Note from the translator:

There are two parts to this translator’s note and I hope you can take the time to read both, even though it’s a wall of text. The first is to do with the changes I made to the translation style last chapter, and the second is regarding sponsored chapters and donations.

Feedback to the changes introduced in the last chapter was mostly positive. I’ve seen some of the concerns that some readers have about the changes so I’ll address them here.

Some seemed concerned that I’m basically adding certain words that are not there in the raw text. Yes, this is true, but I’m doing this all the time anyway. Why? Because it’s necessary in English. In Japanese, subjects are often omitted, but they are crucial in English sentences. Here’s a simple example.

Literal Japanese: Vandalieu stood up. Raised his hand.

Obviously, this makes no sense, so the simple correction is to add the pronoun “he”:

Fixed English version: Vandalieu stood up. He raised his hand.

This is all well and good until you realize that in Japanese, there can be literally a dozen sentences or entire pages where a subject isn’t mentioned. Using “He stood up. He raised his hand.” does not work when Vandalieu’s name was last mentioned a page ago. Thus, I insert “Vandalieu” or whatever name I need to every now and again to keep the subject clear. Technically, this isn’t in the raw, but this information is implied.

In the same way, the character who is speaking is information implied in the raw that I am inserting into the text. In the vast majority of cases I’m simply replacing the (Vandalieu) that I used to use with “said/asked/replied Vandalieu.” This makes sense in English and makes for smooth reading and this style lets me link narrative describing dialogue to the dialogue itself when it’s present.

In both cases, I’m not changing the meaning of any sentences or adding any information that isn’t known, so there shouldn’t be any concern about that.

The real concern then is that I need to employ my own writing style to form the sentences. Some of you might think I suck at writing and prefer the Japanese square brackets and having the names in brackets following the dialogue lines. Some of you simply find it easier to read due to there being less text overall with the old way – I realize that these changes aren’t friendly to those whose first language isn’t English, and I apologize to those people. Some of you like the “light novel style”. But as one of the other commenters said, the “light novel style” is nothing but an artifact of the translation process that doesn’t need to be there.

I believe that the changes I made last chapter is a step forward to producing a higher-quality English translation. Overall, the strawpoll I posted in the previous chapter suggests that more people prefer the new way and my writing should improve over time as well.

As such, this new translation style will be permanent.

Now then, the second part of this long-ass translator’s note: Sponsored chapters and donations. Thanks to the generous readers, there is a large number of sponsored chapters in the queue. I’m doing my best to do a chapter a day to get these chapters out for you guys to read!

I am increasing the donation box size for this series from $60 to $80 effective immediately. I’m sure this will disappoint some of you, but I’ll put it simply: I’ve been considering doing this for a long time. Death Mage chapters are consistently 2-3 times the length of a Kuro no Maou chapter, which is $40 per sponsored chapter. Unfortunately, it’s just not sustainable for me to translate Death Mage at $60 per sponsored chapter due to the length of the chapters themselves. I hope all readers and those of you who donated can understand this decision.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to give a HUGE thanks to all readers for your past and ongoing support. The translation of this series quite literally wouldn’t happen without you.

Yoshi

Since Vandalieu’s【Death-Attribute Mage】Job had reached level 100 after his sixth clearing of Borkus’s Sub-Dragon Savannah, he headed for the Job-changing room in the Adventurers’ Guild for the first time in over a year.

“Give me some fish sauce for this. Miso as well.”

“Katsuobushi and kombu for me.”

“Is there any honey? I want some wasabi, too.”

“Give me some acorn powder!”

“The Giga eggs are sold out, huh. Then at least give me some eel. Ammonite is fine as well!”

The Adventurers’ Guild had been turned into a place where the food that Vandalieu had invented, including the flavorings and kombu, was being distributed and traded.

People would come here to receive a rationed amount, and if they wanted any more than that, they would have to barter using materials that they had gathered from the Devil’s Nests.

Requests for goods had been posted on a board so that the goods in short supply would be replenished, so it appeared as if the Adventurers’ Guild had begun operating again.

“If real Adventurers’ Guilds were full of Ghouls and Undead like this, going in and out would be easy,” Vandalieu said to himself.

Leaving that wishful thinking aside, the Ghouls and Undead Titans would be able to make acorn powder themselves without having to trade for it, though the flavorings would be impossible for them.

When asked why they came to trade for it instead, these were the responses they gave.

“Hey, hey, we get miso, fish sauce, kombu and agar distributed for free and if we want more, all we have to do is pick up monster materials, Magic Stones and ingredients like acorns and bring them in to trade. Why should we have to spend time making it on our own?”

“You have to break acorns, soak them in water for three days and then dry them before turning them into powder, right? Killing monsters is easier.”

It seemed that the Undead Titans and Ghouls’ sense of manual labor was very different to that of the humans on Earth.

“Well, it’s much easier to go into a Devil’s Nest and hunt an Orc than raise a pig from birth for its meat, so I understand how they feel.” Vandalieu seemed to have been raised into quite the hunter himself.

Incidentally, the amount of products Vandalieu was producing had increased, so he had built a special manufacturing facility for things like acorn powder and walnut sauce.

He had used his Alchemy skill to make Magic Items imbued with spells like Withering for drying and Decomposition to decompose the flesh of the walnuts. Golems were set up in lanes to perform tasks like smashing, cooking and powdering the ingredients, so there was a lane of Golems for making acorn powder and one for making walnut sauce.

Seeing the Golems shaped like mortars and other equipment at work reminded Vandalieu of factories on earth.

The only fuel required was Mana, so it was very economically and environmentally friendly. And in an emergency, the Golems would change shape to participate in battle.

It was a wonderful, environmentally-friendly factory that didn’t require any maintenance.

“I wonder if I can industrialize the nori and agar as well. If I made more labor necessary, it would create more jobs in the future… But the Ghouls and Titans are hunters, so maybe I don’t need to worry? But in a few decades from now, there will be Black Goblins and Anubises who have aged and can’t fight anymore.” Vandalieu contemplated these truly complicated factors.

Well, let’s leave thinking about the societal system for later on.

“So, the Job-change. I suppose I’ll be a Golem Transmuter now.”

Vandalieu could only acquire undiscovered Jobs due to the “Cannot learn existing Jobs” curse. During his previous Job-change, “Golem Transmuter” was the available Job that had appeared alongside “Death-Attribute Mage”.

So he would definitely be able to undergo a Job-change now.

He calmed himself down and coolly reached out to touch the crystal ball in the Job-changing room.

『Jobs that can be selected:【Golem Transmuter】【Undead Tamer】【Soul Breaker】【Underhanded Trickster】【Insect User】』

“There’s a lot more…” Vandalieu whispered in astonishment at the five Jobs displayed in his head. It seemed that among the three curses Rodcorte had placed on him, this one was the most pointless.

Well, it will probably cause trouble for me in the future.

The reason “Undead Tamer” hadn’t appeared previously is probably because I wasn’t aware that Undead can’t normally be tamed until I heard about it from Eleanora.

It’s strange to think that whether the Job is displayed or not is dependent on whether I’m aware of this fact, but it’s probably something like that.

It seems self-explanatory that this Job will provide bonuses to Undead-related skills, but many Tamer-type Jobs apparently don’t provide a lot of bonuses to Attribute Values.

“Soul Breaker” is clearly a Job that has appeared because I acquired the Soul Breaker skill after destroying Sercrent’s soul.

Soul Break is a skill that applies its effects to all of my attacks. Wouldn’t this Job probably give me bonuses to a wide range of both magic-related and martial-type skills?

As for its Attribute Value bonuses, I have no idea. It seems like it would increase Strength and Intelligence, though.

And “Underhanded Trickster”… What is it? Could it be a Job that appears for someone who uses death-attribute magic after reaching a certain level with the Unarmed Fighting Technique skill and killing a certain number of enemies with poison?

It seems like it would probably give bonuses to Unarmed Fighting Technique, Strength, Agility and Stamina, but… it seems like the kind of Job that would make people refuse to shake hands with me.

It would break my heart if people refused a handshake or wiped their hands with a handkerchief after shaking my hand.

There’s no doubt that “Insect User” has appeared because I tamed the Cemetery Bees. Its bonuses to skills and Attribute Values are probably the same as Undead Tamer except applying to insects instead of Undead.

It would be a good Job if it increases the amount of honey the bees produce. It might even be interesting to tame rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles so I can call myself the King of Insects that I couldn’t become on Earth.

“But I’m going with Golem Transmuter this time.”

Because the opponent I’m fighting next is a Dragon Golem.

There were no stories telling what kind of inorganic mineral the Golem was made of and【Appraisal】couldn’t be used through the ice. There was a chance that the Golem Transmutation skill would be useful against the Golem that was made of an unknown substance.

Controlling it directly would be impossible, but the place where Vandalieu would be fighting it was a large yet finite space. There was a floor, walls and, most importantly, a ceiling. In addition, the Golem’s wings had been broken. There was no chance that it would be able to fly freely.

If I turn the floor and walls into Golems and manipulate them, I should be able to rob the Dragon Golem of its freedom or at least slow its movements down.

Golem Transmutation was useful when I killed Sercrent and his subordinates. I’ve used it to develop Golems that manufacture acorn powder and walnut sauce as well as repair Talosheim’s walls and royal castle. This skill should become important in helping me survive longer and making my life richer.

【You have selected Golem Transmuter.】

【The levels of the Strengthen Followers and Golem Transmutation skills have increased!】

Name: Vandalieu

Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf)

Age: 4 years old

Title:【Ghoul King】

Job: Golem Transmuter

Level: 0

Job history: Death-Attribute Mage

Attributes:

Vitality: 90

Mana: 204,506,933

Strength: 67

Agility: 46

Stamina: 71

Intelligence: 238

Passive skills:

Superhuman Strength: Level 1

Rapid Healing: Level 3

Death-Attribute Magic: Level 5

Status Effect Resistance: Level 5

Magic Resistance: Level 1

Dark Vision

Mental Corruption: Level 10

Death-Attribute Charm: Level 5

Chant Revocation: Level 3

Strengthen Followers: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Automatic Mana Recovery: Level 3

Active skills:

Bloodsucking: Level 3

Surpass Limits: Level 4

Golem Transmutation: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

No-Attribute Magic: Level 4

Mana Control: Level 4

Spirit Form: Level 2

Carpentry: Level 4

Engineering: Level 3

Cooking: Level 2

Alchemy: Level 3

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 2

Soul Break: Level 1

Multi-Cast: Level 1

Long-range Control: Level 1

Curses

Experience gained in previous life not carried over

Cannot learn existing jobs

Unable to gain experience independently

When Vandalieu checked his Status, he found that his Attribute Values hadn’t increased as much as they had when he acquired the Death-Attribute Mage Job.

Well, that’s probably just how the difference between a first Job change and a second one is.

“Now then, time to go below the royal castle…” Vandalieu paused and reconsidered. “Before that, I need to test out my Golem Transmutation skill now that it’s leveled up, and I should ask everyone how they’re feeling now that my Strengthen Followers skill has leveled up as well.”

Vandalieu inspected the Golem Transmutation skill to find that it cost him less Mana than before to create Golems. If he were to cross the Boundary Mountain Range again, he would be able to create the paths to do so at twice the speed that he had managed the first time.

In the future, I might be moving the mountains out of the way rather than creating paths or digging a tunnel… Though I won’t do it that carelessly, because it would be troublesome if I happened to come across some magma. I don’t know anything about this world’s geographical structure, anyway.

Also, his Golems had become stronger. It seemed that his Golems had started being affected by【Strengthen Followers.】They wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against the Dragon Golem, but they would probably be useful in the future.

“You really mustn’t push yourself too hard,” said Darcia. “If you think it’s too dangerous, you have to run away immediately, okay?”

“That’s what I intend to do, Mom,” Vandalieu assured her.

“Bocchan, may fortune be with you,” said Sam. “But it is also courage to escape when the situation calls for it.”

“If the situation calls for it, I’ll open a hole in the wall and come running back.”

Vandalieu and his carefully-selected companions headed below the royal castle as Darcia and the others saw them off.

The enemy they would be facing was the Dragon Golem. The hero who had been said to be destined to become S-class, a hero so powerful that he had killed Borkus with a single attack, had not been able to defeat this enemy.

Its head, right arm, wings and tail had been destroyed, cracks were running all across its body and the magic spear was even still embedded in its chest. But even so, this was a powerful enemy for Vandalieu and his party to face.

That was why Vandalieu had only chosen those who were Rank 6 or above, those who could be revived by being placed in a new body if their current one was damaged and those that Vandalieu was using to soak up damage.

The Rank 9 Borkus and the Rank 8 Eleanora were obvious choices. Next were Zadiris and Vigaro, who were Rank 6.

And then there was Bone Man, Bone Wolf, Bone Monkey, Bone Bear, Bone Bird, Saria and Rita. They were still only Rank 5, but their bodies were made of bones and suits of armor. Even if they were smashed into tiny pieces, they could be revived once Vandalieu prepared new bones and suits of armor.

And as for meat shields, or rather, stone shields, Vandalieu was bringing ten Stone Golems with him. This was a precaution that he was taking just in case the available materials in the Dragon Golem’s chamber were brittle or they had been magically altered in a way that would make them difficult to turn into Golems. They would sacrifice their bodies to slow the Golem’s movements and act as shields.

They were made of the spirits of the Orcs and Goblins from Bugogan’s village, so Vandalieu intended to exploit them fully.

“Depending on what the Dragon Golem is made of, I’m afraid that it might be able to attack spirits, so please be very careful,” Vandalieu warned his party.

The wall of cursed ice is still in place, so I still don’t know what the Dragon Golem is made of. I’m sure it’s not going to be made of simple iron.

“If it’s made of Mythril which has strong anti-magic properties, it will be hard for me and Zadiris to make an impact with our spells,” said Vandalieu. “Mythril can damage spirits as well. If that’s the case, we’ll be completely reliant on the physical attacks of Borkus and the others.”

“It would be a relief if it were made of Adamantite, since we wouldn’t have to worry about it damaging spirits. But if it’s made of Adamantite, my sword won’t be able to cut it. The situation would be reversed; we’d be reliant on your magical attacks, kid,” said Borkus, tapping his fingers against the handle of Bugogan’s magic sword that he had received from Vandalieu.

His sword was simply a magic sword with enhanced sharpness and strength, but its attacks were quite powerful. With this sword in hand, Borkus would be able to slice through the scales of an Earth Dragon with ease.

“Is it really that hard?” asked Vigaro, swallowing nervously upon hearing that even Borkus’s sword wouldn’t be able to cut through it.

“You bet,” said Borkus. “It’s a magical metal so hard that even the scales and bones of inferior Dragons are nothing like it. If you tried comparing iron to it, the iron might as well be slime.”

“But if that is the case, Vandalieu-sama’s spells will be effective,” said Eleanora. “There is also the option of pulling that spear out and using it.”

“Also, we have no choice but to aim for the cracks in its body,” Zadiris added. “Well, if its movements are slow, the boy simply needs to bury it in the floor.”

“There are other options. Like using the broken pieces of the Dragon Golem that are lying around. Since they’ll be made of the same material as the Golem itself, they should at least serve as shields,” said Vandalieu as he and his companions walked through the underground passage.

There were still broken fragments of ice littered across the ground. Despite this being the one place in Talosheim that not even a single Undead entered for two hundred years, it was the most ominous place in the city.

However, Vandalieu had melted all of the walls of ice that served as barriers to enter. There was now nothing in their way.

Then they arrived in front of the Dragon Golem’s chamber. They could see a dragon made of a black metal through the ice.

“The danger of death is less than it was before, but… it’s still there,” said Vandalieu.

“What will we