Ch 37

Chapter 37

10. Night of the Dead

A dark night street about two blocks away from the Ranfeld Mansion. Two men were running down a narrow alley. They were Barros and Karnak carrying Serati. Hiding in the darkness of the alley, Barros looked across the street.

“You’ve managed to buy yourself time to get out. It’s a shame he’s such an innocent man.”

“I said that to piss you off, but it’s not because I’m naive.”

Looking toward the Ranfeld Mansion, Karnak let out a faint sneer.

“So who wants to do remote control all the time?”

If the other person had revealed himself, no matter how much he was innocent, he wouldn’t have been able to keep the illusion going. However, Straf hid somewhere in the mansion and only used necromancy indirectly.

“It’s hard to fool the necromancer himself, but it’s not that difficult to create an illusion that fools the far-sighted spell.”

“There’s a difference between being naive and being ignorant. Well, since he was a priest, is it natural? He doesn’t even have the basics, so tsk tsk.”

Barros asked Karnak, who was clicking his tongue.

“By the way, how about now?”

“Let’s find a place to hide.”

It was quiet there, but that silence wouldn’t last long. Straf, who missed Karnak’s party, couldn’t stand still. He would unleash the Ranfeld family’s men right away and search the entire city like a tooth. Before that, they needed to find a hiding place.

“We have to make plans for the future…”

Karnak pointed at Barros’ shoulder. To be precise, Serati, who was still passed out, was placed on his shoulder.

“Because I have to deal with this lady too.”

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It was as Karnak expected. Enraged, Straf immediately commanded the Ranfeld family to search all over Trist city. Lights were turned on all over the city and people started to move.

“Hey, open the door!”

“Is there any suspicious stranger here?”

It was a deep night when everyone was asleep, meaning nothing. Ranfeld’s rogue boat roamed the inns and alleys at random. In the meantime, those who were unfairly abused were not the only ones.

“No, we’re just ordinary merchants…”

“What is this?”

No one cared even though the foreign peddlers who were dragged out after a good night’s sleep protested vehemently. Blood flowed here and there and there was the sound of music.

“Aww!”

“Oh, so who are you looking for!”

“Shut up and follow me! It’s an order to catch all the suspicious guys!”

There were quite a few people who rebelled wildly among them. They were foreigners who came to the notorious city of crime voluntarily. Ordinary petit bourgeois did not even look for a city like this in the first place.

“Do these make people easy?”

“Do you know what we don’t have swords for?”

Bloody fights broke out on all sides, and turmoil ensued. It had been almost an hour since Trist’s quiet night turned upside down. However, no matter how much they searched, the search team could not find the target.

“No, where are these guys hiding?”

“There’s no way an outsider wouldn’t stand out in this city, right?”

Someone asked a question.

“Didn’t they just get out of town?”

And, it was immediately refuted.

“Can it be? How many people did you release?”

No matter how lawless the city might be, it was originally a country’s fortress. If many people were put in, iron-clad boundaries were possible.

“But they’re enough to attack the mansion directly, so they might have broken through by force…”

“I’ve never received a report like that.”

When a battle took place, somehow traces were left. Whether there was a commotion or a dead body. All of those who were lined up in the city limits were maintaining their positions without incident.

“Then where the hell were these guys?”

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Serati slowly came to her senses.

“Aahh…..”

A voice was heard from beyond the blurry consciousness.

“It would be dangerous to go back to the Pollards, Young Master.”

“That’s right. In this situation, the first place they will go is the forces that were hostile to them. They must have sent a lot of people by now.”

“Also, I left all my stuff there, but I’ll have to find it later.”

“Anyway, I didn’t expect it to happen again. I thought I wouldn’t be chased and hidden in this all time.”

“I guess our lives are originally like this, well.”

It was the voice of Karnak and Barros. Serati was startled.

‘They!’

She woke up. She saw that clearly. Dark energy welled up from Karnak’s whole body. She had to avoid this place. She got up. There was an instant, and a faint moan leaked out. Hearing the sound, Karnak approached her.

“You’re awake. Miss Serati. How are you feeling?”

“…Dirty necromancer, are you worried about my body?”

Karnak scratched his head in embarrassment at her cold reaction.

“Ah, I can’t help it even if I think so, but…”

It was expected. Since his identity was exposed, Serati thought he would reveal his true colors, but he still had a good-natured face. Who could suspect an evil necromancer from that benign expression?

“Come to think of it, why did you let me live?”

And though puzzled, Serati examined the situation first, “Where are we?”

“It’s in the woods on the southern outskirts of Trist City. It’s probably safe outside the city.”

“How did you get out of the guard net?”

“Because I have a lot of experience like this.”

Undoubtedly, the Ranfeld family properly sealed off Trist City. Even a fairly powerful adventurer or wizard would have a hard time sneaking out of that vigilante net. But the necromancer was different.

Necromancy was a technique specialized in mind control, memory distortion, and deception. What was impossible for a wizard is possible for a necromancer.

Were they on guard most of the time? Defeating his opponent in one blow and manipulating his memory appropriately was a perfect crime. Or you could hypnotize or brainwash them from the beginning.

This was the reason why necromancers were particularly hard to catch. The necromancy technique itself was very advantageous for escape and hiding. Even Karnak and Barros experienced this situation dozens of times in their previous lives.

Even in the imperial capital, which was said to have the most security on the continent, they had been hiding for months, but it was not a big deal in a rural city like this.

“I just walked away for a while because I needed time to deal with Miss Serati.”

The tone was calm, but the content never was.

“Treatment?”

Her complexion turned pale. Karnak continued to speak with embarrassment.

“Processing is kind of like that, but you know my secret, and you can’t just leave it alone, can you?”

“……Are you going to kill me?”

Even as she said that Serati thought that would not be the case. If he was going to kill her, he wouldn’t have bothered to carry her all the way here. Indeed, Karnak shook his head.

“I have no intention of doing that. Even if you look at it like this, I’m trying to live a life free of sins.”

“Huh, about the necromancy?”

Translator: Anom

Proofreader: Orange

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“Somehow, I learned necromancy, but I don’t like it very much….”

Karnak raised a faint magic power.

“I’m only walking hard on my path as a wizard.”

Serati, an aura user, could quite accurately recognize the attributes of an opponent’s aura. The magic that Karnak was currently demonstrating was undoubtedly Normal magic. It wasn’t command power.

‘Well, the author used magic several times, but no one knew.’

Not only she, but the magician Riltain and even the priest Alius didn’t notice it, so it was definitely not the magic of darkness.

“So you’re not lying?”

But some things were difficult to accept.

“Wasn’t necromancy and Normal magic not coexisting?”

“It’s usually like that. This is my own method. I don’t want to learn necromancy as much as possible.”

Thinking about Straf, who was a priest, also used necromancy. It didn’t seem to make much sense. Serati swayed slightly. Was it really that Karnak had no choice but to learn necromancy, and now he only walks the path of a wizard?

“Then why don’t you give up the necromancy completely?”

For a moment, Karnak laughed.

“Miss Serati, I will ask the opposite question. Can you throw away your aura?”

“Huh?”

“The fighting spirit you’ve been learning, can you throw away that power?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? How can I throw away the aura I’ve already acquired…”

“Yes, that’s why I couldn’t give up my command power.”

Serati was speechless. As she was also not in a position to deal with speculation, she understood right away. Certainly, it was impossible to throw away any energy once it had been mastered.

“Good. Regardless of that…”

Sarati asked with a sigh.

“If you don’t kill me, what are you going to do with me?”

“I will erase part of your memory. Just the moment I used the necromancy.”

Her expression hardened. Erasing people’s memories? Was it possible for a necromancer to do that?

“It’s not a big deal. Miss Serati must have experienced something like that once or twice, right?”

“It’s bullshit! It’s not uncommon for good memories to be erased!”

“Have you ever lost your memory after drinking?”

Serati was speechless once more. Honestly, why not? It wasn’t just once or twice, but quite a few times. Serati likes to drink.

“No problem. You fainted in the middle of the fight in the first place, right? It just knocked you out a few minutes earlier.”

She was confused. It was a substantial condition. It wasn’t something an evil necromancer would do.

“…Why are you even doing that? Are you trying to placate me?”

Looking at her slightly softened, Karnak put on an ambiguous expression.

“It’s a bit like saying this, but…”

At the same time, he stared down at Serati’s shoulder.

“Now you don’t even need to appease me. It won’t help much.”

Serati didn’t understand for a moment. Were Aura users not helpful? Why? Involuntarily, her gaze followed Karnak. The place he was looking at was below her shoulder. Of course, the elbows were visible. But the arms were not visible. All she could see were the traces of the cut, which were cut from the elbow and charred to black…

There was a moan as if the soul was dying.

“Aaaaaaaah”

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Her senses were paralyzed, and the fact she didn’t realize hit her whole body.

‘Yes, I lost an arm, I… have no arms.’

She couldn’t even hold the sword anymore. No tears came out. Her body was just shaking. Of course, if she recuperated well, she could use aura again. However, the swordsmanship she had honed throughout her life had become useless.

No. Fear was not the problem. Having no arms meant she couldn’t hold anything, Even the most basic daily life was impossible. She can’t even do the act of going to the toilet and wiping her back right away.

A young beauty in her prime could no longer keep even the minimum dignity. It was just dark in front of her eyes. Serati, who was in despair, heard Karnak’s consolation.

“I’m sorry, Serati. You were a really talented Aura user.”

For her now, it was just an empty post.

‘I’d rather kill you.’

She groaned softly.

“Remember? No need to erase it. Just kill me right here…….”

Sadly, Barros asked cautiously.

“Is there really no way, young master? Maybe we should go to a powerful cleric and receive a healing technique…”

“It’s impossible if a limb is severed, you know? No amount of magic or divine spell can restore a severed limb. Putting it on was against the rules.”

“Well, it’s different from necromancy.”

It was time for Barros to let out a deep sigh.

‘Is it different from Normal magic?’

Serati, who was in despair, suddenly raised her head.

“Wait! So, by necromancy? You mean that necromancer can get my arm back?”

After blinking for a moment, Karnak replied quietly.

“It is, but…”

And scratched his cheek like he was embarrassed.

“I don’t recommend it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because it’s possible to make you one of my people. I don’t think you want to become one of the evil necromancer’s people.”

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