Karnak, Monarch of Death

At the pinnacle of the azure tower, located in the northern district of the capital Drunta, an elderly man with a chest-length gray beard posed a question to Karnak. The man was none other than Deltros, Eustil’s court mage and master of the tower.

”Are you truly practicing such magic?”

He was referring to Redeemer of Necromancy, the ultimate magic belonging to the Dallas school. In an era rife with the chaos of the Shadow of Doom, it was an exceptionally valuable spell. The more mages who mastered it, the easier it became to counter necromancers in battle. Upon hearing of Karnak’s usage of this magic, Deltros had no choice but to summon him immediately.

”Well, I had no idea such a thing as the Dallas school even existed...”

He didn’t doubt Karnak’s claim. After all, it was a historical fact that Dallas, a court mage from 150 years ago, had once lived. The notion that Dallas had secretly left behind a spellbook, which Karnak had coincidentally discovered and mastered, was not implausible within the field of magical academia. What intrigued him most was a different matter.

”At that time, necromancers were nearly nonexistent. Why would someone even research such magic?”

”I wouldn’t know. I merely studied what was left behind,” Karnak replied nonchalantly, handing Deltros the spell formula for Redeemer of Necromancy. ”This is the magic my late master passed down.”

Examining the parchment, Deltros’s expression stiffened slightly. ”This is an awfully troublesome type of magic.”

As a ninth circle mage, he quickly grasped its strengths and weaknesses. To wield the spell effectively, the caster required an exceptional ability to sense death energy or needed to instinctively identify flaws in the opponent’s magic formulas. Alternatively, the caster needed extensive knowledge of necromancy to dominate their opponent outright.

Since no mage could truly master both magic and necromancy simultaneously, the spell’s power hinged entirely on the caster’s natural talent.

”It’s a method heavily dependent on innate aptitude, isn’t it?” Deltros asked him.

“That’s right. I only recently became proficient enough to use it in real combat,” Karnak admitted.

Despite this dependency on talent, Redeemer of Necromancy was undeniably useful, especially against necromancers.

Deltros asked once more, ”Are you certain you can relinquish this to me?”

”What good would hoarding it do for me? All I’d achieve is making myself a target for the cult.”

”That’s true,” Deltros agreed.

From Karnak’s perspective, there weren’t many options to begin with. The spell only had significance when shared with the world. He couldn’t profit from it directly—there was no feasible way for a mere sixth circle mage to establish a tower and charge visiting mages for lessons. The most practical option was to sell it to a powerful mage and collect a tidy commission.

”Fine, let’s be straightforward. How much do you want?”

A sly grin spread across Karnak’s face.

***

Varos and Serati waited on the ground floor of the tower. Lapicel had stayed back to watch over their lodging, leaving only the two of them to accompany Karnak.

When Karnak descended, Serati approached him immediately. ”How did it go?”

”Let’s talk outside,” Karnak said, leading them out of the tower.

As they walked down the street, Karnak reached into his coat and retrieved something.

”I managed to secure a decent haul.”

What he revealed was a magic note stamped with the seal of the Eustil Kingdom. It was a reliable certificate exchangeable for cash at any bank.

”How much is it?”

Varos’s eyes widened in shock as he read the note.

”A thousand terakel gold coins?”

Karnak’s radiant expression hinted that he had negotiated a good deal, but no one expected the amount to be this astronomical.

”What kind of spell formula gets you paid this much?” Varos asked, bewildered.

Most common transactions in the region were handled in kellin, or copper coins. While Karnak’s party carried some rakelsilver coins for convenience, their stash of terakel gold coins rarely exceeded twenty pieces, reserved for emergencies. Yet the thousand terakel gold coins Karnak now held were equivalent to six months’ budget for the affluent Zestrad estate, taking into account its copper mines. Even for Deltros, a court mage, such a sum was no trivial matter to part with.

”Are all the mages here complete pushovers or what?” Varos muttered, incredulous.

Karnak gave him a sly smile. ”Of course, I baited the hook a bit more.”

He had hinted to Deltros that the Dallas school had other spells designed specifically to counter necromancy. While Karnak hadn’t yet mastered those spells and couldn’t reveal them, he promised Deltros that once he did, he would prioritize sharing them with him—for a hefty fee, naturally.

”That’s how I framed it.”

For an ordinary squad captain in the King’s Order, Redeemer of Necromancy was not particularly valuable. But in the hands of a court mage like Deltros, it could serve as a powerful political weapon.

”I even suggested it could help him gain an edge over that smug imperial court mage, Elezar,” Karnak added, grinning.

The prospect would have been highly tempting for Deltros. As a ninth circle mage, he would undoubtedly feel envy toward Elezar, a seeker of the tenth circle.

Serati tilted her head in thought. ”Wait, doesn’t Elezar already know that spell?”

Karnak chuckled. ”But Deltros doesn’t know that.”

Moreover, Elezar would hardly advertise that knowledge.

”In any case, Deltros will enjoy showing off his superiority.”

Varos raised an eyebrow. ”So, do you even have more spells to share later?”

”There are a few chaos magic formulas I’ve been developing for public release,” Karnak replied casually.

”So, it’s not entirely a scam,” Varos conceded.

The group now had a significant windfall, and Varos couldn’t help but smirk. ”So, what are we doing with this money? Should we have a fancy lunch?”

Serati rolled her eyes. ”You’re already eating fancy meals every day.”

The King’s Order paid well, especially for someone like Karnak, a squad captain. Varos and Serati also enjoyed officers’ wages, and Karnak’s position as a lord brought in ample funds from the territory for maintaining appearances. With their extravagant spending on high-end inns and gourmet food, they were far from frugal. They wouldn’t even need to tap into the thousand gold coins.

”Well, you never know when we might need a lot of money,” Karnak said, waving off her remark. ”That’s why I aimed high.”

His plan was to reinvest the money.

”Find a promising merchant guild, invest, and become a stakeholder. It’ll make future dealings much smoother.”

”A merchant guild?” Serati asked, her tone skeptical. ”A thousand gold coins is a lot, but it’s hardly enough to influence a guild.”

Terakel gold coins were small in size, roughly the size of a fingernail. Their value paled compared to the empire’s gold coins, where a single coin was worth seven terakel gold coins.

Karnak wagged a finger. ”Which is why I’m targeting someone small but with immense growth potential.”

”How can you possibly know who will grow big...?” Serati began but stopped mid-sentence, realizing something.

Ah, right. You two are from the future. Of course, you’d know.

Indeed, Karnak had originally planned to use his future knowledge to accumulate wealth. His newfound copper mine had made money worries a non-issue for a while, but he hadn’t forgotten the potential.

”At this point in time, Owent probably just started his guild and is barely scraping by,” Karnak said confidently.

Varos nodded. ”Ah, Owent’s a solid choice.”

”Who’s Owent?” Serati asked.

Karnak’s grin widened. ”The future leader of Altas merchant guild. Right now, he’s just a small-time merchant, but in a decade, he’ll be one of the top three tycoons in the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.”

***

Owent Altas had originally been a small merchant traveling between the Kingdom of Eustil and the Kingdom of Tarum.

Thanks to his exceptional business acumen, he managed to establish his own merchant guild at the relatively young age of thirty-five. While the early days of his venture were fraught with hardships, his guild quickly gained footing and expanded its trade routes across the Seven Kingdoms.

In just five years, Owent would become one of the top trading magnates in Eustil, rivaling the Tecas merchant guild. Ten years later, he would rise to become one of the three great merchants of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, alongside Shyruud of the Felmayer Kingdom and Regal of the Ethriel Kingdom.

”Honestly, I initially aimed for the Tecas Guild,” Karnak admitted. ”Owent felt like too big a target at first.”

However, after returning to the past, Karnak discovered that the Tecas Guild had already become the largest merchant guild in Eustil. He didn’t have to look far—Tecas was even handling the contracted mining operations at Zestrad territory’s copper mines.

”Originally, they weren’t supposed to become a major guild yet. I have no idea what happened four years ago.”

On the other hand, the Altas Guild was still a modest operation, struggling to grow beyond its initial stages. Karnak had already done some preliminary research.

”They’re still small, so an investment now would yield a significant return later,” he explained.

Even just securing a partnership with the guild would ease financial concerns for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the guild’s regional connections would make traveling throughout the kingdom far more convenient.

”With Owent’s talent, the guild should grow steadily without any major problems,” Karnak added.

”True,” Varos agreed. ”Though about ten years from now, they’ll almost go under during the great famine in the southern Kingdom of Lipaul. But that won’t happen this time.”

Serati, startled by the revelation, blinked. ”Wait, there’s a famine coming in ten years?”

If the guild would fail in a decade, wouldn’t investing now be unwise? But upon reflection, she realized there was no real issue.

”Well, I guess if you know in advance, you can prepare for it.”

Karnak shook his head. ”Not prepare. The famine won’t happen at all.”

”What?”

Varos chuckled at Serati’s confusion. ”The famine was the young master’s doing.”

Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Karnak clarified, ”Strictly speaking, I didn’t intend to cause a famine.”

At the time, he had been looking for an easier way to expand his undead forces.

”I secretly released a plague on the grain supply,” he admitted.

The plan was to infect people who consumed the grain, using necromancy to render them mindless puppets under his command. It would have gained him tens of thousands of servants. Karnak had thought it was a clever idea—until it backfired.

”The wheat and barley died before the humans,” he explained.

He needed humans to consume the infected grains, but the grains failed to even make it to harvest before it withered. With the crops dead, his scheme fell apart, and he gained no new minions. Instead, he caused a massive famine.

”In the end, even we ran out of food,” Varos added.

”So we fled to the empire,” Karnak concluded.

”The Seven Kingdoms turned into a hellscape of famine,” Varos recalled.

”But it did get easier to operate later,” Karnak said.

”True. With so many corpses lying around, gathering materials for undead armies was convenient,” Varos replied.

As the two reminisced, nodding in agreement, Serati could only watch in stunned silence.

”Wow. What the actual fork,” she muttered.

”Huh?”

”Nothing,” she replied, shaking her head. ”Just thinking about how life keeps serving up weird dishes.”