Chapter 15
Thanks to the knights breaking through the bridge, we entered the village interior without much trouble.
I checked our surroundings.
The knights who had gone ahead had all vanished somewhere.
The starving monsters, having lost their prey, now switched targets and rushed toward us.
I grabbed Talleon’s wrist as he faltered and pulled him into the nearest building.
I slid the bolt into place on the door, then toppled furniture to block it.
Bang, bang!
The zombies that had followed us hammered on the door with brutal force.
The chairs and tables we had braced against it shook up and down under the heavy impacts.
If they break through, we go up to the second floor and smash the stairs.
I had already considered the possibility of the door giving way.
Thankfully, it never came to that.
The zombies tired themselves out and fell quiet, as if proposing a temporary ceasefire.
I went over to the window.
They still stood guard in front of the door and had not given up on us.
They remember there are people in here. They will not leave the doorway for a while.
I slowly stepped away from the window.
Then I walked over to Talleon, who sat resting deeper inside.
He was breathing hard.
Sweat that had started from his forehead had soaked through his outer clothes.
“That was a stupid thing to do. We should at least have stayed with one of the knights!”
Talleon snapped at me, his face taut with anxiety.
“Don't trust them too much. We only share the same objective. We are in a position where we are using each other.”
“The knights are righteous.”
“That is the sort of thing you read in textbooks. They are people before they are knights. In a moment of crisis, people become selfish. Do you know what signal Austin just gave us?”
Talleon shook his head, saying he didn't.
“It means scatter. Then why do you think he told us to scatter? Part of it is that it makes it easier to look for supplies, but first and foremost it means they have no intention of working together with us.”
“We have not done anything they would dislike.”
“And we have not done anything they particularly like either.”
Silence circled between us.
It seemed hard for Talleon to accept the situation, yet he pushed the thoughts aside.
As always, survival came first.
“Do you have a plan?”
“I do. I never move without one.”
There should still be supplies inside the building that people had not managed to move.
However, that wasn't what I was after.
I needed to find the privileges the villagers shared among themselves, and the private stores that individuals had hidden away.
The underground tunnels hidden beneath the village, and the church at the edge of town.
Food was hidden in the tunnels.
Scripture that would strengthen Originality was hidden in the church.
What the two of us could safely explore was limited to the tunnels. The church had a lot of zombies. Unless I had some means or incentive to draw the knights over there, it would be difficult for now.
While I organized my thoughts, Talleon, unable to endure the boredom, spoke up.
“…What do you want me to do? Ah, that was a pointless question. We came here to look for provisions.”
He rose from the chair where he had been resting and started rifling through the nearest drawers.
Dust puffed up into the air.
He grabbed a handful of odds and ends, then tossed them to the floor with a sour expression.
Only after he had turned the entire first floor upside down did the boy take a break.
As he did, he vented his complaints at me, who had not lifted a finger to help.
“Help me a little. It is killing me to search alone.”
“I never told you to search the hall though?”
“What? But I thought the reason we came to this village is to get food, no?”
“Correct.”
Talleon’s expression turned puzzled.
“We are going underground.”
“What are you talking about? There is only a staircase going up to the second floor here, how can there be an underground.”
“What you see is not all there is.”
The boy would not know.
The knights would not know either.
They didn't know Triden Village had a shelter prepared exclusively for the villagers.
Every building had at least one entrance down into the tunnels.
At a glance, it looked like ordinary floorboards, but there would be a small notch between them, and if you pulled on that notch, it would open.
There it is!
I slipped my fingers into the groove and pulled upward.
A ladder leading down came into view.
[You have discovered a hidden place.]
[Refuge of Triden Village.]
[You obtained 10 coins.]
[Current number of coins held - 30.]
Including the reward I had cleared back at the dormitory, that brought the total to thirty.
It wasn't enough to buy high grade tools, but it covered the funds I needed for now.
“…Unbelievable.”
At some point Talleon had come up behind me and was staring in awe.
“How in the world do you know things like this?”
“I just remembered something I heard from someone once.”
The boy looked afraid.
When he peered down, he could not see the bottom.
There was only darkness, and it took a lot of courage to step out in front.
I went first.
We didn't have time to hesitate.
Even as I thought that, the knights would already be sweeping through the village and securing supplies.
Once they had taken enough to satisfy themselves, there was a good chance they would leave the village without any regard for what happened to us.
However, there was an even greater chance they would not be able to let us go.
If they could not throw me away, there was only one reason.
I was useful.
Likewise, I planned to make use of them for as long as they were valuable.
[Cool] told me to focus on carrying out the plan.
It was right.
I used a spell to create small fireflies just bright enough to drive back the darkness.
Gripping the ladder, I climbed down one rung at a time by the light they cast.
Creak!
The neglected wood groaned dangerously every time I shifted my weight.
Won’t it break?
How far is it between the ground and the tunnels?
Whenever that vague unease swelled, [Steady Nerves] shielded me from the fear.
‘Reliable as always.’
At some point my feet touched the ground.
I fed mana into the fireflies to make their light brighter.
The passageway took shape in front of me.
No matter where I looked, up, down, left, or right, brown soil filled my vision.
The rough, winding walls felt nothing like natural caves.
You could see marks everywhere, as if someone had carved them with picks.
“This is huge for a shelter huh? How far do you think it goes?”
Talleon sounded overwhelmed by the atmosphere.
“All the entrances are different, but if you keep going, they all meet at a central square. Let us move. We don't have time to stand around impressed. And one more thing. Don't go ahead of me.”
“What do you mean?”
Because there was an entrance in every building, these tunnels had one big weakness.
They were easy to breach.
Intruders could appear at any time.
So the villagers had prepared traps to deal with them.
It only took a few minutes to get from here to the square, yet there were several traps along the way.
I demonstrated one of them for Talleon.
A string stretched between one wall and the other.
If you touched it while walking, hidden arrows would shoot out.
Tock, swish!
Arrows sprang from a gap in the wall and buried themselves on the opposite side.
Talleon watched and ran a hand over his chest.
“…It felt like something just flew past.”
“Arrows. Watch my stance and follow it. If you lose it, you will get hurt, or in the worst case, you will die. Also remember where the traps are. Don't forget what was where.”
“That’s so we are careful when we leave too, right?”
“That isn’t the only reason... They will come in handy for other things.”
These traps were useful.
Whether you were dealing with zombies or with people.
The possibility was there.
The knights might find the tunnels.
They would not give up the supplies down here.
I didn't plan to hand them over either.
Shivering, Talleon glued himself to my back.
We kept moving forward.
Checking the traps as we went slowed us down, but we were definitely getting closer to the square.
“Sir Joshua, I have a question.”
“Speak.”
“If this is a shelter, where did the villagers go? Shouldn’t at least a few of them be standing watch as lookouts?”
I didn't answer.
The ominous feeling he had picked up on was very reasonable.
It was strange.
If there were survivors, at least one of their roles would have to be standing watch.
Even to an inexperienced boy, these tunnels felt far too quiet.
“I have another piece of advice for you.”
“What is that?”
“Don't shout. Same as at the dormitory.”
The sticky stench of rot drifted in on the air from ahead.
I heard shallow breathing.
Chills ran up my spine.
I had gone through this often enough to be sick of it, but every time, I still could not completely adapt.
[Cool] grumbled that I should be getting used to it by now.
I wanted to argue.
It is more abnormal to look at that without any expression.
I was the normal one, and the traits were the strange ones.
Either way, what I had to do never changed.
As I reached the square, I found zombies there, just as I expected.
They lay sprawled on the ground, part of their bodies crushed.
They had wandered the tunnels right after turning and stumbled into the traps.
They were not much of a threat. Even so, I decided to take care of them to prevent any accidents.
“Finish them. Don't leave a single one.”
Talleon drew his sword and carefully approached, then drove the blade into a zombie’s head.
He was fairly deft.
The battles he had been through had given him confidence.
I didn't just stand and watch either.
I swung my club down on their skulls.
Once we had cleared out the stragglers, we could finally look around the square.
These people were alive here until recently.
There were traces of campfires.
The logs piled high on the fire pit were badly blackened from burning for a long time.
I saw a pot set on top of them.
When I went closer and checked the contents, insects were wriggling over the stew.
“How do you think this happened?”
Talleon asked as he rummaged around the square.
“They dragged people in here who had been wounded by monsters. They believed they could treat them. They failed, and everyone died.”
“…That is sad. So you are saying that if they wanted to live, they needed to abandon the wounded. That would not have been an easy choice for the villagers.”
“Likely not.”
Infection spreads through bites and scratches from zombies.
Once that happened, you had two days at most.
Before long, they lost their minds and attacked people.
Their aggression didn't spare children or the elderly.
I frowned.
We should not stay too long.
There was a risk of falling into some abnormal condition.
I had traits, so it wasn't a problem for me, but it was dangerous for the boy.
I hurried the search.
I needed to focus on sounds.
What I wanted from this place was living creatures, so it was necessary.
Cluck. Cluck cluck!
I heard cries coming from a hole just big enough for an adult to squeeze through.
I lay flat on my stomach and crawled inside.
“Kgh!”
Right before I got through the opening, something sharp jabbed into me.
I checked what it was.
A chicken.
A red comb sat on its head, and its dark blue tail feathers jutted out in a sickle shape.
The thing that had been jabbing my forearm was its beak.
“Good. It’s still alive.”
When they fled from the monsters, the villagers had brought their livestock down here.
Chickens and pigs.
Unfortunately, I didn't find any pigs.
I could only assume people had boiled and eaten them long ago because they could not bear their hunger.
One rooster and one hen. The rest are all dead. And three eggs. Thankfully, they are still a breeding pair that can lay more.
In a ruined world, livestock were incredibly valuable.
You might hesitate even if someone brought a masterwork weapon or an ancient grimoire to trade.
We had to raise the chickens.
It would take time, but in a few months they would become food.
They would not only fill our stomachs but also serve as trade goods with other survivors.
This was an investment.
An investment with a guaranteed return.
To survive, you had to be able to see the future.
Time to spend some coins.
I opened the shop through the system.
Here, I could use coins to activate game functions or purchase items.
Looking at it like this, it felt as if I could do anything with coins…
But coins were not omnipotent.
First of all, getting coins wasn't easy.
You usually had to do things you would rather avoid, or you needed knowledge and information.
And spending the coins you had acquired with such difficulty was also part of a system that made perfect sense in a game.
Even inventory has to be bought.
Inventory, the so-called subspace storage system.
THE Survival didn't give it for free.
You didn't even get the basics.
It cost ten coins to open the first slot.
Every slot after that cost double the previous one.
I could afford two slots.
[You spent 30 coins and activated an inventory with 2 slots.]
Inventory ignored weight and volume, but you could store only one of any given thing in each slot.
I grabbed the rooster glaring down at me from above.
Ouch, its beak jabbed me again.
Maybe because it was hungry, it was extremely aggressive.
In contrast, the hen was docile and focused only on sitting on the eggs.
I needed to take the rooster and the hen with me. The eggs will just get broken on the way out, so it is better to eat them here.
I cracked two eggs on the spot and swallowed them.
They were fishy.
I had heard that fresh eggs tasted rich and nutty.
They were nothing like my taste.
I planned to let Talleon have the last one.
“Are you all right?”
Talleon was groaning in a corner.
His face was deathly pale.
“I am sorry. I’m having a hard time enduring down in this place.”
“I understand. Then I suppose I will have to eat this myself.”
“What do you mean, eat what?”
When I showed him the egg, his eyes went wide.
“An egg! Where did you find it?”
“It was inside that place.”
“Is it really okay for me to eat it?”
“I already had mine. And with things like they are outside, if we try to carry it out, it will only break.”
“Then I will not hold back!”
Talleon took the egg with great reverence, then swallowed it.
He looked blissful.
It seemed his body rejoiced at finally absorbing some protein.
“It tastes so much better than the bread we ate at the dormitory.”
“That’s good to hear. Did you find anything useful?”
“I got some water, some wine, and a few chunks of cheese.”
“Not bad. But you are missing the most important thing.”
I picked up an axe lying nearby and tossed it to the boy.
“Throw your sword away. Yours is too rusty. If you fight with it like that, you are going to have problems.”
“Do I really have to? For a knight, a sword is like a second life.”
“If you want to die quickly, I will not stop you.”
Talleon hesitated, then set his sword on the ground.
He picked up the axe that had been lying there and gripped it with a grim face.
He swung it a few times in front of me, focusing on getting the feel for it.
His stance wasn't bad.
If you had solid basic training with a sword, you could pick up other weapons quickly.
You cannot afford to be picky with weapons. You don't always get to use the weapon you want.
I also searched the corpses and fastened a few daggers to my belt.
They were kitchen knives, judging by their clean blades.
“Let us go back.”
“You really don't want to look around more?”
“We don't know when the knights will leave, so it is better to be the ones waiting first. We got what we came for anyway. Above all, I don't think it is wise for either of us to stay here too long.”
The boy nodded.
There were several exits leading up into different buildings, but we chose the way we had come in.
“Are you sure you know which way to go?”
“Yes.”
[Clever] had memorized the branches.
We walked along the path.
Once again we moved slowly, taking care with the traps.
Everything was proceeding smoothly within the bounds of the plan.
And that is exactly when you always feel uneasy.
THE Survival.
This game wasn't generous enough to hand out gifts so easily.
Tap!
I suddenly stopped.
I heard the sound of a stone skipping across the floor.
“…Sir Joshua.”
Talleon’s face stiffened as if he had heard the same thing.
It wasn't a zombie.
This was the passage we had used when we headed toward the square.
There had been none of them when we passed through.
We had also closed the entrance from the surface.
It was a person then.
Was it a knight?
Or a villager who survived?
I had no way of knowing.
I quickly recalled the fireflies and gripped my club.
The footsteps came closer and closer.
The beating of my heart grew louder and louder.