Chapter 32: The Return
Thanks to the road built by the Arcane Legion, the villagers and skeletons reached Iron Fortress Territory in just one day.
This was only because they had to give the villagers time to rest.
When the tall, intact city walls of Iron Fortress appeared in their vision again, Lloyd and Rosen's feelings couldn't be described by any single word.
They were back.
Back to the city they thought they would never set foot in again.
However, what greeted them wasn't the noisy human voices in their memories, but a deathly silence that was almost solidified.
The procession stopped in front of the city gate.
One hundred Skeleton Mages and their Adjutant, plus two hundred Tier 3 Skeleton Soldiers, formed the main body of this team.
The dozen or so humans caught in the middle seemed so out of place.
Standing on both sides of the city gate were two Tier 3 Skeleton Berserkers.
They were the elites of the Punishment Legion, responsible for guarding the territory's entrance.
The Arcane Legion Adjutant stepped forward. Without speaking, he simply let his aura as a Tier 4 Archmage radiate out.
The red light in the eyes of the two Berserkers flickered once. One of them raised a bone arm, making a gesture to pass.
There was no verbal communication during the entire process; the efficiency was terrifyingly high.
One hundred Skeleton Mages marched in with uniform steps, entering the city first.
When it was the turn of Lloyd, Paul, and the villagers, the other Berserker extended its massive sword, blocking their path.
The tip of the sword was less than an inch from the old Chief's nose. The cold aura of death made his legs weak, almost collapsing to the ground.
"Humans of the Empire. First-time entry requires registration."
One Berserker spoke.
It raised its other hand, palm holding a palm-sized, square white bone plate.
"Identity proof. Drip blood to record aura."
Buck looked at the giant sword that was almost as wide as his body, swallowed hard, and mustered the courage to ask:
"Drip... drip where?"
The Berserker didn't answer, just extended a finger bone and tapped the groove in the center of the bone plate.
The villagers looked at each other, no one daring to step forward first.
The Arcane Legion Adjutant stopped walking and looked back.
"Rest assured. Without the Lord's order, we will not harm the Lord's subjects."
The old Chief stepped forward, cut his finger with a small knife, and squeezed a drop of blood onto the bone plate.
The moment the blood touched the bone plate, a faint red light flashed and quickly seeped into it.
Some patterns barely visible to the naked eye surfaced on the bone plate, then returned to normal.
The Berserker handed the bone plate to the old Chief, then turned to the next person.
"This is your Resident ID. If lost, you need to apply for a replacement."
"Undocumented wanderers may be treated as intruder units and purified on the spot."
The Berserker's voice was flat, stating a fact.
The word "purified" made cold sweat break out on the backs of all the humans.
Lloyd and Rosen exchanged a glance, seeing the same thought in each other's eyes.
This Kingdom of the Dead was establishing its own cold and efficient order.
Only after everyone received that cold Resident ID did the Berserker withdraw its giant sword and make way.
The moment they stepped through the city gate, everyone froze.
Is this still Iron Fortress?
In their memory, the commoner streets were full of trash and sewage, and an unpleasant smell wafted through the air from time to time.
But now, what greeted their eyes was a wide, unreasonably flat stone road.
The road surface was clean enough to reflect light; not a scrap of paper or a lump of mud could be seen.
The houses on both sides of the street, whether shops or residences, had their walls repainted.
Broken roofs and windows had been completely repaired, looking brand new as if built yesterday.
The entire city was beautiful, grand, and clean.
The only difference was that in this grand and clean city, there wasn't a single living person.
Squads of Skeleton Soldiers patrolled the streets with uniform steps, the sound of their bones colliding being the only background noise here.
Some skeletons were doing final touch-up work on the newly repaired houses, their movements precise without any waste.
"My god..."
A young villager murmured as if in a dream.
"I've never seen such a clean city."
"The slums... are gone."
Rosen's gaze turned to the west side of the city.
That used to be the gathering place for slaves and the poor, the dirtiest and most chaotic corner of Iron Fortress.
Now, that area had been completely leveled.
The ground was compacted, forming a huge open space.
In the center of the open space stood a huge wooden sign with a line written in neat Common Language:
[Commercial District 1 (Under Planning)]
Lloyd's mind went blank.
He thought of Viscount Andrew. That Lord had also thought about renovating the slums, but every time it came to nothing due to funds, obstruction from nobles, and relocation issues.
While they were shocked by the scene before them, the Arcane Legion Adjutant had already brought them to the front of the Lord's Castle.
The gates of the castle were wide open.
The Adjutant ordered the Skeleton Soldiers and villagers to standby in the square, while he walked in alone.
In the castle hall, the original luxurious tapestries, sculptures, and decorations were all gone.
Replacing them were huge sand tables and planning maps hanging on the walls.
Dozens of Ghouls of various forms were surrounding the sand tables, constantly adjusting the models on them, seemingly conducting some kind of simulation.
On the main seat of the hall sat a figure.
He wore an exquisite noble suit. He wasn't a Ghoul, but a Vampire.
It was one of the Seven Great Generals, the Secretary of State, Greed.
He ignored the entering Adjutant, lowering his head to focus on a book in his hand.
The cover of the book was made of some beast skin, bearing a line of words: "From Zero: Infrastructure and Efficient Agriculture - Beginner to Master".
This was knowledge Kaito had instilled directly into his mind via the soul link, which he then organized and transcribed into a physical book himself.
"General."
The Arcane Legion Adjutant knelt on one knee.
"The first batch of personnel from Valley Base has all arrived."
Greed slowly raised his head and closed the book.
"General Lust is currently leading the remaining Arcane Legion to guard the Valley Base, awaiting the Lord's next instruction."
Greed nodded, his crimson eyes sweeping over the Adjutant.
"Hard work. Your Mage Tower camp has been constructed, and the accommodation for these humans has also been arranged."
He stood up and walked to the entrance of the hall, his gaze landing on the uneasy humans in the square.
"I will send a Centurion to take you to your new residence."
Soon, a burly Ghoul Centurion walked over, bowed to Greed, then turned to the villagers.
"Follow me."
The Ghoul's appearance was much more terrifying than a skeleton's, and the faint smell of rotting flesh made the villagers nauseous. But seeing the streets full of skeletons, they could only bite the bullet and follow.
Passing through several streets, the Ghoul Centurion led them to a newly built residential area.
The houses here were uniformly regulated two-story buildings. Although lacking decoration...
They were brand new, sturdy, and cleaned spotlessly.
"Here is the Technical Personnel Living Quarter."
The Ghoul Centurion pointed to this area.
"One building per household. Food and water will be delivered regularly by logistics units every day."
Saying that, he turned and left without a single wasted word.
The villagers stood there, looking at these houses that were a hundred times better than their broken wooden shacks in Bone Village.
For a moment, they didn't know what to do.
"Do we... really live here?"
Buck asked in disbelief.
Just then, a clack-clack sound of bone movement came from nearby.
Everyone jumped in fright. Looking back, they found a squad of Skeleton Soldiers performing road maintenance nearby.
This squad of Skeleton Soldiers was the exact group of trainees that had followed them to learn farming in the valley.
The skeleton leading them was the one who had once planted hoes as seeds.
It walked up to Buck, its skull opening and closing.
"Do not be nervous. As long as you do not betray That Personage, you are our kin."
Buck opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.