Ch.34Chapter 34 – Lost Little Lamb

“Of course, there was no option to go against an irrefusable choice.

“Well, let’s see each other again next time, K.”

“I will do that.”

“I told you to speak comfortably, didn’t I?”

“…Alright, Eve.”

Perhaps because we were both somewhat older, we didn’t speak as casually as Sera did.

Rather, if we suddenly dropped all formalities, it would have been awkward between us.

So we agreed to stop using honorifics after names and gradually become closer…

‘Is that really such a good thing?’

I could tell at a glance that Eve was pleased.

Her shoulders were straighter, her chest more pronounced, and she seemed rather proud.

Afterward, I awkwardly asked for advice about necessary items for undead extermination.

“To get straight to the point, the undead aren’t that strong.”

“Is that so?”

“I told you to speak comfortably.”

Eve said, slightly pouting her lips.

“Still, it’s good to bring holy water with you.”

“Holy water?”

“Because swords don’t work on ghost-type monsters.”

Eve explained.

“You can just sprinkle it, or even just drip a little on your weapon for it to be effective.”

“I see.”

“If you need some, I could sell it to you at a discount. I happen to have some in stock.”

I shook my head at Eve’s offer.

As it happens, I already have holy water.

After briefly saying goodbye to her, who said she wouldn’t go far because she had documents to review, I left.

+

And then the next day came—the day I was supposed to investigate the cemetery with Christina.

“Take care.”

“I will.”

Since I had to get up earlier than usual, I woke Sera up.

I waved goodbye to the sleepy-eyed Sera who told me to come back safely, and went outside.

Leaving behind the still-dark sky and cold air, I headed to the guild where Christina was waiting.

“Benefactor, over here, over here!”

Christina, dressed in her usual white nun’s habit, energetically waved her hand to greet me.

We joined up and headed toward the cemetery.

“You’ve prepared everything well, right?”

“Well, yes.”

I had packed preserved food in case of unexpected events, and holy water for fighting the undead, all in a small bag.

“By the way, how exactly do you use holy water? A merchant I know said to sprinkle it or drip it on weapons.”

“That’s exactly right. That’s how you use it. Also, holy water temporarily gathers and amplifies holy power.”

Christina said with a smile.

“As you probably know, you won’t need to use it much against zombies and other corporeal undead.”

“Right.”

Because you can just fight those with physical means.

“It seems holy water might end up being useless after all.”

When I said that, Christina hastily replied.

“But you never know! There might be ghost-types! Then, holy water and I would definitely be useful!”

She spoke with such an oddly urgent tone that I just said, “Alright, I understand,” and went along with it.

After that, despite the dark and cold outside, Christina seemed excited and kept chattering away.

“So, our children…”

“So, I…”

“So, the priest…”

‘She really talks a lot.’

As I walked along, occasionally nodding in agreement and using Christina’s chatter as background noise, the heaviness of the dawn air soon became imperceptible.

Thanks to her, at least I wasn’t bored.

As reported, zombies were wandering around from the entrance of the cemetery.

-Ugh…uh….

“They can wander around in broad daylight.”

“You’re not confusing them with vampires, are you?”

Looking at Christina after her comment, I said:

“When people say ‘undead,’ doesn’t night come to mind?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

It’s not always the case, but in fictional works, they usually roamed around at night.

“Come to think of it, in books featuring the undead, they do always appear at night.”

I guess that’s an established rule here too.

After saying that, Christina took out a writing instrument from her nun’s sleeve and began observing the wandering undead.

“Most are zombies… over there, the ones with discolored skin and long nails are ghouls… just the basic types here.”

Christina nodded.

“Nothing special?”

“No. There aren’t any remarkable ones.”

That means this place is a bust.

“Then we should go to another area.”

I was about to take Christina to another area.

She firmly shook her head.

“No.”

Is there something I don’t know?

When I looked at her for an explanation, she pointed at the zombies.

“We must give them peace.”

“…What?”

“It’s the teaching of Evgenia. Do not ignore the wandering lambs.”

Christina solemnly put her hands together in prayer.

I listened to her words and looked back at the zombies.

-Ugh…uh….

“Where exactly are these lambs you’re talking about?”

“There are many right there.”

All I see are zombies.

“…Just to be clear, I’m not misunderstanding the meaning of ‘wandering lambs.'”

“Ah, that’s a relief. Then you understand what I mean, Benefactor!”

Christina smiled brightly.

Suppressing the feeling of my stomach turning, I asked again.

“So, where are they? The lambs.”

“Those people who have become wandering zombies.”

Should I smack her?

I took a small breath in and out.

Christina took my hand.

“I know too. That it would be better to go somewhere else.”

I wonder if she knows that doing this while knowing better makes it even worse.

“They may be monsters now, but…”

-Ughhhh….

“Originally, they should have been resting in peace, innocent people.”

-Ugh…uh….

“I don’t want to turn a blind eye to such people.”

Christina put her hands together in prayer and looked at me.

She was gazing at me with clear eyes.

“You’ll help, won’t you?”

Looking at her bright smile, I sighed.

Even though she probably couldn’t see it, I smiled as I approached Christina.

+

“Hic… even the priest never hit me…”

Christina was clutching her head and whimpering.

The culprit? Obviously me.

If you talk nonsense, you deserve a smack.

Of course, I didn’t hit her hard, just gave her a light knock on the head.

“Hic… I’m going to have a bump…”

Again, I just gave her a light knock.

“Benefactor…”

“If we don’t resolve this situation quickly, those ‘lambs’ you mentioned will continue to increase.”

I sighed as I spoke.

“I understand your doctrine, and I understand why you said that, but let’s first do what needs to be done and then talk.”

“…Will you help me then, Benefactor?”

Why does this malicious pseudo-nun keep trying to involve me?

I started calculating in my head.

I was torn between creating unnecessary work that wouldn’t pay and quickly resolving the task for promotion.

‘Should I make her focus on catching the culprit with the condition that I’ll help later, even if it’s troublesome?’

First, I needed to bring Christina back to reality.

“…If we resolve this quickly, I’ll help.”

“As expected of my Benefactor! I love you!”

I never knew the words “I love you” could sound so ungratifying.

Christina quickly regained her spirits and exclaimed:

“Then we need to resolve this with full force!”

“…Yes, quickly…”

“That area looks suspicious, shall we go there?”

Christina grabbed my hand and started pulling me somewhere.

I was worried whether she was going in the right direction.

Fortunately, it was quickly proven that she was heading the right way.

-Ughhhh….

“There’s a disgusting amount of them.”

Tombstones were erected on a wide plain.

Corpses walking between them.

A horde of zombies, incomparably larger than before, had gathered.

“There are so many.”

“Indeed, there are many.”

“With such a large-scale appearance, we can’t just end with reconnaissance.”

Christina narrowed her eyes, put her hands together in prayer, and muttered something.

I thought she was offering a prayer, but she quickly finished and spoke again.

“I felt an evil energy in this direction from the moment we entered.”

“……”

So she still wanted to clear out the zombie horde unnecessarily?

Unaware that I was giving her an icy stare from inside my helmet, Christina began speaking with a serious face.

“I’m not sure exactly what kind of energy this is.”

“What do you mean by not sure?”

“There are typically two main sources that control the undead.”

Christina made a V with her fingers.

“One is the magic power of necromancers.”

She folded one finger.

“The other is the magic power of demons.”

She folded the remaining finger and lowered her hand.

“These are the only two types of magic directly involved in creating undead.”

“I see.”

“Necromancers use their own magic directly, while demons either control undead themselves or lend power to chosen contractors to control them.”

Christina explained as if confirming it for herself.

“And you’re saying the energy you feel now doesn’t seem to be either?”

“…I’d like to get closer to check, in case I’m mistaken.”

To do that, we’d need to get past that undead group and search.

I looked around to see if we could bypass them, but Christina shook her head.

“The energy is coming from that building among the undead.”

Looking in the direction Christina pointed, I saw a small building.

“It’s an underground columbarium.”

I suppose she knew this because priests come here often.

Christina took out a notebook and began writing.

“Let’s see, types… as expected, basic zombies and occasional ghouls… skeletons from old corpses… nothing else visible…”

Christina was muttering and counting numbers.

While looking at the zombies, I suddenly thought of something.

“Christina”

“Yes?”

“Besides zombies, ghouls, and skeletons, there are various other undead, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are the other types not very common?”

Christina shook her head at my question.

“Not at all.”

With a serious expression, Christina spoke.

“Of course, the three types you mentioned are the most common, but it’s strange that there are no special entities in a group of this size.”

“Hmm…”

Christina added an explanation.

“Whether it’s a necromancer or someone connected to demons, if they’re controlling this many, they would definitely have one or two powerful undead like Death Knights with them.”

So if the source of all this is in that underground columbarium, such powerful undead might appear.

I decided to clarify our mission.

“Our mission was to identify the types and numbers of undead, and locate the source, correct?”

“Yes.”

We had almost identified the types and numbers.

Though with the numbers, it was more of an estimate due to the sheer quantity.

“If we break through that zombie horde and get closer, can you confirm whether it’s the source or not?”

“…We probably need to go inside to check.”

I nodded quietly at Christina’s words.

The saying about entering a tiger’s den to catch a tiger comes to mind.

I drew my greatsword.

Fortunately, all the undead outside were corporeal types.

I should save the holy water for whatever might be inside the columbarium.

“Let’s go.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Hahaha.”

When I didn’t give a proper answer, Christina tilted her head.

“There’s a saying.”

“What saying?”

“Something like ‘nothing is impossible for a trained body.'”

At my words, Christina’s face turned pale.

“Um…”

“Follow me closely. If you don’t, I’ll leave you behind.”

Christina’s eyes began to waver.

Of course, ignoring her, I charged toward the undead horde.

+

I swung my greatsword widely, sending zombies flying, and smashed a skeleton’s bones with my fist.

“Kwaaack!”

When a ghoul—those modified zombies with long nails—rushed at me, I grabbed its face and threw it back.

It fell face-down, so I crushed its legs and threw another zombie.

‘I don’t need to eliminate all of them.’

There were simply too many.

I would definitely tire first.

So I focused on quickly breaking through, neutralizing only those that attacked while running.

Fortunately, except for the ghouls, the enemies were slow to charge.

I glanced back to check if Christina was following well.

“Huff… huff… a little slower…!”

Though she was breathing heavily, she was keeping up.

Her pace had slowed due to fatigue, but even the zombies and skeletons were slower than her.

If I just focus on the charging ghouls and clear the zombies and skeletons in our path, I can eliminate most of the undead that might attack Christina.

As the underground columbarium was getting closer:

“Benefactor!”

With Christina’s warning, several creatures suddenly leaped at us.

They were just ghouls, but while before only one or two had charged at a time, now ten were attacking simultaneously.

I cut one down, punched another, and kicked a third, but two landed beside me and ran past.

“Christina!”

The moment I shouted in alarm, a golden energy was rising from Christina’s body.

“Holy Light!”

Christina crossed her hands and extended them forward, and the light that emerged shone on the two ghouls.

“Kyaa?!”

“Kyaaak?!”

The two ghouls writhed in agony before starting to burn.

“Phew… Benefactor! Behind you!”

While I was momentarily distracted watching Christina, one creature had apparently been targeting my back.

I swung my arm around and lightly struck it away.

“Huff… you’re stronger than I thoughtaaah?!”

As Christina was approaching slowly while catching her breath, I grabbed her waist, slung her over my shoulder like a sack, and ran with my greatsword.

As a result, Christina’s upper body faced behind me and her lower body faced in front, with my shoulder as the pivot point.

“Um, Benefactor! Put me down?! I won’t be able to get marriiiied!!”

Not my problem.

I kicked away the zombies gathering in front and jumped over them, continuing to run.

With that sprint, we reached the columbarium.

I put Christina down.

“I would have preferred to be carried like a princess…!”

“Never mind that. Do you know how to open this?”

The columbarium door was made of stone.

Since there was no visible handle, I asked, and Christina smiled and said:

“Hiyah!”

The golden energy I had seen earlier flew toward the columbarium door, and something responded, opening the door.

“Any cleric can enter.”

Christina proudly thrust out her chest as she spoke.

It slightly reminded me of Eve when she’s in a good mood.

“How about that? I’m quite useful, aren’t I?”

I need to bring this boasting Christina back to reality.

“Those lambs are gathering in huge numbers over there, you know?”

“Huh? Ah!”

Zombies were walking toward us from behind.

Now that the door was open, they all seemed curious and were heading our way.

Christina rushed inside at incredible speed, and I quickly followed.

“Kweack!”

Meanwhile, one tried to enter, but I pushed it out with my foot.

Without any issues, the door closed.

“…Phew…”

Now that it was quiet for a moment, Christina seemed to finally realize her fatigue and sat down.

She had somehow produced a water bottle from her sleeve and was drinking from it.

“…We managed to break through. Really.”

“If you try, you can do it.”

“Such a calm response… you’re more amazing than someone like me…”

Christina seemed somehow deflated and slumped down.

Since she appeared tired, I let her rest for a moment while looking around.

Torches were lit, and the place was clean.

“That’s because clerics visit regularly.”

“Hmm…”

“There’s one problem though.”

Christina stood up, brushing dust off her clothes.

“I told you I didn’t know what this energy was, right?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, and Christina said with a serious face:

“At that time, I thought I might have been mistaken.”

“So you still don’t know what it is?”

“Correct.”

Christina said this while pointing deeper inside.

“I think something will appear as we go further in. What do you think?”

At her words, I looked into the columbarium.

Only a dark corridor stretched out before us.”