episode_0022

Kel and I, prepared for a possible ambush, drew our longswords and daggers, constantly scanning our surroundings as we dashed forward. We didn’t sense any other presence, but we couldn’t afford to be completely at ease.

“Wait! Stop for a moment! Oh, seriously!”

Meanwhile, Amy chased after Bolton in a straight line. It seemed she was full of intentions to wreck the altar, as if she planned to dismantle it before doing so.

Of course, given that Bolton was much faster than Amy, it seemed unlikely that she could stop him, but…

“Since it’s come to this…!”

She had one last resort to halt Bolton.

“Hey-yah!”

Unable to close the distance despite her efforts, Amy gritted her teeth, widened her eyes, and then flung her staff over her shoulder.

Whoosh!

The wooden staff, adorned with metal at its tip, shot out with a fierce whistling sound and struck Bolton’s back like a bullet.

“Oof…!”

Struck off balance by the unexpected blow, Bolton tumbled helplessly.

Had she been wielding a spear instead of a staff, it would have pierced through his back. It was truly an impressive strike.

“Well done! You’re quite the marksman too!”

Kel genuinely expressed his admiration.

Anyway, Kel and I immediately ran to Bolton’s side as he struggled to regain composure, keeping watch, while Amy arrived a step later, panting heavily, and grasped Bolton’s shoulders.

“Haa… haa… Priest Bolton. Sorry for hitting your back, but you haven’t forgotten our agreement, have you? The altar looks suspicious, so before breaking it, we should at least check it.”

“Ugh… I have no face left… but…!”

Bolton replied, bowing his head.

It was hard to tell whether he was bowing deeply out of embarrassment or due to pain; his expression made it unclear.

“Kel, I need to examine that altar. So, please keep an eye on Priest Bolton for a while.”

Amy sighed as she spoke. While it sounded like an instruction to keep an eye on him, in reality, it meant to ensure he didn’t engage in futile actions.

“Got it!”

“Hilde, stay by my side and keep an eye out for me. There may not be any monsters around, but you never know, right?”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

With a broadsword drawn and casually slung over my shoulder, I approached the altar, guarding Amy’s side.

◆◆

“As I thought, it’s clear up close. This is a trace of undead worship.”

Amy, squinting at the altar, soon nodded with certainty and explained the nature of the altar.

“Undead worship?”

“It refers to the undead. Since the bodies rise again and never age to die, they are worshipped as ‘undying’.”

Pointing to the stone altar on the altar, Amy continued.

The appropriately sized stone slab for laying a person down had its upper part discolored black, and just standing nearby brought a strong stench of blood and rotting corpses to one’s nose.

It was a stench that hinted at the purpose of the slab.

“Do you see this inscription here? ‘Mors bis non venit… Death does not come twice.’ It’s a saying of those skilled in necromancy.”

So that’s what it meant.

I had read the saying before, often uttered by abyssal priests who specialized in necromancy in novels.

Although the meaning wasn’t explicitly described, I had encountered the saying before.

“So, this altar seems to be a ritual site where they used to raise corpses as undead.”

“Which means…”

“Yeah. I was wrong. This dungeon is a place touched by abyssal priests. …It seems vacant now, though.”

Amy let out a deep sigh. Within that sigh, a sense of relief was briefly glimpsed.

Understanding her relief, as I felt a similar sentiment, I could comprehend her feeling of relief.

If the abyssal priest hadn’t left, we could have faced a situation where we might all have perished.

“I think we should retreat.”

In other words, it meant that if the abyssal priest returned, we would inevitably face an unprecedented crisis.

“Right, this isn’t something for us to handle. Let’s go back. The guild and the tower, the temple, will take care of it once we inform them.”

Amy also nodded in agreement, as if to say she concurred.

Fortunately. I was wondering how to catch the Abyss Priest, but first… I should probably break this desk. Kikel! Come over here!

“Did you call me? I’m coming right away!”

Kikel, who had been holding Bolton back from having a fit, strode over.

Amy briefly explained the current situation to him and then instructed him to split the desk in half.

“Got it. Let me give it a try!”

With a determined nod, Kikel grasped the hand axe with both hands, raised it high, and with a fierce shout, brought it down like lightning.

“Yaaargh!”

A blow filled with Lizardman’s strength.

Crash!

The axe blade struck the rock desk, which screamed and split apart, crumbling down. Coagulated blood mixed with dust spurted up.

“Well done.”

“Crack!”

Amy, who had stepped back, waved her sleeve to scatter the dust, then bent down and reached out towards the shattered remains of the desk.

“Let’s see…”

Then, as if searching for something, she rummaged through the debris—

“Oh, there it is. Just as I expected.”

From within, she found and pulled out a black-covered book. It gave off an inexplicably eerie feeling just by looking at it.

“Book of Command. It looks like a crude mass-produced item… but it’s definitely a spellbook. Alright, mission accomplished.”

Without even opening the book, Amy carefully examined the cover, then immediately stowed it in her backpack.

“Now let’s go back. As quickly as possible.”

No one opposed her words.

“I… I want to break something too…!”

Though Bolton expressed deep regret at only breaking the desk and leaving the statue behind…

“…with a spear?”

It wasn’t feasible to indulge his fanatical impulse for destruction by smashing the statue.

“That would take at least three hours.”

If we were to encounter the returning Abyss Priest, we might end up becoming a new statue ourselves.

For that reason, we swiftly dashed out of the room and raced relentlessly towards the surface.

Bolton, with Kikel on his back, and me with Amy on mine. It was a bit awkward for both of us, but this was the best option. Asking them to keep up with Kikel and me at full speed would have been too harsh a demand.

◆◆

Thankfully, going up the dungeon was much easier and simpler than coming down. Having dealt with most monsters, there was no need to waste time in battle…

“Here, is it here?”

“To the right! The right passage is faster!”

We simply retraced the shortest path we remembered without having to navigate through maze-like corridors. Because of this, we faced the sun above ground just a mere two hours later.

“Pant… Pant… Water, can someone get water…!”

“Aaaah… I don’t feel cold at all… I’ve conquered the cold…?”

Of course, upon reaching the surface, both Kikel and I were utterly exhausted, but after exploring for a day and a half, finding our way in a mere ten minutes was a small victory. It was only natural that we were completely drained.

“Here, drink this.”

After gulping down the water Amy handed me and receiving treatment for Bolton, I struggled to rise, my legs wobbling like jelly. I wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t a safe situation yet. If we were to rest, we needed to do so in a secure place, at least until we reached the carriage waiting for us outside the ruins.

“…Can you move?”

“Kishaah… It’s cold again… The cold is too strong…!”

Despite Kikel’s complaints about the cold, he didn’t stop walking. I, too, dragged my feet along, continuing onward. Thankfully, the carriage wasn’t far, and I managed to reach it before collapsing.

“What happened to all of you? You look… different…”

The stableman, surprised to see us drenched in cold sweat and utterly exhausted, approached us.

“Don’t worry about it, let’s go. Quickly. As fast as possible.”

Amy cut him off, leaning back against the seat of the carriage as if to tell him to stop babbling and just get going.

“Tired, huh? You’ve been through a lot. Now, take a rest.”

Then, she patted his thigh under the robe and reached out with her other hand to pull my head onto her lap, as if telling me to lie down and sleep on her thigh.

“Sigh…”

I had no strength left to refuse. Not even the will to do so.

With a resigned sigh, I leaned my waist and used Amy’s thigh as a pillow, lying down.

It was surprisingly soft.

Even though I was wearing a helmet, I could imagine the sensation.

Once I lay down like that, drowsiness rushed over me like a flood, and there was simply no way I could resist it in my right mind.

“Ughhh…”

I yawned and closed my eyes.

It didn’t seem to take too long before I drifted off to sleep.