The Bandit's Whisper
The fraudulent protagonist worked hard to resolve the incident. (3)
About 800 meters from the hospital, three mage-thieves were running toward the building.
"Hey! How much farther to the building?!"
"Almost there!"
"Agh, I'm dying here~!"
The scouts from Kelts Pitra were thoroughly exhausted from managing the warg troll aggro for so long.
"Quit complaining! If you're that tired, go with Sir Delpiari to the front lines!"
"No thanks. Honestly, one wrong move and we'd get swept up by those warg trolls, you know?"
"Then shut up and run!"
"Kahaha! It's not like Sir Delpiari would take us anyway. We're too weak!"
"True enough."
"You should be grateful. The only reason weaklings like us with no combat ability can stay in Kelts Pitra is because we can do this job."
"Well, yeah~ There's almost no chance of dying. No need to fight, either."
"Fine, fine! I get it! Do you have to nag me just for saying one thing?!"
They were so used to the role that they could chat while running. After the world fusion, they had done this many times already. In the magic world, villages were usually guarded by soldiers or adventurers, and monsters near settlements were wiped out, so the tactic rarely worked. But after the fusion, dungeons and monster villages often appeared right next to human settlements. Tricking and looting clueless modern humans was far too easy. Having grown accustomed to luring monsters, they had lost any sense of danger.
Thud-thud-thud...!
Something was running toward them from up ahead.
"Huh? Someone up there?"
"It's nothing. Probably just people coming out of the hospital. Everyone leaving that place has their guard down, so just ignore them and keep running!"
"Got it~"
Having already finished gathering intel on the hospital, they thought nothing of it and kept running. But what appeared before them was no ordinary adventurer.
"What?! Undead?!"
Two skeletons with glowing red eyes were charging straight at them at incredible speed.
"C-calm down! According to the info Sir Delpiari gave us, there's a necromancer at that hospital! These must be his undead!"
"Then why are they running at us?!"
"F-first, dodge!"
The thieves were caught off guard by the completely unexpected situation, but they still tried to evade the skeletons on the fly. The problem was that these skeletons were no ordinary undead.
Clack! Clack!
The sound of clacking jawbones rang out. Paying it no mind, the thieves threw themselves left and right just before colliding. If these had been normal skeletons, they would have frozen in confusion at the sudden split in three directions. But the skeletons before them were different. As if they had already predicted the move, the red glow in their eyes locked onto two of the three thieves. The skeletons slammed to a halt, shattering the ground beneath them, then swung their bony arms and struck the targeted thieves in the neck.
"Kuh...!"
"Ghk!"
"U-uwaaah!!"
Seeing his two companions die in an instant, the remaining thief fell into a panic. Instinctively sensing that he would die if caught, he forgot his original mission and bolted like a madman.
Clack! Clack.
Once again, the sound of clacking jawbones echoed. Then—
Thud!!
"Kuhk...!"
The thief felt a sudden impact from behind and tumbled forward. Even as he tried to get up and run again, his body refused to obey.
"Ugh... Why... my body...!"
Feeling something was wrong, he checked himself and found a sword protruding from his stomach. One of the skeletons had thrown its blade at him. Overwhelmed by terror, the thief felt no pain—only the realization that, like his companions, he was already dead.
The skeleton approached the fallen thief and looked down at him.
"Kuhk...! P-please, spare—"
The thief couldn't even finish his plea before the skeleton's sword ended his life.
****
'They were just bait, so it wasn't too hard.'
'It's not over yet, so don't get cocky. Bring the bodies quickly. The ground's shaking—they're almost here.'
'Got it.'
Having completed their task without difficulty, Khan and Ron picked up the corpses they had made.
'We're closer to the hospital than I thought.'
'Yeah. Hopefully the lure works properly...'
With the hospital now only about 500 meters away, Khan and Ron couldn't stop at simply eliminating the thieves. They had to take their place and divert the monsters' advance. Carrying the bodies, they ran in the direction the thieves had come from. Soon, through a massive cloud of dust, they spotted over three hundred warg trolls.
'If I'd seen these back when I was human... I'd probably be shaking and running for my life, huh?'
'Khan, we absolutely cannot let them reach the hospital.'
'I know. They're monsters, after all. They won't ignore the scent of blood.'
The lead warg troll spotted Khan and Ron holding the thieves' corpses and let out a roar.
'Time for a fun game of tag.'
'Three hundred and fifty taggers, huh~ Sounds exciting.'
Khan and Ron began running perpendicular to the charging warg trolls, and the monsters gave chase.
****
At the same time, in the hospital recovery ward.
Click!
The baby roach on Joyeon's shoulder made a small sound and began tapping his shoulder rapidly with its tiny legs.
"Uh... um... M-mon... ster... lure... No, wait, not lure? H-hold on. Do it again. I didn't catch that."
Unfamiliar with Morse code, Joyeon focused all his attention on deciphering House's message.
"Hmm~ So Khan and Ron have started the lure. At least we can breathe a little easier now."
Relieved that the most dangerous phase had passed, Joyeon looked around the recovery ward at the people inside, ready to carry out his next task.
'Her name was... Trisia... Trisia... Ah, found him.'
Sosia had entrusted him with bringing Trisia's party. Checking the names written on each bed, Joyeon located a man named Trisia. Beside him were two companions—one still looking somewhat unwell, the other nearly fully recovered. They were the same people Joyeon had seen in the emergency room a few days ago.
'Hmm... How do I get them to the cafeteria?'
"Excuse me..."
Just as Joyeon was wondering how to approach them, Trisia spoke first.
"Do you need something from me?"
"Ah, um— You're Trisia's party, right?"
"Yes. I'm Trisia."
"Uh~ The Saint asked me to bring you over for a moment."
Unable to come up with a better excuse, Joyeon simply said that Sosia had called for them.
"The Saint...? May I ask why?"
"I was just told to pass on the message. I don't know the exact reason."
"Do I have to go myself? As you can see, I'm not fully recovered yet... Could my companions go instead?"
"I was told to bring the whole party. Probably not."
"I see..."
Surprisingly, Trisia didn't question Joyeon's words at all. He slowly rose from the bed with his companions' support and prepared to move.
"Where should we go?"
"Uh... It's lunchtime, so maybe the cafeteria?"
"Understood..."
Trisia's party began heading toward the cafeteria. Joyeon followed, inwardly cheering at how smoothly things were going.
****
When they arrived at the cafeteria with Trisia's party, Ragon's party, Arty, and Tiasia were already seated. Joyeon gave Arty and Tiasia a quick wave before finding a seat elsewhere. Trisia looked around and spoke to Joyeon.
"It seems the Saint hasn't arrived yet?"
"Yeah. She should be here soon."
'I thought she'd already called Delpiari's party and be waiting... Guess not. I wanted to call Jack and May too, just in case...'
Thinking the situation was mostly resolved, Joyeon sat quietly waiting for Sosia. About five minutes passed.
'She's taking longer than expected...'
"I'll go look for the Saint. She's really late."
"Ah, why not just wait? I'm in no hurry."
"No, it's rude to call someone and then make them wait."
"It's really fine. The Saint is a busy person, after all. Let's just wait."
"...If you insist..."
At Trisia's words, Joyeon couldn't find a way to argue and had no choice but to stay seated. Arty and Tiasia's table was in a similar situation.
"Hmm~? Not many people using the cafeteria today."
"Yeah... seems so."
"We've practically got the place to ourselves. But why is the food taking so long...? Should I go complain?"
"Ah, in that case, Arty and I can go check—"
"No! I couldn't possibly ask you two to do that! I'll go myself!"
"Uh... Hey, let's just wait. We can keep talking."
"Haha! Shall we?"
Ragon was so excited at the prospect of eating with them that Joyeon and the others were busy trying to stop him from running off.
'Why isn't she coming? Once Mom gets here, this is basically over.'
The plan was nearing its end, yet things kept dragging on. Joyeon's impatience was turning into irritation. Five minutes wasn't much normally, but right now every second counted. The warg troll horde still hadn't reached the hospital, so things were holding for now—but that didn't mean they were safe. If the sentries brought news of monsters, they couldn't stay here. And with no further word from Khan and Ron, the warg trolls hadn't been fully dealt with either. It was a situation where anything could explode at any moment.
'House? You're definitely watching Mom right now, so why aren't you saying anything?'
Joyeon tried asking House directly out of frustration, but House gave no reply for some reason. Just as Joyeon was about to stand up, unable to bear it any longer—
Creak!
The cafeteria door finally opened. Every eye in the room turned toward it. The people entering weren't Sosia and Delpiari's party, but the usual patients and staff.
"...?"
Following behind them were Sosia and Delpiari.
'What... what's going on?'
Stunned by how differently things were unfolding from the plan, Joyeon stared blankly at Sosia and Delpiari. Sosia said nothing to him.
"Ah, Joyeon. I didn't expect to see you here. Hohoho."
Delpiari's laughter, which had once seemed harmless, now sounded strangely unsettling.
"H-hello, Sir Delpiari. Did you come for lunch?"
"Yes. The cafeteria is where one goes to eat lunch, after all. What brings you here, Joyeon?"
"I—Mom told me to bring these people to the cafeteria, so I did and I've been waiting."
"Ohoho~ I see. So the Saint asked you to..."
With Trisia's party right beside them, Joyeon couldn't lie, so he answered while hoping Sosia would play along. Delpiari glanced at Sosia as if to confirm the story. But Sosia remained silent, offering no indication whether Joyeon's words were true or false.
"How strange... The Saint came here to have lunch with us. Could she have made two appointments at once? Hohoho."
"Th-that's... weird...?"
Sosia's silence. House's lack of response. Delpiari's laughter. Ragon pestering Arty and Tiasia. Trisia's party staring at him from behind. Jack and May's disappearance after telling people the cafeteria was closed. All of it made Joyeon increasingly anxious. The patients and guardians who had entered paid no attention to Joyeon or Delpiari, simply ordering their meals as if nothing were amiss.
"Well, since we're here, shall we have lunch together? If there's a misunderstanding, we should clear it up."
Still smiling, Delpiari approached Joyeon and placed a hand on his shoulder, then whispered softly into his ear.
"Explain yourself before you do anything foolish. That way, your precious mother won't die."
"...What? What did you just...?"
At the sudden words, Joyeon widened his eyes and stammered. Delpiari's grip on his shoulder tightened.
"Smile. People will get the wrong idea. If they misunderstand, it won't be you who dies—it'll be your mother. Hohoho..."
"......"
Unable to comprehend the situation, Joyeon's face stiffened as he looked at Sosia. Sosia still said nothing.