Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Ghost
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-Clack. Clack.-
Sure, I was stunned for a moment by Chris's corpse suddenly vanishing, but the skeleton didn't give me any time to think. It came straight for me this time.
Having just watched it brazenly slaughter someone right in front of my eyes, I didn't hesitate. I activated the [High-Pressure Cleaner].
-Splurt!!
The powerful jet of water shot out and pierced straight through the skull of the walking skeleton. That alone was enough to halt its movements.
"What the hell is this...?"
Trees walking on two legs, and now skeletons shambling around on their own. I'm seeing all sorts of nonsense.
Leaving the now-immobile skeleton behind, I checked where Chris had disappeared, but not even a single strand of hair remained. At least I'd taken his sword and scales beforehand, but that was it.
'Tch. Did he escape?'
But that didn't make sense either, not with that skeleton around. It looked like he'd died for sure... No way there's some respawn mechanic at the nearest village or something. This isn't a game... Or maybe there's a holy relic that does exactly that... Damn. No clue.
Contaminant Classification: Corpse
I let out a sigh and glanced down at the skeleton beside me. A system window popped up. Corpse, huh... Yeah, it was a corpse, alright. What kind of corpse walks around on its own, though?
"Rio. Any idea what this thing is...?"
"W-Well... It looks like an undead, but I've never seen one in person before..."
Undead... Undead, huh. This world's getting pretty fantasy-like. Sure, there's magic here, so undead wouldn't be too out of place. Anyway, Rio didn't seem to know much...
Will you move employee [Erzsebet] to this area?
Time to ask someone who might actually know.
The moment Erzsebet was summoned to me, she started venting about everything she'd been through.
"A seal on me, of all people! What kind of seal ceremony is whipped up by one person like that? Proper seals require complex rituals and are still unstable as hell, but those holy relics of yours..."
Apparently, she'd vanished because she'd been sealed. She was raging that no seal should be able to contain a high-level being like her so easily.
'...And that's why she looks like that.'
Incidentally, the moment I moved her, I eyed the corpse that had come along with her. It was the priestess in robes from the group that fled earlier. For some reason, she now had wings sprouting from her back, and her face was frozen in utter despair. What the hell did Erzsebet do?
"I didn't do anything... She was praying to some weird cushion or whatever all by herself and despaired on her own. Felt kinda iffy killing her for no reason."
"Cushion?"
What cushion? Was that the symbol of their One God faith or something?
-Tok. Tok.-
"Yeah... Dry. Good job."
-Swish!!
As I chatted with Erzsebet, Dry's roots slithered over, demanding attention. I'd thought Dry was sleeping off the demon energy from the earlier invaders, but suddenly it shoved a mummy-like human wrapped in tree roots right in my face. You can imagine my shock.
From Dry's frantic root gestures, it seemed like it woke up furious after sensing I'd been hit by an arrow... Still, couldn't you have kept at least one alive, Dry?
'I was hoping to leave one breathing...'
Male hero: Chris. Killed by skeleton.
Archer hero: Lily. Drained completely of nutrients by Dry and died.
Priestess hero: Luna. Drained of blood by Erzsebet and died.
Mage hero: Sera. Eaten by Rio. Details omitted.
I'd wanted to keep one alive, turn them into one of Erzsebet's kin, and grill them on whether more were coming, what humans knew about this ruin exactly—plenty of questions. But they all croaked...
'Regrettable as it is, focus on what's next.'
I've dealt with intruders plenty of times now, so I just accepted it. At least a decent-looking hero bit it this time—hopefully that'll scare the humans off from sending more...
Come to think of it, weren't humans pushing some policy about maintaining dungeon numbers? If word spreads that this place is a dungeon, maybe they'll just leave it alone. Fingers crossed.
For now, though, urgent matters first.
"Here?"
Following Erzsebet—well, one of her kin's guidance—we arrived at the spot. Sure enough, smack in the garden's center stood a staircase that clashed with the surroundings. Narrow enough for two people abreast, it reeked of rotting corpses.
Ah, of course, thanks to my [Cleaning Mask], I couldn't smell a thing. That's just how Erzsebet described it.
"Master... You can feel it too, can't you? This thick death aura wafting up from below the stairs..."
"........."
Feel what?
"No doubt, this leads to a den of undead. Far stronger than that skeleton you faced earlier—high-level ones for sure."
"........."
"Makes me even more curious about this ruin's true nature. Hmm... Memories still not recovered? A vibrant garden tended by a dryad above, and right below, swarming with undead..."
Suddenly, I really don't wanna go down there. Death aura or whatever, I don't get it—but point is, that staircase crawls with walking skeletons and worse.
"Master. Shall we go in?"
"......We have to."
No choice. I saw a skeleton pop out from here and slice a guy in half right in front of me. Can't just ignore it. I could seal the entrance again, but that's just kicking the can...
Now that I know this exists, I won't sleep soundly anyway. What if a skeleton bursts out while I'm snoozing and lops my head off? I considered sending just Erzsebet, but she's got this weird klutz side, so solo mission feels iffy.
I'll go too, but keep the system window open for [Quick Teleport] escape anytime...
-Splashhhh...
Obviously, fire up the [High-Pressure Cleaner] first. Traps might be down here too, so I scanned the system windows carefully while blasting water and advancing.
Unknown filth peeled away, and the resulting muck mixed with water got mopped up with the [Dry Mop].
"I've seen it before, but this power is incredible... The force that erased my blood—is it the same magic?"
"Nah, that's different."
Erzsebet's blood was cleaned with [Detergent (Blood)]. Trying the [Dry Mop] on blood doesn't work. I figured liquids might not mop up, but in the Cleaning Game, blood's classified separately as a contaminant—so no dice with the mop.
Game tools were specialized like that... But mostly, I just end up using the High-Pressure Cleaner.
"But Master... You're totally fine?"
"With what?"
As I kept scrubbing stains off the stairs, Erzsebet hit me with a random question. Fine? With what?
"......Never mind."
She shook her head at her unflappable master's demeanor. Who's worrying about who here?
The death aura grew thicker the deeper we went, and she'd fretted it might affect Master... But of course her master wouldn't falter against mere death aura.
"Hm?"
Eugene paused mid-clean as something pure white approached from below.
'Another skeleton?'
Erzsebet said other undead lurked down here, so maybe. It didn't look humanoid from afar, so without a second thought, he redirected the [High-Pressure Cleaner] nozzle and fired.
-Whoosh!
"...What?!"
Unlike what he'd expected—instant takedown—the water jet passed right through the white figure. Now closer, its true form revealed itself...
"...A ghost?"
Humanoid shape, but no proper facial features—just a bizarre, semi-transparent figure floating through the air, advancing on them. Stunned that his trusty [High-Pressure Cleaner] failed, he froze. Then Erzsebet stepped up from behind.
-Splatter!!
Her blood spray engulfed the ghost. Unlike his water that whiffed harmlessly, hers struck true.
"Kieeeek!!"
"Hm. A specter, eh. Ethereal undead too..."
Erzsebet casually dispatched the ghost—specter—and tilted her head at Eugene's missed shot.
"Odd, though... Ethereals ignore physical attacks, but why'd it shrug off Master's magic too...? Water magic leans physical, sure, but it's still magic..."
...Pretty standard fantasy trope.
Ghosts, specters, banshees—ghostly undead in stories ignore physical hits, only mana-infused attacks work... Makes sense mine whiffed. No magic here.
'Tricky.'
He'd figured he could handle some undead with the cleaner on the way down, but these? No dice for him. He couldn't cast spells...
'Wait. Hang on.'
"Hm. So Master's 'magic' just shoots real water? Storing and firing is magic, but... No, attacks should carry demonic energy or mana..."
Ignoring her analysis, he opened his inventory. It should be around here...
'Found it!'
The Cleaning Game had tons of maps. Wild ones like the lava volcano I'd last played, or normal ones like mansions, pools... Varied cleaning stages. Among them, a Halloween update added spooky ones.
Abandoned hospital, haunted house, graveyard—horror game vibes. Ghosts would pop up to scare you mid-clean. Probably for Halloween frights...
Anyway. Players had a counter for sudden ghosts.
[Ghost Vacuum Cleaner (Lv. Max)]: A special vacuum designed to suck up ghosts!
...Looks just like a parody of Luigi's Mansion or Ghostbusters. A uniquely shaped vacuum cleaner appeared in my hand.