Undead

“Brrr….”

The sound of teeth chattering constantly came from the side. For a moment, I thought the undead had already approached us.

“Isabella. Are you really that cold?”

“Ugh… yes, I’m re-really too c-cold… I feel like I’m g-going to fr-freeze to death….”

This is why flowers grown in greenhouses don’t make it. The temperature just dropped a little, yet she was making such a fuss.

“…It is a bit cold.”

“The weather does seem chilly.”

Only after seeing Inis rubbing both her arms did I finally realize it.

“M-Master. Wh-why do you look at me like I’m p-pathetic when I s-speak… wh-why… when S-Senior says it’s cold… y-you suddenly understand… I-I feel hurt….”

“Isabella. I don’t judge people by appearance or ability. I judge them by their actions.”

“D-does that mean y-you’ve found me un-unreliable until n-now?”

Instead of answering, I slightly turned my gaze away.

“That’s t-too much! M-maybe my heart is fr-freezing too… I f-feel even colder…!”

“Isabella. Why don’t you go back inside the tent? I’ll handle this alone.”

In her current state, she didn’t seem like she would be helpful in battle.

“H-how could a s-slave be in a m-more comfortable environment than the m-master…! I’ll stay by your side until the end!”

“If that’s your will. Do as you please.”

Isabella sniffled and glanced at the tent from the corner of her eye. She seemed to want to go inside.

“You can still go in now. I won’t scold you.”

“N-no…! If I g-go in now, it will n-negatively affect those a-actions….”

“Well. That can’t be helped, can it? It’s what you chose. You have to deal with it yourself, right?”

“I’ll r-really stay until the e-end…! S-Senior, don’t step forward…! I’ll t-take care of the undead…!”

“Alright.”

Inis smiled slightly and stepped back. While we were having this conversation, the undead had somehow come closer.

“―――――!”

Upon discovering us, a pale blue light erupted from their eye sockets. They opened their jaws wide and spewed blue flames, which looked very threatening.

Creeak-

Isabella held her breath and drew the bowstring. Her shoulders didn’t shake at the moment of shooting. It was a bit strange.

Whizz―!

The arrow cut through the air. At this moment, the undead’s reaction was very swift.

Bang!

“Ah!”

They blocked the arrow with a shield in hand. The skeleton archer behind began to draw its bow as well.

Whizz―

The enemy’s arrow disappeared into the darkness. Inis quickly moved and raised her shield. The arrow lodged with a loud sound.

“It’s good that I came out together, right?”

She said with the corners of her mouth slightly turned up. I didn’t deny it.

“Fire.”

I summoned a flame. As I infused magical power, the intense flame began to grow. The dark surroundings immediately brightened.

“Spread out.”

With the incantation, a wave of flames began to advance forward. Intense flames running across the sand.

The skeletons moved urgently. As they dispersed to both sides, Isabella quickly drew her bow.

Whizz―!

An attack targeting the skeleton archer without a shield. It was a sharp aim, and her attack hit.

Crash!

The arrow pierced the skeleton archer’s head. Isabella clenched her fist. As her attack succeeded, she began to fire arrows continuously.

“Fire Arrow.”

I also created several fire arrows like her and shot them toward the enemy. Most disappeared after hitting swords or shields, but some hit bones directly.

Flare-

Their bodies burst into flames. Red flames fighting against blue flames. Different colored intense flames tumbled over each other, and then bright red flames soared up.

Flare―!

Bones melting under the intense heat. The softened skeletons poured onto the ground. Lights arose all around.

Boom-

Before long, we were able to completely deal with the undead. When the blue flames were no longer visible, we approached the corpses.

“Dealing with them wasn’t as difficult as I expected.”

“They’re skeletons. The weakest among the adventurer undead you can encounter in the desert.”

With only bones remaining, they were beings with poor strength and speed. If they hadn’t met us, they would have been buried in the desert sand and met eternal death.

“So there are beings stronger than skeletons?”

“Yes. The desert undead go through three stages. When they’ve just died, they’re ghouls. As time passes and flesh falls off as they move, they become zombies. The final stage is skeletons.”

In the ghoul state, they had more powerful strength than when they were alive. However, these were hard to find.

The sand desert was a vast layer. Due to the nature of undead wandering in search of life, they inevitably weakened.

“What we need to be careful of are zombies. In this state, they have almost the same strength they had when alive.”

“Certainly, if they’re at the level of adventurers who’ve come to the sand desert, it won’t be easy at all.”

“That’s right.”

Riffraff could never enter the sand desert. Only those with skill, wealth, and information were qualified to conquer it.

I bent down and picked up the magic stone that had fallen to the ground. It was smaller than what the sand soldiers had given.

“It seems smaller than an orc’s magic stone.”

“For undead, the magic stone is the heart. If they’ve become skeletons, it means they’ve been wandering for quite a long time, so they must have used a lot of magical power.”

“We shouldn’t expect much profit then.”

“Right. We need to find the pyramid quickly and move on to the next layer.”

Whoosh―

Sand wind blowing from far away. The chill of the night was especially cold. We quickly returned to the tent.

“Fire.”

The interior had become much colder while we were away. I summoned flames to emit as much heat as possible. Before long, the inside of the tent became warm.

I lay down and covered myself slightly with the blanket. Perhaps because we had walked for so long during the day, drowsiness came quickly, and I fell asleep immediately.

“Master.”

I slowly opened my eyes at the feeling of someone shaking my body. Then I saw Inis’s face.

“The sun is rising.”

At her words, I answered that I understood and got up. Looking to the side, I saw Isabella sleeping soundly.

“Is it right to wake the master before the slave?”

“It’s Isabella.”

“Hmm. True.”

I acknowledged and went outside the tent. The air was still a bit cold. But once the sun rises, it will become hot as if it had never been cold.

“Ugh….”

I moved my body around, hearing Inis waking up Isabella. I took out firewood from the bag and lit it.

Flare-

“Good morning….”

“Master. Let me do it.”

When I was about to cook, Inis quickly approached. She poured water and began preparing breakfast. Isabella sat next to her, yawning languidly and then starting to doze off.

“Isabella.”

“Yesss….”

“Isabella. I don’t judge people by appearance or ability. I judge them by their actions.”

At those words, Isabella’s body trembled. She opened her eyes wide and slapped both her cheeks with a smack.

“I-I’m awake!”

“Then quickly help Inis. And from now on, wake up earlier in the morning. Understand?”

“…I’ll try.”

She said that, but her expression showed a lack of confidence. Well, she had lived like that her whole life. It wouldn’t change overnight.

Looking at Inis’s actions, she seemed to have already given up. Or maybe she had other intentions, but this was something I had to intervene in.

“Thanks for the meal!”

After eating the prepared breakfast, we retrieved the tent. After putting everything in the bag, we climbed the hill again and started moving.

“Ugh….”

As the sun rose high in the sky, it emitted a crazy heat.

Rumble―!

The ground began to shake as we were moving along the ridge. Sand grains shot up and a sand soldier revealed itself.

Whoosh―

The soldier thrust its spear. Inis raised her shield to block the attack. As the enemy hesitated, she immediately dug into its embrace.

Thud!

The sword that went from bottom to top pierced the soldier’s head. It would have been a fatal wound if it were a living being. Unfortunately, there was no magic stone there.

Thud!

“Ugh….”

The sand soldier kicked her body. Inis was pushed back. Sand grains poured from the hole pierced by the sword, and before long, it was filled.

Inis put her shield down on the ground. She raised her longsword above her head.

Whoosh―!

The sand soldier immediately thrust its spear. A simple action, but swift movement. The spear tip advanced as if to pierce her body.

Clang!

Inis struck down on the spear tip as if she had been waiting. The weapon fell with a metallic sound. She took one step to the side. And then rotated her body.

Swish!

The blade, imbued with centrifugal force, cut the soldier’s waist. The body poured out as the upper and lower body split.

Although she failed to find the magic stone this time too, it couldn’t do anything due to being split into top and bottom.

Crash!

Inis finally found the magic stone in the soldier’s leg. Its body poured out and was absorbed into the desert. She came with the magic stone, smiling broadly. Unlike before, it was in an intact form.

“Well done.”

I stroked Inis’s head. It was only her second battle, yet she had already found a way to defeat them. Her talent was truly frightening.

After dealing with the soldier, we moved on. We encountered enemies several more times after that, but they were no match for Inis, who had gained insight.

As we were silently crossing the desert.

“Master. Over there!”

I raised my head at Isabella’s shout. Then I saw something shimmering in the distance. I frowned and checked what it was. The moment I realized its identity, I couldn’t help but admire it.

“An oasis!”

We had discovered an oasis in the desert.