People said Necromancy was truly a school for those who had nothing.

That necromancers didn’t need to have as much mana as wizards. That they drew mana through the grudges of the dead.

That necromancers didn’t need to be as wealthy as alchemists. That corpses were abundant everywhere in the world.

That necromancers didn’t need to be as intelligent as enchantresses. That even street-level curses could somehow be effective in necromancy.

In other words, this meant that those born with abundant mana, from wealthy families, and with good brains shouldn’t even look at necromancy.

The reality where they were overwhelmed by wizards in firepower, by alchemists in cost-effectiveness, and by enchantresses in application and convenience.

However, there was one thing that necromancers did better than others.

They were the best school when it came to intimidation.

***

“Yes, yes. You thought well, kid. We’ll properly compensate you, so don’t worry.”

The man was in a good mood.

Despite his polite “proposal”, Tip, who had been stubbornly insisting that he wouldn’t give up the house, finally nodded.

The underlings of the same gang argued that they should just bury Tip and take the house, but it was much cleaner to “take over” through a legitimate contract than to forcibly occupy a house where the owner had “disappeared.”

This was both for when they might sell the house later and, although the possibility was slim, to claim it was a legitimate transaction if the city guard showed interest.

“Hahaha…”

When the man patted Tip’s small back, Tip slightly grimaced as if in pain, but soon returned to a sheepish smile.

The man knew that face well.

It was the face of a weak person flattering the strong.

Those who inwardly felt dissatisfied, but reflexively smiled out of habit, knowing they’d suffer worse if they showed it.

It was a common sight among orphans and the poor in the city.

Of course, the man didn’t particularly feel guilty about this. It was their livelihood to extort and bleed such people dry.

There were those who cursed at the man and his gang, saying they would receive karmic retribution someday, but the man didn’t flinch.

The idea that those who committed evil deeds received punishment was laughable.

Where else in the world was there such a naive story?

Before officially drafting the contract, the man and his gang, who entered the building intending to first examine the interior of the house, let out exclamations of admiration.

“The inside is cleaner than I thought.”

“Heh, to think a little kid had this place all to himself.”

A two-story structure, rare to find in commoners’ houses.

Although there were no interior decorations like carpets or paintings, probably because they had all been sold off, the number of rooms exceeding five was enough to satisfy the man and his gang.

Thinking they could get quite a good price for this, the man was feeling satisfied when…

“But, doesn’t it feel a bit eerie?”

“Yeah. It was fine outside, but it feels like it’s gotten colder since we came in…”

“Is the air damp?”

The gang members who entered the house with the man all shivered at once.

Was it because of such words?

Even the man, who had been fine until just now, felt an inexplicable chill wrap around his body.

The fact that there was almost no lighting throughout the house, as an orphan living day to day wouldn’t have stocked up on candles, also contributed to this feeling.

“It must be because sunlight doesn’t come in. If we open the windows— “

– Kyaaaaaaah!!

Cutting off the man’s words, a shrill woman’s scream suddenly rang out.

The gang members flinched in surprise.

“W-what? What was that sound?”

“From the second floor?”

“Hey, kid. Is there someone else here—huh? Where did this brat go?”

The man was flustered.

Tip, who had been by his side until just now, had disappeared somehow.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only strange thing.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

At regular intervals and with consistent intensity, a sound like something colliding kept ringing out from the second floor.

“B-Boss, something’s weird. Shouldn’t we go out for a bit and come back?”

“Could it be, is it one of those haunted houses?”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

The man irritably brushed off his underlings’ anxious words.

“It’s obvious that this brat is trying to scare us. I was going to show some consideration since he was being obedient, but he dares to pull this stunt?”

Although his idea of consideration was just giving a few coins instead of kicking him out penniless after just signing the contract, which was equally thuggish, the man was genuinely angry.

“Find that brat! Find him and drag him in front of me! There might be others on the second floor, so go together!” shouting, the man slumped down on a chair in a corner of the living room.

At the man’s threats, the three gang members, despite looking very uncomfortable, went up the stairs to the second floor.

Creak, creak.

The sound of climbing the stairs echoed unusually loudly.

How much time passed like this?

The man soon became irritated.

“Why aren’t these bastards coming back?”

Given the size of the mansion, it was strange that they hadn’t already searched the entire second floor.

At the very least, they should have reported back if they couldn’t find anything, or if not that, there should have been some bustling sounds from upstairs, but now it was neither.

The man, getting annoyed, finally stood up.

As he clicked his tongue at the desolate living room scene without a single piece of furniture, he suddenly realized something strange.

Why is there just one chair left? There’s not even a table?

He unconsciously looked down at the “chair” he had just been sitting on.

And…

The “human” who had been curled up on the floor, offering its back to the man as a seat, turned only its neck sideways with a cracking sound while maintaining its posture, and met the man’s eyes.

“W-waaaah!!”

The man screamed and rolled on the floor.

The “thing” that had been imitating a chair stared at the man for a while, then started crawling on the floor, still in its curled-up posture, thumping its knees on the ground.

At this terrifying and dreadful sight, the man ran up the stairs in a panic.

He actually wanted to flee out of the building, but since “that thing” was lingering near the door, he had no choice.

“Hey! Where are you!? Answer me right now! Hey! I said answer!”

With the sole thought of reuniting with his underlings first, the man desperately wandered around the second floor.

Finally, as he flung open one of the doors, his mouth fell open.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“I won’t do it again. Please forgive me. Please forgive me.”

“Hee, heehee, heeheehee.”

His underlings were all muttering nonsense, trembling with vacant expressions.

As if they had seen something so terrible it drove them mad.

“You guys! Snap out of it! Hey!”

The man slapped their cheeks repeatedly, but the underlings just drooled with unfocused eyes, not responding properly.

At that moment, the man heard that collision sound again in his ears.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

“T-this little bastard really…!”

Forcibly suppressing the fear creeping up from under his feet with anger, the man approached the room where the sound was coming from and flung open the door.

And that was the last bit of courage the man could muster.

“So, Mom. Those bad guys bullied me. Please punish them, okay? Promise?”

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

What was in front of the little boy, who was earnestly talking with his back to the door, was a hanged corpse, swaying ceaselessly as if in the wind, repeatedly hitting the wall with its body.

“That’s right, Patrasche. Next time I’ll tell you who the bad guys are, and you should bite them hard, okay?”

What was enjoying the little boy’s touch, as if petting a dog, was the “thing” that had terrified the man by walking on all fours despite being human.

The sight of a young child speaking familiarly to a hanged corpse and a human dog was so terrifying that the man could barely breathe.

At that moment when he reflexively took a step back.

Creak.

As the wooden floor made a shrill sound, the little boy’s speech stopped.

The man’s heart felt like it would stop, too.

Eventually, slowly, very slowly, the little boy named Tip turned his head.

And, pointing his finger at the man, he said, “That’s him! The bad guy!”

The eyes of the corpse, hanging by a rope with its tongue sticking out long, turned towards the man.

The human-shaped monster that had been panting as if imitating a dog looked at the man.

– Kyaaaaaaah!

Thudududududuk!

A woman let out a shrill scream as she flew through the air, and the human dog crawled on the floor at a terrifying speed.

The moment their hands touched his body.

The man could no longer endure and fainted.

After that, it didn’t take long for rumors about a haunted house to spread among the unsavory gangs of Glückstadt.

***

“Amazing! Amazing! Dorothy! You’re really an amazing mage! The guys who used to bully me now run away in fear just by seeing my eyes! It’s all thanks to you!”

“Hmm, ahem, you’re exaggerating. It’s not much.”

Although Dorothea was taking a cold attitude towards Tip, who was showering her with admiration with sparkling eyes, it was obvious to anyone that this wasn’t her true feelings.

Just looking at how her lips were trembling, one could tell that she was actually happy, but trying hard to maintain her composure.

After finishing a theatrical performance using necromancy, Tip’s standing completely changed.

If it had been a mage other than a necromancer who had helped Tip, it would have been difficult to achieve such a dramatic effect.

If a mage who could shoot large fireballs from their hands was protecting Tip, people might not touch Tip for now, but that protection would be unstable.

They might think they could just harm Tip when the mage wasn’t around.

Of course, considering future retaliation, they wouldn’t act recklessly so easily, but there were many who didn’t think about tomorrow and lived only for today.

Fortunately, necromancy was different.

Ghosts, spirits, curses, these were entities with ambiguous substance and structure.

The threat of a mage shooting fire from their hands could be avoided by just avoiding that mage, but the threat of ghosts could suddenly strike anytime, anywhere.

To put it bluntly, if they did even a small harm to Tip, what if a ghost came right away that night?

Unless they had seen Dorothea waving her staff and controlling ghosts right in front of them, since Dorothea herself had hidden her appearance and focused thoroughly on creating supernatural-like effects, the victims had no choice but to accept this in the realm of emotion rather than logic.

It was from then that Tip’s attitude towards Dorothea began to change gradually.

“Dorothy is really amazing.”

“Can you do this too? That’s incredible!”

“As expected, Dorothy is the best! Other mages can’t even begin to compete with Dorothy!”

Tip praised and extolled Dorothea.

Dorothea, while feeling shy at Tip’s attitude, also bestowed more things on Tip.

It would be a bit cruel to express it as sympathy.

Dorothea was just objectively assessing the situation.

Tip was weak compared to Dorothea, and Tip’s abilities were insignificant compared to Dorothea’s.

Tip tried various things to be helpful to Dorothea in his own way, but such efforts easily lost their shine in front of Dorothea’s specialness.

Tip’s living conditions gradually improved, and Tip’s dependence on Dorothea also deepened.

Then one day.

The Witch of the East asked her apprentice, “Are you keeping a pet somewhere?”

***

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