Lord Commander Karnak

Chapter 2 The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was a gawky-looking blonde man in his twenties. 'Who is this? He seems familiar somehow.' As Karnak pondered, a familiar voice reached his ears. "Excuse me, is that you, young master?" He remembered who it was. "Ah, it's Baros." This young man before him was his loyal servant before becoming a Death Knight, when he was still young. "This is different from what I expected." Baros blinked, wearing a dazed expression. "Hello, my present self... A new life unfolds... Mind growing hazy... Something like that, I thought." Karnak didn't bother to chide him. "Well, I thought the same, to be honest." Who would have thought everything would change in the blink of an eye? It was so sudden that it didn't feel real at all. "Bring me a mirror. I want to check my appearance." "A mirror? As if we could afford such an expensive item at this point in time." While a mirror might be a cheap, common item for Karnak, the Death King who ruled the world, it was a luxury beyond reach for the illegitimate son of a provincial noble. Instead, Baros described his face for him. "Don't worry. You look exactly like your 20-year-old self. Skinny build, black hair, black eyes, and that same arrogant expression." "...Is my impression really that bad?" "Didn't I always tell you to soften your expression? You'd look handsome if you just stayed still, but you always had that discontented look about everything." Karnak smiled contentedly. "Well, at least one thing hasn't changed. You're still as impertinent as ever." Even after returning to the past, Baros was still Baros. And he had kept this impertinent servant by his side for over 100 years. It was too late to get upset about it now; he'd grown too accustomed to it. "True, I was quite discontented with the world when I was young." Karnak looked around. They were standing in a dim cave. A small table was placed against one wall, with a book open on it. The only light source was a flickering candle. Picking up the book that looked more like a scribbled notebook, Karnak muttered. "Here it is, the beginning of everything." An ancient book discovered by chance deep in the family storehouse. To call it an ancient text was generous; it wasn't even a proper book. It was a crude notebook with no title, written in messy handwriting. Not a properly published book, but something someone had scribbled privately. But it was the knowledge gained from this book that first allowed him to walk the path of necromancy. "Let's give it a try..." Muttering, Karnak snapped his fingers. A tiny spark, no bigger than a fingernail, appeared and grew, burning the old book. With a whoosh, the flame turned the book to ashes in an instant before dying out. "So this is the extent of my current necrotic power." Karnak nodded. "It's about what I expected. I've just started learning necromancy, after all." Baros, who had been watching, asked with a start. "What? Was it okay to burn that?" "I've memorized the contents anyway, so what does it matter?" The book itself didn't contain any special dark magic. It was just an ordinary book with knowledge written in it. "It's not even high-level knowledge. Just the basics of necromancy." He had become the world's strongest necromancer by traveling the world and continuously acquiring ancient knowledge. He didn't suddenly become a supreme necromancer just from this one book. "That's precisely why it needs to be burned. After all, it's thanks to this book that I was able to start learning necromancy." If Karnak could learn from it, it meant some other fool could too. Moreover, if someone found out he possessed this book, he'd be lucky to face hanging, and unlucky to face burning at the stake. "I don't need it anymore, so there's no reason to keep a potential source of trouble." After dusting off the ashes, he turned his gaze towards the cave entrance. A faint light could be seen in the distance. "Shall we head outside?" *** Karnak let out a scream. "Argh!" Baros was also startled. "W-what is this?" An immense light was pouring down from above! It was a terrifying brightness that seemed capable of burning the entire world! Baros muttered in a daze. "Ah, this is that thing." "Huh?" "Sunlight." "Come to think of it, was the sun always like this?" The two looked around with blank expressions as their eyes adjusted. Of course, it made sense. They were no longer undead but normal humans, so why would sunlight feel like the fires of hell? In reality, their eyes were just a bit dazzled for a few seconds. Their overreaction was purely psychological. But there was still reason for excitement. "Oh!" "The sunlight is warm, young master!" "I can smell the grass! The scent of grass!" "And the smell of earth!" All the sensations that every human in the world experiences and takes for granted struck their senses. Karnak and Baros were moved to tears. And then they were moved again by the fact that they could cry. "Look at this, Baros! Tears! I'm crying!" "I even have a runny nose!" "I'm salivating!" "At this rate, we might even be able to urinate!" "Of course we can! We're human again!" "...Let's stop this unsavory talk here, shall we?" Anyway, they had regained it. Their senses, emotions, and a real body capable of feeling moved. In exchange, they had lost absolute power. They were no longer the strongest necromancer or Death Knight in human history. "Ah, who needs that stuff anyway!" "That's right, it's not like having that made us happy!" Karnak called out to his long-time servant. "This time, let's try to live like real people!" *** On a low hill in the forest, two men were walking along a forest path where summer sunlight filtered through the green foliage. Both were dressed in ordinary, slightly shabby traveling clothes. The young man with messy blonde hair suddenly put his hand to his forehead and looked up at the sky. "Nice weather, isn't it?" The handsome young man with smooth black hair responded absent-mindedly. "Yeah, the weather is really nice." The sun was shining brightly, and the sand sparkled. It was certainly a fresh and warm day. "...It's too hot, isn't it?" "And the sweat is annoying." "Yeah, this sensation is strangely irritating." The black-haired young man, Karnak, sighed deeply. "So this is how troublesome a living body is." It had been half a day since they hastily packed their belongings and left the cave. They were irritated by the heat, hunger, and thirst. The initial excitement had faded, and now they found themselves longing for their past powers. This must be why people say the human heart is fickle. "We can't go back now, so we'll just have to get used to it, I suppose." Grumbling, Baros unfolded a map. "We should be reaching Darha Village soon..." He scratched his head while comparing the map to the surrounding landscape. "It's been so long, I can't remember anything." They had traveled back a whole 100 years. It would be stranger if he did remember. "But there should be a restaurant there, right? It's a village on the main road." "That's why my past self chose this place." The current time was when Karnak had first sneaked out of his family to learn necromancy. He had stayed in a secluded forest cave for three or four months, avoiding others' eyes while delving into dark magic. "Judging by my magic power, it seems about two months have passed since I first gained necrotic power." "So it's not exactly the moment you first felt necrotic power?" "We've reversed over 100 years, so of course there's going to be some margin of error." Even while learning necromancy, he still needed to eat, but it was difficult to expect such services in a remote area rarely visited by outsiders. That's why he deliberately chose the hills near Darha Village. Darha Village was located on the central trade route of the Yustil Kingdom. As a trading village with inns, restaurants, and shops for merchants, he had frequently sent Baros to buy necessities. "Now that you mention it, I think I remember?" Baros, who had been muttering, suddenly lit up. "Wait, does this mean we can now tear into juicy beef with rich red wine?" Trying to ignore his servant's eyes sparkling like stars, Karnak put on a sad expression. "There's no way a restaurant of that caliber exists in Darha Village." In truth, even if such a restaurant existed, they couldn't afford it anyway. "We don't have money either." "Right, we were poor, weren't we?" Baros lightly lifted the money pouch at his waist. "It feels quite heavy though. But it's all copper coins." At this point in time, Karnak had no connection to high-quality currency like silver coins. Gold coins? He had only seen such precious things from afar a few times. Karnak heaved a deep sigh. "What does it matter if the family is noble? We're completely broke." Not to mention, he was the unwanted illegitimate child of that bankrupt family. Thanks to that, he vividly remembered scraping together every penny for this secret journey. The memory was still fresh, even though it was from over 100 years ago. "This is why I was so desperate to learn necromancy, right? Now I really feel like I've returned." As he walked, Karnak recalled the past. "Come to think of it, does this mean I have to see my parents and two brothers again? I don't like that idea." "Ugh, I don't like that either." Baros grimaced. As they say, generosity comes from a full storehouse, and since the family was so bankrupt, they were particularly harsh on Karnak. To begin with, an illegitimate child is a source of discord. If they had been well-off, they might have shown some leniency, but even his two brothers were struggling to make ends meet. Naturally, they bullied Karnak whenever they dealt with him. Of course, Karnak had also gritted his teeth when dealing with them back then. Would he really be able to remain calm if he met his brothers again? Recalling the past, Baros wore a worried expression. "Aren't you going to lash out at them as soon as you see their faces, young master?" "Come on, not at this point. I'll just humor them a bit and flatter them." "Wasn't it because you couldn't do that that the situation escalated?" Remembering the past where he had ruined the family, killed his two brothers, and committed all sorts of atrocities, Karnak smirked. "I can do it now. I've grown older, haven't I? I'm no longer that 20-year-old kid." "The current you is exactly that 20-year-old kid, young master." "The contents are 100 years old, though." Back then, he couldn't stand being disrespected and reacted with youthful vigor, but now he was confident he could let things slide. "Thinking about it now, they weren't even that harsh." At the time, he thought he was bearing all the world's misfortunes alone, but after experiencing all sorts of things, he could understand now. His two brothers, just like ordinary humans, were merely projecting their own miseries onto Karnak. "Wait, but it was still pretty severe compared to others, wasn't it? Oh, now that I think about it, I'm getting angry?" "See? I told you your personality hasn't changed." "I'm joking, just joking." Waving his hand dismissively, Karnak continued walking along the mountain path. In any case, the immediate problem wasn't the distant family home, but their next meal. "What should we do about money? Should we rob some travelers?" "Didn't you say we should live like proper people?" "Right, it's become such a habit that I thoughtlessly..." "Is robbery a habit?" "Don't talk like it's someone else's story. You've killed more people directly than I have!" "That's why I killed them and brought them back to life, didn't I?" "I was the one who resurrected them. You just did the killing." As they continued walking, exchanging banter that was hard to tell if it was a joke or serious, the forest gradually ended, and a field came into view. In the distance, Darha Village could be faintly seen. "Anyway, let's eat something. We'll think after we eat." At Karnak's suggestion, Baros's face brightened. They would need to save some money for the journey home, but they could still afford at least one meal. "I completely agree, young master!"