I Became The Academy Necromancer
Chapter 310: The Land Of Eternal Rest

“Huh?”

Hero.

To Dark Mage Becklin, this was probably a very unfamiliar word. Therefore, he could only stare at me with a blank look on his face and didn’t show any other reaction.

“I’m sorry, but what exactly are you trying to say?”

It would be hard to explain my plans in detail, so I tried to simplify them as much as possible.

“You know that the Griffin Kingdom despises dark mages, right?”

“Yes, yesss. And thanks to you, sir, the image has improved a bit.”

I wondered if his time in prison had caused this change. The Becklin I knew was a confident man, but he seemed to be quite subdued now.

“But that is not enough. We need more dark mages who can help improve that image. And I believe you can do that.”

Becklin had already earned some favor from Serizade, an apprentice of the Archmage and the Magic Tower deputy master.

I wasn’t sure if it was because of her humanity or because of her romantic interest, but in any case, his research and magic had a foundation of usefulness.

When I nodded in response to his question, Becklin was unable to hide his skepticism and made it obvious.

“Why is that?”

He was thinking hard.

He was trying to cover up the surface reason, suspecting there was something else behind it.

And it was natural, as dark mages usually had shady backgrounds.

However, what I was doing now wasn’t for the benefit of dark mages but for the sake of the Griffin Kingdom.

“There is no need for an explanation.”

I wasn’t asking for his agreement.

It was more like a threat to force him to decide whether to act or not. If he said no, there would be no future for him.

“Then, what do I need to do?”

Having understood that clearly, Becklin continued with his next question without reacting to my blunt answer.

“It is nothing special. Just continue with what you have been doing so far.”

“…Huh?”

Becklin looked at me, unsure if he had heard me correctly. I added further.

“Later, I will send someone to bring you a flower. It is very poisonous and used as a drug in the Clark Republic.”

Frowning, Becklin raised his eyebrows. He was more expressive than I had expected.

“Are you talking about the Yellow Flower? The one cultivated in the Flowergarden in secret, the insane drug capable of destroying humans?”

“Exactly.”

“I wonder how you got your hands on that. It’s so addictive that it was even used for torture. They forced people to consume it to extract information.”

Well, I didn’t know that part.

Forcing someone to inhale drugs. I had been thinking how fortuitous I was to have destroyed the Clark Republic, but now, I reassured myself once more. It was indeed a fortunate thing to have done so.

“Even drugs can be interpreted differently depending on how they are used. Show me that you can use it to help Griffin in some way.”

“Interpreted differently?”

Becklin stood there, staring at me as if he was shocked.

He swallowed hard and asked me.

“So, you’re using me, aren’t you?”

“…”

“A Plaguebringer isn’t just someone who spreads plagues. There are other ways to use that magic as well.”

“And are you not using it in that manner already?”

“It’s just that this is the first time anyone has acknowledged it so easily.”

For the first time, it seemed like a spark of life had returned to Becklin’s sharp gaze.

Appearing to be deep in thought, he glanced at the flasks, beakers, and staff on his desk before taking a deep breath.

“Understood. I’ll prepare myself to be used by you.”

“And one more thing.”

Whether he had realized something or just opened his heart didn’t really matter to me.

He was simply a talent I happened to stumble upon by chance. That was it. While I did feel sorry for him, what came next was far more important.

“Do you know where Dante’s dark mages are?”

***

“…”

[I didn’t expect dark mages to live so modestly?]

A small cabin located on a mountain not too far from Graypond—As Stella said, it was a rather humble and modest place.

Seeing a small vegetable garden nearby, I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of disconnect.

As I nudged the slightly open door with my staff, the loud creak of the old door echoed as I stepped inside cautiously.

The man inside the cabin seemed to have been expecting my arrival and was fully prepared.

“I heard that you’ve returned. Are you here to clean up the remnants, Soul Whisperer?”

His sturdy build, short-cropped hair, and neatly trimmed beard were more suited for a soldier than a dark mage.

He was Dante’s vice-commander and Luaneth’s close friend, the Blood Mage, Pelestan.

“That staff…”

Pelestan’s eyebrows twitched, and he clenched his fists as he noticed the Heralhazard Staff in my hand.

And from the glass jars filled with blood lined neatly on the desk beside him, it suggested that he was ready for a final confrontation.

“Pelestan, there is something I must ask you.”

However, I hadn’t come here with the intention to fight him. While killing him now would be no challenge, his life held no value for me.

“Something to ask? Sorry, but I don’t have conversations with my friend’s enemy.”

“In the end, I succeeded. Far more cleanly than Luaneth’s plan while also managing to protect all the souls. And if he had witnessed my success, he would have acknowledged it as well.”

“…”

Pelestan clenched his teeth so hard that his lips began to bleed. Even such minor actions required caution when dealing with a blood mage like him.

“You’re not wrong. That guy would have probably been delighted by your success. Or, I don’t know, perhaps he is already rejoicing in the Land of Eternal Rest you created.”

“I have something to say regarding that.”

“I…”

Thud.

Pelestan stepped forward with a heavy foot, his eyes stained with blood and seething hatred.

“I didn’t fight for some noble, grand cause like saving the world from destruction—I only fought for my friend!”

Splat!

Blood surged forth from the glass jars. And it wasn’t just coming from inside; there seemed to be pools of blood outside as well as thick streams flowed in through the windows.

The cabin, quickly flooding with blood, had clearly been prepared as Pelestan’s ideal battleground.

Boom!

However, an overwhelming amount of mana forced Pelestan to his knees. And at the same time, the blood, which had been surging with intent, spilled onto the floor and seeped through the cracks of the cabin.

“H-How…?

“Even without having to control souls, I am now strong enough to subdue someone like you.”

Pelestan was a formidable opponent, someone even Findenai had struggled against. Yet, I managed to subdue him in a single attempt without controlling any souls.

Yes, I was growing stronger at an absurd, unimaginable pace on top of that.

The problem was I didn’t understand why.

Ever since I had absorbed the souls and became the Land of Eternal Rest myself, my strength had been growing alarmingly fast, to a point where I could barely control it anymore.

Meanwhile, the opposite was happening to my body as it grew weaker.

The mana coursing through me had become an expansive ocean, crashing into my body like relentless waves.

“Listen, Pelestan.”

“Grr… Ugh!”

Pelestan could only groan under the crushing weight of my mana, but I continued.

“Luaneth Luden Griffin isn’t within me. He has disappeared elsewhere.”

I extended the staff in my hand forward.

“My guess is that he is inside this staff.”

“Luaneth is…!”

“And the important part is that my teacher was also bound to this staff.”

[Teacher!]

The Dark Spiritualist, who had remained silent all this while, straightened her back in joy. However, that wasn’t the key issue here.

“Hence, I intend to extract Luaneth from this staff and bring him to the Land of Eternal Rest.”

“…”

“In the process, he might try to influence my teacher in unforeseen ways. In fact, I can already sense some signs of it.”

I believed Luaneth, lying hidden within the staff, was the reason the Dark Spiritualist was unable to fully control herself.

“I wish to retrieve him as peacefully as possible. So please cooperate with me.”

***

I handed the staff to Pelestan and stepped outside the cabin for a moment.

Since the Dark Spiritualist was with Pelestan, I didn’t need to worry about him running away.

And no matter how far he ran, I was confident I could catch him with my current abilities,. There was no doubt—I wouldn’t lose track of him.

How amusing.

Chasing after fleeing enemies used to be a weakness of mine, but now, even that had been completely resolved.

Yet, I still couldn’t understand why I had become so strong.

These questions only continued to pile on.

“Stella.”

[Yes?]

Stella, who was standing beside me, gazing at the scenery, tilted her head.

I voiced the question that had been lingering in my mind for a long time.

“Why has the continent not perished?”

[…That’s a question kids aged 14 to 16 often ask.]

So, like middle school kids, huh?

Be it here or there, it seemed that adolescence was the same everywhere.

However, because I had just talked to Pelestan about the success of the Land of Eternal Rest, I couldn’t stop the flow of these thoughts.

“Think about it.”

[Pardon?]

“I took in the souls that were resting to save the oversaturated continent, becoming the Land of Eternal Rest where they now slumber in the process.”

[That’s true.]

“Do you think souls have weight?”

[…No, they don’t.]

Even beings like Stella and the Dark Spiritualist were proof of that.

Souls had no weight, and neither did mana.

“The oversaturation of souls—honestly, that is a pretty vague concept. Without weight or volume, what does it mean for resting souls to be oversaturated? And based on what criteria does the continent determine this number?”

[…]

Stella shut her mouth tightly. Her expression darkened as if she had begun to feel a strange unease.

“When I sent all the souls on this continent to the Land of Eternal Rest, the most pivotal element was not the mana stones but the door to the general store.”

[You didn’t want to leave the souls on the continent.]

“Yes, that is correct. So, I did not pay much attention to it. After all, I had planned to take the souls I gathered and move them to an entirely different dimension.”

Then it wouldn’t have mattered at all.

Regardless of the continent’s oversaturation criteria or the concept of counting souls, my original plan was for the souls to completely disappear from the continent.

However, a problem arose.

“I hold billions of souls within me.”

[…]

“And as the Land of Eternal Rest, I am currently standing on the continent.”

Slowly, Stella turned her body to look at me. It seemed she had just realized the implications of what I was saying.

“Does that not mean the souls are still present on the continent?”

[That means…]

“Is the continent really safe from being oversaturated with souls…?”

In other words…

“Or from me, who holds these souls within?”

Her tightly shut lips did not part any further. I simply shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my coat, lost in thought.

No answers had come yet. It might have just been a needless worry.

However, the concerns only grew deeper.

***

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