“This is Sophie Lilywhite Sorciere, the youngest witch in history to reach unaging status.”
“I am the prime minister of the castle in the Nether. I once had a name during my lifetime, but everyone calls me ‘Prime Minister’ now. You may do the same.”
“I can’t believe I’m speaking to a respectable Lich… It’s nice to meet you, Prime Minister.”
“My name is Silvana. I used to be a magisa long ago. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Mm-hmm, you too… I’m glad to learn knowledge of the past…”
I just realized I hadn’t asked for the name of the magisa elf in the Nether army yet. Ms. Silvana has light green hair, a black robe, and a witch’s hat. She looks to be about 170 centimeters tall.
Anyway, she called the prime minister “respectable.” Is that in comparison to Mr. Skelly? I’m sure I’m wrong, but it’d be faster to just ask.
“Are there liches who aren’t respectable?”
“Those in the wild, yes?” the prime minister asks.
“Uh-huh. The crazy ones with no relation to the Nether…” Ms. Sophie confirms.
“Madame, do you know what happens to souls who don’t end up with us, for one reason or another?”
“Outsiders call them evil spirits or ghosts. But I don’t know if they really exist,” I answer.
“They don’t cause you trouble?” he asks.
“Nothing has ever truly been proven to be caused by ghosts,” I explain.
“I’ve had some reports of them here, and I have killed many myself.”
That’s right, there are wild undead who never made it to the Nether. Since wraith races exist, evil spirits and ghosts bound to their site of death probably wreak havoc on the living sometimes too.
“They usually stay behind because of some sort of attachment. Perhaps they held a grudge or another kind of strong emotion,” the prime minister explains.
“The dead can’t control their emotional limiters… That’s why you can’t help them, even if you speak to them…”
“Yeah, it’s impossible. You’ve just gotta beat them up a little before you can do anything,” Ms. Silvana tells me.
Emotional limiters? In other words, getting too agitated and damaging one’s blood vessels. Essentially, they’ve lost a bodily need for unconscious control over one’s emotions.
It’s the same for non-wild undead, of course, but it sounds like newcomers can learn to control their emotions.
Incidentally, the top leaders of the undead are almost all max level—getting physical to calm down one of them if they’re swallowed up by emotion seems like a tall task…
“It’s usually those in the living realm who deal with them, but if worse comes to worst, the grim reapers have to go and take care of them,” the prime minister replies.
“They’re the ones in charge of hunting people?” I ask.
“But I heard it’s not good to actively hunt souls…” says Ms. Sophie.
“Yes, but that is not their only goal. The grim reapers’ role is to help sever lingering connections to the living world. They’re allowed to choose their means of recovering souls, as this is their job in the first place,” he explains.
We’ve gotten off track, so I’ll let the three of them discuss things among themselves. For now, I’ll summarize this information and pass it on to Mr. Studylover.
It’s possible that these non-respectable liches are out there going to extreme measures for their own reasons. If one of those became a ruling class, it would probably turn into a great war involving every knight and holy knight in the land—just like the one Ms. Luciana told me about.
So grim reapers exist in this world too… I bet they’re related to Mr. Ame’s race. I hadn’t thought there’d be much demand for such a job, based on what I’d seen of the Nether, but it sounds like they mainly work in the Abyss and only take occasional trips to the living realm. Their job is easier than that of arbitrators, but there are fewer grim reapers than arbitrators. All of this information comes from the prime minister, so I doubt it’s inaccurate.
“Hmm, I see. You are the real thing indeed,” says the prime minister.
“Yeah, you have to be as good as this girl to become a sorciere,” Ms. Silvana adds.
“...The real thing?”
“There’s no denying your genius. I’ve seen a few in my time, and you are no different,” the prime minister tells her.
“It’s nice talking to a magisa and an elder lich…”
“Yes, there is no need to hold back like with others. Although, some in the Nether do not hold back either way.”
“Oh, is that right?” I ask.
“You know her quite well, Madame. It’s Granin that I speak of.”
“Lana?”
“She is a genius when it comes to the art of battle. There is no question as to why Sigrdrifa so adores her.”
“Lana has divine protection too?”
“I believe it is ‘love’ that she has received,” he answers me.
“She has the goddess’s love, but she leads the army in the Nether?”
Anything in the Nether falls under Stellura’s domain. It sounds like, for some reason, Sigrdrifa didn’t snatch her away personally.
“Only Stellura can take a soul from the Nether. I’m sure you understand, as you are in a similar situation, Madame. Even a fraction of a god’s power is too much for the body to handle.”
“Ah, yes. You’ll cease to be human,” I realize.
Sigrdrifa has domain over animals, right? It’s possible that she can’t meddle in human affairs at all. Haventhys rules over plants, and for Stellura, her ability to manipulate space is probably relevant.
It seems that, when residents talk to each other, a special effect shows up. Countdowns are floating above all three of their heads, connected by lines. In other words, I think I’m expected to just wait for the countdowns to finish.
Once they’re in this state, they don’t respond to me anymore, and I can’t actually hear what they’re saying. It’s really just an animation to show players that the NPCs are talking. The result is that they’re ignoring their leader, but I can’t be mad. This sort of thing happens in games.
I guess I’ll kill time by reading the Halloween event threads.
“Will you accept our knowledge as compensation?” the prime minister asks Ms. Sophie.
“Yes, it’s more than enough…”
“Can you bring her to your villa, Madame?”
“I’ve never tried it with a resident before,” I tell him.
“Hopefully it is as simple as bringing in an outsider,” he replies.
I’ll never know until I try.
I try connecting to my house with the Silver Key and find that a round trip is allowed. However, unlike players, she isn’t allowed to leave the grounds of my home. I’ll make sure to tell her that. I can always have the employees at my home bring her whatever materials she wants.
“All right… But I don’t want to get stuck in the Nether…”
“I see. In that case, allow us to clean up the other issue so that you can focus on the task at hand,” says the prime minister.
“Issue?” I chime in.
“It’s just a little problem in a lower level of the Abyss. While we’re there, you should stay in contact and purchase plenty of food to bring, Ms. Sophie.”
“Food… All right… Luciana can help us stay in contact…”
Ah, that’s right. There isn’t any food in the Nether, so Ms. Sophie will need a supply to live off of.
“Feel free to use the kitchen in my villa. There may be a chef there, but I’m not sure.”
“Mm-hmm…”
So there’s some problem in the Abyss? I wonder what that could be.
The quest is displaying a time to pick up Ms. Sophie, so I’ll come back when I’m supposed to. For now, I’ll return to the Evernight Castle with the other two. Once we arrive, Ms. Silvana leaves us to our business.
“What’s going on in the Abyss?” I ask the prime minister.
“A group of idiots have locked themselves inside of a fortress.”
“What? In the Abyss? What are they trying to accomplish?”
“Who knows? I couldn’t possibly speculate as to what goes on in the minds of idiots.”
That’s a bit scary, since I have no idea what they’re capable of. A barricaded fortress in the Abyss? He said it was in a lower level, but wouldn’t only the normal occupants and the Abyss’s immortals be in such a place? I doubt they have hostages then. What if they’re simply bored down there? They seem highly motivated, if that’s the case.
Should I go and check it out myself? It’ll be my first time seeing the Abyss. The quest is called “Recapture the Abyss Fortress.” The rewards are hidden, and there’s nothing in the failure conditions section. I have a funny feeling about this one.
I follow the prime minister through the courtroom and into the Abyss. Our path is different from the one souls of residents travel through. It must be a passage for employees. There, we reach a portal and teleport to the level of the Abyss in question.
The Abyss turns out to be darker than the Nether, but I’m surprised it’s not even darker. There’s no Evernight Castle, of course, but a fortress instead. Gone are the crystal lotuses, replaced by red spider lilies that are growing all over the area.
Before us is a group of undead.
“Oh, Prime Minister. Who’s this?”
“This is Madame. Now tell me what these fools are after.”
“It’s as idiotic as you might expect. They show no signs of remorse either. I guess fools never change, even in death.”
There’s no air of formality in their conversation. Perhaps they’ve known each other for a very long time? Not that I’ve ever seen any evidence of strict hierarchies in the Nether outside of things relating to myself. You could almost say I’m treated coldly.
The group’s leader is a high zombie race. It’s hard to tell the difference between high zombies and spirit bodies who’ve chosen to materialize physically. I wonder if he’s a former nobleman too. He’s well put-together, but something about him just makes him look like a suspicious person… For one thing, the way his eyes squint dramatically when he smiles doesn’t look trustworthy. Although he’s been perfectly pleasant so far, he’s not even trying to hide the fact that he’s silently evaluating me. I’m sure that’s on purpose—what a tricky personality the AI has given him.
“Madame, these are the people in charge of the Abyss. To resolve this issue, you can lead them however you please.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. May I share what we know so far?” the leader says to me.
“Yes, please do. That will help me decide how to act.”
Information is crucial. Usually, I’d try to get information from other sources too, but considering our positions, having an easy source right off the bat is very helpful.