Mognog's flaming eyes widened in a mix of shock and emotions he didn't know how to describe.
Ritzy had given up on bringing Talia back to life. He wasn't going to resurrect her. He was going to reanimate her. She would no longer be her own person should Ritzy succeed in stabilizing her soul. Regardless of what happened, Talia would always have a deep connection with Ritzy, surpassing anything they had before.
It would be the connection between a master and a subordinate, not that of two childhood friends.
"Kiddo…"
"I know. Don't say anything."
Ritzy stopped what he was doing and just looked at the ground in a rare display of seriousness.
"It's not guaranteed to work, anyway. And I'm sure Talia will understand."
"Kiddo—"
"That's that."
"...okay."
Mognog realized that saying anything or trying to force the issue would only erect a wall between him and Ritzy. That would be even worse than standing by and watching Ritzy taint his relationship with his childhood friend. At least now, he could slowly convince Ritzy to seek other possibilities or accept his friend's passing.
If Ritzy really were aiming for materials like dragon hearts and giants' bones, Mognog figured he would have a lot of time before Ritzy was satisfied with the state of Talia's body.
However, Mognog would have to let the mood settle first before he could start working on preventing Ritzyy from losing all his decency as a human being.
"So… What are you going to do with them?"
Mognog asked while indicating at Mercel and his men's corpses.
"That's the question, isn't it?"
Ritzy was back to his cheerful and currently thoughtful self as he stood with one arm crossed over his chest and his chin resting on the hand of his other.
"I mean, I was thinking about making a battlefield summoning ritual."
Ritzy glanced at Mognog.
"Like when I summoned you."
Mognog wasn't sure what that glance meant, but it didn't feel flattering.
"But…?"
"Six corpses are a little weak as an offering. Battlefield summonnigs are efficient and inefficient at the same time, so I'm not sure I would get anything good from it."
"Kiddo, at this point, can you be sure about any kind of summoning you do?"
Ritzy's face lit up in understanding.
"That's a good point! Expanding my army, regardless of what I get, isn't a bad idea, especially not considering what happened with these fellows."
"Well, I would say you handled it gallantly, even if it was a little close."
"Exactly! 'I' handled it well."
"Yeah?"
"I'm a necromancer, Moggy! I'm not supposed to do anything! I summon great undead that do everything for me. I'm just supposed to sit on my throne and watch my summons do everything for me as if I'm watching a play."
"I—I see."
"In that case, just the Unholy Avatar might not be enough."
"You're starting to get it, Moggy."
Ritzy rolled up his sleeves. But Mognog stopped him before he could start drawing the necessary magic circle.
"Wait a minute, kiddo. What was the other option?"
Since Ritzy had been debating with himself what to do with Mercel and his men, there had to be something other than battlefield summon that Ritzy could do. Mognog asked to help Ritzy make a good decision and to learn more about how Ritzy's necromancy and necromancy in general on the Killgara continent worked.
Without a working body, Mognog's only asset was his head, so he took it upon himself to become a great advisor to Ritzy. He had been performing the tasks of an advisor ever since he was first summoned, but Mognog started embracing that role more now after they cooperated in creating a new mana training method.
Ritzy wasn't just a death mage still wet behind his ears who had somehow managed to summon the head of a great warrior from the Mognog Empire by a fluke. He was a fully-fledged, albeit young. He was capable, talented, and had a promising future.
It was only natural for Mognog to embrace his current role and position after realizing Ritzy's greatness and his own situation. He had also missed the mortal plane, even if his experience after death wasn't etched in his memory. If he wanted to stick around longer, he would have to make sure that Ritzy lived for as long as possible and appreciated his presence.
"I strip them for materials."
"You can use humans for materials?"
"Of course. I can either feed Pile O' Bones with their skeletons or turn them into Bone Chalk. That would be easier if I had some Flesh Melting Liquid since it makes the bones brittle. But if I don't use that, I could try and make a new Flesh Slime like what happened with the other guy."
'Ah, so that's what happened.'
Mognog had wondered why there had been one skeleton with a pile of what looked like rotten flesh close to it. He had missed what had happened other than the screams since he had been kicked to the side.
"Did the Flesh Slime seem promising? And how confident are you in making another one?"
Although Mognog had heard the screams from what had to have been the Flesh Slime's victim, there had only been one set of screams like those. It also seemed like the Flesh Slime's victim had died from a dagger to his throat, not the injuries to his leg.
Ritzy shrugged.
"It put up more of a fight than a certain someone…"
"Hey! I at least took a nose with me!"
"Yeah. Good job, Moggy."
"I wasn't asking for praise!"
"You got it anyway. Be grateful."
Ritzy responded with a snobbish expression and a flick of his wrist before he started drawing a circle around the pile of bodies using their blood. He drew the circle and the magical symbols by infusing the blood with his mana, just like he had done when he summoned Mognog. Now, he was just doing it with a smaller pile of humans and with human blood instead of goblins and goblin blood.
"So, battlefield summoning it is?"
"It is!"
"Can I ask why you decided on that?"
"Felt like it!"
"I see."
"That, and I don't want to use shitty old human bones for Pile."
"That's understandable, I guess. But don't you need Bone Chalk?"
"That's a good point. But I don't need human bones for Bone Chalk."
"But aren't you going to use non-human bones for Pile?"
"That's… Can you stop pestering me already?! Let me focus!"
"Alright, alright."
Mognog chuckled. It was unexpectedly fun to tease Ritzy. Mognog felt like he suddenly got a look into what the relationship between Ritzy, Talia, and Gerhart had been before shit went down. It was probably a little more than just teasing Ritzy. But Mognog could feel how easy it was to lighten the mood just by joking around a little.
It reminded him of the good old days back when he was also starting out.
Mognog watched as Ritzy focused and drew an elaborate circle of blood and magic around the pile of dead human bodies. It was the same method as when Ritzy summoned him, so he couldn't help but be a little curious.
Eventually, Ritzy finished the setup, and he took a step back.
"Oh, the One of the Beginning, the One of the End, Accept this offering and bestow upon me Your grace. This humble servant expresses their gratitude to the Origin."
"..."
"No bullshit this time. Give me something good, you fucker."
"..."
Mognog didn't say anything, even if Ritzy blasphemed. He understood that Ritzy had a bone to pick with the patron god of necromancers. He would, too, if he had suffered the same things Ritzy had.
Mognog didn't think anyone except Ritzy would have survived in the same circumstances as Ritzy. Of course, it was also he who had put himself in the uncomfortable situations. He had assassinated Baron Michmond's son and gotten a bunch of people after him.
It was also Ritzy who set fire to the town and sparked Lenny's revenge. Ritzy had stolen Little Specter from Mercel and attracted even more trouble.
The more Mognog thought about it, the more he realized what a troublemaker Ritzy was. He also realized that nothing was happening.
"Uh—"
But before Mognog could ask Ritzy about it, orange flames burst up from out of nowhere and enveloped the pile of corpses. Almost as quickly as they came, the flames disappeared and left behind nothing but a small lump of wriggling flesh.
Mognog and Ritzy looked at the lump on the ground where not a sign of Ritzy's battlefield summoning was left.
"I see. Nice."
Rizy nodded in understanding with his arms crossed as he looked at the lump.
"And, pray tell, what exactly is it that you see?"
Since it seemed like Ritzy knew what it was, Mognog hoped he could get some information. A piece of meat wasn't exactly promising.
"A Man-Eating Flesh Slime, of course!"