3
“This is my — no, the story of the Red-Eyed Undead, Keno Fasris Invern. Or at least, the day when it began.”
Keno had started speaking clearly at some point, and that was her summation. Her garbled speech when they had just met was probably because she had not spoken for too long. That said, as one of the undead, her body would not age, and so she would recover quickly once she started speaking.
“I see,” Suzuki Satoru replied, and then Keno continued narrating her tale of what happened since that day.
After realizing that it was not just the people in the room, but the castle, and the entire city who had become mindless undead — Zombies, in other words — Keno had two paths available to her.
One was to leave this city and ask someone else for help in saving her people.
The other was to stay here and wait for help from other cities to arrive.
Evidently, Keno had chosen to stay.
While Keno did not hate the living, the undead were fundamentally beings who hated the living. How could a being like that ask the living for help? If they saw Keno, there was no doubt that they would attack with the intent of destroying her. Then, there was the fact that even after becoming undead, Keno could not simply abandon her family and leave.
More importantly, Keno was weak and could not withstand the attacks of monsters and beasts, so the chances of her reaching a nearby city were low. In addition, she held on to a faint thread of hope that the other cities would come to investigate, given that this was the royal capital.
However — nobody came.
After one, after two years, she had not seen anyone around the city gate.
Perhaps this strange undead conversion phenomenon had spread to the nearby cities and even affected the entire country. When that thought came to mind, Keno began working in earnest, and as she waited for rescue, she studied the undead residents of her country in order to understand the undead conversion phenomenon, so that she might help everyone recover.
She had also thought “What can I do? I’m just a child,” once, but Keno had no choice.
Keno occasionally ventured out of the castle to bring back various books, which she would study. At the same time, she trained herself to use more potent spells. As one of the undead, who did not need to rest, Keno could literally work through the night in her endeavors.
Years passed, or possibly decades — it had been long enough that even her sense of time had been thrown off. It would seem Keno had lived all by herself, looking for a way to restore everyone to their original selves.
During this time, Keno had seen migratory birds which had not yet been converted to Zombies, which made her certain that there were still living beings in the outside world. However, when she observed the city gates, all she saw were the occasional corpses of animals which had been attacked by Zombies, and in the end she had not encountered any live human visitors.
After hearing Keno’s story, Suzuki Satoru finally realized why there was such a huge difference between the solemn way in which Keno spoke and her youthful appearance.
When he thought about it calmly, it was a perfectly understandable situation. Since she was undead, it was only natural that there would be a disconnect between her apparent age and her actual time spent alive (leaving aside the matter of whether that was accurate for now). In other words, her body might not have changed, but her mind had grown. It was impossible to completely erase fear and other emotions from one’s heart, and so, in the fullness of time, her mind had gradually changed as well.
That being the case, would it not be rude to treat her as a child? Suzuki Satoru thought. I’ll just wait until she makes her preference known, he concluded. All of his life experience to date had told him that it was better to treat women as younger rather than older.
And then, her story came to an end.
Keno, who had been conducting her research in the castle, now lived in the sewers.
That was because — she had fled.
At that time, she had felt a powerful undead being appear outside the city, one that was more powerful than herself or even her parents, and it had then entered the castle. She had no faith whatsoever in her ability to triumph in battle, and so she took everything she could carry and ran from the castle to here.
And then, the events of today had taken place.
Just as she was planning to head out to retrieve some magic-related literature from the castle, she suddenly saw an incomparably powerful undead being in the air — Suzuki Satoru — and this had led to the present circumstances.
“I see…”
He now understood her current condition and the state of the city. However, he had no idea why he had appeared here, or why she and the city had ended up this way.
However, it did not seem like this world had been generated in response to Suzuki Satoru’s arrival. As expected, it would be better to think that there was probably some reason — though it was unclear — that Suzuki Satoru had been brought to another world.
Speaking of which…
Suzuki Satoru stared at Keno, that undead being in the shape of a little girl.
I’m really lucky that I managed to meet someone who knew how this world worked. Doubly so that she’s undead.
She had mentioned it in her story, but it was only after he had asked her about it in detail that he learned that the undead were universally reviled by the living, and it would not be unusual for them to be exterminated if found. Therefore, it would be very difficult for him to gain assistance. That would mean that Keno was a very important person.
It was true that Suzuki Satoru most wanted to know about his former friends and the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. However, Keno knew nothing about them. That said, it did not make her worthless. After all, it was only to be expected that she would not know about them. It made more sense to think that Suzuki Satoru alone had come here and that everything else had vanished with the game.
I’d like to gain her trust and learn more about this world, if possible. At the very least, I’d like to fill in the gaps between what I know and how this world works… that might take a long time. Taking her out into the world of man would shorten that time, and I’d be able to gain experience and knowledge too… but how could I indebt her to me to such an extent?
Just as Suzuki Satoru was agonizing over that problem—
“—Everyone, everyone is important to me.”
Keno went to her knees in front of Suzuki Satoru and then bowed her head low, her palms flat on the ground.
“Please, I beg you. Please change everyone back to how they used to be.”
“—Eh?”
What exactly did she mean by that?
No, even if you say so — that was Suzuki Satoru’s first reaction.
In the game Yggdrasil, Momonga was an undead arcane magic caster. He ought to possess the same power in this incomprehensible otherworld.
However, he did not have the ability to restore the undead.
If the city’s people had become Zombies because of some negative status, then perhaps killing and then resurrecting them with magic might work.
While it could not be used that way in the game, such a tactic apparently existed in other games; namely, killing someone who had gained an incurable status affliction — strictly speaking, they would be beaten into a near-death state and then resurrected, which would eliminate the negative status effect.
However, in the absence of such circumstances, none of the spells in Suzuki Satoru’s repertoire included the ability to restore people who had become undead. It might sound strange, but even resurrective items and spells which could be used on undead creatures who had been reduced to 0 HP some time ago could not restore them to their state before they had become undead.
That said, race-change items might have a chance here. Unfortunately, once one became an undead creature, most race-change items would not be able to change one’s undead status. If it was possible, the only things which could do that would be on the level of World Class Items.
If one was a Player, it would be quicker to delete one’s character and start a new one.
While I don’t have any and wouldn’t use them even if I did, perhaps the “Seeds of the World Tree” could allow even the undead to freely change their race — assuming, of course, that World Class Items had the same effect here as they did in the game. Or would using [Wish Upon A Star] allow me to change back some of them, even if it wasn’t all of them?
In any case, Suzuki Satoru had no intention of expending any of his limiteduse trump cards.
As Suzuki Satoru continued thinking, Keno also continued her spiel, as though she was weeping tears of blood.
“Why, why did you do this to us? I have no idea. Maybe it was my fault. I’ll pay for my sins, so please spare everyone!”
“—Hm?” He had heard something he could not pretend to ignore. “I did this to you?”
Had Suzuki Satoru turned everyone in the city into undead beings without realizing it? No, he had never done such a thing before, not even in Yggdrasil.
Confused, Suzuki Satoru stewed in silent shock. Keno raised her head a little and peeked at Suzuki Satoru.
“…Excuse me. In truth, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying. Did I do something like this?” “—Huh?”
Much like Suzuki Satoru had done just now, Keno made a baffled sound.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Both of them looked at each other.
The girl froze, as though the power to her had been cut off. He waited a while, but she did not look like she planned to answer him. That being the case, Suzuki Satoru began to talk about his own side of things. Still, he could not say he was a resident of another world or whatnot, of course. Therefore, he altered his story into one where he was conducting a magical experiment and had suddenly been teleported into the air above the city.
“So, if you’ve lived in this city for a long time, I trust that means it has nothing whatsoever to do with me?”
“Ah, uh, so it wasn’t because of your power then, Satoru-sama?”
“By power, do you mean turning everyone in this city into undead creatures? No, I don’t know anything about it — ah, I really don’t, you know? Now then, can it be my turn to ask you a question? Do you have any proof or basis that I am the cause for all this?”
In truth, Suzuki Satoru’s memories had only just been awakened. If his body had been unconsciously brutalizing its surroundings until then, he would truly have nothing to say in his defense. “……”
Her expression slowly changed, from shock to hurt.
Like a child, she could not hide the changing of her face. Even though she had lived so long — Suzuki Satoru’s words had still — despite the emotional suppression of the undead — had a great impact on her.
“A-Ah, when I was alone in the city, a powerful undead creature appeared… I was scared and so I ran.”
It was the undead creature that Keno had mentioned just now, the reason why she had shifted her base from the castle to this place. He had not yet heard the details about this undead being—
“—Ahhh, I see, so that undead being was very similar to me… and that’s all, is that it?”
“Yes.”
Keno’s voice, so faint it seemed to be on the verge of disappearing, combined with the look of understanding on her face and lifted a great weight from Suzuki Satoru’s heart.
It was not Momonga — without Suzuki Satoru’s mind — who had done this. That made him even more certain that he had only appeared in this world at that moment. At the same time, Suzuki Satoru could not help but be surprised at the extent to which Keno believed what he said.
Of course, Suzuki Satoru had been very frank and honest with her in the hopes of gaining her acceptance. However, she was the one who would make the final decision of trusting him. In other words, she had believed the words of an undead being she had met for the first time.
If she had placed so much trust in him, then he ought to do the same for her.
That was necessary for building a healthy relationship between two people.
“A-Ah, are you angry? I’m sorry — I’m so sorry I got it wrong, Satoru-sama!”
“Ahh, no need for that. Don’t worry about it. Speaking of which — are you sure that undead creature is the mastermind behind the transformation of this city’s people into Zombies?”
“No, I’m not sure. But I think there should be a connection, otherwise it would not have appeared at this city of the undead.”
“I see, it does make a certain degree of sense.”
While he had verbally agreed with her, Suzuki Satoru still had doubts in his heart.
That conjecture was full of holes.
It might have been more likely if that undead creature had appeared right away. But Keno had almost lost her sense of time by the time it had shown up — on the order of years, at the very least. Would that not mean it was very likely to be unrelated to the incident?
Also, regarding its reason for coming, surely the most likely reason would be because it wanted to take up residence here, no? As an undead being itself, it would not be attacked by low-level undead, and the living would avoid this region. If one set aside the problem of the living attacking it, would a place like this not be the most comfortable living environment for one of the undead?
However, he did not intend to tell Keno about those theories.
There was no way she could not have noticed something which even Suzuki Satoru had surmised right away.
It was very likely that she was still wanted to believe that said undead creature was the mastermind behind all this. That was why she had apologized to Suzuki Satoru for mistaking him for that entity.
She still wanted to believe that there was a way to save everyone.
Suzuki Satoru looked through the stacks of books in the room. All of them were stained, which was a sign of her hard work. However, she had probably clung to such a belief because she understood that she could not save them, or because her research had not shown her a way to do so.
Her narration of what happened that day was very detailed.
The first half of her story, her description of the day’s events, was very specific and she had clearly illustrated the situation, even going so far as to include her own feelings at the time. In contrast, the latter half of her story — after she had become undead — seemed to blend together. Perhaps to her, there had been little change in the days after that, so there was little for her to talk about.
But of course they would be different.
The last time she was human was during breakfast.
Those were the most brilliant memories she had, which was why she could speak of them at such length and in such detail.
Suzuki Satoru stroked the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. He heard Keno gasp in surprise, but he did not mind.
He felt a hard coldness.
Yes, that’s how it is.
He could understand how Keno felt.
Keno felt the same way about the city which contained her parents and which had helped raise her as Suzuki Satoru did about the guild Ainz Ooal Gown. If there was someone who could help Suzuki Satoru return to those brilliant days, he would gladly prostrate himself before them and beg for their help.
The feeling which rose up in him was called guilt.
It was simple enough to say that she was wrong for expecting so much out of Suzuki Satoru.
However—
“Ahh, yes,” Suzuki Satoru said as he squeezed his staff. “—Keno-san.”
He saw Keno’s shoulders twitch, but Suzuki Satoru ignored it and continued speaking.
“If destroying that undead creature will reverse the transformation of the people in the city, then I will gladly assist you.”
Suzuki Satoru’s earlier theory had been based purely in his knowledge of Yggdrasil. If that undead being really was the culprit, then it might be possible to restore the people by defeating him or using some other means.
If every living thing in a city had turned undead, then one could not conclude “Who could have done this?”
“If it is as you believe, Keno-san, and the opposition is someone who can turn an entire city of people undead, then surely they will not be easy enemies. For that reason, I feel that capturing them in one piece will be difficult, but annihilating them might still be possible.”
As Suzuki Satoru told Keno that, he mentally chided himself, Are you a moron?
At best, an undead being similar to Suzuki Satoru would be an Overlord. If all of his Yggdrasil knowledge was applicable, he might be able to think of a way to deal with them. However, in this world it was entirely possible that the local equivalent of an Overlord was a Level 1000+ opponent.
That said, it would seem it was not likely that this opponent would surpass Suzuki Satoru’s expectations.
The reason for that was because of the way Keno described her parents. Her father, heralded in song and story, was able to cast fourth-tier spells, while her mother, who could cast fifth-tier spells, was considered a genius. From that point of view, there was little change with Yggdrasil, or rather, there were more weaklings here than in Yggdrasil.
That said, whether he could beat them remained to be seen.
His self-mockery had been directed at the foolish words he said after he had equated experience at a game to real-life combat experience, in addition to his lack of knowledge.
If possible, he would like to take Keno away from this city for a while and contact people in this world who were familiar with the undead, in order to gain as much information on his foe as possible before preparing a flawless strategy with which to challenge his adversary.
For starters, he did not know the power of his opposition. Perhaps Keno had only seen the one undead creature, but it might have continued improving its fighting strength within the city after that.
In that case, his first priority was to collect information, and then — he would need to spend a lot of time and effort on preparations.
However, he did not think Keno would accept that idea. Surely a girl who refused to leave a city full of the terrifying undead would not accept a simple “Let’s get out of here,” from a third party that easily. Still, it was worth a try.
“However, I would like you to think carefully about this. Is it really alright to destroy it? It’s possible that even if you destroy that undead creature, the townsfolk might not return to normal, no?”
Keno shook her head and pulled out a book from the piles of literature.
The books stacked on top of it collapsed and fell, but she brought it back without a second glance and opened a page to show Suzuki Satoru.
His first thought was — it’s not Japanese after all.
As Suzuki Satoru fumbled for a magic item, Keno pointed to a passage in the book and read it out.
“This part says that resurrecting a slain undead creature requires extremely powerful resurrection spells, and even after resurrection they will still be undead. But if the master undead is wiped out, the possibility exists that his victims may be restored, if they are lucky. That’s what’s written here.”
For the most part, this was the same as Yggdrasil. However, in order for a Yggdrasil character who had become undead to become a human again, they would need a World Class Item, while it was not so in this world. The more he realized the differences between both worlds, the more Keno’s importance grew. Dammit, Suzuki Satoru thought.
If Keno had answered, “Maybe they might not turn back,” Suzuki Satoru could have guided the conversation to “Then let’s not destroy it first and find another way. Since we don’t know enough, why don’t we leave this city for a while and head outside to gather information?” That was how he had planned it.
That plan had gone awry. Still, it could not be helped.
In that case, he would just have to destroy it.
Destroy that undead being.
Of course—
—Only if I can manage it.
“I understand. In that case — ahhh, yes, there has to be payment.”
“Yes.”
“And the payment shall be — I want to know all sorts of things. I want to know everything you know.”
The look on Keno’s face seemed to say “Huh?”
“Will you be satisfied with that?”
“Yes. I feel that the knowledge you have stored up until now is very valuable.”
Suzuki Satoru turned his eyes from the book Keno was holding to the stacks of other books in this room. What he wanted was basic information about the world, but Keno would probably be disturbed if he said as much. Therefore, he had feigned an attitude which would make her mistakenly believe he was looking for magical knowledge. Given Keno’s reaction, she had completely bought it.
“A-Alright, but all that knowledge couldn’t save everyone, you know?”
“It’s fine. Even if that’s the case, it’s still valuable to me.” “Thank you,” Keno muttered, and bowed to him.
“Also — any money or magic items you could spare would also be very good,” Suzuki Satoru said as he nonchalantly produced a Yggdrasil gold coin. “Can I spend these in this country?”
Keno took the coin and spun it round and round in her hands before returning it to Suzuki Satoru.
“Yes, you can. Or at least, you could. While I don’t know exactly how much it’s worth without checking its gold content…”
“I see. Then, I’d be happy to obtain more gold coins like these which are usable in the surrounding region.”
“I, Keno Fasris Invern, do hereby swear to you that I shall pay you whatever you desire, Satoru-sama.”
Suzuki Satoru quietly sucked in a breath.
Such was Keno’s regal, princess-like demeanor that it established her as superior even to the most successful salesman that Suzuki Satoru knew.
“Then, I am very grateful. Thus our compact is formed. In that case—”
In order to learn how to use his might, he would need to learn how Yggdrasil’s magic interacted with the magic of this world.
“By the way, Keno-san. I should mention that I can cast spells of the tenth tier.”
“—I see.”
Keno smiled in a way that seemed mildly distressed.
Why, why is she smiling like that? …Aren’t you considered a genius if you can cast fifth-tier spells? I’ve gone and doubled that, you know! Why are you so calm — is it because she’s undead?
After becoming undead, Suzuki Satoru had experienced how his emotions would be suppressed once they reached a certain threshold. Did the same thing apply to Keno as well?
Don’t tell me tenth-tier spells are nothing much? What if the tiers start at ten and get more powerful as the numbers grow smaller? Wait, wouldn’t that make me a firsttier caster?
“Ah… is there a third-tier spell called [Fireball]?”
“Huh? Yes. there is such a spell, although I don’t know how to use it.”
“Your parents were able to cast fourth- and fifth-tier spells, so they shouldn’t have problems casting it, right?”
“Mother might not have learned it, but my father could cast it.” “I see. Incidentally, the spell [Lightning] is also of the third tier, right?” Keno indicated that this was so.
So it would seem spells in this world occupied the same tiers as Yggdrasil. In other words, Suzuki Satoru’s knowledge of magic could be directly applied.
This was excellent news, but he had to verify it.
“In that case, Keno-san, could you cast one of your spells — how about this, could you cast a first-tier spell on me? An attack spell would be best.”
“Ehhhh?!”
It was only when he saw Keno’s wide eyes that he realized he had not explained in sufficient detail.
“Ahhh. I would like to see if my powers are functioning as normal. I would like to use your attack spells as an indicator, Keno-san.”
After all, it would be troublesome they were only similar in name and tier but completely different in effects and destructive power.
“Eh, ah, I see. I understand.”
Keno gathered up her determination and stood up, then faced Suzuki Satoru.
Her lack of hesitation gave Suzuki Satoru the chills. Surely most people would waver for a moment or be disturbed, would they not?
Was that an undead trait too? As he was contemplating that question, Keno cast her spell. A brace of [Magic Arrow]s lanced out at him with the same special effects as in Yggdrasil. And then — they vanished in the instant they touched Suzuki Satoru’s body.
“Ehhhh?!” Keno exclaimed in surprise.
Suzuki Satoru — no, Momonga possessed an ability known as [High-Tier Magic Immunity]. It was a power that nullified all spells of the sixth tier and below. While it was in effect, a mere first-tier spell was completely useless.
“It seems the power that protects me is functioning without any problems. Now then, try again. This time, I will lower my defenses.”
He deactivated the passive skill. For some reason he felt like he was naked under the barrel of a gun.
A guild member had once said that he felt afraid to have a gun pointed at him even when he had implanted subdermal bulletproof fibers. He could understand how they felt now. While the powerful emotions of the undead would be suppressed, it would seem emotions that did not reach that threshold would be left untouched.
“I understand,” Keno said, and once again, she cast her spell at him without a moment’s hesitation.
“[Magic Arrow].”
The bolts of light lanced out again and struck Satoru dead center.
It did not hurt. No, there was something that might have been pain, but actually calling it pain would have disgraced the word.
Were his senses dulled because he was undead? But when he thought about it, he wanted to scoff at how a body made solely of bones without flesh, nerves, or even skin, could feel pain in the first place. On that note, how the hell did a body without vocal cords or lungs even manage to speak?
It was the same way for Keno, who did not breathe. That was just how things worked, and he had no choice but to accept them.
He peeked at her, and in the end, Keno’s face — even after attacking Suzuki Satoru twice — was calm. Rather, her expression seemed to say that she had expected this all along.
What’s with her…
How could she attack her helper, Suzuki Satoru, with no hesitation whatsoever? Was it because she was a psychopath, or because she was undead, or was this just the way this world worked? Countless possibilities swept through his mind.
Don’t tell me… she felt that it was a chance to kill me? Or no, was it because she was thinking, if you die, that’s all there is to you, something ruthless like that?
The matter of whether he was strong enough to be her collaborator must have been very important to Keno. That was why she could attack him with no hesitation whatsoever.
Still, I am an ally of hers… so I figured a bit of hesitation ought to be expected… oh well.
No amount of thinking would give him an answer. He would just have to regard her as a creepy little girl for now. He could not allow himself to be taken in by her youthful appearance and pretty face. She was a girl who had something dangerous inside her.
In any case, he now knew that engaging in combat without performing more experiments was a very dangerous thing. If this world was different from Yggdrasil and death was a final ending, then he needed to know what it felt like to take damage — to be in pain. A fear of pain in battle might lead to him losing a fight that he could have won.
“Keno-san, you said you could use second-tier spells in the past, but what about now? Is the second tier still your best?”
“Yes… I focused on broadening my knowledge rather than improving my spellcasting abilities, so…”
“I see. That means…”
While Keno’s level and ability scores were unknown, no matter how she tried to attack with the second-tier spells that she knew, she would not be able to cause him any pain compared to the attack spells employed by his foe — estimated to be on the level of an Overlord. She was completely useless for that purpose.
“In that case, I apologize, but I still wish to continue my tests. I need to use attack spells centered on myself. Therefore, can you tell me if there are any open areas where doing so will be relatively safe?”
Suzuki Satoru’s own spells ought to be able to do some degree of damage to him. In addition, there was one thing he had to clarify.
That was to see if friendly fire was in effect. His fighting style would change depending on whether the answer was yes or no. Things like how to use area-ofeffect spells and so on.
“An open space, you say? How big does it have to be? The biggest space I know of in the sewers is… yes, around 50 meters across.”
“50 meters, huh…”
He would have to avoid spells with area-of-effect knockback and spells which were exceptionally effective against walls and other objects. Only then would such a size be considered adequate.
It would have been wiser to teleport outside the city and carry out his tests. However, he had not expected the situation to end up like this, so he had not memorized any teleport destinations outside the city.
In Yggdrasil, one would leave a marker, but in this world it would seem one memorized the location instead.
What was the state of the inside of his head after knowing this? Speaking of which, did he even have a brain in this body? As he began contemplating this digression, Satoru shook his head and banished this useless topic from his mind before answering Keno.
“Hmm. I see. Could you take me there?”
The place he had been taken to was indeed quite spacious. It was probably a central collection tank for sewage flowing through the main trunk and branch sewer lines. However, it was empty now, save for marks left over from decades ago.
He activated his ability to check for the presence of Zombies.
It would be troublesome if there were zombie rats or the like around. If they got killed during the experiment, he might end up aggroing all the Zombies in the city.
Incidentally, there were no such things as slime Zombies. While every race could be turned into Zombies or skeletons, there were certain exceptions. Races without a skeletal system could not be zombified or skeletonized. That was how it worked in Yggdrasil, and after checking with Keno, that was how it worked in this world too.
After finishing his checks, he stole a glance at Keno, who had remained in a higher place.
She showed no signs of fleeing. Was it because she trusted him, or because she felt she was useful, or because she felt that there was no point in escaping?
—Let’s begin, then.
“[Call Greater Thunder]!”
This ninth-tier spell was the highest-tiered single-target lightning spell. While a flame-type spell would have worked just as well, he was mildly afraid of fire — it was one of his weaknesses, after all — which was why he had chosen this spell instead. Of course, he could have used something weaker, like a fifth-tier spell or something, but he had chosen a high-tier spell because he wanted to know how much damage a ninth-tier spell would do to him, as well as how much it would hurt.
Also, this was one of the spells that an Overlord would commonly use, and he also wanted to see if he could direct single-target spells against himself.
A thick pillar of lightning coursed down, illuminating the interior of the sewer with a dazzling light.
And then — while he felt pain, Suzuki Satoru also realized that this pain was not unendurable.
His sense of pain seemed to be suppressed as well. Was that an effect of being converted into an undead being too?
Suzuki Satoru could not help but laugh.
While gaining an undead body had shocked Suzuki Satoru a little, it was because he had such a body that he could bring forth his full abilities.
If he still had his fleshy body that could feel pain normally, surely Suzuki Satoru would have feared battle more, and he might even have chosen to avoid fighting.
Following that, Suzuki Satoru took out a scroll from his inventory. He had to check if he could use scrolls normally.
He unleashed the power contained within the scroll, and scorching flames charged skywards.
It was [Napalm].
●
There was a heaven-splitting stroke of thunder.
It was followed by a sky-scorching blaze.
A wave of excitement and fear washed over Keno Fasris Invern.
The words “magic caster” or “undead” were no longer sufficient to describe this. This was a power that only a being superior to both of them could employ. In other words, this magic was of the gods, or similar beings, Keno fervently believed.
The Invern royal family followed the Na Bel faith that had believers in the surrounding countries. It was a pantheon headed by the sun god Bei Niala who held a gem in his hand, and the moon goddess Lu Kinis, who wielded a jeweled staff.
Ultimately, however, it was not a belief born of an inner devotion but because it was the state religion. People other than the Rainbow-Eyed lived in this country too, and the Na Bel faith, as the state religion, was used to strengthen the bonds between the various ethnicities. One could even go further and say that they were using religion to establish ties to the surrounding nations.
Back then, Keno had been young and did not know these things, so she had believed in the gods with all her heart.
However, on that day, and every day that followed, the gods had not reached out to save them. Therefore, Keno no longer believed in the gods. However, the power of the gods was a different matter.
The existence of divine magic casters proved the existence of the gods’ powers. Therefore, Keno had done research to borrow, seize, or steal the power of the gods, in order to try and restore everyone to normal. However, nothing she tried had any effect — perhaps she was not talented in that field — and so she had halted her research into the topic.
After abandoning that research and years of work, as she was returning the books she had borrowed from a temple, Keno witnessed an undead being entering the city.
It was a skeletal undead, without so much as a scrap of flesh on its body, and both the robe it wore and the magic staff it held looked like powerful magic items. It radiated an aura of might found only among the strong, and it seemed to be more powerful than Keno’s father.
Keno immediately fled with several books in hand.
After reaching a safe place, she began to regret what she had done. Should she not have tried to negotiate and seek salvation for her people?
Her regret had not faded since that day. Surely it wouldn’t be too late to try now, wouldn’t it? More than once, that thought had made her chest feel like it was going to burst.
But then, today had come.
In that moment, when she saw the figure floating in the night sky, Keno had fled once again.
Even from a distance, she could tell his stately robes were brimming with magical power. And then, those clothes that could not possibly have been made by human hands were dwarfed by that golden staff. Its sheer presence blew away the bitter regret and determination in her heart, until nothing remained.
Keno believed that he — Suzuki Satoru — commanded overwhelming might.
Therefore, when he had asked her to cast a spell, she had done so without any hesitation. She believed that her puny spells could not possibly harm him in the slightest — and indeed, that had been the case.
“Father, Mother, Nastasha. There might be a way to save everyone after all.” Keno’s time until now had been wasted.
She had studied all manner of magical grimoires and conducted research, making full use of her unsleeping body to further her learning. While it had been self-taught, she ought to have possessed more knowledge than the average magic caster.
Perhaps Keno Fasris Invern would not have been able to save everyone by herself, no matter how hard she worked in this city.
But if that great man could save everyone, then as the sole surviving member of this kingdom’s royalty, she would accede to any request he made, even if it meant destroying herself.
Still, I don’t think I have anything worthy of offering to him… did he ask for knowledge because he pitied me? I don’t understand. All I can do is believe.
Keno Fasris Invern bet everything she had on that powerful undead being.
She did not know if this would end in triumph or tragedy, or if this would become a heroic saga never before seen in the world.
In any case, a new chapter had begun in Keno’s story.
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