Chapter 16. Who to Blame (3)

It wasn't out of consideration for her but more for me. It was tedious to keep repeating the same words over and over again.

Now, those guys will show up again.

After blurting out my words, I was lost in thought. The two pursuers would appear soon. I could face them in a fight, but if I moved quickly now, I might be able to reach the cave first.

Hmm. What should I do?

I pondered for a moment. However, there was no need to avoid a fight. These were opponents I had already defeated once. Moreover, I have grown stronger since then. If we clashed again, I could overpower them with ease. To be safe, I decided to use the same method that had worked before: ambush them on the road.

I looked at Rubia, who was sitting and catching her breath. There was something slightly different about her demeanor compared to before.

I decided to talk to her. "Give me your dagger."

"Oh, yes, here it is!"

Rubia handed me the dagger without hesitation. Well, more than without hesitation... She was quite proactive. She grabbed the blade herself and offered the handle to me.

She then asked, "So, um... what else can I help you with?"

"Hmm?"

I was caught off guard.

Is this the effect of Affection?

Rubia volunteering to help was something I hadn't experienced before. I looked at her, and a status window appeared.

Ding!

[Name: Rubia Ray

Necromancer Lv. 1

Health: 6

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Wisdom: 12]

[Affection: 20

— For some reason, Rubia feels a sense of closeness and stability around you.]

Her Affection had increased, but that wasn't all.

[Basic Skills:

— Book Finding Lv. 10

— Book Reading Lv. 10

— Baking Lv .4

— Ancient Language Lv. 3

— Rune Language Lv. 3

— Navigation Lv. 3

— Etiquette Lv. 2

— ??? (Affection too low.)

— ??? (Affection too low.)]

[Perks:

— Increase Affection to unlock.]

[Titles:

— Increase Affection to unlock.]

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

[Remaining Points: 10

— Please allocate!]

She can read ancient and rune languages, too?

Seeing the various skills, a few questions naturally arose in my mind.

But why is she only at... Lv. 1?

I could only see her Necromancer level. It was possible that other job levels were hidden. Seeing someone else's status window was an unfamiliar experience, so I couldn't be sure if anything was out of the ordinary.

I quietly observed her status window and noticed there was something else.

Remaining points?

Did it mean I could allocate her points? I pressed the Remaining Points option in the air, and then Rubia's stats appeared with a plus sign next to each one.

[Health: 6 +

Strength: 5 +

Agility: 6 +

Wisdom: 12 +]

Am I supposed to select that?

This strange experience was hard to understand, but if I did, leaving the points unallocated wouldn't make sense.

What am I supposed to prioritize? First of all...

Her Health was too low. I remembered how hard it was for her to keep up. Strength and Agility were good too, but I didn't plan on having her fight. I would handle that. I decided to increase her Health by one.

Ding!

[Health 6 -> 7]

Along with the sound effects, Rubia's Health increased by one. I looked at Rubia. She seemed to have a bit more color in her cheeks.

I asked her, "How do you feel?"

"Oh, ever since I saw you, I suddenly feel energized. Strange, isn't it?"

Clatter.

I shrugged because I needed to think a bit more about where to invest the other points.

"For now, stay under the tree."

"Oh, okay!"

Rubia went under a tree.

"Not that tree!" I shouted urgently and grabbed her.

That was the tallest tree closest to us, but it was also the one that would soon be struck by lightning.

Whiiiiing!

The wind was fierce. I seated Rubia under a safer tree. Then, I picked up a long stick and sharpened it. I walked leisurely and hid on the mountain path, burying myself in the mud and waiting.

The two men would soon come this way, so I waited patiently for them.

Did I come too early?

I relaxed and waited.

"

Neeeeeeigh!

"

The sound of a horse approached.

Squish, squish!

The man with the crossbow passed by while the man carrying the hammer came closer. I raised the stick. The man with the hammer rolled down the slope. I enjoyed the sound of him tumbling and hitting the ground. I could vividly imagine where he had fallen and how he was reacting.

The crossbowman shouted, and I jumped down.

It was all the same. I had already positioned myself. It felt like I could do it with my eyes closed.

Swish!

Before his feet touched the ground properly, I stabbed the man in the throat. The man with the crossbow clutched his throat, gagged, and buried his head in the mud, suffering before he died. I took the crossbow from the corpse.

I walked down the slope. The man with the hammer who had fallen down the hill had one arm broken again. I fired the crossbow, hitting both shots.

It was easy to solve a problem I already knew the answer to.

If I had captured them alive and interrogated them slowly, that might have been more helpful.

After easily ending their lives, I had a thought. I had become more relaxed. But it was still too much to completely overpower them. To subdue them while they were still alive required more strength. I left the bodies bleeding in the rain and took only what I needed from the corpses: wallets, ledgers, ID cards, and weapons.

Once again, my level went up by five. Up to this point, everything played out in the same way as before.

Where should I use these points?

I thought for a moment and decided to increase Health by one and Strength and Agility by two each.

[Skeleton Soldier Lv. 6 (62)

Health: 30

Strength: 32

Agility: 34

Wisdom: 9]

I confirmed the display window.

The rain was heavy. It seemed better to head inside the cave for now, as lightning continued to strike.

When I turned to look, Rubia was already by my side.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She was soaked all over, just like before. The difference this time was just one thing—Affection.

"I'm fine."

This time, I didn't throw her the leather pouch. I already knew how to increase her Affection. She wasn't the kind of woman who would be pleased by a few silver coins. I looked at Rubia. Like before, she held a small stone in her hand.

Clatter.

I shook my skull to shake off the rainwater.

"Let's head to the cave. I know a place."

Rubia followed me obediently. Her adaptation was certainly faster this time than before. I was getting some idea of how convenient Affection could be. I handed her the half-full water pouch. There was no need to make her get drenched to collect more water. I didn't need water anyway. There was enough water in the pouch since it was just for her.

We walked for about ten minutes. She still looked tired, so I just carried her up.

"Oh!"

Surprisingly, she clung to me without much resistance. I could hear Rubia's heart pounding. I checked the status window, but her Affection did not increase.

That didn't work?

Carrying her didn't raise the Affection level. I decided to forget about it. The quickened heartbeat seemed to be just from surprise. We entered the small opening of the cave. Once inside, we talked about money, the lord, and her circumstances.

I repeated the conversations that had previously led her Affection to increase by three points.

This time, she was surprised, and her eyes widened. However, her Affection did not increase.

This is strange.

I checked her status window again.

[Name: Rubia Ray

Necromancer Lv. 1

Health: 7

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Wisdom: 12]

[Affection: 20

— For some reason, Rubia feels a sense of closeness and stability around you.]

Her Affection remained fixed at twenty. It hadn't increased since earlier.

"Are you worried about something?" Rubia asked me, her attitude free of any suspicion.

I couldn't say that it was because her Affection was not rising, so I just shook my head.

Hmm

...

For now, I decided to leave the Affection alone. My current concern was where to move next. Last time, I chose a rough, rugged path. To avoid humans, I had chosen a high and steep mountain path. But there was a troll on that path.

In the end, I couldn't even avoid the humans.

Six men with javelins had been roaming around. There could have been others. Instead of trying to avoid humans by taking a high mountain path, it might be better to just stay in another city.

We could find a pack mule, and it would be better for Rubia to sleep in a city inn. That would certainly be more comfortable for her.

Rubia said, "You seem to be in a serious mood..."

I casually asked, "Do you know anything about trolls?"

"Yes! Was that what you were worried about?"

"Tell me what you know."

I had asked the question wondering if she knew any special way to deal with trolls that I didn't, but she said something entirely different. "Trolls... once they find a mate, they stay together for life."

So what?

I responded indifferently. "Is that so?"

Oblivious to my disinterest, Rubia continued, "They usually live together in caves, but... if one of them is killed, the other goes mad. They attack everything in sight."

Hmm

.

So it was a troll that had lost its mate. I recalled dismantling the trap that had been set on the mountain path. Had I left the trap as it was, would the troll have been caught in it? It was a trap designed to catch a creature with wires and nets, suspending it in the air. If I had just left it alone, the troll problem might have been resolved.

But strangely, I wasn't inclined to do that. Even if the trap worked, the hunters would still be a problem. Though the troll had easily torn apart the six hunters, they weren't opponents I could handle easily.

I walked through the cave, lost in thought. This time, Rubia spoke to me first.

"You know about the new emperor, don't you?"

Is this the effect of increasing affection?

It was a bit bothersome, but there was no reason to stop her from talking. We didn't need to hurry along the path, anyway. After all, I was the one who had raised the affection. I had a responsibility to listen.

"Go ahead and talk."

I knew who she was talking about. He was the only human emperor I knew of.

I spent most of my twenty years as a skeleton with him.

Of course, by "with him" I mean we existed at the same time. There was no way the human emperor even knew of me. After all, I wasn't his soldier.

Since his name came to mind, I added, "Do you mean Clemens II?"

"Yes, that's right. Elton Clemens. Do you know what his first decree was?"

"I don't."

I didn't know what his first decree was.

Attack all those foolish Republicans! Slaughter the arrogant Wizards of Azure!

Well, it wouldn't have been something like that. It probably wasn't anything significant. I couldn't remember, after all.

"Oh, you don't know!" Rubia exclaimed.

She smiled and seemed genuinely pleased. Seeing that made me realize I had acted like I knew everything about the humans—the currency they used, their power struggles, and various other things. It looked like she was happy to finally tell me something I didn't know.

With a broad smile, she said, "The decree was, 'To improve administrative efficiency, the names of months will not be used in official documents. The months will be referred to by number only.'"

Clemens II increased efficiency in conscripting troops and gathering war supplies. Then he waged a nine-year war. His idea of "efficiency" was amusing.

"Hmm. Does that include the Month of Seiron and the Month of Ascension?"

October was the birth month of Seiron, the founder of the nation. He died in the month of November. Thus, the humans called October the Month of Seiron and November the Month of Ascension.

"I think so."

The emperor who dared to challenge Seiron seemed to be a bold man.

"Isn't Seiron revered as a god in the empire?"

People kneeled and prayed in front of statues of Seiron I.

"Yes, he is. What's interesting is that the first emperor was pretty much an anti-theist. He despised all forms of worship."