Chapter 1

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 1

Chapter Title: The Child Who Ruled the Dead

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Chapter 1
The Child Who Ruled the Dead

Talochium Empire.

At the entrance of a rift, where a small Mana Stone towered ominously over the land—

“Huff… huff…”

Rio, a mercenary from the small island of Modeut, wiped the back of his neck with trembling hands.

“Damn it… damn it…”

His palm was soaked in vivid red blood.

“Kerrrrk—”

A dragon-type magic beast—Rikellops—tilted its head directly in front of him, staring without blinking.

All of his scattered comrades were already dead.

Forty mercenaries.

All annihilated by only three Rikellops.

“Keruk—”

Rio tightened his grip around his broken sword, his strength nearly gone.

Suddenly, the image of his mother from the day he left his hometown flashed through his mind.

If he had known it would end like this, he would have hugged her properly—just once.

The Rikellops bared their fangs.

A clear signal that they were about to finish him.

Rio swallowed his ragged breath and closed his eyes.

He was ready to give up everything.

Then—

[Snap out of it. If you want to live.]

An unfamiliar voice echoed through the air.

Rio’s eyes flew open.

Floating in the moonlight was something pitch-black, its form indistinct.

“Oops. My apologies.”

In the next instant, several figures appeared out of nowhere, shoving Rio aside as they stepped forward.

He froze, staring at the cloaks fluttering before him.

“Agavert…?”

The mercenary group that had burst onto the continent like a comet—
The group that rewrote history wherever it went—

Agavert.

They were infamous for their strange uniforms embroidered with a pink dwarf, a detail that baffled everyone who saw it.

“Young man, are you alright?”

An elderly man in Agavert’s uniform approached Rio, clicking his tongue as he inspected the wound on his neck.

At the same time, loud voices erupted nearby.

“Veil! Move aside! It’s my turn to show off to Tiye!”

“What are you talking about? We’ve already seen you swing that hammer a hundred times. Get lost—I’ll show my real skills this time.”

“…You’re still terrible.”

“That’s just your opinion, you muscle-brained pig!”

“Enough! Stop it! If the leader finds out, we’re dead!”

Even as disinfectant stung his wound, Rio couldn’t move.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The Agavert members were arguing loudly—
While casually deflecting the Rikellops’ attacks with one hand.

Each clash of teeth made Rio flinch.

Rikellops were monsters capable of wiping out entire squads.

Yet these people treated them like children playing pretend.

Then—

“Stooooop!”

Something burst out of the bushes and ran past Rio.

His mouth fell open.

Small stature.
Fluffy light-blonde hair.
A pink backpack bouncing on their back.

“…A kid?”

A child completely out of place stood with hands on their hips.

“You pwomised not to fight! If you keep doing this, Tiye will kick you out of Agavert!”

The bickering instantly stopped.

A massive man holding a Rikellops by the neck asked nervously,

“Kick us out? What do you mean, Tiye?”

“We have to catch magic beasts! How awe we gonna do that if you keep fighting? And someone’s huwt! Only Gwamps Nordics gets a ‘good job’ sticker!”

The man’s face turned pale.

The others awkwardly looked away.

The child puffed out their cheeks.

“Always fighting… How awe we evew gonna weach twenty membews? Twenty minus five is fifteen, so we still need a wot mowe! We gotta hurry and wegistew as a big-time mewcenawy gwoup…”

Before they could finish—

One of the fallen Rikellops suddenly sprang back up.

Its fangs gleamed as it charged straight at the smallest target.

The Agavert members froze.

Rio lunged forward instinctively.

“Run—!”

But—

“Geez. You guys always waste time.”

A faint glow flickered in the child’s eyes.

The ground rustled.

Bones erupted from the damp earth.

Skeletons—dozens of them—rose, empty sockets gleaming.

They grabbed the Rikellops’ legs, dragging it down.

The beast screamed as it was pulled beneath the soil—
Buried alive.

Only silence remained.

“Ahyohyo.”

The child turned back to Rio, patting their chest.

“If my bone fwiends hadn’t helped, that would’ve been bad.”

Then they smiled brightly.

“Uncwe, hewwo!”

They raised two fingers.

“Fwom now on, uncwe chooses one of two options.”

“Fiwst—fowget evewything and go home. Youw fwiends awe gone. That’s life.”

The old man beside him nodded.

“Second—join Tiye’s mewcenawy gwoup, Agavert!”

Rio’s heart raced.

This child… was calling Agavert their mercenary group.

“You’re… the Necromancer King?”

The child beamed.

“Yup! That’s Tiye!”

Rio’s blood ran cold.

The legendary Necromancer King.

Founder of Agavert.
Ranked No. 1 across the continent.
A 100% Mana Stone conquest rate.

And yet—

“…You’re just a kid.”

“Oh! And if you join, you can sweep in sometimes!”

“…Why?”

“Because Tiye goes to Tutowing School fwom ten to fouw! So we only work at night!”

A real child.

No older than five.

And to explain how this came to be—

We must go back two months.

To Jongno-gu, South Korea.

Where a painfully shy child was searching for his dad.