In the residential area for the slaves inside the walls of the slave-run mine... in the village of slaves, the most important, decision-making figures among the Titan slaves had gathered together.

Normally, there would be eyes observing the residential area and the Titans would never be allowed to gather together unless instructed, so that they couldn't plot rebellions. But all of the soldiers that were posted as guards right now were behaving like dolls.

"Levia-sama... isn't that Levia-sama?"

"Yes, she looks a little different from how I remember, but there is no mistake. How could I mistake Levia-sama for anyone else?"

"So, it was true that you would bring Levia-sama here..."

Seeing the Titans' eyes open wide in blank amazement with tears streaming from them, Levia's flames flickered in her happiness, but at the same time, her hand was placed over her chest in sadness.

"Everyone... Thank you for staying alive until this day. I failed to protect you and made you suffer," she said.

For Titans, who had lifespans of three hundred years, two hundred years was a long time. Those who had been elderly individuals during that time had perished long ago, and most of the adults of the time were also gone. Those who had been children back then were now adults.

Until the age of fifteen, Titans age at about the same rate as humans, and after that, they age slowly, their bodies reaching their peaks at around the age of two hundred. From the age of two hundred and fifty onwards, they start growing physically old. For this reason, few Titans actually have an aged appearance.

"It's fine; everything is Duke Hartner's fault, the one who betrayed us. Levia-sama, you kept us in your thoughts even after you died, didn't you? That is more than enough for us."

"And you're helping us like this now. That's more than enough. Nobody, not my mother, not my grandfather, not my younger brother, would blame you, Levia-sama."

The Titans were all extremely thin and had bad complexions. Many of them still had whip-marks and burns remaining on their arms, legs and faces.

Their treatment at the mine had been somewhat mild compared to how other criminal slaves were treated, but they were still treated cruelly; the soldiers had done whatever they wanted, thinking, "It's fine as long as they don't die," and, "It doesn't matter if one or two of them die."

In fact, all of the elderly had died early, and quite a few of the women and children had also died because they were unable to endure this treatment.

Their spirits hadn't been sealed away magically by anything like a champion's barrier; many of them had already vanished from the mine long ago.

"I don't know how you did it, but the soldiers watching over us are like dolls right now, and you've brought Levia-sama to us," said Gopher, Borkus's daughter. "Everything you said was true. I couldn't believe the words of a midget like you at first, but... then, does that mean that it's true that you're going to rescue us from this mine, Van...?"

"It's Vandalieu, Gopher-san," said Vandalieu. "I don't mind if you call me 'kid' like Borkus does, though."

He had blended in among the slaves and used the Mental Encroachment skill to reduce all of the soldiers into vegetative states, one by one.

"But please don't call me 'midget,'" he added. "I'm overly conscious about that."

Races like Titans and Beast-people had a sense of values where they believed that size was equivalent to strength and being small meant being weak. Even if this weren't the case, Vandalieu, who was small even compared to other children of the same age, probably looked unreliable to the Titans whose women could reach heights of 2.5m.

Death-Attribute Charm wasn't working after all; communication with living people was difficult.

I'm really glad I brought Princess Levia here, Vandalieu thought.

Gopher gave him a wry smile. "It's just like that Oyaji to be so energetic even when he's dead," she laughed. "I won't be calling you 'kid.' Levia-sama is calling you 'Your Majesty,' so isn't it strange for me to call you that?"

"You don't have to worry about that," said Vandalieu. "Anyway, at this point, I'm thinking about freeing everyone from this mine."

"But that's not as simple as it sounds, is it?" asked Gopher. "We have slave collars on our necks."

Slave collars, collars of servitude – they have various different names, but they are Magic Items that ensure that slaves do not disobey the wills of their masters.

If slaves try to cause harm to their masters or make an escape, the collars cause them suffering by suffocating them or releasing an electrical shock.

There are numerous ways of removing them, but the masters' approval isn't the only thing that is needed. In addition, normal curse-breaking spells cannot undo them; special spells are required, but they are kept secret.

"You won't be able to remove them even if you defeat the governor of this mine," said Gopher. "Even you couldn't simply –"

"I can remove them," said Vandalieu.

Before he could even hear the Titans surprised cries, he released black death-attribute mana that surrounded Gopher's collar, which unfastened with a click.

"N-no way..."

Gopher and the other Titans were dumbfounded as the heavy collar hit the floor loudly, but Vandalieu had previously used his Mana to brute-force his way through a seal left by a champion. Something like this was simple for him.

"H-how many times can you do that in one day?" Gopher asked. "There are over five hundred of us in total."

"It costs about a thousand Mana for each person, so I can handle three hundred thousand peoples' worth and still have some left over," said Vandalieu.

"You can really do it?!"

"Sorry, but time is also a problem, so it would help if you kept that number below ten thousand."

"Alright, I understand, you can really free all of us within the day, right! With this, we can fight!" shouted another Titan.

"Everyone, His Majesty is a little shy," said Levia. "And the soldiers standing guard are all allies, but if your voices are too loud..."

"I know, Levia-sama! So, what should we do?! When are we going to rise to action?!"

"For weapons, just pick up the pickaxes and shovels we normally use, hell, even grab a rock! I'm sure those tools and rocks will feel lighter than they've ever felt before!"

"Those bastards, I'll teach them a lesson!"

The Titans were excited about being freed from their unjust imprisonment and finally having a chance to retaliate. Although Vandalieu looked expressionless, he was actually flustered, unable to find a good time to chime in.

But he managed to open his mouth now. "Umm... Tonight, in the middle of the night," he said.

"I see, tonight... wait, hang on a second. That's too early."

Although it was too early to be called 'the middle of the night,' the sun had already set completely. There wasn't enough time to free all the slaves and begin an uprising.

If they went on a rampage with no plan, the soldiers would cause severe casualties among the slaves, who were significantly inferior to them when it came to combat. And it wasn't as if all of the slaves would join the uprising immediately.

"There are slaves who have already given up on everything, unlike us," said Gopher. "We need time to convince them. Even if they don't need to join us, we need to ask them to stay hidden... You're not planning to use the same method on them as you did on those soldiers to turn them into dolls, are you?"

The moment Gopher raised this question, suspicion appeared on the faces of the other Titans. It couldn't be helped; it would be stranger if they didn't feel fear for Vandalieu, who had shown himself capable of reducing people into vegetative states in less than an hour.

This was a very healthy reaction, so Vandalieu didn't pay any attention to it.

"No, I won't be doing anything like that," he told them. "But we'll be carrying out this plan in the middle of the night. There won't be any problems."

"Like I said, there's not enough time if we do that," said Gopher.

"Not at all; there's plenty of time," Vandalieu reassured her. "We will have occupied this mine by the early morning tomorrow. It won't matter if some people don't help us; everything will be done by the people I've called here."

"W-what did you say?!"

The Titans were dumbfounded. They did believe that Vandalieu had come to rescue them. But they had been under the assumption that he would require their cooperation as well.

However, Vandalieu didn't need their cooperation at all. He had declared that no matter what the Titans thought of him, he had decided on a time and would occupy the mine with his own strength.

So then, why had the Titans gathered here beforehand?

This was what Gopher and the others were wondering now.

But Levia answered this question. "We want everyone to stay where they are tonight," she said. "And after that, you must decide whether you wish to become citizens of the new Talosheim or not."

_____________________________

The slave-run mine, which had been as sturdy as a fort, quietly surrendered and was occupied by the time the morning sun rose.

The soldiers' dinner had been poisoned. The soldiers had consumed their food without noticing the odorless, tasteless poison and entered comatose states in their beds.

There had been a very small number of soldiers with resistance skills who realized that something was wrong and tried to tell this to their colleagues who were still on their feet, but those colleagues... the ones that Vandalieu had turned into dolls, took them by surprise and restrained them.

Viscount Besser, who had been sleeping, as well as his knights and servants, were all captured alive.

And the soldiers who had been positioned on the outer walls as lookouts couldn't do anything even after realizing that something was strange about the rest of the soldiers.

"Th-there is an armed force approaching!"

"Those are Titans... Hyih! Undead Titans!"

With a terrifying roar, Borkus and the others charged in from the front of the mine at a speed surprising for their size.

The lookouts blew their horns and rang their bells to indicate a state of emergency, but none responded. No, some did respond, but this was not the response that they had desired.

"We're going to slaughter you all anyway, so entertain us as you die! Steel Cutter!"

"ARMOR BREAKEEEER!"

"Iron Pierce!"

Borkus and the other Undead Titans unleashed martial skills, one after another, against the outer wall. The wall and gate were cut, broken and pierced through as if they were made of tofu.

They found amusement in seeing the soldiers being sent flying alongside the pieces of rubble.

____________________________

And so, the next morning, Borkus and the others, who had reduced the outer wall and soldiers who had been watching them into ruins...

"... There's something lacking," Borkus murmured, scratching his exposed cheekbone as he looked down at Viscount Besser's soldiers and a hundred or so civilians, who were bound and unconscious.

"If you enjoyed yourself to your heart's content, this mine would have turned into a wasteland, wouldn't it?" Vandalieu pointed out.

"I wouldn't be that wild," Borkus protested. "I'd at least leave some rubble behind."

"I was planning to kill all of the soldiers right from the beginning, but it would have been problematic if you didn't at least leave the buildings behind," Vandalieu told him.

"Hahaha! You're right about that!"

Vandalieu gave a nod as Borkus laughed. Hearing their conversation, half of the former slaves looked fearful.

"Your face has changed, but you're still acting like a kid as always, Oyaji," said Gopher, showing no signs of fear. She gave a wry smile as she looked at Borkus, who had become half-bone.

Borkus looked at her and stopped laughing. "I'm sorry for lying," he said.

"Are you talking about your promise to repel the Mirg shield-nation and chase them back?" asked Gopher. "Nobody took that seriously."

"But you know, we left you guys for two hundred years even after we died."

"It's fine. I've heard from Levia-sama and His Majesty over here that you protected Zandia-sama and the others, and the goddess's legacy beneath the castle."

"That's what I was trying to do, but..."

The reality was that a wrist was all that remained of Zandia, and it hadn't been Borkus who protected the goddess's legacy, but the cursed ice that had sealed it away.

"It's nothing to beat yourself up over," said Gopher, giving her father a clap on his cold back. "Don't be showing me that disheartened face, it's not like you. I can't introduce you to your grandchildren like this, can I?"

"G-grandchildren?" Borkus repeated. "Did you say grandchildren?! I have grandchildren?!"

"Yeah, three of them," said Gopher. "I can only introduce you to two of them, and I can't tell you who the father is, but..."

The female slaves had been treated as playthings by the soldiers. Contraceptives were expensive in this world; they weren't things that slaves could use.

That was how things were.

"I see..." Borkus looked at Vandalieu. "Kid?"

Vandalieu shook his head. Almost none of the spirits of those who had died in the mine were still around. In the world of Lambda, Undead could appear. In a mine where slaves were worked to death one after another, a priest was present, and not only for treating the soldiers and regular workers. The priest would also purify the spirits of the dead.

There were none among the spirits who called themselves Gopher's child.

"I see... No, it's fine," said Borkus. "I'm sure they went to where the goddess is, rather than to that good-for-nothing* god. I did pray a lot, after all..."

TLN*: "Good for nothing" is ロクデナシ/rokudenashi. Could be intentionally similar to Rodcorte's name.

"You're right..." said Vandalieu.

All around him, he could hear the voices of the Undead Titans and the slaves crying out in joy over their reunion, as well as voices of grief as they mourned over those who were no longer here.

I can't kill Heinz, and I can't revive or make Undead out of those who have already returned to the circle of transmigration. I'm still powerless after all, thought Vandalieu.

Of course, Vandalieu wanted to change the former, but he wanted to do something about the latter as well. As these thoughts ran through his mind, he thought it was about time and gave Levia a signal.

"Everyone," she said, addressing the Titans. "We will return to Talosheim alongside His Majesty. Please decide whether you will come with us or go on a separate path."

Gopher and the other refugees from Talosheim were relatives of Borkus, Zran and everyone else, so of course, the Undead Titans wanted to take them back to Talosheim. However, that would mean coming to a nation where Vandalieu ruled as king. As such, their desires had to be confirmed as well.

"Talosheim is currently a nation of Undead and Ghouls ruled by His Majesty Vandalieu, as well as the monsters that he has tamed," Levia continued. "I believe that many things will be different from how they were in the past. I, too, am considerably different from how I was when I was alive. There are also many enemies. The Hartner Duchy would never let us be if they were to find out about us, and the Amid Empire, including the Mirg shield-nation, still desires our annihilation. There are also Pure-breed Vampires who worship an evil god, targeting His Majesty. And there will only be more enemies in the future."

"Of course, we will fight the enemies," Vandalieu added. "Last year, we repelled the Mirg shield-nation's expedition army of six thousand. If you have any requests, I will listen to them. But that does not mean that I am capable of doing anything. Everything has its limits. If you can accept this, then please come to my nation."

The current Talosheim had many enemies and its laws were borrowed. It was a nation full of problems. It wasn't a place that Vandalieu could proudly declare to be an ideal land or paradise.

Things would probably be fine for a while. But one day, Talosheim could be attacked by those reincarnating in Lambda with full knowledge of Vandalieu's death-attribute magic or Heinz's party who would be far stronger than they were now. One day, gods like Alda, the god of law and fate, or Yupeon, the god of ice, might descend upon this world and lead an army of tens of thousands of mighty, superhuman individuals and march on Talosheim.

That was the kind of nation that they were being told to come to, so asking them first was only natural.

That was what Vandalieu thought.

But Gopher's reply was, "What are you saying? Isn't it obvious that we're going to come with you? I'm grateful to you for saving us, and I was even able to meet Oyaji again. Also, since you had the strength to take over this mine, I'm sure things will be fine."

"It's not like I don't have any misgivings when you say that it's a nation of Undead and monsters, but Oyaji-dono and the others haven't changed at all from when they were alive, other than their outward appearances. I believe in you."

"And even if we went our separate paths, there's nowhere for us to live in this duchy... no, in this kingdom."

It seemed that all of the former refugees would come back to Talosheim.

"Thank you, everyone," said Levia, looking delighted.

Leaving the explanation of future plans to her, Vandalieu headed towards the next group.

Other than the Titans, there were two other kinds of slaves in the mine. There was a group of criminal slaves and a group made up of the slaves who had been brought here after nobody had purchased them elsewhere, as well as those from the First Cultivation Village.

It really was a plan to simply leave these people to fend for themselves... should I have made the castle sink more and tilt at more of an angle? Vandalieu wondered as he headed towards the group of criminal slaves.

Their slave collars hadn't been removed and they had been restrained, just like the soldiers, and Vandalieu had made the doll-like soldiers watch over them. They were formerly fiendish criminals, so Vandalieu couldn't let down his guard.

Some of them were those who had been brought to this mine only a couple of days ago; there were many who still had their willpower and stamina.

"You heard what I said, didn't you?" Vandalieu asked them. "Now then, I'm going to make a selection."

"... Don't we have any right to decide?" asked a bearded slave with scars on his face.

Vandalieu looked at those around him as he answered. "You do have a right to decide," he said. "But I have the right to decide whether or not to accept your decision. Even if your crimes were committed in another nation, I have no intention of welcoming evil criminals."

These criminals had been exploited by the Hartner Duchy that had done horrific things to Talosheim, but that didn't make them good people.

Vandalieu had no intention of bringing them to Talosheim unless they had some extraordinary circumstances.

"I see," said the bearded slave. "Then I'll bid you farewell here. Won't you at least let me take some of the soldiers' equipment and the food in the dining hall as a farewell