Kukuri Village was facing the worst crisis in its entire history.
A heavy atmosphere had been hanging over the village for several days now.
The cause was a handful of Goblins that had emerged from the forest.
If they had been ordinary Goblins, there would have been no problem—but the trouble was, they had been zombified.
In this world, when Monsters or people die with lingering grudges or unfulfilled desires, their corpses can sometimes reanimate as zombies.
Alternatively, when someone possessed of the special ability known as Necromancy deliberately curses a corpse, the body becomes a zombie and serves as one of that person's Familiars.
The Goblin Zombies seemed to be the latter type.
They moved as though observing their surroundings, and when they noticed they had been spotted, one would slip away while the rest held the pursuers in place. It was clearly a coordinated operation, making it obvious that some higher-ranking being was issuing orders somewhere.
Something like this had been happening day after day recently.
A number of soldiers had attempted to tail them, but only one out of three came back.
That survivor reported that well over a thousand zombies had gathered, and that if a few more days passed, they would come pouring into the village.
The report had come two days ago, and immediately afterward, a meeting was held between the soldiers' representatives and the village's leaders.
By the next day, it was decided that everyone would evacuate carrying only what they could hold in their hands.
Messengers would be dispatched at once. The injured, the elderly, and others unable to travel on foot would board the village and military wagons, escorted by soldiers and able-bodied fighters, and head for the nearest town, where they would wait for reinforcements from the Border Count.
All preparations were to be completed so that evacuation could begin at dawn the next morning—that is, at today's sunrise.
But then something unexpected happened.
The wagons had vanished. Every last one—village wagons and military wagons alike. When the villagers hurried to the garrison in a panic, they found it completely empty.
The soldiers had stolen them all. Every single wagon. To make matters worse, because they had been gathered outside the far entrance of the forest—on the opposite side from the village—so that evacuation could begin immediately, and because the guards posted there had all been soldiers, the theft had gone unnoticed.
Every villager was left speechless. The soldiers, dispatched at the king's own request and arranged by the Border Count, had abandoned them all to lure the zombies—using the villagers as bait—and fled without a trace. It was utterly unprecedented.
Moreover, what made things worse was that the sounds and commotion of zombie-like Monsters could already be heard from deep within the forest.
It was too soon. They had probably deliberately given an inaccurate estimated time, just to secure their own safety.
Father immediately made his decision.
"Start evacuating into the garrison right now! Everyone who can move—grab weapons and food from each household and bring them in! Hurry! The only way to save everyone is to fortify and hold out! And send two or three messengers—to a different town than the one the soldiers headed for!"
Orders flew from Father. He held no formal title like village chief, but among the village's former adventurers, he had the most accomplishments, and he had even formed a party with the King. At his words, everyone sprang into action.
Grandmother, Mother, and I used magic to erect walls and dig trenches. Uncle Mark and several other hunters kept watch over enemy movements.
Less than thirty minutes after the evacuation and food transport were complete, the zombie vanguard appeared.
There were roughly two hundred of them—zombified Goblins and Orcs.
When they drew close, we rained arrows upon them.
For those that still wouldn't stop, those who had been warriors or swordsmen stepped forward and attacked.
"Tenma, come here!"
I was called over by Father.
"What is it, Dad?"
"Tenma, I need you to fly as a messenger too. Head to the town the soldiers went to!"
Murmurs broke out around us at those words.
I was currently one of the strongest combat assets in the defense.
"No way, Dad! If I leave now, our fighting power will drop dramatically!"
That's what I said, but—
"I'm not saying this because you're my child—this is something only you can do!"
Father explained that if I flew using flight magic, I should be able to reach the intended town in less than half a day. He wanted me to arrive before the soldiers, relay the current situation, and call for reinforcements.
That's what they said, and everyone around nodded in agreement.
Then Father pulled a card from inside his coat and handed it to me.
"This is my guild card from when I was an adventurer. Take this to the guild, and they should hear you out."
Along with those words, a small amount of water and food were handed over to me.
I quickly activated flight magic and took to the air. I had already confirmed the town's location on the map yesterday, so I had it memorized.
After flying for about an hour, I spotted the fleeing soldiers taking a break. They didn't seem to have noticed me.
There were twenty-five of them. Seemed like fewer than expected for the size of the garrison.
They must have let their guard down—some of them were even drinking.
But I didn't have time to deal with them, so...
Right...
now...
I decided to ignore them.
About six hours later, the town came into view.
Russell City—the second-largest town in the Haust Margraviate.
A large gate appeared ahead. The gatekeeper spotted me and gestured for me to stop.
However, I ignored the gatekeeper's signal and flew straight through the town, still using flight magic.
Shortly after, I found the guild I'd been told about and swooped inside.
"I have an emergency request from Ricardo of Kukuri Village! I need someone to handle this right away!"
People were startled by me bursting in and immediately shouting, and one man approached—
"Shut the hell up, kid! Go suck your mama's tits instead!"
and lunged at me.
Panicking, I threw the man without holding back.
Launched in a shoulder toss, he slammed into the floor, bounced, and rolled all the way to the wall.
At that moment, five guards rushed in through the door in a panic.
"We received a report that an unauthorized intruder entered the city and got into the guild! Stay where you are!"
When the guards spotted me and moved in to apprehend me,
"What's all this racket? You're being awfully loud."
a clear, pleasant voice echoed through the guild.
When I used Appraisal to check,
Name: Yuri Filand Forester
Age: 200
Race: Elf
Title: Russell City Guildmaster
HP: 14,000
MP: 17,500
Strength: B-
Defense: A-
Speed: B+
Magic Power: A-
Spirit: A+
Growth Rate: B
Luck: A
Skills: Archery 8, Water Magic 8, Wind Magic 8, Magic Manipulation 7, Sense Boost 7, Earth Magic 6, Light Magic 6, Throwing 6, Night Eye 5, Traps 5, Martial Arts 5, Swordsmanship 5, Magic Boost 5, Concealment 5, Recovery Boost 5, Abnormal Status Resistance 4
Gift: Blessing of the Forest
That was the kind of person they were.
It was my first time seeing an elf, but more than that,
G
uild
M
aster
— that was the title my eyes locked onto.
"You're Guild Master Yuri!"
I called out, ignoring the guard.
"I am... but who might you be?"
"My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Tenma, son of Ricardo from Kukuri Village. My father asked me to deliver a message to the Guild Master."
I spoke, weaving in a few lies.
"From Ricardo? Do you have anything that could serve as proof?"
It seemed to work. I handed over Dad's card.
"This is indeed Ricardo's. Let's talk — please, come this way."
The Guild Master tried to lead me further inside, but—
"Wait, Guild Master! That man is suspected of illegal entry! I must ask you to hand him over!"
The guard shouted, but the Guild Master replied—
"That is a problem. However, the Guild enjoys a form of extraterritoriality. Since he is here, custody rights belong to the Guild. We have no obligation to hand him over."
The argument began.
So I said—
"Guild Master, we don't have time. Please hear me out here. There's a reason the guards need to hear this too."
"Very well. Please share that reason as well."
With the Guild Master's permission, I began to explain the situation in Kukuri Village.
Present there were about twenty adventurers — not counting the Guild Master, the staff, or the guards who had come to make the arrest — and every last one of them was focused on me.
I told them everything — how a horde of zombies had been discovered, how the soldiers had used the villagers as bait and fled to this city on their own, how my father and the others were holed up in the garrison waiting for help, and more.
Most of all, I made it a point to emphasize that—
deliberately—
it was "soldiers arranged by the Margrave" acting on "the King's orders" who had used the villagers as bait and fled on their own.
The guards who heard this turned pale as they listened to the actions of people who could broadly be called their colleagues.
The others looked at me with sympathetic eyes and cast accusing glares toward the guards.
"That's why I'm asking for reinforcements to be sent right away."
Hearing my words, the Guild Master made a troubled face—
"We'll send reinforcements, but we can't gather the numbers immediately. It will take a day just to coordinate with the Mayor and collect supplies, and even in the best case, it will take three to four days to reach Kukuri Village."
he said.
Frustrated as I was, I blurted out what came to mind on the spur of the moment.
"I have about five hundred thousand G here. Please use it to hire as many adventurers as you can. Then dispatch them to Kukuri Village right away. You have full discretion over the number of people, food costs, and everything else."
I proposed.
"Understood. We'll accept this as an emergency quest. We won't collect a commission from the Guild for this request. In lieu of that, the border lord and others should be paying a compensation fee, and we'll have you remit a portion of that to the Guild. If that's agreeable, please sign this contract here."
The Guild Master replied without hesitation, and I exchanged the contract with him. In the reward column for the Guild, I wrote down that a portion of the compensation fee rights would be transferred, and added my signature alongside it.
"Then let's post the recruitment with the following terms: a flat rate of ten thousand G per person paid after the fact, rights to the materials of any Monsters they personally defeat, and the possibility of a special bonus."
He put up the notice right away.
The special bonus apparently meant that a subjugation request would also come from Russell City, and anyone who participated in this mission would have that reward handed over to them as well.
Otherwise, the ten thousand G I was offering would be a bit underwhelming, and there was a chance that top-tier adventurers wouldn't bother joining.
"Oh, and Guild Master, I have two favors to ask of you."
"What would those be?"
I said to the Guild Master,
"First, I want to head to the village as quickly as possible, so please make sure I'm not detained after leaving here."
"Y-yes, but…?"
The Guild Master looked toward the guards.
The guards, apparently deciding it wouldn't be wise to worsen their standing any further,
"We'll report this to our superiors as an emergency special exception."
declared, straightening their backs.
"I'm counting on you."
The Guild Master said that to the guards, then turned back toward me and,
"So what's the second thing?"
Since he asked that,
"I'll use magic to deal with the fleeing soldiers. If they're still alive, have them captured. If they've already died, I'll need you to vouch for me."
I said with a faint smile.
"...Understood. I'll take care of it. But I don't think there'll be any need for that."
Seeing me tilt my head at his words, he smiled lightly and continued.
"They effectively defied the King's orders. They used the very people they were meant to protect as shields and fled — the death penalty is unavoidable. If anything, I think you'd be thanked."
he said.
The two of us discussing such grim business with smiles on our faces seemed to put those around us a bit on edge, but I was probably just imagining things.
After that, I quickly loaded up on water, food, and recovery potions, then flew off toward Kukuri Village.
After about five hours of flight, I spotted the soldiers. Careful not to knock them unconscious, I hit them with a strong stun, and once they couldn't move, I used earth magic to bind their limbs and left them there.
I loaded everything they'd been carrying and all their weapons into the Dimension Bag, then headed for the village once more.
I'd heard that in a siege, whether you know help is coming or not makes a heaven-and-earth difference in morale.
Recalling that, I flew on, pushing myself to reach the village as quickly as possible.
Tenma, betrayed by those worthless soldiers... Kukuri Village, plunged into crisis because of it... what's going to happen to them now?
Anyway, I thought I'd show just a glimpse of Tenma's cruel side.
Tenma isn't a sweet, well-behaved creature, you know! That's the kind of vibe I was going for.
Please continue to enjoy the story — thank you as always!