Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 22
The girl said she couldn’t tell him her name.
There was a restriction on it, she’d said.
How tedious.
She was indeed blood-kin of a high noble house, she’d told him—only that she’d lost in the succession struggle and been sold into slavery.
When he asked why she hadn’t been killed outright, she’d answered thus:
“When blood-kin kill blood-kin, they fall under a curse. The critical condition is that one must never harbor the intention to kill. You can’t order subordinates to do it, and a servant acting of their own will to kill won’t work either.”
“So they cursed you and sold you as a slave instead? Dying to some stranger while in servitude—that doesn’t trigger the curse?”
“In that case, the Bloodline Curse doesn’t activate.”
“Hmm… with such peculiar conditions, I’d think your identity could be uncovered easily enough?”
“Yes. That’s true. But I can’t speak of it myself.”
“I’ll look into it later. So then. How’s the imp progressing?”
“She follows orders well, Tay.”
Since he couldn’t use the girl’s true name, he’d decided to keep calling her Lant.
As a result, the female slave Lant had nothing more to do than general housework.
“Good. From today on, you’ll handle the bone crafting. I’m glad to have that work off my plate.”
“Yes.”
Lant proved dutiful and capable at her work. And remarkably—astoundingly—she picked up Black Magic at astonishing speed.
Within barely a month, she’d mastered every Black Magic spell Tay had learned, and wielded them with practiced ease.
Her bloodline itself must have been inherently powerful.
In the meantime, bone spears continued being produced and sold.
Madness as a resource never ran short.
Lant fell into a “maddened” state roughly once every three days, so he could simply extract Madness from her each time.
And whenever Madness ran a touch low, he need only summon the imp butler As and present him to Lant.
Seeing a demon triggered Mental Erosion, so she’d slip into a mild frenzy.
As a result, the Madness supply remained stable.
He purchased animal bones cheaply and used them as materials for the bone spears.
With the money earned, he’d bought and mastered two more Black Magic spells.
Skeleton Processing and Flesh Processing.
Essential foundational Black Magic whenever one summoned undead.
Literally used for merging skeletal structures or reshaping them.
Flesh Processing did the same with flesh.
Later, when crafting a Black Mage’s items or modifying and creating undead, these would be indispensable, or so he’d been told.
With this, he’d now purchased all 1st Class Black Magic available at the shop.
Next came leveling up.
He’d need to raise his level to learn 2nd Class Black Magic.
In any case, another month had passed.
He’d earned money steadily and equipped himself.
Tay felt it was time to move toward leveling up.
* * *
[Skull Staff Containing Ten Vengeful Spirits]
Rank: Special
A staff sealed with ten vengeful spirits—their manner of death unknown.
Resentment and lingering attachment cling powerfully, specializing in Curse Black Magic.
Function: Curse Black Magic power increased by 40%.
Function: User enters persistent Mental Erosion (lowest-tier) state.
[Ring Made of Tortured Victim’s Finger Bones]
Rank: Special
A ring fashioned from the finger bones of one who died while tortured, trembling in hatred, rage, and agony.
Resentment and lingering attachment cling powerfully, specializing in Curse Black Magic.
Function: Curse Black Magic power increased by 10%.
Function: User enters persistent Mental Erosion (lowest-tier) state.
[Belt Made of Burned Victim’s Bones]
Rank: Special
Burning to death is the most agonizing of all deaths.
Resentment and lingering attachment from those who perished thus cling powerfully, specializing in Curse Black Magic.
Function: Curse Black Magic power increased by 20%.
Function: User enters persistent Mental Erosion (lowest-tier) state.
[Gloves Made from Lowest-Tier Demon Leather]
Rank: Special
Gloves made from the hide of one of the lowest-tier demons, the “Hell Hound.”
Specialized in black magic related to demons.
Effect: Demon Black Magic power increased by 20%.
[Boots Made from Lowest-Tier Demon Leather]
Grade: Special
Boots made from the hide of one of the lowest-tier demons, the “Hell Hound.”
Specialized in black magic related to demons.
Effect: Demon Black Magic power increased by 20%.
More expensive than last time, but equipment Tay could manage to purchase on his own.
A three-piece Curse Black Magic set. And a two-piece Demon Black Magic set.
The gear carries a partial curse that inflicts Mental Erosion at the lowest level, but any black mage can handle that by casting Mental Protection Magic on themselves.
Of course, Tay didn’t use such protections.
Madness charged for free, after all!
Once the setup was complete,
he gave his own used equipment to Lant, his slave and disciple.
Of course, there were several other preparations as well.
“Twelve Skeleton Soldiers confirmed.”
“Yes. Thank you for your work.”
This world actively employed black mages, but imposed equally heavy restrictions on them.
And what emerged from this was:
The Undead Tax.
Black mages had to pay a tax to use undead.
Don’t pay the tax and carry them around anyway?
You’d be grabbed on the spot and thoroughly squeezed dry for every coin.
Of course, this world had no proper administrative infrastructure, so most black mages just said “To hell with it” and hauled around illegal undead instead.
Tay simply paid the tax in advance.
After all, the money from selling bone spears had come in quite handsomely.
And so Tay was able to keep twelve Skeleton Soldiers for himself, while his slave Lant could command six.
Tay exited one of the city’s administrative offices.
“Prepare the palanquin.”
Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.
Four Skeleton Soldiers arrived carrying a palanquin.
A palanquin fitted with a chair woven from bone—using Skeleton Processing black magic, no less.
It even had a roof to shield him from the harsh sun.
Tay climbed aboard.
And beside the four Skeleton Soldiers bearing the palanquin, eight more stood in formation.
“Move out, all of you.”
Clatter. Clatter.
Click-click-click-click-click.
The corpses began their procession.
They held the palanquin high and escorted it through the city streets.
Passersby stared at the eerie sight, yet no one interfered.
These Skeleton Soldiers, naturally,
were outfitted with proper armor.
Chain mail. Helmets. And thin halberds.
A halberd was a weapon combining spear and axe—in translation, something like an axe-pike.
Twelve Skeleton Soldiers carrying such weapons could crush even a small-scale mercenary band.
However, Tay didn’t deploy all twelve as combat troops.
Four of the twelve were set apart.
These four were tasked with bearing the palanquin, with Tay riding on top.
Slower than a horse, perhaps, but with far less vibration—quite comfortable, actually!
But what of Lant?
Lant rode atop one Skeleton Soldier, with a basket-like contraption strapped to its back.
Less convenient than a palanquin, admittedly.
But still better than walking.
“Truly worthy of you, Master! Using Skeleton Soldiers as transport! Though, wouldn’t it have been better to create a skeletal horse instead?”
“Horses give you a sore backside. A palanquin is better.”
“Isn’t the speed rather slow?”
Lant, his slave and disciple, asked from beside him.
“Slower than a horse, true, but these creatures never tire—so it’s not entirely slow.”
Tay answered the Dialogue perched on his shoulder.
And Lant observed him with an odd look in her eyes.
Raised in a high noble house of distinguished bloodline, Lant was young but had received excellent education in many fields.
Among these was magical knowledge, and so she possessed learning far broader than one might imagine.
Yet even Lant had never seen such a thing before.
A Dialogue—a magical apparatus that speaks at will? One that could be created through bloodline abilities? A mere sellsword black mage producing something like that?
It was altogether strange, for no matter how she looked at it, he seemed scarcely the sort of person to accomplish such feats.
“Do you know how fast a person can run at full speed?”
“I understand that from the Aura Beginner level onward, speed increases dramatically. But I couldn’t say about the pace of serfs.”
“Using a trained foot soldier as a baseline, they’re quite fast. And if they don’t tire, they’re faster than you’d think.”
Twenty-first century Earth.
A marathon race is 42.195 kilometers, and the world record stands at 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 55 seconds.
That’s roughly 21 kilometers per hour.
And that’s a speed run with pacing, because exhaustion and strain set in.
The absolute top speed of a human is known to be 44.72 kilometers per hour, achieved by Usain Bolt.
Which means.
These four Skeleton Soldiers carrying the palanquin could maintain a steady pace of at least 30 kilometers per hour.
The undead don’t tire.
That’s… faster than one would expect.
The distance from Seoul to Busan is roughly 400 kilometers, so traveling by this Skeleton Soldier palanquin would take about 13 to 14 hours to arrive.
The same applies to this world.
The kingdoms of this realm are modest in size, hardly larger than South Korea from his past life.
Which meant.
In theory, assuming roads were properly maintained, Tay could traverse an entire kingdom in two or three days.
The problem was that roads certainly weren’t properly maintained.
Later, once he created Skeleton Horses, he might double that speed.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
“That makes sense. I thought it up myself.”
Black mages deal in demons and the undead as fundamentals.
But most black mages don’t utilize the undead this way.
Why?
Simply because palanquins aren’t commonly used in this region.
Carriages exist, but palanquins don’t in this world’s culture.
“Perhaps Skeleton Soldier palanquins will become fashionable because of me.”
“That might well be, Master!”
Dialogue chimed in cheerfully.
“Right. All set. Let’s go.”
Tay’s party departed at once.
Toward the Black Spear Guild.
A Black Mage Is Too Easy as a Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
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(주) Samyang C&C
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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