Chapter 12

Today's second update.

The inside of the log cabin was fairly spacious.

It seemed to have originally been a lumberjack or hunter's home, as the entrance led directly to a dirt-floored kitchen.

However, books and experimental equipment were piled up.

The room was also filled with books.

On the workbench, suspicious-looking medicines and tools were placed.

At the back of the room, there was a bed and a wardrobe.

The floor was covered with books and equipment. The bed was also piled high with books.

I looked around the cabin and said,

"The bed and kitchen are buried in books. It's amazing you could live like this."

"Perhaps it's because the undead don't need food or sleep?"

"I see... So, he was alone all this time?"

Lilicia, looking around with her monocle, said,

"Hmm, it seems there were only the undead... Just books and experimental equipment..."

"Is there any danger? Any traps?"

"It doesn't seem so."

She looked around, her silver hair swaying.

"Is there anything we can help with?"

"The books are piled up and hard to see."

"Hmm. Then let's stack them against the walls."

"Then I'll help clean up while I look... This makes me want to clean, too."

"Cleaning an undead's home, what for?"

Lilicia and I tidied up the cabin.

After about an hour, the books were stacked against the walls, and the equipment was piled on the workbench in the center of the room.

"There weren't many high-value items."

"There were a lot of new books, even the latest entertainment novels."

It was the currently popular novel, "Demon Race Rebirth ~ After Being Exiled and Massacred by the Country, I Became a Demon and Built a Multiracial Harem While Taking Revenge and Rising to Power!"

It seemed to have quite explicit and violent content.

The undead wouldn't need such things.

There were about five high-value books, which appeared to be magic tomes.

The equipment had little value, with only a small silver dish being valuable.

I put them in my backpack and said,

"This might not be his main base."

"Yes, that's true. The items are all cheap... Perhaps it's a vacation home?"

"It doesn't seem like it belongs to Helrich. Given the presence of a bed and kitchen, a normal human must have lived here... or perhaps the person who lived here became Helrich...?"

"Given the books and equipment here, it would be difficult to become such a powerful undead."

I looked at the wardrobe.

"I see... Then the clue might be in there."

"Be careful."

"You too, Lilicia."

I opened the bottom drawer first.

It contained worn-out socks, underwear, and gloves. There were no valuables.

"Then, let's check this next."

I opened the front doors of the wardrobe.

Instead of clothes, there was an endless expanse of pitch-black darkness.

Lilicia, wearing her monocle, was surprised.

"This is...! A dungeon!"

"What! Why is there an entrance here!?"

We looked at each other.

"What do we do?"

"I'm not prepared to explore a dungeon. Besides, it's quite dark. We've completed our mission today, so it's best to return."

"Perhaps... There's probably Helrich's treasure in there. We could retrieve it and then report back?"

"Good point. Lilicia, you're reliable."

I closed the wardrobe doors.

"Ah, thank you... eek!"

I couldn't help but pet Lilicia's head, as she smiled happily nearby.

I took Lilicia's hand and said,

"Let's go back."

"Yes... Master."

She intertwined her fingers and leaned against me.

We returned for the day.

—After all, it was our first mission, so it was fine to do just this much.

The way back was straightforward thanks to Lilicia's earlier reconnaissance.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, in another part of the southeastern forest.

Hero Marius, with his golden hair disheveled and his handsome face twisted in a grotesque expression, was desperately swinging his sword.

"Why...? Why are there so many enemies!"

He cut down a goblin, but a large boar—Great Boar—charged from the nearby bushes.

He blocked it with his shield and swung his sword again.

He had been fighting for a while.

Marius had come to slay a wyvern.

A wyvern is a dragon with its wings and front legs fused together, larger than an average house.

They had received information that it was starting to build a nest, so he came to prevent its reproduction.

Wyverns use other creatures' young as food for their offspring.

This inevitably led to human children being attacked during their long childhood.

However, wyverns can fly but remain mostly stationary while building their nests, usually only leaving to gather materials.

It was supposed to be a simple mission.

But he couldn't reach the nest.

Large numbers of goblins, forest wolves, sleep rabbits, and great boars kept appearing from nowhere to obstruct him.

These monsters had fled in fear of the holy waves leaking from Alek, and they had run into Marius.

"Damn—Holy Guided Slash!"

Marius sent a massive slash from his sword, splitting the boar in two.

The battle finally ended, but he was breathing heavily, his lean body trembling as he caught his breath.

"What's going on? Are they protecting the wyvern...?"

Marius was mistaken.

He had been following Alek to kick him off his pedestal, so there were hardly any low-level enemies around.

An elderly court mage, his robes swaying, approached him.

"You don't seem injured. Let's hurry. It will be troublesome once it gets dark."

"I know—what!?"

Again, the branches of the tall trees rustled, and a monster appeared.

A giant—twice the height of a human—green troll.

It swung its long, whip-like limbs and attacked.

"Damn! A C-rank troll too! —Take this!"

Marius, breathing heavily, raised his sword and challenged the troll.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the city at dusk.

Marius and his party couldn't reach the wyvern's nest due to the overwhelming number of low-level enemies.

It was impossible to complete the mission today, and they decided to retreat due to the danger of camping with so many monsters.

Marius's golden hair, once shining, was now covered in blood and mud.

His steps were heavy as he walked down the main street of the city.

His first mission as a hero had ended in failure.

"I failed...? No, it's a mistake... Just bad luck today... Tomorrow. I'll defeat it tomorrow. I'm better than that Alek..."

Marius headed to the city's most luxurious inn.

The party members who had been sent from the kingdom just exchanged glances and left without a word.

The city's women, who usually greeted him with cheers, now whispered about his mission failure as they watched him from a distance, dirty and disheveled.

Finally, the rival character appears. He will show up periodically in the next few chapters.

The next update will be late tonight.

→ 13. The Intense Night of First Earnings