A Necromancer's Journey To Heaven's Gate

In this world, magic was everything. Since humans were pushed into a desperate situation, everyone and anyone was accepted. The human race needed everyone to survive, so they weren't picky.

The people who came out from the other side of the forest were soldiers of Lord Ross—-the Thornfield village fell under his territory. 

Seeing the boy protected by the orc soldier, they were confused at first, but when they looked closer, they realized the orc was dead—necromancy!

Magic was divided, or rather—rated with stars and five stars was the highest. Necromancy was rated 4 stars. 

Silas sat on a horse—Kar flanking his sides, while he was surrounded by armed soldiers. They rode through Thornfield, which was in ruins, and he watched people cry with their loved ones in their hands.

This scene was far too common that Silas had become desensitized. Every time they were attacked, and every time, help only came after the raiders had left.

Silas had nothing he wanted to take from home, so they didn't stop. Their journey continued without rest, and a few hours later, they neared a castle on the village outskirts. 

In front of the Ross family gate was a scrawny-looking man in his early 50s. His hair was gray with a few brown stripes. He had a thick mustache with hollow eyes—this is the face of a retired magus used and abandoned in a dusty old castle, in a remote part of the city.

The story of the Ross family's fall was not uncommon, but it was the one everyone remembered because the family was once a powerhouse in the empire.

In its glory days, the Ross family produced mages of various classes and even magic knights, but recently, the family had failed to produce offspring with a talent for magic. 

The family that once ruled the kingdom of Loth were pushed aside and forced to rule over a barren land like Thornfield village. It was rumored that if the current patriarch of the Ross family died, they would be stripped of their position as noble families—if a family couldn't create a magus, it was useless to the empire.

 As soon as Silas was discovered, the sergeant must have sent word to Baron Ross beforehand.

The small group of twenty stopped at the gates, and Barron Ross stepped towards it with a friendly smile. While other soldiers got off their horses, Silas remained seated and watched the Baron ignore everyone and approach like a long-lost friend.

This was someone he had never met before 

The old man was Adin Ross, the last surviving magus of the Ross family. Before the man could reach him, Kar grunted disdainfully and blocked the old man's path with his hulking body.

"Imprudent!" The sergeant growled furiously.

How could this peasant pulled out of the gutter threaten their Lord this way? 

However, Adin Ross wasn't infuriated, or at least he didn't show it. He signaled the sergeant to be silent with a flick of his finger before returning his attention to Silas.

"Welcome to my humble home, young lad. I am Baron Adin Ross, Lord of Thornfield. Your Lord." Adin added the last part while observing Silas' reaction to see if there was some sort of hostility, but there was none.

Silas glared at him with a blank expression and simply responded with an 'Okay'. The entire place fell into an awkward silence, and Adin coughed awkwardly, unsure of what to make of Silas' lack of reaction.

His gaze shifted to Kar, and based on the stitches on its body, it looked like the orc was killed by a magic beast—-but there were no magic beasts in Thornfield.

There was nothing in Thornfield that could defeat an orc grunt in a one-on-one fight except the aged Adin Ross, and even he could put this monster in this sorry state. 

There was a lot Adin wanted to ask this boy, but all that had to wait until they were on speaking terms.

"Haha! Good lad, good lad!" Adin let out a forced laugh before turning to the Sergeant.

"Take him in, have the maids show him his room. He needs a warm bath and a good meal after last night's horrors!" He ordered, and the sergeant saluted.

Adin could only stand by the side and watch the group enter the gates of the castle. While they walked through, his eyes were on Silas, the emptiness in his eyes hard to ignore. 

— Ross Family Residence —

The Ross family residence was a sizable piece of land, probably half the size of Thornfield—even a declining noble's life was better than that of ten thousand peasants combined.

The Ross family Castle was located at the center, flanked by an infirmary in case of health emergencies. Not too far away were the barracks and the army living quarters. While the maids' living quarters were built far away from the castle, next to its southern walls.

Everything eaten by the noble family and those under their service was homegrown, yet they still took a massive percentage of the farm produce of peasants in the village.

"They are bad people," Ruth said with a hint of annoyance in her tone as they passed through vast fields of land cultivated by servants.

How can they have so much and peasants outside were made to live in suffering?

How can the village stay safe when the soldiers meant to protect them live within the castle and not amongst villagers?

This would have infuriated Silas, but he knew the truth—the villagers aren't good people either. Tragedies made people selfish and cruel—everyone wanted to save themselves first and would easily abandon the other for a better life.

Are those the kind of people he was meant to fight for?

"There are no good people," Silas responded with a shrug.

Even he and Ruth were not an exception. They found a good hiding spot and kept it to themselves. 

On multiple occasions, they abandoned people they could have helped while fleeing the village because it might endanger them.

Silas was not self-righteous—he knew they were no better than the people they condemned. The world follows the rule of the jungle—survival of the fittest. There was no good or bad, just perspectives.

Everyone does what is in their best interest.