Chapter 19
“Then who goes up first?”
Austin asked while looking at the ladder.
He asked that while trying to decide the order for climbing.
I looked up at the ceiling.
So monsters might have left after the battle we had when entering the village, or the number could have increased.
I imagined the worst case.
Doing so prevented confusion even if the number of enemies later turned out different.
‘Twenty. It is safer to assu there are about twenty.’
Next I recalled the interior structure of the chapel.
I pictured what it looked like when I had visited before.
Faint images surfaced and [Cool] sharpened each detail.
Long rows of desks stretched along both sides and a podium stood at the center.
A chandelier hung above that was far too ornate for a chapel built in a small village.
‘There are many obstacles, so using them will help.’
I created several plans.
[Cool] and [Clever] examined each one for efficiency.
More than ten plans were discarded until only one remained.
I turned toward the three people.
Their expressions were without exception a complete ss.
“I will go up first. And to explain the plan……”
“Hold on. I appreciate you taking the lead, but why are you also trying to take command?”
“You have a problem with that?”
“Of course I do. That is my job. You lack experience too.”
He was right about that part.
I had no reliable record.
My background was unfavorable and there was no guarantee my ability surpassed theirs.
At that mont Talleon stepped forward.
“He led us when we fought the monsters in the dormitory. Everyone in the dorm was just an inexperienced apprentice, but he did really well. S-So what I an is”
“You an he is more dependable than he looks.”
“S-Sothing like that.”
When Talleon faltered, Lucille stepped in and supported him.
Austin clicked his tongue in irritation.
“You do understand this is a life or death situation, right?”
He snapped at Lucille.
She faced him without wavering.
“I know. That is why we are letting him do it.”
What had earned their trust?
I ignored the curiosity and explained the plan.
“Lucille, you use wind, correct?”
“Huh? How did you know? I never showed you.”
“Tania told .”
“That girl told you? Her mouth really loosened while I was gone huh.”
“I will get to the point. I want you to go up with and act as bait.”
Among wind spells there existed one that made the body lighter.
Lucille specialized in that.
A mage who fought with a sword instead of a staff and who sotis showed agility greater than a knight’s.
I trusted her skill.
“You are asking a lot. What about the other two?”
“They will wait below and kill the monsters we knock down. We will focus on luring them.”
“That sounds too easy for them. Any monster that falls will be crippled and they only have to stab it.”
Her judgnt was half right and half wrong.
Zombies did not stay in their initial form.
They evolved.
If they remained at the level they had when they first awoke, failing the ga would be impossible.
‘It begins with tougher bodies, but variants appear as ti passes.’
A month has passed since I woke up here.
It would not be strange if so mutated already.
I expected that so zombies we knocked down would get up without serious injury.
“It will not be as simple as you think. Oh, if you are scared, tell . I can switch you with Talleon.”
“What! That hits a knight’s pride. And why switch with him instead of Austin? Are you saying I am worse than an apprentice?”
Her reaction was rather amusing.
I had deliberately provoked her pride.
Her glare was fierce and a faint growl escaped her lips.
“He may look like that, but he does what needs to be done.”
“Hah. Unbelievable. What do you think my skill is worth?”
Lucille grabbed my hand.
A breeze wrapped around .
My clothes felt weightless as if they beca feathers.
“As a mage you know how good my technique is, right?”
“...[Tailwind]. Well, I guess that’s not bad.”
“Not bad? Wow, you talk like you are a professor.”
I shrugged.
She did not know how much magic theory I had learned.
Even if my skill was lacking, my knowledge was first rate.
I grabbed her hand in return.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Returning the favor.”
I cast a spell similar to hers.
The calculation was simple.
Modern mathematical formulas were beyond the technology of this world.
I worked through the numbers.
Light spread from my hand and wrapped around her.
“……This is.”
The buff was [Serenity].
It steadied the mind.
It looked simple, but in monts like this its value increased.
Lucille stared at .
“I only copied your spell. It will not have a perfect effect.”
I had read in books that perfect [Serenity] soothed the mind like a drug.
Compared to that, mine was a partial success.
Yet she recognized the talent.
“You did not fail. There was no backlash. Your calculations were correct. If you improved your basics……”
“If I did?”
“Ugh, forget it! Climb up already. They are waiting.”
I placed my hands on the ladder.
Before climbing I looked at Austin.
“Sir Austin.”
“What?”
“Choose wisely.”
“Choose what?”
“Anything.”
That was all I could offer him.
If he acted differently from what I predicted he would survive.
If he followed the prediction he would die.
“Hey,”
Lucille said from below .
“You may speak.”
“Why did you choose first?”
She wanted to know why I had not chosen Austin.
“Austin would have refused. He despises being put into dangerous situations.”
“Then you are saying I am easy to push around!?”
“No.”
I breathed once and answered.
“I chose you because I believed you wouldn’t stand still.”
“How co?”
“Because you are Tania’s sister. Soone proud of her sister would not want to remain a disappointing older sister.”
“So Holy magic lets you read minds?”
“No.”
“You just know how to see people then.”
I had interacted with her a few tis during the ga, so I understood her personality.
Lucille fell silent.
We climbed without speaking until reaching the ceiling.
“We are here. I will open it.”
If I lifted the panel, the chapel appeared imdiately.
I looked down and Lucille nodded.
“Kiheeek.”
A zombie stood nearby.
Luckily it had not noticed us.
I climbed out quietly and hid behind the podium.
Lucille followed quickly.
“Weren’t we supposed to lure them and drop them?”
“Yes. But I must check sothing first.”
“What is it?”
I peeked at the zombies gathered in the center.
They surrounded one zombie.
Judging from its clothing it had been the priest.
“Uugh. I-I must leave. N-New……”
My skin crawled.
The speech was clumsy, but it tried to talk.
An intelligent variant.
So zombies developed higher cognition.
‘Faster than I expected. It’s problematic that this is already happening.’
[Cool] told to calm my breath.
‘Even if it talks, it cannot give structured orders. It is just mumbling.’
There was no need to change the plan.
If we followed it we would win.
“Hey. You heard that, right?”
Lucille pressed against my back while watching outside.
Her cold chainmail jolted my senses awake.
“I think that monster muttered sothing.”
“You imagined it.”
“Really?”
“Just focus on luring.”
There was no ti to discuss mutations.
There were twenty two of them.
One mistake ant being eaten by those monsters.
I held my book and recited [Shield].
Two shields of light appeared beside the podium.
‘The back is a dead end, the sides are blocked, they can only co straight.’
The hidden passage was open in front.
Any monster approaching would fall in.
“Lucille, please scatter the chairs with wind.”
“You want the approach blocked? That’s a tricky request.”
She summoned wind.
Furniture rattled and crashed everywhere.
“Is that enough?”
“More than enough.”
Zombies stumbled into the ss.
The rest charged straight at us.
“They are coming.”
“So I kick them into the hole, right?”
Lucille sliced the first zombie’s arm.
Then she quickly kicked with her right leg.
After faltering for a mont, the monster fell right into the open hole.
Thud!
“Here they co.”
Austin’s voice ca from below.
Whatever happened there depended on the two waiting.
My job was to match Lucille’s pace.
I observed from the podium.
She counted each ti she dropped one.
“That makes seven!”
The title of knight was not decoration.
Knights had impressive ability.
Trying to help clumsily would only interfere.
“Hm?”
The priest zombie at the back bounced and looked at us.
It scread.
The charging zombies froze.
“Huh?”
Lucille reacted confusedly.
Seven zombies have fallen into the hole so far.
Then, zombies started throwing themselves into the hole even though that was no different from hell for them.
It wouldn’t have been strange if they fell in accidentally.
But one after another. Many tried to cram in at once.
“Hey, I don’t think these guys are normal.”
Lucille stepped back.
They tore their own flesh to block the passage.
The hole was plugged in the end.
A crushed mass filled the opening completely.
Their behavior was primitive.
If they wanted to block the hole, they could have shut the lid or used furniture. Or attacked from another direction.
They wasted eight bodies in order to block a single hole. As a commander of those monsters, that was a failure.
“I see. That explains it.”
Primitive, but still capable of thinking.
I dispelled the side shields.
There was soone I needed to fight first.
“Austin, co up! We cannot drop any more.”
I shouted.
Zombies looked at but I ignored them.
Enough ti passed for a reply.
But no response ca back, and no one climbed up the ladder.
“Austin! Can you not hear ?”
I shouted louder.
Still nothing from below.
‘So that is your choice.’
Austin did not know that his choice would strangle him later.
He would be abandoned.
No intervention was needed.
Selfish behavior pushed people away.
Austin failed to calculate human limits.
Lucille looked back.
“Are the other two coming?”
“No. I don’t think we can expect help.”
“See! What did I say? I said below would be much easier. Damned Austin! If he survives I will make him pay!”
She grumbled, but none of it was directed at .
“I will help.”
“As you should.”
I ran forward.
Passing Lucille, I aid at the zombie at the back.
So zombies looked at but shifted focus to her.
Zombies were instinctive creatures.
Instinct told them she was more dangerous.
“Kiheeek!”
I leapt before the zombie.
I raised my club and swung.
The bastard gave up its defense and aid its jaw at .
It failed to reach .
But my attack reached him.
The zombie’s neck twisted.
I stepped on its chest and smashed its skull until the resistance faded.
‘They are getting stronger.’
The ga difficulty was rising.
It was turning into THE Survival, the one that had made taste bitter defeat so many tis.
This world clearly had no intention of letting live.
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