After receiving Kaili's answer, I gave her a tour of the castle.
"That would have been nice, don't you think Brad?"
"Ye-yes, master."
I walked through a messed up hallway with buff boy by my side. Unfortunately, due to the destruction caused by the undead led by that death knight, the tour had to be postponed. However, there was no time to get depressed as there was something else that had to be done.
Now that we would officially begin to make our stance, I had to step out from behind the curtain.
"Welcome our true master, Lord Elios!"
As soon as I entered the open sky throne room from the door, I was locked on by numerous hollow eye sockets and rotten eyeballs.
That's right, from today onwards, I would be revealed as the real master of this castle. Majority of the skeletons, zombies and scavengers that saw me had no objection as I approached the throne that Bony got up from.
Some likely remembered that I was the one who confronted their original master outside of the forest, but they still didn't seem to mind since Bony was the one who introduced me.
I knew this was partially because they were simple undead without much intelligence, but I still felt like praising their loyalty.
'Good thing I slipped in some of my summons in there as well.'
I trusted my familiars, including Bony, and I could annihilate this army just by using a wide-scale Imbue Holy. However, I just wasn't the type to leave out simple countermeasures just because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Doing that and then regretting it afterwards would simply be the apex of stupidity.
Once I was only a step away from the throne, I turned around to look at the graveyard gathering before my eyes. With the light of the blue moon scattering on us, I couldn't stay completely unfazed.
'I wonder what the sunset would be like here...'
As I enjoyed this atmosphere surely comparable to reaching the peak of a mountain, it finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"My liege, I offer my most sincere apologies but, I don't believe this is very appro-"
"Silence! Farrow, how dare yo-?!"
Before Farrow could finish, Bony interrupted him and before Bony could finish, I stopped him with a wave of my hand.
"Go on."
Farrow seemed surprised that I would help it, suspicious even. This was the first time we had met but I wouldn't be surprised if it found out how I looked. I was the one behind the death of both of its former lich comrades so if it hated me because of that then it couldn't be helped. However, I already knew the true feelings it held.
"...I'm sure that since my liege has chosen to serve you that you must be exceptional in one way or another, but I'm afraid it won't be so simple for the rest of us."
"Oh, won't the servants choose to walk the same path as their master? Of course, if you're unwilling to see me as your true lord then you're free to leave."
For a split second, the lich's mind seemed to have crashed. About now it must have been thinking,
'What? How could he be willing to let me go?'
Or something along those lines. The fool.
"...Are you saying that because you think I won't leave?"
"Hmph, you think too highly of yourself. True, an experienced lich would be nice, but you're not irreplaceable."
"Wha-What?!"
As its eye flames flickered, Farrow glanced at Bony who didn't even check in its general direction. I wouldn't do anything if it backed down here, but I really hated unfinished work that popped up and ruined my future plans.
"So, what's your choice?"
If it had a human face it would probably look like it just ate something bitter, I chuckled as I thought of that.
"..I would like to continue being the aid of my liege."
"Tsk tsk, that's not how things work in my castle. I wasn't going to say anything before, but you were being a little rude there so I'll have to demote you."
"De-de-demote?"
"Yep, I'm thinking construction worker-"
"Don't joke with me! My liege, there's no reason to wait any longer. Our forces are much greater than ten years ago, there's no way you'll lose this time. You can finally wipe away the shame of having to bow your head to this bloke!"
"..."
Subsequent to Farrow's outburst, the room turned silent enough to hear a pin drop. This was especially because the master who Farrow had pinned his hope on still didn't look its way.
"My, liege."
"...fool."
"Hahahaha! Bony, do you hear this guy? He called me a bloke! Hahaha!"
Only I was wreck to interrupt this silence while moving to Bony who was on the right of the throne. As it saw me pat Bony's shoulders while still laughing, Farrow finally seemed to have realized its mistake.
'Too smart for your own good. Then again, if it had figured out the real reason why I remained hidden for so long, now that would be a talent I wouldn't want to lose.'
If Farrow had only thrown away the stupid thoughts it had and merely heeded its master's command, this wouldn't have happened.
I didn't hate Farrow or anything, but it was a potential threat, so I had to take care of it.
"Hahaha...huuu. Nice laugh. Now then,"
Once I stopped laughing, I aimed my index finger at Farrow and shot it with a White Blaze. With my current power, this was enough to kill it without giving it a chance to run or even scream. And thanks to my precise control, there was no damage to the room.
Honestly, this play was a little over the top considering that the audience was made of undead, but I had to at least get a pretext for killing Farrow. After all, if these undead evolved and gained enough intelligence, it would be troubling if they thought I was a ruthless tyrant.
In the same line of thought, if I killed him in secret I would also look suspicious if the truth was ever exposed.
'Ah, I followed what Jeanne suggested but I wonder if it was okay to laugh before killing Farrow? Is demon culture really that different?'
As I also made sure to secretly harvest the remnants of its soul, I spoke to Bony through telepathy.
"You know it had to be done, right?"
"Yes. Though Farrow can't betray me, I can't guarantee that he would be as loyal to you my lord. And though he did his job I can't praise his character either."
"I see. Still, I'll make sure to have a replacement ready as soon as possible."
Though Farrow wasn't the best servant, it wasn't like he had to die. However, he wasn't useful enough for me to waste time persuading him. So I thought it would be best to just replace him instead.
And I totally wasn't glad to get another soul to experiment on.
"My lord..."
"I've already made my decision. Just be happy."
"...Thank you, my lord."
Once Farrow was taken care of, I went back to the throne and sat on it with my legs crossed.
"Any more objections?"
I made sure that I wasn't being too imposing, but the undead immediately knelt down and replied in union.
"We welcome the true master!"
Not all of them could actually speak, but I could understand the same intent from them.
At first I merely enjoyed being looked up at, but as I began feeling the pressure of this throne, that changed. Even now, there was a part of me who thought I could just make Bony keep acting in my stead, but I quickly stomped on that weakness.
'From now on, I'll have to seriously look after every one of these guys. I won't be able to relax as easily as before.'
I didn't have much experience leading others, but I could already foresee hardship if I continued sitting on this throne. Fortunately, I was an expert at pushing myself to do hard tasks.
The key, was to blame it on someone or something else. And in this case I had the perfect target.
'Those damn nobles and that idiot Demon King. If it wasn't for them pushing for war I would have been able to remain in hiding here for much Ionger. How dare they make me have to do this much work! Certainly, I must pay them back for this.'
It was only far in the future that I heard how scary my face was at this moment.