Necromancer: Kingdom Building with My Legion of Undead Knights

And Darion was ready to speak.

It wasn’t like he had anything to lose by being honest here.

Percvale was not some wealthy, powerful territory whose weaknesses needed to be hidden carefully behind smiles and political wording. Everyone already knew what Percvale was. Or at least what they believed it was.

They knew it as a dying Barony and a ruined territory rotting slowly at the edge of relevance.

So telling King Michul the truth about its condition changed very little.

If anything, hiding it would probably sound more suspicious.

Darion understood enough already about how nobles and rulers thought. Pride was dangerous when it disconnected from reality. A ruler pretending his starving territory was flourishing only made him look foolish.

And besides...

If Percvale had actually been rich and powerful like Thandor, then yes, openly discussing internal weakness might have been dangerous.

Especially if the person listening wasn’t trustworthy.

Darion could easily imagine a different kind of king sitting across from him right now. A colder one. A more ambitious one.

A king hearing: Their roads are failing. Their towers are abandoned. Their defenses are weak. Their people are starving.

And instead of sympathy? He or she sees it as an opportunity. Maybe even invasion. Weak territories attracted predators. That was simply how this world worked.

That was what led to Percvale’s fall in the past. They had been attacked by stronger territories when those rulers saw an opportunity, and the invasions had left the barony in its current state, barely holding together.

Back then, Percvale had still possessed things worth taking. Farmland that produced. Livestock that multiplied. A population large enough to work the land and pay taxes. The invaders had stripped all of it, taken what they could carry, burned what they couldn’t, and moved on to whatever caught their attention next.

But there was a limit to invasions. No one attacked Percvale anymore. Not because they had grown kind or merciful, but because there was nothing left to take. Invading Percvale now would be like invading a desert, a waste of time, supplies, and soldiers.

What was the prize? Old rotting buildings? Fields that hadn’t grown crops in years? A population so thin and scattered that rounding them up would cost more than they were worth? There was no glory in conquering a corpse. So the predators had moved elsewhere, leaving Percvale to rot in peace. That was the only peace the barony had known for decades, the peace of being too worthless to bother with.

Percvale’s weakness was old news already. There was nothing shocking left to reveal.

If anything, Darion wanted Michul to understand something important:

Percvale was weak. But it was no longer collapsing. That difference mattered.

There was something strangely comfortable about speaking with King Michul too.

Darion noticed it more the longer the conversation continued.

Even when the discussion drifted away from the original purpose of the meeting, the king never looked irritated or impatient. He didn’t behave like Darion was wasting his time.

That alone relaxed him gradually.

Though not completely, obviously. Darion still remained careful with every word he chose.

But the tension from earlier had faded enough that the conversation no longer felt like trying to cross a battlefield blindfolded while expecting arrows at any moment.

”You’re honest about it at least,” Michul said after a while.

Darion gave a small shrug.

”There isn’t much point pretending Percvale is thriving.”

That earned another short laugh from the king.

It wasn’t mocking, just amused.

The servant from earlier returned briefly then, moving around the table quietly as he gathered the remaining papers resting near the king. He stacked them carefully beneath one arm before bowing respectfully and leaving the hall again.

Silence settled afterward.

A calm one. Behind King Michul, the two guards remained perfectly motionless like statues placed there for decoration. Darion wondered briefly how long men trained to stand like that without shifting.

Behind himself, the three Percvale knights stood quietly as well while Garren remained seated beside him with his usual unreadable expression.

Darion glanced at him briefly.

Garren was probably analyzing every single sentence being spoken in this room.

The man looked like he analyzed breathing patterns sometimes.

Darion wondered if Garren was slightly surprised by how relaxed this conversation had become.

Because somehow, despite this being a meeting between a struggling Baron and a king of a functioning territory, it no longer felt stiff or hostile.

It almost felt like two rulers discussing problems over a table after already knowing each other for years. Almost.

Michul folded his hands together lightly afterward.

Then his expression became slightly more serious.

”So,” he said. ”Tell me honestly. How bad is Percvale currently?”

Darion paused, not because he didn’t know the answer.

But because he wanted to answer properly and carefully.

After a moment, he spoke.

”Still poor,” he admitted calmly. ”Still rebuilding. Still weak compared to most territories around us.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

”But not dying anymore.”

For the first time since the conversation began, King Michul’s expression shifted noticeably.

Interest. Real interest.

He had this interest before, but it was just rekindled. When he first heard that people from Percvale wanted to see him, not to beg, not to ask for more time, but to pay their loan,. he had been surprised.

Really... really surprised. Genuinely surprised. The kind of surprise that made him set down whatever he had been doing and actually pay attention to the messenger’s words.

Percvale paying a debt was like a ghost showing up to settle its accounts. It wasn’t supposed to happen. He had probably would have written off that loan years ago, mentally categorized it as money that was never coming back. So hearing that someone from that dead barony was at his gate with coins? That had gotten his attention. Now, hearing that the same barony was no longer dying? That rekindled the interest into something sharper. Not just curiosity anymore. Real attention.

Darion noticed it instantly.

”Not dying anymore?” Michul repeated.

Darion nodded once.

This was part of the plan. The king needed to understand this before the real reason for the visit fully revealed itself.