NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7
– 0 –
Hope is a powerful weapon that can overcome any adversity.
But it is also a fierce flame that can burn down the entire world.
– 1 –
“By the way, I haven’t decided on your name. Aren’t you sad?”
As I asked this question, I honestly worried that even a hint of negative emotion might arise.
I felt a bit cowardly for thinking so, but I thought it would be quite shocking if someone who always expressed only positive thoughts suddenly showed negativity.
If it were a mindless skeleton, I wouldn’t have this worry, but this one seems genuinely smart and full of emotions.
Even though we’ve only known each other for a few days, she had already become quite significant to me.
Clatter!
However, like always, she responded with nothing but positivity.
That unwavering consistency made me feel gratitude.
‘Speaking of which, names…’
Various names started to drift in and out of my mind. Names of famous goddesses like the goddess of fate (Skuld), goddess of the moon and hunting (Artemis), and goddess of war and wisdom (Athena), as well as names of various fierce warriors and superheroes.
I even thought of names of those who were originally male but became female in various media, but I didn’t want to decide hastily.
No matter what I picked, I didn’t want to make a quick decision in just ten minutes.
After all, she was the one who brought me hope when I was on the brink of despair, erasing the loneliness that might come in the future.
“Haru.”
Clatter.
Did my complicated feelings get through to her? She looked at me cautiously, and when I opened my mouth, she straightened her posture, pretending to be on guard.
How cute.
Her outer appearance is that of a skeleton, which is quite jarring, but as I watched her actions becoming more diverse, I thought her personality resembled that of a large dog.
So reliable, really.
“Can I have just one day? I want to think carefully.”
Click!
Whether she understood my thoughts or not, she simply replied with a cheerful sound.
– 2 –
Putting my decision about my first soldier’s name aside for a moment, the first thing I did was check my status window properly.
“Name – Libertus (Rita)”
That was right, my first order of business.
“Demon Lord Candidate – Necromancer”
“Rank – Apprentice”
“Attributes – Strength 10, Skill 8, Endurance 13, Mana 21, Resistance 14”
The primary information displayed below the name was fairly ordinary.
I was still a novice – an Apprentice Dungeon Lord. Dungeon Lords generally have stats that exceed those of regular adventurers or summons by more than double.
So, it wasn’t that my first soldier was an obvious irregularity, it was just that my own ability was low.
The problem lay in what came next.
“Traits – Alpha Tester, Nobility, Necromancy, Lord of Necropolis”
Unlike the traits of skeletons, the appearance of my trait window was incredibly flashy.
The reason was the rank of the traits.
In this world, items and traits are color-coded by rank, and among my current traits, ‘Alpha Tester’ was red, ‘Nobility’ was orange, and both ‘Necromancy’ and ‘Lord of Necropolis’ were green, so they clearly looked impressive at first glance.
Necromancy – Knowledge and techniques about necromancy in general.
Lord of Necropolis – Increases the highest stats of the skeleton army that follows you. This trait grows along with the growth of ‘Necromancy’.
The techniques such as the necromancy based on the ‘Necromancer’, blood magic of the ‘Vampire’, or dominion of the ‘War Chief’ grow with the growth of the Demon Lord Candidate and Dungeon Core, along with their rank.
The ‘Necromancy’ I saw most recently in modern times was red, so there was no need to be surprised that the current necromancy was green.
The Lord of Necropolis was also just as I expected.
What mattered were the other traits.
Alpha Tester – Welcome, Demon Lord Candidate! The visual interface for this system, tutorials, and growth assistance are exclusively provided for you in this world. Please enjoy the growth through the convenient and comfortable use of the system!
Yeah.
I understood that the system exists solely for me in this world. While I’m not exactly thrilled about it, I guess it does come with some benefits.
“It’s good. It really is.”
Of course, I know it’s a big advantage.
Moving based on the information that comes to mind by feeling it intuitively is different from having it visualized; it creates a significant difference in efficiency of information usage.
The most impactful aspect of that is none other than attributes and stats.
An objective assessment of power is one of the most critical aspects of strategy, and it simply means that I will have an overwhelming speed of comprehension regarding that.
And that’s probably why it’s marked red as a mythic rank.
Moreover, I can’t feel it yet, but there seems to be a ‘growth assistance system’ as well.
Nobility – Your body or dress does not get dirty, you never raise your voice, your posture is always refined, and your heart remains calm. You are always noble and always beautiful. Standing higher than anyone else, you will draw all eyes upon you.
In fact, this last part is what troubles me the most.
Amazingly, it shines in orange. It’s a legendary rank, but just by reading the description, it’s hard to tell what effects it has.
‘I can feel its effects in my body…’
I’m not that calm or gentle of a person in my previous life. In fact, I was a bit hasty and had a somewhat weak mental state.
Yet, since I came here, I haven’t really felt any significant emotional turbulence apart from the initial shocks.
I feel gently filled with a delicate sense of joy or relief, but I have never felt a sensation that violently turned my heart and brain upside down.
Even the first time I killed someone, I was only slightly shaken.
Even when I realized I had lost everything for the first time, my reaction was pretty calm when I think back on it.
So it must be the influence of this trait.
Perhaps this soft-spoken manner I’m using now is also related.
‘But why is it legendary?’
However, it’s hard to explain why this trait has gained such a high rank of legendary status based on just that.
Ultimately, it leaves me feeling like there’s something hidden that I don’t know.
Given that it’s orange, it likely isn’t a negative effect, but hidden information can disturb the objective analysis of power, so it isn’t exactly a great thing in this situation either.
“This is frustrating because it means I can’t blame anyone.”
Clatter.
“No, I’m talking about myself.”
The more troublesome fact is that this ‘Nobility’ was something I had subconsciously thought of while I was customizing my appearance.
After all, my exterior is so beautiful and cute.
Anyone who is a fan would likely add one or two settings in their mind, right?
Or not.
“I wasn’t really thinking of that as a concrete setting, so I don’t know what else is hidden…”
Yet, to bring something I only thought about in my mind and attach it to my current self, it suggests that someone was watching over me back then.
It gives me the shivers, like something is licking my back.
‘Speaking of which…’
“Attributes – Strength 10, Skill 5, Endurance 13, Mana 21, Resistance 14”
After thinking about it, it seems my attributes also grabbed part of the settings I had in mind.
A cold yet gentle dark princess.
Therefore, as a Dungeon Lord, I’m not lacking in endurance or strength, but skill is vastly lacking.
Since I have adapted to being protected and cared for.
But I wouldn’t like to find myself in such a situation. I was originally a man, after all.
“This feels bad.”
For a moment, it seemed like the message window shook, but that must have been my imagination.
“Okay, I’ve got the gist of it.”
In any case, I roughly finished understanding myself.
It’s a bit unpleasant that the skill and strength are average or low, but, after all is said and done, having extraordinarily high mana is a good thing. There’s so much I can do in this world with high mana.
For instance, like right now.
Kukuku-kung…!!
Everything from changing the layout of the dungeon.
– 3 –
After figuring out enough about myself and the dungeon’s layout, I sat down on a chair my first soldier had brought from somewhere and watched her movements.
Clatter.
Click!
It seemed she was excited to meet a junior for the first time, as she was behaving similarly to how she interacted with the skeleton named Remina.
Setting up a wooden scarecrow she brought from somewhere, she urged her junior skeleton to try using a crossbow.
Still, that junior skeleton probably had very faint intelligence and rationality, so would it comply with the orders of someone who wasn’t even a sorcerer?
Assessment!
Ah, she shot.
However, because her stance was somehow awkward compared to how it used to be, the bolt went far off the target scarecrow.
Still, this was a pretty good result.
It showed that my first soldier has a certain quality of command.
What a newfound talent.
Clatter.
Seeing the results, she seemed disappointed as she facepalmed and shook her head.
Her mannerisms were indeed very diverse.
While her appearance was neat, it still appeared quite chilling because she looked like a skeleton, but if she had looked like a human, I might have felt that vitality fully.
“… Hah.”
Being with her, I really don’t think loneliness would even come to me, even without meeting normal people.
Despite acting polite like a knight facing me, she displays an almost childlike innocence in her everyday behavior, and since the first time, she has always shown me affection.
It’s kind of amusing.
Clack.
In the midst of that, I think she noticed my laughter, as she caught me looking at her.
Then, she seemed to urge her junior skeleton to grab the crossbow again with renewed determination.
It felt like she was eager to show off a great performance to her master.
It was too bad that there was no result to show.
“That one will take time to adapt. They’re different from you.”
Clatter.
Click!
Upon hearing my words, my soldier responded with a gesture that looked like a sigh, her arms hanging to the floor.
Before her lay a dozen broken bolts scattered across the cave wall, and my second skeleton stood there staring blankly, not even realizing what had gone wrong.
That skeleton standing there so clueless would probably manage to shoot decently once I instructed it properly through necromancy.
Command through necromancy is also effective in aiding the actions of the undead.
“Alright. I’ve decided.”
Click!
“Yes. About your name.”
My first soldier seemed to understand what I meant, letting out a cheerful sound.
I nodded at her in agreement.
Her name.
It seemed best to relate it to ‘hope’—the very thing I was receiving the most from her.
Click.
She approached, standing firm with her hands behind her back, and soon took a bow again. It seems this position is one she’s fixed upon for any moment worth commemorating.
Sitting in my chair, I placed my hand on her head and slowly opened my mouth.
– 4 –
“How did you get your name? Master.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yes. I’m curious.”
At her question, her master raised an eyebrow, turning her head away from the book.
Even with that expression, her beautiful and noble appearance had no wrinkles, which was a view I had come to adore since acquiring this feeling of reverence for her.
“Hmm.”
While she didn’t respond to her, she scrunched her brows slightly, closed the book, and fell into thought. Despite the sudden question, it seemed she had no intention of dismissing her beloved subject’s words lightly.
Then, with a smile, she made a light-hearted joke.
“If I had known you’d be this way, I would never have given you that name.”
“I’m hurt, Master.”
“Think about the things you’ve done. Doesn’t my evaluation seem rather lenient?”
“…”
While reflecting on her past actions, she nearly nodded without even realizing it.
She had obediently followed her master’s orders due to the influence of necromancy and the habits from her previous life, but by the time she regained her memories and was able to express her will properly, she had shown a fierce hatred toward the Dungeon Lords, creating a rift between them for a while.
She was one of the heroes of humanity when she was alive.
“How rigid and narrow-minded you were.”
“Master…”
“I know. That wasn’t your intention. It was more like the instinct of someone who had just regained their life.”
The master chuckled while tapping her own lips. She was laughing while trying to keep her gaze on the woman’s enchanting purple eyes, reflecting upon her present and past.
The bond between a sorcerer and their summon is not necessarily filled with unconditional goodwill.
It is only a forced relationship based on a contract.
If there hadn’t been anything significant to improve their relationship afterward, their bond would likely have remained at its worst.
And that was due to her master’s unilateral understanding rather than her own.
It was something she felt ashamed of. If she could return to the past, she vowed to never wound such a wonderful master again.
“Before that, I also never told you anything related to this, and you didn’t act this smartly either, always marred by negativity, but I valued you as a pillar I could lean on and didn’t want to lose you.”
“A pillar…?”
“Yes. That’s probably why I didn’t think about your life.”
She felt that.
While feeling repulsed by the sight of her own corpse, there was also an expression of wanting to depend on someone for some reason.
Viewing her lonely demeanor, she unconsciously felt a little drawn to her, wanting to protect her. Though she couldn’t restrain herself further because of the deep-rooted hatred toward Dungeon Lords.
However, her master understood her situation and didn’t hesitate to make choices that led them to slowly grow closer together.
As a result.
Though it took a long time, she finally opened her heart to her master, and now she couldn’t imagine herself without him.
“Yes. The meaning behind the name then.”
“Oh, right.”
“Hehe. Have I told you that I’m not from this world?”
“Yes. You did. Originally…”
“Yes. I was a man. An ordinary man whose heart was dying day by day.”
Even now, a long time after hearing that, believing it was difficult. Her master was always noble, beautiful, and even charming.
She couldn’t hide her irreverent feelings.
If she hadn’t realized the tricks of hiding her feelings before gaining those irreverent feelings, she likely would have been discovered by her master long ago.
Without her master knowing, or perhaps pretending not to know,
Her master opened her mouth again.
“In my world, there was a great female warrior. She was considered a saint.”
“A saint…?”
“Yes. A living miracle who revived a nation that was on the brink of destruction, called to do so by the gods… But ultimately, she perished under the political understanding between nations. Joan of Arc.”
“Joan of Arc.”
As I recited the name, my master nodded and gestured.
When I bowed my head in front of her hand, she gently patted my head as if to caress a cherished puppy.
Ever since I had acquired this feeling of reverence for her, it was my favorite way to receive affection.
“But that alone wasn’t enough. She was undoubtedly great, but in my eyes, she was ultimately a failed person.”
“A failed person…”
“Yes. Of course, if she had had the love of the gods, the entirety of the Material World would have been disregarded, but not for me. Before the numerous shadows of enemies to come, you, an excellent soldier, were my hope.”
“Once you’ve lost everything, you can’t even dare to dream of losing all that’s on earth again.” She said while smiling softly with rich purple eyes turned toward me.
As I gazed up at her lovable and respectful look, her heart was beginning to race.
The price of such sudden curiosity was so much more significant.
“So among the various names derived from Joan, I selected one with a more meaningful significance for me.”
“What is it?”
“Good news.” It was the meaning of the name I wanted to give to you, who gives me hope even in the midst of loss.
“That sounds good.”
“Better than your name when you were alive?”
“Yes. More than that.”
“How lovely.”
She joyfully nodded her head again, and her master once more lovingly stroked her head, making her feel cherished.
That name, which sounded so sacred, reverberating within her as something precious among the most sacred names in her world.
As it happened, her master also spoke the name.
– 5 –
“Evangeline.” That is your name.
Clatter.
“Yes.”
The skeleton, deeply revering and loving her master, received her name back and massively projected ‘joy’ deeply from her heart toward her master.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Then, speaking in a tone lower than her last memory, her master, who had not been here long, softly said,
“Eve.”
Just like that, calling her by a fond nickname.
[I hope you use my body in a way that brings you the most benefit.]
With a smile, reminiscent of those rare sights from ‘the past’ during this time.