Resurrection of the Dead (2)
“Well, the resurrections are done for now, but…”
I looked around at the villagers lying on the ground, then surveyed the utterly devastated village.
“It’ll take some time for them to wake up… and there’s nowhere to lay them down in the meantime.”
Every building had been smashed to pieces. While the Hero fought the wyvern, whatever had rampaged through here had left not a single structure intact. This was a problem.
“I can’t just leave them out in the open like this. Hmm…”
“Hmm… Should I build a wooden shack or something?”
“That’d take too long. Hold on.”
I tapped the ground twice with my foot, rousing the rock spirit slumbering beneath the earth.
「Who’re you?」
“I am the proxy of a passing goddess. I woke you because I have a task for you.”
「Huh? A task…? Sounds annoying… Yawwwn…」
I was holding back my power on purpose, but this attitude? Rock spirits were all way too laid-back.
“It’ll only take a moment. Just one job.”
「Ugh… You’ll keep bugging me if I say no, right? Fine.」
“Help me out just a bit. It’ll be quick.”
「Okaaaay.」
The rock spirit began wielding its power at my command. It leveled the ground in a wide clearing, raised pillars and walls, topped them with a massive roof, and punched out an entrance and ventilation windows. Just like that, a sturdy temporary shelter stood ready.
「Done? I’m going back to sleep.」
“Yeah. Sweet dreams.”
With that, the rock spirit returned to its slumber, and the Hero swiftly carried the revived villagers inside.
“So… when will these people wake up?”
“Who knows. This is my first time actually trying it… but they should come around within a few days.”
Recovering from the shock of body and soul separating would take time. Plus, the process of dying and coming back might’ve rattled their minds pretty badly.
“Though some memories might be gone as a side effect.”
“Huh? Memories?”
“Yeah. Memories.”
Memories were tied closely to the soul. The death-and-revival process could easily wipe a chunk of them—probably the most recent ones. But as far as prices for resurrection went, that was a bargain.
“Memories… gone…?”
“We’ll only know how much once they wake up. A few days at least, maybe a few months at worst?”
I hadn’t tested it myself, so I couldn’t say for sure.
“Anyway, all we can do now is wait and see.”
The next day, the revived villagers began stirring one by one.
Hmm. Looked like the resurrections had gone off without a hitch! They’d lost some memories as expected, so no one remembered the Hero they’d spent time with recently. But he just kept showing them the massive serpent corpse and the ruined village, explaining the situation over and over.
The villagers looked pretty dazed, but with that giant snake and the smashed-up village right there, they’d have to believe it eventually.
Even with all their homes and possessions destroyed, the villagers stayed remarkably upbeat.
“Hey, no one actually died for good, right? Some haven’t woken up yet, but that kid’ll be fine soon enough!”
Huh. Real positive bunch. As long as they didn’t stay dead, nothing else mattered, apparently.
With most of the villagers awake, the Hero sat beside the one who hadn’t stirred yet—the village chief’s daughter.
Hmm. Hmmmmm. Was the Hero starting to take a liking to her?
Hmmmmm. Well, age-wise, it wasn’t weird! By this era’s standards, he was old enough to start a family. Nothing wrong with taking an interest in girls.
But handing over the Hero I’d raised so carefully to some rural village girl? That felt off somehow. If I was gonna play matchmaker, it’d better be someone top-tier…
Still, something about it bugged me. This guy was gonna carve through hordes of monsters in my stead—I wanted to set him up with the best possible girl!
Ugh… If only I knew his type.
As I pondered the Hero’s future, the girl finally woke.
“Uh… um… where…?”
The girl blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar ceiling. None of the buildings in this tiny village had been made of stone, so yeah, it’d feel strange.
“You’re awake. You’re the last one.”
“Huh? The last…?”
The Hero spoke calmly from beside her.
“Take it easy and listen. You and everyone in the village were attacked by a massive serpent monster. All of you died.”
“What? We died? The whole village? Then… is this the afterlife? The underworld? I’ve heard rumors, but to actually end up here… Wow! They say there’s this huge river, wide as the sea! Am I gonna see it? They say you cross it on a boat!”
“Unfortunately, no. This isn’t the underworld. No river either.”
“Aww. Bummer. I always wanted to see the sea. Or a river that big. So… who are you? Oh, right—you said we were attacked by a giant serpent monster and all died. Did you bring us back? Reviving the dead? That’s like a miracle from the gods!! Thank you! I’m super curious how you did it, but thank you!”
At her innocent “Who are you?”, the Hero’s face clouded for a split second before clearing.
“It wasn’t me. The Dragon Priestess—proxy of the goddess who heard my plea—revived you all. You lost some memories as the price. I just killed the serpent a bit late. If I’d been faster, you wouldn’t have died…”
“Huh? Um… but you saved us all, right? We owe you our thanks. Oh, and the goddess’s proxy too…”
The girl worked the stiffness out of her limbs and stood.
“Haha, my body feels all stiff. Guess that’s what happens when you’re dead and rigid. Feels weird moving—kinda funny.”
“It might sound odd coming from me, but… you believe you died and came back?”
“Dunno why, but… seeing your face makes me want to. It’s our first meeting, but you feel familiar somehow. Weird, right?”
She gave an awkward smile. The Hero clenched his fist tightly at the sight.
“Where are the other villagers?”
“They woke up earlier and headed to the village site. Planning reconstruction.”
“Oh… reconstruction, huh.”
She spun around to face him with a grin.
“Dunno why, but I feel like you should be there when we rebuild.”
“Who knows.”
Whoa, whoa! She was flirting! Straight-up hitting on him!!!
“But I’ve got other things to do, so it might be tough.”
“Yeah… figured.”
She stepped outside and stared at the wreckage.
“Wow… everything’s really smashed. And that big thing was the serpent? No wonder the village didn’t survive a rampage like that. Man… our whole village wiped out by something that huge. I don’t remember it, but… maybe that’s a blessing. Must’ve been awful.”
“Yeah, well…”
Broken bones, flesh rotting from venomous fangs—not a fun way to go.
“Thank you. For bringing us back. It’s all I can say. Oh, right—the Dragon Priestess did the reviving? I need to thank her too…”
The Hero fell silent at her words.
“I’ll thank her later. Anyway, someone who can slay a serpent that big… you must be the Hero we’ve heard rumors about.”
He nodded wordlessly.
“Thought so. You’ve probably got a ton to do. Not like you’re the only ones suffering from monsters like that.”
“Well…”
She spoke softly.
“I want to help you—the Hero who revived me and the village. But country bumpkins like us can’t do much for you.”
She blushed a little.
“But there’s one thing I can do! Pilgrims from the Life Temple pass through our village all the time! Every time they do, I’ll tell them about you—about the Dragon Priestess who revived the whole village, and the Hero’s greatness in slaying that giant serpent! We can’t spread the word ourselves, but the pilgrims will carry it far!”
And so, rumors of the Hero’s first great deed began to spread from that tiny rural village.