Episode 1
The Talochium Empire.
At the entrance of a rift in a small magic stone towering above the earth.
“Gasp, huff…”
Rio, a mercenary from the small island of Modeut, wiped his neck with a trembling hand.
“Damn it, damn it.”
His palm came away drenched in bright red blood.
“Grrrrk—”
Right in front of him, a dragon-like magical beast, a ‘Rikelops,’ tilted its head, staring at him.
His scattered comrades were already lifeless.
The forty members of Rio’s mercenary band, except for him, had been completely wiped out by three Rikelops.
“Krk—”
Rio gripped his broken sword tightly with a weakened hand.
Suddenly, the image of his mother, seen for the last time on the day he left his hometown, flashed through his mind.
‘If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve at least given her a proper hug.’
Soon, the Rikelops bared their teeth.
It was a signal they were about to attack Rio.
Swallowing his rising breath, he closed his eyes.
He was ready to give up everything, but at that very moment.
[Get a grip. If you want to live.]
An unfamiliar voice echoed from the air.
Raising his head, he saw something black circling in the air, silhouetted against the moonlight.
“Whoops, pardon me.”
Then, out of nowhere, a group of people pushed past Rio and stepped forward.
Rio froze, staring at their fluttering cloaks.
“Agabert…?”
A newly formed mercenary band that had appeared like a comet, quickly making a name for itself across the continent—Agabert.
They roamed the world, writing new history with each feat, but their uniforms, curiously embroidered with a bizarre pink dwarf, raised questions.
“Young man, are you alright?”
Rio blankly stared at the approaching old man.
Wearing Agabert’s uniform, the old man clicked his tongue and began examining the wound on Rio’s neck.
Meanwhile, an argument broke out ahead.
“Bail, come on out. It’s my turn to show off to Tie this time.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve already seen you swaggering around with that hammer a hundred times! Get out of the way, you’re in my space. This time, I’m showing my real skills.”
“…Honestly, you’re still pathetic.”
“That’s just your opinion, you muscle-brained pig!”
“Oh, come on! Stop fighting, please. If the leader sees this, we’re in big trouble!”
Even as the old man poured disinfectant on his wound, Rio couldn’t move.
He couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before him.
‘Is this… even possible?’
Agabert’s members were arguing loudly while casually fending off the Rikelops’ attacks with one hand.
Every time the beast’s teeth clashed in the air, Rio’s body flinched.
Rikelops were no ordinary magical beasts.
Just moments ago, they had annihilated Rio’s forty-member mercenary band.
Yet, these creatures’ attacks were being deflected like they were mere toys…
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“Stoooop!”
At that moment, something burst out from the bushes and darted past Rio.
His jaw dropped slightly at the sight.
A tiny figure.
Soft, light blonde hair.
And a pink backpack slung over their shoulders.
‘…A kid?’
A child, completely out of place in this setting, planted a hand on their hip.
“Didn’t we all agree not to fight?! If you keep this up, Tie’s gonna kick you out of Agabert!”
The bickering members froze in place.
The largest man, gripping the neck of a Rikelops, asked,
“Kick us out, Tie? What do you mean?”
“If you’re fighting instead of hunting magical beasts, how’s that supposed to work? There’s an injured person here! The only one getting a ‘good job’ sticker is Grandpa Nordics!”
At those words, the large man’s face paled.
The other members coughed awkwardly, avoiding the child’s gaze.
The child, lips pouting, muttered,
“Always fighting every single day… How are we supposed to gather twenty members like this? Twenty minus five is fifteen, so we still need a ton more! We need to hurry and gather them to register as a large-scale mercenary band at the office…”
But before the child could finish, one of the fallen Rikelops suddenly sprang up.
Baring its teeth and tilting its head, the beast charged toward the smallest target.
Agabert’s members exchanged startled glances.
Rio, too, instinctively stood up.
He reached out toward the child, but he couldn’t stop the Rikelops that had slipped through the gap.
“Run—!”
As Rio shouted urgently,
“Ugh, see? You keep dragging things out, and this happens.”
A glint flickered in the child’s eyes as they sighed.
Then,
*Rustle—*
Something rapidly shot up from the dew-soaked ground.
Rio’s jaw dropped at the sight that followed.
Emerging from the earth were skeletons, not a scrap of flesh on their bones.
‘One, no, two, three, five, ten…’
Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck.
Dozens of bones, writhing as they emerged from the ground, swiftly seized the legs of the charging Rikelops, knocking it down.
Then, they dragged the beast’s thighs and torso into the torn-up earth.
As the clouds obscuring the moonlight cleared, the screams of the beast being buried alive echoed through the forest.
“Phew.”
Only when the creature had completely vanished beneath the ground did the little one turn toward Rio.
Rubbing their chest, they said,
“If it weren’t for my bone friends, we’d have been in big trouble.”
Rio’s eyes widened at the absurd name for the skeletons.
“Hello, mister!”
The child approached Rio, politely bowing before showing two fingers with a serious expression.
“From now on, you can choose one of two options. First, forget everything that happened here and go back home. I know you’re sad about losing your comrades, but that’s life…”
The old man who had treated Rio nodded beside him.
“And the second option is joining Tie’s mercenary band, Agabert!”
Rio’s eyes wavered.
Agabert. They really were Agabert.
But that kid.
Didn’t they just call Agabert *their* mercenary band?
‘The master of Agabert is surely the Necromancer King, right?’
Could the rumors circulating among the people be true?
In disbelief, Rio asked,
“Are you the Necromancer King?”
A bright smile spread across the child’s face.
“Yup! That’s Tie!”
His heart sank.
The Great Sorcerer Necromancer King, who appeared out of nowhere.
He was the most powerful necromancer in history.
The entire continent—no, the entire world—was curious about him.
After all, <Agabert>, founded by the Necromancer King, had reached the top rank across the continent in just two months, achieving a 100% magic stone conquest rate.
Yet, until now, no one had known the true identity of the veiled Necromancer King.
‘But…’
Rio swallowed hard, looking at the child.
It had been quite some time since magic stones began appearing across the world.
Cracks constantly formed around the stones, and from within, magical beasts emerged.
When those creatures started invading villages and cities, the world entered the era of great mercenaries.
Knights and central armies alone couldn’t handle the magic stones sprouting even in urban areas.
In a world that needed strong mercenaries,
it was only natural that attention would turn to the monstrous Necromancer King and his mercenary band.
“Would you like to join our guild, mister? Our uniforms are super pretty. I made sure they put Tanipang on them!”
Rio’s heart pounded harder.
‘So that pink dwarf embroidered on their uniforms is called Tanipang?’
He hadn’t expected this.
But one thing was certain.
He now understood why no one had figured out the Necromancer King’s identity until now.
“If you don’t want to, that’s okay too! Tie will erase your memories and take you to a village.”
A great mercenary who freely wielded necromancy, summoning souls and raising corpses,
conquering magic stones across the world like swatting flies—the Necromancer King,
“Oh! And if you join our mercenary band, you can sometimes sleep in! How’s that?”
“…Why?”
“Because from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon, Tie has to go to the academy… so we only work at night. Hehe.”
was a real child.
One who looked barely five years old.
And to explain all of this, we need to go back two months.
To be precise, two months ago.
To Jongno-gu, South Korea.
