Something Feels Off (4)
The night had grown deep.
Yet Karnak lay on his bed, unable to fall asleep.
"Haaah…"
He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, covered in ornate wallpaper.
"How much did that cost, anyway? Why is something like that on my bedroom ceiling?"
It wasn't just the wallpaper. The furniture, the bed— even the candles were all luxury items.
It wasn't that the extravagance itself was hard to adjust to. Back when he was the Necromancer King, he had been surrounded by things far more opulent.
But compared to the bedroom he remembered, this was far too different.
"This wasn't how things were supposed to go…"
He no longer felt any attachment to the authority of the Necromancer King. Still, he had no intention of living as a powerless nobody either.
At least in theory, he had already devised a way to erase the side effects of necromancy while continuing to grow stronger.
And in case things didn't work out, he had prepared another plan as well.
He was no longer the reckless youth he once was. This time, he would play along with his parents and siblings, maintain a passable relationship with them. No matter how much they had despised him, their attitudes would surely change once he stuffed them with money.
And how would he make that money?
That, too, was already planned.
He had painstakingly gathered all manner of records—when and where wars would break out, when droughts and famines would strike, where treasures would be discovered, and so on.
Using that knowledge of the future, he had mapped out how to invest and how to grow his wealth.
His goal was a life that didn't stand out, yet wasn't looked down upon either—a comfortably full belly and a warm place to sleep.
"A life with exactly this kind of house, and exactly this level of status."
Surveying the estate and manor that had become his, Karnak felt hollow.
"But I'm already living like that?"
He had merely returned to the past, done absolutely nothing—yet his life goals had already been achieved.
He wasn't stupid enough to rejoice and say, 'Wow, life's a free win!' in a situation like this.
"I really need to understand what's going on first…"
Rolling around on the bed, Karnak muttered irritably.
"Why isn't that idiot Baros coming? Don't tell me he's asleep?"
Only after a long while did the knock he had been waiting for finally come.
"Young master, young master."
Brightening, Karnak lowered his voice and called out.
"Come in."
The door opened quietly, and Baros slipped into the room after glancing around cautiously.
Sitting up in bed, Karnak asked,
"Everyone asleep?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now we can finally move."
"You're going to use mental probing on the old butler, right?"
"Yeah. But with my current abilities, it's hard to apply mental probing directly."
He needed a catalyst. And he also needed drugs that could weaken the target's mental resistance.
Only after ensuring the target was fully asleep could he achieve what he wanted.
"So first, we need to prepare a few things. Delas petals, Jesc grass, Palel extract, Rapat herb. They're all weeds that grow naturally in the garden, so they should be easy to—"
Before he could finish, Baros held out a pouch.
"Here."
Inside were all the weeds Karnak had just listed.
"Huh? You prepared them on your own?"
"I've been by your side for over a hundred years. You think I wouldn't catch on to something like this?"
Baros shrugged.
"That's why I was late. The garden's been kept so well that it was actually hard to find them."
"I see. Back then, we never bothered maintaining the garden, so weeds were everywhere, right?"
Now that everything had been thoroughly cleared out, they were harder to come by.
"If you'd gone looking now, tonight would've been a total loss. Good job."
As he headed for the door, Karnak gestured.
"Let's move."
"What if the servants see us?"
"We'll just say we couldn't sleep and went for a walk. Judging by the atmosphere, it doesn't seem like anyone would dare scold me for doing whatever I want."
"Well, you are the lord now, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
Karnak let out a hollow laugh.
"Me, a lord? Me—the illegitimate child, the family's unwanted burden?"
They put the Delas petals, Jesc grass, Palel extract, and Rapat herb into a bowl and crushed them together. Then, using necromancy, Karnak set it alight.
Whoosh!
The flames flared up briefly, then died out at once.
All that remained was thick black smoke rising in long strands.
The smoke moved as if it were alive, drifting through the air. Karnak was controlling it with his mana.
The black smoke slid smoothly into the nostrils of the old man lying on the bed. His body shuddered for a moment, then the old butler's eyes rolled back, the whites showing.
"Good. He's completely subdued."
After checking the butler's condition, Karnak gave a command.
"Rise, my thrall."
The command imbued in his voice took effect, and the old man immediately sat up in bed.
"Yes, master."
The butler was now in a state where he would answer any question honestly.
But what should I ask first?
Karnak hesitated for a moment.
There's so much I want to ask that I can't even organize my thoughts.
He decided to start with what he was most curious about.
"How did my father die?"
The answer came at once.
"Three years ago, he was slain by the blade of that treacherous Lord Randolph."
Karnak and Baros looked at each other.
"Randolph? Who's that?"
"Isn't he a knight of Deventor? You know, the neighboring territory's—"
Hearing only the conclusion without any context made it hard to understand.
"Then what about Baroness Isabella?"
"Stricken with grief after losing the baron and the first young master, she took to her bed. In the end, she never rose again…"
"Oh, so that's the order they died in?"
Karnak continued his questioning.
"Then what happened to Brother Tessil?"
"The first young master—"
The questions came one after another.
Each time, the old butler Tafel answered dutifully, his mind vacant.
Thanks to that, they were able to grasp the situation to some extent.
"So up until I turned sixteen, nothing particularly changed."
The territory being on the brink of ruin, the family's contempt for Karnak as an illegitimate child, and his reputation as a delinquent scorned by others—all of it remained exactly as in the past.
The change occurred in the Year 683 of the Yustil Kingdom, four years ago.
While regularly traveling through the mountains to train in martial arts, his second brother, Paralt, happened to discover a large copper vein in a cave to the north.
"A copper vein?"
Karnak frowned.
"I don't remember ever hearing that there was a copper mine in our territory."
Baros shrugged.
"Maybe no one knew before. They said it was discovered by chance."
"Even so, doesn't that sound way too contrived?"
The discovery of a mine within one's territory is a common fantasy among all provincial nobles.
In reality, it almost never happens.
If veins were that easy to find, they wouldn't be such a jackpot to begin with.
That's why, when a noble house announces that they've discovered a mine, people usually think this:
Those bastards must've made money through some shady means and are using a mine as an excuse.
"But this time, it was actually real?"
With this stroke of incredible luck, the House of Jestrad hurriedly began developing the mine.
It was said to be a copper vein of exceptionally high quality, enough that it produced tangible results within just a year.
Of course, they didn't develop it on their own.
Mining is a business that requires advanced extraction and civil engineering techniques. Copper ingots don't just pop out because you dig the ground—technology to separate and refine copper from the ore is also essential.
There was no way the House of Jestrad, which had done nothing but farm, could independently develop a copper mine in just one year.
So they entrusted the mining operation to the Tekas Trading Company, the largest merchant guild in the Yustil Kingdom, which possessed the necessary technology and manpower, and managed it by sharing the profits.
The problem came after that.
The neighboring territory, the County of Deventor, which had always kept the Jestrad family in check, started picking a fight.
The gist of their claim was as follows:
"The copper vein was originally discovered by the House of Deventor.Furthermore, the location of the copper mine lies in a neutral zone bordering both families' territories.However, the magnanimous Count of Deventor proposed that both houses jointly develop and own the mine, and the House of Jestrad accepted this proposal. Yet once the barony grasped the scale of the vein, they despicably broke the contract and changed their story . They are now distorting the truth as if they had discovered it from the beginning. How could this possibly be forgiven ? Even if blood must be spilled, we will reclaim what is rightfully ours!"
Baros said in disbelief,
"Wow. Shameless. Though, they were always shameless bastards, weren't they?"
"But here's the thing…" Karnak shook his head."It's not a claim completely without grounds."
The copper mine was located in the northern part of the territory, in a branch of the Jeden Mountain Range. Judging by its position, it certainly fell within Jestrad territory.
However, when territories border mountainous regions, boundaries aren't cleanly divided like a knife cut.
Cultivated farmland touched by human hands has clear ownership, but forests and mountains?
Usually, both sides vaguely mark them on their maps and move on.
Since such land is mostly useless, nobles rarely bother spending money on precise surveys.
"It's definitely near our territory, but it's also true that it's a place we never really touched."
If the Deventor family had discovered the copper mine first, they might not have been able to claim sole ownership, but they were well within their rights to demand joint management.
"That is, if they really did find it first."
"Do you think that's possible, young master?" Baros asked.
"I can't say it's impossible…" Karnak scratched his head, recalling the past."But honestly, the odds aren't very high."
"Why not?"
"Because Deventor is much stronger than us."
Unlike the declining House of Jestrad, the House of Deventor had steadily built up its power since the previous generation.
Both militarily and financially, they far surpassed a mere barony.
"If they'd agreed on joint development from the start, no sane person would risk crossing such a dangerous bridge, right?"
As a result, relations between the two houses deteriorated to the extreme.
When words don't work, fists fly; when fists don't work, blades fly—that's how things go.
Inevitably, the two houses entered into a territorial war.
There were several bloody battles, most of which ended in Jestrad's defeat.
The foundation built by the House of Deventor over generations was no joke.
A year later, tragedy struck: Baron Craput, the head of the house, was slain by Lord Randolph, Deventor's strongest knight.
During the retreat of their soldiers, the heir, Young Master Tessil, was also struck by an arrow fired by Randolph and lost his life.
In a single blow, the House of Jestrad lost both its lord and its heir.
Baroness Isabella, having lost her beloved husband and son, took to her bed, and the second son, Young Master Paralt, became the new head of the house.
Paralt struggled to rally the remaining forces and oppose the county, but the already-tilted balance could not be reversed.
The following year, even he fell victim to the House of Deventor. In another clash, Randolph severed both of his legs.
Thanks to his rigorous training, Paralt barely survived, but being crippled meant he could no longer serve as a knight. The shock of his disability drove him to alcohol and drugs, and his health rapidly deteriorated.
Eventually, Paralt too died of illness born of anger and stress, and around the same time, the ailing Baroness Isabella also passed away.
"Wow… so because of this one guy named Randolph, our family practically got wiped out? There was someone that strong in the neighboring territory?" Karnak said.
"It's not that Randolph was strong," Baros replied. "It's more that our family was just too weak."
"So who the hell is this Randolph, anyway?"
"I barely remember the name myself…"
"Well, figures. Making a name for yourself in some rural backwater only goes so far."
After all, Karnak and Baros had fought against the Four Martial Kings, three Great Archmages, and even the legendary Dragon Emperor. Why would they remember some country knight?
Letting that slide, Karnak continued interrogating the old butler.
"So, what happened next?"
At that point, the only blood left in the barony was the illegitimate son, Karnak.
The position of heir passed to him, and it was decided that he would formally assume the title of lord when he came of age at twenty.
The House of Deventor then announced that they would temporarily halt the war and wait until Karnak became the lord.
It was, on the surface, an exceptionally noble and dignified response.
"Of course, that was just for appearances," Karnak muttered. "In reality, they were probably waiting until there was someone they could make a deal with."
The Deventor family's goal wasn't to completely annihilate the House of Jestrad and swallow the territory whole. They just wanted to secure the copper mine and extract war reparations.
"And for that, they needed someone who could formally sign a contract."
At the time, there was considerable opposition to the delinquent Karnak becoming lord.
But after two years passed and he actually took over as head of the house, everyone came to acknowledge and respect him.
"They respected me? Why?" Karnak asked.
At that question, the old butler's eyes suddenly filled with tears.
"How could anyone not respect a lord who was willing to risk his life to protect his territory?"
What the hell? He's tearing up even while under mental domination? How sincere is this guy?
Karnak was dumbfounded and about to move on to the next question when—
"Wait. Risk my life?"
Karnak's expression hardened.
"What do you mean by that? Why would I be risking my life?"