The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 24, Section 23: The Child Who Watched the Dead
"From a historical perspective, the ancient green dragon jade in the southern mountains should be undergoing a blood sacrifice at this time."

El-Erian gazed in the direction of the Emerald Mountains, looking at the lush green hills shrouded in mist, lost in thought.

"In the original history, the Emerald Ritual killed the kobolds and goblins that were originally under its command."

"Now, it's estimated that the three major orc clans have come to seek refuge with them."

Elion knew that, according to the original historical trajectory, ten years later, the ancient dragon Emerald and his half-dragon army would invade the territory of Eldoron.

This dragon lord will destroy and conquer almost all surface villages, killing hundreds of thousands of humans.

The noble mages in the floating city high in the sky continued to enjoy fine wine and food, completely ignoring the fall of the surface and the deaths of the common people.

Some chieftains even traded with dragon lords, sharing their "advanced experience" in hunting and slaughtering surface civilians with the half-dragon soldiers under the dragon lords' command.

These self-proclaimed noble mages, amidst the clinking of glasses and revelry at banquets, enjoyed the last 20 years of the empire's twilight. Until the gates of the abyss opened…

But now, history has long since deviated from its original course.

The Green Dragon Emerald gave Eldoron 10 years.

For a dragon, 10 years is just a long dream.

For humans, it is a full half-generation.

It is the entirety of youth, from being young and naive to growing into someone who can stand on their own.

This period of time is enough for the first large number of mages from ordinary families on the surface of Eldoron to be born and grow up!

……

After driving away the orc tribe, Elion did not remain idle.

He first led the mages to drive away more than a dozen goblin and kobold settlements that frequently harassed human villages within Eldoron, driving these short and ugly monsters far away and completely ensuring the safety of the surface world of Eldoron.

Meanwhile, Elion also directed the mages to collect the orc corpses scattered all over the mountains and fields, select those that were in good condition, and bury them in a deep pit for future use.

Strong, robust, and overwhelmingly numerous humanoid corpses...

This was the richest spoils Eldoron had obtained in this war to wipe out the orcs.

Collecting tens of thousands of corpses is certainly a daunting task.

But this task itself can also be done by a large number of undead!
Every day, the villagers of the surface world witness this scene:
Hundreds of orc skeletons and orc zombies walked, dragging the lifeless corpses across the distant wilderness, digging deep pits and throwing the remains into them.

At this time of year, villagers who are not in the farming season and curious children would run out to watch, overjoyed.

This is proof of human victory!
That day, Joseph, the magic teacher in Rolling Stone Village, led the school children to the village gate to watch yet another "undead march"—

The living dead carry the immobile dead on their backs, moving forward along the way.

The children might think it was just a casual little activity, but Joseph understood that watching the spirits was a teaching task assigned by his superiors.

Although it is unknown why the floating city would assign such a task.

"Speaking of which, children, aren't you afraid of all these corpses?"

Mr. Joseph adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and looked kindly at the young boys and girls behind him.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Little Gretel scratched his head, puzzled.
"I was indeed afraid of those cruel beastmen when they were alive!"

"But now that the orcs are dead, we should be happy."

“Yes!” Little Grete’s sister, Shiluka, exclaimed excitedly.

“When Gret and I were little, our uncle was killed by those brutal orcs. Thinking about it now, it's still terrifying!”

"But now, those nasty orcs are all dead."

"Even after they die, they still have to work for human mages to atone for the sins they committed!"

Teacher Joseph smiled with satisfaction, suddenly understanding why the higher-ups had assigned this teaching task.

"Yes. Humanity won, we won, Eldoron won, this is the symbol of our victory."

In a fleeting moment, Joseph suddenly realized something he had previously overlooked—

The mage nobles of the floating city of Eldoron lived in peace for a century, far removed from the hustle and bustle and bloodshed on the surface, while for the common people on the surface, death and corpses were commonplace.

However, most of the time, the corpses that children see are their own kind, other humans, their relatives and neighbors.

If seeing the corpse of one's own kind can evoke a sense of shared fear, then seeing the corpse of an orc—a creature entirely different from humans—is where the deep-seated hatred humans have accumulated over centuries towards orcs, along with the immense pleasure derived from witnessing their deaths, takes over.

Joseph encouraged the children, saying:
"My students, if one day, one of your most outstanding students not only becomes a mage, but also a mid-level mage who is even better than me..."

"You can also command the dead, so that those enemies who once humiliated you can serve you after death."

The boys and girls became excited upon hearing this, their eyes sparkling with joy:

"When I become an archmage, I'm going to turn those annoying goblins into skeletons and give them a back massage."

"You're the one who's always pulling my hair out. When I become a powerful mage, I'll dig up your grave and make you serve me tea and water."

"Tch. What does it matter? I'm dead anyway."

"..."

Joseph just smiled and looked at the boys and girls around him, chatting happily and dreaming about the future.

—The above-mentioned harmonious scene is displayed in the golden basin in front of Elian's table.

……

Inside the palace, Elian waved his hand, ending the "Detection" spell.

The water rippled and spread outwards in concentric circles, and then the scene came to an end.

"Yes, the time is ripe."

"The humans of Eldoron are gradually developing a positive understanding of necromancy and controllable undead!"

"We can now begin the next, more important task."

(End of this chapter)