Pajam’s body had been recovered and buried in the royal mausoleum, but I preferred speaking to him here at the empty well.
“Your son, Shumar, has grown into a splendid young man. He has what it takes to be the next king of Kuwol. I plan to support him as best as I can.”
Exasperated, Parker said, “I just told you his spirit isn’t here anymore.”
“I know, I know. Just shut up and let me talk. When you speak to the dead, it’s so you can sort out your own feelings, not because you think they can actually hear you.”
“Really?”
Part of the reason necromancers felt so otherworldly to laymen was their vastly different outlook on death. While I’d studied necromancy, I wasn’t a fully-fledged necromancer, and I definitely had a more conventional view of death. The werewolves who’d come to guard me didn’t seem interested in mourning Pajam, but I didn’t mind. There was no point in asking those who didn’t care to mourn for someone.
After mourning silently for a few more minutes, I walked towards an abandoned house.
“Where are you going, Veight?” Kumluk asked, following but looking longingly back at the well. My werewolf guards trailed behind.
I gave him a sad smile and said, “It wasn’t just Pajam and his guards who Zagar killed here, remember?”
“It wasn’t?” Monza asked, tilting her head.
“I’m talking about Rafhad.”
“Who?” Everyone except Kumluk gave me confused looks.
Come on, guys, you were all here with me, remember?
“One of Zagar’s underlings. He pretended to be a messenger under Birakoya from Bahza and lured Pajam the Second out here. After that, Zagar killed him to keep him quiet.”
“Oh yeah, his spirit was here too. It was backbreaking work bringing his spirit back—not that I have to worry about breaking my back anymore.” Parker chuckled as he reminisced about the spirit of the man he’d practically forgotten.
I ignored his terrible pun and placed another three bottles of the same liquor in front of the abandoned house. It was my policy to afford equal respect to the spirits of dead enemies and friends alike.
“He, too, was used by Zagar and killed once he’d outlived his usefulness. No one else in Kuwol knows of his demise here. We’re the only ones who can mourn him.”
It would shock the foundations of the country if people knew Pajam the Second, supposed descendant of a god, had been killed by a common mercenary. Thus, the details of Pajam’s death were hidden from the world at large, and Rafhad’s existence was scrubbed from all records. As far as the country was concerned, such a person had never existed.
“But even so, I haven’t forgotten you. And I never will, I promise. The Black Werewolf King prays you find peace in the afterlife, Rafhad.”
I probably wasn’t who he wanted mourning him, but I would feel bad if no one remembered him, so here I was. He might not have mattered to history, but he’d had his own life, aspirations, and dreams.
In a quiet voice, Kumluk said, “Rafhad is lucky to have the great hero, the Black Werewolf King himself, mourning him.”
“He deserves that much, at least.”
In truth, we’d never met, so if Rafhad was looking down on us right now, he was probably just confused. Well, technically, we’d spoken a bit after he’d died, but I wasn’t sure that counted.
I was simply mourning him because I wanted to. As someone who’d never been respected by others in my past life, I understood how much recognition mattered. Granted, I was a werewolf now and not a human, so maybe Rafhad didn’t want the respect of a werewolf.
Kumluk said a brief Mondstrahl prayer, then turned to me with a smile.
“I did, in fact, know Rafhad myself. We weren’t close, but I distinctly remember how much of a sweet tooth he had. He would even drink his rum with sugar.”
I see. Stories of the deceased made for good offerings, or at least, that’s what I believed.
“Next time, then, I suppose I’ll have to bring him some sugared rum. Maybe I’ll stop by here again on our way back.”
Parker looked at me incredulously. “You want to come back here? If you take every single death in your life this seriously, you’ll break under the strain.”
“That’s why I couldn’t become a real necromancer. But this is how I choose to live my life.”
Monza laughed and replied, “Ahaha, and that’s why you have such a hard life.”
Oh, leave off.
Once I was done paying my respects, we headed to Kuwol’s capital, Encaraga. As expected, the royal family prepared an overtly grand welcome for us, which was even more exhausting than the nobles’ receptions. To be fair, they had to go all out since this was also a welcome home party for Shumar, and anything less would be seen as a slight to outside observers. However, I’d come here to speak with Queen Fasleen and not to stuff my face full of banquet food, so as soon as I saw an opportunity, I approached her.
“Sir Veight, how’s my son doing?” Fasleen asked.
“Great. In fact, I can show you how well he’s doing.” I completely slipped into the role of a teacher and handed Shumar’s report cards to the queen. “He’s getting top marks in Kuwolese and Kuwolese history as expected, but he’s performing quite well in other subjects too. Our principal was lamenting how much of a shame it was that we’d have to send him back to Kuwol someday.”
“The Demon Empress said that?”
“Yes. She actually wanted Shumar to become one of her disciples.”
The specific words Master had said were “Nobles are so adept at learning, probably because they’re tutored from such a young age.” Of course, Shumar, as crown prince, had received the best education possible from the day he could speak. While Shumar was probably the most learned person in all of Kuwol, at Meraldia University, he was just one of many accomplished students. Meraldia University was, at this point, likely the greatest institute of learning in the world. However, having such accomplished peers was helping Shumar grow as a person and make connections with the brightest members of the coming generation.
“Most of the students respect Shumar quite a bit. He really has a knack for winning people over. Thanks to him, many Meraldians have come to learn a lot about Kuwol.”
“Oh my...” Fasleen said, blushing with pride.
She’d likely been worried about sending her only son to study abroad, but this should hopefully reassure her that she’d made the right choice.