Necromancer: Kingdom Building with My Legion of Undead Knights

Chapter 157: The King’s Unexpected Answer

The words had taken far more effort to say than Darion had expected.

The moment the request left his mouth, he felt his heartbeat rise sharply inside his chest. His palms had suddenly become sweaty too, forcing him to resist the urge to wipe them against his trousers beneath the table.

And worst of all? He had stuttered. It wasn’t heavily, not enough to completely embarrass himself, but enough for him to notice it immediately.

That annoyed him in a way.

Before arriving at Thandor, he and Garren had discussed this conversation.

Darion had imagined different reactions King Michul might have, imagined possible replies, possible negotiations and possible refusals.

He had even tried preparing responses ahead of time so he would not freeze up during the actual meeting.

But imagination and reality were two completely different things.

Because now the matter was right in front of him.

Suddenly all those rehearsed thoughts in his head felt much smaller than they had before.

Darion forced himself to remain calm as he waited for the king’s response.

King Michul remained silent. The silence stretched. Darion couldn’t tell what the man was thinking at all.

Was he offended? Annoyed?

Did he think Darion was insulting him by even asking something like this? Or maybe he pitied him.

Darion honestly didn’t know which possibility felt worse.

The king simply sat there quietly, his fingers resting against the arm of his chair while his gaze remained fixed on Darion.

Then suddenly, Michul motioned toward one of the guards standing behind him.

"Take the coins," he ordered calmly.

That surprised Darion slightly.

For a few seconds there, he had actually started thinking the king might refuse to even touch the gold after hearing Percvale’s condition. After hearing the rebuilding situation and everything Darion had explained, part of him had expected something like:

Keep your money and use it for your people.

But apparently not.

Still...

At least the king had not immediately rejected the proposal outright.

That alone felt important.

If Michul had truly been offended by the request, surely he would have said no immediately.

Right?

Unless...

Maybe the king intended to accept the three thousand and still demand the remaining four thousand later with some new deadline attached.

Darion’s thoughts spiraled briefly there before he forced himself to stop.

No.

King Michul did not seem like that kind of person.

The man had listened carefully the entire conversation. He had seemed genuinely interested in Percvale’s rebuilding efforts. Darion could not imagine him hearing all that and then immediately tightening pressure on a struggling Barony.

Still, imagination meant nothing here. Until the king actually spoke, Darion could not be sure of anything.

The guards stepped forward and took the heavy bag from the table carefully. The sound of gold shifting inside the cloth filled the quiet hall faintly.

Darion watched them untie the bag and begin counting.

They worked together to make it faster, separating portions of the coins between themselves while quietly verifying the amount.

The clinking sound of gold continued steadily through the hall.

Every single sound seemed louder because of how silent everything else had become.

No one spoke. Not the guards. Not even Garren.

Darion sat there waiting while trying not to visibly tense up.

Beside him, Garren remained composed outwardly as always, but Darion noticed something subtle in the older man’s eyes.

Nervousness. Very small, but there.

Garren clearly cared about this outcome too.

Of course he did. Four thousand gold coins forgiven would completely change Percvale’s future.

That wasn’t a small amount. That was years of pressure removed instantly.

The three knights standing behind Darion also looked tense now, though they tried hiding it.

Darion could almost feel the anticipation radiating through the room itself.

Eventually the guards finished counting.

One of them stepped slightly forward afterward.

"It is three thousand gold coins exactly, Your Majesty," he confirmed.

King Michul nodded once.

Then silence returned again.

And somehow this silence felt even heavier than before.

The king leaned slightly back in his chair while stroking part of his beard thoughtfully.

His eyes remained on Darion almost the entire time. Long enough that it started becoming difficult to maintain eye contact comfortably.

Darion eventually found himself glancing elsewhere briefly before forcing himself to look back again.

The pressure in the room had become unbearable. The hall felt so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping would have felt explosive.

Darion could hear tiny things now. The shifting of cloth. The faint movement of armor when one of the guards adjusted slightly.

Even breathing sounded clearer somehow.

Then finally...

King Michul spoke.

He looked toward the guards who had returned to their positions behind him.

"Return the bag to them."

Darion was shocked.

For a brief second, his mind almost blanked completely.

Return the bag? What?

He had expected many possible outcomes from this meeting.

The king accepting the three thousand while demanding the remaining four later.

Or worse: The king rejecting the request outright.

Even the king lowering the debt slightly.

But this?

This was nowhere inside his predictions.

Still, Darion forced himself not to let the shock fully show on his face.

Years of constantly hiding emotions back on Earth and later surviving the Imperial Palace had at least trained him somewhat in controlling his expressions. Internally he was caught completely off guard, but outwardly he only blinked once before steadying himself again.

Beside him, Garren glanced toward him briefly.

Darion returned the glance. Neither man spoke.

But that single look alone carried enough confusion to fill the room.

Even the guards behind Darion subtly exchanged looks among themselves.

Clearly this was not what they had expected either.

One of King Michul’s guards stepped forward afterward carrying the heavy bag of coins carefully before placing it back onto the table in front of Darion.

The sound of the gold settling inside the cloth felt strangely loud. Darion stared at the bag silently for a moment.

Three thousand gold coins returned!

King Michul noticed the confusion on his face and gave a small shrug afterward before finally speaking.

"I loaned those seven thousand gold coins to Baron Selkolk," he said calmly.

Darion noted the name immediately.

Selkolk...

So that was the name of the Baron responsible for the debt.

Like many names in this world, it sounded strange to him. Not completely bizarre, but unfamiliar enough that his Earth instincts immediately categorized it as another fantasy-world name he would never hear back home.

King Michul continued speaking calmly.

"That was around thirty years ago," he said. "I was around your age back then. Perhaps younger."

A faint nostalgic smile appeared on the king’s face briefly.

"My father had just died, so I had only recently taken the throne myself."

Darion listened carefully.

"I saw Percvale’s condition back then and it genuinely disturbed me," Michul admitted. "Starving citizens, abandoned villages, failing farmland..."

He shook his head slightly.

"It was bad."

Darion stayed silent.

"The Barony looked like it was already halfway dead even then," the king continued. "And I thought perhaps coin could help stabilize things before they became worse."

The man’s eyes drifted briefly toward the bag of gold on the table.

"So I lent Selkolk the seven thousand."

His expression flattened afterward.

"And he disappointed me completely."

The hall remained quiet as the king spoke.

"He wasted it," Michul said bluntly. "Poor investments. Pointless spending. Luxuries Percvale could not afford."

A faint irritation entered his voice now, though clearly old irritation rather than fresh anger.

"He behaved like a man trying to imitate wealthy nobles while ruling a collapsing Barony."

Darion honestly wasn’t even surprised.

That sounded painfully believable.

"Eventually," Michul continued, "The pressure became too much and he disappeared. He ran away."

The king gave another small shrug afterward.

"I’ve never seen him again."

A faint amused breath escaped him afterward.

"Maybe he’s dead now. I honestly don’t know."

Darion could not help thinking that if Selkolk truly had fled after ruining an entire Barony financially, death might actually have been the kinder outcome available to him.

"But the problem didn’t end there," Michul continued.

His expression became thoughtful now.

"From what I heard afterward, the Barons that came after him weren’t much better."

Darion already knew where this was going.

"They kept borrowing," Michul said. "Large sums from neighboring rulers willing to lend. Some out of pity. Some expecting repayment with interest later."

The king sighed softly.

"And each new loan buried Percvale deeper."

Darion remained silent again.

There wasn’t really anything he could say against that. Everything Michul was saying was true. Percvale had become trapped in a cycle long before Darion ever arrived there.

Weak territory. Then they Borrow money.

Fail rebuilding. Borrow more money. Get attacked. Lose more resources. Borrow again.

Again and again until eventually the Barony became what it was now.

A hollow shell barely functioning.

King Michul folded his arms loosely afterward.

"I watched all of it happen from a distance," he admitted. "And eventually..."

He paused briefly before letting out a quiet breath.

"I stopped caring about the coins."

That surprised Darion slightly.

The king gave another shrug.

"What was I supposed to do?" he asked. "March into Percvale and take what exactly?"

That actually sounded almost identical to Darion’s own thoughts earlier.

"There was nothing left there worth taking," Michul continued calmly. "There was no prosperity, no trade.... no functioning economy."

The king shook his head slowly.

"At some point I simply looked at Percvale and thought..."

A faint smile appeared on his face again.

"Damn. That place is cursed."

One of the guards behind him tried very hard not to react to that statement.

Darion almost laughed himself. Because after everything he had seen since arriving in Percvale?

The statement didn’t even feel completely unreasonable.

King Michul’s gaze settled on Darion again afterward.

"That is..." the king said slowly.

"Until you came along."