"So you're saying that you’ve intuitively sensed each other and joined forces?"

[That's correct.]

Once the dust settled, Lee Shin-Woo listened to how the Pauls had fared thus far whilst collecting the loot from hundreds of undead. Honestly, there wasn't much to speak of; the story was simple. They had sensed a similar energy from the Pauls who had been wandering around after leaving the city, and they decided to travel together.

Three separate groups of Pauls had come together like that, and there were now twenty-two of them. Lee Shin-Woo felt a little weird knowing that the same thing was probably happening in other regions of the Empire as well.

[After that, we decided it was time to look for General Seagald, but...we came across a battalion that was patrolling the area, and we approached them thinking they might be...]

[They quickly realized that our energy was different from theirs and became hostile. Then they ordered us to meet their lord and prove that we were truly soldiers of the Empire, which left us with no choice but to fight them.]

"The lord, huh..."

Lee Shin-Woo had heard a thing or two about lords from his seniors. They weren’t particularly powerful, but had undergone a special transformation that enabled them to command other undead; their direct subordinates were always much more powerful and agile than their regular counterparts, which apparently made them incredibly difficult to deal with.

There wasn’t always a lord in big cities, but Lee Shin-Woo and his companions seemed to have hit the jackpot.

Well, there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

Lee Shin-Woo and Jin were ridiculously strong for their level; not to mention they were now joined by the level 6 mage Kratia.

Kratia couldn't believe what was happening. Her eyes zeroed in on Lee Shin-Woo, which prompted the Pauls to ask Lee Shin-Woo what they had been meaning to ask.

[Who is this mage?]

"She came from the outside to help. She's working with me to turn the situation in the Empire around."

[As expected of our Captain!]

[You sure know a lot of people. To be working with a mage who seems even more powerful than Doctor Aterran...!]

As always, Lee Shin-Woo lied without even a hitch in his voice, and the elite skeletons marveled at his accomplishment and applauded. At this point, Kratia had given up on understanding the situation at hand.

Beside her, Jin nodded in sympathy. He’d been there. How shocked he had been when he first witnessed Lee Shin-Woo reviving the Pauls as elite skeletons!

"We were thinking of clearing out that city,” said Lee Shin-Woo. “I’ll lead you for the time being. Will you follow me?"

[Of course!]

[If everyone else agrees, I'll likewise follow your command.]

[I feel stronger just by being by your side, Captain!]

It probably wasn't just a feeling. In no time at all, Lee Shin-Woo's Command skill had reached low rank level 3, which granted his subordinates a small buff!

"Shin… I mean, Paul Zero. Are we going to raid the city like this?" Jin asked.

"It wouldn't be a difficult mission, but..."

Lee Shin-Woo examined the city wall in the distance. Half of it had weathered and crumbled over time, and didn’t seem particularly dangerous, but the swarming undead within the city did give off quite a formidable energy.

"We don't need to go about it the hard way when there is an easier method. Wouldn't it be stupid to attack from the front?"

"Are we infiltrating the city and assassinating the lord then?" asked Kratia.

That was a common strategy for a small group of elite soldiers to take down a bigger force. Lee Shin-Woo nodded with some uncertainty.

"Yeah, we need to kill the lord who's in command. If we don't, it'll be tough for us."

"What do you mean by tough for us... Ah."

Jin was the first to realize what Lee Shin-Woo was talking about. The blue goblin fire in his eye sockets momentarily spread out lengthways.

"You're really cruel,” Jin said. “You know that?"

"Thanks for the compliment."

"...?"

Kratia tilted her head as they conversed. Lee Shin-Woo brushed the comment aside and laughed as if it were nothing before going into something more important. "I'd like to buy the bones of the skeletons you’ve defeated,” he said to Kratia. “Is that alright?"

"Bones? ...Do you have a skill that uses bones by any chance? It's probably a skill you received from the goddess. Perhaps your ability to alter your mana in a variety of ways and utilize it comes from..."

"You’ve gotten most of it right."

Perhaps it was because she was a mage, but she sure picked up on things quickly. Lee Shin-Woo grinned and nodded at her.

"I thought about hiding it at first, but it wasn't really necessary, was it?"

Over the past week, they'd observed each other's magic and discussed their respective skills; during the process, Kratia had already roughly figured out what Lee Shin-Woo was capable of.

Lee Shin-Woo had only asked her to sell him the bones, but her response was essentially a confirmation, wasn’t it? He had nothing to be hesitant about; she seemed to be wondering if she should hide the fact that she knew or not.

"I'll just give them to you for free,” said Kratia. “In exchange, let me watch you use the skill."

"I can do that, but I’ll still pay the price in exchange for the karma you’d be giving me. Ah, you guys, please gather the bones of the enemies you’ve killed, too."

[Did you say bones...?]

[Ah, I understand.]

The Pauls obeyed despite how questionable they must have found the order, which might have been the Command skill’s doing. While they were collecting bones, Lee Shin-Woo got the stash Kratia had acquired.

It was impossible for him to price them like a proper merchant, so he paid the amount he thought was appropriate. Since he had gotten a lot of Perium from all the Golems he defeated, the cost didn't make much of a dent on his savings.

"Let’s separate the level 4 knights' bones... Well, you never know. Pick a few of the level 3 bones as well."

"What are you doing with those bones?" Kratia asked with visible excitement.

Without hesitation, Lee Shin-Woo shouted, "Bone Reinforcement!" and activated the skill. In an instant, the Skeleton Knight's rib bone was completely absorbed, and its knowledge, experiences, mana, and strength rushed into him.

Of course, since Lee Shin-Woo was already level 4, the increase in stats was subpar at best. However, it was never his true goal.

[Strength has increased by 1. You have absorbed the target's memories and experiences relatively perfectly. You have acquired a 1% skill proficiency in Horseback Riding. You have acquired a 0.3% skill proficiency in Bursting Thunder. You have acquired a 0.1% skill proficiency in Combat Sense.]

[Oho, you dare challenge me? Hear me, you fools. If you think that I, Sir Palin, will tell you about my sexual techniques... - Knight Palin]

Lee Shin-Woo grimaced at the most prominent memory flowing into his mind. The knight wasn't even trying to piss someone off, yet the memory impressed upon him the deepest was his talk with the other soldiers about his sexual techniques! All the other individuals in his memory had become skeletons and ultimately met a meaningless end; there was nothing more pitiful than that.

"What kind of memory was it to make you frown like that?" asked Jin.

"It's nothing. It was just a sad story. Don’t worry about it."

"What the hell was that!?” Kratia exclaimed. “It was hard to decipher, but I caught a brief glimpse of mana sublimation. If I knew that was possible, I would've asked the goddess for a skill as well..."

"Hoo..."

Lee Shin-Woo took a deep breath to calm his breathing whilst more thoroughly going through the memories he'd absorbed from Sir Palin. Normally, the higher leveled the undead, the more detailed their memories were, and those memories not only increased his combat abilities, but also provided him with information he didn't have, which was the case in this instance...!

This asshole has memorized all the routes to the red-light district! Because of that, he knew the ways to sneak through the outskirts of the city...!

Despite his lecherous behavior while he was alive, he did provide Lee Shin-Woo with some quality information after death. Lee Shin-Woo went on to absorb the bones of the other knights, and was able to ascertain where the lord lived when he was alive, as well as where his guards were stationed.

Obviously, there’s no telling if everything would still be in the same location after everyone was turned into undead, but it's a good place to start.

In order to supplement the incomplete information, Lee Shin-Woo absorbed a few of the level 3 skeleton bones as well, and charted a route to infiltrate the city. Kratia stared at him, captivated. From the way she furrowed her brows, it was safe to say that she didn’t understand everything about his skill.

"How is this possible?” she muttered. “You're absorbing the innate mana within the bones in their entirety. I understand that they're all bones, which would minimize the potential conflict, but it’s still far beyond the realm of my understanding. I know there's some sort of mana deconstruction involved, as well as a reconstruction process..."

[Captain, we've gathered all the bones!]

Lee Shin-Woo turned away from Kratia, who was beginning to sound like a broken record. Looking at the skeletons, he saw that each of them had collected an armful of bones. They sounded inquisitive since they hadn’t seen Lee Shin-Woo use Bone Reinforcement.

[What should we do now?]

[Are you going to hold a funeral for them?]

"Listen."

Lee Shin-Woo spoke up without a hint of hesitance. His tone was so dignified that even Kratia couldn’t help but flinch, so how would the Pauls have reacted? They stood upright and focused on Lee Shin-Woo, of course. Meanwhile, Jin was the only one catching on to what he was doing immediately, and he thought, Ah, here we go again.

"Do not hate those you've killed."

[But they attacked us.]

[They were afflicted by the curse and deprived of their reasoning.]

Lee Shin-Woo nodded gravely to acknowledge what they were saying, yet at the next moment, his eye sockets blazed with red goblin fire, and he spoke up with a solemnity that made him sound like a general.

"They were also soldiers and knights who cared for the Empire and respected General Seagald while they were still alive, like all of you. You can't deny them that."

[That's...]

[That is true, but...]

"You will face similar situations many more times in the future. You will have to shoulder the deaths of those who were once your comrades."

Lee Shin-Woo grabbed a piece of bone from one of them. Ignoring the way the Paul recoiled, he put a bone to its forehead.

"This represents their repentance and will. It's something they've desperately left behind at the moment of their deaths… I can instill their wills into you."

[How...?]

"Bone Reinforcement."

[Ugh!?]

The skeleton he used the skill on shook as though it'd been hit by an electric current. The bones it was holding rattled and fell to the ground with a dull thud, which made the other Pauls around it step back in shock. However, in the very next moment...

[H-How can this be?]

The Paul collapsed to the ground and shouted at a deafening volume. If it were human, its eyes would be brimming with tears!

[Their will is so clear... Ugh, they truly were soldiers who loved this Empire!]

[Hey, Paul 47. Are you ok?]

[What exactly happened, Paul 47!?]

Paul 47 looked up and responded in a deafening declaration, [I’ve inherited their will! Captain has revealed their will to me!]

[Their will. The wills of the soldiers who had become undead?]

[Our captain is definitely an emissary of the goddess sent to save the Empire! He not only restored our minds, but also allowed us to remember those who were sacrificed and killed!]

Paul 47 spoke like it was deeply touched and gathered all of the bones it had dropped earlier. It’s so loud, Lee Shin-Woo thought, but he continued to speak solemnly.

"Do you understand now? That’s the will I was talking about!"

[I do! Please allow me to inherit all their wills! They’ve lost their wills as they died, but they’ll live on through me! We’ll become one!]

Paul 47 continued to yell in a deeply affected voice. At that moment, Lee Shin-Woo saw a message pop up.

[The Lv3 Elite Cursed Skeleton, Paul 47 has become your subordinate. So long as you do not discard him, he will faithfully obey any order you give him.]

[Low Rank Command is now Lv4. All stats have increased by 1. You can more effectively draw out the strength of your subordinates.]

Lee Shin-Woo had established a new relationship aside from the contractual one with Jin... It was a master-servant relationship.