Rest for the Dead
The blood of Northern European warriors pounded through my heart across dimensions.
“Y-Young Master!”
You crazy bastard, are you at it again?!
But Ancestor, I just can’t hold it in!
How dare a vile necromancer nest in our territory?!
Of course I love necromancy. I’m no necromancy discriminator.
But thinking about the disasters that unfold when a necromancer goes completely off the rails, I simply cannot bring myself to like these bastards.
Just look at this right now.
Grrr, uurrgh.
Grrrooooaar—
Countless zombies, zombies, zombies!
“How dare you do this to the people of our territory!”
I vented my rage through pure violence, swinging my shield and sword wildly.
Something not many people realize is that a shield makes an excellent blunt weapon.
Thud, crack!
Zombies struck by the edge of the shield toppled over one after another.
And as if answering my fury—
Golgooooool—!
Golgol let out a booming battle cry(?) and swung its greatsword.
“Rest for the dead!”
“Rest!”
Zeke and Milo chanted in response to my cry, and the two of them swept through the zombies like wolves among sheep.
The Minitons and soldiers weren’t idle either.
“Join for the finish!”
Tiktak!
The soldiers drew the maces they carried as secondary weapons and smashed the heads of the fallen zombies.
The Minitons matched their pace with maces of their own.
It was a feast of merciless violence!
But it still wasn’t enough.
“Where is the wicked necromancer—!”
I told you there’s none!
I know. I know, but I needed a target to vent this rage.
Not the zombies who were mere victims—I wanted to eliminate the true culprit who had caused this entire mess!
Of course, I hadn’t suddenly gone insane and transformed into a Northern European Viking.
It was a kind of attention-drawing, I suppose. The more undead flocked this way, the safer the survivors of the Merlin Count family would become.
“To the dead—!”
“Rest!”
“To the wicked necromancer—!”
“Death!”
We advanced through the fog as if possessed by crusaders joining a holy war, crying out for justice.
Zombies and skeletons continued to appear along the way, but nothing existed that could halt this overwhelming violence.
How far had we gone like that?
Something shot up from the darkness far ahead with a whoosh.
“Young Master—!”
At the same moment, Zeke stepped in front of me and swung his sword.
Clang—!
A different impact sound than before rang out, and sparks flashed in the air.
It was an unexpected enough situation to startle anyone, yet Zeke was indeed a seasoned knight.
“Hup!”
Instead of panicking, he swung again and delivered a righteous strike to the attacker.
And so—
Thud—!
The attacker, split cleanly in half, fell.
Without even a moment to identify it, Zeke immediately readjusted his grip and slammed his sword down on the attacker’s head.
Crunch!
Only then did I realize what it was.
“This is……”
For the briefest instant I wondered if we had cut down a survivor of the Merlin Count family, but fortunately that was not the case.
What lay before my eyes was clearly an undead, no matter who looked at it.
But what exactly was that?
A monster……? No, a beast?
Like a werewolf from imagination—hunched back, abnormally elongated arms, and knees bent backward like a goat’s.
And the strangest part was the skin.
Ashen white…… with a texture that looked hard at a glance.
It was Herben who provided the answer to its identity, as expected.
“Hmm, Young Master. This is a ghoul.”
“A ghoul!”
“It seems…… it will not be easy from here on.”
It was exactly as he said.
Grrrr…….
Kiriik, kik—!
From beyond the fog came cries that sounded uncannily like those of beasts.
This time, too, it was not merely one or two individuals.
Easily dozens!
“This is—!”
“So many ghouls!”
Milo and the soldiers cried out in dismay.
I understood.
These things were on an entirely different level from the pathetic undead we had been dealing with moments earlier.
Even if only once, they possessed the strength to repel the sword of Zeke—who had once been a match for Sir Valt.
But instead, my blood boiled.
“This damn necromancer!”
Just how many residents have you slaughtered!
You crazy psychopath!
“To the dead—!”
“R-Rest!”
“Shout louder! To the deaaaaad—!”
“Reeeest—!”
I immediately kicked off the ground and leaped, charging straight at the ghouls.
There was no fear.
Only pity.
Clang! Kagagak!
Crunch!
The ghoul’s sticky mucus splashed across my face with a wet slap.
Truly a filthy sensation.
Yet more than that unpleasantness, the noblesse oblige sleeping deep in my heart roared far louder.
Hurry and grant rest to those pitiful people.
Block, thrust.
“Reeeest—!”
Behind! Watch your back!
I actively utilized my third eye—the Ancestor—and slaughtered ghouls left and right.
At the same time, I felt how much I had grown.
If I had still been at the same level as during the territory war, I never could have cut them down this easily.
All of it was thanks to Golgol’s bloody efforts.
“Thanks For GoalGoal!”
As if sensing my feelings, Golgol swung its greatsword even more excitedly.
By this point, every force other than Golgol and me had to pour all their strength into supporting the two of us.
How much time passed like that?
“Huff, huff huff—!”
I looked around while gasping for breath.
The place was literally devastated.
Slaughtered ghouls and the mucus seeping from their bodies soaked the ground thoroughly.
“Please report the status.”
“There are no injured. Heh heh, you may take pride in this. This Herben has not experienced such a valiant fight many times in my life.”
It was praise that made my shoulders want to shrug, yet I calmly settled my heart.
This was no situation for simple rejoicing.
The situation is more serious than I thought.
Indeed.
Zombies and skeletons…… how many had we cut down?
Just the ones felled in this spot alone would easily exceed the population of an entire village.
Even that made the number of victims hard to estimate—and now ghouls!
No, not merely ghouls.
There will definitely be more than this.
Even ghouls were shocking. If beings above ghouls existed, what on earth could they be?
No! Before that—how many people had already been sacrificed?!
“What will you do? Even if we withdraw here, it would not be a disgraceful matter, Young Master. Rather, contact the territory and wait for the First Young Master or Sir Valt……”
“No. That cannot be.”
It was no longer simply a question of whether to save the third child of the Merlin Count family.
I had a gut feeling.
This damn fog would eat away at our territory.
Imagining it spreading and spreading until it swallowed our lands whole—I simply could not endure it.
Therefore—
“We continue.”
“Will you be all right?”
“Yes.”
I had been rampaging madly only moments ago, yet I was not particularly tired.
I still had strength left.
Above all—
I have a feeling.
Should I call it a necromancer’s intuition?
Where this fog originated, and how to eliminate it.
There is a center.
The moment I reached the center, I would naturally understand.
Of course I had not forgotten the survivors of the Merlin Count family.
I would save them as well.
“……Young Master, from now on I will take the lead.”
“Yes. Please do.”
We placed Zeke at the vanguard and advanced, slaughtering the ghouls, zombies, and skeletons that leapt from the fog.
How much farther had we gone?
“To the dead—!”
“Rest!”
“To the wicked necromancer—!”
“Death!”
As we advanced with those holy cries, a silhouette blocked our path.
“P-Please help!”
“An undead?!”
No, you crazy bastard!
I raised my sword and prepared to charge, then barely managed to calm myself.
Just as the Ancestor said, the figure was not undead.
A person…… a bit shabby, yet clearly a living human.
“Who are you?”
“I-I…… I am Lina, who serves Young Lady Ellie of the Merlin Count family.”
“Lina? No—more importantly, Young Lady Ellie of the Merlin Count family?”
It must be the third child of the count family. More than that, how about calming the girl down a little?
I nodded at the Ancestor’s words and offered a warm smile.
“I see. I am Khtun of Falaon. More importantly—is the young lady safe?”
“Ah—! Young Lady! Young Lady is in danger! Young Lady is…… Aaah, what do I do!”
The servant named Lina stamped her feet, completely at a loss.
What on earth had happened?
“Please calm yourself first and explain the situation carefully.”
“Y-Yes…… So, that is……”
Lina managed to steady her heart and recounted everything that had occurred.
When the story finished—
We all let out sighs without anyone needing to go first.
“Haa.”
“What kind of……”
It was a hard story to believe.
So what had she said again?
To summarize, it went like this.
“You heard our voices while hiding with the young lady.”
“Yes! And not long after, some knight came looking for us. So we naturally thought it was a rescue party, but……”
It was not.
Inside the helmet of the knight who had approached through the fog was empty.
“It was literally only darkness. And inside it an unknown light flickered—and that was absolutely, absolutely not a person.”
So—
“That knight took the young lady away, you mean?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right. Exactly that. Please, please save our young lady.”
“Of course we will save her. However, before that……”
“Y-Young Master? Forgive the interruption, but I have something urgent to say.”
“Ah, yes.”
I asked Lina’s understanding and stepped aside with Herben.
Once we were far enough that our voices would not carry, Herben spoke.
“It is dangerous. Judging by the story, the probability that it is a Death Knight is high. And if it truly is a Death Knight, it is a monster we alone cannot handle.”
Yes—that was why the soldiers had sighed earlier.
According to Lina’s words, a Death Knight—that monster—was here.
But—
“I will not overdo it. First, let us finish the conversation with Miss Lina.”
“Hmm…… Understood. Please make a wise choice.”
I returned to Lina.
And asked—
“Miss Lina, please answer as thoroughly as possible. When the procession was first attacked, do you remember what undead appeared?”
“Y-Yes…… I remember. Skeletons and zombies, and monster-like……”
“Those would be ghouls.”
“Yes! They were ghouls!”
“Hmm. Then did you see any other beings besides those?”
“Uh…… Ah! Come to think of it, there seemed to be knights mixed in! It wasn’t just one or two!”
“You mean the same kind as the knight who took the young lady just now?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm. I see.”
I nodded.
Herben approached again and whispered.
“It is dangerous. To think there is more than one Death Knight. As expected, waiting for Sir Valt and the First Young Master……”
“No.”
I shook my head.
Then I smiled at Lina.
“Miss Lina. You no longer need to worry. Because the dead have no worries, you see.”
“Aaah, thank you! Truly thank…… Yes?”
What “yes”?
“Golgol!”
Golgol!
Golgol cried out vigorously and smashed Lina’s head.
“No, Young Master?!”
“What is this!”
While Zeke, Milo, Herben, and the soldiers all stared in shock, the only calm ones were the Ancestor and me.
That was because we had already noticed.
“That is not a person. Look there.”
“Yes? No……”
“Hah! What is that!”
The one who had claimed to be “Lina” split cleanly in half, wriggled, then soon stuck itself back together.
As the body recovered, a voice emerged.
“H-How…… did you notice……”
“You didn’t even flinch when you saw Golgol.”
It’s human nature to jump at the sight of a pot lid after being startled by a turtle—yet after being burned by a necromancer, you don’t even react to a skeleton?
Well done, my descendant! Truly worthy of my bloodline!
Gah! What kind of curse is that!
Anyway.
“Now, speak up. What are you?”
Are you the minion of evil?