Restarting Life In Another World - 147 4.9 Deal with the dead

“Please be seated.”

It was customary to offer seats to the visitor party as part of the courtesy, but sitting on tombstones wasn’t ideal for us. That being said, it might be rude to reject the offer.

The two of us reluctantly took our seats. Following us, Gram also took his seat.

For once, I thought it might be disrespectful to sit on the grave of the dead, but then again, since an undead was the one who made the offer, it must not be considered that big of a deal.

After everyone took their position, Gram looked at Markus. “So, let me hear what you have to say.”

Markus took a long breath and started explaining. “Alright, so here is what happened. The cattle that the villagers were raising as livestock started dying because of some sort of disease. The dead bodies of those animals were poisonous, so it wasn’t consumable, and as a result, the whole village went into starvation. Left with no choices, they decided to come here looking for the hidden riches. And that is how they managed to anger you and disturb your slumber.”

“I expected as much. When left with no choice, they wouldn’t hesitate to rob someone else’s house. It’s in their blood, after all.”

Markus lowered his head. “Yes, that is the weakness humans hold. I apologize for that. But as you can see, they were left with no choice, and we are still unable to figure out the cause of this whole mess. I would like to request your forgiveness.”

“I am willing to forgive you under one condition. But before that, I have to warn you this: unlike the undead in here, I have no control over the undead outside. They are like wild animals looking for prey. So, I can only assure you that you will safely be able to pass through here. Whatever happens outside is not my responsibility.”

Markus looked back at Gram. Nothing was interesting about his figure except his long bony tail and the sturdy-looking armor.

“Alight. What is your condition?”

Gram stood up from his seat and walked a little further. He then turned towards where his companion and Jackie were.

“Does the history still hold the record of how this place came to be?”

“Yes, but there is very little of it that remains till this date. Most of it either got misplaced or erased over time. In a way, it was a good thing since the nobles in the region didn’t want people to be aware of this place, but now, even us high-ranking nobles have no way to learn what happened.”

Gram signed. It’s not like skeletons could even breathe to sigh, but he made the sighing gesture showing his disappointment.

“Okay, let me tell you the true story of how this place came to be.”

“This is the story that happened a long time ago—the era where humans occupied a tiny region of this world. And the era where demons and dragons were in a constant power struggle. We demihumans and humans were somewhat powerless then. All we could do was struggle to survive. You must be aware of what happened then, how they ventured to the dragon valley and learned the elemental magic from the dragon. Our queen was one of the few who was blessed with true elemental magic by one of the great dragon kings.”

He paused. Naturally, since he didn’t require any air to survive, the pause was to give us time to process the information he provided.

What he said was easy to understand, so most of it made sense. But if she was one of the first ones, she must be really influential at that time. And on top of that, she was the queen so, what must be the problem she could have? What makes him say that this life as a skeleton is more comfortable than her life as the queen and one of the first few magicians.

“Please continue,” I said as I realized he was expecting our response before resuming.

“She was beautiful and wise, someone who could easily impress anyone out there. And when she was there learning magic under the dragon king, the earth dragon king took a liking to her. It didn’t take long for the two to fall in love.”

Well, I somewhat expected something like that. Like it or not, but love is the root of many troubles throughout history.

“So, what happened next?” Markus asked.

“Our mistress, unlike the other five, was too kind. She refused to stay in dragon valley and decided to return to the people. And after she returned, instead of trying to gain authority and power, she just focused on protecting her nation. We were a small nation, and after the war ended and the expansion started, we were still able to stand firm due to her strength, but things soon changed.”

Gram looked down. It appeared that the upsetting part was about to start from here. As much I hated stories with sad endings, I had no choice but to listen.

“She was pregnant with the Earth Dragon king’s baby. She tried to hide it, but as time passed, it was no longer hideable. And when the king found that out, he did the most foolish thing one could ever think of as a father. He took it as a sign of betrayal, but he couldn’t make a wrong move then. Without her, the morale of the national army would grow much much weaker. So, instead, he gave her a poison that would make her drop her baby.”

I could see something like that happening. But since that was the child of the Earth Dragon King, the king could have used the baby’s name to increase his influence instead. It was indeed an utterly foolish move.

“And as if that was not enough…”

Gram paused. If he had eyes, they would be filled with tears at this point. And after a brief moment of pause, he continued.