Hailuot gave Kote no promise.
If he chose to inherit Claurend Manor, he would shoulder far too much, and it would surely anger his mother.
Hailuot changed the subject. "How did father go missing?"
"That's a rather long story." Kote waved his hand. An invisible force pushed open the doors of the Ancient Castle. He invited Hailuot in. "Young Master, you've been on the train for so long that you must be tired. Your servants are preparing food for you. You can eat while I tell you what happened four years ago.
"We grew all the food ourselves."
The Ancient Castle opened into a spacious hall. Candles burned along the stone walls on either side, casting a ghostly light. Translucent shadows emerged from the glow, turned into wisps of pale smoke, and drifted into the metal Full-Body Armor displayed beneath the candles.
Green eyes opened in the gaps of the Helmets. All the Armor Equipment stood straight, holding their "heads" high like loyal Guards welcoming their Master.
Ghosts dressed as servants emerged from every corner of the Ancient Castle. They gathered on both sides and bowed to Hailuot. "Welcome home, Young Master Hailuot!"
Hailuot remembered being terrified and wailing the first time he saw a scene like this.
Now, seeing them again, he still couldn't help getting goosebumps.
He understood why his mother had taken him, still an infant in swaddling clothes, and left the household. The Undead were not accepted by ordinary worldly society.
Butler Kote saw that Young Master Hailuot disliked the welcoming ritual and scolded the Undead Servants at once. "You ill-mannered lot, don't pop out and startle the Young Master again. Head Maid, prepare lunch, then fetch a bottle of the Master's treasured red wine from the Wine Cellar."
Kote said to Hailuot, "Allow me to take you to the dining room, Young Master."
"All right..."
Kote gave the suitcase to a servant and told it to prepare the Young Master's room, then led Hailuot to the dining room.
Hailuot heard the servants behind him murmuring.
"Wonderful! Young Master Hailuot has returned to inherit the manor, so we no longer have to worry about the town forcing its demolition."
"You're celebrating too soon! The Madam will never let the Young Master inherit House Claurend."
"If this place gets torn down, where could we possibly go?"
"Go where? You're overthinking it. Before they tear this manor down, some so-called exorcist will come and wipe us all out first."
"Is the great Claurend Family truly going to disappear like this?"
"I suppose that's fate!"
..
Hailuot sat at the head of the dining table. Maids came and went, soon filling the table with a lavish lunch.
House Claurend owned farmland here. The Undead beings sold the grain they grew to the town and used the money to maintain the manor.
Butler Kote poured Hailuot a glass of red wine and said, "This is wine brewed from grapes we grew ourselves. The Master set aside and stored the finest red wine every year. He always hoped to one day taste it together with you."
Hailuot picked up the glass and took a sip.
It was sweet and rich, carrying a faint cool sensation, with a flavor all its own.
Then he said to Kote, "Can you tell me now how my father went missing?"
Kote said, "Young Master, are you aware of House Claurend's Graveyard?"
Hailuot, eating from his plate, replied, "I believe I heard father mention it once. It's a small Undead world unique to House Claurend."
"Yes. It's a small Undead world that only an Old Dominator has the qualification to enter. It once brought infinite Glory to House Claurend..."
Butler Kote began recounting the history of House Claurend.
Hailuot's ancestors had once known great glory.
The ancestors of House Claurend once commanded an Undead Army under the Empire's founding emperor. House Claurend helped the Glory Oath Empire conquer its vast territory.
In that era, House Claurend could summon and command the Undead at will. It flourished, held a vast Fief, and ranked among the Empire's Twelve Founding Dukes.
The source of House Claurend's power came from the Family Cemetery.
It was a Micro Plane that only members of House Claurend's Direct Bloodline could open. It teemed with Undead and generated Death Energy for the family's descendants. As a result, every child of House Claurend's Direct Lineage was born with a silver spoon in their mouth and could become a respected Necromancer without much effort.
But one day, something abnormal appeared in House Claurend's Family Cemetery: monsters that were not Undead. They attacked the Undead inside, steadily squeezed their living space, and caused the Death Energy to dwindle.
House Claurend organized an expedition into the cemetery to destroy the monsters, but the creatures returned soon after they died. House Claurend retreated step by step and lost ground layer by layer, until it lost the Family Cemetery.
Without a steady supply of Undead to summon or an inexhaustible source of Death Energy, House Claurend's former glory faded, and the family declined rapidly.
Eventually, the Empire reclaimed even its ducal title.
As the times changed, people went from respecting Necromancers to despising them. House Claurend eventually fell into its present state.
The family was on the verge of losing its legacy.
Hailuot patiently listened to Kote finish recounting the family's history, then said, "What I learned of history tells me some things are destined to be cast aside by the times. Even if I inherit House Claurend, it probably won't change much.
Father's letter said something happened inside the Family Cemetery. Do you know what happened in there?"
Kote replied, "The Master said... a great many people appeared inside the Family Cemetery. No one knew where they had come from, and they did not seem to belong to our world. The Master also said that these people frantically attacked every monster they saw after entering the Family Cemetery. Even when monsters killed them, they revived and ran back to kill more monsters.
They killed monsters nonstop, twenty-four hours a day. Most monsters died the moment they appeared, and these people even fought one another over the areas where monsters spawned—it was utter madness!
The Family Cemetery descended into complete chaos. The Master entered it many times to investigate where these people came from and why they killed monsters so frantically."
Hailuot couldn't help but feel his curiosity piqued. "What did father find out?"
"The Master said these people called themselves... Players. It's just that after the Master's fifth time entering the Family Cemetery, he never came back. And we Undead, without the permission of an Old Dominator, are unable to enter the Family Cemetery ourselves. That's why, four years after the Master went missing, we finally sent the letter he'd left behind to you, Young Master."