After breakfast, I said goodbye to my sister and Klein. It is worth mentioning that my sister bombarded me with an infinite number of suggestions and warnings, while Klein only watched me and murmured to himself while nodding with satisfaction.

“Klein is definitely up to something...” —I murmur as I gaze at the great city gate.

The splendid thing about this outfit is the hooded cloak, thanks to which I can keep the rest of my flashy equipment hidden.

I mean, clothes made from Wyvern fur and provided with Mythril plates, how could something like that not be flashy?

I let out a long breath as I walk through the city gate. According to the mission information, mine is located close to the main road.

Several carts pass by me as I move along the side of the dusty road. After several hours, what I was looking for finally appears in my vision, a large rock on the side of the road.

The half-meter diameter rock has a slightly smooth face and traces of what were once chiseled characters can see on it. An old sign pointing the way to the old mine.

I leave the main road and go along a path mostly hidden by the undergrowth.

According to information from this quest, several merchants and travelers have reported they have seen what appears torches around the old mine in the middle of the night from the main road.

Since a candle can be bright in the dark, Enaria has taken these reports seriously, but not enough to send soldiers. From what the guild believes, it could be some homeless person who has taken the old mine as a home. Whatever, my task is simply to check the area and inform the guild of any findings.

Soon the landscape changes from an area covered with grass and brush for an area with many rocks of all sizes scattered throughout the place. A tiny hill appears in my vision, and a large opening on one of its sides confirms it, it is the old mine.

Instinctively, I place my left hand on the hilt of my sword.

As I continue, the grass disappears and I notice something because it should not be present in this area, wheel marks.

“I very much doubt that an underdog can own a cart” —I murmur as I tighten the grip of my left hand on the hilt of my sword.

As I continue to move forward, the wheel marks become more noticeable.

I step off the path and proceed cautiously and trying to use the large rocks around to avoid being seen by anyone who might watch from the access to the mine.

I hide behind a large rock and watch the access to the mine for several minutes. There is no movement and I don’t hear any sound coming from inside.

“This could end up giving me more points than expected” —with such an incentive, I unsheathed my sword and moved towards the access to the mine.

Once standing in front of the access, I contemplate the inner darkness, but I continue hearing no sound coming from inside. I look at the ground and discover marks of wheels that lead to the interior.

“I hope its something interesting...” —I mumble as I take the first step inside.

The mine tunnel descends, and I continue my advance, hearing nothing beyond my own steps.

This place was once a thriving coal mine. Once the coal ran out, it abandoned this mine was complete.

Since the excavations extend through much of the subsoil below this area, the area is worthless. Who would be interested in a terrain that may collapse because of the many tunnels below the surface?

Still, from my experience, I know that these types of places are suitable for hiding or realize suspicious operations. In places like this, I have encountered demons and bandits countless times.

As I continue to move forward, the amount of light decreases, as does the circulation of fresh air. Soon an intense smell of alcohol reaches my nostrils.

“There is definitely something interesting here...” —I mumble as I continue advancing.

Where in the world could one find a mine that smells of alcohol? I smiled in anticipation as I continued to move forward.

Suddenly to my ears comes the unmistakable sound of a person coughing. I raise my level of caution and glimpse a fork in the tunnel.

Upon reaching the fork, the tunnel on the left is worthless as it completely engulfed in darkness, while the tunnel on the right is dimly lit by a light in the background.

I take the tunnel on the right and after advancing several meters, illumination increases. Soon I find two horseless carts, which has loaded with various wooden crates.

Behind the carts the tunnel turns dark, the dim lighting comes from another adjoining and much narrower tunnel that leads to the right and which is located just to the side of the carts.

I enter the lighted tunnel and hear once again someone coughs.

“We’ve been taking too much risk moving merchandise in the middle of the night, the torches are too flashy and someone has probably seen them from the main road”

After hearing a conversation coming from the tunnel, I take several steps back and return to the tunnel where the carts are located.

“It can’t help, the governor has rotated the turns of the city gate guards. We can no longer pass the gates by day, we have to do it at night when our favorite guards turn a blind eye for some coins ”

Smugglers?

“Can’t we just offer the same pay to the guards now work in the day?”

“And risk being learned? There is no way that the Count wants to risk that way”

A Count? This seems more interesting than I thought.

“Shall we keep moving at night then?”

“Even if someone notices the torches and reports it, the governor will not send his soldiers, instead he will request the guild to send adventurers”

“Why don’t you look worried?”

“These quests as poorly paid, only a novice would take it. All we have to do is cut off his head”

“Won’t something like that attract more trouble?”

“Relax, I was just joking. If an adventurer appears, we will give him some silver coins to he reports that found nothing”

It is an excellent plan. Compared to the twenty copper coins offered by the reward, some silver coins could easily buy the silence of someone in need to take a mission as low-paid as this.

“Nor is it as if we had to stay in this situation for a long time, the change of government will be in a few months and with the Count assuming the position, we will be able freely to distribute the alcohol in every corner of Enaria”

Alcohol? Probably it is dwarf alcohol, easy to make, but toxic to humans in excess. If you are not a dwarf and drink too much of that thing, you will die or you will end up forgetting even your own name. That is why dwarf alcohol has prohibited in every human kingdom.

“Don’t the rumors say that Baron Ren’Lai will be the next governor of Enaria?”

“A dead man cannot rule a city. Baron Ren’Lai will not return alive from his journey ”

A powerful laugh reaches my ears.

This is much more than I expected. From what I’ve heard, whoever as the Count these smugglers work for, this Count is planning to get Klein’s father out of his way.

How should I proceed?

If I intervene in this smuggling operation and kill these guys, the aforementioned Count could stay alert and change his plans, and the testimony of two criminals would not be enough to sink a nobleman.

If I retire and report to the guild, the same will happen.

If I lie to the guild and inform Klein, when everything has uncovered, I was could have blamed for lying to the guild in favor of the Ren’Lai family, and this could end up damaging the Ren’Lai family image.

“I guess it’s time to play the demon king in the shadows...” —I smiled as I entered the lighted corridor once more.

I have only heard the voices of two men. There is unlikely to be more.

The corridor has illuminated by several oil lamps hanging from the mine wall, at the end there seems to be a larger space.

What I find at the end of the corridor is a spacious room was probably to use in the past as a warehouse or registry office when the mine was still operational.

The place is full of wooden drawers that seem to contain clay and glass containers. This is undoubtedly dwarf alcohol.

In the center of the place setting at an old table, two men play cards while they chat.

“Sorry to interrupt you, but I would like to ask you some questions”

Both men who are focused on their talk and their card game has startled to hear my voice.

The two of them immediately stand up in a panic, one of them picking up a broadsword he kept by the table, while the other takes his nervous gaze towards a wooden drawer to my left, specifically to a small hand ax leaned on the wooden drawer.

In a quick movement of my left hand, I throw my sword at the man who is taking the broadsword from the table. My sword makes several turns in the air and then pierces the man’s throat.

The man groans and falls to the ground on his back as he brings his hands to his throat. The other’s eyes widen in surprise and disbelief.

I reach out and take the hand ax.

“Wait...!” —the last man cannot make his words concrete, what was undoubtedly his ax comes to him flying and encrusts on his chest.

A fair amount of blood leaps into the air as the second man falls to the ground.

The room plunges into a deep silence as a pool of blood forms on the floor.

I walk to the table and reach the body of the first smuggler and retrieve my sword. I wipe the blood from the edge in the man’s clothes and for a second I stop and see a word engraved on the blade of my sword, “Elysa”. After making the contract with the sword and giving it some of my blood, that was the name I chose for it. As for the outcome of the contract, at the moment the sword has only awakened, and from now on it will accumulate experience while I use it.

The sword of a hero, whose blade will never stain with the blood of innocents. This is what I decided when choosing that name.

By wielding this sword I will become a hero of great fame, and my sword “Elysa” will become synonymous with justice. This will be my way of paying to my sister for offering me her unconditional love, thanks to which I could keep a cool head when I recovered my memories, if not for her, the hatred would probably have blinded me completely and I would have raised an army of undead to march towards the center of the continent.

“I suppose I must get another sword for it to act as my darkness” —I smiled as I returned the sword to its scabbard on the left side of my waist. “It’s time to talk...” —I mumble as I lean down and place my left hand on the smuggler’s forehead. “Anubis”

The light from the oil lamps flickers while a black mist emerges from my hand and spreads on the smuggler’s skin.

The lifeless body spasms violently and I withdraw my hand from his forehead as his eyes blink twice.

I step back as the smuggler awkwardly stands up. Blood continues to flow from the wound on his neck, but the blood is now black and putrid.

“M-master...” —the smuggler gives me an empty look as he babbles that word, and this is not because of the serious damage to his throat, zombies are mostly clumsy. His skin is now pale.

Necromancy, one of the most powerful and mean dark magic arts. A simple necromancer can raise a small army of zombies and shake a kingdom.

Necromancy is normally difficult to learn and mastery. One failure and the apprentice could end up turning himself into a zombie. In addition, there are several other risks, such as the Necromancer slowly starting to turn into a zombie, ending up as a genuine Lich.

However, like any other injustice in this world, there are skills that allow you to use Necromancy with no risk, and Anubis is the highest level of skill among these skills.

With this fearsome skill, Ikar the Necromancer destroyed entire kingdoms and even attacked the southern kingdoms.

“And now this fearsome power belongs to me ...” —I look at the palm of my hand and smirked. “So my little first zombie, why don’t we chat for a bit?”