"Royal palace? What do you mean…"
"Since the war with the monsters is over, the royal palace will hold a report ceremony and festival. Your father attends every year. Didn't you know?"
"Ah!"
"Looks like you remembered. It was supposed to be held around now, but it was delayed because of our northern wall reclamation. They'll set a new date and contact us soon."
Hearing Duke Roper's words, it came back to me.
After the monster war ends, the king invites the lords for reports, then holds a grand festival in the capital. During the festival, a party for royalty and high nobles takes place, inviting knights and officials who showed outstanding ability that year.
The Duke was certain I would be invited to that party.
"You will definitely attend the royal palace party."
"No way. Even if I go, it'll be burdensome."
"You fool! It's an honor. His Majesty will personally acknowledge your near-divine abilities. He might even give you a great gift."
I had more money than I needed, and I had Agnes. I didn't particularly need anything. As for honor, the king might be heaven to them, but to me who lived in the modern world, he was just a person.
"Duke, I have something to say about repairing the gates."
The Duke's adjutant, who had been waiting near the gates, approached cautiously.
"Hm, sorry, but I must go. I've already contacted the Magic Tower. They'll arrive soon."
"Thank you for your concern."
"No need for thanks. I should be the one thanking you. See you at the royal palace."
Duke Roper waved his hand and headed toward the gates with his adjutant.
"Well then…"
I looked around and approached the priest who had been with me today.
"Hello."
"Sir Yuren. You worked hard today."
The priest had been tending to the injured. He smiled warmly when he saw me.
"You worked hard too, Priest. You're still working now."
"Haha, the ones fighting at the front suffered the most."
As expected from a priest, every word gently melted my heart.
"Just in case, do you feel any evil energy around here?"
"Here?"
"Yes."
The priest closed his eyes and murmured something, focusing.
"I don't feel anything nearby."
He opened his eyes shortly after and smiled lightly.
"Can priests detect hidden evil spirits or demonic creatures?"
"We can sense low-level ones releasing power from afar, but high-level ones hiding their power are hard to detect."
"I see."
Right now, Pomera was floating about 10 meters away from the priest in spirit form, hiding his power to the maximum. He hadn't been detected.
"Unlike me, high priests or those with keen senses can find even superior evil spirits."
"Understood."
"You were worried the warlock might be hiding, right? I admire how you never let your guard down until the end."
"Ah, no."
Perhaps because he had been with me, the priest showed me tremendous trust. It felt like he would believe anything I said.
The priest smiled purely and returned to tending the patients.
Anyway, unless a high priest used holy power, Pomera's identity wouldn't be exposed. My mind felt at ease.
I could use Pomera as my personal mage as planned.
After finishing with the priest, I approached Arin, who had been staring at me the whole time.
"Anything happen?"
"You swept away the undead and went alone to find the warlock. How could anything happen?"
Arin spoke a bit sulkily. She seemed upset she hadn't fought properly.
"Haha, sorry. But I didn't touch the ones you were handling."
"That's not it. I know you're so strong I can't compare, but please don't overdo it. Going alone to the warlock's lair was too dangerous."
Arin wasn't angry about not fighting enough—she was angry that I had gone alone.
"Ah…"
I knew Arin had changed, but this was the first time she showed her emotions so openly.
"I'm sorry. I spoke out of line."
"No. Thanks for worrying about me."
"Th-then…"
Arin said that and quickly moved away. She seemed embarrassed now.
"I got scolded, but it doesn't feel bad."
There was no way I'd feel bad when someone genuinely worried about me.
"What is that guy doing?"
Colin sat on a rock beside the wall, staring intently at his sword.
"How was it? Worth coming?"
"It was better than swinging my sword alone at home, but since you handled everything by yourself, there wasn't much for me to do. Still…"
Colin said something similar to Arin, but his tone was much calmer.
"I felt the huge gap between your skill and mine. That alone made it worth coming. I thought I could play with you using swords at knight school, but sword wasn't your main weapon after all."
Colin looked at the daggers at my waist.
"Yes. These are my real weapons."
I pulled out one dagger and showed it to him.
"I was shocked you hit every throw, but the mysterious movement technique that lets you move freely across the battlefield was even more shocking."
He was talking about So-ryong Ji-bo. The footwork that Arin once found embarrassing had now become something even Colin considered mystical.
"I realized there's an enormous difference between us. So…"
Colin stood up from the rock and met my eyes.
"I decided not to rush. I'll set you as my goal and work hard to catch up."
He bowed once and walked toward the other knights.
"To change this much… maybe inheriting the Sword Emperor title wasn't in vain."
It felt like another soul had entered Colin's body, just like I had entered Yuren's.
"Because of me, everyone is changing."
**
Not long after, we received the mages' warp and returned to the marquisate. I first arranged treatment for the injured, then went straight to the Marquis.
"Yuren! You worked hard!"
The Marquis greeted me with a satisfied smile. His overly friendly reaction left me unsure how to respond, so I stayed silent.
"Duke Roper praised you tremendously. Not just anyone, but him speaking so highly means you must have performed incredibly."
Duke Roper had apparently contacted the Marquis via communication magic despite being busy. The smile never left the Marquis's lips.
"Nobles are usually stingy with praise, especially toward lower ranks. Yet Duke Roper talked only about you from start to finish. He really took a liking to you."
The Marquis was so happy hearing the praise that he couldn't contain his emotions.
"Haha…"
"Previously Marquis Marcus, and now even Duke Roper praising you… my shoulders feel…"
If this continued, the Marquis's chatter would never end. I calmed him down first, then began my report.
"The northern wall reclamation was successful. We had 15 injured on our side, all minor wounds. I arranged treatment, and the rest are resting as ordered."
"Good. Well done. I should go see the injured myself."
Seeing he wanted to check on them immediately, the Marquis truly knew how to care for his subordinates.
"Ah, before I forget. We'll be going somewhere together soon."
"To the royal palace?"
"You already knew."
The Marquis smiled even wider, clearly pleased we would go together.
"Has the date been set?"
"Not yet, but the request to bring you came a while ago."
"Huh?"
"Your feats—Orc Champion, Sharkrai King, Sea Serpent—have spread to the capital. His Majesty said he really wants to see you."
"Ah…"
"Plus, Duke Roper seems to be spreading word of this incident everywhere. If I don't bring you, I might get kicked out. Hehe."
The Marquis grinned while saying he might get kicked out. He was extremely happy I was receiving praise and attention.
"Understood."
"Good. I'll let you know as soon as the date is set."
"Then I'll take my leave."
After bowing to the Marquis, I headed straight to my room.
"First, let's call him."
I took out Pomera's soul orb from the magic pouch.
[Owner.]
The moment I took it out, Pomera's dry voice rang in my ear.
"We're home. Come over here."
[Understood.]
As soon as I spoke, gray dust gathered in the corner. Soon, a small skeleton mage wearing a purple robe and holding a wooden staff appeared from the dust cloud.
"Is this Owner's house?"
"Kuk. That look is nice. Doesn't look like a lich at all."
The cute little skeleton mage was Pomera. He couldn't show his real lich form in the house, so he appeared even smaller than yesterday.
"I've been called crazy before, but never as much as Owner. The eldest son of a marquis threatening a lich into becoming a subordinate—what scheme are you plotting?"
"What scheme."
It wasn't exactly a scheme, but I did have an interesting idea—counterattacking the ones who had turned Pomera into a lich.
"What do you really want?"
"I told you. I'll use you as my personal mage. I'll work you hard, so prepare yourself."
"You're really out of your mind."
Pomera still seemed unable to believe it and tilted his small head.
"But why is your speech so stiff? You spoke well earlier. You even acted—why like this now?"
"It seems because of this form."
I was going to let him speak casually since it was annoying, but after becoming a small skeleton, his speech itself had turned strange.
"One thing I'm curious about."
"What?"
"Can your ability erase even an undead's soul?"
"You know well."
"What exactly is that ability?"
Pomera's curiosity grew; blue flames burned fiercely in his eye sockets.
"Of course I won't tell you. But if you want to test it, you're always welcome. I'm curious too—what happens if I use my power on a lich whose soul is in the soul orb."
"Ugh…"
Pomera got scared, clacked his teeth, and avoided my eyes by looking at the floor.
"Since we're on the topic, if you had drawn a bit more power from the black orb, I would have killed you immediately."
"Do you know what that orb is?"
"Yes."
Startled by my answer, Pomera, who had been sitting on the floor, suddenly rushed in front of me.
"Two years ago, when I returned to my lodging, I had a orb and book I don't even remember buying, receiving, or picking up…"
"You were being used."
I smiled bitterly while looking at Pomera, who had shed his human shell, empty eye sockets lit with blue flames.
"That orb is both a curse and a seal. It devours your fallen soul and is released."