PROLOGUE | The Night She Met Death Deaththat which comes to all living things without discrimination, the end of life. Mira, a white-haired village girl just over twelve years old, was no exception. “Huff, huff…” She lay incapacitated on a crude bed in a pitch-black room, her breathing labored. Several green, almost mold-like blotches covered her scrawny body. It was the green rot, a disease that first manifested as green splotches on the skin. As it progressed, extreme fever and pain drained the victim’s energy until their body finally rotted away and expired. So ruthless was the illness that only the most powerful healers could cure it, and because it spread through the air, many feared they would contract it. “Momma…” Mira cried for help in her delirium. But no one came to care for her. A few days earlier, her mother had told her she was heading to the city to seek help. She left, never to return. Mira hadn’t been abandoned. Her mother had pushed her own disease-ravaged body to its limits in the hopes of finding someone who could save her daughter, but the royal family’s soldiers had killed her on the way, dispatched her to prevent the spread of the disease. This was the Erythron Kingdom, a small country with a population of less than a hundred thousand. They lacked magic users skilled enough to cure the green rot and so had no recourse but to kill anyone suspected of carrying the disease to reduce the terrible loss of life. Obviously, a mere village girl like Mira had no way of knowing any of that. She didn’t even know that her mother had already departed for the afterlife. All she knew was that extreme pain continued to gnaw at her. “Somebody…” Not a single villager rushed to her side as she begged for help. The green rot had already devastated the populace of Krio Village, once home to at least eighty people. Now there was no one left to help her. The frail elders had been first to succumb. Next, the royal military had killed the local leaders who’d gone for help. The younger villagers who’d heard about that incident had fled into the forests to escape but had died of starvation or been attacked by ravenous wild animals or wicked monsters, never to be seen again. Some had been so consumed by despair that they’d taken their own lives. Parents had toiled to care for their sick families, but they’d expired before long as well. In the end, only children, like Mira, remained, their youthful vitality prolonging their suffering. By the time the moon fell and the sun showed its face, most of them would have breathed their last. “I can’t…” Mira gripped the bed weakly, delirious from pain and fever. What little strength left in her hands came from the fear of her looming demise—or perhaps the agony of knowing she could do nothing to prevent it. Just as her eyes began to shut for the last time, the front door creaked open. “Momma…?” Tears spilled from her eyes, and she summoned her remaining strength to turn toward the entrance. But what she saw there, wreathed in the pale moonlight, was not the figure of her mother, for whom she waited. It wasn’t even human. If you had only a single word to describe it, you might say that death itself stood there. Cloaked in a black robe that melted into the darkness of night, only its white head stood out clearly. There were no eyes on that face, no nose, lips, ears, eyebrows, or even hair. It was a bleach-white skeleton. This lifeless symbol of death gazed at Mira with eyes like pale-blue flames set in its sockets. “Ahhh…” Mira sighed feebly in understanding. The time had come for her to leave this world. The skeleton moved, its robe fluttering around it. It wasn’t carrying a large scythe, but it looked every bit the part of the reaper from the stories Mira had been told. That’s why she wasn’t frightened when it walked all the way up to her pillow. Rather, she smiled happily. “Kill me.” She begged for an end to her suffering in a voice so clear she surprised herself. Harvesting human souls and carrying them to the afterlife was the reaper’s responsibility. Surely it would put her out of her misery. But the skeleton shook its head in response to Mira’s request, refusing. “I am terribly sorry, but I’ve sworn to never take a human life again.” The skeleton’s white teeth clacked as it informed her in a deep, calm male voice. “…Why?” asked Mira, clinging on. He didn’t respond. Instead, he slipped a hand behind her back and raised her into a sitting position. Then he pulled a small bottle from thin air, removed the stopper, and brought the bottle to Mira’s lips. “Drink,” he commanded, tilting the bottle and pouring a bitter liquid into Mira’s mouth. Lacking the strength to resist, she gulped it down. At this, he nodded in satisfaction and then laid her back on the bed. “You’ll be all right from here on. Your fever and pain will be gone by morning.” “Huh?!” Mira cried out loudly, surprised that she had this much strength left. She turned her attention to her body again and noticed a slowly growing warmth in her stomach, perhaps from the liquid the skeleton had made her drink. But it wasn’t a bad feeling. In fact, it was refreshing, like a gentle flame was purifying the decay from the green rot. “What was that…?” “A potion created from the bone marrow of a dragon. Even the blotches will fade from your skin in a few days.” Mira was dumbfounded. The skeleton gently stroked her head with a hand that was literally bony. All at once, sleep overtook her. But it was not the eternal sleep that had threatened her moments before; rather, it was a gentle sleep that promised she would wake again. “Why did you save me?” No sooner had the words escaped her mouth than she slipped into the world of dreams. When she was younger, Mira hadn’t minded being stuck in bed with a cold. Though not being able to play outside with everyone had been sad, and she had felt guilty about not doing any chores, she always had one thing look forward to. “Okay, here’s your medicine.” Her mother brought a steaming wooden cup to Mira in bed. Inside was powdered chamomile dissolved in hot water. It had a particular smell, and Mira disliked the taste. “It’s yucky. I don’t want it.” “Don’t be so stubborn.” Her mother stroked Mira’s head even as she lightly scolded her for refusing the medicinal drink. “If you drink it all up, I’ll let you have a spoonful of honey.” “Really?!” As if on cue, her eyes shone. Normally, something so sweet and precious was reserved for consumption only during the spring and fall festivals. The chance to enjoy even just one spoonful made drinking the disgusting medicine easy. “Definitely! Hmm, but if you’re that full of energy, maybe you don’t need the medicine or the honey?” Mira quickly snatched the cup from her mother, who was teasing her for forgetting her fever and getting so excited. She blew on the hot water to cool it, then managed to power through the strong bitterness and finish it off. “Blegh…” “Good job, Mira.” She scrunched up her face, and her mother stuck a spoon of the shiny golden honey she had been waiting for into her mouth. Sweetness exploded, washing away the bitterness of the medicine that had tainted her tongue. “Mmmmm… I’m glad I caught a cold.” “The things this child says.” Smiling at her daughter wearing her heart on her sleeve, her mother poked Mira’s forehead. Though raising her daughter by herself meant that she was usually busy, Mira’s mother always stayed by her side to care for her when she was sick. The sweetness of the honey made that time together all the sweeter. “…Momma.” The dream from which Mira woke was so nostalgic and gentle that it made tears flow from her eyes, which were now fixed on a ceiling, one she recognized. “Is this the village chief’s house?” Confused, she got up and looked around. A number of simple hay beds were laid out in the large room, and on them slept her friends, the other village children. “Everyone!” Mira rushed in a panic to inspect each of the sleeping children’s bodies. There were still faint, green blotches on their skin, but their breathing was stable, and they looked calm as they slept. “Thank goodness…” She let out a sigh of relief and sat down. They must have all been given that strange liquid—the potion—and had their lives saved. “That’s right; who was that person?” That walking skeleton, the one like the grim reaper. Assuming she hadn’t been hallucinating on her deathbed, he was undoubtedly the person who had saved their lives. “Or the skeleton who saved our lives?” Puzzled, Mira thought it over. He wasn’t human. He must be an undead, a type of monster the village elders would talk about. She would soon learn that he was, in fact, the incredibly dangerous Undead King, an undead with intelligence equal to or above that of humans, with enough magical skill at his command to level an entire mountain. “But I was always told to book it if I ever saw a monster, because they’re unpredictable and attack people…” She’d never once heard about a monster saving people instead. While she sat there confused, the other children started to wake, perhaps roused by Mira talking to herself. “Hmm, Mira?” “Huh? I thought I was a goner…” “It doesn’t hurt. What happened?” Unlike Mira, it seemed the other children had been unconscious and didn’t remember the skeleton making them drink the medicine. They were all baffled to be still alive. Even so, huge tears spilled from the corners of Mira’s eyes at the sight of her friends in good health. “Thank god you were all saved.” “Hey, hey, don’t go crying now.” Torio, a boy the same age as Mira, patted her shoulder and tried to cheer her up. “Yeah, thanks.” “S-sure.” Mira wiped her eyes and smiled, and Torio blushed and looked away. Amid all this happiness, one girl suddenly murmured, “Hey, what about Mommy and Daddy?” “Urgh!” Mira’s expression clouded over, and she fell silent. There was likely no one else alive besides the nine children in that room. That meant the girl’s parents, as well as the other children’s parents, siblings, and even Mira’s mother, were gone. But the truth was too terrifying to admit. Unable to dodge the question, she instead sat there opening and closing her mouth wordlessly. Just then, the door suddenly opened, and the black-robed skeleton appeared. “Eek!” “A m-monster?!” The other children screamed and ran to the far corners of the room. They clearly hadn’t seen him before. “Um…” At a loss, Mira choked on her words. She wanted to stand up for the person who had saved their lives, but she didn’t think the other children would believe her at all. Still, she couldn’t just let things go on like this. “Everyone, it’s okay. Calm down,” she said half-heartedly, not believing it would work. Just as she had started speaking, her stomach let out a cute little gurgle. “Ah…” Now that she thought about it, she had spent the past few days in bed, and there hadn’t been anyone to take care of her. Save for the water and honey that her mother left beside her pillow, she’d had nothing to eat or drink the entire time. She looked down at her body again and saw she was as thin as a skeleton. If the potion the skeleton made her drink hadn’t worked, she probably wouldn’t even be able to speak right now. “I’m hungry…” The other children sat down, the sound of Mira’s growling stomach reminding them all of their own hunger. The skeleton had been watching in silence, but now he clicked his white teeth in a smile. “Your hunger is proof that you still live. All right now, I’ve made some porridge for you. Please come along, everyone.” He waved his hand, urging the children to follow. “……” All the children remained silent, confused by the terrifying reaper-like visage with its incongruent kindness and politeness. Out of all of them, Mira was the first to cave to the smell of the porridge floating in from the hallway. Before she realized it, she was swallowing back drool and standing to follow. “Hey, watch out!” “It’s all right.” Torio grabbed Mira’s hand to try to stop her, but she smiled back calmly. “This…uh, nice man (?) could have killed us already if he wanted to.” It seemed peering into the abyss of death had granted her a strange kind of courage. Based on the skeleton’s low voice, she was certain he was a man, but she had no idea how old he was and therefore wasn’t sure how to address him. Insisting it was safe, she pulled on Torio’s hand instead. She turned back to the skeleton. “You won’t kill us, will you?” she asked. At this, the skeleton opened the front of his robe to show his empty abdomen, and he laughed. “I’m not in the habit of fattening up children to eat them. Don’t you worry.” “Hee-hee.” Mira wiped away a tear even as she chuckled, remembering how her mother had told similar fairy tales. She waved at the other children, who were frozen in uncertainty. “C’mon. It’d be pretty stupid to die of hunger after getting saved.” In fact, it would be inexcusable, considering all the villagers who hadn’t been so lucky. Mira defiantly walked into the hall with the skeleton. Unable to beat back their appetites, the other children followed along, albeit hesitantly. The skeleton led the children into the living room. Their village was so small that it didn’t have an inn. Instead, they used this room to double as lodging for any visitors they might have. For that reason, the village chief’s living room was larger than any other house’s and was furnished with a large table. Atop it now sat bowls of delicious steaming porridge, exactly enough for the children. “Yay!” “I do apologize, but as I lack a tongue, I cannot guarantee it will be to your taste.” The skeleton showed them his empty mouth, but the starving children didn’t listen. Their previous suspicion had completely disappeared in the face of their overpowering hunger. They all reached for the dishes of porridge in front of them. “Ah, ah, it’s hot!” “No need to rush. There’s plenty more left.” He smiled as the children wolfed down the food. The blue fire that made up his eyes narrowed in a smile, and he brought along a pot holding seconds. Mira looked at him sideways as she shoveled porridge into her mouth. “…Yummy.” There was perhaps no seasoning more delicious than an empty belly. The porridge was bland, nothing more than wheat boiled in water, but at that moment, it was more delicious than freshly baked bread or roast chicken. Before she realized it, she was crying. After the children had multiple helpings, the skeleton decided that their stomachs were most likely feeling better. He slowly started to speak. “Well then, I suppose I should start with an introduction. My name is… Huh, what was it again?” “Huh?” The skeleton tilted his head in confusion, and Mira copied his motion exactly. She felt that maybe he was cracking a joke to make them feel more at ease, but she also sensed a sort of seriousness, like he hadn’t been called by his name in so many years that he had honestly forgotten it. She couldn’t very well poke at him with an insensitive question. In place of Mira and the other children, a woman’s voice broke the silence first. “Oh my, it must be vexing losing your marbles as you get older.” “Who’s that?!” The children jumped and looked around as a black shadow leaped onto the table. It had glossy black fur and golden eyes like moons— “Did that kitty talk?” asked Mira. “If a skeleton can talk, then surely a cat can, too,” replied the black cat, who’d suddenly appeared as Mira blinked in surprise. The cat curled up on top of the table. Despite having never once lost his gentle demeanor before this, the skeleton spat at the cat upon seeing it. “Aren’t you the one who should be concerned about dementia?” “Do you see this young and lively body or are your eyes rotten? Oh, my bad. You don’t even have eyes left to rot.” While the skeleton still spoke politely, he and the cat glared at each other, sparks flying. Mira realized the other children were scared by the two of them, so she hesitantly called to them. “Ummm…” “My apologies. Please pay her no mind.” “He’s right—I’m just a spectator. Don’t mind me.” “Uh-huh…” She couldn’t tell if they were on good terms or not, so she could only respond vaguely to the strange skeleton and cat. While she did that, the skeleton turned the conversation back to its original course. “About my name… Let’s just go with Terios for now.” For all they knew, it could have been a fake name he came up with on the spot, but he didn’t give them any time to question it. Instead, the skeleton, now Terios, pushed on with what he was saying. “People succumb to famine and war every day.” Mira and the other children had almost been among them. In this world, death was as close as your next-door neighbor. “However, I cannot abide it. I wish to create a peaceful world where people don’t perish before their time, where they aren’t killed in battle.”
Chapter 1
15 min read