Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 2

by Ennki Hakari

  Prologue

  The Rhoden Kingdom was the third most powerful country on the northern continent.

  Past its northern border stood the East and West Revlon Empires, and to the west stretched the coastline that ran down to the port of Bulgoh. The South Central Sea lay to the south, and to the east was the independent Grand Duchy of Limbult and the expansive Canada woods, where the elves lived. This position afforded them protection from most external enemies.

  The northern border linked the Rhoden Kingdom to both Revlon empires—the Holy East Revlon Empire and the Great West Revlon Empire. Prior to the split they had been one massive empire, though they were currently embattled over control of the continent. Both sides were nearly equally matched, so pulling Rhoden into the battle would greatly tilt the needle in favor of whichever combatant they sided with. Discussions on the impact of the great struggle to the north were common behind closed doors within Rhoden.

  The Holy East Revlon Empire sought support from Rhoden to gain access to the West’s ports and vast plains, which could be used year-round, thanks to the warmer temperatures. Meanwhile, the Great West Revlon Empire asserted that it was the rightful successor to the unified Revlon Empire and was working behind the scenes with Rhoden to suppress the East.

  This was further complicated by the conflict over who would be the next heir to the Rhoden Kingdom. Prince Sekt was supported by the Great West Revlon Empire, while Prince Dakares had the support of the Holy East Revlon Empire.

  Princess Yuriarna, the third contender for the throne, presented yet another challenge: She insisted on maintaining distance from both the East and West empires while strengthening relations with Rhoden’s neighbors, the Grand Duchy of Limbult and Nohzan Kingdom, and also improving communications with the Canada forest.

  While these three royals and their respective factions battled it out behind the scenes, the funds that Prince Sekt had been secretly accumulating to finance his plans were stolen by an unknown party, shaking the power balance throughout the kingdom.

  The capital of Rhoden was bordered to the north by the Calcut mountain range and the expansive fields that opened at the bases of the mountains. To the east meandered the massive Lydel River, which bordered the Furyu Mountains and supplied the capital’s waterways and moats with water. The river continued on to the south, where it emptied out into the South Central Sea.

  Deep within the castle in the royal capital of Olav, a man sat low in a well-cushioned seat in a dimly lit room.

  The well-dressed man’s name was Sekt Rondahl Karlon Rhoden Sahdiay—the first prince. He was a tall man with a charming face and meticulously maintained light brown hair. With his elbows delicately balanced on the armrests of his chair and a quiet, gentle smile plastered to his face, he fit the public image of a prince perfectly. However, his narrowed blue eyes betrayed a cunning fire within, chilling any warmth his smile might have offered.

  A man in his forties with thinning black hair sat across from the prince. He wore a friendly smile on his otherwise severe face. This man’s name was Duke Coraio du Brutios, one of Rhoden’s seven dukes and a firm supporter of Prince Sekt’s succession efforts.

  Sekt slowly opened his mouth to speak, his blue eyes fixed intently on the duke. “My sister will soon be slipping past Houvan on her way to Limbult. I’d like you to arrange for Kaecks to take care of this. Be sure to bring the priest’s mages in addition to the forces we have lurking in Houvan. Once the dust has settled, our people in the church will take care of the priest and his people.”

  Coraio simply bowed his head in acknowledgement of the prince’s orders, seemingly unfazed by what he had just heard. He then tilted his head back up to speak to the prince. “I’m honored to entrust my son with such an important duty. However, if we make use of our people inside Houvan, there will certainly be casualties. And it may also disrupt our plans for the town.”

  Sekt’s smile widened in response. “The Houvan plot is already behind schedule. We must provide our support while making it appear as though this uprising is being led by the people. If we can take out my sister, then any delay in our plans will no longer be important.”

  Coraio bowed his head again, affirming his agreement. “Understood. I shall tell Kaecks to move on Houvan.”

  Prince Sekt smiled contentedly and, with a nod, sent Coraio on his way.

  ***

  Elsewhere in the royal palace, not far from where this sinister conversation was taking place, a noblewoman sat at a table overlooking an interior garden. Behind her, a chambermaid gestured toward the two guests in the room.

  The young noblewoman in a simple, refined gown was named Yuriarna Merol Melissa Rhoden Olav—the second princess of Rhoden. Her long golden locks curled at the tips and perfectly accented her pale face and friendly hazel eyes. However, anyone who ended up on the receiving end of her gaze could see the strong will lurking deep within.

  “I hear tell that Dakares and Sekt are both moving on Houvan, under the guise of attending an evening ball and inspecting the royal lands.”

  The middle-aged man sitting across from the princess nodded deeply in response to her remark. He was well-built, dressed in the uniform of a lieutenant general, and wore his brown hair and mustache short. The harsh lines of his face lent him a rather intimidating air.

  His name was Carlton du Frivtran, a member of the Frivtran family and lieutenant general of the Third Royal Army. He was also the only duke who supported Princess Yuriarna’s bid for the throne.

  “I sense something insidious lurking behind this Houvan inspection. There’s talk that a member of the royal court orchestrated the previous incident. And a few are even going so far as to say that Sekt’s supporters, with our help, made it look like it was an elven attack.”

  The “previous incident” Carlton referred to was the assassination of Marquis du Diento, one of the second prince’s supporters. Yuriarna had been secretly conducting an investigation into the behavior of the marquis, under the suspicion that he was enslaving and selling elves in violation of Rhoden law.

  The initial witness statements mentioned seeing elves, though the witnesses disappeared shortly thereafter. There were now multiple theories running around concerning the perpetrators’ true identities. Not only were the bad actors still free, but their goals were unclear, leading to wild speculation.

  “It’d be one thing if the slave markets were all hit at once, but the fact that Marquis du Diento’s money slipped away has only powered the rumor mill.” Yuriarna heaved her shoulders as she let out a heavy sigh.

  The young man sitting next to Lieutenant General Carlton spoke up next. “Apparently, a portion of the funds was discovered within the Diento domain. A few peasants were in possession of some expensive furnishings, which they claim had been lying around. Other sundries were being sold around town. The Diento family is attempting to recover their property, but that’s no easy task now that it’s been put on the black market.”

  The young man was dressed in a simpler version of the military uniform worn by the lieutenant general. He looked similar to Carlton, though thinner. His name was Rendol du Frivtran, and he was the lieutenant general’s eldest son and commanding officer of one of the army’s largest battalions.

  “In any case, it will be some time before the marquis’ family will be able to regain their status. It’s also likely that Dakares and his clique will take action in response to their massive loss of funding. And I hear that Sekt’s camp and Duke Brutios have some nefarious plans in the works.” The lieutenant general stroked his well-groomed beard and furrowed his brow as he discussed the movements of the two opposing factions.

  Yuriarna nodded deeply be
fore rising from her seat and striding to the large window to look out over the garden. Spots of blue shone through the blanket of dark gray clouds.

  “A tempest approaches. Let’s accelerate the visit to Limbult. Ferna will accompany me.”

  She turned her gaze toward the back of the room where Ferna, her lifelong chambermaid, smiled gently, her eyes closing ever so slightly as she bowed in acknowledgement. Her perfectly arranged hair bobbed with the movement of her head. “Of course, Miss Yuriarna.”

  “If we limit your contingent of guards to fifty, I believe you could reach Limbult within five days. I will assign you our best men and put Rendol in command.”

  The lieutenant general slapped his son on the shoulder. Rendol, who had been distracted by Ferna’s appearance, stood up quickly from his seat and knelt in front of the princess.

  “I will ensure your safety with my very life, Your Highness!”

  “Thank you, Rendol. I have heard talk that the Hilk priests are acting suspiciously, so please be discreet in your preparations.”

  The two men bowed their heads at the princess’ command.

  Chapter 1:

  To the Village of Elves

  I walked slowly through the dim forest, careful to keep my feet from catching on the web of roots snaking away from the massive trees. I caught small glimpses of the eastern sky through breaks in the leaves. The day was already starting to brighten, though only a few of the sun’s rays pierced the dense foliage to reach the forest floor. The jangle of three coin-filled bags on my back mingled with the gentle sounds of the wind stirring the leaves. I was in the middle of the sprawling Canada province, home of the elves in this parallel world I found myself in.

  After falling asleep one night while in the middle of a game session, I’d woken up here as my in-game character. I’d wandered around aimlessly for some time before I somehow ended up helping the elves.

  But I didn’t have an ounce of regret. I knew any Japanese person would have done the same if they’d witnessed an elf—or any other humanoid species—being eaten, even if it meant offering up a human in their place. That’s just who we are…or at least I hope it is.

  The tall woman leading the way through the forest was a dark elf, a member of a relatively rare species. She had smooth, amethyst-colored skin and snow-white hair, though her ears weren’t as pointy as those of other elves. Her intricately designed robe and leather corset covered up an attractive, curvy figure that drew men’s gazes.

  Her name was Ariane Glenys Maple, a soldier from the Maple borough in the main city here in the Canada forest province. In addition to being deadly with the thin sword that hung from her waist, she was also skilled in spirit magic, like all other elves.

  Her bosom bounced and hips swayed with each step she took, drawing me forward like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. She suddenly stopped and turned, glaring at me with her golden eyes. Apparently, she’d noticed where my own eyes were focused. I averted my gaze, pretending not to see.

  I was in this mysterious world in the body of the character I’d been playing in the game before falling asleep at my computer. I was covered from head to toe in a gleaming silver suit of armor decorated with intricate carvings. It looked like the type of armor that only the knights of legend might wear. Behind me billowed a cape as dark as the night itself, and the inside of it glimmered like stars ripped from a moonlit sky. On my back I wore a large, elaborately decorated round shield, and my massive sword inspired wonder in all who caught sight of it.

  Most noteworthy of all, however, was that inside these glamorous trappings, my body was that of a skeleton. Within my helmet a fickle flame flickered—my soul, deep within the skull cavity where my eyes should have been.

  In spite of all that, Ariane had still been able to sense where my attention was focused. Women’s ability to detect men’s creepy behavior truly was amazing.

  My meandering train of thought was broken as the two women trailing behind me called out.

  “I’ve used up quite a bit of my magical power. My spirit magic is almost drained. Can you lend me a weapon?”

  “I’m tiiiiiired. Let’s stop for a bit and take a break.”

  The two women were dressed in dark gray and black cloaks. Their characteristic pointy ears peeked out from their green-tinged blond hair, though unlike the dark elf Ariane, both were rather pale in appearance.

  Sena was slender, with long hair and a piercing gaze. Next to her was Uhna, who had shorter hair and seemed more absentminded than her companion.

  Up until just hours ago, these two elven women had been held as slaves within the Diento estate. Since the clothes they’d been wearing during our rescue operation were a little on the skimpy side, Ariane and I had given them our cloaks.

  While we were making our escape, we piled the mountains of coins we’d found in Marquis du Diento’s chambers into three large bags, which I was holding now. Since my hands were full, the women were charged with protecting the party from any monsters we encountered in the woods.

  Ariane looked back over her shoulder. “We’ll rest in a few minutes when we reach the banks of the Lydel. After that, we’ll follow the river upstream to our destination.”

  As she spoke, we came upon the path that would lead us to the water. The Lydel itself was quite wide and, thanks to the lack of trees, the area was far brighter than where we’d been.

  By now, the sun was shining brightly in the sky, illuminating the trees around us and allowing more light to peek through the dense foliage. I dropped the massive coin-filled sacks and sat down on a large rock. Carrying around such a huge sum of gold had really begun to take its toll. The women wandered around for a bit before finding similar places along the banks to sit and rest.

  It was a pretty relaxing spot, actually. I listened to the burble of the river, intermingled with the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves and the occasional bird call. From time to time, I heard the cry of some wild beast or monster deep within the forest, but that didn’t detract from the relaxing atmosphere.

  Ponta seemed to agree that this place was safe and bounded down from my head to sip from the river before splashing around in the water.

  Ponta was a sixty-centimeter-long creature with a face like a fox, though its fluffy, almost dandelion-like tail took up over half its length. A thin membrane stretched between its front and back legs, giving it the appearance of a large Japanese flying squirrel. Except for its white stomach, its entire body was covered in light green fur.

  According to the elves, Ponta was a cottontail fox, a rare type of animal known as a spirit creature. They’d also said that spirit creatures generally weren’t fond of humans, though I had my doubts, considering how easily Ponta had warmed up to me once I’d offered it some food.

  A little farther up the river from where Ponta was playing, several huge dragonflies—around a meter wide and two meters long—frolicked as well, their long tails drooping into the water. These dragonflies would occasionally whip their tails out of the water to toss a fish they’d caught into the air so they could eat it.

  In the game, and in real life, these bugs were bigger than anything I’d ever seen.

  Ariane took notice of where I was looking. “Outside of mating season, those dragonflies generally won’t attack…as long as you don’t get too close.”

  The forest was full of mana energy, which explained the large variety of monsters we’d encountered on our trip so far. My three companions had effortlessly taken care of every threat, though this had used up a lot of Sena’s magic.

  “Here, Sena, use my sword. I still have a lot of magic power left.” Ariane drew the sword from her waist and handed it to Sena.

  That reminded me of something, and I started digging through one of the large sacks of coins. Inside, buried among the money, a sword hilt stuck out. I’d found the sword in Marquis du Diento’s castle when we’d snuck in to rescue Sena and Uhna. A lion’s head was carved into the hilt, its eyes a pair of red jewels. It was a famous blade known as
the Sword of the King of Lions. I’d completely forgotten that I’d stuffed it into my bag.

  “Miss Ariane, you can use this if you’d like.”

  Speaking in the best knight voice I could muster from my time role-playing, I offered the Sword of the King of Lions to her. She accepted it, looking the sword over with her golden eyes.

  “Are you sure? This is a pretty amazing blade, you know…”

  “It was only gathering dust in the Diento estate. Besides, I already have my own sword.” I motioned toward the meter-long, double-handed sword that hung from my back. It was a mythical-class weapon known as the Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg.

  A look of surprise flickered across her face for a moment, though she took the sword from my hand without a word. After giving it a few swings, she nodded to herself and returned the sword to its sheath.

  “Thank you, Arc. This will be a great help.” Her lips curved up into a smile as she hung the sword from her waist.

  “Well, we should probably start making our way upriver. Think you can take care of that, Arc?”

  “Of course. I’ve got the bags, so just grab onto me. I will use my teleportation magic to travel upriver.”

  I picked up the three large sacks and hefted them over my shoulder. Ponta, noticing that we were about to go, stopped playing at the water’s edge and summoned up a gust of wind using spirit magic, easily floating to its usual place atop my helmet.

  After making sure that everyone had a hand on me, I looked up the winding river and focused on a point where a rock jutted from the opposite shore.

  “Dimensional Step!”

  A supplemental skill of the Mage class, this spell allowed me to teleport short distances. An instant later, our surroundings had changed, and we were now standing atop the large rock that I’d been looking at moments ago. The riverbank where we’d been sitting was pretty far downstream from where we stood now.

  Uhna, the short-haired elf, glanced around and muttered to herself. “Now that’s really handy! Why couldn’t we have traveled through the forest like this?”