Chapter 15 - I Appeared in Newspaper

Chapter 15 : I Appeared in Newspaper

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===3rd Person PoV, The Misunderstanding of A Certain Necromancer===

「Corpses of those who died in fear… Those who sobbed as the life drained from their eyes… Those who cursed the world and those who led them astray… Those who despaired at the inability to turn back time… And those who swore vengeance yet could never achieve it… Yup, it’s not that hard to distinguish them by their expressions after all.」

The silver-haired youth heaved a sigh as he muttered those words while looking at the faces of the corpses. The look of awe on his face was as if he were looking at a piece of art.

He was a tall and lean man with a handsome face, so handsome that it felt like he was a transcendent beauty.

That was why the scene gave an impression of beauty, even though, in truth, it was a disgusting scene of him appreciating mangled corpses..

That youth’s name was Jean Diego.

He was the necromancer who loved corpses, the atrocious criminal who was hunted by many kingdoms.

Not only did he defile the dead by resurrecting their corpses, he also massacred so many human lives.

Although the reported number of his victims had long since surpassed one hundred, the actual number was far more than that.

Jean, the very man himself, had long since forgotten how many people he killed.

「~?!」

Jean’s eyes suddenly opened wide when he was enjoying his hobby.

And then, his lips began to tremble.

「Is something wrong, Jean-sama?」

「Master?」

「A-Are you okay? Are you uncomfortable in any way?!」

The three different voices who called out to Jean with worried voices were the best “Masterpieces” amongst the countless undead he created.

They were called the “Nine Death Generals,” and every one of them was a great hero who left their name in history when they were still alive.

And just like their title suggested, there were nine of such undead.

「Sou… of the Nine Death Generals… is dead.」

Jean went as far as visiting the island country in the far east, and there, he resurrected Sou, the famous warrior of that country.

Although a great distance separated them, Jean could sense that Sou’s soul had vanished.

「AAAAAH! WHY?! TELL ME WHYYYYYYY?!」

Jean raised a sorrowful wail.

He cried in sorrow.

「SOU! HUGGING YOUR BODY ASIDE, I COULDN’T EVEN MEET WITH YOU AGAIN! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!」

「「「JEAN-SAMA.」」」

「UWAAAAAAAA!」

Jean continued to bawl like a child for a while after that.

And then…

「Uhm, I feel refreshed no~w♪」

He laughed as if nothing had happened.

Jean spoke with an indifferent tone, like his past sobs were a part of their imagination.

「Well, there’s nothing I can do about someone who has disappeared. Moreover, he was the weakest of the Nine Death Generals, after all. I’ll find an even better replacement next time.」

That was how easily Jean dismissed his undead subordinates.

「But still, the power this great one granted him was… infinite regeneration, right?」

Jean shook his head.

「Well, that would only happen if his spiritual body still existed. Since he didn’t regenerate, Sou’s spirit body must’ve been annihilated.」

「I-is such a thing… possible?」

「It should be almost… impossible. As if those low-lifes could break my supreme necromancy arts.」

Whether it was by annihilating a spiritual body or destroying the core of Jean’s powerful necromancy, neither were simple matters.

Even then, Sou was a master of Eastern swordsmanship.

Ambushing him was next to impossible as he had the ability to detect enemies.

On top of that, he could use his “Ground Shrink” to close the distance between himself and the opponent in less than a second. Before they could fight back, he would release a slash that was impossible to dodge.

That was why gaining the upper hand against him in frontal combat wasn’t a simple matter.

「Could it be that he lost against Melt Religion’s Holy Knights? It seems their chosen elite Holy Knights, who were dispatched to subjugate me, are closing in on me.」

Jean made such a guess.

Although he had been ambushed a few times by Melt Religion’s Holy Knights so far, he managed to turn the tables against his opponents on every occasion.

However, it seemed things would get serious from now on.

「Even though he was the weakest, it doesn’t change the fact that those Holy Knights defeated one of my best undead. But the rest won’t be that easy, you know? In addition, I still have THAT…」

Jean laughed in glee, even though he was being hunted down by the largest religious organization.

「Hahaha, amusing. A confrontation between the Holy Knight with their devout faith against my undeads, whose very existences betray the law of God… Just imagining their faith collapsing is enough to send shivers down my spine!」

… Even Jean himself didn’t consider the possibility—

The fact that one of his masterpieces wasn’t killed by the religious organization but by a certain undead.

◇　◇　◇

===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===

「As I thought… he’s not recovering, huh.」

I had observed the pile of ashes for more than two hours after I burnt him to a crisp, but he didn’t resurrect at all.

I took extra caution in doing this since I knew that I couldn’t leave that dangerous undead to his own devices, but… Could it be that it was alright now?

「After all that boasting about his recovery ability… Pfft.」

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I recalled the face of that long-haired undead when he made such a bold declaration.

「Well then, I better leave this place soon… But what should I do about this?」

I looked at the pile of corpses in the basement.

Even though they were beyond saving, I couldn’t just leave those pitiful souls as they were.

「But… Won’t I become the suspect if I bring them out? It’s basically impossible to solve the misunderstanding once they realize that I’m an undead.」

Tsk, even though I finally got my hand on a set of nice clothes.

Maybe I need to walk around the city to test whether I look suspicious or not.

「… Please forgive me.」

I apologized to the pile of corpses and left them as they were in that basement.

The woman who escaped a while ago would hopefully alert a patrolling soldier, which would lead to the revelation of this place.

It was already dawn by the time I left the basement.

I was strolling along the quiet streets of the city while enjoying the cool air of the dawn…

「… People…」

A middle-aged man, who seemed to be on a morning stroll, was walking in my direction.

It was okay.

I was wearing proper attire now.

I also wore a hat; there was no way he would recognize me as an undead.

In the first place, no one would suspect that an undead—a species notoriously weak to sunlight—would take a morning stroll.

The middle-aged man passed by, releasing my tension.

「…?」

Although he looked at me with a puzzled look on his face for a moment, he eventually continued on without saying anything.

Great, I DID IT!

I unintentionally clenched my fisst, making a guts pose.

Now I was convinced that I could take my time strolling the city with this attire.

The city became more and more lively as the sun rose in the sky from the east.

The pedestrian traffic was also becoming more and more lively.

And I too walked amongst these people with a puffed chest, proud of my achievement.

I had been passing by many people since a while ago, and yet none of them stopped to even take a look at me.

I was completely swallowed inside the sea of humans, all of them none the wiser of my true nature.

Could it be that it was safe for me to take off this hat?

There was no problem with my white hair, since the color wasn’t that rare, and even my red eyes might be not too conspicuous during the day.

That moment, when I placed my hand on my hat, preparing myself to take it off…

BUUUON!

I heard a heavy yet low sound coming from behind.

The thing I saw when I turned around to take a look was a carriage-like thing with a roof.

「It’s… moving?」

I mean, it wasn’t pulled by a horse or cow.

And yet, it was slowly moving in my direction.

「Amazing…」

Pu~n!!

Hey, was it barking at me just now?

It then stopped right in front of me while letting out a loud sound that pierced my eardrum.

A plump man got out of that carriage while yelling at me.

「THAT BLO*KE OVER THERE, YOU’RE BLOCKING THE WAY! STEP ASIDE!」

「Ah… ry…」

It seemed I got in the way of his carriage.

I stepped aside in a hurry.

That moment, the eyes of that plump man opened wide when he saw my face.

「Pure… white hair and red eyes…」

Oh cr*ap, he blew my cover!

But still, it was within my calculation.

He shouldn’t be able to identify me as an undead since my attire was different from before.

「C-Could it be the one from the newspaper… was real?」

Uhm? What were those “new”-paper thingy?

I flashed a smile, trying to appear harmless to humans and animals while pondering about that mysterious paper-thing.

Smile~

「I-Is that the ominous smile that was mentioned in the newspaper?!!」

Suddenly, that plump man pointed something at me.

It was a mysterious L-shaped object around the size of an adult fist.

PAAN!

In the next moment, a pebble-like item struck my forehead, accompanied by a loud, explosive sound.