“All right, since all of you have never been to the Lichdom before, let me reiterate the most important rules here. One: Do not, under any circumstances, somehow piss off the Bone Lord, or there’ll be no saving you, no matter who your parents are. Two: Don’t hit the skeletons. Seriously, just don’t, okay?” - Indah Sevaloka, adventurer, upon bringing her party to her hometown in the Lichdom of Ptolodecca.

“Okay, Kino, first things first, don’t hit the skeletons. They’re not bad things,” chastened Aideen after Kino was scared by a skeleton in Fort Bharat and almost instinctively knocked its skull off. Fortunately she only did that instead of using her magic, which would have resulted in them paying for some damages instead. A detached skull was at least trivial to fix.

One that had been annihilated by void magic would need to be replaced, and while Aideen definitely had the money to pay for the damages, she’d really prefer to avoid such incidents where possible.

For her own part, Kino looked somewhat chastened and although she still looked a little afraid of the skeletons, caused no further issues even when some skeletons brought in some snacks and refreshments for the three of them. The way Aideen and Celia behaved like everything was normal around the skeletons helped the younger girl pull herself together.

Unlike most nations in that day and age, Ptolodecca was stricter with the people it allowed into its borders. Foreigners were only allowed in when they brought an acceptable letter of intent from an official of their nation. Of course, to ease matters, their neighbors stationed such officials to handle the paperwork on the main border crossings.

In Kino’s case, however, given her rather sensitive identity, Aideen arranged for the official on the Lichdom’s side to arrange a temporary entry permit for her. It was something simple, given Aideen’s own identity, and once they reached Tohrmutgent, she could help Kino process a permanent identity that would proclaim her as a resident of the Lichdom, like she did with Celia.

The paperwork was handled swiftly, and within a couple hours the three of them were free to continue their journey into the Lichdom. Aideen took the chance to rest in Fort Bharat for the night though. While she and Celia had grown used to long travels with minimal rest by making the best use of their unliving constitution, Kino was far newer to unlife and wasn’t as used to it. She still needed more frequent rest, and the past week’s journey had been rather tiring for her.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

After a good night’s rest – and a bountiful breakfast the next morning – the three of them continued their journey into the Lichdom. This time Aideen borrowed a small wagon that was drawn by an undead construct to facilitate their travels. The wagon wasn’t too fast, probably only as fast as a person running at most, but made for a comfortable ride while also allowing its passengers to enjoy the scenery.

Like with Celia, Kino looked at the skeletons that stood vigil at the sides of the main road with some vigilance and trepidation at first. The smooth road – the construction of which was also mostly facilitated by the convenience of undead labor – soon lulled the younger girl into relaxing and enjoying the trip more rather than worrying.

Naturally, given the number of skeleton guards that stood vigil day and night without rest, the public order in the Lichdom was far better than any of its neighbors. Elmaiya still had occasional incidents of banditry in the smaller, less-used roads, but in Ptolodecca, bandits were practically unheard of. If any dared to show their face in the Lichdom, they would soon find themselves faced with hordes of undead skeletons who knew no such thing as mercy.

Of course, given the prosperity of the Lichdom as a whole, many of the societal issues that might cause honest people to turn to banditry to survive did not exist, so the only people who would have a reason to do so would be those who do it out of enjoyment. Even then, most of these people were smart enough to leave the Lichdom first, as they were all too aware of how quickly they would be rounded up and exterminated if they tried to play bandit in the Lichdom’s territory.

The Bone Lord was famous for many things, but amongst them, his wrath was legendary.

Their travel through the Lichdom was a pleasant one, Aideen regularly stopping to rest when the three of them were near a village and it was nearing sunset. Ptolodecca was also more densely populated compared to its neighbors, since it never lacked the “manpower” needed to turn uninhabited land into habitable regions.

After all, the cost of lives typically needed to pioneer a land would drastically drop when most of the work was done by the undead.

Where in most nations villages and towns were typically days away from each other, sometimes further – like those villages in Elmaiya the three saw that were a week away from any other habitation – in the Lichdom it was rare to not see another village or small town within half a day’s journey from any place. The main reason for the distance was mostly because the people typically chose to live in the best, most fertile areas first, which were most beneficial for agriculture, and those were often rather spread apart due to the geography of the region.

The sight of vast fields of golden wheat and other grains or dense orchards with fruits ripening on the trees, all guarded by tireless skeletal guards, was an odd juxtaposition for those unused to it. To see life and death so closely intertwined with one another, working together for a better tomorrow. It was a sight that was pretty much unique to the Lichdom.

Of course, like Celia, Kino was very surprised when Aideen brought her to pay a visit to the “Wolf Knight” in the small town near Tohrmutgent. Like usual, a group of young children were treating the mighty Death Knight as their playground, and it stood unmoving in their midst. Somehow, despite the unorthodox situation, everyone felt that everything was just right that way for some reason.