Skilled and Dashing Kneeling

The two sides stared at each other, neither speaking first. It wasn’t until the smoke in Leklis’ pipe burned out that he stepped forward a few paces and flicked his robe in a rather stylish manner.

Thud!

“I surrender. According to the Church’s agreement, when undead mages fight within Church territory, once one of them surrenders, the victor may take all the loser’s followers, but you cannot kill me.”

As Leklis spoke, he knelt so skillfully and calmly that even Serea could sense a certain nonchalance exuding from his kneeling posture, despite the fact that he was surrendering.

“Huh? I’ve never heard of any such rule.”

“Uh… Well, considering we’re ‘in the same line of work,’ I don’t need the followers, and I won’t go after those humans anymore. All the humans’ goods are yours. How about just pretending you never saw me?”

“Are all undead mages of the Church of Death this cowardly?”

“This isn’t about cowardice. If you stood where I am, you’d be scared too.”

Leklis had shed his previous arrogance. He now reasoned with Serea in a matter-of-fact tone. Faced with such a ‘reasonable’ enemy, Serea truly found herself at a loss for words.

“Tut tut…”

“How about this—seeing how you’re a lone undead mage, why don’t I recommend you join the Church? You can take over my Preacher position. How about it?”

“What’s the benefit of joining you?”

“Well… at the very least, you won’t have to worry about being rejected by humans and going hungry—we provide meals. Plus, you can trade followers and materials with other undead mages. You have to understand, having companions is a good thing.”

Leklis knelt with ease, speaking with a natural calm. Serea truly could not muster a sense of hostility toward him.

“So, you said earlier that this place belongs to the Church, right?”

“Mm, our chapel is right in the woods. Would you like to take a look, my lord?”

“No interest. Besides, from now on, I’m taking this territory. I’ll set up a camp here. Will your Church be unhappy about this?”

Serea asked, and upon hearing this, leklis glanced at the underworld Undead, then shook his head so vigorously it was as if his neck was mounted on springs.

“No, no, no, we won’t have any objections. If you find us distracting, we’ll move the chapel right away. We’re all outcasts from human society, so let’s give each other a break. There’s a saying… ‘Leave a little room for others, and you’ll meet again someday.'”

“I think you shouldn’t be an undead mage—if you were on the negotiation tables between countries, there wouldn’t be so many wars on the Eastern Continent.”

“Right? I think so too. But that’s just life—things seldom go as we wish. So, since we’re both fellow outcasts, please let me go this once.”

Serea hesitated for a moment, then thought of something else.

“You say you have a Church, and you attacked that group of humans just to get money from the Church, right?”

“No, it was to get money from the humans. He hired me.”

“Alright, then tell me, who hired you?”

“It was a short man. But even if I tell you, my lord, it won’t help. Clearly, he’s just a follower; his master never showed themselves.”

“You’re pretty clever.”

“Those who aren’t clever are already dead. I was forced, too.”

“Fine, you’ve succeeded in sparking my interest in your so-called Church. Your headquarters is in the woods, right?”

“Uh… no, this is just a branch.”

“Still, as I said, we’ll set up camp here. If your ‘Church’ is willing to lend a hand, I’d be happy for us to coexist peacefully.”

“No problem, my lord. Just say the word. As fellow undead mages, we should help one another.”

Leklis said this in a grand tone, but somehow, saying such things while kneeling felt rather odd…

“But to prevent you from going back on your word, you’ll have to follow me for now, and listen to me every step of the way.”

“No problem.”

Leklis agreed, then waved to the skeletons and zombies behind him.

“Go on, go back. I’ll be with my lord here for a while.”

The skeletons and zombies obediently headed back, marching deep into the woods. It seemed that was where the ‘Church of Death’ chapel was located.

“Tut tut, church of Death—such a grand name, but living so miserably…”

Serea muttered to herself, then took out a small bottle and tossed it to Leklis.

“Drink it.”

“Alright.”

Without hesitation, leklis stood up, walked over, and slowly picked up the bottle.

*Gulp gulp gulp!*

After finishing it, he even wiped his mouth.

“Aren’t you going to ask what I gave you to drink?”

“It’s best not to ask about things one shouldn’t know. As long as one can keep on living, why worry about the rest?”

“You really are a strange person.”

As Serea said this, she handed Leklis over to Little Black.

“Take him back and keep an eye on him. Don’t let him escape.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Queen.”

Little Black said, then went over and grabbed Leklis’ mage hat, dragging him away directly.

“Actually, I can walk by myself…”

Leklis wanted to say something, but Little Black ignored him, and dragged Leklis away. Meanwhile, the Skeleton Warriors concealed themselves again.

“I really didn’t expect such an unexpected gain.”

“Do you intend to keep him and the ‘Church of Death’ around?”

Celia asked, and Serea nodded.

“Mm, because we’re not familiar with this area at all—it’s inconvenient to establish a camp. But that undead mage has been active here and knows everything about the surroundings, so he can provide us with a lot of convenience.”

Understanding Serea’s reasoning, Celia made no further attempt to stop her. The two of them returned together into the jungle.

As soon as they had gone a bit further, Serea saw Julian approaching, leading several direwolves with the caravan’s guards.

Everyone was silent, the atmosphere heavy. Seeing Serea approaching, julian led the group forward, and Serea spoke first.

“The undead mage has been taken care of. And I can tell you this much—someone was behind the attack on you. The person who hired him is a short man, but the details are unknown.”

As Serea explained, julian frowned.

“So, someone was behind it…”

Julian thought about it, but could not for the moment come up with any clues about this ‘man behind the scenes.’ He put the thought aside, bowed deeply to Serea, and said:

“Thank you for your help and for telling us this information, my lord. If it weren’t for you, we might not have made it out today.”

“There’s no need for thanks, just remember to deliver my goods.”

“No problem, we’ll deliver them within five days.”

“Good, so what do you plan to do now…”

Seeing the direwolves behind Julian, Serea more or less understood already.

“The old… Chief Aruka agreed to lend us the direwolves temporarily, so we’re preparing to return to town immediately.”

“In that case, I won’t see you off. Safe journey.”

“You too, my lord. We’ll be off now.”

“Mm, go ahead.”

Serea watched the caravan leave, then returned to her own party.

It was time to keep moving. Before long, a blizzard would hit, so they had to reach the designated location before tomorrow morning.

(To be continued…)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep