With the zombie of the female knight leading the way, the two zombies carrying us continued to walk.
During that time, we didn’t encounter any guards or zombies that were likely stationed in the Demon King’s castle.
This can be assumed to be due to the power of the female knight zombie leading us.
…It crossed my mind, but it must definitely be a zombie of a holy knight.
The female knight zombie raised the sword she had sheathed at her waist high above her head, spreading a warm orange light from its tip that surrounded us entirely.
I had seen something similar during the kingdom’s military parades.
It resembled the “holy arts” of a holy knight marching in front of a line of soldiers.
If I remember correctly, its effect is to repel evil within a certain range.
…As long as we are under this light, those who are positioned in the realm of evil, such as demonkin and zombies, would “somehow” not want to approach or even glance our way, right?
In other words, it’s a “distraction” against demons used by holy knights.
Even so, it’s quite rare.
How could a holy being become a zombie? I’m truly curious about the circumstances that led to such a transformation.
〔Ah… uaaaah〕
The female knight zombie then reached the space between the buildings of the Demon King’s castle, where no one would likely approach.
Then,
“Good, good… well done. Bring them along. Try not to hurt them,”
a low male voice echoed, seemingly riding the wind from somewhere.
Before I knew it, a staircase leading underground appeared in front of me.
It seemed to have been cleverly hidden by some magical mechanism.
Illuminated by the holy arts of the female knight zombie, we descended further into the pitch-black space.
…I wonder whose voice that was?
For a moment, I thought it might be someone related to the Demon King’s castle, but that seemed unlikely.
In a castle where the Demon King’s eyes shine, it’s doubtful they would dare act against the Demon King’s intentions… probably.
“Well, well. While I was pondering that, it seems we finally have one,”
The muscular zombie carrying me took its last step and stopped moving in place.
──Dark Heal, completed.
It was quite a tough healing process.
However,
“The distorted mass of magical power in the brain… it seems this was indeed the core controlling you.”
Sending magical power from my side and counteracting another magical power isn’t a difficult task. But in this case, it was a challenge akin to untangling a knot of intertwined threads.
“I’ve also stopped your appetite, so don’t hold it against me. I don’t want to be eaten just yet.”
There was a significant possibility that, having lost control of its actions, it might have bitten me or Milphobia.
Moreover, the method to suppress the appetite was straightforward.
Like a treatment to prevent bleeding from a wound, I simply needed to create a barrier with magic to ensure physical signals didn’t reach the areas of the brain responsible for the three basic desires.
…If the subject had a will, they would naturally feel discomfort at having their brain tampered with and resist, but it was fortunate that I was dealing with a mindless being like a zombie.
“Well then, next is…”
I got down from the muscular zombie’s arms and touched the mummy zombie, who was still carrying Milphobia and walking along.
There was no particular resistance.
It was likely due to the command of “Do not harm” from the owner of the earlier voice.
Since the method was the same as stopping the muscular zombie, I succeeded in disabling its functions in just about a minute.
“Cough, cough…!”
As soon as Milphobia escaped from the mummy zombie and the ropes binding her body were untied, she fell to the ground and began to cough heavily.
Well, that couldn’t be helped.
She had been silenced by the hands of the undead for so long.
“Ah, Alaya… thank you…”
“No need to mention it. I’m sorry for the delay in neutralizing the zombies.”
Now, only the female knight zombie remained.
When I looked over, the female knight zombie was still holding her sword high, glowing orange with holy arts, and turned back to gaze at us, who had stopped following.
“I would like to examine your brain too, but…”
“Alaya”
“…I understand. Securing safety is our first priority.”
Regrettably, I reached out to Milphobia to help her stand and began to walk back along the path we had been brought.
However, suddenly…
〔Uah… vva…〕
The female knight zombie grabbed my shoulder and wouldn’t let go.
“I see… Since there is the command from your master, ‘Bring them here. Try not to hurt them,’ it means they will interfere with our return.”
“Alaya, is the master of these zombies the one from the earlier voice…?”
“Probably, likely, definitely. It’s all just speculation, but it’s natural to think that way.”
In any case, to escape from this place, I would also have to tamper with the brain of this female knight zombie.
“This is quite troublesome, but if that’s the case, then there’s no choice, right? I’ll have to examine your brain too.”
“…Why do you seem a bit happy even at a time like this?”
While glancing at Milphobia’s incredulous expression, I touched the face of the female knight zombie.
I began to channel magical power into her brain.
The procedure should have been the same as with the previous two.
However,
…Hmm, there seem to be more distortions in the magical power than with the previous two?
Also, the measurable brainwave patterns seem strange in some way. It’s as if the temperature of boiling water returns to zero in an instant; the waves are fluctuating violently up and down.
“It looks like it will take a little time.”
“Is that so…? Thank you very much.”
Milphobia seemed to be carefully scanning the surroundings.
She had been muttering to herself about things like, “Could this be…?” and “Is there still an undiscovered dungeon…?”
Then she turned to me and asked,
“Alaya, if you can influence the brains of the zombies, is it possible to use these zombies to escort us to the exit?”
“Oh, that’s impossible.”
I answered immediately.
“I tried, but controlling a zombie’s brain is simply out of the question.”
“Even you can’t do that…?”
“There are certainly many things I can’t do. Moreover, there’s a lot we don’t know about the brain. I’ve come to recognize that creating specific electrical signals for precise instructions is the work of a god. All I can do is roughly block the electrical signals flowing through the brain.”
Therefore, creating simple laborer zombies, which I had initially considered, would be difficult at this point. I thought it could be a business opportunity, but it’s quite disappointing.
While I was feeling down about that, the dark heal of the female knight zombie also came to an end.
〔……〕
The female knight zombie’s arm drooped down, and the holy arts emanating from the tip of her sword stopped.
She no longer let out any groans like before.
The woman simply stared at me with her milky, clouded eyes.
…Hmm.
“Are you… perhaps angry about something?”
I asked without thinking.
“Is that wild fluctuation in your brainwaves… due to feeling anger about something, which was being suppressed by magical power?”
〔……〕
The female knight zombie didn’t answer.
Of course not.
What was I even asking? Zombies have no will.
There’s no way I would get a reply.
“We should hurry, Alaya.”
Milphobia lit her fingertips with a light resembling blacklight through some magic.
“Ah, yes. The master of these zombies might be coming.”
“That’s one reason, but more importantly, this place itself is dangerous.”
Milphobia said as she walked briskly.
“This is probably a ‘dungeon.’”
“A dungeon?”
“To put it simply, it’s a monster’s lair. Until now, we weren’t attacked thanks to the holy arts of the female zombie, but now we are no longer under that protection.”
“That’s bad. I can’t fight.”
While we were talking, several zombies started to stagger toward us right in front of our eyes.
Hmm, I don’t have confidence in escaping.
But,
“Leave it to me.”
Milphobia stepped in front of me and raised her long leg, executing a flowing kick to crush the heads of the zombies.
“I can handle myself in a fight if I’m not foolishly captured thinking it’s a nighttime visit from Alaya.”
“Oh! You’re reliable!”
“I was chosen as Alaya’s familiar for a reason, you know.”
With a smirk, Milphobia puffed out her ample chest proudly.
If only she had shown her true worth before being captured, that would have been even better.
