Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1278: Silrat's Role



After Skullius felt like he had recovered somewhat, he teleported everyone outside the Honing Fortress and told the Strawlers that had been here with Silrat and Theurien to bring them both Theurien and Stylla to the Empyrean Hatcher after the latter had woken up.

Skullius judged it wouldn't be long before that.

Soon, he, Beyrmir, Silrat and Elita were flying over the Ju`wtte Transfiguration Pool.

"Good. The Troops have left," Skullius said.

When they landed on the pretty pathway leading to other places in the Bosom, Skullius placed his hand on Silrat's shoulder.

"I have a job for you," he said.

Silrat raised both brows in surprise.

"For me?" he said, surprised.

"When I say you, while touching your shoulder, I would think it would be clear that I'm referring to you."

Silrat would have at least sniffled in response to the joke, but he couldn't find it in him in this moment.

"What could I possibly do? I don't think I'm the right man for anything going on right now. It's all a bit too 'bigger picture' for a mere Guilds Association recruiter, don't you think? I think I've long lost my usefulness," he said sombrely.

From the day Silrat returned to Aigas, after being banished from existence by Skullius in an effort to save him from the Premium Age Royale, he had felt so detached from reality and from Skullius. Gone were the days when it was him and Skullius against adversities. Gone were the days when Skullius' goals aligned with his, at least in scale.

At some point, the two had become best friends. Skullius had made sure spend as much of his time as possible with Silrat after he removed the UNCoddled curse from his body. He relished in the ability to have a drink with a friend genuinely without having to worry about them dying. He had first enjoyed that blessing with Silrat.

But Silrat felt that that familiarity gone. The simple pleasure of being friends with a powerful, but grounded mercenary had faded.

Honestly, seeing all these new, ridiculously powerful people Skullius surrounded himself with, people that he relied on, laughed with, made Silrat feel all the more dejected.

Skullius could see it. He couldn't quite understand the depth of Silrat's emotions, but he felt he could understand them to some degree.

"You know, I never forget people who brought me to where I am. I never forgot Stylla - though that win is solely Yuyui's, I suppose. And I am not going to forget you," Skullius said encouragingly.

Elita watched him closely.

"Now, as I understand it, you were never one for the thrill of battle, were you? Your forte was allocating resources and handling everything from the background, wasn't it? I remember what you said about the thing you had with your father," Skullius said. "A dream."

A short laugh burst through Silrat's nose.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yes. That's right," he said, before hesitating. "I had given up on that, you know. On everything."

He remembered his conversation with Arch-Mage Wyatt who had received him after he reemerged in Aigas. The Mage was the one to have safely sent Silrat over to the Bryne Estate via teleportation.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1017.)

Silrat grimaced.

"What I need you to do is bold, but you won't be alone. I'll be giving you a single, worthy unit to accomplish it," Skullius said. "I have two friends of mine that I need you to meet with on Aigas. I'm not sure what they are doing, but one of them commands a large number of Families now because of the Premium Age Royale. I'm sure they are still alive."

Silrat looked up, his eyes narrowing.

"Do you mean that Healer? Vali Kinn?" he asked.

Skullius reeled.

"Right. You were there. You know her," he said, realising. "That's right. I need you to rendezvous with her and Maxim Flatbed. If memory serves, they are in the same place. You will tell them I sent you - I'll give you something to prove it - and with the unit I will give you, I want you to convince them to bring all the remaining combat units on Pelian, the Families especially, under one banner."

Silrat was shocked.

"That's... that's a huge task for me alone!" he cried.

"Oh please, you were once the Head of the Guild's Association Branch in Inhone. You can handle this. Vali and Maxim will help. Besides, it's not like I want you as commander or anything, and the hard part will be convincing Vali and Maxim rather than the others," Skullius said.

"What makes you so sure we'll be able to rally so many people together?" Silrat asked skeptically.

"The bastard I am going to give you will impart gifts on the souls of the recruits. The rest won't be able to resist. Your companion is pretty much similar to me in the generosity department. Also, in this time of crisis, with that ability on your side, there won't be any problems for you. You're good at marketing stuff like that too, I think."

Silrat took a moment to think.

This was sounding pretty enticing so far.

Silrat only needed to use his mind for all this, not his severely underpowered abilities.

"Can I count on you? I'd do this myself, but I have a tight schedule, and there's no one else left for this. If it helps, because I sent some of my other forces to rescue people in Pelian, you will likely cross paths. If there's a problem, they'll help you."

Silrat considered.

Then he began to laugh.

"Damn it. And here I was, resolved to die meaninglessly. The Tie of Exchange I made with you back then is useless at this point. I was supposed to be the one helping you," he said.

"Times change," Skullius chuckled. Silrat nodded.

"Alright. I can't stay cooped up here in your luxuries like some retired general," he said. "Who

is this unit I'm going with?"

Skullius smirked, and with a thought, something flew from the vague distance and landed at his side with a fierce impact.

It was an Apostle desperate for redemption.

It was Ferex.