Monarch of Death

Chapter 2. Something Feels Off

The first thing Karnak saw when he opened his eyes was a young man in his twenties with a rather naive impression and blonde hair.

‘…Who is this? He seems familiar, though.’

As Karnak pondered, a familiar voice reached his ears.

“Excuse me, could you be the young master?”

He remembered who it was.

“Ah, it’s you, Varos.”

The young man before him had been his loyal servant before becoming a Death Knight, back when he was still young.

“This isn’t quite what I expected.”

Varos blinked and wore a dazed expression.

“Hello, my present self… I thought a new life would unfold… I expected to feel disoriented… Something like that.”

Karnak didn’t bother to chide him.

“Well, I thought so too.”

Who would have thought that everything would change the moment he opened his eyes?

It was so sudden that it didn’t even feel real.

“Bring me a mirror. I want to check how I look.”

“Talking about mirrors? Do you think we could afford such an expensive item at this point in time?”

For the Death King Karnak, who once ruled the world, a mirror would have been a common and cheap item. However, as the illegitimate child of a minor noble, it was a luxury beyond his reach.

Instead, Varos checked his face for him.

“Don’t worry. You look exactly like you did at 20, young master. You have a skinny frame, black hair, black eyes, and the same arrogant expression.”

“…Do I really look that unpleasant?”

“Didn’t I tell you to make a kinder face? Despite being handsome when you’re calm, you always had a look of dissatisfaction with everything, tsk tsk.”

Karnak smiled with satisfaction.

“At least one thing hasn’t changed.”

Even after returning to the past, Varos was still Varos.

“You’re still as insolent as ever.”

And he had kept this insolent servant by his side for over a hundred years.

By now, he had grown too accustomed to it to be offended.

“Yeah, I did have a lot of complaints about the world when I was younger.”

Karnak looked around.

The two of them were standing in a dark cave.

A small table was placed against one wall, and on top of it lay an open book. The only source of light was a small, flickering candle.

Karnak picked up the book, which looked more like a scribble pad, and muttered.

“Here it is, the beginning of everything.”

It was an old book he had found by chance deep within the family’s storage. Although called an old book, it wasn’t even a proper one.

It was a crude notebook, handwritten in a messy script, without even a title.

It wasn’t a properly published book, but rather something someone had scribbled down privately.

However, it was from this book that he had gained the knowledge to first walk the path of necromancy.

“Shall I give it a try…?”

Muttering to himself, Karnak snapped his fingers.

A tiny flame, no larger than a fingernail, flared up and began to consume the old book, growing larger as it did.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the fire reduced the book to ashes and then died out.

“So this is the extent of my necromantic power at this point in time.”

Karnak nodded to himself.

“It’s just about what I expected. Since I’ve only just started learning necromancy, this makes sense.”

Varos, who had been watching, flinched in surprise and asked, “Ack! Was it okay to burn that?”

“I’ve already memorized everything in it, so it doesn’t matter.”

The book itself didn’t contain any special dark magic. It was just an ordinary book with knowledge written down.

“And the knowledge inside wasn’t particularly advanced. It was just basic-level necromancy.”

The reason he had become the world’s greatest necromancer was because he had traveled the world, continuously acquiring ancient knowledge. It wasn’t as if this one book had suddenly turned him into a top-tier necromancer.

“That’s precisely why it had to be burned. After all, this book was what allowed me to begin learning necromancy.”

If Karnak could use it to get started, then some other fool could as well.

Moreover, if someone were to discover he was in possession of such a book, he’d be lucky to face only a hanging; if he was unlucky, he’d be burned at the stake.

“There’s no need to keep something that could cause trouble later.”

After brushing off the ashes, he turned his gaze toward the cave’s entrance.

He could see light shimmering in the distance.

“Shall we head outside for now?”

***

Karnak screamed.

“Ugh!”

Varos was also startled.

“W-what is this?”

A tremendous light was pouring down from above!

It was an overwhelming amount of light, as if it could burn the entire world!

Varos mumbled blankly, “Ah, this is that.”

“Huh?”

“Sunlight.”

“Now that you mention it, the sun was always like this, wasn’t it?”

The two of them looked around, their faces dazed. As their eyes adjusted, the world around them came into focus.

In hindsight, it was only natural.

They were no longer undead but fully alive humans, so why would sunlight feel like the hellfire of the underworld?

In reality, their eyes were only dazzled for a few seconds before it was over. The reason they had overreacted was more psychological than anything else.

But there was still more to overreact to.

“Oh, wow!”

“The sunlight is so warm, young master!”

“The smell of grass! I can smell grass!”

“And the scent of soil too!”

The sensations that every human naturally experiences and often takes for granted overwhelmed the two.

Karnak and Varos were moved to tears. And they were moved again by the fact that they could shed tears.

“Look at this, Varos! Tears! I’m crying!”

“I’ve even got a runny nose!”

“I’m even drooling!”

“At this rate, do you think we could even pee?”

“Of course we can! We’re human again!”

“…Let’s stop talking about gross stuff now, shall we?”

Nevertheless, they had regained it.

The ability to feel, to experience emotions, to be moved—true physical bodies.

What they lost in exchange was their absolute power.

No longer were they the greatest necromancer or the mightiest Death Knight in human history.

“Ah, who needs that crap anyway!”

“Exactly! It’s not like that stuff made us happy!”

Karnak shouted to his longtime servant.

“This time, let’s try living like real people!”

***

In a forest on a low hill, two men walked along a sunlit path between green trees.

They were both dressed in plain, slightly shabby travel clothes.

The young man with scruffy blonde hair suddenly placed a hand on his forehead and looked up at the sky.

“The weather’s nice.”

The handsome young man with sleek black hair replied absentmindedly.

“Yeah, the weather’s really nice.”

The sun was shining brightly, the sand sparkled.

The weather was certainly fresh and warm.

“…It’s too hot, though.”

“And the sweat is making me irritable.”

“Yeah, this sensation thing is oddly annoying.”

The black-haired young man, Karnak, let out a deep sigh.

“Living in a physical body is such a hassle.”

It had been half a day since they packed their things, left the cave, and set out on the road.

They were hot and irritable, hungry and irritable, and thirsty and irritable.

The momentary sense of wonder had faded, and as time passed, they began to miss their old powers again.

This must be why people are said to be fickle.

“Well, there’s no turning back now, so we’ll just have to get used to it.”

Grumbling, Varos unfolded a map.

“It should be about time to reach Darha Village…”

He scratched his head as he compared the map to the surrounding terrain.

“It’s been so long that I don’t remember anything.”

After all, they had gone back more than a hundred years. It would be stranger if they did remember.

“Still, there should be a restaurant there, right? Since it’s a village on the trade route.”

“Of course, that’s why my old self chose this place.”

This time period was when Karnak had first secretly left his family to learn necromancy.

He had spent several months in a secluded cave deep within the forest, avoiding others’ eyes as he delved into the dark arts.

“Judging by my mana level, it seems like it’s been about two months since I first gained necromantic power.”

“So, it’s not exactly the moment when you first felt necromantic power?”

“Considering we’ve traveled back over a hundred years, a margin of error like that is expected.”

Even while learning necromancy, he still needed to eat. It was difficult to expect such services in a remote place where outsiders rarely ventured.

That’s why he had purposely chosen the low hills near Darha Village.

Darha Village was located on the central trade route of the Kingdom of Ustil. As a trading village with inns, restaurants, and shops for peddlers, Karnak often sent Varos to buy necessities there.

“Now that you mention it, I think I do remember that.”

As he muttered, Varos’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“Wait, does that mean we can now enjoy rich red wine and juicy beef?”

Karnak tried to ignore the sparkling, starry-eyed look from his loyal servant and wore a sad expression instead.

“As if a high-class restaurant like that would exist in Darha Village.”

Even if such a restaurant did exist, they wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway.

“We don’t have any money.”

“True, we are poor, aren’t we?”

Varos slyly lifted the money pouch hanging from his waist.

“It’s pretty heavy, but that’s only because it’s full of coins.”

This era’s Karnak had no connection to higher-quality currency like silver coins.

Gold coins? He’d only seen those from a distance a few times.

Karnak let out a deep sigh.

“What’s the point of being from a noble family if it’s completely bankrupt?”

And to top it off, he was the unwanted illegitimate child of that ruined household.

He still vividly remembered how he had scraped together small change for this secret journey, even though it had been over a hundred years ago. The memory was so clear, it was as if it had just happened.

“That’s why I was so desperate to learn necromancy in the first place. Now it really feels like I’m back.”

As they walked, Karnak reminisced about the past.

“Come to think of it, does this mean I’ll have to face my parents and two older brothers again? I really don’t want to.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to either,” Varos grimaced.

Given that the family had fallen into such ruin, they had been particularly harsh toward Karnak.

Being an illegitimate child was always a source of conflict to begin with.

Had the two brothers been in better circumstances, they might have shown some leniency, but they were struggling to take care of themselves. Naturally, whenever they dealt with Karnak, they treated him harshly.

Of course, back then, Karnak also ground his teeth in frustration whenever he faced them.

Would he be able to remain calm if he met his brothers again?

As he recalled the past, Varos looked worried.

“Are you sure you won’t just lash out the moment you see them, young master?”

“Come on, what’s the point now? I’ll just flatter them a bit and suck up.”

“Wasn’t it because you couldn’t do that that things escalated?”

Remembering how he had brought about the downfall of his family, killed his two brothers, and committed all kinds of atrocities, Karnak smirked.

“I can handle it now. I’ve aged, haven’t I? I’m not some twenty-year-old brat anymore.”

“But the current you is exactly that twenty-year-old brat.”

“The inside has aged a hundred years, though.”

Back then, he couldn’t tolerate being ignored and had lashed out in youthful rage, but now he was confident he could let things slide.

“Looking back, it wasn’t even that harsh.”

At the time, he had felt as though he bore the weight of the world’s misfortunes on his shoulders, but now, after experiencing all kinds of things, he realized something.

His two brothers, like ordinary people, had merely dumped their own misery onto Karnak because they were suffering too.

“Wait, but now that I think about it, they were a bit over the top compared to others. Huh, I’m starting to get mad thinking about it.”

“See? Your temper hasn’t changed one bit.”

“Just kidding, just kidding.”

Waving his hand dismissively, Karnak continued walking along the mountain path.

In any case, the problem at hand wasn’t the distant family estate, but the immediate need for a meal.

“But what about money? Should we rob someone on the road?”

“I thought we were going to live like decent people?”

“Right, old habits die hard…”

“Robbery is a habit for you?”

“Are you acting like it’s not? You’ve killed more people than I have!”

“Yeah, but I killed them and then brought them back to life.”

“I’m the one who brought them back. You only killed them.”

As they continued their ambiguous conversation, they eventually reached the edge of the forest, where the field began.

In the distance, Darha Village came into view, faintly visible.

“Let’s get something to eat first. We can think after that.”

Varos’s face brightened at Karnak’s suggestion.

Although they needed to save some money for the journey back home, they could at least afford a meal.

“Wholeheartedly agree, young master!”