Something Like an Undead

Something Like an Undead

We slowly made our way through the dungeon, where we couldn't even see our hands without a light.

We stayed alert to our surroundings, but that didn't mean we had to remain silent the entire time.

Perhaps because this kept the atmosphere from becoming overly tense, Riko-senpai was usually the one to speak up at times like this.

"Still, why do Dullahans charge in making so much noise? I mean, of course they'd be noisy if they're wearing armor and running on horseback, but..."

"I don't know. Whether it's meant to intimidate us or serve as an alarm to warn their companions of danger."

"Hmm. In some stories, they're riding a 'silent carriage,' while others say they're riding a 'carriage that rumbles noisily.' There are also legends of them riding horses and 'making a sound like a large number of metal dishes being struck.'"

"Oh, right. I think I heard that their gender differs by region, too."

"I don't know about the gender, but maybe their eardrums got wrecked by the noise, so they were silent as a result?"

"I wonder. We don't even know how accurate such legends are in the first place."

"Well, legends getting twisted along the way happens all the time."

"Yeah."

"Rest assured. In the world I came from, Kota-san's great deeds were passed down accurately..."

"That wasn't twisted; it became something completely different."

Well, maybe the gender difference only exists in games. Even so, that's a pretty damn serious discrepancy.

I thought that, but modern subculture flashed through my mind, and I swallowed the words.

When I think about Lord Nobunaga, I can't exactly say anything...

As I contemplated the self-proclaimed Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, who had become not only a different gender but an inorganic object as well, we emerged into an open area.

Was this the village square? An undecorated tower about five meters tall stood in the center, and the square was about half the size of a schoolyard.

As I swept my gaze around, I saw a picture of a particularly large house painted on the wall. Even through the wooden boards, I could make out wooden windows and stone walls.

Perhaps the village chief or magistrate of the village that served as its model had lived there. There was no way to confirm that, and I couldn't imagine what good knowing it would do anyway.

This village had existed not merely in the Middle Ages, but even earlier than the era called antiquity. It belonged to a time that should properly be called the Age of Gods. Modern common sense would never apply here.

Rather than think about how people once lived and their culture, right now...

───Clatter-clatter-clatter!

We had to deal with the approaching threat.

"Three directions: the front and both sides. Number... five, no, six!"

"Understood."

At my words, everyone readied their weapons.

Including the road we had just come through, there were four passageways leading into the square. Dullahans were approaching simultaneously from three of them.

"Should we fall back and narrow it down to one direction?"

"Nah, I'd rather avoid being outflanked and caught in a pincer. Let's fight in the square. Miyu-chi and I'll fall back a little and set up a stone abatis with magic. Rosson and Otaku-kun, act as skirmishers."

"Understood."

"At your service!"

"Yes!"

Miyu-san stood between the square and the road we had come from and activated a scroll toward the ground. Stone spears jutted forward in a haphazard row.

With mass production likely to become possible soon, we no longer needed to be as sparing with our use of them as before.

That said, saving them when we could was still preferable.

Riko-senpai and Miyu-san waited behind the hedge of spears—or rather, a makeshift abatis—while Rosso-san and I stood on either side of the central tower with our backs to each other, weapons ready.

A few seconds later, two Dullahans appeared from each of the three directions.

It wasn't the sound of armor scraping together. Six monsters came charging in with an unmistakably abnormal roar of noise.

"Hyaaaaaah!"

When I glanced behind me for a moment at Rosso-san's battle cry, I saw her swinging her great scythe as though tearing up the ground.

The dirt and gravel she kicked up blocked my view, and mana-infused stones assailed two of the monsters as projectiles.

I drew my staff as well and cast magic at the two approaching from directly ahead.

'Scroll: Magic Expansion'

'Scroll: Banishment'

I held the lower end of my staff in the crook of my right elbow and activated the scroll loaded there. Five bullets of light emerged through the magic circle and flew toward the Dullahans.

'AAAH!?'

Even as it cried out in alarm, the lead one leaped with all its strength. Had it instinctively sensed the danger of this magic?

But that wasn't enough to evade it.

Two of the five light bullets altered their trajectories. Drawing gentle arcs, they gouged away the horse's hind legs without quite striking it head-on.

The following Dullahan took the remaining three bullets directly. Before it could even scream, its chest, abdomen, and the mask on its lower abdomen were shattered.

'AA... AAAAA...!'

With a heavy thud, the Dullahan that had lost its hind legs fell to the ground. The momentum of its charge sent it sliding through the dirt in a cloud of dust.

I left that one to the two behind me, pulled my right elbow away from the staff, and spin-cocked the next scroll into place. The scroll case ejected from the port and rolled across the ground.

'AAAAAAAAA!'

When I looked toward the two monsters approaching along the route ahead, they were charging into the square with their swords raised, as though avenging their fallen comrade.

The Dullahans had already finished chanting. They were just about to launch eight spears made of blood.

A curtain of lightning appeared between me and the monsters.

'!'

The flash lasted only an instant. With a sound like an explosion, all the blood spears burst apart.

The two Dullahans that had been charging also stopped dead, unwilling to leap into the lightning. Even though they knew an abrupt stop was fatal for cavalry, they had no choice in the face of that electrical attack.

I caught sight of light bullets flying from the makeshift abatis toward the one that had lost its hind legs, then charged the Dullahans with a sword in my right hand and a staff in my left.

'KYYYYYYAA!'

With a shrill cry, the lead one swung its whip. The whip tore through the air in every direction, making it seem as though a monster resembling a serpent had suddenly joined the battle.

This monster was more skilled than I was as well. But I was accustomed to facing opponents like that.

Relying on my magic eye, I caught the tip of the whip aimed at crushing my skull with my sword and wrapped the blade around it. Then I forcibly swung my sword backward.

The whip pulled the Dullahan forward, making it stumble. I kicked off the ground and leaped, closing the distance between us in the blink of an eye before slamming the tip of my staff into its armored right shoulder.

The crow's-beak-shaped tip shattered the steel and gouged into the flesh. With it still embedded, I pulled the trigger.

'AA...!?'

'AAAA!'

As though shielding the one whose right arm had blown apart, the other one leaped at me with its sword raised.

But then I caught sight of a familiar figure behind it. In that case, I could ignore the other one.

'AAAA...!'

I let go of my staff, and the one-armed Dullahan threw a punch with its left fist. But before it could reach me, I kicked the mask on its lower abdomen and leaped.

I twisted my body in midair and landed on the back of its black horse body. At the same time, I twisted my waist and drove my sword into the Dullahan's back.

With the whip wrapped around the blade, I drove it in deep enough to trap the whip between the guard and the armor. When the tip protruded through the other side of the armor, I twisted the hilt with all my strength.

While gouging through flesh, I kicked the armored back and pulled out my sword, then jumped down to the ground.

I landed and readied my sword again at almost the exact moment the monster collapsed.

In the corner of my vision, the great scythe swept down vertically, tearing another Dullahan apart like the claw of a giant beast.

I took one step back and swept my gaze across the entire square. When I saw all the enemies changing into black mist, I let out a small breath.

Judging by the sounds and mana, there didn't seem to be any other monsters targeting us.

"...No sign of enemies nearby, I guess?"

"Woo! Good work, everyone!"

Riko-senpai, who had sensed the end of the battle just as I had, spoke in a carefree voice. Rosso-san and Miyu-san lowered their weapons as well.

"Whew... That was a close one, young oni. If I hadn't come to your aid, you would have been attacked from the side, you know?"

"Ah, no. I saw you, Rosso-san, so I figured I could leave it to you. Sorry."

"I-I see... So it was because you trusted me. Well? If that's the case? As someone above you, I suppose I might be willing to forgive you, perhaps?"

I responded with a wry smile to Rosso-san, who was wearing an incredibly smug expression. It was probably hard to tell behind my face guard, though.

"Miyu-san, Riko-senpai, good work."

"Yep. Looks like no one got hurt."

"Yes. Good work, Kota-san."

"Thanks for the support, both of you."

"Don't mention it!"

"I merely did what was expected."

After exchanging words of appreciation, we collected the magic stones.

It was then that I noticed Rosso-san looking at the marks carved into the ground. Given their shape, as though they had been made by a giant claw, they had probably been left by her great scythe.

"What is it, Rosso-san?"

"Nothing... I was wondering whether Dullahans are classified as undead too."

"Ah... Well, that depends on the legends, but at least the Dullahans here are something similar, I'd say."

Though they were fairies, their connection to the underworld gave them a nature close to that of ghosts.

I couldn't definitively call them undead, but given that 'Banishment' worked on them, they couldn't be all that different.

"I see..."

After closing her eyes as though thinking for a moment, she said.

"Young oni. I just thought of something rather good."

"Yes?"

"We'll be going to Tatsumin's village over the paper matter next time, right? I'd like to show you something then."

Rosso-san turned toward me and rested her great scythe on her right shoulder.

"My Unique Ability... Why don't I show it to you?"

With that, she gave me a fearless smile.

＊　　　　＊　　　　　＊

After about two hours, we finished exploring the dungeon, exited it, and returned to the 'Containment Facility.'

We had defeated thirty-eight Dullahans. The request had called for thirty, so we had culled more than enough.

By the time we headed home, the rain had stopped. After filing our report at the café, we went our separate ways for the day.

I get a slightly larger share of the extermination reward because of the scrolls, so I'm already looking forward to the day the money is deposited at the end of the month.

My spiritual rank had also risen by one stage, so as far as leveling up went, this had been a highly rewarding exploration.

After leaving the café, I rode the bus with Miyu-san and found myself thinking.

Rosso-san had mentioned 'my Unique Ability' during the exploration, and come to think of it, I didn't know the details. I had heard that it was 'difficult to use—or rather, useless during ordinary exploration.'

What kind of ability could it be...?

Incidentally, the gift certificates were turned into supermarket sashimi.