#143 Recruiting Talent (3)
[Earth… How very interesting.]
A low voice reverberated with a sinister chill, as if freezing space itself.
But it was merely a sound produced by the vibration of mana, not a physical voice, making it impossible to discern any emotion contained within.
‘Hoo… Damn it, how did I end up in such a dogshit situation…? Why did things turn out like this?’
Andrew Weaver wore a servile smile on the outside and repeatedly bowed at the waist, but inside, he spewed all manner of curses.
From the sudden reality he now confronted, to the change in attitude of Siana—who had been his patron until now—to his worries about what lay ahead, his head felt like it was about to burst.
‘Still, looking at the situation, fortunately, it seems he won’t kill me. …As long as I don’t die, that’s enough. As long as I don’t die.’
Unfortunately, he had spent quite a few points recently reinforcing his unique skill, so he couldn’t ‘Return’ to Earth and flee immediately.
But how had he gathered karma until now?
By attaching himself to the Oath of Reversed Heaven and simply obtaining the information they needed, hadn’t he safely secured a decent amount of points?
‘Yeah, in a way, this might actually be a good thing. If the Undead King has begun to move, siding with him is more advantageous than staying with the Oath of Reversed Heaven.’
There were those who viewed the situation optimistically since the full-scale invasion hadn’t begun yet.
In truth, those with even a little insight evaluated the current Undead King as the worst threat in history.
‘Especially that mobility and concealment—they’re fatal to large, bulky forces.’
No barrier could stop his movements, and no tracking could detect his location.
With just those two abilities, the game was already over.
Because the existing anti-Undead King strategy—"tie down the undead army with allied forces and deploy a suicide squad to settle the score"—was fundamentally blocked at its source.
‘That’s right! Even the Oath of Reversed Heaven is currently tiptoeing around the Undead King’s mood, so I might as well join him entirely at this point. Then the points will be even sweeter, won’t they?’
Seeing Siana subtly flattering him, he felt he could sufficiently prove his usefulness through her.
And if he gathered enough karma points that way…
Saaa—
Then, suddenly feeling an intensifying chill, Andrew shivered involuntarily and cautiously raised his head to survey what lay ahead.
And.
‘Ugh! Shit, you scared me!’
Before he knew it, the Undead King had approached right in front of him, scanning him up and down, and their eyes met directly.
His eyes snapped shut involuntarily, and his head bowed deeply again.
Because the mask was broken, the grotesque skull laid bare and the fiercely burning gaze hammered themselves intensely into his mind.
He had only looked straight at it for a brief moment, yet his heart pounded like mad.
[Hmm.]
No, even now, with him so close, the terror rampaging through his mind made it hard to keep his sanity.
Without the mental strength he had grown by reinforcing his unique skill and the support of 「Clear Mirror Still Water」, he might have fainted on the spot.
And this experience played a part in hardening his resolve.
‘…Right. I’ve gathered enough karma by now, so as soon as my Return points pile up, I need to bolt straight back to Earth.’
His opponent was the Undead King, virtually an incarnation of death.
Just because he had survived for now didn’t guarantee his safety forever.
Better to escape immediately when the chance came than to regret it uselessly later.
Thud.
—"Huhk?"
But then, a hand wearing a black leather glove grasped the crown of his head.
The hardness and chilling sensation felt even through the glove amplified his apprehension in an instant, but—
[Aah
—do not worry. I have no intention of killing you.]
Hans continued speaking with an attitude that suggested it was no big deal.
[It is merely a light restriction. If you were to foolishly run away, it would be troublesome for the both of us, no? Kekekek.]
"Ohoho, those are most wise words. Please, do as Your Majesty wishes."
Siana fluttering about at his side was quite irritating, but Andrew presently had no leeway to think of other things.
"Y-Your Majesty, the Undead King? Mr. Hans? K-kuh…!"
[I am not Hans.]
In an instant, black mana burrowed into his mind.
[My name is Hannibal Strauss.]
Though that voice should have been devoid of emotion, he somehow felt irritation laced within it—
In the end, the Awakened from Earth, ‘Andrew Weaver,’ found himself subordinated to the Undead King.
And time passed.
Around the time Hans—who had peacefully recruited talent through a home visit—was in the middle of interviewing them.
Swoosh—
From their side, a woman’s figure formed as if hazy smoke were gathering, revealing herself.
[Your Majesty… as you commanded… the purge is nearing completion…]
The raids, carried out primarily against great noble houses and back-alley underground organizations, proceeded smoothly under Olivia’s command.
At first, it had been to briefly draw attention, but since they had started, making an example of them wasn’t a bad idea either.
‘How is it that the empire said to possess the greatest national power had corruption beyond imagination? Though maybe my standards as a modern person are too strict…’
In any case, the very act of selecting targets was merely for his own satisfaction.
Because just because he had overcome it now didn’t mean the obsessive compulsion that had been traumatic just vanished.
‘I never once thought I was good, not when I’m deceiving the entire continent.’
This was nothing more than a selfish standard to protect his own mind, not for the sake of others.
…While Hans was briefly lost in thought, the eyes of Olivia and Siana—who had come to report—met.
"Ah, hello? Olivia? It’s been a while?"
[Siana…]
At their reunion after three hundred years, they exchanged pleasant greetings.
Having held similar ranks and duties even in the former Undead Army, the two were unusually close compared to others.
[It is impressive you still live…? I had expected you had finally died…]
"Oh my, I’m glad to see you too? But do you ever wash that outfit? It seems like you’re always wearing the same thing whenever I see you."
The two women conversed amiably with gentle smiles, but unfortunately, their conversation could not continue long.
[Then we shall take our leave for now. Siana, you take care of the situation here and rendezvous with us later. There is still much I wish to ask you.]
"I shall obey your command."
At Hans’s words, Siana bowed politely at the waist and answered.
He had given her a reprieve because he might need her status later, but now that she was already subordinated, there was nowhere to run.
Of course, the same was true for Andrew.
And by the time she straightened her bowed waist, Hans and Olivia had already vanished from that spot.
The Undead King’s barrier that had enveloped the mansion had also evaporated without a trace.
Their departure was as abrupt as their arrival.
"……"
"……"
But Siana and Andrew couldn’t speak for a while.
If they rashly opened their mouths, it might go straight to the Undead King’s ears.
Murmur murmur—
That silence only broke when those who had fainted inside the mansion began waking up one by one, and the entire city bustled to settle the chaos.
"…Noona, I’m disappointed. To think you sold me out without hesitation."
"Ha, Andrew? If you wanted to die early, you should have said so from the start?"
Andrew, who had voiced his complaint, clamped his mouth shut at her sharper-than-expected reaction and gauged her mood.
Siana brushed her face nervously and let out a deep sigh, then shuffled her feet to deal with the situation inside the mansion.
"Looks like I’ve suddenly had to change flags. I never imagined things would turn out like this."
As she began grumbling quietly, he quietly followed behind her, sympathizing.
His tone remained cautious, as if still watching his surroundings.
"But it couldn’t be helped, right? We don’t know how we were found out, but once we caught his eye, there was no way for us to escape."
In truth, he had received a restriction, but still believing in ‘Return,’ he merely thought to endure for a short while.
‘I can just slip back to Earth later. If I go to a completely different dimension, what can he do?’
Surely that subordination wouldn’t reach across dimensions.
Unless the Undead King crossed dimensions to chase him, Andrew had never heard of beings from other dimensions appearing on Earth before coming to Auterika.
"Still, I do like that this generation’s Undead King is handsome. I am rather particular about faces."
"…What?"
Andrew, who had been quietly following her, blinked and tilted his head.
Wondering if he had heard wrong.
"Honestly, the previous Undead King was a bit… far from what you’d call handsome. Think about it, Andrew. Surrounded by undead that reek, with nothing pleasant to look at, how could I be motivated?"
"Uh… y-yeah?"
"In that regard, welfare within this unit isn’t bad. Of course, the best thing about the army is skipping out whenever you can."
As consecutive statements that were hard to react to came out, he cautiously opened his mouth at a pause in her speech.
"Uh, but noona. By handsome, you mean that… the Undead King Hans, no, Hannibal? …Sir, right?"
"Of course? Who else would I be talking about… Ah! Right, you were human."
She glanced at Andrew and sighed, shaking her head as if pitying him.
"To think you can’t recognize that perfect cranium, those charismatic eyes and gaze, that jawline overflowing with ruggedness. Human aesthetic sense is truly uncivilized. Well, that’s also why you’re easy to handle."
The succubus Siana, having spoken thus, gently brushed back her pink hair and smiled seductively.
In truth, her appearance itself was the very culmination of human aesthetics, but wasn’t it instinct to be drawn to what one lacked?
"Hoo, anyway! Andrew, you go back to your room and pack your things. The situation will probably change a lot from now on, so prepare yourself mentally."
"Uh, yes… Understood."
To that, Andrew could only let out empty words.
And so, the storm-like night that brought great change upon them was passing.
***
"Hmph! This is quite curious. The number of monsters has noticeably decreased these past few days?"
At the northernmost tip of the Tulke Kingdom, the Steel Fortress.
Halli, dressed as always in attire showing off his physique, snorted and looked around.
What surrounded him was a mountain of corpses and sea of blood from accumulated monsters, but the number he had felled this time was markedly fewer compared to a few days ago.
"Could this also be related to the Rohan Principality incident?"
Crunch.
—Crunch!
He frowned as he repeatedly put the magic stone in his hand into his mouth and chewed it.
If it wasn’t simply a collapse of the border defense due to internal problems, but they had artificially directed the monsters, wasn’t that a far more serious issue?
‘Tch, so Siana in the empire had nothing to do with that incident.’
On top of that, he had tried using the information she knew to track down the ringleader of the Rohan incident, the so-called ‘Revolutionary,’ but… of course, things didn’t resolve so easily.
"As expected, lives up to the reputation."
"Is that the famous dragonkin Halli? I thought the rumors were exaggerated…"
Thus, when Halli entered the fortress interior with an uneasy expression, a now-familiar reaction greeted him.
From those who already knew him to those seeing him for the first time, gazes filled with awe and wariness poured over him.
"You’re here, hyungnim!"
"Thanks for your hard work today, hyungnim!"
The mercenaries bowing their heads respectfully every time he passed was also a familiar sight now.
…Though no matter how he looked at it, they appeared much older than him.
‘My earth age is still twenty, and I’ve only lived in Auterika for about two years now…’
But Halli’s appearance, refined repeatedly to become an excellent barbarian warrior, was already worthy of being called hyungnim, so he couldn’t bring himself to argue.
He merely waved his hand at them.
And when he entered his quarters and came out after showering, a message had arrived before Halli.
And what a special message it was, having been sent from the Tarak Temple and relayed through the Mercenary Guild and Count Aonia.
‘Finally come, has it?’
Of course, he already knew very well what it contained even before checking.
And there was good reason for that—
It was an invitation for Halli, who had been selected as a candidate for the ‘Hero Party’.
to the Great Temple of Roselia in the Holy Land.