CHAPTER 13

Unwelcome Surprises

Being quickly advanced on by Seiya, the white-haired priest respectfully bows.

“Oh, Hero! I apologize for not introducing myself! I am Marth, a priest—”

While the old priest Marth is introducing himself, Seiya takes some holy water out of his pocket and pours it on the man’s head without even warning him.

Sploosh… Sploosh… Sploosh… Sploosh…

“…What…?”

The priest is dumbfounded as the holy water drips down his head. Then comes the usual shriek of terror.

“S-S-Seiya?! What are you doing?!”

It’s not me who’s panicking, though.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!” the young boy of the dragonkin yells.

“Why is he pouring holy water on him?!”

The young girl’s eyes also open in surprise just as the last of the quartet reacts to the spectacle.

“Father Marth!!”

The nun places a hand over her mouth as if she may faint. It’s understandable, though. Who wouldn’t be shocked to see someone perform such a barbaric act on an elderly man they just met?

But one person yells even louder than the rest—the one who had holy water poured on his head, Father Marth.

“Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

He lets out a roar an old man should have been incapable of producing. Soon, smoke begins rising from the priest’s head.

Huh?! Wait… D-does this mean that…?!

“H-hey, hey!”

The young boy seems to have figured it out as well.

This is the reaction you get when you pour holy water on the undead!

“S-seriously?! Does this mean the Hero knew he was undead from the very beginning?!”

“Wh-whoa! Amazing!”

Even while the two kids gasp in admiration, the undead disguised as a priest continues tearing at its head in agony.

But before long, the undead looks this way—its face inflamed as if burned by the holy water. Its vile laugh echoes through the church.

“Geh-heh-heh-heh! Impressive, slayer of Chaos Machina! I was planning on killing all of you together the moment you let your guard down, but you got me!”

Then it lowers itself into a half-seated position as if to lunge at us.

“But it’s not a problem! I’ll just kill you all now with the immortal powers I received from General Deathmagla of the Demon Lord’s army! Prepare to die!”

“B-bring it on, asshole!”

The young dragonkin boy draws his sword.

“Heh! Don’t forget about me!”

The young girl raises her mage staff aloft. Instead of joining them in battle, though, the ever-so-careful Seiya strikes up a conversation with the nun for some reason.

“How long has that priest worked at this church?”

“H-he came to this town two days ago from Krain Castle as a missionary…”

“I see. So he isn’t originally from this town…”

“S-Seiya! Now’s not the time to be making small talk! Help them fight!”

“It’s been taken care of. I’ve already neutralized the enemy.”

“Huh?”

As soon as he says that, the undead priest’s head, arms, and legs crumble, falling onto the church’s floor. After rolling across the ground for a few seconds, its head finally realizes what happened to its body and screams.

“Whaaaaaat?!”

Seiya calmly observes the priest.

“It doesn’t bleed even after having all its limbs removed. It’s not even hurt. I see. So this is an undead.”

The two dragonkin descendants’ eyes bulge.

“B-but how…?”

“I—I didn’t see him unsheathe his sword…”

Not even I saw what happened—even with my dynamic vision, which surpasses that of a human’s. Seiya must have gotten a lot stronger during his training with the Divine Blade. I really have to check out his status as soon as possible.

“Hey, Seiya, just tell me this one thing: How did you know that Father Marth was the undead one?”

“My reasoning was simple.”

“Would you be so kind as to explain this reasoning of yours?”

“I suppose. The first clue was that the priest was the oldest, feeblest one here. In short, he pretty much looked undead already, so I decided to pour the holy water on him.”

“O-oh… Wait! That’s why you chose him?! What kind of rationale is that?!”

Some might say his reasoning was half-assed, while some may say what he did was inhumane. Some may even call it elder abuse, but the fact of the matter is that he was right. I decide to overlook the rest.

The undead head rolls around on the floor while yelling out in frustration.

“D-dammit! Don’t get so cocky just because you defeated me! General Deathmagla’s army destroyed Krain Castle and is heading to this town as we speak! Geh-heh-heh-heh! That’s ten thousand undead soldiers! Surprised? When they arrive tomorrow morning, this town will be reduced to ash! Enjoy the rest of your short lives!”

T-ten thousand undead soldiers will arrive tomorrow?!

I shiver in horror, but as always, Seiya is completely unfazed and nods after the undead priest finishes talking.

“Well, I’ve gotten all the information I wanted out of it. Time to clean up. And since it’s undead, I’ll need to be even more careful than usual…”

The instant his words reach my ear…

“Everyone, run!”

I scream, shoving the young dragonkin and nun from behind.

“Huh? Why do we have to run? I mean, the enemy has been immobilized.”

“That’s not the problem! What happens next is the real issue!!”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Listen, that Hero right there actually unleashes his full powers after the battle is already over, when he’s ‘cleaning up.’ Urgh! See—what did I tell youuu?!”

An ear-piercing blast echoes in the background. Seiya must have used explosion magic. The second I open the church doors, the high-level magic’s blast wave blows us outside. The explosions sound off again and again while flames burst from the shattered stained glass windows. It is only a few minutes before the church of Seimul comes crumbling down.

“Th-the church… Seimul’s historic church…! Ahhh!”

Witnessing the downfall of the house of worship, the nun feebly falls to her knees and faints. Meanwhile, out of the fire appears the Ifrit himself, and the first words out of his mouth are:

“There is no need to worry. The monster is gone.”

“So is the church! The nun even passed out!”

Once again, Seiya completely ignores my criticism. That’s when the boy wearing silver armor timidly approaches him.

“W-well…you’re kinda weird…but there’s no questioning your strength. All right, you pass.”

He extends a hand to Seiya to shake.

“Nice to meet you, Hero! I’m Mash, warrior of the dragonkin!”

Up next, the girl with the curly red side ponytail and mage robe greets Seiya as well.

“Heh-heh! I’m Elulu! I grew up with Mash in the same village, and I’m a dragonkin mage! I’m looking forward to working with you!”

The friendly girl Elulu approaches Seiya in his silence.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“…Seiya. Seiya Ryuuguuin.”

While introducing himself, Seiya has the audacity to drizzle holy water on Elulu’s head.

“Hey!”

Startled, she jumps.

“Hmm… It appears she’s human.”

Seiya nods to himself before pouring holy water on Mash’s head as well.

“H-hey! The hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“This one’s human, too.”

He even pours some holy water on the unconscious nun’s head.

“Perfect. All human.”

“Give her a break… She’s not even conscious…”

After my criticism of Seiya for obvious reasons, he pours holy water on my head as well.

“Heeey! Why me?!”

“You could have been switched out with an undead when I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Do you seriously believe there was enough time for that to happen?!”

Watching our exchange…

“J-just how little trust does this Hero…have in other people…? He’s way too cautious!”

“Y-yeah… He’s sick…”

Mash and Elulu seem put off by Seiya. It doesn’t help that he’s now staring at them without saying a word.

“Wh-what are you looking at?”

“Y-yeah, what? Why are you just glaring at us like that? It’s creepy!”

That’s when it hits me. Seiya’s using Scan on them, isn’t he? O-okay, then! Guess I’ll take the opportunity to check their statuses myself!

My eyes glisten like Seiya’s as I stare at them.

“Eek?! The Hero and goddess are scaring me!”

Elulu yells and starts tearing up. Nevertheless, I focus everything on my eyes, and before long, I am able to see their statuses.

MASH
LV: 8
HP: 476	MP: 0
ATK: 206	DEF: 184	SPD: 101	MAG: 0	GRW: 28
Resistance: Poison
Special Abilities: ATK Boost (LV: 3)
Skills: Dragon Thrust
Personality: Brave

ELULU
LV: 7
HP: 355	MP: 195
ATK: 98	DEF: 160	SPD: 76	MAG: 189	GRW: 36
Resistance: Fire, Water, Lightning
Special Abilities: Fire Magic (LV: 4)
Skills: Fire Arrow
Personality: Optimistic

…Oh. They’re a lot more…average than I expected. They’re not even one-hundredth of Seiya’s skill level. I figured they’d be stronger, since they’re of dragonkin blood. B-but I guess they’ll get stronger with time?

While trying to think optimistically, I glance at Seiya to my side and a chill immediately runs down my spine—because he’s glaring at them with the most intense look I have ever witnessed.