Chapter 3 – One Day, in the Woods
[Do you wish to begin the investigation to unravel the mystery of Quest {The Mysterious Skeletal Remains}?]
—Just when I thought a weird movie was playing, a quest acceptance screen suddenly popped up. Does it want me to unravel the mystery of these skeletal remains? There are absolutely no personal effects or anything, so what am I supposed to do?
“This is a quest that no one has cleared yet. It is a limited quest of the type where once someone clears it, it is over.”
“Hmm…”
Telling me to unravel the mystery and clear it with just this seems unreasonable. If there were at least some personal belongings left behind, that would be a different story, but there’s nothing… This is impossible, right?
“Are you curious?”
“I’m curious. That’s right, the narration said they had skill, so if I wake them up, maybe I can use them.”
“Wake… up?”
“Ah, right. You haven’t seen my skills yet, Peru-chan.”
Come to think of it, I told her about punching the angel and receiving the Urge of Death, but I hadn’t told her what job I took. Since we’re here, let’s show off the ability I received from Babylon-sama. It seems they were reasonably strong in life, so if I can wake them up, they’ll be good combat assets. And if they evolve, maybe they’ll regain their living appearance and look like normal humans~… I wonder if at least one will wake up~?
“Arise.”
[There is no soul. Cannot be used on these skeletal remains.]
“Arise.”
[There is no soul. Cannot be used on these skeletal remains.]
“Arise.”
[There is no soul. Cannot be used on these skeletal remains.]
“Ariiiiiiise~.”
[There is no soul. Cannot be used on these skeletal remains.]
Hmm~, no good at all. I guess Animate Dead can’t be used on targets without a soul~. All that’s left is these small skeletal remains…
“Ariiiiiiise.”
“… (Rattle)”
“Woof!? (It moved!)”
“It rose!”
“I-It moved!”
It moved, it moved! Yes! Only this skeleton was okay. Always worth a try, isn’t it~~!!
[The ★Skeleton Witch has become your servant. Please give it a na— The name is {Aurelia}.]
Eh, it named itself? Is that its name from when it was alive…? Race is Skeleton Witch, huh~… Was she originally a witch? Ah, I have some equipment that fits perfectly, so I’ll give it to her.
“Her name is Aurelia, apparently. Sounds like a witch. Aurelia, now that you’re my servant, I’ll have you work hard, okay?”
“(Nod nod)”
“How’s that? This is the power of a Necromancer.”
“Necromancer… Does that mean Don-chan was originally a Zombie or a Skeleton!?”
“Donta is a rare Wolf that fought me, lost, and I made him arise on the spot.”
“Oh my! So he was a rare Wolf!”
“Anyway, here are Aurelia’s weapons and armor.”
“(!!)”
I’ll give her the equipment I acquired when we turned the tables on those players in the plains south of Talash. Witch’s Robe, Underarmor, Witch’s Hat, Mage’s Staff, Leather Boots… that should be good, right? Once she puts on the full set, look at that mystery—from behind, she looks like a witch~! Well, from the front, she’s totally a skeleton, though.
“Woof!! (Enemy!)”
“Ah, a Goblin. Aurelia, try taking that one out.”
“(Nod nod)”
“I look forward to seeing what kind of magic she uses~.”
Well, a perfect monster appeared at the perfect time. Let’s have Aurelia show us what she can do. I wonder what magic she’ll use?
“(……!?)”
“Eh? What are you doing? The Goblin is coming.”
“Oh? Oh my…?”
“(Shake shake shake shake)”
“She’s shaking her head furiously?”
“Woof!? (Aurelia says she can’t fight!)”
“Ah, that’s right! Magic needs… an activation word…!!”
Magic… needs an activation word… Aurelia cannot speak………
“”Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~!?””
“Woof!!”
[Donta activated {Body Slam}, dealt 1384 damage to the Forest Goblin, and defeated it. Gained 360 EXP.]
“(Bow bow bow bow)”
Aurelia is apologizing profusely… The Great Resurrection of the Witch who can’t use a single spell… A witch who can’t chant activation words is basically like being under a permanent {Silence} status effect. Wait, isn’t Aurelia completely useless baggage? Is there a suspicion she might be a totally useless child?
“Donta, you got a junior who’s clumsier than you. Lucky you.”
“(Bow bow bow bow)”
“Woof woof~ Awoooooo~! (If she evolves like me, surely she’ll be able to fight!)”
“Evolution… Evolution, huh.”
“Evolution? You mean if she becomes a higher species, there is a possibility she will be able to use magic?”
“I hope so, but there’s no guarantee… Well, since I made her arise, I’ll raise her, but hmm…”
Unlike Donta who was an immediate asset, should I view Aurelia as a late bloomer, or is there a possibility she’s genuinely a useless child…? What if I raise her and she still can’t use magic? Haaah…
“Woof, woof!! (I’ll work hard for Aurelia’s share too!)”
“Donta’s going to work hard for Aurelia’s share too~? But won’t our EXP go down…?”
“Even if party members increase, you receive the same amount of EXP as you would defeating it solo! It does not decrease!”
“Eh, it’s not split?”
“That is correct! If there were demerits to party play, people would not want to form parties, so it is a consideration for that!”
“Hueee~. So there’s no downside to having more people. Ah, but what do we do when we need to move quickly? Donta, three people is tough, isn’t it?”
“Woof, woof! (Aurelia is bone, so she’s light! It’s okay!)”
“I see, if it’s okay then there’s no problem! Alright then Aurelia, do your best to evolve! Aim for a body with flesh! A body that can use magic!”
“(Nod nod, bow bow)”
There doesn’t seem to be any downside to commanding Aurelia, so let’s try raising her in hopes she’ll learn to use magic! The movie said she had skill, so she must be a strong girl… she must be!
“……”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“It seems she wants you to… dig up the ground here?”
“Woof! (I’m good at digging!)”
Is something buried here? It does look like the soil was slightly disturbed… Eh, don’t tell me the quest was actually to find these faint traces and dig up what was buried here!? Whoa, a necklace absolutely covered in gems came out~! This is definitely expensive; it looks like it’ll be worth a considerable amount!
[Acquired {?Necklace (Unidentified)}.]
“My, that is quite a flashy necklace!”
“……”
“Is it yours, Aurelia?”
“(Shake shake)”
“Then can I have it?”
“(Nod nod)”
I got a super flashy necklace~. Oh, I can equip it even if it’s unidentified. The gold necklace Peru-chan has equipped boosts VIT, so this one surely has some good stats too. I’ll just equip it~.
[Equipped {?Necklace}.]
[The {?Necklace} is cursed!! You cannot remove the {?Necklace}!!]
“Ah.”
“Oh my? Rinne-san!? Did you perhaps just equip that right here and now!? And wasn’t that effect just now a curse effect!?”
“…………Yes, it is—!”
“And it’s an unidentified item, is it not!? You do not even know what effect the curse has, do you!?”
“Yes, that’s riiiight—!!”
“(……?)”
“You’re reacting like you don’t know why it’s cursed. Isn’t it just cursed because it was left in the dirt of this forest for years!? Ah—her not being able to speak is inconvenient! I have to help her evolve quickly…”
“(Bow bow bow bow)”
“She is apologizing desperately…”
It was cursed equipment… I guess it’s not surprising for a necklace buried with skeletal remains to be cursed! Plus, with so many huge gems… gems and precious metals have always been prone to attracting people’s grudges since ancient times!! Haaah… I will never equip an unidentified item again. I guess it’s fortunate that no status ailments have occurred…
“Well, nothing bad is happening right now, so it doesn’t seem like my stats have dropped.”
“It might be a piece of equipment where the only curse effect is that it cannot be removed! I have seen cursed equipment with no negative effects other than being unremovable, so it might be that type!”
“Hmm~… I see, maybe that’s it.”
Anyway, I don’t know what curse is on it, but I can’t take it off, so I have no choice but to wear it.
“Once we arrive at the city of Loray, I will identify it for you! You can also buy cash items to destroy cursed equipment in Loray, so could you please bear with it until then?”
“Mm, understood…”
I have to wait until Loray to identify this gaudy gem necklace. I really did something stupid there… Let’s make this a lesson for the future: don’t equip unidentified items. Anyway, I want to get to Loray fast!!
＊ ＊ ＊
“Th-this is… It was definitely right here, right in this spot…”
What is the meaning of this? The only thing missing is the corpse inhabited by a powerful grudge that Orvis found… Was it that girl who just left the forest, the one radiating an extraordinary aura of death, who took the witch as a servant…?
“Please forgive my folly in causing our King of Graves to make a wasted journey…”
“Orvis, I forgive you.”
“Such grateful words, oh our most merciful King…”
Although I was awakened in an era hundreds of years after my death by Orvis’s power, neither I nor Orvis can bring forth even a fragment of the power we possessed back then in this miserable state. I thought I could absorb the power of a powerful dead being to add to my own, but… It cannot be helped if it is not here…
“The corpse harboring the powerful grudge that you could not even touch is gone, but the remaining soulless corpses can be put to use. It is not a completely wasted journey, so do not be so disheartened.”
“Ah…! Such grateful words, oh our most merciful King…!”
The item I sought was not there, but the soulless corpses that girl left behind remain. Even without souls, the martial and magic power housed in those remains still lingers. I thought that girl was an existence possessing the same power as me, but perhaps her power is slightly different? Very well, I shall make use of these corpses.
“Arise, {Animate Corpse}… And fuse, {Integration}!!”
It is an improvised Death Knight created by fusing four corpses, but the result is not bad. I shall strengthen this Death Knight for a while, to eventually use it as a vessel to house the souls of my subordinates.
“Let us go, Orvis. To transform this world into our grave marker.”
“Yes. To bring silence to the world.”
And that girl from earlier… I must be cautious. I shall release a small familiar to track her future movements, paying the utmost care not to be sniffed out by that demon wolf…
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