In the morning exchange office, the scent of pine wood and parchment was overwhelmed by a certain rotting sweetness.
Rex arranged seven glass bottles in a row on the oak counter, each containing floating purplish-blue poison gland tissue—spoils from his sweep of the dungeon's first floor last night.
Of course, the boss was once Grom's projection, so even when defeated, there was no corpse, only an extremely small chance of dropping items from the past.
"As agreed, seven portions of premium-quality ghoul poison glands."
The elder observed through his monocle, clicking his tongue in amazement: "Where did you get these? There aren't that many ghouls in the Forbidden Forest."
The Forbidden Forest was the training ground Saint Lor Academy provided for students, located behind the southern courtyard. Outside was a massive magical barrier, like a giant bowl overturned on the ground, reinforced by each successive headmaster, containing magical creatures they'd collected from various places.
"With examinations approaching, prices for materials outside the academy have skyrocketed." Rex's expression remained unchanged. "Some teams are willing to trade their spoils for my undead identification skills."
"According to our agreement, two gold and five silver each, ten percent above market price."
The elder didn't probe further, smiling as he pushed over a velvet pouch filled with gold coins.
Rex weighed the money pouch, the crisp sound of metal clinking pleasantly, and said: "I also need to purchase 15 iron spears and 5 pieces of iron-reinforced leather armor."
The elder said nothing, making notes in his ledger.
Rex paid with five gold coins, then added: "Do you have any more, hmm, heavier-grade equipment?"
The elder nodded: "We do."
Minutes later, two burly men staggered in carrying something wrapped in oilcloth. When the cloth was pulled away, the counter's wood grain groaned under the unbearable weight.
"Fine steel executioner's blade, non-enchanted." The elder tapped the blade's back with his cane—it was as wide as a grown man's forearm. "Made from leftover crucible steel, net weight forty-eight kilograms."
Rex looked at this massive weapon, imagining Skeleton Grom wielding it, and calmly withdrew his hand: "Name your price."
"Given our long-term cooperation..." the elder narrowed his eyes, "10 Kingdom gold coins, with complimentary maintenance oil and home delivery service."
"Deal."
Money flowed in like water, and flowed out just as fast.
Rex's wallet immediately deflated, leaving only some scattered silver and copper coins.
The delivery was handled by a sturdy young man with great strength who managed to carry all the items—over two hundred pounds combined—in one trip without showing any fatigue.
Undoubtedly someone from the Sword Academy who'd signed an agreement with the exchange office to sell manual labor for extra income.
The sturdy youth placed everything at the dormitory door.
"Junior, call me again next time you have work!" The youth flashed his front teeth and gave a thumbs up.
"Absolutely, absolutely."
Professionals also did physical work—not everyone was willing to risk venturing into the Forbidden Forest to challenge magical creatures.
Rex took out his key to open the door, taking advantage of the empty surroundings to have his skeletons come out and move everything inside.
This scene was unfortunately witnessed by a neighboring student who had just returned.
The blonde, blue-eyed sword apprentice's face instantly turned deathly pale: "Undead creatures?! Rex, you actually—"
His exclamation was loud, attracting more onlookers to the dormitory corridor. Rex wanted to command the skeletons to quickly move the equipment inside, but it was too late.
The sword apprentice had already drawn his sword, shouting: "Everyone be careful! This guy is an inherently evil necromancer, keeping undead creatures privately in the dormitory!"
"Wow, it's really skeletons. I've only heard teachers talk about them in class."
"What are you standing around for? Go get the student council!" someone shouted.
"Everyone calm down, I have a permit!"
Rex quickly stepped forward, trying to prevent the situation from escalating.
"Calm down?" The sword apprentice's voice cracked. "We're only separated by one wall! Who knows what you're doing at night!"
What could I be doing? Playing games!
Rex wanted to slap this guy. He was just a gamer—if he wasn't playing games, would he be studying corpses instead?
The crowd let out fearful whispers at that moment.
Rex noticed several girls in robes had already retreated to the end of the corridor—they were genuinely afraid.
Within ten minutes, three fully armed members of the student council enforcement team arrived.
The red-haired woman leading them had a sword at her waist: "According to Academy Safety Regulation 37, privately harboring undead creatures without permission will result in expulsion. Please—"
Halfway through her sentence, the woman paused, looking at the young man before her: "Rex? How is it you?"
"Senior Monica," Rex helplessly raised both hands, "we meet again."
"What's going on here?" Monica frowned. Although she had a decent impression of Rex and didn't harbor the usual prejudices against the necromancy school, if rules were truly violated, she would show no mercy.
"I have a permit. This is a misunderstanding."
Rex pulled out a parchment signed with his name from his inner pocket.
As the enforcement team member checked the documents, the sword apprentice pressed forward: "This is impossible! How could the academy allow..."
"It's indeed valid." Monica looked it over and personally addressed the crowd.
The corridor erupted in commotion.
The student council essentially replaced the academy's higher-ups in managing students, so it carried considerable authority.
Rex retrieved his documents and calmly said: "I'm just an ordinary first-year undead department apprentice. All my actions are legal and compliant. I don't have necrophiliac tendencies, nor will I spy on everyone's corpses—I can guarantee this with my character."
"Who would trust a necromancer's guarantee? You've been desecrating souls from the moment you started playing with corpses!" The sword apprentice excitedly pointed at Rex's door. "Who knows if those bone frames will at midnight—"
"Enough, please stop being unreasonable." Monica frowned. "The documents are authentic and valid; we have no authority to interfere. However..." she turned to Rex, "I suggest you inform your neighbors of the relevant situation in advance to avoid unnecessary panic."
Rex nodded: "I'll be mindful."
After handling the official business, Monica finally stepped out of work mode, looking at him: "It seems your rejection of me earlier was also because you already had a way to pass the examination, right?"
"More or less, though I'm still very grateful for your kind intentions at the time. After all, others immediately chase me away the moment they hear my profession."
"My team doesn't accept just anyone. Necromancers have their uses, especially now that you've summoned skeleton minions." Monica tucked her hair behind her ear. "How about it? Now you can join my team without any reservations, right? No one will gossip anymore."
"I'll pass. I'm used to being alone."
Rex declined. From the moment he possessed this secret, he decided he couldn't share it with more people. Going solo was the best choice.
"What a pity... If you ever change your mind, you can find me at the Lionheart Guild."
Monica left.
Rex could still clearly hear the sword apprentice saying to the enforcement team member: "Can I apply for a room change? I really can't sleep next to a necromancer..."
Closing the door, Rex let out a long breath, more determined than ever to move out of here as soon as possible. Just as he was about to continue organizing his equipment, he suddenly heard the "clack clack" sound of bones rubbing together behind him.
He turned around to see Skeleton Grom had somehow already standing in the center of the room, its six glowing green undead eyes particularly striking in the dim dormitory.
Worse yet, this big guy seemed curious about the new environment and was reaching for the door handle.
"Stop!" Rex rushed to intervene, but it was too late.