Volume 1, Chapter 21 – Zombie Extermination (Part 2)

Morning comes to every place.

Percy Village, where we had waged a desperate battle against the stench of Zombies last night, was now welcoming a peaceful morning.

“Fwaah, gooood morning.”

“Good morning, Fiene-sama. You were splendid last night.”

I greet Chris-san while yawning.

That’s right—last night, we purified a total of eleven Zombies and forcibly sent them off to heaven or hell or wherever, but as a result, I’m sleep-deprived.

I’m just so sleepy I can hardly stand it.

“How is your Level?”

Oh, right. I hadn’t checked. Reminded by Chris-san, I take a look at my Status.

▽ ▽ ▽

【Name】: Fiene Argentata

【Race】: Vampire (LOL)

【Gender】: Female

【Class】: Healer

【Level】: 1

【Exp】: 109

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▽ ▽ ▽

“My Level hasn’t gone up. My EXP has increased from 10 to 109.”

Looks like those Zombies gave 9 EXP each.

Still, why hasn’t my Level gone up? Is it because I’m a Vampire after all? Or is it because of this “(LOL)”?

“I see. If you were human, you should already be Level 3 by now. So this is how slow High Elf growth is, huh.”

I see. So if I’d stayed on the rails, it would’ve taken at least 15 years to reach Level 10.

That was close. Way too close.

“Zombies might appear again tonight, so let’s stay in this village a little longer.”

“That sounds good.”

During the day, we looked around Percy Village.

It’s a truly tranquil little country village with nothing but fields and forests around. There’s nothing in particular to do, but it’s peaceful.

It’s a little chilly, but the weather is nice, and if you walk in the sun, it’s plenty warm.

Perfect weather for a stroll. This is exactly what a relaxing vacation should feel like.

Best of all, while we’re staying here, we don’t have to pay the ridiculously overpriced rooms at that luxury hotel!

And since there were no particularly critically ill people in the village, just folks with things like back pain, I cast Healing Magic on them while taking my stroll.

Going by how things usually felt before, I should’ve run out of MP by now, but there isn’t any sign of that at all.

Rеaԁ οո ΚatRеaԁіոɡСаfe

Why is that, even though my Level and Status haven’t increased?

By the way, word had apparently already gotten around that I was fine with any kind of thanks, because I ended up getting a ridiculous amount of vegetables.

Carrots, potatoes, and even some tomatoes that seem a bit out of season.

Yeah, when it comes to gifts from the countryside, it’s always vegetables, isn’t it?

I don’t even have a kitchen, and I haven’t really been cooking during my travels anyway, so I have no idea what to do with them.

◇ ◇ ◇

And then night fell.

After having dinner at the village chief’s place, we waited for the Zombies to appear again.

Perhaps because they heard we had purified almost all of them, besides the village chief, several young men from the village were waiting with us in the village square.

“Maybe there aren’t any left at this point.”

“If that’s the case, we’d be more than grateful.”

The village chief responds to my words.

“Until now, they came out every night. If not a single one comes tonight, then we should be fine!”

“I hope so…”

I nod along to the village chief’s words.

—But with monsters that slow, couldn’t the men in the village have handled them somehow? Feels like burning them should’ve done the trick.

Rеаԁ оո КаtRеαԁiոɡСаfe

“However, Fiene-sama’s Purification Magic was truly impressive. Zombies are troublesome foes that will revive no matter how many times you cut, crush, or burn them, unless they are purified.”

Whoa!? Did Chris-san read my mind?

“Furthermore, Purification isn’t supposed to be easy either. For someone with average skill, it’s the kind of difficult job where you have to purify them over and over before they finally stop spawning.”

“O-oh, is that so…”

“Ah, now that you mention it, Fiene-sama, this was your first time taking on Zombie extermination work, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Other than that, I only purified that oddly pretentious Schwarz by happenstance.”

“As expected of you, Fiene-sama.”

I’m not sure what’s so “expected,” but it’s probably better not to dig deeper here, as it would be endless.

Just then, a faint rotten smell drifted through the air.

“Huh? It seems like Zombies might be spawning somewhere. I can smell it faintly.”

Tension runs through the square.

“Could it be the cemetery again?”

“That might be it. Let’s go check.”

“Understood, Fiene-sama. Everyone in the village, please lock up as usual.”

“””Y-yes, understood!”””

We leave the villagers behind and head toward the cemetery. About halfway there, I stop.

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“What’s wrong?”

“No, I was just thinking it probably isn’t the cemetery. The smell that was there earlier has faded as we moved away from the village.”

I hear a sharp intake of breath.

“Let’s hurry back.”

“Yes.”

We hurry back to the village square at a light run.

The smell is stronger than before, and it definitely feels like something is approaching from somewhere.

The village’s young men were still waiting around the bonfire for us to return.

“Huh? Everyone, why haven’t you gone home?”

“Well, you see… We’d rather not suddenly get chomped in the dark.”

“There’s light here, and we figured it’d be safer to stay until Saint-sama and the others got back.”

“Ah, but the village chief went home.”

I see. It seems only the village chief went home.

“Then, let’s go check if the village chief is safe.”

We headed for the village chief’s house.