Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It seems an evil farmer has come to take Ardiman’s place as the dungeon master.

“What are you doing? Chop chop! Get a move on.”

The farm owner wasn’t very menacing, but her each and every word exerted terrifyingly intense pressure. She seemed even scarier than the demon Ardiman for some reason. Fear stoked the servility etched into their bones. The Skeleton Troops, or Skeleton Laborers rather, began to work diligently.

It was harsh labor, not unlike before. They were ordered to cultivate the wasteland from the eastern horizon to the western. Afterward, they had to find a vein of water and dig up a huge well. Their backbones ached as they tirelessly shoveled dirt away and slammed down their pickaxes.

“Sir, please don’t strain yourself too much! Please leave it to us!”

“N-no, it’s fine. I’m oka—”

“Hey, you! Over there! Stop slacking off and get back to work.”

The skeletal serfs were rattled at the mere sound of her voice. Even the slightest disapproval made them nervous. The evil farm owner quietly admonished them while mixing nursery bed soil where the seedlings would soon be planted.

“I know you’ve probably killed many adventurers. Work hard to atone for your sins.”

Skeleton Troop No. 1004 tightly gripped his pickaxe. She was right. Even taking their lack of autonomy into consideration, it didn’t change the fact that their pearly white hands were stained with the blood of so many other adventurers.

It is only right. Rest without atonement is a luxury that cannot be afforded to us. With renewed vigor, he rapidly picked up his pace in digging the well. Skeletal Laborer No. 1004’s initiative motivated the other skeletons around him. After many hours of toiling when the well was completely dug out, they heard a voice.

“Good work. Now dig up seven holes over here. We have to dig some graves.”

The skeletal laborers tilted their heads in confusion, as they didn’t see any corpses to bury.

“You guys rest in graves, right? There’s seven of you, so we need seven graves.”

R-really? Was this really happening? The skeletal laborers rejoiced. The land had been overly congested under Ardiman’s rule and they were often stuck resting five to a grave. They were elated by the improved living conditions offered by the evil farmer.

As is often the case, a singular good deed from a tyrant tends to minimize all of the terrible things they have done before. Just as the skeletons were expressing their gratefulness, the evil farm owner spoke once more.

“I’ll make sure you get a tombstone and some flowers if you continue to do a good job. You guys were all probably humans too, at some point.”

The skeletal laborers were stunned into silence. A tombstone with their names. That was their sole wish after becoming skeletons. No. 1004 brushed a finger against his bony cheek. It felt as if tears were gushing from his absent eyes.

✠

Three weeks flew by. The transmigration gods had hardly been in contact during that entire time. They had mentioned that there would be a system update soon. They were probably busy working on that. At this point, already a month and a half has passed since I transmigrated into this world. I diligently sucked up all the experience points I could through the tutorial.

I was investing a painstaking amount of effort to raise my alchemy level to fulfill my goal of becoming not only powerful but wealthy as well. My alchemy level rose to 7 and unlocked [Great Increase in Alchemic Efficiency] Lv. 4 (Passive).

My dad was utterly astonished when he verified the effects of my healing potion. “I can’t believe it! This is the exact same potion I created when I was ten!”

I was also taken by surprise at what he said. My rapid progress was a given, thanks to the system and [A Blessing of Extreme Growth], but my dad had achieved the same results through sheer talent alone. No wonder he was admitted into the Golden Ivory Tower. If I were to guess his alchemy level now based on the system, it would be well above level 20.

A single drop of water fell into the flask that was filled to the top with a potion. I looked back to see my dad’s eyes brimming with tears.

“D-dad? Why are you crying? Were you moved by my potion?” Of course, that didn’t seem likely.

“I’m sorry, Allie. We should be heading to the Golden Ivory Tower to bring out your full potential but I...”

“Oh...”

My dad had gone through a series of unfortunate events when he was younger. He’d been a promising alchemist at the Golden Ivory Tower but was unjustly driven out because he got on the wrong side of an elder alchemist.

That man had also been my dad’s master, but their relationship was ill-fated from the start. The elder alchemist recognized the younger man’s prodigious talents early on and took him under his wing to exploit his research. As it so often happens, my father fell victim to the ugly side of apprenticeship.

The master’s shameless crimes were soon discovered by a rival elder. Unfortunately, what awaited my father wasn’t retribution but more injustice. The heartless, conniving master found out about his plight and framed my dad who ended up being permanently driven out of the Tower. The young alchemist with no one to back him up was a convenient and expendable scapegoat, used by the others to conceal the truth.

I guess kind and innocent people are always subject to injustice. It’s always the talentless bums that are best at getting ahead. My dad’s master was no exception to this rule. As long as that man remained amongst the elite in the Golden Ivory Tower, it was virtually impossible for us, the Rodeline family, to re-enter.

“All because of me... I’m sorry Allie. I truly am.” My dad wept with the guilt that his existence hindered his own daughter’s future.

I placed my tiny hands atop his larger ones. “It’s okay, Dad. I’m already learning so much just from you.” Having the system around didn’t hurt either. It wasn’t like I had enough time to solely focus on alchemy. “So don’t let it get you down. I’ve never even been remotely interested in the Golden Ivory Tower. Why would I want to go there, away from you and Prinz?”

“Allie...!” He burst into tears and pulled me in close.

Why is he crying when I just comforted him? I awkwardly fidgeted around in his arms while he calmed down.

“I’ll teach you everything I know.”

“Thank you. Then shall we get started?”

“Yes, let’s. My Allie is so hard-working. Let’s continue giving it our all. At this rate, it won’t be long before you can come up with your own recipes.”

“Right!” At the time, I had no intention of taking things any further than mass-producing quality potions to get rich quickly. There was no way to predict that alchemy would later create a synergy effect with my other powers.

✠

I visited the now-agrarian dungeon with Bianca after finishing my alchemy lessons. The flow of time in dungeons is often much faster than in reality. This applied to my dungeon as well, at a 1:3 ratio.

Following that rule, since three weeks had passed since we plowed and planted the seedlings, we were re-entering nine weeks later in dungeon time. Many changes had occurred over the course of two full months.

“Everything’s much prettier than it was before.”

It was as Bianca said. Neat and orderly lines of various herbs boasted their viridity. A stream of water gurgled out of a reservoir and a shabby but quaint pavilion had been assembled nearby. Seven graves were marked with well-rounded mounds and lined nicely with stones. It was all the hard work and beautiful craftsmanship of the skeletons, who seemed to be quite attached to the agrarian dungeon.

They continuously toiled, taking care of the herbs, and gathered round to clatter their jaws excitedly every time a new leaf sprouted or a new flower bloomed. They even took time out to work on the landscape. They put in a lot of elbow grease, especially into the graves. Even now some of them were contentedly decorating the mounds with carefully carved stones and flowers.

“Hey guys, I’m back.”

Our sudden appearance seemed to have surprised them. All of the skeletons stopped what they were doing and stared at Bianca and me. Then, all of a sudden, they simultaneously came running and stood in formation in front of me, loudly clacking their mandibles.

Effects of the passive skill, [Infamy in the Realm of the Undead], kept them well disciplined.

“You can stop now, your teeth are going to fall out.”

Bianca and I sat down across from each other in the shabby, wooden pavilion. As we sat down, the best-looking skeleton with a well-rounded cranium served us herbal tea. The skeleton peered at Bianca as she sipped her tea elegantly.

His jaw slightly clacked as Bianca looked back at him.

Clack...?

“You’re asking me if it’s good?”

Clack.

“Yes. It’s terrific.”

For some reason, Bianca was great at communicating with the skeletons.