The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

8 – Anemone, Guild of Merchants

Dorothy and I woke up the next morning. We tidied up our camping gear. Dorothy finished cleaning up and undid the bandages around my wound, applying ointment and herbs again.

Her soft, gentle hands busied themselves and tightly wrapped new bandages around the wound.

The pain was less than yesterday.It was a feeling of relief. I had the skeletal remains cleaned up.

The duration of the summoning was longer than half a day but shorter than a full day. As the command ended, the soul returned to its place, and the skeleton became dust and spread into the soil.

“Let’s go now.”

“Alright.”

Dorothy and I, with our backpacks, began to walk to find the road.

“Master, aren’t you going to use the skeleton?”

Dorothy’s gaze shifted to my backpack. I answered her question.

“Maintaining it might cause problems later on, and frankly, it’s not particularly pleasant to look at. So, using it feels a bit too much.”

“So you’re scared of the skeleton?”

“I think so too.”

While we were talking, Dorothy and I found the road. We laughed brightly as the unpaved road came into view.

“Now we can walk a bit more comfortably.”

“Alright.”

We shared trivial stories as we walked the unpaved road.

“One of the most bizarre things that happened when I was the assistant of the magician was almost getting killed by a mobile rope.”

“Alright.”

“The rope was incredibly jealous. Suddenly, while I was talking with the magician, it jumped up and tried to strangle me!”

“Hmm.”

“Luckily, I had a knife on hand, and when I tried to cut the rope, it scampered away… and I barely survived. But whether my flushed face was funny, or my neck’s rope burns were, the usually stoic magician laughed all day.”

Listening to the stories of the past, Dorothy looked at me with twinkling eyes of wonder.

In return, I asked Dorothy.

“What happened to you, Dorothy?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, what happened in your life?”

Dorothy’s expression turned somewhat gloomy.

“A lot.”

“A lot?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you when I’m good at speaking the imperial language.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then …”

“I want to tell you, Master. I want to tell you.”

I nodded, reading Dorothy’s serious expression.

So, we continued walking the unpaved road. Then from behind, we could hear the sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels.

I slowly turned around. A caravan with a familiar flag caught my sight.

“It’s the merchant guild Anemone.”

All the carriages were loaded with goods. There were three carriages in total, brimming with goods. Mercenaries were escorting the convoy maintaining the pace with the walking carriages.

There were seven mercenaries escorting the convoy. Dorothy watched the approaching caravan with wary eyes.

“Stop! Stop!”

And then the caravan came to a screeching halt. Then, a man looking like a merchant appeared in front of us, leaving the mercenaries behind.

He was a young man with brown hair. He looked at us with a suspicious expression.

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“There are no villages around here… You are not out on a picnic, are you? Are you runaways … aaarrgh!?”

He gawked at the spider web tattoo engraved on my right eye and stepped back startled. The mercenaries behind the merchant also got startled and reached for their sheaths.

Dorothy was watching them cautiously. And I spoke calmly.

“I am a magician. This is my assistant here.”

“Are you kidding! You, a kid, a magician!?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

Being straightforward, when I declared my position as a magician this boy looked rather surprised, glancing quickly at the mercenaries. They just looked back at the merchant without much interest.

“It’s unbelievable… Can you prove here that you’re a magician?”

“Sure.”

Resurrecting the dead may not seem pleasant, but in this world, many acts performed under the name of magic are acceptable.

Of course, magicians who use people as wealth and hold ceremonies are often wanted by lords…

A sure way to solve this situation well is to show them my necromancy.”Rise from eternal rest.”

Upon pronouncement, the earth shook, and a skeleton with blue glowing eyes appeared in front of them.

“Good Lord…”

The merchant stared at the resurrected skeleton, a look of disbelief on his face. The mercenaries shared his reaction.

“Is, isn’t this a bone from a corpse?”

In front of the startled crowd, the skeleton started to stretch and yawn, just as I had commanded. When the skeleton began to move in a human-like manner, the merchant stumbled back in horror, and the mercenaries drew their swords.

“The corpse, it’s alive and moving!?”

Amidst the uproar and growing hostility, Dorothy moved to stand in front of me, her arms outspread.

I gently stroked her head and pulled her arms down. I nodded reassuringly at her.

Then, Dorothy turned to look at me with a worried expression before returning to my side.

“As you can see, I am a wizard. My assistant and I were simply passing through.”

“My Lord wizard… forgive us for our ignorance…”

“It’s okay. It’s human nature to judge based on appearances.”

Maintaining an imperturbable expression, as I continued to speak, the merchant appeared more and more subservient.

“I am Gilbert of the Anemone merchant guild. It’s an honor to meet you, wizard. May I ask your name?”

Upon hearing the word ‘name’, Dorothy’s eyes sparkled. I realized I had never told her my name.

In fact, no one else knew my name except for the wizard who adopted me.

In this life, I was never given a name, and my name from my previous life was distinctively Korean, making it alien to this world.

“My name is a secret. Please address me as you see fit.”

“Understood, wizard!”

Dorothy looked at me with disappointment. I then addressed Gilbert.

“We’re on our way to the Freud Municipality, can you give us a lift? It appears you’re passing through, we’ll pay the fare.”

I produced a gold coin from my pocket and offered it to the merchant. Gilbert hastily declined the coin, bowing his head profusely.

“There’s no greater honor than having a wizard travel with our caravan to Freud. The gold should really be coming from me. hahahaha…”

“Then I look forward to our journey together.”

Although the merchant genuflected, the mercenaries eyed Dorothy and me disapprovingly from behind.

“He keeps staring at me, master.”

“That’s typical for those who know little about wizards. They don’t understand why the merchant is behaving this way.”

I explained to Dorothy, who nodded in understanding.

Shortly after, a figure who appeared to be the leader of the mercenaries walked up to the merchant.

“Hey, you’re going to include these suspicious brats in our convoy, just because they’re wizards?”

“What an impertinence, Black Wolf. It seems you have forgotten how valuable, rare and splendid wizards are…”

“Gilbert, haven’t you forgotten the agreement that allows us to voice our opinions on this journey?”

The man hailed as Black Wolf was an imposing figure, standing around 8 feet tall and built like an ox. His long tied-up black hair and unkept mustache were quite distinct. A large sword was slung across his back, too heavy for a common folk to wield. His charisma was evident, indicative of a leader in a mercenary band teeming with rough men.

Gilbert looked quite intimidated. He was at a loss, occasionally glancing at me and the Black Wolf.

“I object. Why should we travel together with a wizard who reanimates corpses? Who knows what he would do to me and my men on the way to Freud?”

The colossal man looked down at me. I looked up at him.

When Dorothy heard the insult thrown at me, her eyes turned fierce.

He glared at the black wolf.

Honestly, the sight of this towering figure brandishing a knife down at me was quite intimidating.

But I spoke to him calmly. Quick wit was my greatest talent.

“I am strong.”

“What?”

“I have the power to prevent your men from bleeding.”

“Hoo, you sound confident.”

“Please correct your statement about me being a mage who resurrects corpses. You’re an ignoramus who doesn’t even know about magic.”

I said it strongly. My hand was slightly trembling, but my eyes were steadfastly staring at the black wolf.

Then the black wolf drew the great sword strapped on his back.

“So, shall we see how impressive you are?”

“Be my guest.”

“Master···!”

“It’s a fight! It’s a fight!”

Dorothy cried out worriedly from behind me. The mercenaries began to get excited watching the fight with voices filled with rapture.

And just like that, a sudden duel was decided.