This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 123

When Catherine arrived at Ambrose's castle, she expected to see hordes of skeletons and zombies, and cabinets filled with human organs.

He was a lich, after all; it would be strange if he didn't do that.

But to Catherine's surprise, although the castle was somewhat simple, it was unexpectedly clean.

Not only did she not see many ugly undead, but a rather cute little human girl was responsible for the reception. Not an undead illusion, but a real, living human.

Although the human girl fell into a daze for a long time after seeing her, Catherine still felt that Ambrose had put thought into the arrangements for the elves.

At the very least, this lich gave the elves enough respect.

Isabel snapped out of it with Catherine's reminder and, following Ambrose's instructions, arranged for the elves to rest in the castle's rooms. As she closed the door, she muttered, "Are there really such beautiful elves in this world?"

Isabel only had eyes for Catherine, so much so that she had no impression of what the other elves looked like.

The injured elves were being treated. Without the interruption of demons, the elves faced no pressure regarding healing. Healing potions were consumed, a few healing spells were cast, and severe injuries became minor ones, while minor ones were mostly recovered.

However, Catherine noticed that the consumption of healing potions was a bit too high.

The wounded had clearly recovered, yet they couldn't help but want another bottle, as if it would make them feel better.

Catherine knew in her heart: these were the early symptoms of Magic Addiction.

The craving for mana would grow stronger and stronger, until eventually, they would dare to put even toxic magical ingredients into their mouths.

The elves had strictly restricted the export of materials previously to save these stocks to support them for a few more years when the Magic Addiction outbreak hit.

But now, it seemed the onset was faster than Catherine had predicted. The Magic Addiction would likely start breaking out on a large scale among the elves before the war even ended.

Thinking of this, Catherine became even more worried.

To prevent the other elves from noticing her abnormality, Catherine made an excuse and left the room.

Isabel was a diligent servant. Seeing Catherine walk out alone, she hurriedly stepped forward to greet her.

Isabel said somewhat nervously, "Your Majesty, do you need something? Please, give your orders."

The little girl lowered her head, not daring to look up at the Elf Queen, afraid she would get lost in her beauty again.

Catherine chuckled lightly and said to Isabel, "I just wanted to walk around. It's perfect timing; show me around this castle. It's my first time seeing a lich's home."

Isabel wanted to say there was nothing worth visiting in the castle. More than half the rooms were laboratories and libraries, and the rest were empty, without even bugs or rats.

But Catherine had already started walking, so Isabel had to hurry to keep up.

"This is the Master's laboratory, mainly used for preparing magic potions that require distillation. The room next to it is specifically for centrifugal extraction... Oh, this is the library. This bookshelf is for necromancy, and shelves for other magic are in another library. There is also a place specifically for storing thesis materials..."

Passing each place, Isabel tried her best to introduce them enthusiastically to Catherine.

Catherine hadn't originally focused on the tour—she just needed to walk around to distract herself—but as she listened, she felt something was strange.

Catherine asked Isabel, "This Master Ultraman doesn't seem much like a lich. As far as I know, a lich's phylactery requires a large number of souls to maintain. This castle doesn't keep a large number of human slaves; where does he get his experimental materials?"

Liches, as monsters of the evil faction, were not just discriminated against by other races; their lifestyle was a major reason.

Vampires needed to suck the blood of living things—blood from beings with high intelligence was better, and virgin blood from races like elves and humans was a luxury of the highest value to vampires.

But Ambrose's castle was incredibly clean. Although skeletal materials could occasionally be seen in the lab, a closer look revealed they were mostly from various animals; humanoid skeletons were actually the minority.

Was it a deliberate fake?

But that made no sense. If the elves hadn't been suddenly attacked, they wouldn't have brought their wounded to this castle to rest. What reason did this lich have to go to such lengths to put on a show?

Catherine began to get curious about this lich. From his illusory appearance to his terrifying spellcasting ability, and this unusual castle... was this lich different from other undead, or did she simply know too little about the undead?

Hearing Catherine's query, Isabel explained, "The Master can create a substance similar to a soul, which can replace the function of a soul in many cases."

There was no need to keep this secret, as anyone who had dealt with him knew he had this ability. Ambrose had thought about advertising the [Simulated Soul] back in the City of Alchemy, but ultimately gave up because human slaves were too cheap, making his product uncompetitive.

"The power of a Legendary Boon?" Catherine asked in surprise.

Isabel nodded. "Yes, the Master can synthesize simulated souls using some simple magical materials. He mostly uses blank souls like this for experiments. He has even tried creating new life with this ability."

It was the first time Catherine had heard of such a niche ability. Creating new life—was he still a lich?

Catherine initially didn't believe it, but just after turning a corner, she saw several cute little things bouncing around in the great hall.

The largest two were silvery-white, looking like rounded quicksilver. Gold threads outlined shapes resembling eyes and mouths on the mercury surface, looking very cute.

Next to one mercury blob were several small sparkling dumplings, looking like bodies made of crystal shards. The mercury blob on the other side led small dumplings made of sand. They looked a bit rougher, but their movements were even livelier.

The two mercury blobs seemed to be commanders, ordering the crystal dumplings and sand dumplings to form formations and fight each other.

It looked like simple collisions, but a closer look revealed the dumplings' movements were quite methodical, containing special combat techniques.

The little dumplings fought in a heap, mixing together.

It didn't look intense at all; instead, it was rather cute.

The competing dumplings seemed to notice Catherine and Isabel. The moment they saw Catherine, their movements paused, and then they bounced happily toward her, hopping joyfully around her.

Isabel was quite envious. She usually interacted with these little guys, but the lives created by the Lich Master usually ignored her. She didn't expect them to rush over to act cute just upon seeing Catherine.

Even these little fellows couldn't resist the Elf Queen's charm.

Catherine observed them carefully and said in surprise, "Are these... elemental lifeforms? No, they feel like undead... but that's not right either."

As the Elf Queen, Catherine was well-traveled and knowledgeable. She had seen celestial beings, visitors from other planes, and all sorts of strange things, but she really couldn't identify what was in front of her.

High Elves had very high sensitivity to mana. Catherine could clearly distinguish the dark mana within the crystal and sand dumplings—a typical undead characteristic—but their bodies were elemental and had nothing to do with corpses.

Did this lich master the technology to turn the corpses of elemental lifeforms into undead?

Catherine felt she understood less and less. This lich gave her a different feeling at every turn.

"Truly a special lich. I have never seen such interesting things. He must be a very learned scholar."

Isabel agreed wholeheartedly. "Although the Master is undead, he is the smartest and most learned person I have ever met. And he is very kind to the living. He took in many refugees and allowed them to live on this territory; their lives are much better than serfs in other places."

Isabel spoke these words with sincerity. Ambrose was much better than her previous lord.

The more Catherine listened, the more she felt something was amiss. Could there be such a lich in this world?

Although she was skeptical about the credibility of Isabel's words, Catherine still formed a decent impression of Ambrose.

After walking a few more rounds in the castle with Isabel, Catherine suddenly asked, "By the way, do you know where... the place for keeping prisoners is in this castle?"

Isabel said, "Prisoners? Oh, I know. Your Majesty wants to visit your kin, correct?"

Catherine hadn't expected Isabel to be so direct. She indeed wanted to see Cicero and the other Twilight Guards. Not necessarily to sneak them out while Ambrose was away, but at least to confirm their safety. Of course, if there was a chance, breaking them out first wouldn't be out of the question.

After all, the elves were still hostile to this lich. Since the lich had brought her to his home, he couldn't blame the Elf Queen for a jailbreak.

Surprisingly, Isabel said to her, "Alright, please follow me."

Catherine was half-doubtful. Was this little girl really not afraid of her breaking them out?

She was just a weak human. Catherine wouldn't even need to expend much effort; a flick of a finger could knock her out.

Although confused, Isabel was already leading the way, so Catherine had to follow.

Catherine didn't know Isabel's thoughts. Isabel naturally wasn't taking Catherine to see the elves on her own initiative; it was all Ambrose's order. The Lich Master had suddenly returned in the evening. Besides telling her to receive the elven envoys, he had also told her, "If the Elf Queen wants to see those prisoners, just take her to see them."

Therefore, Isabel didn't take any detours and led Catherine to the castle's dungeon, where she met the long-imprisoned Cicero and the other Twilight Guards.

Cicero saw Catherine first and said in shock, "Your Majesty?! Why are you here?!"

"To save you, of course. Cicero, you..." Catherine was about to ask if they had been mistreated when she saw strange energy patterns on the elves' chests.

Cicero noticed Catherine's gaze and hurriedly explained, "This is the seal placed by that lich. It completely seals the mana within our bodies, making it impossible for us to escape."

Catherine observed it carefully for a moment and said in surprise, "No, this isn't just a seal. This magical structure also completely cuts off..."

Catherine didn't finish the sentence.

The elves before her, except for Cicero, had this magical structure acting like a special anti-magic space, completely cutting off the legendary power Catherine shared with them.

Even an [Antimagic Field] couldn't cut off Catherine's [Selfless Sharing], yet this small magical seal achieved it. Catherine couldn't even understand the magical structure.

"If this seal can be applied to all elves suffering from Magic Addiction, wouldn't they be saved?"

Catherine felt her heartbeat accelerate to an incredible speed, as if it were about to jump out of her chest.

Saving people wasn't the main point anymore; this magical seal was the key.

The Elven race... was saved!