Chapter 170

Tesetan perched slantwise by the window.

The Necromancer King, half buried in the bed, let her mouth fall open.

“Through the window……! How……?!”

Tesetan gave a dry shrug.

“What’s so new about it.”

It was this afternoon that he had thought he should try talking alone with the Necromancer King.

In order to find out what in the world was inside that outward appearance, he had left the Luminen estate as soon as the meal ended.

Contrary to his expectations, his father and brothers did not stop him.

Instead they kindly straightened his clothes and said.

‘Let’s see each other again.’

Like that.

After interrogating Rio, he waited alone in the Necromancer King’s room, then suddenly thought of something.

‘That viper-like bastard seems like he’ll make a scene again.’

If the member called Veil or whatever saw him in the Necromancer King’s room, would he stay still?

He didn’t know why they served the commander in that way, but Agabert’s members literally overprotected the Necromancer King.

Why were they fussing over someone who summoned the dead and had familiars cast meteor-shower-like attacks?

Anyway, he changed his plan.

Instead of waiting in the room, he decided, with a sigh in his chest, to lie in wait behind the estate.

Because if he stayed inside the room and ran into someone, it felt like something troublesome would occur.

When he heard signs of the Necromancer King and climbed the wall, honestly she thought what in the world am I doing.

But whom could he blame.

The person who had brought about all of this was himself.

He was the one who had first proposed the duel out of crooked competitiveness, and he was also the side that had been helped in a life-threatening crisis.

And in this moment, the one for whom the Necromancer King’s identity mattered was also herself, so there was no choice but to do whatever was necessary.

“You.”

He spoke.

The Necromancer King had already pulled a pillow into her arms and was staring hard at her.

“Uung……?”

“What is your identity?”

The Necromancer King’s eyes opened wide round.

“My, my, identity……?”

“I mean the identity of yours that everyone else knows while only I and my subordinates don’t.”

The Necromancer King began rolling her eyes this way and that.

The fidgeting hands showed how flustered he was.

Tesetan’s eyes narrowed.

‘As expected, it’s true they deliberately hid it only from me.’

But why?

He soon fell silent.

Because once again the atrocities he had committed toward the Necromancer King all this time came to mind on their own.

Of course, even so, the Necromancer King had been favorable to Tesetan the whole time.

Last time, he had even,

‘Because…… Tie likes mister.’

hadn’t he even spouted something soft like an overripe peach.

Tesetan let out a short sigh.

“I know there have been various unpleasant incidents between us. No……”

“……”

“Yes. On my side, I caused unpleasant incidents unilaterally. I admit it.”

The Necromancer King was still staring at her with her mouth tightly shut.

“But however it is. Now I am Agabert’s vice-captain.”

“……”

“Do you think it makes sense for the vice-captain not to know even the little commander’s true appearance?”

The sound of the Necromancer King swallowing echoed inside the quiet room.

Tesetan patiently waited for the Necromancer King’s answer.

But as expected, after a long while the Necromancer King shook her head from side to side.

“I, I can’t.”

“What?”

“Even if Tie dies, I can’t answer!”

Tesetan’s brow twitched slightly.

As expected. The Necromancer King did not seem to intend to reveal her identity obediently.

But Tesetan had no time.

There was no knowing when the Agabert members would come charging in.

If a third party got involved, it would become harder to hear the answer he wanted.

The Necromancer King would flee the place as if she had been waiting for that.

In the end Tesetan rose from the window where he had been leaning.

And he dragged over a chair, set it in front of the Necromancer King’s bed, and sat down.

“So everyone else knows, but you just don’t want to tell me.”

The Necromancer King nodded.

Tesetan stopped his breathing for a moment.

Then he deliberately let out a sigh.

“……That hurts my feelings.”

The Necromancer King’s eyes grew round.

“Of course, I acted like complete trash. Even so, I thought that the reason I became vice-captain was because you trusted me.”

“Uung……?”

“For years, I didn’t even know what my family was doing. But it seems you had been close even with my family.”

“Th-that is……!”

“The fact that you don’t even want to reveal your identity only to me means, after all, that you don’t trust me, right? While saying we’re on the same side, in your heart you were viewing the original members and me differently. Well, I expected it.”

“Uh?! No!”

Tesetan smiled bitterly.

“I know too. Who in the world would like me. Not unless they were crazy.”

“……!”

The Necromancer King sprang up from her seat and hurried over to Tesetan.

But the Necromancer King staggered badly when she reached the end of the bed.

Tesetan reflexively rose and caught him.

An awkward atmosphere flowed through the room.

The green eyes of the Necromancer King that Tesetan looked down at were shaking violently.

“It’s not because Tie dislikes Vice-Captain Mister……!”

At the Necromancer King’s shout, Tesetan parted his lips without realizing it.

But regaining his senses, he smiled bitterly once more.

“Forget it. The more we talk, the more pathetic only I become.”

“It, it really isn’t!”

The Necromancer King fidgeted and examined Tesetan’s face.

Receiving that intense gaze, he thought.

‘As expected. Is this what works.’

The fact that the Necromancer King had favorable feelings toward her was impossible not to know.

Not only had he saved Tesetan when he came charging to kill him, he had even let him into the mercenary company.

And being commander while Tesetan was vice-captain, hadn’t he spent the last few days crossing over the fence to the neighboring house until it wore down just to see him.

“If Tie tells you……”

At that moment, the Necromancer King spoke in a barely audible voice.

A slight color flashed in Tesetan’s eyes.

“If you tell me?”

“You won’t leave Agabert?”

Done.

Tesetan almost smiled, but suppressed it and managed his expression.

And then answered calmly.

“I have no intention of leaving the mercenary company. That was a decision I made because I wanted to fulfill the vow I made on the ring of covenant. It’s separate from the matter at hand.”

The Necromancer King hesitated, then nodded.

But what he had just said was also sincere on Tesetan’s side.

With Trevaga having disintegrated too, he had no desire to form a new mercenary company.

And life no longer being commander was not as bad as he had thought either.

Following the Necromancer King around was more all right than she had expected, and meeting her family today too……

“Ahem, anyway, I’m not leaving.”

The Necromancer King nodded, then slowly stepped back.

Only then did Tesetan realize that he was still holding the Necromancer King’s arm.

Since the Necromancer King sat on the bed with a solemn face, Tesetan too hesitantly sat back down on the chair.

How much time had passed.

The Necromancer King opened her mouth in a voice that was almost inaudible.

“Actually…… I’m a baby.”

Tesetan narrowed his brow.

He had been waiting in extreme tension to hear what kind of words would come out of that mouth.

Otherwise, he had expected to see the Necromancer King’s body grow bigger and her true form be revealed.

However, the Necromancer King only scratched her head with a dispirited face and, checking Tesetan’s reaction, continued speaking.

“Actually…… Tie wasn’t disguised at all. I’m just a baby. Four years old.”

“Hahaha.”

Tesetan burst into laughter without realizing it.

As expected, he had underestimated the Necromancer King.

Pretending to have fallen for his scheme while instead making fun of him……

“Tie came to find Dad, but then suddenly got powers, so……”

The Necromancer King’s lips pursed.

He stared hard at Tesetan, then suddenly began shedding tears plop, plop with an aggrieved expression.

“Because if someone has lots of power, the Order takes them away. And, they said people would keep using Tie and all.”

“……”

The Necromancer King became even more tearful.

“So Grandpa Nordix, Brother Veil, and Mister Basto made Tie do hiding power level. Since Tie has to live here now, if it comes out that Tie is just a child, Tie will be in big trouble……”

Tesetan blinked slowly.

At this moment it felt as though time was flowing slowly only around him.

‘Are you crazy?! Why make him wear something like this too!’

‘If I kill you today, I get back number one in employment, right?’

‘You bastard, trash bastard, I’ll kill you-!’

The scenes from the day of the duel flashed rapidly through his head.

The ring of covenant he had put on that wrist not even a handful around.

The slash he had swung at the terrified Necromancer King rushing toward her. And then,

“……”

the disguise that had not come undone even though he lost consciousness after injuring his arm.

Tesetan slowly rose from his seat.

And after staring hard at Astie, she barely managed to turn around.

He staggered, opened the door, and went outside.

“Why is this madman coming out from here!”

Veil, who had been passing in front of the door, pointed a finger, but Tesetan went down the stairs.

And trudged into his own house,

“Commander! Wh-what is it?!”

and banged his head against the first wall he saw.