Chapter 28: Morne and the Backstory

I boarded the train naturally without any incident and sat in the seat while embracing my bag.

I was contemplating what to do upon returning to the academy.

“First, as soon as we return, let’s evolve Nickel,” I thought.

Since the success probability was 100%, I had no worries about failure.

If there was one question, it was the staggering 66 different branches.

“What exactly are these branches?” I wondered.

The branches I thought about were the types.

The next tier of Skeleton includes notable ones like Soldier, Archer, and Magician.

Although Soldier, Archer, and Magician are all 2nd-tier Skeletons, I considered branches as different types.

‘But 66 different branches, though.’

The numbers alone were alarming.

It must be the influence of the page of Sloth.

I really wanted to find out what could be so numerous, but unfortunately, the system wasn’t that kind.

I just hope to evolve into a strong creature.

While lost in thought for a while, we briefly stopped at a station.

Even though it was early morning and the weekend, there were many people moving around.

Many people got on and off the train, and while I was planning for the future, an elderly man with a cane approached and sat in front of me.

He looked like a kind-hearted neighborhood grandfather you could encounter anywhere.

However, I checked the face of the person sitting in front of me and suppressed my habitual emotions.

Despite being taken aback, I acted completely nonchalant and even pretended to observe the elderly man.

‘You’re Morne Dwalzki, aren’t you?’

Isn’t that too obvious?

What if they chase after me from the Empire?

It was the first time I saw a character in the game who had no discomfort with the graphics.

I recognized him immediately because he looked so similar.

Could it be that the main body itself has come to find me directly?

Is this how I’m going to die?

At that moment, Morun approached me and spoke.

“Child.”

“Yes? Me?”

I pretended not to know for now.

“Yes, child. Are you feeling okay?”

So, it was true that he came to find me.

But he doesn’t seem to be hiding his identity at all.

When Morne came out so openly, I decided to face him confidently.

“Yes, I’m fine. I apologize for the late greetings. I am Adrias Cromwell, sir.”

“Oh ho, do you know who I am?”

“Aren’t you the Godfather?”

“Haha. You are different from what I heard today, in many ways.”

The appearance and laughter of Morne, resembling a kind-hearted grandfather, felt strangely comforting.

However, paradoxically, that kind of demeanor raised my alertness to the maximum.

“Child.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m sorry.”

The sudden apology made my muscles tense throughout my body.

Is he planning to attack?

No matter how much he is Morne, is it possible to attack in such a crowded train?

“I truly apologize.”

But as I saw Morun apologizing once again, I realized that it was my misconception to perceive it as a sign of an attack.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why you suddenly brought up this topic.”

“No, it’s nothing. Instead, are you learning well from Charon?”

It became even more difficult to understand the situation when Morne suddenly changed the topic.

No, seriously, why did he suddenly apologize?

Even if I search my memories, this is the first time I’ve encountered Morne.

But it’s as if he’s apologizing for something that happened in the past…

‘The family?’

Thanks to Salem, I didn’t know, but I realized that there is something, something much bigger and more complicated than I thought, within the Cromwell family.

‘In the game, the Cromwell family had no influence, but why? Anyway, there’s definitely something going on.’

It felt like Morne was somehow connected to that something.

“I’m always receiving help from Professor Charon. It’s because of my own shortcomings that I always end up disappointing.”

“Hehe. Looking at your current state, it doesn’t seem like that at all. By the way, if you think Charon will scold you when you return, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ve put him under control.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

Is he not here to kill me?

Why is he treating me so well?

But I still didn’t let go of the tension.

I was even considering breaking the window of the running train and escaping if necessary.

“Your hand…”

“Yes?”

“May I touch your hand once?”

I really didn’t understand what he was saying.

Is he just a pervert? Am I his type?

I hesitated for a moment, but I had no other choice.

In the end, I cautiously reached out my hand.

Upon doing so, Morne took my hand and stared at it for a while.

“Are you training with a sword?”

“Yes.”

“At a busy time when you should be focusing on magic…”

I awkwardly smiled and tried to brush it off, and Morne released my hand with a gaze that seemed like he was looking at his grandson.

“Sir, but isn’t it dangerous for you to be walking around like this… in such a crowded train?”

“Hehe. Don’t worry, child. I have more than 3,000 people watching my every move with their eyes and ears. No one can approach me or investigate me. But more importantly, accept this.”

Surely, a renowned necromancer like Morne wouldn’t act without any thought.

As I let out a sigh of relief inwardly, he rummaged through his belongings and took out a thick book.

“What’s this?”

“It will be helpful. And it’s better to keep it hidden from Charon as well.”

As I gently flipped through the book, I saw that it contained records of necromancy.

Along with it, the system window appeared.

[Morne’s Grimoire]

‘A skill book!’

Considering that most items don’t display a system window, this proved its exceptional value.

Especially when a book is recognized as an item, it’s usually a skill book, and they are not so common.

While still holding the book in my hands and looking at the system window, Morne told me to put it in my bag.

I followed his instructions, putting the book in my bag, and expressed my gratitude.

“Thank you?”

Unknowingly, I expressed my gratitude in the form of a question.

Come to think of it, Morne had no reason to give me something like this.

If anything, he could have grabbed me if he wanted to.

But since he gave it to me, I simply accepted it, although I had no idea why he gave it to me.

“Well then, work hard.”

With those words, Morne grasped his staff again, stood up, and walked away.

Coincidentally, the train stopped, and he exited with impeccable timing.

No, I wanted to ask for the reason, but he disappeared so quickly?

Could there be a bomb spell installed in the book or something?

I carefully took out the book again and examined it, but there was no trace of anything like that.

‘My head hurts.’

Is it because I couldn’t sleep?

Everything that happened today felt like a dream.

From Salem to Morne.

I felt the need to learn more about the Cromwell family.

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It was evening when I finally arrived at the academy, and it was as lively as ever.

Outside, there were still quite a few people walking around, probably because it was Saturday evening.

Come to think of it, I succeeded in returning within the weekend, just as Charon said.

‘I’m hungry.’

Although I had a simple meal on the train, that was all I ate for the whole day, so I felt hungry.

However, I endured the hunger momentarily for the sake of the bag I was holding in my arms.

When I returned to the dormitory room, I immediately wondered where to put the bag.

Having obtained a treasure, I didn’t have an appropriate place to store it.

‘At times like this, I should leave it to Nickel.’

But before that, let’s try evolving first.

Creak.

Nickel, summoned immediately, seemed to be in good shape at first glance.

“Nickel, are you okay? Is there anything strange?”

In response to my question, he shook his head.

Then he solemnly wrote something in the air.

Training.

Training? What is training? What am I supposed to do?

Ignoring me, Nickel began swinging his sword.

Whether I should be relieved or angry at his consistency, I couldn’t decide.

“Nickel, let’s stop training for now and focus on evolving.”

[Skeleton Soldier (Legendary) – Evolution Possibility: 100%]

[There are 66 branches if you choose to evolve.]

[Would you like to proceed with the evolution?]

While Nickel looked at me as if asking what that meant, I chose to evolve.

[Skeleton Soldier (Legendary)]

[Evolving…] [Remaining Time: 55 hours, 6 minutes, 12 seconds]

It’s taking longer than I thought.

Still, it didn’t feel bad.

As time increases, so does the expected value increase.

Creak.

Nickel glanced around his body for a moment and then nonchalantly started swinging his sword again.

I guess skeletons don’t feel pain.

If that’s the case, I can even receive swordsmanship training during evolution.

Since I’ve already evolved Nickel, I decided to dress him first before taking off my own attire.

Next, with an excited heart, I rummaged through my bag to check on Timur and Mirinae.

When I opened the bag, the book given by Morne caught my eye first.

‘Let’s leave Tymur and Mirinae aside for now and read this first.’

As I wondered what kind of skills would be contained in it, being Morne’s book as a renowned necromancer, it couldn’t be ordinary.

Although it would probably require a lot of effort to master, compared to having nothing before, it felt like abundance.

“Alright, for now, let’s put the corpses on hold until I delve into this book.”

I began turning the pages of the thick book given by Morne.

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“Grandfather Morne.”

Inside a serene room made of marble, an old man and a middle-aged man sat facing each other in chairs.

The old man was enjoying a cup of red tea, while the middle-aged man sprawled in his chair with a careless posture, reading a book.

Salem called out to Morne.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm? Go ahead.”

“You informed me about finding the ‘Diligent Sloth’. So I went to find it. But, as it turns out, you had another plan?”

Salem looked at Morne, who leisurely sipped his tea, with curiosity.

Morne felt the aroma of the rising steam and took a sip from the cup.

“Why did you come to find me? Were you curious about that?”

“You know me. I can’t resist my curiosity.”

Salem spoke lightly, and Morne smiled.

“Well…”

“What’s the ‘well’ about? I’m not a fool, so I roughly guessed why you came. At first, I thought it was because of Charone, grandfather’s disciple. But then, when grandfather yielded the corpse, my thoughts changed.”

Salem’s gaze sharpened like the flick of a snake’s tongue.

He looked at Morne, as if saying he could see through everything.

“Adrias. You leaked the information because of that guy, right? To ensure that I protect him.”

“Hehe. I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about.”

“Ah, grandfather. You keep ignoring me, but even I have the nickname of a sage.”

“Just say it. I’m not just a sage, but a sage who tears through answers.”

“Anyway, are you going to tell me or not?”

As Salem’s persistence continued, Morne eventually shook his head.

The tea seemed to have cooled down without emitting any steam.

“Fine. Your guess is correct.”

“Adrias Cromwell. The son of Cain Cromwell.”

Salem mentioned Cain while recalling his memories.

“I know that grandfather adopted Cain. But it seems that the connection is not just about Cain. Honestly, Cain was initially forced to leave grandfather, and that guy, Adrias, seemed to have no magical talent, so it was evident that teaching him would be a struggle. If it were me, I wouldn’t have had good feelings about it.”

“Salem.”

“What?”

“Do you know the origin of necromancy, or rather, the origin of sorcery?”

“Suddenly, the origin of sorcery? …You mean immortality?”

Upon Salem’s response, Morne nodded silently.

But then, he shook his head again.

“What’s with that gesture? Is it right or wrong?”

“It’s right. But I didn’t mention the subject.”

“Subject?”

“Immortality. Whose immortality do you think it sought?”

“Well, grandfather. You started with the origin of sorcery and now this talk. Wasn’t this about Cromwell?”

“The origin of sorcery is the immortality of a loved one.”

Upon hearing Morne’s answer, Salem stared at him blankly.

He couldn’t help but burst into laughter at Morne’s unexpected words.

“Ha! How romantic. But what’s the point of talking about playing with corpses?”

“You’re right. However, that’s the origin. Whether to believe it or not, I don’t know.”

“So, what’s the connection between that and the current conversation?”

Morne looked down at the cup filled with tea for a moment.

He struggled to read the regrets in his worn-out eyes reflected in the tea.

“The death of a loved one is what someone would want to undo by any means necessary. Even if they have different appearance from when they were alive.”

“…Are you talking about yourself since earlier? The reason why you became a necromancer?”

“Hehe. I’m not quite sure anymore.”

With that, Morne fell silent.

Salem decided not to press him further when he saw Morne’s reaction.

“So, roughly speaking, as long as I know that Cromwell has a connection beyond just Cain, that’s enough, right? Okay, got it. I didn’t blame grandfather for leaking information since I had some fun with this incident anyway.”

As the conversation seemed to be coming to an end, Morne poured a fresh cup of tea and asked.

“I have one more question. How was that child?”

“Adrias? He’s a truly strange one. Didn’t you see him, grandfather? I still get chills when I think of that guy stabbing near his heart and laughing.”

“To think that Cain’s son would grow up to be so exceptional. It’s quite astonishing.”

“That’s what I’m saying. If Cain, who was such a softie, saw him, he would have been utterly surprised. Hehe.”

Salem smiled mischievously as he thought about Adrias.

“Adrias. That kid will probably be crazier than me. I’m already looking forward to that time.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep