Chapter 87

Day 460 of Banishment: In Order to Return (2)
“Of course, there’s still the possibility that this corpse isn’t the person I killed, but rather their twin, or a relative, or something like that... And in the first place, I might not even remember the face of the person I killed that accurately…”

Marylia reconsidered calmly.

She might not remember every single person she killed on the battlefield. She was beginning to doubt her own memory.

"But this beard... I recognize it... Ughhh~..."

However! Whether fortunate or unfortunate, the corpse before her had an extremely distinctive beard! The kind of beard you see once and never forget! There was no excuse! No way to talk her way out of this—because of that beard!

"Not only was necromancy used on this island, but now there’s necromancy in Baltoria too... Ughhh, everything’s starting to connect..."

Marylia let out a series of exasperated "Ughhh!"s. It was only natural—this was a lot to process. Especially since, after hearing about that skull, she really, really hated what this meant!

The current state of this island and the story of that skull… The two hadn’t matched up before, but now, suddenly, they might.

"I need to organize my thoughts. Ahhh, my head hurts..."

Marylia crouched on the beach and began scratching lines into the sand with a stick, trying to organize the information. She had to think it through—she couldn’t just ignore what she had realized.

"First... let's go over the discrepancies between this island’s situation and what the skull said again. Um~..."

As she wrote, she sorted through her thoughts and memories.

First, according to the skull’s story, "Baltoria was driven into a losing battle against the Mirasta Kingdom and was destroyed." But in reality, Baltoria hadn’t fallen. Instead, the Mirasta Kingdom had been wiped out a hundred years ago. And now, Baltoria was on the verge of wiping out Fractalia. There was no sign of it being destroyed at all!

She had considered this before, but there was one way to explain it without contradiction.

That would be: "After the skull died, Baltoria’s prince escaped the island, returned to Baltoria, and somehow, the tide of battle suddenly turned, leading to the complete defeat of Mirasta."

… Of course, that was highly suspicious. Things wouldn’t just work out that conveniently.

But technically, it was an explanation. Even if it lacked any credibility, it was at least a possible scenario.

If she wanted to add a bit more realism: "Baltoria initially fell into a disadvantageous position, but after sending the prince to safety, those who remained in the kingdom fought back and managed to turn the tables on Mirasta. Then, later, they went to retrieve the prince from the island."

That would make more sense than the prince returning and somehow instantly reversing the war’s outcome. But the biggest mystery remained—how did they manage to turn the tide of war after having to send the prince to an uninhabited island? That part still made no sense. The skull had said, "The ships were destroyed by the slaves," after all...

Now, the next contradiction was, "Because the slaves died and their numbers decreased, the prince started putting slave collars on nobles. He was no longer someone we could revere!"

The problem was... looking at the abandoned town, it seemed like this island had been governed under good rule.

It was likely that even slaves had been given some status and rights. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many houses, nor would there have been a need for currency.

Which meant... there must have been some reason why the prince of Baltoria at the time placed slave collars on the nobles, including the skull. What that reason was, however, remained unclear...

And the biggest mystery of all—why was no one on this island now? And what about the widespread necromancy across the entire island?

Necromancy had been used on a large scale. Even now, there had been lingering zombies.

And yet... that was it.

The only other thing of note had been the skull near the mine’s entrance.

That’s right. Given the sheer scale of the necromantic magic, there should have been far more zombies. The skull’s story suggested there had been many slaves back then. So where had all their corpses gone?

… And one more thing that stood out—the story of how the skull had died.

He had said, "It seems the slaves started a rebellion. A massive number of them appeared out of nowhere. No matter how much we struck them, they wouldn’t fall back—it was terrifying."

Thinking about it now...

"... That means necromancy was already being used back then, doesn’t it..."

It was strange for so many slaves to have died in what had once been a modestly thriving town. But if they had been reanimated and controlled by necromancy, then the attack on the nobles would make sense.

And that would also explain the crude necromancy at the center of the island.

Whoever had cast it likely never had the opportunity to properly study magic. It would also explain why the nobles had been wiped out. And why this island had fallen into ruin.

"A person among the slaves had a talent for necromancy... is that it?"

Marylia reached that conclusion as she gazed at the corpses on the beach.

"... And either that person or their descendants are likely in Baltoria right now, aren't they...?"

She cast a distant gaze toward the sea beyond.

Everything was starting to connect, leading to an increasingly dire situation.

Of course, for now, this was merely Marylia’s speculation. But... somehow, it didn't feel like mere conjecture.

There were too many connections. Even in places Marylia wasn't aware of, there were surely more links tying everything together.

"A battlefield is a great supply depot, isn’t it? The more corpses appear, the more the forces grow. Allies can keep moving even after they die, and every dead enemy becomes a new pawn. Baltoria's streak of victories could be thanks to that."

Baltoria had only become a military powerhouse about a hundred years ago. Records from before then were nearly nonexistent. Around that time, they had been fighting Mirasta, but from that point onward, their military record had taken a dramatic turn.

Well, necromancy was an incredibly powerful ability in war. Put simply, it granted an army of limitless soldiers.

Allies suffered no depletion, and every enemy lost became another soldier in their ranks. If such an ability were used on a large scale, losing a war would be nearly impossible.

"This even explains the slave collars. Basically, they were for soul-binding... By enslaving them first and binding their souls, controlling them later with necromancy would become incredibly difficult... It’s the same with golems—any impurity interferes with control..."

Even the mystery of the slave collars, which the skull had mentioned, fit into this theory.

If there had been someone on this island who could use necromancy on a massive scale... any reasonable person would fear being killed and controlled. Or, perhaps, they had already witnessed a mass death among the slaves and made a snap decision in response.

It was said that a prince of Baltoria had placed collars on the nobles back then, likely to prevent them from being controlled after death. In other words, it was a way of signaling, "There's no benefit in killing this one," as a desperate measure to save their lives.

"I’d love to tell this to the skull."

Of course, Marylia's theory wasn't necessarily correct. A theory was just a theory. The truth had long been swallowed by darkness, buried beneath history, with no way to recover it.

Even so, Marylia couldn't help but want to share this with the skull. To tell it, "The person you served may have been a truly noble one."

Well.

The skull could wait. She could bring an offering later when the time was right.

For now, what mattered was her future plans... and reassessing her current situation in light of this new theory.

"If necromancy animates corpses, making victory in war inevitable... but has little effect on non-human opponents... then..."

At last, Marylia fully grasped why she was in this predicament.

"... Aren’t I the worst possible opponent for them...? Necromancy has no effect on golems... Ah! So that's why they wanted me executed! Oh-ho-ho, now it all makes sense~"

Yes!

The reason for Marylia’s execution had almost certainly been Baltoria’s request, with the cowardly Fractalia king complying.

But why did Baltoria want Marylia eliminated in the first place? That had been unclear.

After all, Marylia was a commander. The knights who had actually fought on the front lines and their golem-armored bodies were separate entities. Other commanders had also led units into battle.

So why was Marylia, specifically, chosen for execution?

… Obviously, because "Marylia the Golem Master” was the worst possible enemy for necromancers!

"… By the way, wasn’t exiling me to this island the worst possible move for them? That means my execution and destination weren’t decided by Baltoria, but by Fractalia, right?"

The peak of incompetence.

From Baltoria’s perspective, the one person they wanted dead had survived—worse still, she had been sent to the last place they would ever want her to be.

It was impossible to believe the Fractalian king had done this with any foresight. That was just the kind of fool he was.

"Or maybe they thought I’d die if they dumped me on an uninhabited island. If that’s the case, they sure underestimated me. Ahaha!"

In reality, Marylia had taken control of the entire island, was mass-producing Iron Golems, and was effectively building a powerful force.

Baltoria was probably in chaos right now. Someone was likely holding their head in their hands—assuming their head was still attached to their body.

Marylia chuckled as she left the beach.

She had ordered the golems to "dump the corpses into the sea" as they saw fit. Soon, the ocean would gain a few more scraps of drifting remains.

"Well, it’s fine. Against necromancy, I’m incredibly strong. That just means I need to prepare properly before my return... to crush the enemy completely. Because they'll surely do everything they can to destroy me. Ehehe~"

If her concerns were unfounded, so be it.

But preparation was necessary. And Marylia was not one to neglect that.

If she was going to act, she would do so thoroughly.

Since her enemy was a necromancer, it was only natural—she would face them with overwhelming golem-powered force.

And she would do it as soon as possible.

What do you think about this chapter?