Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 5

Death King Karnak

1. Something’s Wrong (4)

The night was profound. However, Karnak, lying on the bed, could not sleep.

“Haa…” He sighed while staring at the colorful wallpaper-covered ceiling of his bedroom.

“How much is that again? Why is that on the ceiling of my room?”

It wasn’t just the wallpaper. The furniture, the bed, and even the candles were high quality. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get used to it because it was too luxurious. When he was the King of Death, he was surrounded by much more extravagant items. However, it is too different from the bedroom in his memory.

“Originally, this wasn’t my plan…”

There was no longer any lingering attachment to the powers of the Death King. He had no intention of living in that state of inability. Although it was only in theory, he had prepared a way to increase his strength with necromancy while ignoring all the side effects.

He also made some backup plans in case things didn’t work out. Since he wasn’t at the childish age he used to be, he would’ve gotten along well with his parents and siblings. No matter how much his family hated him, their attitude would surely change if he gave them a lot of money.

But how would he earn that much money? There was also a plan for that. When and where war would break out in which country, when there would be drought, a bad harvest, where the treasures would be found, and so on, he would’ve collected all sorts of historical items.

Using that future information, he had also planned about where to invest and increase his fortune. The goal was to live a moderately fulfilling life and warm enough not to stand out and not be ignored.

“Just in this size of a house, just this much status in the life.”

Karnak collapsed as he looked at the house that had become his own and the mansion that had become his own.

“But aren’t I already living like that?”

Did he return to the past to do nothing and automatically achieve his life’s goals? In this situation, he was not dumb enough to feel comfortable saying, “Wow, I ate my life for free!”

“I must figure out the situation first…”

Karnak grumbled while rolling on the bed, “Why isn’t Barros here? Is he sleeping?”

After a while, the long-awaited knock was heard.

“Young Master, Young Master.”

Karnak was delighted and called the attendant in a low voice, “Come in.”

The door opened quietly, and Barros sneaked into the room after checking his surroundings.

Karnak asked as he got up, “Is everyone sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“Now I can move a bit.”

“Did you bet on performing a mental search on the old butler?”

“That should be it. But right now, it’s way too hard with my ability to perform a mental search on him.”

He required a catalyst. Moreover, there must be a drug that can reduce the target’s mental power. Make sure to put it to sleep and search while sleeping to achieve what you want.

“So, I have something to prepare first. Delas petals, Zesso, Palelei essence, Lappet grass, all of these weeds that grow naturally in the garden are easily available…”

Before he could even finish talking, Barros held out his pocket.

“Here you go.” The bag already contained the requested weeds.

“Eh? Did you come prepared?”

“It’s been over 100 years since I’ve been with the young master. Won’t I notice even this much?” Barros shrugged with arrogance.

“I got late because I was busy collecting these. The garden was so well taken care of that they were hard to find.”

“I see. The garden was left alone in the past, so the weeds were overgrown, right?”

However, since they have all been pulled out now, it must have been rather challenging to obtain.

“If I had come and looked for it now, I would have just blown it tonight. Good job.”

Karnak gestured as he left the room.

“Let’s move.”

“What if the servants find out?”

“Going for a walk is perfectly fine if you aren’t sleepy. Looking at the atmosphere, it seems that no one will say anything to me as that’s how I am.”

“Well, aren’t you the lord now?”

“Yes.” As if it was absurd, Karnak let out a mischievous laugh.

“Am I the lord? The me who was an illegitimate child and a spoiled brat?”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Combine delas petals, zesso, pallele essence, and lapat grass in a bowl and mash. And use the necromancy to set it on fire.

Roaring!

The flames flared up for a while and then went out. All that remained was a long billow of black smoke. Smoke drifted through the air, moving like a creature. It was controlled by Karnak using magic.

Black smoke seeped into the nostrils of the old man lying on the bed. The old butler’s body trembled for a while, his eyes rolled over, and the whites of his eyes became visible.

“Alright, perfectly put to sleep.”

After checking the butler’s condition, Karnak issued an order.

“Arise. My servant.”

The words contained in the voice were emitting a power, and the Oldman’s upper body quickly got raised from the bed.

“Yes, my lord.” Now the old butler was in a state he would answer every question honestly, no matter what he was asked.

“But what should I ask?” Karnak hesitated for a moment.

‘I have so many questions that I can’t organize them.’

First, he would have to confirm what he was most curious about.

“How did my father die?”

The answer immediately came: “Three years ago, he was killed by the blade of that wicked Lord Randolph.”

Karnak and Barros looked at each other.

“Randolph? Who is that?”

“Isn’t he a Knight of Deventor? Wait, the neighboring territory…”

He didn’t understand the whole thing since he cut off the first and last parts and heard only the conclusion.

“Then, what about Baroness Isabella?”

“She fell ill and collapsed with the sorrow of losing the baron and the first son. And she couldn’t get up after that…”

“Oh, is the order of death like that?”

Karnak continued the question, “Then, what happened to Tezel?”

“The first young master…”

He repeatedly asked questions one after the other. The old butler Tafel was stunned and gave a steady answer every single time. He could somewhat get the picture of the overall situation because of that.

“For starters, nothing special happened until I was 16.”

The fact that the estate was on the verge of ruin, the fact that the family despised Karnak as an illegitimate child, and the fact that he, who was a fool, was looked down upon by people remained the same in the past.

The change occurred four years ago in the year 683 of the Yu Steel Kingdom calendar.

The second brother Parratt was practicing martial arts in his routine while traveling up and down the mountain and accidentally discovered a large mine of copper in a cave in the north.

“Copper Mine?” Karnak frowned.

“I don’t remember hearing of a copper mine in our estate.”

Barros shrugged, confused, “Maybe you didn’t know about it before. It was probably discovered by accident.”

“But this story, it seems too unnatural to me.”

The discovery of a mine in an estate was one of the common delusions every aristocrat dreamed of. Of course, this delusion rarely became a reality. If mineral mines were so common, they wouldn’t have become a jackpot in the first place.

And that’s the usual response one would expect when an aristocratic family announces that they have discovered a mine. Those guys are making money in some dishonest way and using mining as an excuse!

“But was it real this time?”

To this incredible fortune, the Zestrad family hastily developed the mine. It is said that they achieved unexpected results in one year because the copper mine was of a very high grade. Of course, they didn’t develop it on their own.

Mining development was a business that required advanced mining equipment and civil engineering technology. Copper ingots do not come out of the ground just by digging, so technology was also needed to separate and refine copper from minerals.

But how could it be possible for Baron Zestrad’s family, who only farmed, to develop a copper mine on their own in just one year?

So, they entrusted the mining business to Tecas Company, the largest merchant company in the Yu Steel Kingdom, with technology and workforce and managed it by sharing the profits.

The problem was the following. The neighboring estate’s Viscount Deventer, who always kept the Zestrad family in check, had a dispute with them.

A summary of the contents is as follows:

‘Originally, that copper vein was discovered by the Viscount Deventer.

Also, the location of the copper mine was a neutral area in the middle of both families.

However, the generous Viscount Deventer proposed that the two families jointly develop and own the mine, and Baron Zestrad agreed to it as well.

However, the baron disdainfully broke the contract and went back on his words after grasping the size of the mine.

How could he forgive them for molding the truth as if they had discovered it from the beginning? We will regain our rights even at the cost of blood!’

Barros said while stunned, “Wow, that’s shameless. Well, weren’t they shameless from the start?”

“By the way…”

Karnak shook his head.

“It’s not just a completely speculative story, either.”

The copper mine was located in the north of the territory, on a tributary of the Jaeden Mountains. Just looking at the location, it definitely belonged to the Zestrad estate.

However, the original territory rule was that if you had mountains in your territory, you weren’t obliged to split the land within it, even if you were cut with a knife.

A person would secure ownership of the agricultural land he had touched with his hands, but what about forests and mountains? It was common for people to fill them in their maps and move on vaguely. Since it was useless land, there were only a few cases in which money was spent to survey them.

“It was true that it’s near our territory, but at the same time, it’s also true that our hands haven’t been burned.”

If the Deventer family had discovered the copper mine first, it would have been difficult to claim ownership, but they would have been able to claim the joint management qualifications.

“If only that side had found the mine first.”

“Is there any chance it’s the real thing, young master?”

“I can’t say there isn’t much, but…”

Karnak scratched his head while recalling the memories of the past.

“Honestly, that’s not the most probable case.”

“Why?”

“Because Deventer is much stronger than us.”

Unlike Baron Zestrad’s family, which was in ruins, the Viscount Deventer’s family has steadily built up its strength since the time of their predecessors. Both their military power and wealth far exceed that of the baron’s family.

“If we had agreed to develop jointly from the beginning, why would a sane person even think of crossing such a dangerous bridge?”

Thanks to this, the relationship between the two families became extremely bad. When words didn’t work, it became an exchange of fists, and when fists didn’t work, they were putting knives to each other’s throats.

Inevitably, the two families entered the Yeongji War. There were several bloody battles, most of which were defeats for the Zestrad family. As expected, the power of the Deventer family, which had grown steadily since their predecessors, was unusual.

A year later, in the end, even a tragedy occurred in which the owner, Baron Kraput, was killed by Deventer’s strongest knight, Sir Randolph. While the soldiers were retreating, even Tezel, the heir, was shot by an arrow shot by Randolph and passed away, so the Baron Zestrad family faced a situation where they lost both the head of the family and the heir at once.

Baroness Isabella, who lost her beloved husband and son, became bedridden, and her second son, Master Parratt, became the head of the household.

Parratt struggled to collect the remaining troops and oppose the Viscount, but the already tilted situation could not be reversed. At the end of the following year, even he fell victim to the Viscount Deventer. In the subsequent battle, he lost both his legs to Randolph.

He could barely survive because of his training, but since he was disabled, he could no longer act as a knight. The shock of being crippled deteriorated his health, and he started living on alcohol and drugs. So Master Parratt died in the end, and it was around that time that Baroness Isabella also died while suffering from all that trauma and anxiety.

“Wow, did that one man named Randolph kill all our family? Was there ever a strong man like him in the neighboring estate?”

“It wasn’t because Randolph was strong, but it would seem that our family was too weak.”

“Then, who the hell is this Randolph guy?”

“I can also barely remember the name…”

“Well, let’s make a name for ourselves in a country like this.”

Can Karnak and Barros, who have fought with the four great kings, the three great wizards, and the legendary dragon emperor, play a role in supporting a knight in a rural village like this?

Next, Karnak continued to interrogate the old butler, “What happened after that?”

Karnak, the illegitimate son, was now the only remaining family from the bloodline of Baron. And the position of the successor was passed on to him. The decision was also made to officially ascend to the top as the family head in the year he turned 20 and became an adult. The Deventer family then announced that they would stop the war for the time being and wait until Karnak became their lord. It was a noble response worthy of an aristocrat.

“Though it was their only justification, the truth is that they are waiting to hunt for a business partner.”

The purpose of the Deventer family was to swallow all the territory of the Zestrad Family and not just destroy them. Occupying the copper mine and collecting war damages were the only thing they needed to do.

“And they would need someone who can officially sign the contract to accomplish their goal.”

The madman Karnak faced a lot of resistance from everyone after becoming the lord. However, everyone came to acknowledge and respect him when two years passed after he became the family head.

“You respected me? Why?”

The old butler suddenly burst into tears at Karnak’s question.

“Who could not respect the lord who risked his life to protect the territory?”

‘Who are you? How come you’re still in tears even when your mind is suppressed? How pure is your sincerity?”

He was totally shocked when he was about to move on to the next question.

“Wait, life?”

Karnak’s complexion hardened.

“What do you mean? Why did I risk my life?”

[To be continued.]