Reincarnated Maid is About To Be Captured by All Players

Chris spent her mornings leisurely or dealing with minor issues within her domain.

As Chris wasn’t the true Baron of End in the full sense, the tasks assigned to her were minimal, easily handled by lower officials.

After dressing and freshening up, I followed Chris to the dining room.

“The adventurers who know [Astrology] are being protected? No worries, you all just stay within the Baron’s domain. It’s absolutely the safest place.”

“But in that case…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. The End Baron’s domain has secret passages for exiting.”

“Really?”

I was skeptical, feeling it might be just a comforting lie from Chris.

“All castles where nobles reside have secret passages. What do you think they’re used for, Anna?”

“I await your instruction.”

The thoughts of nobility are beyond my knowledge. Could there really be secret passages beneath the castle of the End Baron’s domain?

“Of course… for fleeing after being caught in an affair!”

“Uh…”

The End Baron’s domain, after all, is part of the territory and resort of Earl Montefeltro. Isn’t it a bit much to make such jokes about her own father?

“Just kidding. But indeed, some nobles use them for that. It’s actually fine inland, but domains near the national borders need secret passages for emergencies. Anna, do you remember the legendary Sun City, Heliopolis?”

“I’m aware. The most prosperous city on the Limoria continent a hundred years ago, known as the Sun City, the Golden City. It was rich in gold, a prosperous city-state.”

But that was only the record a hundred years ago. Had it continued safely to the present, it would have been even more flourishing.

I added, “Unfortunately, that city was targeted by the undead. They used evil powers and took over Heliopolis.”

Chris then narrated, “At that time, the leader of the undead that occupied Heliopolis was a [Necromancer]. Using despicable powers, it spread a great plague around Heliopolis.”

The [Necromancer]—like the [Vampire King] fought by Duke Borgia—was a powerful subordinate of the demon king, rumored to possess a legendary weapon: the Book of the Dead. Through this forbidden book recording all dark magic and witchcraft, the Necromancer spread an unprecedented plague in Heliopolis.

“The Necromancer spread the plague at night. In just one night, the entire city-state was infected. The terrifying part was the next day. When the sun shone on those infected, they began to burn, eventually consumed by unquenchable flames. The nobles of Heliopolis, realizing something was amiss, hid in the castle. The Church urgently dispatched clerics with the authority to use holy magic for support.”

But it was all too late. NPCs don’t have the convenient communication means like adventurers’ private messages, and the undead’s attack was clearly well-prepared. Those hiding in the castle found themselves isolated and despaired, eventually turning on each other and dying.

“When the Church’s clerics arrived, Heliopolis was already occupied by the undead. They fought fiercely against them, but the city’s accumulated despair reached a critical mass. The Necromancer detonated this despair, creating a vast black fog that completely blocked out the sunlight, forcing the Church to retreat.”

This incident marked the undead, previously without a territory and lurking in the shadows, finally establishing a foothold on the Limoria continent.

“So, the secret passages are for avoiding the great plague?”

“Right. At that time, the Church managed to save a few survivors. Holy magic was effective against the great plague, but since contact with sunlight meant self-destruction, how many could last until the arrival of holy magic? Also, those trapped seemed to have died due to lack of food and water, compounded by being in a closed environment, leading to infighting.”

Speaking of the great plague that shook the Limoria continent, Chris’s tone was extremely serious.

The great plague directly changed the continent’s landscape. In a world where even the highest military power couldn’t easily handle a swarm of enemies, the Necromancer almost single-handedly decimated a city. Heliopolis, a wealthy city with many skilled in magic, fell to the Necromancer’s plague.

“For hundreds of years, the Necromancer hasn’t launched another great plague, and the principles of his magic remain unclear. The Church tentatively calls it the ‘Black Death.’ The only confirmed condition for its activation is that the Necromancer must be near the city; it can’t cast the spell from afar. So, the secret passages around the kingdom’s periphery are designed to get supplies from cities not infected by the great plague and to hold out until the arrival of holy magic. However, the maintenance and construction costs aren’t cheap, and since the great plague occurred a hundred years ago, newer castles might have cut corners.”

“The reason for the precautions is because the [Necromancer] is still alive, right?”

The Necromancer, capable of creating the great plague, still lives, akin to an unpredictable bomb.

After the great plague, the Necromancer quickly disappeared from public view. The last sighting was hundreds of years ago, during the Church’s first crusade against the undead. At that time, the undead’s black fog had not expanded to the scale that exhausted the crusaders, and they almost reached the decayed walls of Heliopolis.

Since then, there have been no records of the Necromancer’s activities. People say he resides in Heliopolis, but that’s just speculation.