Body Heating Up
The kingdom is vast.
Even by carriage, the journey from the border to the capital takes a full week.
So even a village that isn't all that far from the capital still requires at least a day's travel by coach.
But carriages aren't something just anyone can hop into. It isn't a matter of status restrictions — they simply cost a small fortune.
Even with a decent amount of coin on hand, riding one whenever the mood struck would be pure extravagance.
So Viola and I set out on foot with our client toward the job site.
"...So we're finally here...."
After three days of walking, we arrived at the village.
Which meant no showers to speak of — just camping out with bugs and wild animals.
"Kyaek! Krrrk!"
The occasional monster was a free bonus.
And we'd have to go through the exact same thing on the way back.
...Should we just take a carriage next time?
Barely a month since running away from home, and my quality of life had already hit rock bottom. I was already itching to go back.
"Oh! There's the village up ahead."
The client, who looked like a priest, pointed at something in the distance.
...Looking closer, it was a nearly demolished wooden palisade. Judging by how wrecked it was, the place had probably been attacked by monsters.
...Well, at least this isn't the village Violet's staying in.
If it had been the village Violet had made her base, the palisade would have been intact — reinforced with magic, even. She'd supposedly preserved even empty villages exactly as they were.
The problem was that once the evil god fully descended, she'd summoned all sorts of things into the village she'd been using as a base. The village vanishing without a trace was just a side effect.
Hm? Is someone over there?
As we drew closer to the village, I could see something moving — a black silhouette.
"Hold on a moment, please."
The priest's expression turned serious, unlike before.
Clatter clatter—
Even though we stood still, the silhouette kept growing larger.
"...Undead, huh...."
Unfortunately, it looked like they'd turned undead before any purification work could be done.
"...Seems we're too late. Ren, could you take the front line?"
The priest immediately drew his staff and began praying.
I wordlessly drew my sword and walked forward. I could have charged in alone and handled everything, but if even one or two slipped past and reached Viola, that would be bad — so I decided to hold position.
Swish—
I glanced back and saw that Viola had already climbed up into a tree.
Yeah. Non-combatants should stay somewhere safe.
Reassured by that, I started cutting down the approaching skeletons.
"..."
Completely unaware that Viola was looking down with a frigid expression.
About an hour into hunting the undead.
"...Why are there still more?"
After cutting down the skeletons, zombies came out. After the zombies, ghouls. After the ghouls, wraiths. And after the wraiths, skeletons started coming out again.
I'd already taken out hundreds of them, but there was still no end in sight. It felt like running an infinite wave in a tower defense game.
I considered just charging into the village, but that might put Viola and the client in danger.
No matter how I looked at it, this didn't seem like a job two Iron-rank adventurers should be taking. Had the guild botched the difficulty rating?
"Litz?! There's no end to these things! Something's wrong, isn't it?!"
I called out to the priest, a little uneasy. If he was a clergyman, he ought to know about situations like this.
"Haa, I don't know either! Let's fall back and regroup for now!"
Oh, for fuck's sake. If you don't know, then what?
No choice. Time for a strategic repositioning.
"Viola!! We're falling back for now!!"
The moment she heard me, Viola leapt down from the tree and landed. It looked like over five meters, but she stuck the landing easily.
Slash—!
I split one last zombie's head in two, then put distance between us and the village alongside Viola and the priest.
Tap tap—
A forest a few kilometers from the village.
We sat around a campfire with dark expressions.
"Haaa...."
"Mm. Ren? The meat's all done."
"Ohhh. Looks perfectly cooked."
To be precise, only the priest — our client — had a dark expression.
Viola and I wouldn't face any major problems just for failing a job. If a request turned out more serious than expected, there wasn't even a penalty. So if it looked impossible, we could just head back and grab a meal. Having to camp out on the way back was a bit of a hassle, though.
The priest, on the other hand, seemed to have the mindset of a devout clergyman. He kept glancing toward the village and sighing at every opportunity.
I considered offering some comfort, but with my abysmal way with words, it probably wouldn't help much. So I just focused on eating the meat Viola was grilling.
"Litz. Is there any way we can clear those things out and do the job?"
"Haa.... If it were possible, I'd want to.... But if it's too much for you, Ren, we should head back and put in another request."
The priest looked a little resigned.
...I felt a bit sorry for him, but it wasn't my problem. Better to just go back and take a decent job. Preferably one as close to the capital as possible.
"Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to leave. With just the three of us, I don't see any real way to purify that village."
"I see.... Understood. Then there's nothing for it.... I'll take the second watch."
After sitting by the campfire for about two hours, Viola and Litz fell asleep.
"...Still can't get used to this."
Third night camping out, and it still didn't feel natural at all.
"Krrrk."
A world where monsters ambushed you every time you took watch. Were there always this many monsters?
Shing—
"Haa.... Let's get this over with quick."
Better deal with them before the others wake up.
"Yaaawn.... Litz? Time to get up."
Litz woke at Ren's voice. More precisely, he pretended to wake up.
"I'll get some sleep now, then. Good luck."
Litz looked down at Ren and thought.
What the hell is this monster of a guy? Why is someone like him only Iron rank?
A knight around the 3rd or 4th Tier who became an adventurer would normally start with a Gold-rank plate. Even without a token to prove their tier, there were no restrictions on requests — so if they cleared jobs matching their skill, they could rank up immediately.
"Mmnh.... Zzz...."
Which meant this man had just happened to take this as his first job....
Damn it. What rotten luck. Of all things, a 5th-Tier knight.
A fighter beyond what a 4th-Tier black mage could handle. If he'd been a magic-type, maybe — but Litz was a curse-type black mage. All he knew how to do was raise undead from corrupted ground or control nearby monsters. He had no choice but to let the man go.
"Heh heh. But that bitch is different."
After three days of observation, the man called Ren was nearly immune to magic — but the woman called Viola was another story. Just an ordinary woman.
The man's skill had been so unusual that Litz had first assumed the woman was a high-tier mage too, but she was a complete civilian who couldn't even sense mana. Probably an acquaintance or lover of the man's.
Which made it even better. If he mind-controlled the woman, he could use the man as a pawn as well.
Of course, the woman is mine to enjoy. Heh heh — getting my hands on a beauty of that caliber. My luck's finally turning.
Thinking that, Litz slowly walked over to Viola.
"Now then.... Be reborn as my faithful servant."
As Litz quietly chanted the spell, an ominous purple light poured from his palm as it approached Viola's forehead.
Just before his hand could touch her forehead—
Grip—
"?!?!"
Viola's right hand seized Litz's wrist.
"...How unpleasant."
Crunch—!
"Gyaaah!!"
She applied just a little force, and Litz's wrist was crushed to pulp.
"S-Spare m— mmph!!"
"Be quiet, insect. Master is sleeping soundly, so kindly keep it down."
Litz tried to scream, but when Viola made a gesture of sealing her lips, his mouth clamped shut on its own.
"Hmm.... Judging by the look of things, you're a black mage.... This is my first time seeing one, you know? If you don't mind, I'd like to learn about your magic."
Swish—
Saying that, Viola raised her hand above Litz's crown — not quite touching. From her palm poured a light far more ominous than his own.
"Mmph!! Mmmmph!!!"
The moment he saw that light, Litz tried to flee — but his limbs wouldn't so much as twitch.
"Hmm.... Not bad."
Violet closed her eyes and sifted through the man's memories, digesting the magic she'd found.
The undead summoning magic seemed reasonably useful. As for mind control — she didn't have any particular use for it, but it might help undo the perception-altering magic that witch from the count's house had used.
Fwoosh—
Violet burned Litz's corpse until not even ash remained, then approached Ren.
She knelt behind Ren, who was lying on his side.
"Sniff.... Sniff sniff...."
She lowered her head and pressed her nose to the nape of Ren's neck.
"Haa.... Because of some nuisance, I went three whole days without Master's scent.... Finally...."
With a flushed expression, Violet... moved her hand lower...
