Chapter 6: The Escort Request and the Undead Subjugation – 04
The subjugation team marched for a day through the forest where the Undead Castle was located, finally reaching a nearby village.
They set up camp around the village and planned to storm the castle the following morning.
Of course, during the overnight stay, vigilance was at its peak. Undead are primarily creatures of the night, after all. It was hard to imagine leaving an army that might attack our base unchecked for an entire night. The lich we fought before had exuded a sense of intelligence.
We settled into the tent set up by the soldiers of the leading army, but an unsettling feeling crept over me, prompting me to wake up partway through the night.
I stepped out of the tent, equipped and ready. Magical lights illuminated various spots around the camp, casting a glow over the surroundings. They must have been quite expensive, but it seemed the leading army had them well-equipped.
As I reached the outer edge of the camp, I noticed three soldiers standing guard in groups of three. Scanning the area, I spotted two more groups of sentinels. The level of alertness was impressively high.
“What’s up with you? An adventurer? We’ll handle the watch, so you should get some rest,” one of the guards called out as I approached.
“Ah, sorry about that. I just wanted to catch some night air. Plus, I have a bad feeling about tonight,” I replied.
“Is that the intuition of an adventurer? Don’t scare us like that,” he said, chuckling.
“Apologies, I tend to worry too much.”
As we exchanged words, something brushed against my Presence Detection. It was a faint response, but something was definitely approaching. Perhaps a small animal… or could it be a monster with the skill to deceive my Presence Detection? If that were the case, we could be facing a formidable foe.
“Something is approaching. It might be a monster, so please step back,” I warned.
“Wait, seriously!? Everyone, fall back!” the soldier shouted.
As I issued the warning, the soldiers retreated toward the camp. If it was a monster, we would need to call for reinforcements immediately.
I squinted into the dark expanse beyond the reach of the light. Thanks to my Vision skill, my sight was considerably improved, but I wished I had a skill like Night Vision.
The grass rustled ominously. There it was—a dog.
A wild dog… no, something was off. Its fur was matted and parts of it appeared to be rotting. So, it was a zombie dog.
“It’s a monster! Reinforcements!” I shouted.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” a soldier echoed my call.
I could sense the camp erupting into chaos.
For now, the nearby zombie dog seemed to have targeted me. However, my Presence Detection indicated that there were many more approaching. Reinforcements were essential.
The zombie dogs lunged at me one after another, but as soon as they entered the range of my mace, they burst apart. It seemed that their strength was only as formidable as their appearance, bolstered by their skill to conceal their presence.
As chunks of flesh scattered, a horrid stench filled the air. Zombies were truly the worst kind of enemies to encounter in the field.
I must have turned dozens into mincemeat. A short distance away, several adventurer parties had already arrived, beginning to take down the zombie dogs as well.
“Lord Soushi!” “Soushi, ugh, it stinks!”
It seemed my two companions had arrived. However, they both stopped a little way off. It was understandable; I was surrounded by heaps of rotting flesh. I myself was covered in the foul remains.
“Please take care of any I miss from there. You don’t need to come closer!” I instructed, stepping further toward the oncoming zombie dogs. There seemed to be a larger presence deeper in the fray. If it was the boss, I needed to confirm it.
I advanced, obliterating the zombie dogs that leaped at me, gradually closing in on the boss’s presence. It seemed the boss had no intention of moving.
“What is that…?”
I finally caught sight of what appeared to be the boss.
I had thought it was a monster, but the figure looming in the darkness resembled a two-meter-tall stone monument.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed a black mist swirling around the monument, from which zombie dogs were emerging one after another.
In other words, that was a zombie dog spawning device. What an annoying contraption.
I sprinted toward the device and smashed it with my mace. The monument was thin and easily shattered at its base, causing it to topple. As the surrounding black mist dissipated, it seemed to have ceased functioning.
Using my Presence Detection skill, I scanned the area and discovered several more of these devices scattered around. I dashed around, destroying each one. With this, no more zombie dogs should spawn.
“What… there are already adventurers here…?”
“It’s no use… we’re retreating!”
At that moment, I heard a muffled voice from the direction of the forest. I strained my eyes toward the source of the voice, but there was no one left. My Presence Detection picked up two responses rapidly fleeing in the direction of the Undead Castle. They were undoubtedly related to the situation.
Come to think of it, Zeal, the leader of the Fortuner party, had mentioned something about someone who summons the undead. If that was the case, then the emergence of the Undead Castle must be connected to those individuals.
Regardless, I needed to report to Commander Anatoria, but first, I had to deal with this filth and stench.
When I returned to the camp, the battle had already concluded. Soldiers from the leading army were extracting magic stones from the corpses of the zombie dogs and gathering the bodies to burn them. It seemed the burning was being handled by one of the adventurer mages.
Though I looked like a zombie myself, since I was accompanying the commander, Leila, the beautiful mage from Fortuner, personally used a high-pressure water spell to clean me up.
Afterward, Freinir cast Purification on me, making me feel cleaner than before the battle.
“Yep, there’s no smell at all. You’re all good now. Freinir’s magic is amazing,” Larni said, sniffing close to me, giving her seal of approval. I thanked Leila and Freinir before heading to report to Anatoria.
“Ah, Soushi. I hear you destroyed the Summoning Stones. Well done. Please, tell me what happened,” Anatoria said as I entered the command tent, gesturing for me to take a seat.
I recounted the events from the appearance of the zombie dogs to the destruction of the Summoning Stones, concluding with the voice I had heard and the presence I suspected was behind it.
“Hmm, from what you’ve said, it seems those individuals placed the Summoning Stones. There were two of them, and both headed toward the castle?” she mused.
“At least within the range I could detect,” I confirmed.
“What’s important is the fact that they ‘retreated.’ If non-monsters are involved in this matter, we’ll have to consider various implications.”
It’s common knowledge that monsters don’t retreat. Well, that conversation certainly didn’t sound like something a monster would have.
Anatoria narrowed her eyes, appearing to contemplate something, but she quickly returned her focus to me.
“Very well, that’s not something we need to dwell on right now. Thank you for your report. Your contributions will be reflected in your reward. We will proceed with the subjugation mission as planned tomorrow, so please rest until morning.”
“Understood. Thank you very much,” I replied.
Leaving the command tent, I returned to our own tent. Since I had told them to sleep, Freinir and Larni were already softly snoring.
With my uneasy feeling dissipated, I felt I could finally get some sleep until morning. I lay down at the edge of the tent and closed my eyes.