Chapter 18

===================

Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

And so, once again, several days passed, and one early afternoon.

Tie sat at the inn window, swinging both legs back and forth.

The sunlight pouring down was warm, and her mood was good enough to make her feel like flying.

At the moment she was enjoying the sun.

“Hey, brat!”

Veil’s voice came from behind.

When he turned her head, Veil was standing there holding a plate of cookies.

“What are you glaring at? Eat this or something.”

Tie’s eyes instantly went huge.

Tie quickly picked up one cookie.

The moment she bit into the light-green-tinted cookie made by the owner grandmother, a sweet fragrance spread through her mouth.

Feeling her heart go all soft and puffy, Tie crunched on the cookie.

Watching Tie eat, Veil asked,

“Necromancer King. Is it really that good?”

Tie was startled.

Her cheeks, already puffed out because of the cookie, turned slightly red.

“Necromancer King……?”

“Yeah, Necromancer King. Here, the Necromancer King…… Puhup. Hah…… Who else could it be besides you?”

Veil was trying not to laugh, but Tie twisted her body around and laughed.

“Oppa Veil, really. What Necromancer King~”

“……”

“Of course it’s true that Tie is everybody’s leader, and the strongest necromancer hiding my identity~ but when it’s just us, you can just call me Tie.”

The corner of Veil’s mouth twitched.

She poked Tie’s cheek.

“Brat, do you really like the name Necromancer King that much?”

Tie stopped eating the cookie and opened her eyes wide.

Asking whether she liked the nickname Necromancer King?

Wasn’t the answer obvious?

The strongest, coolest characters always had nicknames.

For example, legendary Puppetmon or Royal Tanipang!

Come to think of it, there was something like that on the game character of Hyunwoo, a friend from Quail Class.

If she had to put it into words,

“Tie has a skin on.”

That was the only explanation.

“If the original Tie character is just Tie, then Tie with a skin on is something like ‘Astie the Necromancer King.'”

Her hips wriggled on their own.

Tie wiped under her nose with a swipe, then lowered her head and giggled.

He could feel Veil’s stare fixed on her.

‘Poor Oppa Veil.’

Obviously she was jealous of Tie, who had become a super-strong character by putting on a skin.

It was just then.

“Astie.”

The inn door opened, and Basto and Nordix appeared carrying a great pile of something on one shoulder.

“Mister Basto!”

“Were you getting along well with Veil?”

“Tie, you’ve got cookie crumbs around your mouth.”

Tie waited for Nordix to brush away the cookie crumbs around her mouth, then saw what they were carrying on their shoulders and started hopping up and down.

“Is it our cloaks? Is it really our cloaks?!”

“Yes.”

Basto lifted Tie up easily and sat her in front of the large table.

Then he set down on the table the several garments they had brought.

The new uniforms of , which had been ordered three days ago and was now an official mercenary company.

“It’s so cool……”

Tie murmured, entranced, without realizing it.

The black outer layer, made by layering sturdy leather and thick cloth.

The design made for ease of movement, and even the generous width to block rain and wind.

Above all!

“It’s really Ttonapang. Huuuuhk.”

She felt like she might lose her breath from being so excited.

Tie touched her favorite character clearly embroidered on the chest of each uniform.

How much trouble had she gone through drawing this three days ago?

To be honest, what Tie drew had been such a mess that he explained it to Grandpa Nordix, and then Grandpa drew it again for her.

Had they used about twenty sheets of paper that time?

At some point she had gotten so sleepy that it was hard, but it had still been worth explaining.

“It’s so pretty……”

Nordix draped the uniform around Tie.

When he fastened the hook beneath her neck, the soft texture fell smoothly over her shoulders.

‘It’s prettier than the kindergarten cloak!’

Actually, Tie had wanted to make the uniform yellow like the cloak from Hanbit Kindergarten.

But if she wore yellow clothes in the forest, it felt like monsters would spot her easily.

In the end, Tie swallowed her tears and chose black.

‘It really was the right choice!’

Right now she was feeling very proud of that choice.

Because the uniform looked extremely cool!

Apparently the others felt the same way, because they also began looking the uniform over with curious eyes.

“What the, the material is better than I expected?”

“Veil. Didn’t I tell you it was a tailor with skill.”

“But did that pink bug really have to be included?”

“B-bug?”

While Tie stammered, Basto furrowed his brow.

“Veil, even if there were circumstances behind it, don’t forget that Tie is now our little commander. It’s not strange for the little commander to exercise major decision-making power within a mercenary company.”

Even so, Veil wore a sullen face.

Of course, it was not as though he didn’t know what Basto meant.

Because he vividly remembered the day they had conquered the medium and small magic stones with the skeletons.

That day Basto, Veil, and Nordix, who had newly declared his intention to join, had gone into an emergency meeting.

At the time, the three of them had to find some way to take Tie into the imperial capital no matter what.

For Tie’s safety, yes, but above all because they had to find out who the child’s parents were.

But in order to do that, Tie too had to have her name placed on the list of members.

‘If she’s a four-year-old mercenary, she will absolutely attract attention.’

‘I think the same. Since she is such a young child, there is no way to avoid eyes gathering on her.’

‘Then what do we do? The brat has even awakened some strange ability!’

‘If eyes gather, weird bastards might approach her too.’

There were more than one or two things to think about because of this and that.

Then Tie had spoken.

‘What if we say that how Tie looks now is transformed?’

Even though she was a child, she meant she would pretend that she was not actually a child.

‘And Tie really is strong! Because I can call Bone Friends! And Grandpa said Tie has an amazing power too……!’

Before long, the three had agreed with that plan.

‘Certainly. That way we could change the kind of attention that gathers on the brat.’

Tie could not simply look like a girl caught among a bunch of dark men.

And it would not do for her ability to be revealed halfway and ambiguously.

If anything, it had to be exaggerated.

‘If Tie becomes the Necromancer King, then nobody can look down on Tie!’

In the end, that had been the right answer.

If you imagined a mage who handled necromancy disguising himself as a mere four-year-old girl……

‘Ah, that’s kind of creepy. It does seem like everyone would avoid her.’

‘……Agreed.’

‘Then it seems we’ve decided.’

So they had decided to make Tie into the Necromancer King and seat her in the commander’s position.

(Even though Veil hated to admit it) Tie also really did have the highest combat power of the four.

And after that, things had gone well, they had really formed the mercenary company, and Tie had really become its commander, but……

“Even so, isn’t the bug a little much? You could’ve put something cool on instead of a bug. What is this? Its eyes are just weirdly huge…… Is it a fly?”

As Veil scrubbed at the embroidery, Tie was already close to fainting.

“O-Oppa Veil! H-how can you say that!”

But Veil was unmoved.

He walked over to the inn counter and, without hesitation, brought back an ink bottle.

“I’m just going to erase this. If I make it black, I think it’ll show less.”

“N-no!”

Tie hurriedly climbed onto the desk and blocked Veil’s path.

Spreading both arms wide with all her strength, a noble look settled on her face.

“That’s an insult to Ttonapang! I absolutely cannot stand for that!”

“What insult? Hey, brat. That pink bug on my uniform is the insult, okay? So right now, aah-!”

At that moment Tie bit down on Veil’s hand with a Waaaang-!

Veil’s eyes went wide.

“What are you doing right now?! Are you a dog?! Ah, your spit, seriously!”

“I’m not a dog! I’m a child! And puppy is a prettier word than dog!”

Veil closed his mouth.

That child thing again……

She stared at Tie, then shrugged.

“Fine, whatever. Whether you’re a child or a dog, I’m still going to do what I’m doing.”

After that he grabbed the uniform lying on the desk with a quick motion.

“You can’t-!”

Just as he was about to cover the embroidery with black ink, ignoring the desperate cry behind him.

Ting-

Some transparent force flew from somewhere and grazed Veil’s hand.

That force then rounded out through the inn like a soap bubble bursting, and vanished.

Veil blinked blankly.

When he came back to himself, the ink bottle had flown far away,

“……Huh?”

and blood was streaming down from the fingertips of his hand, as if something had sliced them.