“Isn’t it a bit too bold to pick my pocket like that? Hero.”
Ceres let out a small chuckle.
“Those people over there look like refugees; let’s give them some food. But let the regent pay for it, not the chief elder.”
— Ceres couldn’t retort, given how brazenly she said it.
Although she may look casual about it, as the regent of Kapatia, helping the nation’s impoverished isn’t exactly her jurisdiction, providing food to the refugees right in front of her shouldn’t be all that difficult.
“How about the hero pays for it?”
“Oh, I’m a guy who’s far from having money, you see.”
“Then the saint?”
“Ah, come on.”
*
“We can just buy what we need on the way. Sir Luis, don’t worry too much. I’ll pay with my own funds.”
“…That’s not strictly necessary.”
Luis, the leader of the Holy Knight Brigade, looked unhappy. He wasn’t against feeding the poor, but he couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied that instead of focusing on how they ended up here and what had happened, they were more preoccupied with stuffing their own faces.
Moreover, it annoyed him that the esteemed saint of the Church of the Celestial God was flitting about among those destitute people, serving them.
“Why the long face? You look full of complaints.”
Luis turned to the owner of that voice. A tall man with striking features and sun-kissed skin—no doubt a man’s man—Hero Ludvik.
“It wouldn’t have been too late to check on what happened first.”
At those words, Ludvik exhaled loudly.
Then, he stared at Luis with a grimace on his face.
With two goliaths standing against each other, the people around who were eating slowly retreated from the tense standoff.
“Oh my, it seems our commander has never gone hungry. You know, when you’re hungry, you can’t even speak properly. Besides, does listening to the reason first really resolve anything? Huh?”
“…Hero, perhaps you should consider changing that tone of yours.”
It’s a bit annoying to see someone from a lowly adventurer background acting all high and mighty because he’s a hero.
Furthermore, with that superiority complex that just inflated even more because he’s a hero.
It’s no wonder Luis was fed up with him spouting words so bluntly.
“Why are you two fighting again?”
Yona, carrying a basket of bread, stopped in the middle and looked back and forth between the two. They were both towering over her, but she showed no sign of intimidation.
“They say you shouldn’t disturb anyone while they’re eating, so why are you both fussing while people are having their meals? Lud, you should go too. Help Vign. And you, mister.”
‘…Mister?’
Luis, who had never encountered such rudeness in his life, was too dumbfounded to be angry.
“What am I supposed to do if I don’t even know your name or anything?”
“…It’s Holy Knight Brigade Commander, Luis.”
Still, he was one of Kapatia’s so-called heroes, having played a significant role in the ruckus that occurred right in the middle of Kapatia Port.
“Sir Luis, regular folks are not knights. They get tongue-tied when they’re hungry because they’re not knights. Look over there, the saint… Ugh. Vign even personally waits on those people, and what exactly is the brigade doing?”
“Waiting on meals isn’t our duty, is it?”
“Oh, so I see the saint’s duty includes serving meals, huh? That’s interesting.”
Yona’s clearly mocking tone made Luis flare up.
He was on the verge of exploding but was quelled by Ludvik’s piercing gaze and the intimidating presence of a bald giant who had unexpectedly appeared behind Yona, causing Luis to click his tongue and turn away.
*
“If you walk straight for about two days, there’s a village around here.”
Another village, huh.
Yona nearly frowned without realizing it.
The place where she saved Rubina was a small village too.
‘…We met Mr. James in a village as well.’
I guess I should think positively.
After finishing the meal, I summoned the man who was the representative of the village by carriage.
I needed to hear the circumstances, and if there was something I could help with at a public level, I should lend a hand. Otherwise, I would at least have to relay it to Infura.
In front of Ceres, the regent of Kapatia Port, the man was frozen stiff. It’s no wonder; he would never encounter someone of such high rank in his lifetime.
“What’s the name of the village?”
Ceres asked casually, not expecting much.
After all, a tiny village not even on the map probably wouldn’t have a name, and even if he told her, it’s unlikely she would know.
But what spilled out of the man’s mouth was—
“Semek, I come from Semek.”
“Semek, you say?”
“Se, Semek…?”
“Semek, huh?”
The voices of three people rang out simultaneously.
Ceres, Vigrind, and Yona were all taken aback.
Cemetery Village Semek.
Located roughly between Infura Church Region and Kapatia Port, but in reality, it was a village closer to Kapatia.
The village named Semek was entirely a cemetery.
It was customary for the deceased to undergo funerals conducted by the Cathedral before being buried. If there was no Cathedral, one would have to make their way to a village with a Cathedral before passing or call in a priest for the funeral.
The same was true for Infura Church Region. It was considered a wish for those in nearby villages to come here to meet their final moments.
If one died after entering Infura Church Region, the priests directly under the church would handle the funeral. The deceased’s body would then be sent to the church’s assigned cemetery rather than the village where they lived, and this designated cemetery was precisely in Semek.
It was the place where those who met a blessed death under Infura Church Region rest eternally.
That place was Cemetery Village Semek.
“Semek… what’s happened?”
Vigrind’s voice trembled slightly.
Semek, which should be peaceful for the resting of the dead.
Something must have happened in Semek.
As a saint of the Church of the Celestial God, this was no small matter.
“Please, tell us in detail.”
Ceres maintained her composure, as she was merely the chief elder of the Kapatia branch and was only in a cooperative relationship, not a direct member of the church. So, she didn’t experience the shock that Vigrind did—thus, she was able to stay calm.
The man glanced at Ceres, Vigrind, and Yona in turn.
Then, like he was a sinner, he bowed his head deeply and spoke in a small voice.
“The dead… the dead have begun to rise…”
*
Cemetery Village Semek.
For a long time, it has been a village where the corpses gathered after funerals conducted by Infura Church Region.
Back towards the entrance of Kapatia Forest, thanks to well-drained soil, the risk of flooding was low even during heavy rains, and it was located on slightly elevated terrain close to Medial Plain.
Due to the vastness of the cemetery, managing the graves became a family business in each household.
That night, those on night patrol gathered in front of the vast iron cage known as the sanctuary.
A total of fifteen adult men formed five teams of three to patrol.
Divided into morning, afternoon, and evening shifts, a total of 45 people patrolled, gathering at the iron-gated front every time for headcounts and to exchange reports of any unusual occurrences.
“Any unusual occurrences?”
“Nothing particularly alarming, but there were an unusually high number of crows flying around…”
“Is there a new corpse in here?”
“The last one came in three weeks ago.”
Naturally, there were an awful lot of crows in Cemetery Village Semek.
During the transfer from the Infura Church Region, corpses that started to decay inevitably produce a stench, and the crows would usually follow that scent, cawing away in the sky, so it wasn’t surprising at all.
“Is there any coffin lid that isn’t closed properly?”
“I didn’t check that. There are so many coffins, how could I check them all?”
“Ugh…”
Hearing that from Jacques, who had just become an adult a few days ago, Chief Danny clicked his tongue.
Thanks to whom the village was surviving, and yet he was slacking off on even that duty.
‘These young folks nowadays… Ugh.’
Thinking he should start some mental re-education soon, Jacques took the handover board.
“Anyway, old man, take care.”
“Yeah. Go in and rest.”
After Afternoons returned home, Jacques summoned the other four team leaders.
The unusually large number of crows was bothering him.
“It looks like there might be a coffin lid that’s not properly closed. Check around the ossuary and the mortuary to see if there are any lids left open.”
“Sigh, checking that would take all day.”
One ossuary has three mortuary rooms.
Each mortuary room has twenty coffins.
And there are more than fifty such ossuaries.
To check all 150 places for coffin lids, the leaders were clearly showing their reluctance, thinking it was impossible to finish tonight. But all they could do was nod reluctantly at Danny’s stern face commanding them to do so.
Timmy was one of those leaders.
At forty years old, he could be considered a veteran gravekeeper now, but today’s order from Danny was really hard to understand.
It’s easy to say coffin lid, but the weight is no joke. They’re literally stone blocks, which is to be expected, but checking each one with a lamp to see if it’s open, shaking it to see if it’s closed properly, and if not, having to close each one individually is no ordinary task.
Nevertheless, with Danny’s authority, he couldn’t refuse.
‘Old man, what are you trying to do sticking to the rules… even pee, we don’t have to aim so precisely… tsk.’
Timmy entered the ossuary.
During the day, it’s a pretty decent stone building, but at night, it has a strangely creepy atmosphere.
Being exposed to the wind and rain throughout the year, no matter how much it’s maintained, it’s inevitable that it gets worn out. The dark gray paving stones on the floor felt like they were sticking every time Timmy took a step, occasionally making creaking noises.
Despite not being a coward, today Timmy felt unusually chilly. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a bright vest over it, the cold seeping through the gaps felt like it was penetrating to his bones.
“Damn it, what’s with the weather too.”
If it were up to him, he would spit out a “kah-ack” with disdain, but since it was the ossuary, he couldn’t do that.
As Timmy descended the stone steps toward the mortuary, he swore at Danny in his mind.
– Caw.
‘…Huh?’
Thinking he heard a crow, Timmy, upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, raised his lamp and looked around. The flickering shadows cast over the coffins looked unsettling.
– Caw.
“…What the heck?”
It was the sound of a crow.
Definitely a crow.
That crow sound was definitely coming from inside the mortuary.
“Who’s there?”
Sounds have a way of playing with the atmosphere.
Thinking it was a crow made him feel that way, and Timmy wondered if maybe someone had come down before him and was hiding to play a prank, so he put on a serious face and spoke in a threatening tone.
“Who’s there? Jeff? Alrocho?”
Jeff and Alrocho were fellow team members.
But they would have gone to a different ossuary. They couldn’t possibly be here. Timmy felt strangely cold. The chill was penetrating his skin, making his bones ache.
“Who, who the heck are you?!”
Timmy snapped in frustration at the creeping fear. Who on earth was playing such a nasty trick? He quickly grabbed the silver mace hanging by his side. No matter who it was, even if it was a dead guy getting up, one good whack from this blessed mace would clean things right up in this cathedral.
“Who are you?!”
Gripping the silver mace made him feel an unexpected surge of courage. The bravery that surged from deep within him spread throughout his entire body, and he took a decisive step forward.
“Come out before I smash your head in!”
Timmy yelled loudly. And in response to his shout, there was nothing but silence.
He looked around.
Only then did he see it properly.
The lids of the sarcophagi were all ajar, not in their rightful places.
And the shadow that had been writhing on top of them—
Slowly, stood up.
“U-u-uuh, aaaaah!”
Timmy screamed.
The instinctive terror of that creeping thing tightened around his throat, and all he could think was that he had to run, forget the silver mace.
He turned around.
He had to run up the stairs to warn everyone.
And just as he stepped onto the stairs, he came face to face with it.
Skin hanging halfway off, dripping with yellowish pus.
One eye socket was completely hollowed out, while a half-exposed eyeball jutted out from the other eye socket.
The skin that should have covered the jaw was nowhere to be found, and the exposed teeth were stained yellow—
He had made direct eye contact with whatever it was that approached him.
Even the bodies in the morgue numbered over 150, with hundreds more buried in the regular graveyard.
Those corpses were rising. Wearing nothing but tattered, thin robes perfectly suited for the start of winter, mostly decayed and ineffective as clothing, they clawed at the earth, toppled gravestones, and overturned their former names. Slowly, they began to rise.
– Grrrraaaah…
A slow but powerful surge of bodies soon engulfed the graveyard. With screams and the loud sound of drums, the village closed off the iron windows of the graveyard, separating it from the village.
But it was useless. The pile of corpses charging like a wave didn’t care if their bodies broke apart as they dashed toward the walls, and thus the dead stacked their rotten flesh and surged toward the village like a tide.
*
The village chief, Danny, and the night crew had clearly already been overwhelmed by the wave, and thus the villagers gathered in the town hall split into two factions.
Those who would go to the Infura Church Region to report the incident, and those who would head to the Duchy of Kapatia to notify the authorities.
“So, we were just on our way to the Duchy of Kapatia…”
The man said while trembling.
The teacup in his hand rattled loudly, showing just how horrific the scene he’d witnessed in the village was, while Priest Vigrind let out a small sigh.
“We need to save Semek first, Elder. Semek is an important place.”
“…I know. I understand, Saint. I feel the same.”
Ceres’s gaze turned to Yona.
It was a clear question about what Yona and her party would do. They were merely hired for protection to Infura, so they couldn’t be forced, and this also posed the question of what Yona’s group would do since they were heading to Semek.
Yona plunged into thought.
Though she too was a priest, Semek wasn’t as crucial to her as it was to Vigrind.
While Semek was important for the church, that didn’t necessarily extend to healers.
After a long pause for consideration, Yona cautiously replied.
“Let’s talk about the payment first.”
Her essence lay in being a priest and an adventurer, and all members of her party were adventurers too.
Turning the question of what to do into one about how much they would pay was the neatest approach.
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