“It’s an ordinary government building.”

Well, it’s right in the middle of the capital, so it probably didn’t have to be decorated like a fortress. Of course, boundaries were never loose.

The guards at the entrance were excellent warriors, and Karnak and his party could only enter the room after confirming the authenticity of the letter of recommendation. In preparation for the possibility that it might have been counterfeit, it had completed a two or three-fold review with magic.

“We have confirmed that it is a letter of recommendation from the Hatoba Church. We will deliver it to the superiors soon.”

Looking at the guide walking away with a letter of recommendation, Karnak smiled happily.

“You are sensitive to the authenticity of the letters of recommendation. There seem to be a lot of guys trying to fake it.”

Serati was puzzled.

“Why should you be happy that there are so many counterfeiters?”

“Because it means you’re doing the right thing.”

If the King’s Order was a shoddy place, the cult needn’t be bothered by them either.

“I was worried that the King’s Order might be like that because I’ve seen so many cases where the special agency or something has rotted inside after putting on a coat of arms.”

Barros shook his hand.

“Ah, the King’s Order was created only about a year ago, so it must have already been corrupt?”

“Whether it was a person or an object, it took a certain amount of time to rot.

In the meantime, the guide who had carried the letter of recommendation returned to the group.

“Wait a moment. The Lord of the Order will greet you three soon.”

»»————-　★　————-««
Karnak and the others waited for a while on the first floor of the headquarters. In the meantime, people in various costumes were coming and going from time to time. Some wore civilian clothes or uniforms, and occasionally dressed as wizards or priests, but they all had one thing in common. Barros stuck out his tongue.

“Everyone is not easy.”

When it comes to Barros, he could roughly tell how good it was just by looking at the opponent. All of them were strong players who would not be defeated no matter where they were presented.

“Randolph, if you came here, you would have been beaten?”

Even the strongest knight in Deventor would not dare to show his business card here. So did the wizard. Karnak said nervously.

“Most of them are in the 5th circle or higher. You can see the 6th circle from time to time.”

Although he possessed great necromancy wisdom, he was still only in the 4th circle with chaos magic alone. Of course, he was still growing his magic, so he would be able to enter the 5th circle sooner or later…….

“The level is unexpectedly high? Don’t you know that we are falling behind?”

Serati was also surprised.

“I saw 2 Aura users. It seems that they were at the same level as me in the red class.”

She had never seen another Aura user besides herself. In Derat City as well as throughout the entire area, Serati was the only speculative Awakener.

“To think that rare Aura users are common, the capital city is different as expected.”

Karnak scoffed at her admiration.

“Ah, Aura users are indeed rare, but it’s not quite right to say it’s rare. Especially if it’s at the red level.”

“Are you using your own standards again?”

“It’s more a matter of perspective.”

Aura users were obviously rare. Even in the Kingdom of Yusteel, with a population of over 800,000, there were less than 100 people. But in fact, the population of 800,000 was not a very large country on the continent. Even in a small country like the Kingdom of Yusteel, it was ambiguous again if she asked whether beings with close to 100 people were really rare.

“You mean that the perspective changes depending on the water you play with?”

“There is also the fact that this is the capital of a country.”

All human beings wanted to seek money and honor as their abilities grew and to play an active role in a bigger world.

“Serati, you were originally planning to head to the capital.”

Even though they were still a small number of Aura users or high-ranking wizards, they were all flocked to the capital that made money.

“That’s why seeing Aura users in the provinces is even harder. The 7 Goddess Church directly manages high-ranking priests, so they’re evenly distributed in the provinces.”

It was said that in the capital, you could not expect to be treated as an aura user. Of course, they would admit it, but they wouldn’t support it as wildly as they did in the provinces. Well, from Serati’s point of view, it didn’t matter.

“Anyway, I haven’t been treated well since I got involved with Master Karnak, huh!”

Looking at her, Karnak and Barros tilted their heads.

“Did we miss anything?”

“I see. I fully acknowledge Miss Serati’s skills.”

“The biggest problem is that they don’t know.”

In any case, the more he looked around, the more he felt a fresh sensation that he never experienced in his previous life. It was intimidating.

“Wow, we’re not really going to fall like this, are we?”

“Did you think you would come after you’ve built up some more results, this one?”

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been so nervous about someone else’s evaluation. It’s a strange feeling.”

“Me too.”

Seeing the two grown men interlacing their fingers, Serati clicked her tongue.

“If you’ve just bought it, can this be the first time you’ve cared about other people’s opinions?”

It was when they were wasting their time so hard.

“You’ve waited a long time.”

Finally, the guide called Karnak and his party.

“Lord Erantel is looking for you.”

[To be continued.]