74 – 3. Two Adventurers (27)
27.
“Do you understand?”
A hazy consciousness, a tickling voice tormented my ears. I put her magic book down on her table and looked at her with her eyes wide open as I gave a rough answer.
“Somehow.”
“Yes, I guess.”
The witch twirled her finger instead of her wand, her seductive eye smile. She looked in her good spirits, and the corners of her long eyes curled like her crescent moon.
“No matter what anyone says, you are my student…… I thought I wouldn’t be blocked by this level of theoretical system.”
“Is that so?”
A blunt answer indeed. As a disciple, there is no attitude of respect for the pleasure of the teacher. But in fact, it was to cover up shame, and she and I both knew. To me at the time, how sweet her words of praise were. It was to the extent that she devoted herself to studying while sitting in the library and pouring her nosebleeds to listen to the brief words of that acknowledgment nuance.
Anyway, that day was also a result that I finally achieved after 70 hours of reading. Hearing my answer, the witch smiled contentedly and repeated unsolicited explanations. She didn’t smell her alcohol when we kissed her in the morning, so maybe she was hiding her drunkenness with magic again? On that day, she was toxic.
“Yes…… The spells you answered earlier can be used as long as there are simply rolling corpses, but [Create Undead] Or the higher order [Create Greater Undead] Cannot be implemented simply with human corpses.”
“…… Is it because it is a high-ranking species?”
“Not necessarily, but yes, ‘free will’, so to speak. Skeletons and zombies created with low-level [Animate Dead] Spells lose their fighting power when the caster loses control, leaving only their instincts. However…… [Create Undead] Series of spells have a more complicated system, so once created, they move with their own self.”
I heard that and looked at the skeleton standing in the corner of the room, wearing uniform and holding a tray of teacups. Her mansion was full of undead who couldn’t fathom such intentions. Perhaps feeling my gaze, the witch smiled and said to me.
“Haa, Jin, there is nothing to worry about. Those skeletons are just like furniture, ornaments. That’s right, since I molded it, I can’t treat it as a normal skeleton, but I can’t work on research like the riches do.”
“Yes… ….”
“Remember, Jean. You are the only life I have meaning to save. If you don’t forget…….”
Again. Her voice gets quieter as if the volume was turned down. In my hazy mind, her last words echo…….
“──.”
Soon, my consciousness came out of the dream.
※
Coming to my senses, I slowly inspected the appearance of the ghoul I was facing. Fortunately, while I was bruising for a while, no one seemed to notice my condition, even Mira drew her dagger and exchanged glances with him.
“…… It’s not a gast.”
“Jin?”
“That bastard. It’s just a ghoul. Even if it looks a little better.”
It could be absurd to say that a monster that looked like a corpse was in good condition, but it was clear that it was a fairly strong object in that no bones or internal organs were visible. Can Gerald win 1-1? It might be advantageous since that shiny sword seems to be effective against the undead.
“Okay… ….”
Hearing my words, Chloe pulled out her rapier and stood next to Mira. Her serious voice resonates in the dark room.
“Leave this to me.”
“Chloe?”
How could she slit her ghoul’s head at once without worrying too much about her? Leaving me aside, everyone knows who the weakest at this party is. I wouldn’t have thought of leaving a knife that cuts better. However, she smiled and spoke in a confident voice.
“I don’t know about that orc, but as a senior adventurer, I can’t hide behind rookies…… Huh?”
There was no disagreement. Mira took a step back, turning her dagger from her hand, and Chloe stood between the ghoul and us.
“SFWFWFWWFW.”
A voice broke through the ghoul’s cracked throat. Unlike zombies whose intelligence stays at the level of infants, ghouls are said to have human-level intelligence as they are high-ranking monsters. I heard that wherever there are a lot of ghouls, there must be a kingdom of their own. Surely, even in battle, he would roll his head and attack.
“Whoa… ….”
Chloe caught her breath and straightened her rapier. Her vision was cut in half and the ghoul bent her at the knee.
Down!! Unlike the zombies who recklessly pushed their bodies and heads, the ghoul took advantage of its strong lower body and quickly closed the distance with a low stance. Basically, even though they are undead, their physique is quite large. Considering that unlike zombies, there is no weight loss, there is a weight difference of more than 30 kg with Chloe. As she stuck her blackened fingernails down vertically, Chloe instantly spun her body around and slashed her palm with the blade, immediately pulling her away.
The thick blood of a ghoul dripping from a rapier. Chloe flicked the sword on her floor to keep her blade from slipping, leaving a trail of her blood. The ghoul licked my palm with its long tongue. A wound like that wouldn’t even scratch a ghoul.
Taat!! The ghoul jumped in again. However, unlike before, when he attacked in a straight line, he stepped on the wreckage of a broken table and jumped into the air with all his might. Preparing for her frontal charge, Chloe was not taken aback and grabbed her rapier with both hands, then pierced the descending ghoul’s heel with the rapier!
“FWXWWUU!!”
Chloe’s sword strike cut off one of her ghoul’s feet in half and soared toward her chin, but her ghoul kicked Chloe’s face forcefully with her free foot and then kicked her back. I pulled out her rapier. “Kuk!” Chloe collapses on her floor. The ghoul also grabbed her split Y foot and hopped on one of her legs, crashing into a wall.
I sat on the floor and watched Chloe as she braced herself. It was the first time I saw someone using a sharpened sword, but I thought it was a fairly defensive and counterattacking swordsmanship. Gerald’s swordsmanship, which uses a traditional length sword, was close to ‘swinging’. It will depend on the size of the monster you are dealing with, but basically it feels like you are attacking with the sword, and when the sharp part of the sword digs into the flesh, you apply force and split it. However, Chloe’s was characterized by a quick thrust that could be used almost at a dance party, and the impression was strong that it cut the part it touched rather than cutting with a swing.
However, the scars of blows and sword strikes are incomparable. Her face is somewhat swollen, but her wounds inflicted by her ghouls do not heal immediately compared to her still holding her pose. Seeing that Alphonse, who would be easier to compare the abilities of warriors and monsters than me, was standing still, he didn’t seem to judge that the current situation was too dangerous.
After a while, Chloe realized the inferiority of the guy and launched an offensive in an instant. The speedy stabs that I couldn’t completely chase with my body vision pierced the body of the fleeing ghoul in succession. If it were a normal swordsman, the ghoul would have been able to hang on to his blade with his tough vitality, but Chloe’s definitely had an advantage in that it never gave the center of gravity to the sword.
Eventually, her stab pierced the middle of the ghoul’s forehead, with holes poked all over her body, and the movement came to a complete halt. Thump!! Her body collapsed behind her as she kicked her and drew her sword. Chloe let out a few rough breaths, then looked behind her and stretched out her fingers in triumph.
“Good job. It was a fairly strong monster.”
“hehehe, it was an easy win, right?”
“No, it’s a bit of an easy win… ….”
As if asking Mira to turn around, she poked her index finger in the direction of the cheek that her ghoul had struck. Chloe rubbed my cheek, and when the height of the raised cheek differed from hers, she screamed. What? Come to think of it.
“Chloe, are you really okay? Ghouls must be…….”
That’s right. A ghoul is a monster that has the ability to slow down the opponent’s movement. When I asked, Chloe replied, “Ah,” Putting the rapier back into her waist.
“It’s okay. Because elf blood flows in me. Elf blood is naturally resistant to ghoul attacks.”
“Ooh… ….”
“That’s why I asked you to leave it. I don’t know, but if you get hurt, that’s the end of the exploration, right?”
Chloe smiled briskly as she said that. It’s kind of self-deprecating. Mira sighed when she heard that, then she raised Chloe’s hand and pulled her ring from her hand. Her vision narrowed in an instant, and the light brightened again as Mira put her ring on her finger.
“My ring!”
“Isn’t it yours? You must be tired, so save some energy for her ring.”
“Aha.”
“And…… No one has ever given you a role like that. Next time don’t do that Have a little confidence. Are you a senior?”
“Mummy… ….”
When Mira said that, Chloe raised her face as if she were about to rub her swollen cheek from being hit by a ghoul. By the way…… Why do you wear a ring on your ring finger? I’ll have a hand too. Meera’s sinister smile at me made me very concerned…… I’d like to believe you took her ring out of concern for Chloe.
“Anyway, all I had in this room was one ghoul. Shall we go out?”
Everyone else nodded at my words. I can’t waste time in a place like this. Light magic isn’t infinite either. We went to the door again and pulled the closed door open again…… OK.
Kurleung!!
The sound of something chain-like interlocking and colliding. Chloe took his hand away from the door in embarrassment. Mira was also surprised.
“What…… There was no sign of a device or anything!?”
The door is not closed or locked again. I hurriedly took everyone out of the room. And, we saw
“FWXWWUXSSSXSU!!”
A group of ghouls. It wasn’t just the room I had been to earlier, but there was a sound of something being ripped open in the alleys of the wide castle, and the ghouls opened the door and appeared.
Everyone except me drew an ax in an instant. I told you, wherever there are a lot of ghouls, there must be a kingdom of their own. The ominous energy Mira felt was probably what they were exuding.
This underground fortress, the labyrinth, was the kingdom of the undead!!
“Jin, get back!”
Mira shouted so hastily that her voice cracked. Chloe raised her rapier again with her exhausted body, and Alphonse grabbed her ax with both hands and went to the forefront. And I…….
“Everyone get out of the way.”
“Jin!?”
I stepped forward.
My slot that can hold only one spell.
Which spells should be learned to be useful in an adventure or to be used in a labyrinth? I was really, really worried.
My heart is pounding. The traces of magic constrict my blood vessels. It’s hard to breathe.
Yes, this feeling, just like that.
Curse.
“Grease【slide】.”
Towards the ghouls running towards me, I muttered softly.