This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 36

Ambrose had always been a very pure undead.

Whether it was taking in refugees, rescuing druids, making an enemy of a paladin, or going to war with the neighboring lords.

His ultimate goal was always, simply, to make money.

It was the same now. As a legendary lich with Fabricated Soul technology, his need for human souls was extremely low. This war was almost a pure loss for him; after all, every second the castle's magical defense system was active, it was burning through gold coins.

There was no cost-effectiveness in killing just a few people.

So Ambrose had to collect some interest.

The three people before him were perfect, free test subjects to assess the combat capabilities of his newborn Effigy.

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Harvey felt it was time to give up on being a mage. The School of Divination? What a fucking scam. He had a feeling that charging forward was the right move, but it had led him straight into a trap.

He’d seen pit traps before, but who digs a pit dozens of meters deep right at their own doorstep? The amount of work involved must have been immense. And what was the point of a pit that deep? Just add some spikes at the bottom, and a few meters would be enough to kill an enemy. What was the use of all that height?

This question was soon answered. As they fell, the deep pit narrowed like a funnel, eventually becoming a slide.

The three of them slid down one after another, feeling like some kind of flushed excrement. Just as Harvey thought he was about to land in some unspeakable place, he felt something hook his back, and he was pulled into another channel.

By the time his backside was thoroughly scraped raw, Harvey found himself landing in a metal cage. With a clang, the cage locked automatically.

Harvey didn't even have time to wail about his sore ass, because standing outside the cage was that terrifying lich—Tiga Ultraman.

Looking into those eyes burning with soulfire, Harvey could only manage a sycophantic smile. "Master Ultraman… I'd say I was forced into this. Would you believe me?"

Ambrose let out a chuckle. "Does it matter to me whether you were forced or not?"

Harvey fell silent. This lich was way too blunt, leaving no room for negotiation at all.

But Harvey was a mage who had put all his points into intelligence. He quickly pieced things together. "Since I didn't fall directly into a blade trap and get skewered, that must mean I have some value alive. Master Ultraman, why don't you tell me why you want me alive? Perhaps I can help you achieve your goal."

Ambrose didn't hide anything, stating frankly, "It's simple. I'm keeping you alive for ransom."

Harvey's mouth fell open in surprise. He had never expected such a reason. Recalling how the lich had used human refugees as bargaining chips to demand money from lords like the Porcupine Knight, Harvey had the strange feeling that this lich seemed desperately short on cash.

"Then… how much are you planning to ask for, Master Ultraman?"

"At least ten thousand gold coins, I suppose. You are a mage, after all," Ambrose said.

Harvey gave a bitter smile. "Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. My employer can't afford that much."

"Surely not. An army of over a thousand men, and they can't cough up ten thousand gold?"

Ambrose was skeptical. They might not have the cash on hand, but they certainly had assets worth ten thousand gold. He was a lord, after all.

Harvey explained with a hint of helplessness, "Master Ultraman, do you not know the current situation in the City of Alchemy? If they weren't at their wits' end, they wouldn't have joined forces to attack your castle."

"Is it that serious?"

Ambrose was about to ask more, but another clang echoed as the Cleric of Light landed in another cage. Ambrose immediately cast Hold Person, and a swarm of skeletons rushed forward, stripping the cleric bare.

By the time the spell wore off, the cleric had been forced to drink several Sleeping Potions and had lost consciousness.

"Alright, we'll talk about your business later."

Ambrose left Harvey with those words and floated away from the cell.

Watching the alien-like skeletons pacing outside his cage, Harvey tucked the small metal wire hidden in his sleeve back away. Even if he could pick the lock, a mere apprentice mage like him couldn't fight so many skeletons. Escaping now would be suicide.

"Sigh."

Harvey let out a heavy sigh. The people of the Ryan Empire were all talk. Paladins counter undead? This lich was playing them like a fiddle.

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Ambrose arrived at another sealed cell. The paladin had landed here as intended and was now banging on every wall, trying to find a way out.

But it was futile. The chamber was enclosed by thick rock and earth on all sides, with only the slide entrance above and a heavy iron door.

Perhaps traumatized by the trap at the castle gate, the paladin didn't even dare use Divine Smite on the iron door.

Ambrose brought the Living Quicksilver to the front of the cell. Without even opening the door, he gave his order, "There's a paladin inside. Teach him a lesson he won't forget."

With that, Ambrose placed the Living Quicksilver in front of the iron door.

The newborn little creature understood Ambrose's command. Its body squirmed, and it quickly seeped through the cracks of the iron door.

The paladin in the cell had sharp senses. He noticed the Living Quicksilver the moment it began to seep in.

But he had never seen such a thing before and assumed Ambrose was using some other vicious method against him.

He gripped his longsword tightly, his eyes fixed warily on the door.

But what happened next was far beyond the paladin's expectations.

The blob of quicksilver moved as if it were alive, slithering towards him.

"A slime? No, what is this thing?!"

The paladin was a well-traveled adventurer, but he had never encountered a creature as bizarre as Living Quicksilver.

Could it be another special undead creation of that strange lich?

No matter. Whatever undead it was, one Divine Smite would solve the problem. If one wasn't enough, he'd just use another.

Holy light gathered on the paladin's longsword. The blade, infused with radiant energy, swung down toward the slithering quicksilver.

Where the sword passed, even the air seemed to ripple.

Ambrose watched this through a scrying crystal, feeling his own bones tremble. If that sword had struck him, most of his bones would have been shattered.

A paladin's Divine Smite was just that devastating. And the Ryan Empire had several legions of paladins just like this one.

The Divine Smite was about to land on the Living Quicksilver. But at that very moment, the creature, which had been moving with a dopey slowness, swelled up as if it were boiling.

Clang! The sound of metal on metal rang out.

The paladin's Divine Smite hadn't struck the Living Quicksilver's body. Instead, it had struck another longsword.

Perhaps that wasn't the most accurate description. It was just a section of a silvery-white blade that had grown out of the Living Quicksilver's body, steadily parrying the paladin's terrifying blow.

Although the silver sword formed by the Living Quicksilver was left with a deep gash, the holy power of the Divine Smite dissipated with it, causing little damage.

"How is that possible? Not only is this monster not undead, but it also has magic resistance?!"

The paladin knew his stuff. It took only one strike for him to understand the Living Quicksilver's power.

Before he could collect himself, the silver longsword continued to extend. From the blade to the hilt, then to the arm that held it… a fully armored warrior forged entirely from quicksilver appeared before him. Upon closer inspection, the two even bore a slight resemblance.

The Living Quicksilver had used its shapeshifting ability to mimic the paladin's appearance. Copying the man's earlier posture, it swung a sword at the paladin. Silver light cascaded down, even more ferocious than the Divine Smite just moments ago.