The duke had his eyes on the trembling maid with a frown on his face.
"Dear..."
Hearing his wife's soft voice, he refocused on what was in front of him for fear of creating a misunderstanding.
"Cough~Well then everyone, how about we enjoy our meal first before talking about your adventures?"
With no one objecting, the noise of plates being moved together with tableware began.
With everyone enjoying themself eating, Danzel felt as close to sleep as an undead could possibly become.
He watched how the other multiple tableware that looked "exactly" the same to eat different kinds of food. Making him confused as to what they were doing.
Like once Wilhelm used a fork to take a bite of the meat on his plate, he switched to a different fork to take a piece from the salad and another one to eat something he didn't recognize.
It looked like a straight lizard with its blueish scales, but with no hands or legs.
'Do mortals eat lizards?'[1] Danzel asked himself internally.
He basically spends his time scanning the dishes out of his boredom.
The only one that was eating normally was Vanessa.
She used the longest fork and knife that was suited for every item on the table to stuff her mouth. Making him see her in a different light.
As he watched her usually eating with her hands while outside, he thought that she wasn't eating correctly as she dirted her hands and all.
Wilhelm even called her "savage" for the way she was eating when they were alone.
But seeing her now, his opinion of her being a "savage" changed to that of one having good eating etiquette.
Sorry, it was a misunderstanding!
Though in truth, he didn't feel much sorry.
...
After a while of the 5 eating quietly together, everyone seemed satisfied with the food, and the servants who were waiting from the side quickly moved to take away the leftovers.
The mood suddenly became serious.
"Wilhelm, can you tell me what happend with those...mercenaries?" The duke asked his son.
"Didn't the army already give you my report and that of the traitor's interrogation?" Wilhelm said confused.
"Yes, they did. But I want to hear it from you."
In response, he shook his shoulders.
"Then there shouldn't be much to add. They acted when I went to sleep. If it weren't for Abdiel noticing the one who sneaked in my room, I probably would be here."
The dukes Blanche turned toward the dark knight.
"Mercenary Abdiel, I read that you chased after the assassins after saving my boy, is that true?"
"I am not aware of what our sir had read, but after putting one of them out of combat, I chased the one who tried to kill sir Wilhelm. At that time, there were no signs of the elf archers, but I had all my " units" look for her."His tone was cold and indifferent.
"I see...then how did the one you were chasing escape? Did he simply slip through you or was he stronger than you?"
At those words, Danzel's head turned to look directly into the duke's eyes.
"None. It was because of the appearance of the archers. She hid her skills and took me by surprise with an invisible soundless arrow. The attack harmed my leg, making chase impossible."
The other family members frowned at Danzel's tone, and the wife of the duke stared daggers at him.
For reasons unknown even to Danzel.
"I see...thanks for telling me and~"
Standing from his seat, the duke bent slightly his head to form a bow.
"Thanks for saving my son"
"Dear~"
The servant as much as the others stared in shock as the head of the family bowed his head to the likes of mercenaries.
His wife also stood up and looked at her husband.
With her being the most scalable after her elder son in the noble circle, she knew that such news could sprew out unnecessary gossip.
And yet, the duke still held his bow for several more seconds to show that his gratitude was genuine.
"I will also need to thank lady Vanessa for keeping Wilhelm safe." He said while raising his bow.
"Also, if there is anything you two would like to receive as a reward, I will be happy to provide it to you, if of course, it's within my power."
The dark elve and the undead exchange glances, the latter unsure how to respond. Making the decision to fall on the former
"With all due respect, we can't accept such a request. We have already been paid beforehand to guard sir Wilhelm and support in the war." Vanessa said.
The duke though shook his head on such a request.
"No, I can't have that. I am compelled to reward the savior of my blood. Doing otherwise will hurt our family's prestige and honor. And I can't have that." His voice was strict and firm. Allowing no room for negotiations.
"Sigh~if that's the case, put my reward on top of my knight. After all, he was the one who did most of the work."
Nodding his head, the duke looked at Danzel.
"Alright."
Danzel in turn looked down at the dark elve and saw how she blinked one of her eyes at him with a smile on her face.
'A dept, huh?' He thought internally as he looked at the duke.
"If that's the case, please transfer my ladies and my reward towards my Master Velkir."
Though she wasn't the only one who had the same idea.
***
After talking with the mercenaries of the Deathfull Skulls, they even went their way and left the mansion.
While the whole family of the house of Ionarres we're still gathered at the dinner table with only the maid who previously held Danzel's sword.
"You two...what did you think of those two? Do you think that they could be used as our allies?"
Wilhelm widen his eyes the moment his father said those words.
But before he could say anything, his brother beat him to it.
"Father, may I speak?"
"Go ahead, Weston."
"Mhm, I believe that it would bring massive benefits if we made a connection with their group. Though necromancy is a despicable type of magic. I heard that this Abdiel killed thousands and took a massive role in Wilhelm's mission. Though they lack class as the mercenaries. We could use them to further increase our family's status by gathering more achievements." He said while glancing at Wilhelm.
"The current king values more the participation in war than economic support. If we make more of a difference with their support, we could push further laws in the favor of the magical academies."
"They are mercenaries after all. I believe it's worth spending a portion of our wealth in turn on deeds. It will also increase our view of us the common blood. Which in turn will increase the magic casters who decide to stay on outside that of the army."
"At least that's what I believe."
Nodding his head to his son, next the duke glanced at Wilhelm.
"And you, Wilhelm? What do you think of them? Do you think that we can allow ourselves with them?"
For a moment there was silence, making Weston in turn scoff at Wilhelm.
'Pathetic bastard. You should have even died long ago. I presented the duke with an option that will make our household stronger and flurries and yet why doesn't he official choose me?'
Ignorant of his brother's thoughts, Wilhelm opened his mouth to speak.
"I believe it will be in our best interest to burn our connection with them as soon as possible. Allying with them will be...impossible."
'Heh, look at him' his elder brother scoffed at him.
'Losing those mercenaries filled with a 4th-tier expert will be a huge missed opportunity to grow our influence over the Dynasty. Father is never going to agree to this
"I agree with Wilhelms's opinion," the duke said, completely taking Weston by surprise.
"Huh?" He blurted out by mistake.
'Why?'
Seeing his son's confusion, the duke sighed out loud in disappointment.
"Sigh, you, come over here." He said to the maid who trembled continuously as if she was called by a butcher with her being the meat.
"Weston, the ideas that you have are good and I agree with most of them. Such as using our wealth to contribute to Dynasty. But sadly you hold too little fear of magic."
The maid by now was right beside the duke.
His wife looked at him suspiciously and scanned the trembling maid. The thoughts of her being her husband's concubine and that a child is going to be announced crossed her mind.
Ignoring his wife, the duke looked at the maid.
"You, pull out your cloves and raise your hands."
With everyone's eyes now focused on the maid, she bit her lips and did as her master said.
The moment she did, everyone except the duke and Wilhelm gasped in fried.
"What the~!!!"
"Oh God!!!"
Their screams echoed through the room. If it wasn't for the duke's voice-canceling barrier that he surrounded the room before, the knights would even bust inside the room.
The reason why those two screamed so loud was that the maid's whole arm was filled with sights of necrosis.
If one had amazing mana senses, they could also see a faint layer of mana around the arm to remove the pain of such advantage stage necrosis.
If the spell wasn't there, the maid would have been screaming her lungs out of pain and probably die from shock from the pain. But the spell didn't reduce all the pain.
"Did is the result of the weapon that this Abdiel gave her to hold. It probably had a curse of decay on it or something the like."
With a wave of his hand, a green gently light engulfed the maid's arms, slowly healing the necrosis and bringing out how the skin was before coming in touch with a cursed weapon.
Making the maid cry tears of joy and gratitude for having back her skin.
"There is a reason why necromancy is banned. And those who use it are one of the most malicious people out there. Partying with such a group of people is way too big of a risk for our family."
"We could be branded as cultists by the church, deemed as necromancers by the ignorant common fold. Even his majesty was forced to ask for the help of such people. If we deeper our relationship with them, after the war has called down, the king will see us as a threat."
"So under no circumstances, you are allowed to deal with them any longer."
[1]: The dish they were eating is a whole grilled fish, as Danzel had never seen an actual fish before, he refers to it as a lizard because the fish that they are eating has scales. All he knows is that a fish is an aquatic, small animal.
