"My dear Immortals," Tai said to his elite undead servants, summoning them into his laboratory, "As Hagen told you, we have a problem, and it's only gotten worse since then. Too bad. We can foresee that under the leadership of Princess Avalon, more and more adventurers will want to defeat us. I summoned you to discuss how to solve this problem."
Ankou waited for a few minutes, waiting for his undead to speak, and slowly counted. Much to his chagrin, he discovered that he had fewer than 24 smart people at his disposal; while he had a steady supply of brainless workers, he didn't have many high-level monsters with which to attack the invaders.
This was never a problem as they were dealing with an average party of 4 to 6 people, but now...
"Obviously, we killed them all," Duke finally said with a simple solution, and Spock mimed slitting his throat with his claws for emphasis. "Three to three hundred men cannot pass. Master, we have fought many; and we will continue to do so until your purpose is accomplished."
"They are the children of nobles," Hagen answered. "If that wasn't obvious enough, this princess is the King's daughter."
"It is a disgrace to shed the blood of noble men, I agree," Duke said with mock regret. "But, alas, we cannot avoid this massacre of innocents..."
"If we kill the princess, there will be a massacre," said Tai. "The king will send out his best knights, and I must warn you, some of them we will not be able to fight against at all. Lancelot alone can take down Knock us all down.”
"I'm surprised they haven't ordered a strike yet," Hagen said. "You thought the princess would send a knight instead of dragging her feet in the mud."
"They are young, children of summer," Duke said happily. "They think they are immortal, invincible, destined for glory. I know. I am a young nobleman too. They will never see death coming."
"Then, boss, I say we evacuate the dungeon," Hagen said.
"Do you want to run away?" asked the Duke, surprised by his cowardice.
"Temporarily," the knight replied. "We sacrificed some to satisfy their lust for battle, spreading through the tunnels and Broxaland Forest. The princess would not stay in the city forever; once she grew tired of it, or the king summoned her back to the capital, she would leave, The stress will go away.”
A bandit's tactic; it served Hagen well in his criminal days. But this doesn't work. "I can't give up on the dungeon," Tye said. "Alkahest is too rare and difficult to obtain. If the government discovered this deposit, they would condemn the area."
No, that would slow down his research so much that it might take him decades to find another deposit this large. If he found it.
"If all non-combatants are sent to this task, how long will it take for our workers to extract all the alkali stone in the mine?" Tai asked Hagen. "Including sediments in the ruins below?"
"At least eight months."
So long, yet so short. "We're going to defend the dungeon until we drain it dry," Tai decided, "and then we move."
"Then shall we kill?" asked the Duke, thirsting for blood.
"Not all of them," Tai said. "Especially the princess, she must be captured alive. You cannot kill her."
"We should have information about other students so we can avoid killing kids who are too important to die," Hagen said. and enhance security. We can defeat the average adventurer...but not as well-equipped as the Royal Family or the Academy. "
"Tightened security? More traps?"
"Yes, what I'm saying is that you should be looking forward to recruiting new people, boss."
"Come back anytime!" Ty told his newest client as they walked in the door.
After hearing the news about the princess, local adventurers immediately came to his shop. It is possible that she followed her on the expedition in order to please the royal family. Even now, almost noon, he had ten people going through his potions row, trying to decide whether to take a restorative elixir, a protective ointment, a burning oil or a magic powder. Terry used the little time he had between sales to write down the schematics for a new product.
He considered Hagen's words. Recruiting? He is a necromancer who has been scheduled to die by the royal princess. Who can he recruit? Of course not mercenaries. Even disgraced bandits would not die fighting nobles; they would continue to do business with Ankou, but not die for him. The Catastrophic Cult, those who fanatically worship the five disasters destined to destroy the Nine Kingdoms, may be happy to help him, but they will only increase the pressure on the royal family.
The only ones left are summons, monsters, creatures from other nine kingdoms, and creatures he can create himself. Although he has funds from the store and his own alchemy, these funds are not unlimited. Maybe he should contact Sva
The dark elves of Talfheim, or forcefully include the creatures lurking deep in the dungeons...
Tai's thoughts were interrupted by a customer who walked up to the counter. Judging from his strange and stern face, he is a land man with black hair and dark eyes; this man holds a bow as his [sacred weapon], and although handsome, he obviously pays more attention to practical hunting clothing than Not armor. He seemed like the kind of guy who couldn't take a joke.
"I'm looking for a product that's effective against the undead," the young man said, before getting down to business. "Coat arrows and weapons."
"Have you tried holy water?" Tai said as his elite soldiers were protected by magic. "There are no fees for the church in Balder."
"If it had worked, the undead would have disappeared long ago," the Earthling replied angrily.
A smart one. "I have fuel oil. Most undead are vulnerable to fire, especially since their body parts tend to move even when severed. Of course, there are downsides to using fire in tight corridors."
"I don't want to choke to death on the smoke," the young man replied.
"Thank goodness I have a potion of smokeless fire that you can coat your weapons with." Its flames are brighter than usual, allowing the undead to easily locate the adventurers.
"Tell me more details," the man said. “I wanted to demo it before I bought it.”
This customer is so picky. Was he suspicious of Ty's product? The Necromancer marked it as dangerous before explaining the potion's ins and outs. The client immediately focused on the lighting issue, much to Ty's silent dismay.
"Takeu, don't disturb my friends!"
Annie's voice made Ty's head snap up as his friend walked into the store with a huge smile on his face.
All the adventurers present imitated the shopkeeper; for the princess followed right behind her. The red-haired girl he almost killed in the dungeon followed her, attracting some lustful looks herself.
"Oh, great, it's Annie," the one called Take
The man complained, and all the adventurers flocked to the princess and licked her boots. "Look, I'm just asking some questions about gear."
"You seem to be putting him on trial for witchcraft!" the young witch scolded the young man, before waving to her favorite shopkeeper. "Hi, aspect!"
"Hello, Annie." Tai smiled and quickly guessed that they were classmates from their familiarity with each other. "I see you brought me a client as promised. And a princess at that."
"I'm sorry," she apologized, even though she had no reason to. "Take
u is very stingy and picky about everything. "
"No, I have high standards, that's all." "But I admit that this store has a collection of amazing items."
"I guess you are classmates?" Tai asked, and they both nodded. "So you are from Earth?"
"Japanese," Wulong replied, he had heard of this strange island.
"He wanted to take a 'stable path to save the world,'" Anne said, much to the chagrin of her colleagues. "So he read for over a year to perfect his skills."
Wise choice. Earthlings acquire skills and upgrades incredibly quickly compared to Midgardians, and those who commit themselves to battle rarely survive long. "Do you really want to stay in Lyonesse for a little longer?" the shopkeeper asked, eager to see her more often.
"Yes, until we defeated that mean wizard down in the dungeon," Anne said with a proud smile. Ty forced himself to smile back.
"I'm to blame for this."
The princess finally emerged from the crowd of admirers who surrounded her, and approached the counter as if she were the owner of the store. "I'm Gwen Sifhar Völsu
g," the lady announced her home, and the redhead followed her like a well-trained pet. "The first princess of Avalon, but you can call me Gwen. The woman beside me is my dear cousin and maid, Morgan Sieglinde. "
"Annie said nice things about you," the other girl said with a smile, putting her hands in her hair and showing off her perfect collarbones to the male onlookers. "Aren't you that handsome man?"
"Thank you," Tai responded, unmoved. He'd seen more of her type than he could count, pretty young girls hoping that if they deigned to flirt with him, the shopkeeper would give them a discount. "Princess, it's an honor for you to come to my store. What can I do for you?"
"I'm just here to visit," she said with a wry smile, the expression on her face like a wall, making people unpredictable. Every word that came out of her mouth seemed carefully prepared and rehearsed. "We have plenty of supplies, but Anne thinks very highly of you."
"You helped me get into the academy," the witch said, almost advertising her friend's store. "He was the one who gave me the (arcane crystal) for the entrance demonstration!"
"You are too kind," replied the wizard. "But the talent is yours alone. I just grease the wheels."
"Thank you for your kindness to her," said the princess. "The Academy, nay, the whole kingdom, is in desperate need of geniuses like dear Anne"
Tai noticed the witch blushing at the compliment before focusing back on the princess. "Your Highness, if I don't offend you, what is your rank?"
"twenty."
Ah! No wonder he crushed her! "Is it wise to risk your life to clear the dungeon in your level?" Aspect asked. "Of course there is no shortage of knights and adventurers in the kingdom, who are always ready to fight for you."
"My classmate's death was my fault," she replied, her voice calm and collected. "We ventured into the dungeon on my orders. It is my duty to personally bring the murderer to justice to make amends to him and his still-living father."
From what they heard in their conversation in the dungeon, the fool brought it upon himself. Tai couldn't sense any legitimate anger on her part either.
No. No one is that innocent and just. She presented herself as a prim, well-behaved action princess, but Ty knew better. She must have an ulterior motive. Is it ego? Boredom? A political move? Teenage rebellion? The sooner he knew, the sooner he could get her to leave.
Tae assessed her but was unable to understand the teen's condition. She revealed no information and didn't seem particularly interested in the conversation. In fact, she seemed to be measuring Tai with wariness, just like the necromancer.
"Maybe we should buy free healing potions for everyone who wants to help." Morgan broke the awkward silence and the princess glanced at her.
"Raid?" asked.
"We will raid the dungeon early tomorrow morning." Zhulong shrugged. "too painful."
Anne elbowed him. "Don't worry, Tai, the church and local college representatives have our backs," the witch assured the shopkeeper. He was worried, but not for the reasons she thought.
"That's a good idea, Morgan," the princess said, turning to the two adventurers present. "Everyone, take what you want for the sake of those who give us strength!"
The people praised the king for his generosity, and the necromancers applauded too. He did notice that this Morgan said "us" and the princess didn't object. The girl clearly had an influence on her alleged mistress.
This could be an exploitable weakness.
"What is this?" Morgan asked, seeing the half-written words on the counter.
"This is a new product designed for customers," Tai said half-seriously. "Annie knows how much I love tinkering with things."
"It looks like an alchemical crucible," Morgan said. "I've seen similar designs in Calvert's lab."
Calvert? The kingdom's grand wizard and headmaster of the academy? "It's really an alchemical bauble," the necromancer admitted. "Although it's just a prototype. Now, it only exists in my imagination."
"Oh, what can it do?" Annie asked curiously. "What's its name?"
"It's a secret."
Now, he’s chosen The Slime Factory. As for what it does...well, they'll see for themselves soon enough.
