The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time

CH 135

Default Dyslexic Roboto Lora

r’s death, the Five-colored Blades, were led by the S-class adventurer Heinz who had undoubtedly solidified his position as a hero in the Orbaume Kingdom by now.
The Trial of Zakkart was an extremely high-difficulty Dungeon that had been challenged by them, resulting in the loss of a party member and forcing them to retreat.

Vandalieu wasn’t particularly interested in the act of clearing the Dungeon itself.
He wasn’t, but… what if the corpse of Heinz’s party member was still left inside? Vandalieu didn’t care if it was only the skull; if he could get his hands on that, repair it, put a soul in it to turn it into an Undead and bring it before Heinz, what kind of expression would Heinz make?

Wouldn’t this be at least some small revenge against those three who were difficult to lay a hand on due to their positions in society as righteous people, despite having captured Darcia and sold her to a religious fanatic for loose change?

There would be nothing better than for them to become enraged and attack Vandalieu in their anger.
That would allow him to kill them in self-defense.

Of course, this would only happen after Vandalieu was properly registered as an adventurer with his Undead registered as familiars, acquired a proper social status, and most importantly, after he acquired the strength he needed to turn the tables on Heinz and his companions.

“… When will the Trial of Zakkart appear?” Vandalieu asked.

“I do not know that much.
It is certain that it appears once every year, but the month it appears changes every year,” said Queen Donaneris.
“However, it should not have appeared yet this year.
If it had, the Dark Elf nation would have sent messengers to every other nation… though they might not be in the state to do that now.”

“I see.
Let us try challenging it after defeating Bugitas,” said Vandalieu.

He couldn’t prioritize his harassment of Heinz over the war when he didn’t know when he would execute the harassment or whether the corpse he needed for it was still there.
The trial would come later.

But hearing Vandalieu declare that he would challenge the Trial of Zakkart, Queen Donaneris, Kurnelia and even Budarion looked at him as if they were looking at a champion.

Well, it was a Dungeon that had repelled even Heinz’s party, who had been A-class adventurers at the time, so perhaps even attempting to clear the Dungeon was worthy of respect.

“M-my word.
So, you intend to challenge Zakkart, Shrine-Maiden-dono,” said Myuze, shuddering.

“Perhaps I have been saved by an unimaginably great person… Queen! No, Mother! Once the fight with Bugitas and his ilk ends, I wish to offer my blade and my life to Shrine-Maiden-dono! Please allow me to do this!” Gizania spoke these outrageous words with flushed cheeks.

“Gizania, I do not mind if you change occupations, but please treat your life with care,” said Vandalieu.

“Alriiight! Let’s go, kid! A Dungeon that nobody’s cleared before, this is getting my blood boiling!” Borkus shouted.

“Borkus, calm down.
We’ll be going after defeating Bugitas,” Vandalieu told him.

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“Now then, I would like to decide the conditions for providing our reinforcements!” shouted the loud voice of Kurt, who was once the commander of a tower, subduing the others who had started becoming noisy.

Once he had confirmed that all attention was on him, he began reciting the conditions for joining the war that had been decided at a meeting with Chezare and the others.

“First, those under the command of the Eclipse King Vandalieu must be treated as allies and not harmed, no matter who or what they may be.
Next, everything that is captured by our army as a result of battle, even corpses, we will gain ownership of.
I wish for these conditions to be acknowledged.”

Queen Donaneris and Bakota had put themselves on guard as they listened to these two conditions; now, they looked puzzled.

“… No, are these conditions not to be expected?” said Bakota.

It was common sense to treat reinforcements as allies and not cause them any harm.
The second condition, the acknowledgement of possession of all captured items including corpses, was not a common condition used in the Amid Empire or Orbaume Kingdom, but it seemed that it was ordinary in the southern region of the continent.

“If you are saying that you wish to take the materials and food from the corpses of Bugitas’s Noble Orc subordinates once they are defeated, I care not.
That is the right of the victor.
Of course, that applies for Bugitas himself as well,” Prince Budarion assured Kurt.
“Our empire does not allow Noble Orcs and Orcs to eat the flesh of their brethren, but we utilize materials from the dead to create goods as a funeral service, and the corpses of criminals are fed to the people as a punishment to them.
Bugitas is my younger brother who shares my blood, but you do not need to concern yourself about that.
However, if you capture anything that is important to the empire, it would be much appreciated if you allowed negotiations.”

It didn’t seem that anyone in the queen’s chamber felt any feelings of disgust or revulsion, not even Prince Budarion, so it seemed that this condition really was common sense.

It was equivalent to Lizardmen taking materials from the corpses of their brethren and using them to create leather armor; it seemed that for monsters, creating arms and such from deceased individuals was equivalent to a funeral service.

“Of course, we will respond to negotiations.
But what is important is the first condition.
If you agree to these conditions, then I will try and restore the heavily wounded to their original, healthy states, including Prince Budarion,” said Vandalieu.

A different commotion to when he had declared that he would challenge the Trial of Zakkart spread across the queen’s chamber.

“My eye and arm, can they be healed?! I had hardened my resolve to at least land one blow back on Budarion, even with only one eye and one arm, but if you can restore me to normal, I will definitely put a stop to his violence!” Prince Budarion exclaimed.

“Prince, please wait,” said Bakota.
“Shrine-Maiden-dono, perhaps due to the Death Scythe wielded by Bugitas, some kind of magic or even Ravovifard’s divine protection, it took the combined effort of numerous mages, including myself, just to stop the bleeding of Prince Budarion’s wounds, never mind closing them.
Can you really heal them?”

It seemed that this commotion was due to the fact that Prince Budarion’s wounds had not been closed despite the presence of exceptional mages like Bakota.

Vandalieu and his companions had heard in advance from Gizania that the prince was completely unable to fight due to the heavy wounds he had sustained.
However, it seemed that they were wondering why there was a faint smell of blood still coming from his damaged body parts, despite several days having passed.

It was likely a curse, special poison or even a unique skill that inhibited the effects of healing magic and Potions.

“Can you do something like that, Shrine-Maiden-dono? In my case, I had legs that had been cut off, but Prince Budarion is missing an arm and an eye,” said Gizania, who had cooperated with Myuze to barely manage to stop Princess Kurnelia from shouting, “We’ll accept anything!”

“I think I can.
However, first, I will need the conditions to be accepted.
If everyone acknowledges my Undead, then let us go out right now to gather the things I will need for the treatment,” said Vandalieu.

As he finished speaking, Bone Man and Borkus removed their helmets and Princess Levia and the other Ghosts revealed themselves.

The Noble Orc Mage Buburin had a sharp glint in his eye as he directed the construction of a temporary fort, ensuring that none of the soldiers were slacking off.

“Bukukukuh.”

However, it could not be said that his attitude towards his work was attentive.
The reason for this was because he was already certain that this war had been won by Prince Bugitas… the newly-crowned Emperor Bugitas.

Coup d’états had already been successful in the High Goblin and High Kobold nations, conducted by those who had sworn loyalty to Emperor Bugitas, and these nations were now under control.

The Majin nation and Kijin nation were powerful enemies, but due to Ravovifard’s divine work, they would be held up for a while.

TLN: Majin have been mentioned before; the kanji translates to something like “demon/magic person.” Kijin is a new one, and it is something like “devil person.” I’m just keeping these in their Japanese pronunciations, since there’s not really a way to properly translate these, especially since they haven’t been described yet.

Prince Bugitas would use this opening to overrun the other nations and conquer Zanalpadna, where the loser Budarion was being sheltered.

“And once we suppress this land, none will stand in our way… bukukuh,” Buburin snorted, letting out a laugh that was rather vulgar considering that he was a member of a race containing the word ‘noble.’

“Buburin-dono, your words are rather loud for someone who is talking to himself,” said a Noble Orc General, a commander of the same rank as Buburin.

This temporary fort was located between the empire and Zanalpadna; it was a base for conquering Zanalpadna.
Because of this, enough military strength had been positioned here to repel wild monster attacks and hold out for some time if Zanalpadna were to attack it.

Buburin and the Noble Orc General were Rank 8.
There were a few other Rank 7 and ten Rank 6 Noble Orcs.
There were five High Goblins and five High Kobolds.
Thirty Orcs serving as soldiers and laborers.

And though they would not be used to fight, there were fifty slaves that could even be used as emergency rations.

“And you are speaking to yourself in human words.
The slaves will hear you,” the Noble Orc General said.

“I’m letting them hear me, of course.
To make sure that they don’t have any foolish hopes,” Buburin said.
“You slaves, if you value the lives of your wives and daughters, don’t let your hands rest!” he shouted at the human and Beast-person men who had once been citizens of the empire, striking the back of the nearest slave with the staff in his hand.