NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Burning Mansion
===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===
It was a terrifying, giant undead—in more ways than one.
On top of that, this was the first time I was fighting against an opponent that made me mentally exhausted.
「Fireball.」
I fired my magic.
That magic should be enough to annihilate that giant undead, regardless of his high regeneration rate.
… F*ck, I accidentally killed him way too fast!
I forgot to ask him where to find that Jean-what's-his-name!
「Gunu!」
Fortunately, that giant undead seemed to barely dodge my magic.
The giant lump of flame crashed against the wall of the mansion, sending sparks flying everywhere.
As a result, the mansion was on fire.
SHIEEEEE*T, I FORGOT THAT THIS MAGIC SHOULDN'T BE USED INDOORS!
I started to lose my cool upon seeing the fire spreading fast and far.
On the other hand, that giant undead was inspecting his flaming arm with a dumbfounded look on his face.
「The burn… won't heal?! Lies, this must be a dream?! Tell me this is just a dream!」
… And sounded extremely confused as well.
「MY BEAUTIFUL SKIN THAT I CARE FOR EVERY DAY?!」
His giant figure trembled uncontrollably. Suddenly, his long golden ringlets shot up straight upward. [TL : Super saiyan?!]
「YOU BASTA*RD, RETURN MY BEAUTIFUL SKIN!―"LOVE-LOVE BEAAAAAAM!!!」
Right after that, I saw a pink flash of light coming from the giant undead's fist. It struck me square in the face.
But of course, all that pink light could do was push me back a few steps. Forget about injury, it wasn't even enough to tickle me.
「M-My ultimate move… isn't working at all?!」
「Uhh, sorry for making you angry, but I actually want to ask a question. Where can I find that Jean-what's-his-name?」
I asked my question, using the chance provided when that giant undead was trembling in shock.
Maybe because my opponent was an undead—or perhaps it was because I didn't feel like beating around the bush with this guy, who slowly but steadily chipped away at my sanity—I could actually speak properly.
「Are you… chasing after Jean-sama?! Could it be that you're actually… a Holy Knight? Why is an undead like you siding with those b*stards?」
Holy Knight?
What in the world was this creep talking about?
「You're the one who killed Sou, right?!」
「Sou? Are you referring to that long-haired undead?」
「… As I thought!」
The giant undead's face twitched.
「You bathed in that flame to suffer the same fate as m-… As if I could tell you that!! I want to keep this beauty of mine forever!」
「H-Hold on! Listen till the end! I just want to know that Jean-what's-his-name's whereabouts!」
I followed that giant undead as he escaped in a hurry.
He was really fast, despite his giant frame. Unfortunately, he was far slower than me.
We leaped out of the room and sprinted through the corridor.
Maybe because the giant undead heard my footsteps, he looked behind from the corner of his vision.
「HIIIII?!」
The heck… I should be the scared one, you know!
You were far more terrifying-appearance-wise- than me.
I chased after him with a complicated emotion in my heart. Most likely, he realized he couldn't escape anymore, so he stopped and flexed in front of me, right in the middle of a plaza.
「I-I want to… become a woman! That's why I love this unaging body! So please! Please spareeeeee meeeeee!」
… I never wished for this kind of disgusting compensation.
「Do you know the whereabouts of Jean-what's-his-name?」
「I-I don't where he is right now!」
「Really?」
「Yes! Please believe me~!」
He had no idea, huh… Couldn't be helped, then.
I approached the giant undead while concentrating my magic into my right hand.
「HIIIIII?! P-Please! PLEASE SPARE MY LIFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」
「You already died a long time ago, you know. A dead man walking should've just obediently died as a human. That's my principle.」
I mean, I wanted to go to the afterlife as soon as possible too.
「Fireball.」
「NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!」
◇ ◇ ◇
===A Certain Lunatic Necromancer===
「?!」
「Is something the matter, Jean-sama?」
「Brodia… Someone has killed Brodia…」
「… WHAT?!」
Jean's close aide was at a loss for words upon hearing the other's remark.
Brodia was also one of the Nine Death Generals.
He was one of Jean's masterpieces.
Moreover, he was different from Sou, the weakest of the nine. Brodia's combat prowess was top class amongst the nine.
The reason why he wasn't placed right by Jean's side as a bodyguard despite his strength was because of THAT.
「A~h, BRODIAAA! MY LOVELY BRODIA~A! WOE IS ME. WHY HAVE I LOST YOU TOO?! HOW WILL I LIVE IN THE WORLD WITHOUT YOUUUUU?!」
Jean raised mournful cries to the heavens.
And then…
「Well, it can't be helped. You were completely annihilated after all.」
His tone went back to normal in a flash.
As if that wasn't enough, he added.
「In the first place, he was so disgusting to the point that it almost killed me. What was it again, MAIDEN? HAH! An ugly gorilla like him wanted to become a beautiful maiden?! Could it be that he meant rare animal? I had to hold back vomit every time he tried to woo me with that disgusting appearance. Yup, that's it, losing him is for the best.」
Jean laughed cheerfully, as if his bitter expression from before was a lie.
「Well, that aside, there's no way I can sit back doing nothing after losing both Sou and Brodia.」
As expected, his pride was deeply wounded after he lost two of the Nine Death Generals.
His lips twisted into a conniving grin as he declared his intentions to the air.
「Wash your neck and wait for me, Holy Knights. Now it'll be my turn to come to you. And then, I'll raise you back as my lovely undeads♪」
He… had yet to know the truth.
◇ ◇ ◇
===A Certain Female Holy Knight===
We, the special Holy Knight's team that was formed to subjugate Jean Diago, had just arrived in this city called Saldor in the Romana Kingdom.
First, we'd be riding the train toward Dari, from there we'd continue our journey toward Coastal.
Since there was no railway heading toward Coastal, our only choice was traveling via highway with horse.
「Uhh? What's the matter?」
And just when we were about to take a rest to prepare for tomorrow's journey, we heard the sound of a warning bell resounding across the city.
Vice-captain Porm opened the window to confirm the situation outside.
「It seems there's a mansion that's been set ablaze, Captain Limule.」
Even though the sun had set, the sky outside was still quite bright.
The blazing flame burned with such intensity that it was still visible, even from this distance.
「The fire… is quite strong. Taking into account the wind today, the fire might spread to the entire city if it's handled incorrectly.」
I stood up from the sofa, taking off my nightgown.
「… What are you going to do?」
「I might be able to help them since I can use water magic.」
「… Firefighting isn't part of our mission.」
「I can't just watch them without doing anything. Don't worry, I'll go help them, even alone. The rest of you can rest for tomorrow.」
I left our inn after entrusting the aftermath to Porm.
I finally saw the location of the fire after running for a while.
「Please open the way for me.」
After I pushed through the onlookers, I finally arrived in front of the blazing mansion.
「That's… a really huge mansion. It has a spacious garden too. I guess there's no worries about the fire spreading outside the mansion perimeter.」
Fortunately, the people who lived in the mansion had already escaped outside.
They were currently resting at the edge of the garden, receiving first aid from the palace guards who had arrived first.
But there was something strange about them.
Why were there only handsome and young men amongst them?
「I can use recovery magic too. Allow me to help you.」
「I see, thanks a lot. Well, fortunately, none of their injuries are life-threatening.」
I decided to ask for their story while applying recovery magic on one of them.
「Are you guys employees of this mansion?」
「No, we're not. We were captured.」
「Cap… tured?」
「… Yeah, by a terrifying undead.」
He replied with an ashen face and trembling lips.
「Undead…? Mind if you fill me in on the details?」
And then, I uncovered a shocking truth as I heard his story. Apparently, numerous young men were held captive inside of that mansion for a long time by a beefy undead, a self-proclaimed maiden.
No doubt about it.
The name of that undead was Brodia…
One of the big shots of Jean's underlings.
「We couldn't escape no matter how hard we tried… And we… became that guy's prey and ti-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!」
「C-Calm down. It's okay. That terrifying guy isn't here.」
I managed to calm down the guy who was screaming in fear. Apparently, my prodding had caused him to relive the most horrifying trauma of his life.
「But then, why was this mansion set ablaze? Just what in the world happened?」
「S-Someone came to save us. We were saved… by another undead.」
「Another… undead?」
「Yes… white hair and red eyes…」
A white-haired, red-eyed undead!
No way, the undead from Coastal?
If that was the case, he was unrelated to Jean.
On the contrary, they might be enemies.
「If he didn't come to save us back then, we… might've had to live that misery till we died! Moreover, he also helped us escape after he set this mansion ablaze!」
「He helped you guys… escape from the blazing mansion?」
I almost couldn't believe my ears upon hearing that shocking truth.