episode_0009

When I looked at the monster’s corpse on the workbench, I was very excited. Until now, just looking at a monster’s corpse was disgusting, but today, thinking that it would be my own skeleton, I didn’t even feel disgusting.

“Uh… … . Grandma, is this a goblin?”

However, although it had a similar body to the goblins I usually dealt with, its appearance was quite different. In particular, the face part was very different. I wondered if an orc I hadn’t actually seen yet looked like this. I heard the orcs look really miserable.

“… … Goblin meets. I told the mercenaries to get my bones intact, but they crushed my face.”

“Ah.”

In order to hunt without damaging the bones, only the face was beaten. The good news was that even though his face had changed so horribly, his facial bones were still intact.

Anyway, my grandmother said the bones themselves weren’t a big problem and immediately started teaching me how to make a skeleton.

The start was to pickle the monster’s body in black magic. To be precise, a curse filled with black magic was used on the corpse. It was closer to hitting things like the curse of corruption that causes something to rot quickly, and the energy of pure death like when confirming a warlock’s talent.

However, during the process, one question arose. I wondered if it was really necessary to get rid of everything, including muscles and skin. There were many types of undead other than skeletons. For example, things like zombies.

“Grandma, you can’t make zombies with intact bodies, not just skeletons? Is it because my face is all crushed? … ?”

“It’s not that it can’t be made, it’s that it’s not made. Did you know that zombies are less efficient undead than you think?”

“Yes? Most naturally occurring undead are zombies, right?”

In places where people with grudges were killed in droves, or where a large number of people died from an epidemic and the energy of death was strong, undead naturally appeared. And, most of the undead that emerged were zombies. The easiest thing to come out naturally is zombies, but it wasn’t easy to understand because they said it wasn’t efficient.

However, I had no choice but to nod my head at the grandmother’s explanation that followed.

“Even if you are undead, that doesn’t mean your body won’t rot. Maintaining leather and muscles, which decay faster than bones, inevitably requires a lot of black magic. So, wouldn’t that be inefficient? Rather than consuming dark magic to keep it from rotting, think of it as better to use it to strengthen your bones.”

When I thought about it, naturally occurring undead had a short operating time, so they tended to disappear quickly if there was no additional energy supply. It was all so inefficient that the dark magic was used up quickly.

“Andrew, focus. If you make it a little stronger, it will even rot your bones.”

“Ah!”

At my grandmother’s point, I erased the random thoughts floating around in my head and focused on making the skeleton. Before I knew it, all the muscles and skin had melted away, and the bones of the same color as Nurikkiri were showing.

The melted muscles, skin, and internal organs had become something like black gelatin. It was black and sticky, and just looking at it, it looked like it shouldn’t be touched. Of course, you weren’t supposed to touch it. The curse and the dark magic mixed together became a very dangerous substance.

Anyway, when all the muscles and skin melted away, leaving only the bones, the dark magic was used again. As the black magic was used, the gelatin-like melted material began to slowly cover the bones.

The mushy remains appeared as if they were seeping into the bones or coating them as if they were coating them. Perhaps thanks to this, the bones of the same color suddenly changed to a very light gray color.

After completing that process, I even summoned the soul using crystals that could be obtained from monsters. Without going through this process, there was the inconvenience of having to directly control the skeletons like playing with dolls.

Even though I couldn’t summon a highly intelligent soul with my abilities yet, it was clear that if I told myself to do this or that, I would be able to do it well.

Anyway, after completing all the steps to make the skeleton, I looked at the skeleton anxiously.

I tried my best to make it, but since it was my first time making it, there was a possibility of failure. If a mistake had been made in the process of covering the bones with dark magic, some of the bones would have fallen off or a skeleton with arthritis would have been created, and if a mistake had been made in the process of imbuing the soul at the end, the skeleton would have been motionless.

After watching nervously for about five minutes, a change occurred in the skeleton. Immediately, a blue flame, which can be called naturalization, began to burn in the orbit, the space where the eyeball goes.

“Wow!”

At this phenomenon, which could be seen as a signal that the skeleton was completed, I immediately raised my arms. First of all, it was clear that it was created with minimal intelligence.

“Wake up.”

“Dadak.”

Because of his intelligence, he was able to give orders with his voice, rather than using separate black magic. Thanks to this, the skeleton immediately trembled at my command and began to stand up.

Eventually, the skeleton got off the workbench, stepped on the floor, and raised itself upright.

Since each joint was connected with black magic, there was no disaster in which any part fell off. All bones were firmly in place.

“Most warlocks who make a skeleton for the first time are unable to connect the joints one by one, but it was a perfect success from the beginning.”

Grandma stroked my head as if praising me.

To check whether the skeleton was really made properly, I immediately gave an order to the skeleton. This time, rather than giving an order through voice, I conveyed what I wanted through dark magic. Because he was able to convey his thoughts as they were, he was able to give very detailed commands.

“… … Andrew, what on earth did you order?”

“Yes? It’s a dance called windmill.”

Memories from my past life told me that the windmill was the way to check if the joints were properly attached.

Anyway, the skeleton was spinning very hard on the floor, rattling around just as I wanted. By spinning around, it was clearly demonstrating that the joints were properly attached.

Even in the joints where many tiny bones were connected, not a single bone fragment fell off. Even though I tried many other movements, not a single bone fell off. Although it slipped and made an unusual rattling sound along the way, the bone pieces were still intact.

“… … Andrew, stop dancing now.”

“Yes.”

At my words, the skeleton lay down on the floor for a moment, then raised its legs as high as it could, bounced, and jumped up with the recoil. I don’t know why, but the grandmother sighed a little at that sight.

“Ha, Andrew. From now on, I will teach you how to use the skeleton, so study hard. Cherish the first skeleton you made. The basic base of a skeleton is important, but its power also varies depending on how long it has been with the warlock and how many orders it has fulfilled.”

“Really? So, how powerful is the first skeleton that your grandmother made?”

“The first skeleton I made was… … . Quite a long time ago, during a battle, I fell in love with a master-level knight. Oh, it’s not a particularly rude question, so don’t look like you made a mistake.”

“Is that so? So, will the skeleton I made be able to fight on equal footing with a master-level knight someday?”

“If you have the talent, it will be possible. but… … . It might take a bit longer since I’m a goblin.”

I was very excited about the fact that it was possible to fight on equal footing with master-level knights, which were few and far between in the kingdom. I hoped the day would come soon when my first goblin skeleton would be of that level.

And, looking forward to that day coming as soon as possible, I learned all kinds of knowledge and skills from my grandmother.

My grandmother said that my talent was particularly strong in the necromancy field, which deals with undead, and she tended to tell me a little more about necromancy.

A way to strengthen the skeleton so that it can strengthen its bones or accept more dark magic.

A way to make the skeleton move more delicately and without creaking.

I was even able to learn how to create a Skeleton Mage, a pseudo-lich that allows skeletons to use black magic.

Besides that, time passed very quickly as I learned all kinds of knowledge. As I was learning the things my grandmother taught me, I was able to not only become an adult by the standards of this life, but also reach the age of 20, which was the standard of adulthood in my past life.

However, there were no significant changes in my life until I became an adult. I continued to go about my normal daily routine, learning black magic from my grandmother, working with skeletons, studying, and going back to the village to play with my friends. It felt very familiar, as if something like this had happened in a previous life.

However, it was not that nothing happened during that time.

Among her close friends in the village, several, including Amy, left the village to become mercenaries, and she also left to follow her grandmother, who had decided that she had become a worthy warlock, to become a certified warlock.

He escaped from Milo, where he currently resides, and went to the largest temple in Barka, the capital not far away, to undergo the process to become a certified warlock.

It was all about swearing that you would never harm anyone using black magic unless it was for the purpose of protecting yourself, but it was a big event in its own way.

However, something happened that could be described as ‘something like that’. That is, the life of my grandmother, who taught me everything so I could become a warlock, was fading away.

No matter how long a warlock could live, there was bound to be a limit at some point. And now, the grandmother had reached her limit.

“Andrew… … .”

“Grandma.”

The grandmother, who had reached the limit of her life, found it difficult to find vitality in her body like the mummy she had seen in her previous life. Because he was close to death, he was able to live longer, but when he was close to death, he couldn’t find any vitality because of it.

I spent time with my grandmother, putting off learning black magic. Because she was a warlock who was close to death, she could tell that the grandmother’s life was not long.

And, like a candle that was about to go out, my grandmother, who had only a feeble life left, held my hand with difficulty.

“When I die, use my body to create a skeleton. Close to Rich… … . It will be possible to create a skeleton mage with strong power.”

“No, you should rest comfortably. You’ve worked hard so far.”

“… … okay. Thank you.”

The person I spent time with for a little over ten years was my grandmother. Therefore, no matter how powerful it was, it was impossible to create a skeleton using the grandmother’s body.

I wanted to help my grandmother continue her life even if she became a lich, but that was not something I could do. This was because it required the sacrifice of countless lives.

Moreover, the grandmother did not welcome it. My grandmother, who has lived for a long time, often said that living a long life does not mean being happy. He said he couldn’t be more sad about letting go of his loved ones first, and he even made a sad face when he talked about it.

“Andrew, please become a warlock who surpasses this old lady.”

In the end, my grandmother, who decided not to continue her life by any means, left me her last words and closed her eyes peacefully.

The grandmother, who burned her last life comfortably as if she was falling into sleep, left like that. Even the skeletons that the grandmother had created were no longer supplied with dark magic, so they quickly crumbled and disappeared like dust.

I had to admit that my grandmother was gone for good, but I couldn’t do anything for a while. As a warlock who was closest to death, paradoxically, he seemed unable to get used to death.

But I couldn’t just sit there forever, so I held my grandmother’s funeral as I had learned from her. The goal was to ensure that no warlock could create a skeleton using the grandmother’s body. To eliminate even the slightest possibility, I even cremated them and scattered them around the river, which my grandmother always loved.

After finishing my grandmother’s funeral, I decided to return to the village where I lived. The separation from my grandmother was something that would happen at any time, so I couldn’t be obsessed with it forever.

Inside the mansion, which can be said to contain memories of my grandmother, several skeletons were placed to maintain the mansion, and it was properly sealed to prevent anyone from breaking in. As long as I was alive, it would be able to block intruders and even be maintained from the inside.

After getting ready to leave, I looked at the tightly closed mansion for a moment and then set off toward the village.

Just as I rode the skeleton horse my grandmother made when I first came here, this time I rode the skeleton horse I made myself and headed toward the village.