Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi-Novel

Chapter 199: Irregularities in the Cemetery: Part 2

「A squad of undead soldiers, huh...... this isn’t funny.」

「It’ll be bad if they pincer us! What shou-......」

Before Irijina could finish her sentence, I rush towards the skeleton.

There is no time or meaning in holding a question-and-answer period here.

「We’ll crush one side, of course!」

They concentrate their arrows at me as I charge at them, but their accuracy is not as precise as earlier.

I don’t even need to deal with the three arrows that missed their mark and only twist my body to avoid the two arrows which came somewhat close to hitting me.

I smile, thinking to myself that even after turning into bones, part of their former human selves still remain in them and cause them to panic when I run out so suddenly.

「H-he’s smiling......」

Kroll, nothing good will happen if you make such a tense face.

It might be difficult to go up against an army of corpses though.

「Should we get backup......」

I reply to Alice, telling her that it’s unnecessary to call for reinforcements.

「Doryaaa!」

When I enter close-combat range, the skeletons holding rusted spears step forward to meet me.

If I take the time to squish each one individually, the zombies would close in behind me.

I’ll have to finish them all in one blow.

Fortunately this is a cemetery and the ground hasn’t been tidied up, meaning many large rocks are buried underneath.

Using the momentum of my swing and my forward movement, I drive my spear into the ground instead of in the enemy.

This signature heavy-class spear made by the dwarves combines with my full strength and digs deep into the ground.

With a loud rumbling sound, a lump of earth rolls up and numerous rocks and crushed stones, which were embedded in the soil, and is flung at the enemy.

They’re made of bone, so it’s more effective to bash them with a blunt weapon than cutting them up.

The countless stones flying at them are more than enough to fulfill that role.

Skeletons don’t have tongues or throats so they can’t scream.

However, the sound of shattering bones tells me how effective my attack was.

I flung the stones at them with full force, but they’re still just stones so they aren’t enough to completely destroy the skeletons.

Even so, they drop their spears because their wrists were shattered and they fall to the ground because their legs were crushed.

Now that they’re rendered helpless, they’re no different from a mere pile of bones.

「Only four left who are still in one piece...... Kroll! Finish off the ones who have collapsed!」

Irijina and Alice are holding off the zombies at the back.

They most likely don’t need Kroll’s help.

I advance forward before getting a response from them and then swing my spear across my body using a spinning motion.

This skeleton must have been a decent warrior when it was alive because it propped up its spear to block my attack.

But it’s a little sad. The worn out spear and the bony arms don’t put up any meaningful resistance, shattering into pieces after taking my attack.

The skull stared at its broken body through the hollow eyes and then the ominous light burning in the eye sockets disappeared into the night sky.

「Take that!」

I violently sweep at the next individual’s legs.

I might have used too much strength as both of its legs shattered into pieces, and it crashed to the ground head-first after one rotation in midair.

「And that...... is the end of this one!」

I thrust at the ribs of the third skeleton.

My thick spear couldn’t be contained by the gaps in its ribs and crushed the bones to pieces as the tip penetrated the rib cage, but that wasn’t enough to completely finish the skeleton.

As its arms were being raised to draw the string of its bow, I lift my spear to pick up its lightweight body and then I fling the bony frame at the final skeleton.

I forcefully pull my spear out from its shattered rib cage and send it flying.

It was quite the accurate shot if I do say so myself, as the mass of bones strikes the fourth skeleton and both monsters explode into pieces after colliding into the mausoleum wall.

With that, the enemies in front are taken care of.

Now that I look, Kroll has finished off five of them and is fighting with the last one after it lost an arm.

「Eei! Take that! Oraah!」

「......What are you doing against a one-armed opponent?」

I kick the skeleton from behind.

Its body was destroyed in a single blow and then its skull was crushed underfoot.

Without delay, I turn to look at Irijina and the others.

「Irijina, the situation is...... just barely under control, huh?」

Irijina is slowly but steadily mowing down the zombies while retreating and Alice is sending fireballs at the places where they bunch up to burn them.

Even so, the dead are still approaching from the side, which forced them to retreat.

There isn’t much distance left between them and the mausoleum.

「The front has cleared up! Let’s run straight to the mausoleum.」

「B-but we need a key......」

The stone door is covered in moss and the entrance is wrapped in a old chain lock of some sort.

Fortunately, the lock is a simple chain one because we don’t have the luxury of taking our time to open it.

「Fuunn! ......ugggaah!!」

I grip the chain from both sides and pull hard.

The metal chain is stretched to the limit until there was a sharp metallic sound of the links snapping.

「H-he broke the chain with his bare hands...... incredible.」

Kroll needs to train his body so he can do this much too.

The inward-opening door is extremely heavy, although it shouldn’t be a problem with my strength.

「Irijina and Alice, hurry and get in!」

I stand at the entrance of the mausoleum and shout.

Irijina and Alice are already starting to get surrounded.

「Yeah!」

Irijina swiftly uses one arm to pick Alice up by waist, turns 180 degrees, and then sprints to where I am.

Right before rushing in the entrance, Alice, who is hanging in Irijina’s arms, conjures a creeping carpet of fire, unlike her usual fireballs.

The area close to the entrance of the mausoleum turns into a fiery sea and the zombies that try to chase after the two girls gets engulfed in flames.

「Kroll, we’re closing it!!」

Kroll and I push the door from the inside and there was a heavy stone-grinding sound as it closes shut, similar to when it first opened.

Probably because the entrance is protected by the fire, I don’t feel any zombies pounding on the door.

「There’s a small chance something might happen if the door opens inward. Let’s leave something heavy behind it.」

Kroll and Irijina rolls a stone behind the door and also stack up a pile of rusted objects to seal any gaps.

That will reassure us for now.

「Is everyone okay?」

「Umu, nothing much but scratches. No big deal!!」

「Me too...... not hurt.」

「I’m fine as well.」

Oh, so I was the only one who got an arrow in the stomach.

It’s kind of uncool, but since I stopped it with my muscles, it’s only a scratch.

「Now...... we’ll have to wait here until the sun rises.」

「This is so frustrating against mere zombies......」

Irijina has a somewhat annoyed look on her face when she muttered that, but she’s breathing pretty hard after fighting her way through.

Alice’s hair is also a light pink color, so she probably doesn’t have much magic energy left.

Kroll also seems to be fairly agitated after doing combat with the corpses and skeletons.

I might be the only one out of everyone who can put up a fight right now.

「Let’s calm down for now. We’ll catch our breath and check the condition of our bodies.」

We can take a look around while we’re at it.

If I peek through the protrusion near the entrance, I can see the building is dome-shaped with an approximate radius of 10 m and the ceiling being roughly 5 m in height, with the middle part being the highest.

Being a mausoleum, there is not a single window, so we don’t have to be scared of the zombies bursting in from anywhere.

The only unpleasant thing is that all the walls around us are filled with the caskets that have corpses in them and I can see the skeletons from the gaps where the containers have broken off.

「It won’t be good if they start spawning inside. I’ll go take a look around, you guys stay here.」

I circle the perimeter of the not-so-large mausoleum.

It seems like for the caskets in the walls, the corpses are placed lengthwise with the head deep into the wall.

And then a stone lid is mounted on top.

I see, it’s pretty well made, more bodies can be stored in this way and even if the corpses were to revive, they would not be able to move and can’t escape outside.

I only check the corpses in the caskets with lids that have pieces broken off, although all of the ones I saw have either completely weathered away or was left in so many pieces that it seems unlikely for them to revive.

It doesn’t look like I have to worry about skeletons or zombies spawning inside this place.

「But still, it’s so narrow in here. Rafen may be small, but this mausoleum is nowhere near enough to accommodate the entire city.」

I was talking to myself, but Alice gave me a reply after she calmed down.

「Underground...... maybe. The main part of the mausoleum is underground......」

I look to where the girl was pointing and see a ladder leading downwards.

「I see...... I’ll put a lid on it just in case.」

We didn’t come here to visit a grave.

We are just here to take refuge until the morning, so there is no need for us to dive underground where there may be corpses wandering about.

It’s a little pathetic, but it’s best to turtle here and wait until the sun rises.

「With that said, there are no windows here so we can’t even tell if the sun has risen or not......」

The mausoleum is completely sealed shut so there may not be any gaps for the sun to peek through.

「Don’t worry! I get hungry in the morning! I will know what time it is when I hear my stomach growling!」

Relying on Irijina’s stomach to tell time is regrettable but we have no other choice.

I’m bored now...... and I would like to embrace a woman right now but I’m sure Alice or Irijina wouldn’t get wet with all the corpses in here and the zombies waiting outside.

「U-uhm......」

Kroll leaks out a shaky voice.

「What is it? I won’t embrace you, since you’re a guy.」

「That’s not what I meant! Don’t you think it’s strange!?」

「Of course it is, there are hundreds of zombies prowling about and skeletons are even forming ranks. If that’s not strange, then I don’t know what is.」

I’m not sure why Kroll is bringing that up now, though Kroll shakes his head repeatedly.

Well I have time anyways, so I’ll hear out his fairytale or whatever.

「There are no windows here!」

None, that’s why the air is stale.

If there were windows, I’m sure it would stink of zombies.

「We don’t have torches either!」

We threw them away before we got here.

Don’t be so focused on torches, you’ll be a small man just like the size of your dick.

「And yet...... how come we can see so much of our surroundings!?」

「Well isn’t Alice’s......」

In the corner of my eye, Alice shakes her head.

「I don’t have much magic energy left...... that’s why I’m not producing any fire.」

Irijina and I hold up are spears.

Looking around again, the place where the light is coming from is...... the floor, and it’s almost as bright as the moonlight.

And that’s what is illuminating the interior of the mausoleum.

「T-this is...... really from underground......?」

「Alright, you go check it out.」

When I point to the ladder, Kroll clings to my leg while crying and shaking his head.

It was just a joke, but how about showing me your manly side.

Fine, I’ll do it.

「During the times I don’t want to go...... I’ll do this!」

I stand in the center of the mausoleum, raise my spear high above my head and slam it down against the floor.

Stones crack and the entire floor shakes.

「Be careful...... the building’s going to collapse」

Alice is crouching and covering her head with her hands.

My bad, I used too much strength.

But it seems to be effective.

The faint light under the floor increases in intensity, instantly making our surroundings as bright as it would be outside during the day.

「Let’s see what comes out.」

This is purely intuition, but the mysterious phenomenon happening here in the center of the cemetery might have something to do with the horde of zombies.

「Something is coming out...... what is that......!!?」

It’s pushing up from the floor...... no, the hole in the floor isn’t that big.

It isn’t climbing up, but rather passing through the hole.

Something black slowly rises up...... and floats all the way up to the ceiling.

「What is that thing......?」

「I don’t know! I’ve never seen it before!!」

「Hieeeeh.」

That thing was covered by a hood and mantle, it was shaped like a person, half transparent and is emitting something darkish...... something like miasma around it as it floats in the air.

It briefly appeared to be a large man, although that was because of the overly large mantle and its main body is not as big as I thought.

However I can feel the prickling sensation on my skin, like something is burning it, from the thing’s sinister aura

「Monster!」

「Uwaaah!」

Irijina and Kroll shouted after they saw a glimpse of its face as the wind from the miasma emitted from its own body blew up its hood.

I don’t blame them, what they saw was literally a skull, although it has some extremely dried skin attached to it, which is somewhat different from a skeleton.

In the cavity where its eyes are supposed to be are pitch-black hollow eye sockets, which seem to suck you in, but two red lights dance around in the holes like eyeballs would.

「A formidable enemy no matter how you look at it.」

I’ve seen a few undead monsters in the past but I don’t know anything about this thing.

I have no knowledge about this one, but I can tell from the overwhelming pressure that this thing is not your average skeleton.

「Ooooooooh」

It lets out a creepy voice that seems to come from the very depths of the earth and raises both hands.

In that moment, the miasma surrounding its body expands outward.

We can’t escape because of this enclosed space so all of us gets wrapped in the miasma.

「Everyone, don’t breathe it in!」

The suspicious bright light which illuminated the area as if it was midday instantly gets smothered and my visibility drops to zero.

I somehow feel my way around and advance forward, but an unbelievable scene was unveiled before my eyes.

「Stop it! Stop!」

There was a disheveled blonde-haired individual in front of me.

「Kill it! Kill it!」

Men holding swords are crowding around the blonde-haired individual.

「Gyaaah–! Stop it!」

The men slash at the blonde-haired woman as she tries to run.

Her clothes are torn, and blood sprays out from the cut wounds inflicted on her beautiful-looking soft skin

「How about this?」

「Gyaaaaaah!」

A sword stabs deep into the woman’s thigh and she falls over powerlessly.

The man mounted the woman and slowly raised his sword above his head.

「Someone...... save me...... please...... Aegir......」

The woman looks over in my direction with tears streaming down her face, and I see an unmistakable face.

How many years has it been since I’ve seen that face...... it was my teacher and most beloved woman...... Lucy.

「Save me...... plea-......」

The woman stretches out her hand and pleads, but a sword pierces straight into her chest.

After a single groan, the woman’s eyes widened and she stopped moving.

I start walking forward slowly after seeing what happened.

I ignore the men who continue to torment the corpse of the woman and continue to walk, shouting towards an empty space.

I wanted to talk normally, but a deeper than expected voice came out which surprised even me.

「Don’t show me something so unpleasant.」

I tighten my abs as I speak and the scene in front of me starts wavering like the surface of a pool of water.

I tense up my entire body even more.

「I told you to get this unpleasant thing out of my sight.」

My voice sounded even heavier than before.

It was like an orc’s bark, a tone I wouldn’t want any woman to hear.

All of a sudden, I feel a wind blowing around me and my surroundings are blown away.

After stumbling slightly, I’m brought back to the mausoleum.

The miasma envelopes the entire room and only the area in close proximity to my body is bright.

「Hmph...... so it was an illusion like I thought.」

The other three are collapsed around me and groaning slightly.

They must be seeing some sort of nightmare similar to what I experienced.

That thing brings its face and hand, both similarly stuck with dried skin, close to the fallen Kroll.

The poor young man groans intensely while foaming at the mouth.

I better help him out quickly.

「Hey.」

When I call out to it, the thing takes its hand back and turns to look at me.

Its look seems to be asking me “why?”

Of course it should know why.

「There’s no way she would be taken down by just a measly three people.」

As I walk closer, that thing directs the miasma at me again.

However, I’m not going through that again, I tense up the muscles in my stomach and focus only on that thing while carrying my spear with me.

「You think just stabbing her heart...... would be enough to kill her!?」

I take the boiling anger from that unpleasant scene and hurl it along with my spear, sending it accurately through the center of its body.

Its semi-transparent body scatters and the miasma is blown away in an instant.

And yet, that thing just grins after being blown away, showing no signs of being defeated.

I should have used my Dual Crater...... maybe it’s because seeing a scene like that made the blood rush to my head.

「Hey, hang in there!」

I call out to the others and run to check on them.

「Nnn...... stop it...... I won’t use my magic anymore...... so stop throwing rocks at me......」

It looks like Alice still has some lingering emotions regarding her magic.

Well she won’t have to worry if she stays with me.

「Uuu...... get away from Alma...... don’t cum inside...... she is my...... lover......」

It looks like Kroll’s nightmare is about Alma getting roughed up.

She complained about her to the other girls, but as expected he’s the most concerned with Alma.

I think she did something to him, so I’m a little worried.

「Uu...... tell me it’s not true...... that I can’t eat any meals starting today......」

I’ll let Irijina eat as much as she wants later.

Everyone was able to wake up unharmed, but Kroll’s considerably exhausted.

It was as if he went without meals for several days and his eyes look vacant too.

「He did get touched by that thing, so maybe it’s a result of that.」

「It’s like your life energy is being sucked out of you! The couple who died earlier probably met the same fate!」

I see, in other words that guy is the cause of everything.

Maybe because Kroll was exposed for only a short period of time, but it doesn’t look like his life is in danger.

He tells me that he’s fine even if his voice is a little weak.

「Put this guy by the end of the wall, the light under the floor hasn’t disappeared yet. He has not been defeated yet.」

I want to know what this guy is.

If I don’t find out, it might prove to be a difficult fight.

「Do you know anything about this guy? I was thinking it was a ghoul of some sort but I’ve never heard of one that is as powerful as this one.」

Irijina shakes her head while Alice goes into thinking.

「Anything about it is fine. It’s better than nothing.」

After I said that, Alice starts saying something in a soft voice.

「It’s not a ghoul...... ghouls can’t use magic as powerful as that, plus their bodies are close to that of a human.」

True, that guy’s body is light and floaty.

It feels like something I see all the time.

「That thing is probably a Lich...... I think. It’s the form of a powerful magic caster who died and was possessed by an evil spirit. It wasn’t someone else’s problem, which is why I remember it. That thing’s really strong and not your average opponent...... I think.」

A Lich, huh...... sounds troublesome.

At that moment, the light in the floor gets stronger again.

So he’s making another appearance.

Its dispersed body slowly gathers together and takes shape into that evil form once again.

「It’s here! Try your best not to breathe in any of that miasma, tense up your abs!」

Alice steps backwards to where Kroll is sitting on the floor while Irijina and I step forward.

「OOOOooooooooh」

The miasma billows forward in accompany with his groan.

I unsheathe my Dual Crater.

「Hmph!」

I make a horizontal slash and the smoky substance disappears, turning into little beads of light.

I should have used this from the beginning.

「Right thereee!」

Irijina doesn’t miss her chance and charges, similar to what I did...... and pierces right through the center of the Lich’s body.

「OOOOooooh」

「No good?!」

The Lich didn’t seem to care about her attack at all, stretching its hands towards Irijina while the spear is still embedded in its body.

She reactively jumps backward but that thing’s hand touched her shoulder.

「Uggh...... haaah, haah!」

With just the slightest touch, even the robust Irijina starts to breathe hard.

So it can steal life energy by touching any part of your body.

「Stand down Irijina, I’ll face this thing.」

I’ll fight this guy alone.

I still have to pay him back for that stupid dream he showed me of my beloved Lucy.

I don’t know if he’s a former magic user or whatever but I’ll send this spirit back to the realm of the dead.

With the light Dual Crater in hand, I fix my gaze on the Lich’s eerie face.

That thing also seems to have recognized me as the greatest threat and doesn’t give Irijina or the others a second glance.

The distance between that floating thing and me, who’s firmly planted on the ground, is roughly 3 m.

「Here I go!」

I run forward at the same time I shout and aim for its shoulder with my slash, but it easily floats up towards the ceiling and evades my sword.

Without delay, I jump up and try to stab it with my sword.

I only needed a little more to reach that thing, but I managed to graze part of its cloak, causing some sizzling sounds and white smoke to appear.

Irijina’s spear may have passed right through the Lich’s body, but I’m sure my Dual Crater will be effective.

Just when I was about to position myself to challenge the Lich again, a heavy blow hits me in the face and I flip backwards.

It must have thrown something at me, although I don’t see anything in particular coming in my direction.

「Be careful! It’s wind magic!」

I receive another impact against my body as Alice shouts at me and I fall over feeling winded.

So he’s throwing masses of wind at me.

Now that I look, the Lich’s hands are glowing strangely.

「It’s annoying how I can’t see it though.」

I try to smile but I can’t think of a way to deal with this.

Taking one or two of those wind attacks won’t be fatal but getting hit too many times and I won’t be able to fight anymore.

Seeing how I’m not standing firm, the Lick’s hands start glowing again. It can’t be helped, I’ll just have to use intuition and sense where to cut.

「Aegir-sama...... leave it to me.」

Before I leaped forward, Alice shouts and a curtain of fire spreads out between me and the Lich.

At first, it seems as if she was blocking my path, but I quickly connected the dots and understood her intentions.

「Alright, here I go!」

I start running towards the flaming curtain.

Again, the Lich releases a ball of wind...... but I can see it.

The wind gets enveloped by the flames and turns into a clump of fire.

「This fight is mine now that I can see the attacks!」

The magic is flying at high speeds, however it isn’t as fast as an arrow.

I swing my Dual Crater as I run and erase its wind spell.

After cancelling out the second, third, fourth...... and fifth spell, the curtain of fire finally died down.

Before I knew it, the Lich was within my sword’s reach.

Nice teamwork Alice, I’ll have to remember to give her lots of affection later.

「Now it’s over.」

I do it the way I know has the most certainty and swing my sword down, slashing it from the head all the way down its body.

The distance between us is close enough that I can reliably bisect my opponent, but I couldn’t.

Right before I could bring my sword down, there was a flash of light...... and I was hit with the impact of a lighting bolt, which felt somewhat similar to an experience I had in the past.

I try to endure the pain and forcibly slice down, though it made nothing but a shallow wound.

Furthermore, my arm is numb and the sword I brought down by force slipped out of my grip and flew away somewhere.

So lightning magic right after wind magic...... if you consider that miasma and the ability to control zombies, who knows how many spells it knows how to use.

「......it can use that many types of magic...... what an amazing magic user.」

It’s fine to be impressed, but I’m in a little bit of a dangerous situation here.

I can’t move my body the way I want either because of the lightning.

Being unarmed and not being able to move in front of the enemy...... this is the worst situation.

「Ooooooooh」

Not letting the opportunity presented to itself escape, the Lich spreads its arms and wraps them around me as if trying to swallow my entire body.

I don’t remember getting a corpse to like me...... but it probably has a different objective.

The sensation around my body is exactly how it appears, an indescribable wispy feeling, totally distinct from the body of a regular skeleton.

However the feeling that stood out more than anything was the powerful feeling of the energy inside my body being sapped the moment I got embraced.

「Guh......」

So this is what it feels like when your life energy is being drained...... I see, quite agonizing.

「Hardlett-dono! I have to go help!!」

「You can’t! You won’t be able to do anything even if you went...... I will-......」

Alice extends her hand but nothing happens.

Now that I look, her hair is already completely white.

Her magic must be used up now.

「But I still have to go! Hardlett-dono will die like those people!!」

「Why...... why won’t my magic come out!!?」

I can hear the other girls shouting.

I can’t let them worry about me anymore than that.

「I won’t...... die yet!」

I also wrap my arms around the Lich’s back.

And then.......

「Ugaaaaaaaah!!」

I tighten my grip and squeeze with all my might.

「B-bear hug!?」「Constricting......a ghost......?」

The Lich seemed to make a face as if it was surprised for a brief moment but its energy-draining power only increases in strength with every breath I take.

I see, an average man would have lost his strength immediately.

However, don’t underestimate someone who gets his blood sucked by Brynhildr every week.

Comparing what this pathetic corpse is doing to me to the feeling of her blood sucking, where it feels like she would continue until sucking until I’m dead, this pain is rather sweet.

「What’s wrong!? Is that all you got!?」

I squeeze even harder.

This thing doesn’t have a regular body so its bones don’t break.

However, the shape of its intangible body starts to change so I know that my actions had some effect.

The battle of endurance continued for a while, but the first one who gave in was the Lich.

Suddenly, the force that was draining my energy weakened and it began contorting its body to try and escape.

But it wasn’t able to. Despite the Lich’s body being able to pass through the walls and floor and even let normal weapons pass through, it can’t phase through a lifeform.

...... in other words, it’s the same as Casie.

I was wondering if that was the case when I felt that airy sensation as it touched me, and now that I know, it won’t be able to move if I squeeze it tightly.

「OOOOOOOH!」

Not being able to use magic while I’m sticking to it, the Lich takes out an old dagger and stabs my side.

However, it seems close-combat isn’t its strong point and the powerless strike is ineffective in the face of my muscles.

「Hahahahaha! How weak! How do you like this!?」

I squeeze one level harder and the Lich finally lets out a creepy cry, its form noticeably getting thinner and longer.

It’s the same as when Irijina steps on Casie, if these apparitions become a strange shape, they won’t be able to move as they want.

Alright, now’s my chance.

I fall backwards while still holding onto the Lich’s body.

Technically, I’m not falling all the way back, I’m just bending my upper body backwards.

Forming an arch with my body, I slam the Lich’s head into the ground with him still in my grasp.1

「Nnooooooooh!!」

「H-he threw a ghost......」

「As expected of Hardlett-dono!!」

The Lich writhes, its head cracking and its entire body completely changing shape after crashing into the floor.

Not letting this opening go to waste, I spring back up and retrieve the Dual Crater which flew out of my hand earlier.

「Ooooh...... Oooooh...... Aaaah」

It sounds like it’s trying to reason with me, I know you already have intelligence.

But you’re an existence that can’t stay here anymore, so I want this all to end here if possible.

And more than anything-

「You insulted Lucy.」

I swing down my Dual Crater at the head of the Lich who’s laying on the floor.

I don’t miss this time, slicing it in half and turning it into white smoke. Along with an incredible cry from the Lich, the smoke eventually fades away.

This uproar is all finished now.......

「Oooou......」

Irijina’s stomach finally growled.

So it must be daybreak now.

「So as we thought, the zombies were all...... being controlled by this guy?」

The Lich was defeated and as we check the outside of the mausoleum, we see the sun rising as well as the a bunch of corpses lying on one side of the cemetery.

They’re all corpses that don’t seem to be able to move anymore.

「To be able to control hundreds of zombies, that’s some incredible magic.」

But now we can’t resolve this confidentially.

Well, it’s better than if this Lich came out to the surface though.

「So in the end, what was that?」

Kroll, who regained much of his energy, asks with a pale face.

「Who knows...... maybe after we search the underground area of the mausoleum we’ll find out something?」

For one thing, it’s certain that guy was a far and away skilled magic caster when it was still alive.

I wonder how things turned out this way.

「There’s nothing we can do just by talking about it.」

With the wound in my side caused by the short sword, my list of injuries increased again.

Plus, my legs are feeling weak after getting so much of my life energy drained.

「Even so...... you’re rubbing my ass.」

「Me too...... ah, you’re putting a finger in......」

Because touching women is the best way for me to recover my stamina after all.

Kroll, go rub Alma’s ass when you get back home too, ‘kay?

「Uu...... more importantly, Celia-san is going to yell at me again when she sees Aegir-sama injured while I’m unharmed.」

「You’re still lacking in strength. Irijina, retrain him if you have some spare time.」

「Leave it to me!!」

I worked so hard, and yet only have this mantle to show for it.......

Only the mantle that the Lich was wearing was tangible and that was the only object that was left after its main body disappeared.

It feels gross knowing that it was worn by the dead.

Maybe I’ll give to Leopolt as a present or something, I’m sure he won’t mind.

–Third Person POV–

Kroll – Super Side Story: Recompense

「You had a rough day today, didn’t you Kroll-sama.」

「Good work.」

「Yeah...... a lot of things happened......」

Kroll kisses Lola and Mira as they came to greet him and then collapses tiredly on the bed.

「Did you...... make any contributions?」

「No, I didn’t really do anything. I allowed Aegir-sama to get hurt and then Celia-san slapped me...... and then like five other women got angry at me.」

「Ahaha......」

「There are times like that too...... shall we comfort you with some service?」

Kroll lies on his back as if saying yes and the mother and daughter take his pants off.

「We’ll use our mouths......」

「So please forget about those unpleasant things.」

The two of them immediately start licking him from both sides, and the room is filled with a lewd smell and slurping sounds.

Normally, Kroll wouldn’t be able to hold out and would have released his seed in their mouths, then going straight to sex.

「Eh? How strange.」

「I-I’m sorry!」

「Geez, what are you doing? Let mom take the tip instead.」

The slurping ensues once again.

「Eeeh...... why is this happening?」

「Why...... he’s always really quick......」

「I’ll rub it fast with my hand, ‘kay?」

This kind of exchange continued for close to an hour, but the three never connected their bodies.

「No way......」「Kroll-sama......」

「It doesn’t even twitch a bit...... why is that...... even though it feels so good! Why does it not get hard?!!」

Kroll’s cry resounds throughout the mansion at night.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 23 years old. Summer.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. King of the Mountains. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless.

Citizens: 161,000. Major Cities – Rafen: 24,000. Lintbloom: 4000.

Private Army: 5300 men

Infantry: 3000, Cavalry: 900, Archers: 900, Bow Cavalry: 500

Cannons: 19

Reserve: 3000

Family: Nonna (the beautiful Nonna), Carla (concubine), Mel (concubine), Kuu (lover), Ruu (lover), Melissa (lover), Mireille (lover), Leah (lover), Miti (betrothed), Maria (betrothed), Catherine (betrothed), Casie (ghost), Rita (head maid), Yoguri (playwright), Pipi (lover), Alice (magical girl), Alma (servant)

Sebastian (butler), Dorothea (lover, in the capital)

Children: Sue, Miu, Ekaterina, Amata, Anastasia (daughters); Antonio, Claude, Gilbard, Reiner, Bartolome (sons); Rose (foster daughter)

Subordinates: Celia (adjutant), Gido (escort unit), Kroll (impotent), Irijina (commander), Luna (commander), Ruby

Myla (security officer), Polte (student director), Gretel (dog)

Leopolt (staff officer), Adolph (domestic affairs official), Tristan (strategist?)

Claire & Laurie (seeking wheat), Schwartz (horse), Lilian (actress)

Mother – Marceline; Daughters – Stephanie, Bridget, Felicie (taken into custody)

Assets: 0 gold

Sexual Partners: 209, children who have been born: 46