This necromancer is going to seduce the beautiful girls who are already dead.

Chapter Five: Flora, Exciting, Right?

Flora persuaded Abyss not to ask a passing ghost for directions, but instead to inquire with passersby about the location of the Mercenary Guild.

Forty years of slumber did not diminish Flora's ability to socialize. Even though Flora was no longer the aloof saintess, her good upbringing and approachable nature made passersby willing to give her and Abyss directions. The two found the mercenary guild on the outskirts of the city with almost no effort.

"You ask for directions as fast as a rabbit's heart." For some reason, Abis looked at Flora with an excited expression. "If possible, I'll leave the job of asking for directions to you from now on."

"Do you have trouble asking for directions?" Flora looked at Abyss with some surprise. Although Abyss had pale skin and always looked haggard, he was also quite handsome and not unpleasant to look at. Moreover, he seemed to have a cheerful personality.

“I’m not good at dealing with living people.” Abis pointed to the pedestrians on the side of the road. “Living people instinctively want to fall asleep as soon as they see my eyes, and they don’t really like the way I talk.”

"Oh... I know, leave it all to me from now on." Flora immediately understood what was going on. Abyss always liked to add bits of entrails between his sentences, which most people with normal tastes probably wouldn't like.

“My Flora, you’re such a good teammate! Let’s hurry inside, find a quest, and once we get paid, we can go to the library,” Abyss said, pointing to the Mercenary Guild sign. Flora didn’t object at all, and even walked a little faster than Abyss.

The moment the doors of the Mercenary Guild were pushed open, a strong smell of alcohol hit them. Many mercenaries were chugging cheap ale, emitting vulgar curses and loud laughter. It was more like a tavern than a guild, except that behind the counter stood a book-reading receptionist instead of an owner. The Mercenary Guild was merely an organization that facilitated mercenaries' earnings, with no disciplinary constraints on its members, operating solely on the basis of local laws. Flora, who was the first to enter, quickly became the center of attention—she was too beautiful, her skin too smooth; she didn't look like someone who would work in the mercenary world.

As for Abyss beside her, he was so thin and dressed in all black that he was completely ignored by everyone.

"Hey, little girl, you've come to the wrong door. This is the Mercenaries Guild. The Girls' Club is on the other side of the city!" a mercenary with congealed bloodstains on his armor shouted.

"Hey, you didn't come here looking for your brother, did you?" someone laughed loudly. "If your brother doesn't come back in a few days, he might already be dead!"

"Or how about I become your brother, or husband? I'm really good in bed, hahaha..." A shirtless, bearded man let out a deafening laugh, and the mercenaries beside him stopped joking at the same time.

Flora's face immediately turned red. When she was a saint, no one dared to speak to her like that, let alone make such a lewd joke.

“Hey big guy, watch the way you talk to a lady,” Abis said calmly, stepping in front of Flora and the shirtless giant, his green eyes fixed on him.

The big man was clearly annoyed at being interrupted, but he felt inexplicably tired, so he didn't explode. Instead, he snorted at Abyss and sat down to continue drinking his wine.

"Excuse me, what brings you two to the guild?" The receptionist, well aware of the nature of these mercenaries who made their living off blood, glanced at the burly man with displeasure before approaching him and asking politely.

Abyss immediately replied, "Take a commission and make some money."

"Please tell me your battle aura and magic levels, and I'll arrange a suitable mission for you," the receptionist asked routinely.

"No need, just show me all the commissions."

Abis shook his head, took Flora's hand, and strode towards the commission document fixed to the wall with nails, where he began to examine it.

The receptionist didn't say anything. Mercenaries often face life and death, and few are mentally sound. This makes some mercenaries difficult to get along with, and he was too lazy to correct these odd-tempered guys. It wouldn't be worth it if a conflict broke out and he got chopped up with a knife.

“Abyss, this boar hunting commission is exactly thirty Imperial Coins.” Flora tugged at Abyss’s clothes happily. “All you have to do is kill the four boars that are harassing the farmers and bring back their right ears, and you’ll get the money. It seems pretty simple.”

Abis glanced at the request Flora had her eye on, then nodded: "Receptionist, could you please write down the request we've accepted?"

"You're hunting wild boar, right? Please tell me your name or title." The receptionist nodded, took out a charcoal pencil from his jacket pocket, and prepared to write it down in the book in his hand.

"Ah, it's not about hunting wild boars, it's about exterminating the ghost in the ancestral home," Abyss said casually. "The reward is 20,000 Imperial Coins."

The receptionist was sweating bullets. Whose young master is this? Does he not even look at the difficulty of the task and only look at the reward?

“Um… sir, let me remind you, this request is S-rank, and it was mentioned at the last minute that it is extremely difficult. In the past few days, about ten people have accepted the request, including teams of two or three people, but none of them have returned.”

"Is the haunted house far away?" Abyss asked.

Is this guy completely deaf to reason? The receptionist, suppressing her urge to lose her temper, continued, "Sir, you don't look like a warrior. You're supposed to be a mage, but you don't even have a staff. You're also too young. Taking on this kind of request will kill you, you really will!"

"You're saying I'm weak?" Abyss narrowed his eyes and walked towards the receptionist.

The receptionist immediately regretted her actions. Why had she insisted on kindly advising the guy not to accept the call? Wouldn't it have been better to just let him go to his death? Had she touched this young master's pride? Was he now looking for trouble?

Abis grabbed the receptionist's wrist and pulled hard—

The receptionist didn't move an inch.

“To be honest, I am weak.” Abyss grinned at the receptionist, revealing a set of white teeth, then pointed at Flora. “But she’s different. She’s incredibly powerful.”

"Huh? Me?" Flora was completely taken aback when she suddenly became the protagonist. She quickly waved her hands, "I'm not good! I can't do anything..."

"Hahaha, you two didn't come here just to amuse us, did you!" At this moment, the burly man who had just been annoyed by Abyss suddenly stood up and strode over. He seemed to be drunk, his nose as red as a ripe strawberry. "I thought you were some kind of powerful person, but you're just an idiot! What are you two still doing here? Get out of our guild right now, or this little beauty can stay if she wants!"

"Flora, slap him," Abyss said to Flora, sniffing at the big man.

"No, no!" Flora dared not slap such a burly man. She was only up to his chest, and she had to stand on tiptoe to slap him.

"Oh? You scum, you need a woman to protect you? I don't care if she's your wife or your maid. If you don't get out of here, your woman is mine today!" The big man became even more smug and grabbed Flora's wrist.

Abyss was Flora's master. It was fine for Flora to be held by her master, but now that she was suddenly grabbed by a stranger, she was immediately angry. However, the teachings she had received as a saint did not make her struggle desperately like a frightened deer. Instead, she quickly calmed down and then delivered a very ladylike and elegant slap to the face of the big man.

Snapped!

Boom!

By the time Flora reacted, the burly man was already groaning on the ground. He seemed to have been sent flying by the slap, his body, at least twice and a half Flora's weight, crashing through two tables before finally slamming into the wall, carving a large, human-shaped crater before landing solidly on the ground. He lay there, unable to get up, several teeth spat onto the ground, his mouth full of blood.

“See, I told you she was amazing.” Abis shrugged at the dumbfounded receptionist. “We’re short on cash right now, but we’ll make it up to you when we get back.”

"Ah...okay..."

“Flora,” Abyss suddenly called out.

“Master…Master?” Flora stared at Abyss with her beautiful golden eyes wide open.

"Exciting, isn't it? Punishing hooligans with your own hands?" Abis smiled slightly.

Flora shook her head subconsciously, paused for a moment, and then nodded.

"Ok!"

“This isn’t over yet. Help me carry him to the alley outside. I have important questions for him—I might have run into a fellow professional.” Abyss mysteriously pointed to the burly man who was still groaning. “I’ll take over the commission here and come find you. Don’t worry, he has no right to resist.”

Chapter Six: Encountering a Fellow Traveler

“You’re not a mercenary at all. State your purpose. What does this commission have to do with you?” Abyss squatted down next to the big man, looking at him coldly.

"Cough cough... What are you saying? I am a genuine mercenary..." The big man lay on the ground panting, but dared not move. Flora's slap had completely stunned him. A griffin slap would probably have been just as powerful.

"Oh? Is that so?" Abyss tried to grab the big man by the collar, but the big man was the kind of guy who didn't wear clothes even in winter, so he grabbed the big man's beard and stomped on his chest. "Then let's analyze this slowly... When we entered the guild, you were the loudest, but none of those mercenaries who loved a good commotion echoed you, which means you don't have any friends among them; after you caused trouble, the receptionist looked at you with great disdain, so I asked him before I came out, and sure enough, you only came to the guild a few days ago, and you've been sitting inside drinking, never taking on any commissions, and you even pick fights to drive away mercenaries who wanted to take on the exorcism commission but weren't strong enough—your size is indeed very intimidating."

The big man's pupils visibly contracted.

“What happened next was even more interesting. When you approached us, I took a sniff of you. You only smelled of alcohol, not sweat. Logically, you've been in the guild for several days, and as a mercenary, you shouldn't be very fresh-smelling—but you didn't have those smells. Instead, I smelled the fragrance of some herbs, the ingredients for a short-acting undead resurrection spell. You've come into contact with these herbs in a certain order.” Abyss's blue-green eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, sending a chill down the burly man's spine.

"He's a necromancer?" Flora said in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

“He’s a necromancer’s apprentice.” Abyss released his grip, letting the burly man’s head hit the ground. “He drank a necromancer’s potion, which modified his body, making him immune to heat and cold, and giving him incredible regenerative abilities. It’s not your fault you didn’t notice; who would have thought that a guy as big as a dragon’s liver would be a necromancer’s apprentice?”

The burly man's breathing quickened: "Why do you know so much about necromancy?"

“Didn’t you hear what I just said to her? We’re in the same line of work,” Abis said calmly. “Tell me your master’s name.”

"impossible……"

Abyss was in no hurry: "Then I can interrogate your soul directly after you die, and then you won't be able to hide or lie."

“Reiner, his name is Reiner,” the big man said through gritted teeth.

"This power of attorney states that I need his full name."

"Rainer Lydius Trafalgar!"

“Very good, you weren’t lying.” Abyss smiled with satisfaction, straightened up, and moved his foot away.

"What about him?" Flora asked, peering over the shoulder. "Should we let him go?"

“Yes, let him go.” Abis nodded. “I don’t kill living people.”

"You...you lied to me!" the burly man shouted. "You even said you'd interrogate my soul after I die..."

“You think you can live on as if nothing happened? Your so-called master never treated you as a disciple. The potion you drank is turning you into an undead. You only have a few days left to live.” Abyss turned around and looked at him with pity. “I’m going to find your master. You can atone for your sins in your last few days.”

The burly man's voice abruptly stopped, as if he had been choked; his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open, like a suffocating fish.

"You will forget everything. When you wake up, you will find the name of every mercenary who went missing because of you and erect tombstones for them. You will not become a ghost when you die, because you did not have my permission." Abyss said these words calmly, then flicked his finger at the big man. A beam of blue light flew to the big man's body. The light point of light made the big man feel as if he had been struck by lightning, and he immediately lost consciousness.

Flora watched Abyss finish all that and asked softly, "Abyss...you seem angry..."

“Ah… yes, he’s a bit of a fool who’s been used, but I’m certain his ‘master’ is using living people to create undead, and short-term, one-time undead that will spontaneously combust in a month or two. I really dislike this kind of behavior.” Abyss lightly patted his clothes. “Let’s find an inn to rest a bit, and then we’ll set off tonight to find this necromancer named Reiner. I need to have a good talk with him and find out what he’s planning to do.”

“But we don’t have money to stay in a hotel,” Flora said, looking troubled.

Abis remained awkwardly silent for a moment, then pointed at the unconscious man on the ground: "Take the money out of his pockets."

“I will not steal!” Flora firmly crossed her arms in front of her. “Even if you are my master, I will not listen to you!”

"Tch..." Abyss muttered, puffing out his cheeks, "Fine, we won't take it then. We'll just go to the outskirts and build a fire ourselves."

Flora smiled triumphantly and obediently followed behind Abyss, grabbing the hem of his robe.

……

The location stated on the letter of commission wasn't far from the city. Just as the sun was setting, Abyss, with Flora on his undead warhorse, headed towards the so-called "haunted ancestral home." The undead warhorse was far superior to ordinary horses; not only was it fast, but it also ignored terrain obstacles and could even run on water. Once inside the Underdark, it wouldn't be detected. Flora clung to Abyss's waist, even finding a touch of romance in the journey—a feeling she'd never experienced before, having rarely had the chance to be with a young man in her previous life.

After the undead warhorse had been running continuously for half an hour, the location of the quest appeared before Flora's eyes.

Flora discovered that as an undead, her vision wasn't limited after nightfall; in fact, it became clearer. Not only her sight, but her senses of smell and hearing also became much more acute. Before even reaching the old, dilapidated house, Flora could already hear breathing and some unsettling moaning sounds coming from inside. A faint scent of herbs mixed with the stench of blood and decay made Flora wrinkle her nose.

“This is it. I can smell the stench of lowly undead coming from this place even from far away.” Abyss curled his lip. “Flora, let’s go in pretending to be ordinary mercenaries. I want to see how this guy killed those dozen or so people.”

"Understood." Flora nodded. "I'll put on a mage's pose."

“You know what, Flora? One of the best things I’ve ever done was digging you out of five targets.” Abyss turned to look at Flora, moved. “You’re the best partner I’ve ever met.”

"Something feels off... Just how many graves have you dug up?"

"Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten?" the Abyss replied. "Of course not. I've never turned a living person into a ghost. For fifteen years, Abyss Necromancy has insisted on using the dead, not the living, to deceive people."

Who are you trying to scare in Chapter Seven?

Grabbing Flora's hand and helping her dismount, Abyss snapped his fingers and carried Flora away from the Underworld, heading without hesitation toward the large house standing in the wilderness.

This appeared to be a long-abandoned manor, with only ruins remaining of the walls, and the surrounding fields completely overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The house was dilapidated, with a section of the roof collapsed. In the darkness, the broken windows silently reflected the eerie moonlight, perfectly fitting the description of a haunted house in a chivalric romance novel. Most people would feel an instinctive chill upon seeing such a house at night, but the two approaching it felt nothing—the Abyss had encountered more dead than living people, and Flora herself was an undead; the dark environment actually made them quite comfortable.

Abyss pushed open the door of the haunted house, and the scene inside was revealed to the two of them: grass grew under the floorboards, the ground was covered in dust, and many footprints led inside, but few pointed outwards.