Episode 15
Rattle, rattle...
It seemed the wicked farm owner had taken office as the new master of the dungeon.
"What are you doing? Let's hurry it up, okay?"
Rattle!
Even though the farm owner was just speaking normally, a chilling intimidation flowed out.
For some reason, he felt even scarier than the evil demon Ardiment.
It stimulated the slave mentality carved into their bones by fear. The skeleton soldiers—no, the skeleton serfs—began to move busily.
It was grueling labor no different from before.
After clearing the wasteland from the eastern horizon to the western horizon, they had to find a water vein and dig a massive well.
With no rest from the endless shoveling and pickaxing, their spine bones felt like they would shatter.
'Your Highness, don't overdo it! We'll handle this kind of thing!'
'N-no. I'm fine...'
"You there. Don't try to be clever and work properly."
With just a low reproach, the skeleton serfs startled as if struck by a whip.
The wicked farm owner mixed soil for seedling cultivation and casually said.
"Are the adventurers you killed only one or two? Work hard with a mindset of atonement."
At those words, skeleton serf Number 1004 gripped his pickaxe.
He was right. Though it was something that happened because they became Ardiment's vassals against their will, it was true that they had stained these white hands with the blood of adventurers.
'Indeed, greeting rest without atonement is a luxury.'
His pickaxe dug down the well quickly.
Following skeleton serf 1004's example, his subordinates and the other three surviving skeletons also worked hard at their labor.
After a long time passed, the well was completed.
"Good work. Now finally, dig seven spots here. We need to make graves."
Rattle?
Wondering if there were bodies to bury, they looked puzzled, but the farm owner casually said.
"You guys rest in graves, right? There are seven of you, so we need to make that many."
'Is that... really true?'
The skeleton serfs brightened up.
Until now, the population was so dense that five of them slept huddled together in one grave, but the wicked farm owner was guaranteeing a pleasant living environment!
There's an effect where a tyrant performing good governance appears even kinder.
When they expressed their emotion with intense rattling, it wasn't over yet.
"If you keep working hard, I'll set up tombstones for you and give you flowers sometimes. You were all human once, weren't you?"
'......!'
For a moment, the skeleton serfs forgot to rattle.
Tombstones with their names written on them. That was the only wish they had after becoming skeletons.
Number 1004's bone-only hand brushed over his skull.
Somehow, it felt as if tears were flowing from the empty eye sockets.
✠
Three weeks passed.
During that time, the gods of the Possession Management Bureau barely appeared. They had mentioned a system update coming soon, and it seemed they were busy because of that.
It had been about a month and a half since the possession. I was still faithfully following the tutorial, living a daily life of absorbing experience points.
According to my plan to have not only ability but also wealth, I was investing especially intensively in alchemy.
Alchemy reached level 7, and I had learned 'Alchemy Efficacy Greatly Increased Lv.4 (Passive)'.
Dad checked the effect of the healing potion I made and looked quite surprised.
"How can this be. It's exactly the same as the healing potion I made when I was ten!"
I was surprised by those words too.
I was receiving the system's help including the blessing of ultra-fast growth, but Dad had achieved results with pure talent, hadn't he?
Come to think of it, Dad was from the Golden Ivory Tower, where only genius alchemists gathered.
If I were to gauge Dad's current ability by level, I guessed it would far exceed level 20.
Drip!
A drop of water fell into the flask containing the potion.
Looking back, Dad was suddenly reddening his eyes.
"D-dad? Why are you suddenly crying?"
Was my potion that moving?
...Of course, it didn't seem to be that much.
"I'm sorry, child. For your talent to bloom, you need to go to the Golden Ivory Tower... but Dad..."
"Ah..."
Dad has a sad past.
Dad was a promising talent at the Golden Ivory Tower, but fell out of favor with an elder alchemist and was unfairly expelled.
That elder alchemist was also Dad's master, but becoming master and disciple with him was a bitter karma from the start.
Recognizing Dad's brilliant talent, he had taken Dad as his disciple to exploit his research results.
It could be called the longstanding evil of the apprenticeship system.
The shameless criminal acts of that master were caught by another elder alchemist who considered him a rival.
However, what awaited at the end of the incident was not sweet vindication but a massive bitter pill.
The quick-witted master framed Dad with a major false charge and permanently expelled him from the tower.
A powerless young commoner alchemist with no backing was a truly convenient scapegoat to cover up the truth.
'Sob, it seems kind and innocent people really have no choice but to swallow bitter pills.'
It's always the case that incompetent people in any industry are good at playing politics, and the shameless master was like that too.
While he was acting as the entrenched boss, our Rodeline family's entry into the Golden Ivory Tower had to be considered completely blocked.
"Because of Dad... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, child."
With guilt over becoming an obstacle to his daughter's future, Dad sobbed even more. I placed my small hand on Dad's large hand.
"Dad, it's okay. Just learning from you is enough for me."
And there's the system's help too.
I don't have the intention or time to dig deep into alchemy alone.
"So don't feel upset. I had no interest in a place like the Golden Ivory Tower anyway. I'd have to be separated from Dad and Brother, so why would I go there?"
"Child...!"
Dad burst into tears and hugged me.
No, why is he crying when I tried to comfort him?
While I fidgeted awkwardly at being hugged, Dad calmed down.
"Dad will pass on alchemy to you as much as he can."
"Thank you. Then shall we start the lesson right away?"
"Yes, our child is so diligent. Let's keep working hard. At this rate, you'll soon reach the level of creating your own recipes."
"Yes!"
Until this time, I had no particular thoughts, as my plan was just to roughly sell effective mass-produced potions to make money.
I had no way to predict that this ability would create synergy with other fields I had learned.
✠
After finishing the alchemy lesson, I decided to look around the farmified dungeon with Bianca.
Dungeon time often flowed faster than real time.
The dungeon I conquered was the same, with a ratio of real time to dungeon time of 1 to 3.
Therefore, at the current point where 3 weeks had passed since clearing the fields and planting seedlings, 9 weeks had passed in the dungeon.
As much time as two full months and more had flowed, the dungeon farm had changed a lot.
"It's gotten prettier than when we came before."
Just as Bianca said.
The expansive fields were neatly plowed in straight lines, and various medicinal herbs showed off their freshness.
Around the fields, a stream connected from the reservoir flowed gently, and on one side, there was a crude but fairly well-made pergola and bench.
The seven graves also had pretty, plump mounds rising up, and the surroundings were neatly finished with stone materials from unknown sources. It was all the skeletons' handiwork.
The skeletons seemed to feel quite an attachment to the farmified dungeon.
They worked hard at labor, caring for the medicinal herbs, and whenever new leaves sprouted and flowers bloomed, they all gathered nearby and clicked their jaw joints.
They also tended to the landscaping in their spare moments, paying special attention to the graves.
Even now, some were planting flowering grass on the mounds and decorating with carved stones, looking satisfied.
"Kids, I'm here."
Startled!
The skeletons all stopped working at once and looked at me and Bianca.
They quickly ran over, stood in a line, and replaced their greeting with intense bone friction sounds.
Thanks to the passive effect of 'Infamy Resounding Through the Undead World,' discipline was well established.
"You'll wear down your teeth. Stop it."
Rattle!
Bianca and I went to the shabby wooden pergola and sat facing each other.
Then, among the skeletons, the one with the roundest and prettiest skull served tea brewed from medicinal herb leaves.
The skeleton watched Bianca intently as she elegantly lifted the teacup and took sips.
When Bianca glanced back at it, its jaw moved slightly.
Rattle...?
"Is it asking if it's delicious?"
Rattle.
"Yeah. It's excellent."
I don't know why, but Bianca communicated well with the skeletons.
A privilege for the possessed