Necromancer Survival

Chapter 441

"How… No, more than that, your clothes…" I stuttered, embarrassed.

However, Jo Chan-young calmly flicked his finger, summoned what resembled a loose robe, and draped it over his body. Even that felt like a mere concession for my comfort rather than shame—his expression showed not a hint of embarrassment.

After dressing himself a little, Jo Chan-young explained himself, "I couldn't help it. I was a wolf cub."

"Wolf?"

“Yes. Not a puppy," he murmured. It seemed as if he couldn't understand why we couldn't tell the two apart. He glanced back.

There, Bang Eun-ji watched us with a sullen expression, "How would Eunji know that."

"It's common sense."

"You had no problem gobbling down dog food though."

"Don't make Eunji laugh." Bang Eunji, in one of her rare irritated moments, snapped back, but Jo Chanyoung's expression remained as impassive as ever.

However, even he was caught off guard when Dawon suddenly snapped his fingers, sending him crashing to the floor.

Dawon, with a smile he always wore when he was annoyed, said, "You don't really need to have a conversation on top of *my* Lee-kyung-ie, right?”

"You haven't changed, guildmaster-nim." Jo Chan-young picked himself up without getting angry. He then took a moment to scan his surroundings before finally locking eyes with me, who was still staring at him in disbelief. "You must be wondering why I appeared in the form of a living wolf pup. Unlike your contracts with other Servants, mine is fundamentally different."

"Ah… Yes." I nodded because it was true.

Jo Chan-young looked around and glanced at the clock on the wall. He began to speak incredibly quickly, "When we signed the contract, I took certain risks so as to not consume Choi Lee-kyung's life force. So, I have no choice but to stay in this form for the time being. If I receive Choi Lee-kyung's bodily fluids or mana, I can temporarily return to this form for a short period. Otherwise, I must remain in the form that requires the least amount of mana to exist in reality–hence the baby wolf."

"My body fluid or mana?"

"With just this little amount of saliva…I have about 20 seconds left."

"What?" I was startled, but Jo Chan-young was still calm.

"So, don't summon me unless it's truly necessary. One last tip… When I raised my summons, I fed them the hearts of magical beasts stronger than my own summons to help them grow. Well then… farewell."

I opened my mouth wide–ready to react–at his hectic greeting. But, I managed to get my words out, "W-wait a minute! Then do you understand everything we say when you're a wolf?"

Raising his eyebrows for the first time, Jo Chan-young replied, "…Only to the extent of a wolf pup's intelligence."

And then that was the last we saw of Jo Chan-young as a human. With a loud ‘poof!', the towering man's figure vanished, leaving behind a whimpering puppy—no, a wolf pup—rolling around on the floor.

We all looked at Jo Chan-young in silence. Then suddenly, Woo Ragi grabbed the wolf pup by the scruff of his neck and casually tossed him toward me. I shot him a reproachful glare for such careless and cruel treatment. "He said he could understand what we're saying and doing!"

"Just how high could a wolf pup's IQ be?" Woo Ragi smiled, proudly showcasing his callous and shameless personality.

Chan-young-ssi, who had been thrown at me, burrowed back into my arms and started nibbling at my hospital gown–though none of his nips hurt. While I objected to Woo Ragi's words on principle, I had to admit… it was hard not to see him as a fluffy little puppy in this form.

‘I suppose his feet are definitely bigger than ordinary dogs…'

He still looked like a newborn puppy. I started to automatically pat him. And then, just as quickly, he was snatched away—by Dawon.

"Ah…" I sighed.

"I'll take good care of him, Lee-kyung-ah. You should focus on your recovery."

I couldn't trust his smile, but, honestly, it was hard to take care of Jo Chan-young with this body.

I sighed deeply, "You better not torment him. Alright?"

"Of course. I've taken care of dogs in the past."

"No–that's not a dog. He's your colleague…" I anxiously peered at Jo Chan-young, who was caged in Dawon's arms, but the sharp, calculating man from before was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was busy licking Dawon’s fingers.

* * *

‘But, what was that supposed to mean…?'

After Dawon left, saying he would prepare a "nest" for Jo Chan-young, my hospital room fell into silence. Everyone had left except for Lackey. Only then did Lackey climb onto my bed and curl up quietly in my arms.

A long while had passed, and I fell into deep contemplation. I hugged Lackey in my arms and rested my chin on his hard skull. The words that Jo Chan-young left with me before returning to his wolf form remained on my mind.

‘One last tip… I raised my summons, I fed them the hearts of magical beasts stronger than my own summons to help them grow.'

‘Growing your summons, huh….'

As I mulled over his words, I lifted my jaw off of Lackey's skull before looking at it.

Though technically the [Red Lotus] members took on summoned forms as my Servants, it didn’t quite feel right to call them my summons. And, at the bottom of their status windows, their statuses always included lines like, ["Seo Dawon" is not a valid enhancement target.]

However, Lackey was different. It could be strengthened using materials, and its evolution path was predetermined. If I could say I had a ‘true' summon of my own, then it definitely would be Lackey.

‘So, that's why I paid to get carried through the [Tower of Command] to obtain materials…'

Until now, I had assumed that in order to strengthen Lackey, I needed to follow the instructions in his status window—acquiring the necessary materials and enhancing him step by step.

However, the materials for its next stage were masked, obscured by an [unknown] label. In other words, it meant that I had not yet unlocked a hint for the ingredients needed for the next stage–the next ‘scenario.' It was incredibly frustrating. I hadn’t been able to do anything and had given up as I watched Lackey struggle to improve and grow…

‘Did Jo Chan-young… Did he tell me about alternative methods I could use to strengthen my summons?'

I pressed at my heart, which had begun to race. Lackey placed its hand on mine when I began to press my chest. The skeleton probably didn’t understand what was happening, but it seemed like it was imitating my actions out of concern.

"……"

And, strangely, that small gesture stirred something in my heart.

Lackey met the wrong master for sure. Lackey was such a kind and adorable little guy, yet, because of me, it had to keep fighting enemies far beyond its strength… Lackey had even been forcibly reverse summoned countless times.

Though I knew that, as an undead, it wouldn't die, I had no idea what Lackey did when we were forcibly kept apart for 24 hours. For a creature that never wanted to be away from me to be trapped in some isolated void, completely shattered…

‘Lackey is truly like a puppy…'

Nevertheless, the skeleton happily responded to my summons every time.

I realized that I should have been striving to make Lackey much stronger long ago. In other words, my credentials as a Necromancer should be disqualified. I closed my eyes, trying to calm the rising emotions roiling within me.

Knock Knock–!

Then, I heard a knock on the hospital room door. I instinctively knew it was Dawon-ie.

"…Yeah." I said, listlessly.

Dawon managed to hear my quiet answer and entered the room. The moment he saw Lackey nestled in my arms, his face fell with disappointment.

Ignoring his expression, I immediately stood up and asked, “Do you happen to have any undead cores or anything else Lackey can consume?”

"Is this because of what Jo Chan-young said before?" Dawon immediately understood where my mind was at and what I was trying to say. He seemed to mull it over for a moment before something came to mind. However, his brows furrowed slightly as if he found it displeasing.

"…I do. Something real good." Dawon nodded to me after much thought.

"Really?"

"Eunji has it. I'll ask her to prepare it for you."

"Do you… also think that it's possible for Lackey to grow stronger?"

"Yeah. And I also think it's necessary," Dawon said before glancing at Lackey, who was glued to my back. "If all goes well, and the nucleus gets absorbed as I think it will… Then Lackey will be as useful as Kim Sangyoon."

My eyes opened wide at those words.

Become a member!

TL: Lee-kyung really needed Chan-young as a mentor RIP.

Also, I love how he's so Blase about Dawon being his usual jealous self. He has the biggest DGAF energy.