242 – Glasses Boy, Just Punch Him

The morning after the night before.

“—Now, let’s begin the assignment.”

In the dark before the villagers were even up, we lined up as per the command of Instructor Evanesque, marking the start of Day 1 of the zombie army extermination mission.

“Formation!”

Following Geodine’s command, everyone formed a circle.

Yesterday, except for a few, everyone had reached their physical limits in various ways, but after a night’s rest, they seemed to have completely recovered.

Whether it was the effect of the good food, the tonic bath with its nourishing and invigorating properties, or simply the benefit of a good night’s sleep.

Everyone’s faces were free of fatigue, so something must have worked. Or perhaps it was all of it.

Even after pushing their bodies to such extremes, one would expect some residual fatigue or muscle soreness, even after just one night of rest.

But there was not a trace of such issues; they were perfectly healed. Their condition was very good.

Managing one’s condition is also part of the assignment.

Regardless of how good or bad the condition is, the task must be completed.

From here on, we’ll have to make decisions and act on our own without the instructors.

…Seeing as they disappeared so quickly, it seems the instructors are going back to sleep. They must be taking a second nap. My condition is good, but I’m still in a sleepy phase myself.

Instructor Evanesque, for one, might be up and about, but Instructor Sorichika is definitely going back to sleep. That person tends to sleep a lot without much fuss.

The command hierarchy will be led by Geodine, the leader.

My role as the deputy leader is to assist him, managing whatever needs attention beyond his reach.

“From now on, we’re all going out for an investigation, so prepare for departure.”

I see, so it’s going to be everyone.

That means they’re planning to resolve this within today or tomorrow.

They must be aiming to complete the investigation quickly and then proceed with the extermination just as fast.

If they intended to take it slowly, they’d take their time with the investigation too. Considering his personality, he’s the type to proceed cautiously.

When fighting unknown monsters, it’s crucial to observe as much as possible.

By studying their movement patterns, behaviors, hunting methods, preferred prey, territory, and sleeping spots, you can narrow down the best approach to hunting them.

But if everyone’s involved, it seems they’ve decided to proceed quickly despite the risk of being spotted during the observation.

In any case, whether you approach something cautiously or boldly, success or failure will come regardless.

Situations change.

So, it’s not always beneficial to take excessive time, nor is rushing too much a good idea either.

There’s no definitive “right” approach.

If Geodine has decided to hurry based on his own reasoning, we’ll just have to follow that.

I don’t have any particular objections.

At this stage, I don’t see it as a bad move.

“Everyone? Even me?”

In response to Belge’s question, Geodine nodded.

“I need everyone to get a rough idea of the range and scale first. After that, I plan to rely on those who are good at detailed investigations for the finer information.”

So, it’s not just Belge, but also Chace, Florentine, and Geodine himself.

They seem to have divided the roles like this: those who aren’t skilled in stealth, like them, will handle only the first half.

The rest, including the more detailed investigation in the latter half, will be handled by those who can manage it.

As Belge himself noted, he’s not particularly good at moving stealthily.

The same goes for Chace and Florentine.

They can’t really conceal their presence.

It’s understandable since they aren’t seasoned adventurers or hunters.

“The latter half of the investigation will be led by the deputy leader, so I’m counting on you.”

The latter half will involve more in-depth investigation… likely examining areas close to the target.

That’s where I come in.

Since I need to scout potential ambush points as well, it was decided from the start that I’d be involved.

Now, who else should be chosen?

It’s a bit early to decide, but I should start thinking about it.

…Or maybe there’s no need to think too much.

This isn’t our first assignment.

The exploratory phase is over. We already have a general idea of what each person can do.

For contingency, it’s a given that Lisse, who can fight, will accompany us.

Although she’s not very good at stealth, her “Shadow Hunter Sword” is effective against zombies. I definitely want her with us in case of emergencies.

Trawllul is confirmed because her stealth skills surpass mine.

She’s also strong in combat, and she serves a dual role as a messenger in emergencies. Her gift should allow her to pass through enemy lines unnoticed. Her constant meowing can be annoying, but if she has cat traits, it’s tolerable. It would be great if she were a complete cat.

As for Harriatan… although not poor at stealth, her overall rough personality might not be suitable.

Ad-libbed surprise attacks are his forte, but he’s not really suited for scouting. So, he won’t be coming with us this time.

“I’ll check out the general area where the zombies were reported. You all should get ready for departure.”

Understood.

—Now, onto the investigation.

The location where the zombies were sighted is a forest far off the main road.

It seems a village hunter found it while venturing a bit further in search of game.

At that time, there were a dozen or so zombies, wandering around, chasing after animals.

Seeing only bones and bloodstains left behind, the hunter assumed many people had been attacked and turned into zombies. He hurried back to the village and reported to the town’s adventurers’ guild, requesting extermination.

That’s the story.

In reality, the situation is not about people turning into zombies but about an increasing number of zombies.

It’s not that there are more corpses infected with the undead curse, but that there are more monsters in the form of corpses.

So even if people aren’t directly affected, the number of zombies continues to grow.

If this had been ignored and left unchecked early on, eventually, the zombies would have headed towards that village.

“—That’s not edible.”

“Stop it, Belge. You haven’t given up yet?”

“—Hey, can I stab it? Just the one that’s separated.”

“Stop it, Chace. I understand you want to test out your new spear, but don’t.”

The situation aligns with the reported sightings.

From a considerable distance, observing the forest from afar, I can indeed see what looks like dozens of zombie-like figures.

At a distance, they appear to be wearing clothes and, at first glance, seem almost human.

However, up close, they would likely be covered in rotting, decayed flesh.

We’ve seen decayed bodies of both animals and humans around the forest near Albato Village, but they’re never something you want to see.

Ideally, I’d like to avoid getting close enough to see them clearly… but it seems that won’t be possible.

The zombie-like figures mostly stand around blankly.

However, occasionally, they start moving unnaturally, probably chasing after animals that cross their path.

When they lose sight of their prey, they stop in their tracks.

They aren’t very fast, but they’re quicker than I imagined.

So, it would be wise to run a few tests before setting up any traps. I need to figure out their movements and reactions.

I should report this to Geodine and discuss it with him first.

I can’t just act on my own.

“—Maybe if we smoke them out with a Tree of Life chip…?”

“Stop it, Belge. I know you’re not joking. Zombies are a bad idea. It won’t just upset your stomach; it could be much worse. Even my sister wouldn’t try that.”

“—Hey, come on. Just one. Only the tip. It’ll be fine, right?”

“Stop it, Chace. The issue is that we shouldn’t get any closer. What do you mean just the tip? If you stab the tip, you’re planning to deal with the whole thing. It’s not going to stay at just the tip.”

…………

……I thought these two would be the more reasonable ones among the various troublemakers, but it turns out they’re not much better.

Given the situation, Trawllul, who constantly meows, Harriatan, who, despite her bad attitude, is somewhat perceptive, and Florentine, who is obedient and a good child, would have been better choices.

This selection is a mistake.

“Chace, let’s capture one.”

“Seriously? Are we doing this?”

…………

Yes.

We’re doing it.

Enough.

—I won’t tolerate you guys underestimating the hunting grounds.

“Listen up,”

I turned around and said.

“I’m going to punch you all, and you have no complaints about that, right? You understand why you’re being punched.”

After finishing the investigation, we returned to the rendezvous point on the main road.

The blue-haired troublemaker and the big troublemaker, now completely quiet, followed along without complaining.

“Welcome back.”

We joined Geodine, Harriatan, and Florentine, who had arrived earlier.

From the looks of it, they managed to complete their investigation without being spotted by the zombies, just like us. That’s the bare minimum, of course. It should be expected. Though our troublemakers tried to act up… they did try!

Lisse and Trawllul’s group went to the farthest side of the forest to bypass it, so their return is delayed as anticipated. They might take a bit longer.

“How did it go?”

“Yeah.”

“I gave them a good beating, of course.”

“…What!? The zombies!?”

I shook my head and gestured with my thumb towards the troublemakers standing behind me.

Geodine, sensing something had happened, nodded ambiguously and said.

“Ah… yeah. Good work…”