The three walked into a tavern the lizardmen mentioned. It was still pretty empty, but the sun was slowly setting on the horizon. No doubt the bar would soon be crowded with people drinking their fatigue away after a long day of work. It would be hard to have a private conversation then.

Shio and Lula, along with the lizardmen, sat down at the empty table in the corner. Far from ears that could accidentally hear their conversation.

"So… you know who I am?" Shio was the one who started the conversation.

"Of course, Lord Shi! Your face might be hidden under your hood, but I still can sense your dark aura," the lizardmen said proudly.

That statement caused Lula to turn her head around toward Shio. He somehow felt her stare was piercing into his nonexistent soul. It felt like she was questioning her master's wisdom.

Outside, he maintained his calm posture. But inside, he was screaming so hard that people from miles away would have heard it if he did it for real.

ALRIGHT, THIS TIME IT'S NOT MY FAULT. HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?! THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE!

Then it hit him. There was nothing named aura in the game, but there was karma. In the game, people could see each other's karma to determine whether they were Good or Evil. Evil characters didn't need to have minus karma and the Good characters to have tons, but it gave buff to those who did. He had around -100, which was the maximum amount for Evil characters.

Lord Shi, huh... so my name is the same as in the usual game... Wait. Why Lula never called me by name? Now that I think about it, I didn't find my name in her memory either. Probably because the old lady only called me a Necromancer or something?

"As I thought. I didn't think anyone would be able to detect my dark aura. It has been a hundred years; how could you detect my aura?"

The lizardmen leaned closer toward him. He spoke with a calm voice, afraid that someone would hear what he was about to say. He could be thrown into the deepest dungeon if the guards got wind of it.

"My family has always been sensitive to the aura of the Darkness, my Lord. But there is only a small amount of us. The Holy Kingdom forbade anything related even remotely to you. Not name, not story. Even history was changed to make your appearance brief. Anyone that released a dark aura, or acted similar to you, got executed immediately. They may be dormant, but they are still a power to be reckoned."

That far, huh? They really want to kill out everything that is involved with me.

"Who is your parent? Do I know them?"

"They didn't participate in the fight themselves. But my ancestor long ago did. Do you remember General Rubio?" the lizardmen's eyes shone a bit when he said the name. Shio obviously had no idea who Rubio was.

"I'm sorry, but many of my memory is gone when they purified me. I don't remember such name."

"N-No need to apologize, my Lord! Those bastard humans always do what they wished! To even touch your wisdom and memory!" the lizardmen clench his fist in anger.

"They will pay when the time comes. Now, what is with this General?"

"From stories I heard from my parents, he was your trusted right hand. Not only was he a tactician with good fighting skills, but he was fearless. He stood alongside your army into battles, leading the charges himself. Many feared him, and few dared to challenge him. When the rebellion started, you saved him by teleporting him far away. My ancestor tried to run back to help, but he found the battle had already finished."

Rubio briefly stopped to take a breath.

"After you were sealed, he tried to lead the remnant of your army to free you but ultimately failed. They were simply not strong enough and lacked the manpower. So my ancestor decided to bid his time, spending the remaining of his time gathering information for when you return. And when he died, my family continued it like it was a tradition."

"I see… And what is your name?"

"My name is Rubio Argas, sir. My ancestor believed that one day you would return, so they always name one of their children Rubio, in the hope that we will serve you once more when you finally return."

The loyalty of his family is impressive, which could be said at the very least. But I still need to read his memory and his family, just to be safe. It would be tiring, but I think they would serve as better guards than the Zombies, except for the General, back at my tomb.

"Rubio, I'm pleased to see your family is still loyal to me even after so long. But there is a test you must pass first to prove it."

"Whatever it is, I'm ready to do it," Rubio said with full confidence.

"Good," Shi nodded, "Then let me place my palm on your head to begin your test."

The lizardmen leaned in toward him. Shio placed his hand on the lizardmen's scaly shoulder, and cast mind read. The vision flowed smoothly into his mind, as the lizard-men was fully aware of the process and consciously allowed him access to all of his memory.

Rubio's whole life flashed in the blink of an eye inside Shio's head. He brushed aside most memory and focused more on anything that involved him. None indicated Rubio or any of his family would betray him. On the contrary, they would do anything to protect him. But of course, like any family, there would be exceptions. In the lizardmen's case, it was his own sister—a problem for later.

Shio pulled his hand away. Rubio's body tensed up as he awaited the Necromancer King's judgment.

"You passed the test. Now, we must stop chatting here. It is unsafe. Follow me, and we will talk more along the way."

"A you wish, Lord Shi," Rubio said, excited of finally being the one to fulfill the tradition of his family.

With Rubio's loyalty ensured, Shio and Lulya guided him back to the tomb. He still had a lot to learn about this world. He asked Lulya about it, but she didn't know much since she was a human. But with Rubio, he might learn something from the information gathered by his ancestors. First thing first, he needed to know how the world changed with his absence.

"Tell me, what happened after they sealed me?"

"It is… complicated, my Lord."

"Complicated?"

"After the war ended, everyone was left weakened. The Holy Kingdom stopped its crusade and became dormant. The Union was disbanded. Some nations had a civil war and split up; other nations merged into one. Even a nation that died long ago emerged once more. I'm afraid my words alone could not describe the insanity of what happened following your death. At the very least, I can say for certain that everyone is living in relative peace, thanks to your sacrifice."

Well, I definitely didn't expect that.

"So the Holy Kingdom is dormant now? Do you have any way of knowing what happens inside their gate?" Shio asked. He doubted these so-called Gods and Goddess would suddenly just change their mind. He was confident that they were just waiting, biding their time for the right moment to start another crusade.

"Well, the Holy Kingdom doesn't accept non-human races in their territory, but fear not! My family managed to have an informant working inside of the Holy Kingdom's monarchy!" Rubio said with both of his hands on his hip.

"Ho? And how did you achieve that?" Shio said, impressed.

"Well, I'm not the one responsible for it," he chuckled nervously." It was my father and mother. They caught a pilgrim that turned out to be the son of the King's advisor."

"Quite a catch. What's the pilgrim's condition now?"

"Every week, we would let him tell us what he wants to tell his father. Then we would write the letter and give it to an adventurer. He would pass the guards and deliver the letter to the King's advisor. Just yesterday, the pilgrim wants us to tell his father about his healthy son."

"… Healthy son?" Shio asked as he thought he misheard the lizardmen.

"That is correct. The pilgrim fell in love with another human girl that lived in the village, and we let the two marry."

Shio set aside many questions about Rubio's village and his way of thinking and focused more on this sudden marriage. He could already guess why they did it since it, in a way, benefited them. Still, he wanted to see whether the lizardmen had the same opinion as him.

"It's because of the woman, my Lord. She kept sneaking into his house to meet him. She said she wanted to be with him even if she had to be confined too. So… we just let her since her parents gave consent. Is there something wrong with that, my Lord? I will separate the two if you wish," Rubio said, worried that the decision his family made disappoint the Necromancer King.

If it was Shio's decision, he would let it happen because the marriage would tie down the pilgrim even further. Running away alone would be easy. But leaving behind your family? Not many people would be willing to abandon their family in harm's way, at least real actual people who care about others.

"No, No. It's alright…" Shio said, waving his hand dismissively. He shouldn't be hoping too much from NPCs. Their reasoning was weird, but Shio couldn't deny the result.

"Rather than that, can you tell me all of the information left by your ancestors? Lula told me everything she knew. But she was a human, so her knowledge is limited," Shi patted the pink-haired succubus, who immediately lit up. Her master had been kept talking to the lizardmen to the point that it made her feel ignored. She stayed silent the whole time since she didn't want to disturb her master. But that simple pat was enough to convince her that her master still cared about her.

"Of course! It is my honor to help! Well, where shall I begin?"