The Necromancer Who Was Despised

Untinia expressed her gratitude again, and I nodded, saying it was okay.

“Let’s talk about something more constructive. First, can you tell me more about the trade route connecting to that kingdom?”

It was an unexpected question, but Untinia seemed slightly surprised, and soon she agreed to my request.

I was able to hear about the location of the trade route and where it connected, as well as the progress of the construction work.

“Most of the Dark Elves are acting as intermediate administrators over there.”

“…I think it’ll be okay…”

Originally, I had thought of pulling in the Orcs, just like I did with the Dark Elves.

Anyway, the Dark Elves were being pushed back by the Elves, and their influence was shrinking.

I had planned to support them, pull some of them in, and indirectly exert influence on the interracial union while increasing their power and adding it to my own, but it seemed like a better method had emerged.

After a brief calculation, I nodded my head.

“I’d like to take over that construction project.”

“…What?”

“Just need to adjust the direction a bit. I plan to set up the trade route as far away from the neutral zone as possible.”

“…Are you saying you’ll connect it here?”

“Yes.”

The military power is something I can handle myself.

If I actively utilize the grey architecture, it’s possible.

And…

“I’d also like to receive cooperation from the Orcs.”

“…The Orcs? Suddenly?”

“Some of the Orcs have joined our side.”

“What’s going on…?”

“You know that some of the Orc tribes haven’t adapted to the interracial union system.”

“You know that…”

I’m aware of it.

I’m also aware of the Elves’ tyranny.

The Dark Elves are also in a difficult position, after all.

“There are those who haven’t joined the interracial union yet, and they’ve gathered together. The Rinetta Earl’s family and I have accepted them as our vassals.”

Some of them are currently fighting monsters on the barren land, and Untinia’s expression turned complicated.

“They’re… currently fighting on the front lines as soldiers. Even if we request cooperation, it’s…”

“Not everyone has been deployed, right?”

The Orcs haven’t been part of the interracial union for many years.

Although the interracial union is massive, it’s not easy for an entire tribe to join and adapt.

To use them as soldiers, we’d need to incorporate them into the union’s system, but we can’t just throw anyone into battle, so we’d have to select those who have adapted to the union…

‘Time is lacking.’

It’s not like we can just hand over an entire front line to the Orcs, so receiving their support is honestly not easy.

But it’s not like it matters if we take in those who haven’t adapted properly, like the ones who joined us.

“…It’s clear that the union is not utilizing the Orcs properly. We lack time and manpower.”

There are many who are idle.

It won’t be hard to borrow their strength.

‘If it’s those people, we might be able to pull them in on our side as well.’

The barren land is vast.

“If possible, I’d like Dark Elf to help me as well.”

“…Us too?”

“Yes. Of course, it’s not just about asking for help.”

I set one condition.

“I’ll negotiate with the Rhineta Earl’s family to grant Dark Elf permission to use a part of the barren land. Of course, that land won’t become part of the Inter-Species Alliance’s territory. It’s just that the Riieia family will be allowed to use it freely.”

You could call it a permanent lease.

However, Untinia looked skeptical.

It’s not like it would be much help to them, anyway.

Having a place to escape to wouldn’t be bad, but that’s about it.

I smiled at Untinia and said,

“It’s not that bad, I promise. It’s not just about using the land.”

“…Is there something else?”

“Yes. It might take some time, but you’ll be able to recover your dark magic. Without a contract with the demon race, too.”

“…!”

Recovering dark magic without a contract with the demon race.

My words left Untinia’s face in shock.

“What… Are you saying you can create a Catacomb? No, but that’s not easily……”

She continued in a voice filled with excitement and a hint of expectation, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“It’s not a Catacomb.”

But it’s not a Catacomb.

I promised to rebuild it with Yeriya, but that’s not for now. We don’t have the time or the power right now.

According to Tinus, it’s possible, but it would take too long.

It might be possible in peaceful times, but not in this chaotic era.

“But you can get a similar effect.”

It’s just that the quality would be lower than a Catacomb.

It’s not about building a gray structure.

And I wasn’t planning on lending them my corrupted Chalice of Abundance, either.

‘Originally, the Chalice of Abundance can’t create black water without my magic, so it’s pointless to lend it.’

“…Is that possible?”

“Yes. You can create it. You just need a bit of material……”

“What is it?”

“A leaf from the World Tree.”

“…….”

“It would be great if you had it.”

I knew it was hard to obtain.

But as the Riieia family, a prestigious Dark Elf family and a member of the Inter-Species Alliance, they could get their hands on it.

A leaf from the World Tree or a branch is one of the best materials for a magic wand.

As an insider, they could get it with sufficient compensation.

…The Elves wouldn’t give it up easily, though.

‘Well, I suppose I have some connections.’

Even if you’re ruined, the three generations will remain, just like how you can survive a war with the Elves and receive third-class treatment…

“…It’s not difficult to find. There must be leftovers in the family’s warehouse from the start.”

“It’s good.”

“But how do you plan to use that to pull out magic?”

“I’ll create a forest.”

“…A forest?”

“Do you know about the mist tree?”

“I know it exists, but why…?”

‘Do you know?’

I didn’t know.

“Haha. The mist tree I’m talking about is probably not what you’re thinking of. It’s a tree that absorbs the surrounding mana and turns it into magic.”

“…Such a thing exists?”

“Yes.”

To be precise, it doesn’t exist yet.

It’s something that will be created in the future, by the creator….

‘Yeriyah.’

It was the tree she created, or rather, would create.

At the same time….

‘It’s a failed product.’

But it’s not a complete failure.

There’s a part that can be utilized.

I thought I’d dig into that point.

◈ Development

Mist tree.

To be precise, it’s called the ash-colored mist tree.

The name seems to have been taken from the ash-colored architecture, and it’s a kind of plant-type chimera that artificially manipulates the world tree’s leaves or branches.

The creator is Yeriyah.

However, in this cycle, it was a tree that couldn’t be created.

The reason was simple.

‘It’s a tree that could only appear because I existed.’

Strangely, the mist tree was a tree that couldn’t be created without me.

Yeriyah, who wanted to revive the Dark Elves and rebuild the Catacombs, or create a similar environment if that wasn’t possible, made a contract with the Demon King.

The contract was to support the revival of the Dark Elves in the future in exchange for helping the Demon King’s descent.

However, she knew that the Demon King’s descent wasn’t an easy task and had thought about various alternatives in case she failed.

Until I recklessly entered her dungeon, she was trying various methods, including ways to quickly complete the Catacombs, designing ash-colored architecture to replace the Catacombs, and secretly revealing parts of the demon world.

However, naturally, all of those attempts had failed, and when she saw me, she thought that the contract with the Demon King had a higher possibility of success, so she focused on teaching me.

In the process, she discovered the special characteristics of my body and tried to combine them with one of her many research projects.

It wasn’t particularly strange, as it was also a process to teach me and understand my characteristics.

As a result, she achieved a few successes, and one of them was the ash-colored mist tree.

However, it was a de facto failure.

The ash-colored fog tree transformed some of the World Tree’s abilities into mana, converting it into magic.

But it wasn’t a direct conversion of mana into magic.

I was close to the demonic realm and had a direct contract with it, allowing me to draw magic directly from the realm.

Yeriyah wondered if she could share the contract with me by using my blood, but it wasn’t an easy task.

Countless experiments followed, and just as many failures piled up.

I realized that only living beings could share contracts, and that ordinary humans or monsters couldn’t withstand the contract sharing.

Even a small minority couldn’t handle it.

Most of them went crazy, and some were consumed by magic, becoming magic users or magic beasts.

Yeriyah, who had been despairing over her failures, noticed the World Tree’s leaves and planned a new experiment using them.

It was a success.

By mixing the World Tree’s leaves with a sturdy, living tree and using my blood to share the contract with the demonic realm, we achieved a breakthrough.

Although it was a small hole, we managed to maintain it, and the tree didn’t go crazy.

However, to maintain that small hole, the tree had to constantly absorb the surrounding mana, and it had to use some of the absorbed mana to purify its own body to prevent corruption.

When Yeriyah saw the completed tree, she was overjoyed and named it the “Ash-Colored Fog Tree,” saying that the pure magic it emitted was like fog.

The only problem was that one Ash-Colored Fog Tree couldn’t produce enough magic.

Yeriyah thought that she could make up for the shortage by increasing the number of trees, and began to mass-produce the Ash-Colored Fog Trees using the World Tree’s leaves and branches.

That’s when the problem arose.

“Some of the scattered magic was being absorbed by other trees.”

It was fine for the time being.

But Yeriyah quickly realized the situation and calculated the lifespan of the trees.

It was around 5 to 10 years.

Optimistically, it could be 10 years, but realistically, it could be less than 5 years.

The material used to create the trees was part of the World Tree, but the trees would die in less than 10 years.

A black magician needed around 10 trees, but the trees’ lifespan was too short.

Moreover, as the level of magic increased, the number of trees required grew exponentially.

Even a mage would need hundreds of trees.

If the trees’ lifespan was at least 500 years, it would have been practical.

But 10 years was too short.

Especially for elves and dark elves, whose lifespan was more than double that of humans.

So, 10 years felt even shorter.

“The material is trash, and the efficiency is garbage.”

Even if I used my blood, it was too difficult to obtain a large quantity of the World Tree’s parts, which were managed by the elves.

Especially since the dark elves and elves didn’t get along….

“It’s impossible to forcefully take it even with our current power.”

So, it was a failed product.

But I thought differently.

Honestly, 10 years was enough.

No, 5 years is fine.

“If we rebuild the Catacombs, that thing won’t be necessary.”

Until then, it’s just a temporary measure.

There was no need for it to be excessively large-scale.