Necromancer: Kingdom Building with My Legion of Undead Knights

Chapter 159: An ally

King Michul’s two guards followed behind as they left the great hall, remaining close enough to protect the king while giving him enough space to speak freely.

Darion walked beside Michul as they made their way through the castle corridors.

Now that the meeting was over, the atmosphere felt significantly lighter.

The tension that had been hanging over the discussion was gone. There were no debts left to negotiate, no requests left to make and no uncertainty about how the meeting would end.

What was left was... conversation.

As they walked, they spoke about small things. The journey from Percvale. The condition of the roads. Farming. Weather. The sort of casual topics that would have felt impossible to discuss naturally an hour ago.

Darion found himself glancing at the king occasionally.

Michul was a tall man, though Darion still had a slight advantage in height. Not enough for it to matter, but enough for him to notice.

The moment the guards stationed there noticed the king approaching, they immediately straightened themselves.

The difference between now and earlier was obvious.

Their horses had already been brought out and several stable hands stood nearby holding the reins.

One of the men stepped forward and respectfully handed Darion his horse.

Darion accepted the reins before glancing toward King Michul.

"I can’t really blame them."

Michul looked at him.

"Blame who?"

"The guards."

The king raised an eyebrow.

Darion shrugged.

"When I first arrived and asked to see you, the moment I mentioned Percvale they burst into laughter."

"They weren’t exactly subtle about it either."

King Michul’s expression hardened slightly.

"I see."

Darion shook his head.

"I don’t hold it against them."

Percvale’s reputation had been awful for decades. Expecting random soldiers to react differently would be unrealistic.

"To be fair," Darion continued, "Percvale hasn’t exactly given people many reasons to take it seriously."

The king was silent for a moment.

"Even so," he finally said, "That isn’t an excuse."

His tone carried the same authority Darion had heard earlier inside the hall.

"A ruler deserves basic respect regardless of whether his territory is rich or poor."

Darion didn’t reply.

King Michul looked toward several of the guards stationed around the courtyard.

"I’ll address it."

"I’ll hold a meeting and make it clear that Percvale is to be treated with the same respect as every other territory. Even more respect."

Darion blinked.

That was more than he expected.

The king glanced at him.

"And if you ever need something, don’t hesitate to reach out."

Darion looked at him.

"Advice. Information. Assistance. Whatever the matter happens to be."

Michul shrugged.

"If it’s within my ability to help, I’ll help."

Darion nodded.

"I appreciate that."

By then they had reached the castle gates.

The massive entrance stood open before them while soldiers moved about nearby carrying out their duties.

Their journey back to Percvale awaited.

Darion turned toward the king.

"Then I suppose this is goodbye."

Michul extended his hand.

Darion took it.

The handshake was firm and lasted a little longer than simple courtesy required.

The king smiled.

"You’ve done well, Baron Darion."

"Thank you."

Michul released his hand.

Then his smile widened slightly.

"And from this day onward, consider me a friend of Percvale."

As they left the king’s palace behind, Darion found himself thinking about everything that had just happened.

The debt was gone. Three thousand gold coins remained in their possession.

And perhaps more importantly than either of those things, he had just gained something Percvale had not possessed in a very long time.

An ally. A real one.

King Michul had not simply forgiven a debt and sent them away. He had openly offered assistance if Percvale ever needed it. He had promised that the Barony would be treated with respect. And in front of witnesses, he had called himself a friend of Percvale.

Darion still found it slightly surreal. For decades, Percvale had stood alone. Or perhaps abandoned was a better word.

The Barony had once possessed allies. That much was obvious from the records and stories he had learned since becoming Baron. The loans themselves were proof of it.

Nobody lent thousands of gold coins to strangers.

Kingdoms and rulers only did things like that when some degree of trust already existed.

Back then, when Percvale had begun struggling, those allies had tried helping. They had offered loans, resources and time.

And Percvale had failed them.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The debts had piled up. Repayments never came. Promises were broken. One generation of Barons passed the problems onto the next until eventually every relationship had rotted away.

By the time Darion arrived, Percvale had been standing alone.

No allies, no partners and no one willing to help without expecting something in return.

Darion couldn’t even blame them. If someone repeatedly borrowed money from him and never paid it back, he probably wouldn’t be eager to help them either.

Yet somehow, today had changed something.

Not completely though. One ally did not suddenly solve all of Percvale’s problems.

But it was a start. A foundation actually.

A reminder that the Barony did not have to face everything alone forever.

That had always been one of Darion’s goals.

The debt mattered. But relationships mattered too.

A small territory surrounded by larger powers could not survive on military strength alone. Eventually there would be problems that required diplomacy, favors and friendships.

Today, Percvale had taken its first step toward rebuilding those connections. And that felt almost as important as the cancelled debt itself.

The group continued through Thandor’s streets quietly.

The city remained as busy as before. Merchants called out to customers. Wagons rolled across stone roads. Citizens moved about their daily lives without paying much attention to the riders passing through.

Eventually they passed through the city’s outer gate and returned to the main road.

Only then did the conversation begin again.

The tension from earlier had completely disappeared now.

They all looked lighter.

Before coming to Thandor, neither Darion nor Garren had been nearly as calm as they had pretended to be.

Outwardly they had acted confident. They had discussed possibilities, prepared arguments and planned responses for different outcomes. But beneath all that preparation had been a simple fear:

What if the meeting went badly?

What if King Michul refused to see them?

What if he accepted the three thousand gold coins but demanded immediate repayment of the remaining four thousand?

What if he took offense to the request entirely?

There had been dozens of possibilities, and most of them had not ended particularly well for Percvale.

Neither man had spoken much about those concerns during the journey, but they had existed all the same.

Now, however, all of that was gone.

The uncertainty. The pressure.

The quiet worry sitting at the back of their minds.

It had all disappeared the moment King Michul forgave the debt.

Even the three knights accompanying them looked noticeably more relaxed. Their shoulders no longer seemed as stiff and the tension that had followed them into the city had vanished completely.

Everyone knew they had achieved something important today.

Something that would change Percvale’s future.

Garren guided his horse closer to Darion’s before speaking.

"That was really successful."

Darion glanced at him and nodded.

"It was."

That almost felt like an understatement.

Garren let out a small breath.

"I expected the debt to be reduced."

"So did I."

"I expected perhaps a new repayment arrangement."

"Same."

The older knight shook his head.

"But cancelling everything?"

Even now, he sounded slightly surprised.

A seven-thousand-gold-coin debt was not something rulers casually erased.

"King Michul is a good man," Garren said after a moment.

"He is."

"Much better than I expected."

Darion nodded again.

That was probably true for everyone present.

Before arriving in Thandor, he had prepared himself for difficult negotiations.

Instead, he had met a king who genuinely wanted Percvale to succeed. The thought still felt strange.

For a few moments they simply rode in silence.

Then Darion’s gaze drifted toward the road ahead.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"That means the debt of Percvale is now reduced to twenty-nine thousand gold coins," Garren said.

Twenty-nine thousand gold coins was by no means a small amount. Yet compared to where they had started? Compared to the fifty thousand gold coins Percvale had owed when Darion first arrived?

The difference felt enormous.

"Yes," Darion replied.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"It now looks like something that can actually be paid off."

That was the important part.

Before, the debt had felt overwhelming. Like a mountain so large that climbing it seemed impossible.

Now there was at least a visible path forward.

Still difficult and expensive but possible.

And that changed everything.

Garren nodded in agreement.

"It does."

For a few moments, neither man spoke.

The road stretched ahead of them while the evening sky gradually darkened overhead. The last traces of sunlight disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving the world illuminated only by moonlight and scattered stars.

The journey continued peacefully.

Fortunately, they encountered no trouble along the way.

Not that Darion intended to leave things entirely to chance.

Once darkness fully settled across the road, he summoned his original wild wolf.