Chapter 13

"Hmm... I can't sleep."

Lying in the middle of the grassland, I groaned.

No matter how long I lay there, I couldn't fall asleep.

Perhaps undead beings simply don't have the basic biological function of sleeping.

In this situation, walking around was better than just lying still.

I got up and started walking through the darkness again.

How long had it been?

A faint light appeared in the distance.

"...It's a town."

I finally found a town.

From the light leaking through the defensive walls, it seemed to be a town where people still lived, not a ruin.

...There was still time before dawn.

I decided to enter the town now.

Normally, I should have gone through the gate, but I didn't think I could explain myself well to the guards.

I might be suspected and denied entry.

The walls were over three meters high.

But when I kicked off the ground, I could easily jump twice that height and easily clear the wall.

I landed on the ground.

"...Good, I don't think anyone noticed."

Listening carefully, there wasn't a single sound.

I started walking in a direction perpendicular to the wall.

Still, how long had it been since I last saw a town where people lived?

Wandering through the dungeon felt like an eternity, but I wasn't sure how much time had actually passed.

"What is this...?"

I stopped in front of a mysterious object that was illuminating the darkness.

The light that had leaked outside the defensive walls was probably from this.

But I had assumed it was a bonfire.

However, what was in front of me now was a long pole stretching upwards and a lantern-like object attached to its tip.

Light was coming from the lantern, but it wasn't a flame like the ones I knew.

Yet it provided a strong light that clearly illuminated the surroundings.

Moreover, it was steady, without the flicker of a flame.

"Maybe just the light part would be convenient to take into the dungeon."

Generally, in dungeons where light is needed, one uses torches or fire magic for illumination. The former is cumbersome to carry, and the latter requires continuous mana consumption.

But as an undead who can see in the dark, I didn't need it anyway.

As I continued walking through the town, I discovered other unfamiliar things.

"Is this a carriage? But there's no place to attach a harness...?"

At first glance, it looked like a covered carriage with wheels, but it didn't seem like a horse could pull it.

There was also no driver's seat.

Looking inside, there was a steering wheel-like device attached to the front.

What was it for?

"...So many strange things have been created while I was away."

Come to think of it, the great city of Balcaba had become a ruin.

Perhaps more time had passed than I thought.

Then, I found the building I was looking for.

"...A clothing store."

Feeling a bit guilty, I broke the lock and sneaked into the store.

Of course, it was to change out of my tattered clothes.

Even if no one realized I was an undead, I would be suspected in this outfit.

I'm not good at conversation, and I can't erase the distrust from a first impression.

If I could at least tidy up my appearance, maybe someone would listen to my story.

I chose some clothes from the display and put them on.

Then I looked at my reflection in a mirror in the store.

...Good, this should be fine.

Except for my hair and eye color, I looked like an ordinary young man.

But just to be safe, I put on a hat to hide my hair and eyes.

Thus, I left the store, apologizing in my heart to the unknown owner.

I was a complete thief, but as a kind of guarantee, I left the materials from the monsters I had defeated on my way here on the counter. They would probably sell for more than the stolen clothes.

"Now I can walk around confidently."

Still, it was the middle of the night, so I couldn't verify it.

When morning came and there were more people, I would try to walk through the town as if nothing was wrong.

"...Huh?"

What is this?

This feeling...?

Suddenly, I was hit by a strange sensation and stopped.

"Is it coming from this direction...?"

Feeling drawn to something, I changed direction and started walking again.

I couldn't explain it, but I wanted to go in that direction.

It wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

Rather, it felt like someone close was there, pulling at my heart.

But I had no idea who it could be.

I tried to suppress my mana and presence as much as possible and followed this feeling.

Eventually, I arrived at a certain house.

There was no sign of anyone.

It seemed to be unoccupied.

But my intuition told me there was something inside the house.

The window wasn't locked, so I entered through it.

However, no matter how much I searched the house, I found nothing.

"That's strange? Maybe it was just my imagination... No, I feel something from below..."

Thinking this, I examined the floor and found an unusual handle.

When I pulled it, a staircase leading to the basement appeared.

"Something spooky might come out... But what's an undead like me afraid of ghosts for?"

I steeled myself and went down the stairs.

At the bottom was a basement.

"What the... What is this...?"

To put it simply, it looked like a torture chamber.

There were numerous dangerous tools and weapons scattered around, all stained with fresh blood, suggesting that horrific acts had taken place here.

Moreover, the strong smell of blood in the air suggested that it wasn't an old occurrence.

Some of the blood hadn't even dried completely, indicating it had been spilled very recently.

And in a corner of the room, countless human corpses were piled up haphazardly.

If I weren't an undead, I would have vomited.

"You saw it, didn't you...?"

"!"

I turned around instinctively.

There stood a handsome man in his thirties, a sword at his waist.

His long hair was tied back, and he had a slender but well-built physique.

He had a natural, sharp presence, and I could tell he was a skilled fighter.

But I couldn't sense any life from him.

Looking closely, he wasn't blinking or breathing.

"Could it be... an undead...?"

I realized this instinctively.

And I understood the strange feeling I had been having.

It seemed I had been drawn to this place by the undead in front of me.

Perhaps, as an undead, I had the ability to sense the presence of my kind.

"What...? You're an undead too...? Indeed, I don't sense any life from you..."

He seemed to have realized it too.

I was surprised to find another undead who could speak.

I felt a sense of kinship with my kind—

...Wait.

I shook my head to clear the feeling.

This one is different from me.

Look at this room.

Those corpses were probably his doing.

As evidence, he was now dragging a young woman by the foot with one hand.

Her chest was rising and falling slightly, indicating she was still alive.

"...What do you intend to do with her?"

"Make her suffer as much as possible, then kill her."

When I asked, he gave a merciless answer without any hesitation.

"Why are you doing this?"

"By my master's command... There is no other reason."

"Master?"

The long-haired undead said this with a blissful expression, as if praising a deity.

"Our king, Jean Diago... I am creating corpses here that are worthy of being offered to him..."

...It seems this undead and I are incompatible.