Chapter 9
The three of them, who had been as pale as blank paper, slowly regained some color in their faces.
They pulled their shaken hearts together.
Now it was time to think of a strategy to fight alongside them.
First I weighed our total strength.
Two apprentice knights of Perity rank and one mage.
They had fought with me in the first battle, but their performance had been so poor it barely counted as experience.
Even so, they were a hand I could not throw away.
I had to place them where they could help as much as possible.
“You two, have you ever swung your swords in a corridor?”
“Is that important?”
“It is important. Sword training usually happens outdoors. Indoors, you have to swing while thinking about the ceiling and the walls.”
That was a mistake I had made when I played as a knight character.
The dormitory corridors were narrow.
In a cramped space, you had to handle a weapon carefully.
“Ah, that makes sense!”
Talleon nodded.
“Think about your body and the length of your sword. One mistake, and the monsters will get you.”
“We will be careful.”
The boys’ eyes looked firm.
Their spirits were not going to break.
Yet mistakes happened regardless of resolve.
‘A coordinated attack is probably going to be too much for them.’
I pictured the two boys standing side by side in the corridor.
A talented pair of students could swing their swords without getting in each other’s way.
For these two, it looked too much.
This was not training, it was real combat.
Life and death hinged on a single mistake, so I could not rely on miracles.
I needed to assign them as few enemies as possible.
“Wait here for a bit. I will go up and check the situation upstairs.”
I left the three behind and stepped onto the stairs that led up alone.
I climbed slowly.
I focused on the monsters’ breathing and gauged the distance.
They were definitely on this floor, but for now they seemed to be lingering away from the stairs.
I pressed myself to the wall and moved my head a little at a time.
Eight on the left, three on the right.
[Nocturnal] let me count their numbers even in pitch darkness.
I locked eyes with one of them.
Thanks to their weak vision, it did not rush at me, but I could feel killing intent in its cloudy, murky eyes.
After roughly checking things, I went back down to the first floor.
“Were they up there?”
Tania asked.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“More than ten.”
“Can we handle that on our own?”
“We have to. There are ten inside, but we don’t know how many wait outside.”
I looked past Tania to the two boys.
They seemed to have expected orders, since they were gripping their swords tight.
“You two are the detached unit. You will move separately from me. Do not expect the same help as last time. You have to rely on each other.”
“…Got it.”
“There is no conviction in your voice, Talleon. You finally have a chance to avenge your friend, but you don't look very happy.”
“To be honest, I had started to give up. You told me I had to throw away my personal feelings to survive, and I was trying to accept that as right.”
“So your thirst for revenge faded a bit?”
“It is true it got weaker compared to the first day.”
The boy was uneasy.
He was bothered that his attitude now was different from how he had been when Brindel died.
‘Does he think he broke the knightly code?’
Constancy, an unchanging heart, was an important virtue for a knight.
It was closely tied to loyalty.
A knight who could not uphold those virtues was mocked and despised.
As an apprentice knight, the boy could not escape that code.
‘I don't really feel like blaming him.’
Anyone would be devastated when they lost someone close.
In the moment they might fall into such a hole that they felt capable of anything.
Yet grief faded slowly as time passed.
Talleon was the same.
Some people would scold him, saying the boy was fickle.
They would accuse him of lacking honor.
I was different.
‘I will respect the rules of this world, but I don't plan to be chained by them.’
I let those doubts in my heart go and put my hand on Talleon’s head.
“You said you killed your personal feelings, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then can I take that as a promise that you will devote yourself to the group?”
“…Yes.”
“That is a good answer. I can tell how strong your resolve is. I can trust you with my back.”
“T-Thank you.”
Talleon’s eyes shone.
His gaze seemed filled with respect.
“I’ll go over the plan now. Talleon and Gavinu, when you go up to this floor, head for the right corridor. There will be three monsters there. Once you kill them, go straight on to the stairs and up to the third floor. Then cross over to the other side and take their rear. Any questions?”
Gavinu raised his hand.
“Is there a chance there are other monsters left on the third floor?”
“There is. But it should not be a big concern. Once the fighting starts, I doubt any will break off and go after you.”
“Why is that?”
“The left side will be so loud they will not even think of going anywhere else.”
Even after I explained, Gavinu tilted his head, still not getting it.
“And one warning. This applies to all three of you, so listen closely.”
In a situation where the tension was already high, I tightened the atmosphere further.
They had to burn this into their minds.
If we wanted to avoid a repeat of last time’s mistakes.
“Among the monsters, there might be people you know. Friends, upperclassmen you know, professors, or staff. Whoever they are, don't hesitate and cut them down. Once they turn into monsters, they only see you as food. If you hesitate, you will die.”
The three of them slowly nodded.
The two boys, whose minds were tied to Brindel’s death, had particularly sharp eyes.
“If there are no more questions, let us go up.”
We headed for the second floor.
I did not look back, but I could feel the three behind me breathing harder.
When we reached the top, a silent scream leaked from Tania’s lips.
On our left, the side she and I were supposed to handle, there were several times more monsters than on the right.
The boys also faltered for an instant.
Their expressions showed they wondered if sticking to the plan was really the right choice.
“Do your part. If you don't, this time your honor really might be stained.”
I snapped at the two boys, telling them to pull themselves together.
Once the battle started, there would be no room for kind reminders.
They nodded and decided to carry out their assigned roles.
Their backs receded steadily.
When their shapes melted into the darkness and only their shadows were visible, I stopped looking their way.
“Senior, are we not getting the short end of the stick here?”
“Someone had to do it anyway.”
“I know. It’s just… Hah, there is no point talking about it now, I guess.”
“You are getting quicker at accepting things huh? That’s the spirit.”
“Stop it. I am barely holding back my regrets right now.”
While we exchanged a few brief words, the zombies began to focus on us.
They slowly came our way.
Every step that brought them closer sent a cold chill sweeping over my body.
The stench of rot drifted toward us.
They disgusted me, but they did not manage to scare me.
[Steady Nerves] was holding firm.
“What are you thinking about right now, senior? I cannot get this bad feeling out of my head.”
Tania was shaking.
I was worried she might suddenly collapse on the spot.
“I am calculating the spell.”
“…You can calculate that in this situation? I feel like I will get even the basics wrong.”
“If I can’t, we die. Both of us.”
“You say something so scary like it’s nothing.”
Tania clicked her tongue.
That was the end of the chatter.
Once the battle began, we would not be able to say anything except what was absolutely necessary.
I picked up the cross and, just like I had done on the fourth floor, I created a shield through holy magic.
Pure white light gathered into a point and spread across the corridor, blocking the zombies from crossing.
I had enough mana.
The shield’s quality was higher than last time.
Bang! The moment it withstood the first impact, I understood.
They were stronger than before.
Even at a glance, there were nearly twice as many as in the fight on the fourth floor.
When the monsters howled in excitement, more zombies came down from the stairway behind them.
Twelve, thirteen…
I decided there was no point in counting and shook off the thought.
The zombies, gathered into one mass, pounded the shield all at once.
It felt as if they had brought siege engines to break down a castle wall.
Soon the edges of the shield began to crack, and a zombie’s arm reached over and flailed.
I signaled Tania with my eyes.
Thanks to the holes opening in the shield, she finally had her chance to act.
“Get lost!”
Tania brought the dagger she had found in the lounge down on the arm that had crossed over.
She missed slightly.
She did not care and stabbed again and again.
She kept at it relentlessly until the arm came completely free of the zombie.
At last, the monster drew back.
Before we could feel any relief, another hole opened on the other side.
Tania did not rest.
She rushed over and blocked the zombies again and again.
Her determination was impressive, but at that rate her stamina would not hold.
It seemed we still had to hold out for at least three more minutes.
There was no sound at all from the other side.
No news was supposed to be good news they say, right?
They were not dead.
It might take time, but I felt sure they would soon follow the plan and move for the rear.
“Tania, get behind me. And I need fire.”
“…Fire?”
She sounded startled.
I knew why a mage was swinging a dagger instead.
In a confused situation, people often get even simple addition and subtraction wrong.
And magic carried risk when it failed.
She was worried that failure might hurt me.
“You did it before. Don’t worry. It will work. Close your eyes and think only about making fire.”
“Got it!”
Tania answered with confidence and stepped back.
She started preparing her spell.
I had my own preparations to make as well.
I grabbed the bottle of alcohol I had brought just in case in my right hand.
At the same time as I hurled it forward, I added one last spell to the failing shield.
A movement command for the deployed magic.
Push.
The difficulty of a spell rose sharply as you layered more commands onto it.
Just adding the single command push to the shield changed the value of the calculation.
From the tens place to the hundreds.
From the hundreds to the thousands.
Would it fail?
[Clever] had never let me down.
This time too, it succeeded so perfectly it made me want to whistle.
The shield began to move slowly down the corridor as if wheels had sprouted underneath.
The zombies tangled together on the floor, trampling each other in a frantic effort to escape.
Persistent bastards.
Even if only their heads were left, they would thrash until the end.
I had to end them for good.
The shield broke.
Shards of brilliant light rained down on the zombies’ heads.
At the same time, the bottle I had thrown arced down at just the right timing.
“Now. Hit it with fire.”
Tania managed to ignite a flame.
She hurled it with all her strength at the zombies.
Fire blossomed.
At first it was only one, but the flames quickly spread to the tangled mass.
In the end, six of them never made it out of the blaze.
White smoke and black ash scattered through the air.
In that cloud I could smell burning flesh.
I grabbed Tania’s hand, pulled us back, and watched the smoke, waiting for any zombies that might push through.
But none came.
They did not have the courage to run through the flames.
Eventually the blaze lost fuel and, as if it had done its duty, dwindled to embers.
We could not let the fire grow any bigger.
I felt no regret.
Fire was a powerful weapon, but it had to be used with care.
The dormitory’s main material was wood, and the weather had been dry for days.
If the flames had grown, we would have had to abandon the dormitory even if we wiped out the zombies.
That was not what I wanted.
“Uaaaaaah!”
Someone let out a shout.
It was Talleon.
He and Gavinu had come around from behind and were attacking the zombies.
The monsters whose bodies had been battered against the shield could not stand up to the spirited boys.
The situation flipped, and we became the predators.
“You bastard, so you were here!”
It seemed one of the remaining zombies was the one Talleon had sworn vengeance on.
Was that something to congratulate him for?
Having found his lost desire for revenge, the boy cleaved its head in a single stroke.
“That is enough venting. It is not like this thing even remembers killing your friend.”
“Hah, hah.”
“More importantly, is anyone hurt? Even the tiniest scratch, tell me. Do not hide it.”
“I am fine.”
Gavinu raised both hands as well to show he was all right.
“Good then.”
“…Ah.”
Gavinu scratched his cheek with a regretful look.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, this is the first time we took part in a battle that was not a class but a real fight. This is when we are supposed to share war stories and raise a toast.”
He looked past me toward the hill of zombie corpses behind my back.
“But when I see that, I cannot help feeling a bit small.”