Chapter 30

Summary of the previous chapter:

Approaching figures...!

12

In the darkness of the forest, shadows began to move, inching closer step by step.

My human eyes, which are far from perfect, finally recognized after a few seconds that these shadows had human outlines.

Pushing through the low shrubs, five figures were walking towards us.

They were still about five meters away.

Neither the moonlight nor the campfire's glow reached where they stood.

Were they inhabitants of this world, or were they like me, a transferer?

I squinted to see through the darkness, but quickly realized it was difficult to discern their true nature.

They were wearing helmets that completely covered their heads, with the back of the helmets flaring out like a skirt.

Their visors were lowered, completely hiding their facial features.

The dull-colored armor covering their entire bodies seemed to be the plate armor I had seen in movies. They were fully armed soldiers.

This is troublesome, I thought, and let out a small sigh.

I didn’t know who they were.

Therefore, I couldn’t predict their actions.

It was a setback that I hadn’t detected them first. Ideally, I would have wanted to confirm who they were before making contact.

...But there’s no point in regretting what has happened.

Right now, I should try to negotiate.

With this in mind, I tried to step forward in front of Lily and the others.

"Who are you...?"

"Master, please step back."

Lily stretched out her thin arm to block my path.

"It won’t do any good."

Lily’s eyes, fixed on the soldiers, were the same as when she looked at an enemy.

"Lily? What do you mean...?"

"I was on guard, but we were a bit unlucky. If we were downwind, there’s no way we wouldn’t have noticed them."

Lily slid her outstretched arm and pointed to the approaching soldiers.

"Look. They should be visible to you soon, Master."

Following her words, I focused my eyes on the approaching figures.

There were five soldiers...

Or so I thought.

"..."

The campfire’s light finally revealed that they were not five soldiers, but the remains of five soldiers.

The most obvious was their faces. All five were wearing helmets, but one of them had a broken visor.

Seeing the exposed face, I couldn’t help but groan.

The man’s face, illuminated by the campfire, was unrecognizable. It seemed as if a monster had torn it apart, leaving only the upper part of his face, which vaguely indicated he was of Caucasian descent.

The plate armor that was supposed to cover their entire bodies was dented and shattered in places, and one of them was missing an arm. This must have been the damage they received when they were fatally wounded.

The moment I noticed one of them dragging their intestines, bile rose in my throat.

Since coming to this world, I had seen countless brutal deaths. However, the sight of such severely damaged corpses moving was uniquely terrifying.

"Ah, aah..."

From the half-open mouths of the dead, meaningless, hollow groans were emitted.

The touch of death that brushed past my ears made my skin crawl.

...There was no doubt.

These were undoubtedly the undead monsters that had appeared once in the colony.

The monsters were called "Ghouls," a name that was almost taboo in the colony.

I could understand why Lily said it was meaningless.

Even if they managed to maintain a human form, as long as they were monsters, there was no room for negotiation.

"Ah, ah, aah, aah, aah—!"

In the next instant, the five ghouls that had emerged from the depths of the forest attacked us with the speed of beasts.

"Ugh..."

The horror of damaged corpses coming towards us made my body shrink back.

This was the unique terror of undead monsters, which had even caused casualties among the exploration team with their cheat abilities.

It was difficult to bring oneself to strike a human-like opponent, and the unnaturalness of being attacked by a corpse that no longer breathed made people instinctively flinch.

However, that was only if the opponent was human.

I had a group of monsters. Whether the opponent was human or not, it was no reason to make them flinch.

"Shiiii!"

The battle began with Rose’s thrown battle axe.

One of the charging ghouls was struck in the chest by the axe and fell backward with a tremendous force.

Although the armor prevented the body from being cut in half, the damage was severe. Moreover, the axe that was embedded in the body pinned it to the ground, rendering it immobile.

The remaining four ghouls continued to charge, ignoring the fate of their comrade. They had no sense of camaraderie to begin with.

The distance closed.

But another figure had moved almost simultaneously with Rose.

"I don’t want to get too close to the dead. If Master were to catch a disease, it would be disastrous."

Saying this, Gerbera shot spider silk from her position.

The silk was spread over a wide area, entangling the bodies of the soldiers and the surrounding objects.

The sticky, adhesive spider silk couldn’t completely stop the strong ghouls, but it was enough to buy some time.

"Rip them apart!"

Lily used the few seconds created by her companions to focus her magic and construct a blue magic circle.

—Second-tier water magic. Nature: Three swords.

Three transparent water swords glided through the air and pierced the helmets of the soldiers without missing their targets.

The ghoul, whose brain was completely destroyed, fell face down to the ground. The central part of the undead monster, which was the same as the human brain, had already been confirmed in the colony.

This left one remaining—

"A, a, aah!"

—The remaining ghoul tore through the spider silk and continued to advance.

"Kyaa!"

Aya’s fireball collided with it.

Whether it was because the ghoul had no concept of dodging an attack or because it was caught off guard, it took the hit directly.

A small explosion occurred, and the ghoul stopped in its tracks.

"Leave it to me."

Rose, with a spare axe in hand, charged forward.

"Shiiii—!"

She swung the axe from above, shattering the soldier’s head.

I lowered the large shield I had been holding and exhaled.

The entire battle had taken less than ten seconds. The five ghouls were eliminated without any trouble.

***

After finishing off the ghoul that Rose’s axe had initially stopped, we decided to split into two groups.

One group would examine the corpses, while the other would set up a new campsite a short distance away.

Decaying corpses were not sanitary. Even though we had killed them before they could get too close, it was not healthy to sleep next to scattered organs and other remains, both physically and mentally.

Rose and I were assigned to examine the corpses.

Rose, as usual, was the one who physically handled the corpses, while I observed her work. There were enough people to set up the camp, and it was better to have more people examining the corpses.

Kato was also in the same position, but I thought it would be inappropriate to have her observe the corpses, so I let her stay behind. She was probably keeping Aya company at the other site.

"From what Master can see, they are not transferers like you, but inhabitants of this world, correct?"

Rose, who was washing the items found on the corpses with water in a bucket and placing them on the ground, asked me, standing behind her.

I nodded and looked at the bodies laid out on the ground.

"Yes. Their facial features are different from mine and Kato’s."

All the naked bodies were adult males. Although their faces were severely damaged due to the handling of the ghouls, I could barely tell that they had Caucasian features.

"Of course, it’s not impossible that they are Westerners who wandered into this world like us."

When I started thinking about it, I couldn’t rule out any possibility. I needed to draw a line somewhere.

"At least, I’ve never seen a language like this."

I looked at a letter one of them had in his pocket.

Most of the paper was stained with dark, discolored blood, but from the parts that remained, I could tell it was not an alphabet or a related language.

It was probably a language from this world.

The characters resembled cursive Chinese, but unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if they were actually cursive Chinese.

"Still, I don’t know much about the writing systems of my world. I can’t say for sure."

I couldn’t rule out the possibility that it was a language from our world that I didn’t know.

The corpses couldn’t speak. There were limits to the information I could obtain.

I couldn’t help but sigh.

I had finally met people in this world, and this was the result. It seemed that I had no connection with humans in this world.

"Rose, did you notice anything?"

After washing all the items, Rose picked out a few that could fit in her palm and handed them to me.

"A ring?"

"Yes. All of them were wearing similar ones."

They were worn under their armor, likely to avoid getting in the way when they gripped something.

Each ring had a small yellow stone embedded in it, and different white characters were inscribed on each one. Perhaps these were some kind of identification for their unit.

"There’s something else I noticed."

Rose pointed to the bodies lying on the ground.

"Their corpses were not very decomposed. They must have died within a few days at most."

I realized what she was getting at.

"I see. You’re saying that they were killed within a few days’ walk from here, right?"

"Yes."

Even considering that, unlike ordinary humans, they didn’t need rest as undead monsters... it was probably within a ten-day walk for a human. A distance we could easily cover.

"Or perhaps their base is nearby."

"Even if there isn’t, it’s certain that there were people here. There’s a possibility we can find some clues. The question is how to get there..."

"Lily might be able to track their footsteps using the Fire Fang’s sense of smell. Also, they came from the northwest, so it won’t deviate much from our original route."

"Even if we fail, we can just head north as planned."

Since we only had a vague direction to follow, it was worth a try.

"I’ll talk to Lily. Thanks for noticing, Rose."

"You’re welcome. It’s no big deal."

"There’s no need to be modest. Did you notice anything else?"

"No, nothing in particular."

I see. ...By the way, now that we have their belongings, is there anything useful?

"There was some portable food, but it was damaged, so it’s best not to touch it."

"What about weapons? The armor is all broken, but some of them had swords on their belts."

"I checked, but I don’t think any of them are worth using."

"I see. In that case, dispose of them... No, wait."

I reconsidered as I spoke.

"I’ll take these rings with me."

"The rings?"

"Yes. If we meet someone who knows them, it might be good to give them these."

If it makes the other party more friendly, it would be a good thing.

I put the rings in my pocket.

"Let’s dig graves and bury them. It’s unsettling to sleep near where corpses are lying around."

"Yes."

"If we’re going to dispose of the swords and armor, we’ll need to dig a deep hole. ...It would be better to have more people help. They should be done setting up the camp by now, so I’ll go get them."

I started walking towards where Lily and the others were.

We didn’t want to be too far apart in this forest, so they were setting up the campsite within earshot.

However, even a short distance could be dangerous, and it wouldn’t be wise for me to be alone. Naturally, Rose, my guard, followed me—she was supposed to.

"Hmm?"

But I didn’t hear any footsteps.

I stopped and turned around.

"What’s wrong, Rose?"

"Master..."

There she was, standing up but not moving from her spot.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"Of course, it’s fine if you do."

I furrowed my brow, sensing a hesitant air about her.

It was unusual for Rose to offer her opinion without being asked.

In fact, this might be the first time.

Her attitude made me suspicious.

In any case, I had to hear her out.

"What is it you want to say?"

Encouraged by me, Rose hesitantly spoke.

"I have a proposal."

Proposal? I tilted my head in confusion.

...Was it about the soldiers we just examined?

But if that was the case, she could have said it earlier.

Moreover, if that was the topic, there was no reason for her to hesitate.

But if not, what could it be...?

While I was thinking, Rose slightly lowered her face, looking hesitant.

But only for a few seconds.

Rose clenched her fist lightly and raised her face. Her gesture was resolute.

"My proposal is about Kato’s earlier ‘request’."

"..."

"Could I be the one to teach her about handling magic?"

Rose placed her fingertips on her chest, which had been remade after being damaged in the battle with the white arachne, giving it a mannequin-like, pale texture.

"I believe I can handle the task of helping her grasp the sensation of magic, even if I’m not a powerful mage."

I recalled that Lily had suggested that the first step for Kato should be to ‘make contact with someone who uses magic and grasp the flow of magic.’

For this step, it wasn’t necessary for the teacher to be a mage.

Rose was certainly capable of taking on this role. Her proposal was not off the mark.

"I use magic when I create magic tools. Kato could practice sensing magic during this process, couldn’t she?"

"Would that interfere with your work?"

"Of course not."

This was just a confirmation.

I never thought Rose would neglect her duties.

She is overly loyal to the tasks given to her. That’s why I was surprised by her initiative to speak up for Kato.

"I plan to have her follow me initially, and then later, she can rely on Lily. By then, your training should have progressed, and Lily will have more time available."

...Not bad.

That was my honest reaction to Rose’s proposal.

Her proposal neatly addressed the disadvantages that had arisen regarding Kato.

I wanted to fulfill Kato’s small request as a way to repay her. This was a genuine feeling I had towards her, separate from any suspicions I might have.

"..."

However, even as I thought this, I hesitated to give my approval.

—Is it really okay?

This thought made me hesitate.

Logically, it should be fine.

Kato would only learn healing magic, which can’t harm anyone. It’s not like giving her a weapon, so I had no reason to oppose it.

This was because Kato had limited her learning to healing magic.

As if reading my mind...

In reality, considering Kato’s character, she must have anticipated my reaction and made her request accordingly.

She limited her request to healing magic because she knew I would be suspicious. This meant she understood my suspicions about her.

Feeling a mix of shame and a budding question...

I couldn’t fundamentally trust Kato, a human. This was unfair and unpleasant for her.

Yet, she had risked her life to help me. Now, she wanted to learn healing magic to help us.

...Why?

Why would she do so much for me, a stranger?

—I’m lonely in this world?

—She has no one else to rely on?

I had speculated about her inner thoughts before. There might be some truth to these thoughts.

But I don’t think they fully explain her actions.

For example, Lily had told me, "It’s okay to be weak."

I could also tell my subordinates, "I won’t abandon you, even if you’re useless."

To us, each other’s existence is special and irreplaceable. So, I don’t mind being a burden, and I would be sad if they didn’t rely on me in difficult times.

But Kato is different from Lily and the others.

She is not my subordinate, and I am not her master.

This means I can’t be a special existence to her.

To her, I am just a passerby who happened to meet her in that mountain cabin.

That’s how it should be.

If that’s the case, would Kato risk her life for a mere stranger without expecting anything in return?

...That’s impossible. If that were true, she would lack more humanity than the monsters