LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 70
Somehow, returning to Coldon after such a long time felt nostalgic.
As soon as Karem laid his eyes on the city he now considered home, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Whoa, what the heck is that?”
His voice was filled with dread because, on leaving Obsidian Berry, all sorts of Undead were roaming around Coldon, reaching out their hands towards the living.
It was truly a situation reminiscent of the brink of a post-apocalypse.
Even though Karem had grown accustomed to Undead during this time, he couldn’t help but be shocked at the sight of Coldon being threatened by them.
Life in Iceland had been a thoroughly rewarding experience after ten long years of reincarnation and struggles, so it was only natural for him to tremble in fear at the thought of it being disrupted.
Catherine regarded this with an expression suggesting it was no big deal.
“Why are you worrying about such things?”
“What? No, there are tons of Undead around Coldon right now!?”
“Well, there’s nothing to worry about. We’ve defeated many of them before, and if you look outside closely, no one seems to be fleeing, right?”
Feeling utterly unbothered by Catherine’s words, Karem slowly glanced outside the wagon.
…Now that he thought of it, yes?
Beyond the castle walls of Coldon, farmers were plowing their fields under the escort of soldiers and adventurers, while groups of lumberjacks were moving in unison.
Other adventurers were scattered around, hunting Undead and looting their remains.
But it wasn’t only the adventurers hunting the Undead.
One farmer, seemingly oblivious as he casually swung a club, smashed the skull of an approaching Skeleton, while lumberjacks were hacking at the heads of Zombies with their axes.
A swarm of Skeletons? A bunch of Draugr? The adventurers seemed to be racing each other to smash them while voraciously grabbing half-rotted gear.
“That’s odd. These aren’t the Undead monsters I’m familiar with.”
“Well, you were from Kingsland, right? Living in a backwater area means you probably wouldn’t get the chance to see many Undead.”
“Is there something that makes them different from Undead?”
“Yes. To sum it up, naturally occurring Undead are weak, while those intentionally created by someone are strong.”
“That sounds like a strange way to say that cultivated fruits are tastier than wild ones. Well, it’s not wrong, but the analogy is weird.”
Karem shook his head in disbelief.
Were Undead not originally monsters that returned from death with a grudge, seeking the life force of the living? Wouldn’t naturally occurring (??) seasonal Undead be even stronger?
Claiming that specific monsters, which could only be vanquished under certain conditions, were like a horde of autumn grasshoppers seemed bizarre.
Wait, thinking back, the Undead groups he had encountered along the way had all crumpled like autumn leaves, hadn’t they? Something felt off.
Karem’s head started throbbing from the cognitive dissonance he hadn’t felt in a while.
Olivier, stroking his beard while gazing outside, nodded slowly.
“That’s not a completely wrong analogy.”
“Excuse me? What did you just say?”
“Um, how do I explain this?”
Olivier twiddled his beard and rubbed his temples, looking much like an old teacher trying to simplify a complex explanation for a child.
“Alright, let me put it this way. When a young servant is learning to cook, will a servant holding only ingredients and tools do well? Or will a servant supervised by a professional chef do better?”
“…Of course, the latter would cook better, right? They’ll have the benefit of tips and education.”
“Exactly.”
So, in blunt terms, naturally occurring Undead are like low-tier monsters that didn’t receive any management, being born from nature with insufficient nutrition and education, while the resurrected ones are well-equipped Golden Spoon Undead? What the heck…
“Of course, even considering that, the naturally occurring Undead in Iceland tend to be relatively weaker than those in other regions.”
“So, are you saying that because Iceland is barren, the Undead are frail too?”
“Oh, very accurate.”
“What?”
Does this mean Undead are like walking plants?
Karem blinked at Catherine.
“From the start, in a harsh environment like Iceland, where life struggles to survive, it’s unlikely for a life-craving Undead to be in good shape.”
“Then you’re saying those things are starving?”
“Exactly. Well, if they get attacked by a few people or beasts, they’d return to normal, but still, they’d be low-tier Undead. With a bit of preparation, you could take them down too.”
“Hey, that sounds like a bit of an exaggeration.”
“I swear it’s true!”
As the two Grand Wizards and the Cook cheered on in their lively wagon, they entered Coldon, magically and physically grinding the advancing Undead into dust.
*
As soon as a space is vacated by people, it tends to get dirty quickly.
Considering the humidity of spring in Iceland that seems to drink in the water with each breath, the state of the interior of the Wizard’s Tower was obvious.
When they opened the doors and windows, dust, settled like blankets, that had absorbed the spring humidity, would surely roll around like dust bunnies, quickly growing bigger.
On furniture, floors, and shelves alike.
However, that wasn’t the case.
The Wizard’s Tower was clean.
Well, it wasn’t as neat as it would be if the tower’s dedicated worker, Mary, had cleaned it, but anywhere visible from the entrance on the first floor was overall clean enough for a person to have tidied it up.
The same went for the other floors.
How did she know? As soon as she entered the Wizard’s Tower, Mary could tell.
While the shocked House Fairy Mary silently screamed in horror at this outrageous reality, Catherine was looking around, scratching her chin.
“Hmm. It’s been quite some time since the tower was empty, yet it’s cleaner than expected. I guess the servants didn’t clean while I was away.”
“Well, of course not. Back when I joined as a Cook and took over the kitchen, it was a mess. Just look at the state of this place.”
Karem nudged Mary, who had stiffened like a mannequin.
He could only feel a tough texture in his hand, as if she had been so startled that her muscles had tightened.
“Wow, but who on earth dared to meddle in a House Fairy’s work?”
“Hmm. Then I guess I’ll have to move the luggage myself. But there’s hardly anything to carry, so it’s no concern.”
Olivier picked his bundle from the luggage that the servants had stacked to waist-high and entered inside.
“What should we do?”
“It doesn’t look like it’ll rain today… So, once we get our senses straight, they’ll likely move things on their own, right?”
“Hmm, then I suppose we should just take the items that can’t get wet.”
The results of the interactions Karem had with the cooks of Adobice and Obsidian Berry had all been tightly sealed up before departure, so there was just one sack full of dried kelp he needed to grab.
“I’ll head in first.”
“Okay.”
Catherine waved her hand lightly at Karem.
Karem then began to leave, carrying a sack that was far larger than he was.
Well, in any case, it contained a lot of dried kelp that had been packed down to an incomparably small size, so it wasn’t too heavy for Karem to carry.
As Karem headed toward the pantry, the interior of the tower, unlike when Mary was sweeping and polishing, had a coexistence of realistic cleanliness and dirt.
Specifically, visible areas were relatively clean, but corners and unseen spots appeared a bit dirtier, as if they hadn’t been cleaned thoroughly.
“Did the servants truly come in and tidy up?”
But he dismissed it as nonsense.
This was a place that housed not one, but two Grand Wizards.
Catherine had stated that, of course, there were security spells and devices installed to prevent unauthorized persons from entering, and this would have certainly been strengthened after Olivier came in.
Naturally, Karem wasn’t quite sure what spells or devices had been installed.
He wasn’t particularly curious about it either.
“Well, I am curious about what happens to intruders, but should I ask about that later?”
Just like the situation in the Wizard’s Tower, the kitchen was also relatively clean.
The condition hadn’t notably changed since he had left on his trip.
Everything aside from a few dishes he had taken on the trip was neatly stored in their places.
The insides of the shelves were the same.
Since Karem knew he would be away for an extended time, he had tidied up in advance, so there wasn’t much stored inside. There was barely any food, just salt.
Since there was nothing… crack—
“Huh? What’s this? Jerky powder?”
Karem felt the cause of his foot getting stepped on.
Though it was hard as a rock, its small size made the dry seasoning fibers from jerky scatter as he pressed his thumb and index finger together.
Upon closer inspection, there wasn’t just one small piece or crumb.
It was leading down the kitchen corridor in one direction.
“What is this? An intruder? A mouse?”
Karem, holding a frying pan as a weapon, felt like Hansel and Gretel as he followed the trail of jerky powder.
At the end of the scattered marks lay nothing other than the pantry.
“Oh right, I had left some biscuits behind when I went.”
Besides that, Karem now remembered that he had also carelessly left behind jerky, root vegetables, and spices, which were long-lasting.
Could it really be a mouse? At this point, he wasn’t too scared of it.
If it had been in his past life, he would have screamed at a decibel higher than a woman’s and bolted away faster than anyone. But since his reincarnation, it had long been something that became an excellent protein source for Karem.
How could he eat a mouse, you ask? Surviving a week on bugs would change anyone’s perspective.
Creeeeeeak—
As Karem gently opened the pantry door, the sound of the damp hinges squeaked quietly but stretched out.
Unlike the usual pantry that used to be filled with all kinds of ingredients, the inside was now empty.
Which was only natural since, as mentioned earlier, Karem had cleaned it himself.
But again, as mentioned, it wasn’t entirely empty.
For instance, there was a packet of jerky prominently displayed directly at the back of the entrance.
Turning his head, various root and dried vegetables were neatly organized, and as he stepped further inside the pantry, he noticed what seemed to be a bag of biscuits someone had gathered!
Strangely enough, the figure wrapped in a robe that was nibbling on the rock-hard bread turned their head, locking eyes with Karem.
To Karem’s surprise, within the robe stood a beautiful Elven woman.
She was similar to Mary, though perhaps a little less attractive?
Her golden hair appeared frazzled from exhaustion, dark circles formed under her eyes, yet her round, puppy-like gaze and slightly drooping ears full of freckles added a touch of cuteness.
The Elven woman, who clearly had different features from the pantry keeper Auger, had her cheeks stuffed full of the hardened bread she was munching on.
Meeting Karem’s piercing gaze, the Elven woman twitched her eyes, swallowed the contents of her mouth with a gulp, and then trembled her lips into a smile.
Even though she appeared fatigued, it was undeniably an Elven smile, like a blossom.
But that aside, this was something different.
Karem gathered his strength at his core.
“….”
“….INTRUDERRRRRRRR!”
“No, wait! She’s not an intruder!”
“INTRUDERRRRRR!”