After several minutes of discussion, we finally decided to choose the search unit.
Since both the assault unit and search unit were equally dangerous, we chose the one that would be easier to retreat from, at least.
“Phew… Why don’t you understand? I’m telling you, if we run into an Abyss Priest, it could be a big problem!”
Of course, Amy, who had expressed opposition, kept grumbling until the end…
“Are, are you scared…?”
Before I could say anything, Friede stepped in first and shut Amy’s mouth.
“What…?”
“Ah, um, there’s no need to be afraid…? Not, not all Abyss Priests are strong.”
While turning her golden eyes to the side to avoid eye contact, she said with a slight smirk at the corner of her mouth.
“They, they prepared a lot… but couldn’t kill the paladins. They’re weak… lacking in strength.”
It was a surprisingly sharp analysis for someone who was stammering.
“So don’t be chic… ah, no. Don’t worry. We won’t die even if we meet one. Probably.”
“…Ha, who said I was chicken!”
Enough to stab Amy’s pride right in the heart.
* * *
As mentioned earlier, the search unit’s mission was to scatter in party units to thoroughly search the vicinity of the ruins, find and exterminate the undead lurking in the forest.
They said they’d recognize it as merit if we brought back the heads of the subjugated undead?
In case we encountered an Abyss Priest, our role as the search unit was to fire a flare to alert the paladins and then hold the villain in place.
The subjugation of the Abyss Priest itself would be handled by the paladins.
We set up a place in one corner of the temporary camp, rested for about an hour, then got up again and walked deep into the forest.
To search the designated area assigned to us by the paladins.
They had divided up the areas by party, perhaps to increase the efficiency of the search. So, all we had to do was look around the area marked on the borrowed map, return to the camp around sunset, get a good night’s sleep, and prepare for the next day.
There was nothing difficult about it.
* * *
We had walked for about thirty minutes into the depths of the quiet winter forest.
As expected, countless groups of undead welcomed us with open arms.
Skeletons draped in rags.
Half-rotten beasts like bears and wolves.
And revenants, bald undead with their ribs and internal organs clearly visible through their emaciated flesh.
It was truly a sight like a comprehensive gift set of low-level undead.
“Grrrr…”
Thud.
A revenant with its skull split vertically collapses, spilling rotten brain matter. A disgusting odor of death brushed my nose.
“Clack…!”
A skeleton, perhaps enraged by its friend’s death, thrusts its spear while clattering its teeth.
I lightly shook off the black fluid staining my sword blade, then grabbed the shaft of its spear with my left hand and yanked it hard.
“Gaaah…”
A force that a skull with nothing but bones couldn’t resist.
It immediately lost balance and staggered, falling towards me like a child seeking its mother’s embrace.
“Ha!”
As I forcefully struck that skull with the pommel of my sword hilt, its head shattered like a sugar candy with a crunching sound.
Being a skeleton, it was empty inside.
I kicked away the limp bones, severing its spine while sending it flying backwards, and simultaneously turned my body like dancing, swinging my sword to behead another revenant.
Slash!
The dried bald head slipped off and rolled on the ground mixed with snow and mud.
While I took out three undead in succession in the time it took to exhale once, the other party members also showed off their skills without reserve, slaughtering the rest of the undead.
“Ha, haaaa!”
Friede leapt forward as if doing a forward roll with her greatsword raised high, vertically splitting the wolf zombie that was rushing at her, while Gerda sniped and destroyed the knee joints of skeletons and revenants.
“Graaaah!”
“Grrr! Grrrr…!”
The undead hit in the knees by arrows staggered and fell repeatedly like drunk twenty-somethings trying to get up, letting out graduate student-like screams.
Until Amy’s fired 『Flame Arrows』 and 『Invisible Hammers』 shattered their heads.
It was a subjugation that couldn’t have gone smoother.
We were already used to dealing with wights and skeletons, and revenants weren’t that strong either, so we could easily take them down by cutting off their limbs and splitting their heads.
After slaughtering about thirty undead like that, we decided to stop searching and return.
Although Friede and I could still fight for much longer, Amy’s attack spells were running low…
“If we get any more here, how are we going to carry them all back?”
“Ah, that’s true.”
To have our subjugation merits recognized, we had to bring back the heads of the undead, but if the number of heads exceeded thirty, it wouldn’t be easy just to carry them back.
Ah, I miss having an inventory.
* * *
On the way back to the camp, dragging the undead heads tied with ropes.
“Thirty just by ourselves… that’s more than expected.”
Gerda, who had been walking while keeping watch on the surroundings, suddenly spoke as if she had just thought of something.
“If other parties are in the same situation as us, the number of those creatures would be at least two to three hundred. I can’t even guess what the maximum number might be. It’s astounding.”
“Is that so? It seems rather natural to me.”
Amy replied, tilting her head slightly.
“Isn’t this the one who killed all the lower-class people in this area and revived them as undead? The quality of the troops might be questionable, but the numbers are bound to be overflowing.”
She said that considering the infamy of the Lowborn Slaughterer spread in this area, this number wasn’t much, but rather a matter of course.
…Hmm, the number I killed was only about a hundred people at most.
Perhaps not just me, but the Abyss Priest also went around doing similar things?
Yes, that must be it.
Come to think of it, it’s obvious, isn’t it? There’s no way someone would get the nickname ‘slaughterer’ for killing just about a hundred people.
The number of victims killed by the Lowborn Slaughterer must be several times that, without a doubt.
What I did was just adding a very small number to that.
Probably.
* * *
Finally back at the temporary camp.
We handed over thirty heads to the paladin of the subjugation force to confirm our subjugation, then set up a sleeping place in one corner of the camp.
We set up a military tent lent by the church side and lit a campfire in front of it.
Apparently, it was a tent used by the vanguard unit that had entered the dungeon interior?
We’d have to return it when they safely came back, but they said we could use it as much as we wanted until then.
Thanks to that, we didn’t have to sleep rough in the night dew. We could just lay out our cloaks and sleeping bags inside the tent and sleep in them.
We didn’t even need to set up night watch. That was the job of the adventurers who volunteered for the defense unit.
If it were just adventurers gathered together, we couldn’t trust even the night watch, so one of us would have to stay awake… but this time, we could sleep soundly without any problems.
With paladins and priests walking around with their eyes wide open, what madman would dare touch other adventurers in such a situation?
Even those whose brains are in their lower parts know to fear paladins.
“Let’s rest well today, and go out again tomorrow morning.”
I said as I took off the cloak I was wearing and spread it in the middle of the four-person tent.
“Um, can I sleep here…? You see, I can’t calm down unless I’m in a corner…”
Originally I was going to sleep at the edge of the tent, but since Friede took one corner, my spot naturally had to be in the middle.
“Hmm. Then, I guess my spot will be here?”
Amy put her sleeping bag down next to my spot and slipped into it, and behind her, Gerda also laid out her sleeping bag next to Amy and lay down.
As usual, I lay down on my cloak with my armor still on.
“You’re going to sleep like that again?”
Amy glanced at me and asked. With a look that asked if it wasn’t uncomfortable.
“Didn’t you say it was because of anxiety symptoms? Wouldn’t it be okay this time? Given that paladins are all around us.”
Anxiety symptoms?
Ah, that’s right, I did say that. That I couldn’t sleep without armor or helmet outside due to anxiety symptoms.
A blatant lie, but.
“Hmm… I’m not sure. We’ll see.”
I trailed off as if reluctant.
The reason I didn’t take off my helmet even when sleeping wasn’t because of anxiety symptoms, but because of concern that others might recognize Brunhilde’s face.
Seeing how Kikel and Laute didn’t particularly react when they saw my bare face, I wonder if it wasn’t an excessive worry…
Hmm…
I lay down with my interlocked palms supporting the back of my helmet, lightly licking my lips as I pondered.
Honestly, sleeping with a helmet on was terribly uncomfortable.
Hard, cold, stuffy steel.
It’s the worst material for a pillow.
Moreover, it smells pretty bad due to blood and sweat from killing undead.
“Hmmm…”
If I were certain that revealing my face wouldn’t be a problem, I wouldn’t have forced myself to sleep with this steel can on my head.
The problem is that I don’t have that certainty.
‘Ah, but maybe it’s okay just for now?’
Such a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Although we had lit a campfire outside the tent, now that we were inside the tent with the entrance closed, it was dark all around.
That means my face wouldn’t be visible even if I took off my helmet.
So, if I just wake up earlier than the other party members tomorrow morning and put my helmet back on, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?
…Right?