Chapter 26
The Dead Priest
Translator : PolterGlast
The Dead Priest
brought forward the two Ghost Wizards it had waiting in the back and ordered
them to defeat me.
Ghost Wizards are
another rank stronger than the other monsters that appeared on the old
abandoned road, but... in the first place, it was a Lich, a higher-ranking
species than a Dead Priest.
And I've defeated a
Death Lich, which is a higher rank than a Lich; an Elder Lich, which is a
higher rank than a Death Lich; and even an Elder Lich Wiseperson, which is a
higher rank than an Elder Lich, after mowing down 1,000 undead.
Even though I had both
arms at the time, I don't feel like I'd lose to a Dead Priest, let alone a
Ghost Wizard, even if I were standing on my head.
The Ghost Wizards,
unaware of the difference in our strength, admirably followed the Dead Priest's
orders and began to cast a spell at me.
I could just take the
hit, but it's a hassle, so I might as well kill them now.
I readied my katana
again, stepped forward—and entered their range.
Then, I sliced through
the two Ghost Wizards in an instant.
Ghost Wizards are
incorporeal monsters, so normally, no matter how much power is behind a slash,
it won't do any damage.
The Dead Priest seemed
to understand this well, as its confident attitude didn't change even after its
minions were cut down.
"Ho ho ho,
attacks with a sword are useless, I tell you. No matter how many times you cut,
what doesn't take damage, won't take damage."
"Is that so? They
don't seem to be moving, though... are they just pretending to be
defeated?"
"...? Why are you
pretending to be down!? Hurry up and defeat that human!!"
It was desperately
shouting orders, but the Ghost Wizards, cut in two and lying on the ground,
didn't even twitch.
And for good reason.
For the brief instant that I cut them, I had imbued my katana with magic power.
Even my perfected,
super-fast strikes won't damage an incorporeal monster.
However, if you just
imbue them with magic power, they take damage easily.
"It seems they're
not just faking it. You've been mocking me, but it looks like this katana can
cut things even without a physical form. I'll let you try it out for yourself
soon enough."
Enjoying the
conversation, I slowly approached, anticipating what the overly confident Dead
Priest would do next.
Would it give up and
attack me, have another subordinate attack me, or try to escape?
The Dead Priest made
its move the instant I took a step closer, and its action was—unbelievably, to
prostrate itself in a dogeza.
It was a perfect
grovel, casting aside the staff it was holding and throwing away every last bit
of its cool demeanor.
I've been fighting
monsters for many years in Furo Village, but this was a first, and it left me
bewildered.
I considered the
possibility that it was a pose to lure me into letting my guard down, but
seeing as it wasn't moving at all with its head pressed to the ground, it
seemed it really was a complete surrender.
"I'm sorry!
Please spare me! I'll do anything!!"
"............What
happened to your attitude from just a moment ago?"
"I was just
trying to act cool!! Humans haven't come here in a long time, and since it's
been a while, I thought I'd scare you before I killed you!"
"You were going
to kill me, but the moment you realized you were going to be killed, you
started begging for your life? You're a truly pathetic monster."
"As you say, I am
a pathetic monster! I'll really do anything, so please, just don't take my life!"
I was planning to cut
it down the moment it showed me its back, but it's hard to attack an opponent
who's groveling, even if it is a monster.
I was at a complete
loss, having never imagined this, so I turned to Ginia behind me as if asking
for help.
"What do you
think we should do, Ginia?"
"Eek! Don't ask
me! This is the first time I've ever seen a monster talk, and now I'm shocked
that it's actually groveling! ...But maybe we should at least hear it
out?"
"Hear it out...
huh."
If I listen to its story,
it might become even harder to kill, but since it has surrendered so
completely, maybe it's okay to at least listen.
It did say it would do
anything, so it might offer us something of merit.
"Alright. You say
you'll do anything. Tell me what you can do."
"Thank you for
giving me this chance! First, I can make the monsters in this area work for
you!"
"The undead,
freely? ...No, I don't need them."
"What, no!
They're useful not only as a fighting force, but also as laborers!"
"Who's going to
hire a bunch of undead?"
"You could make a
field or something and have them grow vegetables..."
"That might be
good if you can make a field, but undead can't make a field, can they?"
It seemed that was its
biggest selling point, as the Dead Priest was now at a complete loss for words.
"Th-then, I will
give you everything in this area! How about this robe?"
"That's just
trash now. Besides, I can take it with me even after I kill you."
"M-mmm... then I
shall become your familiar! You'll attract a lot of attention if you can make a
Dead Priest your familiar!"
"Don't need it. I
wouldn't be able to enter the town."
Having rejected what
was likely its last offer, the Dead Priest collapsed, holding its head.
As I expected, there
wasn't a single appealing offer.
"...I'm sorry!
There's nothing more I can do! But please spare me! I won't attack people
anymore!"
The Dead Priest
pressed its head to the ground and desperately begged for its life.
This is an opponent
that tried to kill me.
And leaving a monster
like this alive feels wrong somehow... but I've lost the will to bring my sword
down on it.
It says it won't
attack people, and there's no particular merit in killing the Dead Priest.
It might be useful for
something in the future, so maybe it's okay to let it go.
"...Alright. If
you promise not to attack people anymore, I won't deliver the finishing blow.
However, the moment I hear a story about you attacking people in town, I will
come to kill you. Are we clear?"
"Thank you! I
will absolutely never attack people again! May I ask your name?"
"I'm Graham, and
this is Ginia."
"Graham-sama and
Ginia-sama! As the master of this abandoned road, I will not let the other
undead attack people either!"
"Yeah. If you
want to live, you'd best behave."
"Yes! If you ever
have any trouble, please come to me anytime! I will do anything you ask,
Graham-sama!"
"Yeah. I might
come to you if something comes up."
I don't know if
sparing the Dead Priest was the right decision, but there was no reason to kill
it either, so it's probably fine.
Still, it spoke
fluently and was a very human-like monster.
Being that human-like,
it's possible it was originally a human.
"Y-you let it
go."
"I don't know if
this was the right call, but I think we can just pretend we never came to this
abandoned road."
"Right. It was
very human-like, so I'll also pretend I never came to this old abandoned road!
Still... your fighting was amazing as always, Graham-san! I said I would watch
and learn, but you were so amazing that I couldn't even learn anything!"
"If you work hard
every day, you'll be at my level in no time, Ginia."
"I hear you say
that every time, but I don't feel like I'm getting there at all..."
We headed back the way
we came while having this conversation.
Incidentally, perhaps
because the Dead Priest gave an order, we weren't attacked by any monsters on
the old abandoned road and were able to return to the previous abandoned road
with ease.
It seemed the monsters
on that road weren't under the Dead Priest's control, as they attacked us just
like on the way in, but Ginia, her stamina recovered, took the lead in
defeating them, and we returned to Biodasdal safely.
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