novelraw Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Ch.126 He’s always been like this
—“Who’s that?!”
—“An intruder! There’s an intruder!”
—“H-heeek! How’d I get caught?!”
A strange man’s voice echoed through the garden.
A figure in black robes sprang up from the grass, throwing both hands in the air.
—“Surrender! I surrender!”
—“You scoundrel! Do you even know where you are?!”
Soldiers rushed forward and yanked back the robe.
—Swish!
—“Huh?!”
—“A… a lich?!”
Beneath the hood lay a grinning skull.
—“I-I’m a harmless lich, I swear!”
‘Wait… could that be Edward?’
Given how absurdly he spoke, it had to be him.
The genuine mad-scientist lich from Destiny.
But… why was he here?
—“D-die, you vile lich!”
—“Hiiik!”
As a soldier lunged with his spear, I shouted urgently,
“Wait! Leave him be!”
I activated the Goddess’s Wedding Ring, casting buffs over myself, then leaped out the window.
—Thud!
“Baron?!”
Ignoring the startled soldiers, I approached the lich groveling on the ground.
“What’s your name?”
—Clack-clack.
His jaw trembled with fear, making an unpleasant rattle.
“My name… is Edward.”
Though fear radiated from him—and crimson light flickered ominously in his eye sockets—he was, in truth, a kind soul.
But…
“Why are you here?”
Honestly, I couldn’t fathom it. Regardless of whether he was ‘good’ or ‘evil,’ his appearance before me was deeply puzzling.
“Well… please take me as your vassal…”
“Huh?”
Edward’s unexpected request left me baffled.
“You mean… use Levi’s Dagger to bind you as my subordinate?”
The King of the Dead possessed the power to command undead—a necromantic ability known as Undead Order.
Normally, it had a 10% chance to recruit an undead into your party, but the King of the Dead succeeded 100% of the time.
Levi’s Dagger functioned similarly for anyone who wielded it.
‘Hmm… Edward on my side wouldn’t be bad.’
He was vastly different from typical malevolent liches.
While most liches sought undeath to evade death through wicked schemes, Edward became one to advance medical science—or so his lore stated.
He even offered free healing services to the poor, and possessed a unique personal trait.
“Hmm…”
“I sensed strange energy and came to investigate. How curious.”
Hearing a voice behind me, I turned to see Icira staring intently at the lich.
“Ah?”
“How odd. A lich wishing to serve you.”
She stepped closer and peered down at Edward, who knelt on the ground.
“He seems quite powerful. Why seek out Hans?”
Edward scratched the back of his skull awkwardly.
“Well… if I stay idle, I’ll be forced to obey the King of the Dead’s commands…”
His reasoning sounded oddly naive.
“But… wouldn’t you be bound by my orders if I made you my vassal?”
Obviously—if he became my vassal, he’d have to follow my commands.
“Even so… you wouldn’t order me to kill innocent people, would you?”
His voice brimmed with certainty.
Well… I had no intention of giving such orders anyway.
“At the very least, I know you’d never command me to slaughter good people indiscriminately.”
“That’s…”
“The Adversary, chosen by the gods themselves, would never issue such an order.”
Edward’s words left the soldiers and Icira with deeply conflicted expressions.
‘But you’re a lich!’
‘You defied divine law—how dare you speak of gods and ‘good people’?’
Their stares clearly conveyed that disbelief.
“What a strange one.”
Even Icira—a woman rarely surprised—murmured in astonishment.
No one expected a lich to speak like this.
After all, liches were universally known as vile beings:
conducting human experiments in dark dungeons,
developing forbidden black magic,
harming others solely for their own resurrection.
Many were powerful enough to serve as bosses in major dungeons.
But Edward was different—he became a lich to research healing magic,
even offering free services (while magically disguising his skeletal form, of course—
no one would accept treatment from a bare-boned horror).
In Destiny, he’d even saved players from near-death, a fact I deeply appreciated during the game’s brutal early stages.
“Alright. I’ll take you as my vassal.”
I couldn’t bear to see kind-hearted Edward forced by that wretched King to massacre innocents.
I drew Levi’s Dagger.
“Undead Order.”
A red flash flared from the blade—then quickly faded.
“Oh? Something took.”
The dagger’s power seemed to have worked.
To test it, I commanded,
“Raise your arm.”
—Swish.
“Ah?”
Edward lifted his bony arm and blurted out stupidly,
“It really… doesn’t move by my will.”
His voice carried bitter resignation.
“You may move freely otherwise.”
Edward rotated his shoulder in surprise.
“Oh! The restriction is gone!”
“Well, I did say you could move freely.” I paused. “Anyway…”
—“I sense a lich’s aura!”
—“Lich?! What’s a lich, Sister?”
Mia, Aria, and Nephert burst out from the mansion.
“Eek! A bone-man!”
Aria shrieked at the sight of the lich.
“Is it over already?”
Mia asked, followed by Nekhuf and Nephert.
Looks like sleeping early tonight was out of the question.
With soldiers still in the garden, I headed back to my room.
Icira went to put Aria to bed, while Edward, Nekhuf’s group, and Mia all sat on the sofa in my study.
An awkward silence filled the room.
Everyone stared at Edward with curious, wary eyes—as if waiting to see what bizarre thing he’d say next.
Clearly unnerved by their gazes, he kept his skull bowed low.
Feeling a bit sorry for him, I offered,
“Would you like something to drink?”
“Ah… could I have a glass of water?”
I carefully poured water from the table pitcher into a cup.
“Here, drink up.”
“I shall enjoy it.”
Edward held the cup delicately.
‘Wait a minute… He’s a lich… does he even drink water?’
Humans swallow—water travels down the esophagus.
But a lich has no organs…
Everyone’s eyes locked onto his cup, sharing my thought.
He tilted his skull back and poured the water in like a shot.
Predictably, it splashed through his bones, soaking his robe and the sofa.
‘Great. The sofa’s ruined.’
“Ah! Now I feel alive again. I was so nervous my throat was dry.”
‘Nervous? Thirsty?’
Edward literally had no throat.
I couldn’t help but scowl—along with everyone else.
‘The sofa’s soaked!’
Yet no one said a word.
He’d spoken so naturally, it almost seemed like he did have a throat.
—Creak.
The door opened gently, and Icira entered.
“Aria?”
“Asleep.”
She sat down coldly on the sofa.
Now that everyone was here… time to explain.
I knew Edward well—but they didn’t.
“Since we’re all here, tell us more about yourself.”
He scratched his skull.
“Well… I’m a lich who died several hundred years ago. My specialty is healing magic, and I love volunteering. My fellow undead’s bright smiles are what keep me going.”
His utterly un-lich-like words chilled the room.
“Hans… I think he needs a command to speak truthfully.”
Mia’s suggestion earned nods of agreement.
After all, no infamous lich would ever say such things.
“Sorry, but it’s true. I know this guy.”
“You know me, sir?”
Edward’s eye sockets widened into crescent shapes—
the skeletal equivalent of wide, hopeful eyes.
His companions looked utterly bewildered.
Even in-game, he’d always been this unhinged.
“Is he… really speaking seriously?”
“I can’t believe it…”
Icira and Mia were visibly shocked.
“A bone-exposed human… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Looks like voodoo magic to me.”
Nekhuf and Nephert whispered to each other.
Having never seen liches in the New Continent, this was utterly novel to them.
“Anyway, he’s not evil. I know him well.”
“Then… why did you become a lich? Truly, with no wicked intent?”
Frowning in disbelief, Icira pressed Edward, who gently rubbed his jawbone.
“No wicked intent at all. I only wished to advance healing magic.”
The skeleton gazed into the void, his voice growing wistful.
“I worry greatly about magical progress. Battle magic evolves rapidly, yet healing magic lags far behind.”
Truly, healing magic was practically useless.
If you wanted a dedicated healer, you’d hire a priest instead of a mage.
In-game terms: low healing output, high mana cost, and no buffs like holy magic.
(Though veterans found alternative uses…)
But Edward couldn’t access those.
“So I decided! I’d research healing magic to create a world where everyone could afford treatment! I became undead, dreaming of a future where no one suffers—regardless of magic or money.”
His words sounded noble…
‘But he’s a lich.’
Anyone hearing this might mistake him for a saint.
The room fell silent again—everyone struggling with cognitive dissonance.
“Do you expect me to believe that? I may be young among dragons, but I know what liches truly are.”
Icira glared at Edward with open disdain.
“Death is the natural order for all creatures—a divine law. You, a pitiful being who twisted that law… do you truly think your actions can change the world?”
“I may be cursed by the gods. No, I am cursed. I won’t deny the sin of defying divine order for personal gain. If I perish, I’ll gladly pay for it in hell. But…”
Edward’s crimson eyes blazed with resolve.
“I believe my research—everything I do—will benefit all living beings. That is why I walk this path of defiance…”
His voice trailed off.
Hearing saintly words from a lich left everyone reeling.
Icira turned to me, her expression utterly lost—as if her entire understanding of reality had shattered.
Her eyes trembled.
“Is he… really an undead?”
I just shrugged.
“He’s always been like this.”
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