"You can understand us?" The Lich Lord was in disbelief that Leo could understand their conversation. Even more surprising was that he was still alive after comprehending their true language.
"Wait, is that the weird part? Not the fact that you guys kidnapped a human instead of a giant skeleton?" Leo asked, assuming that the son they were supposed to bring was going to be as huge as the other skeletons here.
How could someone mistake him for a skeleton? Even if the species could be confused, how could they confuse the size?
The Lich ignored the question, leaning forward on his throne. The movement caused a gust of wind that nearly blew Leo over.
The massive skeletal face looked straight at Leo with empty sockets burning with blue soul fire.
"He can understand the High Tongue of Necropolis as a mere human," the Lich said. "How fascinating..."
"My Lord," the Undead Mage interjected, adjusting his spectacles that looked like they were there just for show since he didn’t have eyes. The spectacles were comically large even by the standards of his large skull.
"While that human’s language skills are intriguing, we have a more pressing issue. These idiots failed to bring the prince back."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The cool vibe of the Lich Lord vanished. It was replaced by an oppressive, suffocating killing intent.
The Lich slowly raised his gaze to the group of aliens who were currently trembling behind Leo, shivering so hard their tentacles were rattling.
"You," the Lich Lord said. "I paid you with a Star Core. I gave you the coordinates. I specifically said, ’Look for the handsome skeleton with the high cheekbones and the aura of royalty’. And you brought me... a human?"
The alien creatures made a shrill noise, trying to answer. Unlike the Necropolis Language, Leo couldn’t understand a single thing that was spoken by these aliens.
’Wait, if I’m outside their ship, I should be getting a connection, right?’ Leo brought out his phone while everyone else was distracted.
He tried connecting to the galactic net.
’It works!’ he exclaimed in his mind.
The first thing he did was to send a message to Glitzy’s owner, telling him about his kidnapping. He also asked that man to contact the authorities and have them ask for his freedom.
He didn’t just stop there. He considered the possibility of the authorities failing and made a few contingency plans that he also sent to Marque, only to be enacted when things grew from bad to worse.
Leo also did the one thing that was more important than anything else. He sent more than half of his remaining credits to the research funds, for the researchers to continue wasting them.
As for the remaining funds, he transferred them to Glitzy’s Delivery Service, even though the contract hadn’t been formally signed yet.
With that, he had finally managed to bring his available credits down to merely five thousand credits.
Initially, he had planned to use his nine million or so credits to bribe the kidnapper. But after looking at the kidnapper’s face, he became certain that it was impossible to bribe an entity like this.
Moreover, it was an accidental kidnapping, so things weren’t as bad as he had thought.
With his mind at ease, he could focus on more important tasks and use his wealth wisely.
Lastly, Leo did the thing that had troubled him the most during this kidnapping. He downloaded an intergalactic language translator and activated it.
With the translator working, he was finally able to understand the alien language. Although the translator was also unable to translate the Ancient Necropolis Language of the Skeletons, it worked adequately on the alien creatures.
"P-p-please, Your Majesty!" the leader of the aliens cried, waving his plasma gun frantically, though not daring to aim it. "We followed the instructions and kidnapped these people from the coordinates assigned to us!"
"You fools, don’t you have a brain?" The Skeleton Swordsman roared, his hand itching to just cut these failures in half. "Can’t you tell the difference between a human and our noble lineage?"
"W-we thought the prince was wearing a human disguise to avoid detection."
"You thought? You thought my son would fall so low that he would wear a disguise of a mere human at that?" The Lich Lord asked, growing more furious. "Not only did you fail, but you also had such demeaning thoughts about my son?"
He stopped speaking. A strange sound came from him. It took Leo a moment to realize the monster was... chuckling in anger.
He slumped back into his throne, looking genuinely dejected.
"I had a whole speech prepared." He glanced at Leo. "I practiced the gesture to welcome my son in the mirror for three days. Do you know how hard it is to look welcoming but intimidating without eyes?"
"A lot...?" Leo answered with a little hesitation.
"Correct!" The Lich sighed, sounding like a collapsing cave. "And now the entire thing is ruined."
"Permission to squash the bugs, Your Majesty?" the Swordsman asked, raising his sword that looked like a mountain.
"Granted," the Lich waved a hand dismissively. "But keep the humans alive for now."
And just let that, the Skeleton Swordsman’s blade descended, accompanied by a heavy gust of wind that sent Leo flying back.
Fortunately, the Undead Magician waved his hand, casting a spherical barrier around Leo and Timmy, protecting them from the attack.
Leo saw the attack that was strong enough to slice the earth in two. As the attack reached him, it felt like the sky was falling on them.
He instinctively closed his eyes as his surroundings turned white. The entire palace trembled, accompanied by the painful cries of the aliens.
There was a loud rumbling like the world was falling apart. Leo was forced to cover his ears, feeling his eardrums about to burst.
Timmy had just started coming to his senses after having been unconscious for a few hours. But the moment he opened his eyes, he saw the attack, which again made him pass out in horror.