The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

1 – Translation

I recalled my previous life. A life filled with painful memories I had no wish to remember. The question of how I knew about the device was finally answered.

However, why was there a smartphone in front of me now?

The question lingered in my mind, with no immediate solution to it.

“I remember using this phone once.”

It was the Galaxy S20 I had been using in my past life. Even the wallpaper was the same. I raised my thumb to unlock the screen, but as expected, my fingerprint wasn’t recognized.

Not a problem since I could just unlock it using a pattern.

I got moving. I sat at my desk and examined the smartphone first.

It was undoubtedly the smartphone I had used. Every file from the music to the photos, I had stored them there.

Although I had enjoyed listening to music and my photos were mostly of food…

I pressed the call button and dialed 112.

‘This area does not have coverage. Please move to an area with coverage and try again.’

Expectedly, it didn’t work. I attempted to use other functions, but could only confirm that only applications that did not require data were working.

“Nifty to have, but useless to me. I wonder if it’s worth reselling.”

With that thought, I left the desk, abandoned the phone, and went to the kitchen to cook.

Though calling it cooking was a bit much – all I did was reheat the leftover stew and ladled it into a bowl.

I submerged my chilled, stale bread in the stew and contemplated.

Even though my past life’s memories returned, I had to live in this world. I didn’t have any urgent need to return to my previous world as it seemed no different than this one.

Besides, there were no immediate means of returning, so I needed to find a way to get by first.

Life was anything but gentle to a thirteen-year-old boy. To survive meant having to work diligently.

When I finished eating and was thinking about my next move… I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to clean up the granny’s lab.

While it’s grandly referred to as a lab, in reality, it was a musty attic filled with the smell of medicinal herbs. Granny spent most of her time there.

“I need to tidy up.”

Leaving my dishes as is, I headed up to the attic. Our cabin’s attic was relatively spacious. The old bookshelf was crammed with worn-out books.

The desk was a mess, but the most eye-catching items were the thickest book and a page with a pen.

I examined the thick book and the page of paper. I had learned how to read the world’s language from granny.

However, I couldn’t read anything written in that thick book. I gave up trying to read it and focused on the page.

The page was written in Imperial, a language I can read. I read out loud the content written on the page.

“Necronomicon… This book describes the commanding arts to rule the dead. If you are apt for soul gazing, then the methods are really simple…”

“The way to gain the ability to gaze at souls is also simple. Just drink the blood of a young girl under 14…”

“If you see the world upside down after drinking the blood, then you’ve gained the ability. Howbeit, if nothing changes, it means you aren’t apt and should simply give up…””Just do it…”

“Only those who have awakened their spiritual sight may turn the page…”

Something suspicious was written there. It wasn’t strange, considering that the old man himself loved such suspicious things. Normally, I would have sold this book while sorting it out, but…

“The Commandment and simplicity…”

The two keywords stimulated my curiosity. Let’s leave these books here for now. They might be useful later…

That’s how I left the old man’s lab. I quietly laughed, reminiscing about the chaotic day that followed the old man’s death.

“Now it’s a good day not to hear those strange nagging anymore.”

To collect my thoughts, I went to sleep.

**

I was awakened early in the morning by someone knocking frantically. Thinking it was a dream, I pulled the blanket over my head and closed my eyes.

But the knocking became louder and transformed into a noise, leading me to go to the front door and nervously open it. To my surprise, it was an unexpected visitor standing in front of me.

“You’re the slave dealer, aren’t you?”

The peculiar middle-aged man with a protruding belly scratched his head and looked at me. He sighed as if he had faced an unfortunate event and said,

“I came to see the wizard, not a brat like you.”

And he was holding a chain. At the end of the chain, I saw a young girl shackled.

Her blonde hair was dirty with dust, but it shone brilliantly in the rising sun. A blue-eyed girl with blue eyes in stark contrast to her hair color.

She looked exactly like a slave.

“The wizard passed away yesterday. We just held his funeral.”

Upon hearing this, the slave dealer’s eyes widened. He made a sad face and said,

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So if you have any business, you may talk to me.”

The slave dealer seemed saddened by the wizard’s death and couldn’t continue his words. He had encountered the old man a few times in the city. Apparently, he was indebted to the old man, although I don’t know what that favor was.

“Actually, I hastily bought her from another city because a month ago, he said he needed a young girl under 14 years old. Seems like I am a step late.”

I should have come before he died… The murmuring slave dealer made me scratch my head. The old man’s very detailed spell reminded me of the contents of the Necronomicon I read yesterday.

Could it be a coincidence?

“But he passed away very peacefully. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“Thanks for saying that.”

As the slave dealer and I were talking, an incomprehensible sentence popped out of the girl’s mouth.

“■■■■··· ■■ ■■■■.”

It was a word I could not understand. In fact, it was a word I had never heard before. I looked at the slave dealer in wonder.

“Oh, she isn’t from the Empire, she’s from the Mortonia Kingdom.”

“Oh, she speaks the kingdom language.”

The empire was the country I was living in now. And of course, there were other countries besides the empire in this world.

One of them was the Mortonia Kingdom.

“What do we do now?”

“You are the wizard’s successor, so you choose.”

“To be honest, the increasing number of mouths to feed is burdensome…”

I looked at the girl’s lifeless eyes. Her eyes seemed the deepest and darkest of all the eyes I had ever seen.

I sighed. And I remembered the contents of Necronomicon. The blood of a child under 14.

“No. No, I’ll take her. I think the wizard would have had a reason to buy this girl.”

“Alright. Understood. Obviously, communication will be difficult, but she is beautiful and will be useful in many places. She obeys well, but… she seems quite disconsolate, so be careful.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

That’s how the slave dealer left. And I was left alone, looking at the blonde-haired slave in shackles.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“■■■··· ■■■■···.”

There was no way we could communicate. I wondered what to do with such a slave. And not far from me… there was a vibration sound from my desk.

That’s when both the slave and I were startled and looked that way, where the smartphone…The light was on my phone.

“What’s this?”

I quickly moved towards my smartphone. And when I looked at the screen of the smartphone, the translation app was turned on.

[Do you want to translate?]

I blinked my eyes and impulsively clicked the YES button.

“Damn it. I’ll kill you.”

Then I heard the metallic voice of an announcement coming from the cellphone. The slave was taken aback, just like I was.

Can it translate a language that’s not even of this planet, this… But still, I had nothing left to lose. I quickly manipulated the translation app. I ignored the slave’s curses. Because there was something more important.

[Imperium Language]

[Kingdom Language]

“Is this for real?”

The options of languages added included Imperium and Kingdom language. At this unbelievable turn of events, I was scratching my head, glancing back and forth between the slave and my smartphone. Among the languages that could be inputted in the keyboard, Imperium language was additionally added, excluding English and Korean.

“Well… okay.”

I tapped the translator. ‘I want to know your name.’ I translated the sentence as simply as possible for the device to interpret. And then I showed it to the guy.

Oops, the literacy rate in this world would be pretty high… It was doubtful that a girl taken as a slave would know how to read.

When I turned the phone around and was about to play the typed letters in speech.

“Dorothy…”

“Huh?”

“Dorothy Richmond…”

Only then did I take a good look at the slave’s face.

The slave’s face was covered in tears. Shaking violently, she crouched on the ground, prostrated flat, and began to plead forgiveness from me with a frightened voice.

“■■■■! ■■■■■! ■■■■■■■…”

Why is she acting like this all of a sudden… I didn’t understand her behavior.

I used the translation app and then I found out why.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you knew Kingdom language. Please forgive the rudeness I just did.”

Contrary to the scared voice of the slave, the voice of the smartphone was very cold and calm. The gap was so unnerving that a small laugh erupted from me.

And then that giggling was interpreted as an intent to punish her by the slave, and she began to make prostrations while she was in fetters.