Chapter 88 - The Misty Hamlet
We finally found a settlement while lost, but even with its lights visible, the place looked completely swallowed by mist from a distance.
Is it mist, or maybe something like rising smoke? I wondered.
The way it glowed faintly in the twilight was quite ethereal, though a bit creepy too.
We were on a hill overlooking the village, still some distance away.
I brought our transport to a halt here to observe the situation. Charging into a village with a large group in the middle of the night would only cause chaos. I have enough common sense to scout things out first.
"A small village, maybe? But what is with all this mist? There is not any around here."
"It looks like a basin surrounded by hills. I can't tell where the mist is coming from. Does anyone recognize this place?"
Ophelia asked the group as they stepped off the vehicle, but no one had an answer. It must be an incredibly remote area, a real backwater.
I thought it might be better to send a small group to ask for directions to the Royal Capital. Depending on the vibe, we might not even enter the village at all. We didn't come here to scare the locals. There was a guard with a magic lamp at what looked like the entrance, likely watching for threats, so we should head there first. I doubted a village this rural would have an inn, but if they did, staying the night was an option.
"It would be rude to barge in all at once, so let's send a few people first. We don't need supplies, but I would like to stay at an inn if they have one. Even if they don't, I want to know the path to the Royal Capital."
"I'll go scout," Albert said. "Mia, come with me. Ophelia, you and the others should search the surrounding area just in case."
"Right. I'll take the youngsters for a quick look around. I doubt there's any danger, but be careful, Albert, Mia."
While I stared at the mist-covered village, roles were assigned one after another. I had considered going myself, but I didn't object to the plan. This was unknown territory, after all. I made sure to stay alert, flowing mana through the engravings on my cloak. The Kikyo Society cloaks have an incredibly high mana conductivity rate just by wearing them, but focusing on them boosts the effect. Better safe than sorry.
Albert and Mia headed for the village while Ophelia and Josephine led the other youths to scout the perimeter. We turned the hilltop into a temporary base, leaving only me, Valeria, Gradena, and our captive guests.
If the sun were up, surveying the area from the hills would be easy. But it was night. Even Ophelia and her team couldn't see far, and we couldn't exactly use bright light magic without alerting the villagers.
The scouting had to be cautious. Once they were down the hill, light magic would be fine, and they planned to extend their search quite a distance.
Albert and Mia rode toward the village on Albert's personal motorcycle.
They say good things come to those who wait. The rest of us had nothing to do, but I couldn't exactly sleep while everyone else was working. We lit a fire behind the Delta and decided to wait with some tea.
I was dozing off while hugging a warm Valeria when I heard an engine approaching. Only one engine, so it had to be Albert and Mia.
It felt like they had been gone a long time for a simple trip to the village and back. I wondered if something happened.
It sounded like he had disengaged the speed limiter, because the bike was flying. The moment it stopped, they practically tumbled off and rushed to our side. In the firelight, Albert and Mia looked pale.
"Yukari, that place is bad news. We need to leave immediately."
Mia nodded frantically beside him, but they weren't making any sense. What on earth was going on?
"Get a grip, you two. Where is your usual cool? You need to be specific, or neither Yukari nor I will understand a thing."
Gradena was the one doing the scolding for once, which was rare. To see the wild yet reliable Albert and the normally timid but capable Mia this shaken... what could have caused it?
"S-sorry. Phew. Hold on, give me something to drink."
I handed him some tea that had gone cold, and Albert drained it in one go. He seemed to calm down a bit, perhaps because he had finally moistened his dry throat.
"So? What happened?"
"...Right. Mia and I saw something unbelievable down there. I still can't believe it. It felt like a dream. If it were just me, I would have dismissed it as one, but Mia saw the same thing. It wasn't a dream."
"Yes, it wasn't a dream. Just calm down and tell us what happened step by step."
He still seemed confused, but he was calming down as he spoke. I let him continue.
"Fine. First... well, we drove the bike through the mist toward those faint lights. There was a guard at the entrance, just like we saw from here. He was just standing there, staring into space. He didn't even react when we got close."
Maybe he was sleepy or drunk? Either way, he wasn't doing his job.
"We thought it was suspicious, so we parked the bike and approached on foot. But he didn't respond at all when I spoke to him. No matter what I said, he just stared blankly. It was useless, so we ignored him and entered the village."
That was strange. Some kind of illness? But if he could stand, it couldn't be that severe.
Gradena and Valeria looked suspicious too, but they urged him to go on.
"There were no lights in the village at all. Even if there were shops or an inn, we couldn't tell. No one was walking around, and the guard was in that state. I thought about coming back later, but we decided to check the village just in case. It's small, so I didn't think it would take long. Mia and I split up to look around. But then, near a stable on the edge of town, I heard a strange noise."
Albert was getting talkative now. He sounded the way he did when we were at a tavern, but his face remained serious and tense.
"A noise? And?"
"It was a bizarre sound. A filthy noise, like something eating. I thought it might be an animal, but it was late. Not the time for feeding. But it was a horrible, sickening sound. No matter how vulgar a person might be, no one eats like that."
This was taking a weird turn.
"I felt creeped out, obviously. But I couldn't just leave it, right? I decided to take a peek, and I couldn't believe my eyes."
"Eyes? Was someone there?"
"Yeah. It was pitch black, but I could tell it wasn't a normal human. It was an unbelievable sight. Mia joined me right then, so I had her confirm it."
Mia just nodded repeatedly, hugging herself as if even speaking was too frightening.
"Hey, I'm not following. What was there? What were they doing?"
Gradena looked frustrated by the slow pace of the story.
Albert and Mia nodded to each other, bracing themselves before speaking.
"...They were eating a person. At least, it was something shaped like a person."
What? A village of cannibals?
Cannibalism... that felt incredibly out of place for this era. Was this a village of man-eaters? Those were people we definitely wouldn't get along with. Still, that's a strange time for a meal. Or was it just one weirdo?
"The one doing the eating had no life in their eyes. To me, they looked like nothing more than a corpse."
A corpse? Wait, a dead person eating another dead person? What?
"...Wait a second."
"Hold on, hold on! A corpse? A dead person was eating someone? What does that mean? Are you sure you didn't misinterpret what you saw?"
"If I were the only one who saw it, I might have kept my mouth shut. Unfortunately, Mia agrees with me."
"A dead person?! I want to say that's impossible, but if you're both that sure... Yukari, what do you think?"
"What do I think...?"
Does that mean zombies? No, no, no... surely not? There aren't supposed to be any undead in this world! They can't exist! Valeria must have been bad with that kind of thing, too, because she clung to me with a stiff expression.
There were records from ancient legends about the Church being heroes and hunting undead, but there were zero reported sightings in the modern era. I had always assumed it was just propaganda to bolster the Church's authority, but do undead really exist?
If so, we might not be able to handle them. If we tried to fight and physical attacks didn't work, things could get ugly. Since the legends only mentioned the Church, maybe normal weapons are useless. If they're already dead, and you can't kill them any further, we're helpless. Maybe burning them would work? Though, honestly, I didn't even want to get close.
"In my opinion, we shouldn't do anything reckless. Elven lore has stories about the undead, and none of them are good."
"So our best bet is to stay out of it and report it to a church in some city? But the Church is..."
I didn't know what they were like behind the scenes, but the Church was a very prestigious organization on the surface. They followed divine teachings and gave aid to the weak. They were supposed to be honest, noble people.
They were also the type to pester the Kikyo Society about every little thing. We usually ignored them entirely.
"Speaking of which, are there any survivors? Is the whole village a nest of undead?"
"Mia and I checked for others. We used mana detection to sweep the whole village, just in case, but there were no mana reactions from living creatures."
So there were no living things, not even animals. That meant the villagers had either turned into undead or been eaten.
"Wait, then what about that guard at the entrance? Is he undead too?"
They said he was just standing there blankly when they spoke to him.
"It has to be. I didn't notice when I first spoke to him, but when we scanned the village with mana detection, he didn't have a mana reaction either."
No mana reaction meant he wasn't alive. In other words, he was dead but still standing. I didn't know why he wasn't moving, but it might just be a matter of time.
There was a short silence as everyone looked at me. Taking the cue, I made my decision.
"Everyone, I think we should retreat. If it were an opponent we could just punch out, that would be one thing, but I have no interest in dealing with corpses when we don't even know how to beat them."
"I agree. As soon as Ophelia and the others get back, we're leaving."
Gradena supported the idea, and Albert and Mia nodded. Valeria had her face hidden, so I couldn't tell what she thought, but I doubted she would object. The captives were waiting inside the Delta, so they didn't know a thing. Not that I cared about them.
I didn't know when Ophelia's group would return, but surely it would be before dawn. We had no choice but to wait while keeping a close eye on the village.
Fortunately, the zombie attack I feared didn't happen, and after a while, I heard the sound of bikes and cars. They were back.
Ophelia led the way with the youths following, and Josephine brought up the rear. Once Josephine reached me, Ophelia began her report.
"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. Yukari, good news. There is a huge river way to the north. If we follow it downstream, we can get to the Royal Capital without any problems. As for scouting around here, we didn't find much else. Right, Josephine?"
"We covered a wide area, but there was absolutely nothing. Just some small hills and woods. Nothing worth noting."
Phew, so our days of being lost were over. I didn't know the exact distance, but if we just followed the river, we would eventually arrive. That was a relief.
"How was the village?"
After we all exchanged looks, Albert told her exactly what he had told us.
Ophelia's first response was very much like her.
"Should I just burn the whole place down with my flames?"
"Let's not go near it. We don't know what causes the transformation, and we might end up like them if we're not careful."
...True. It wasn't like the village was built for undead. Something must have caused it. I didn't know what it was, and I had no desire to find out.
Hearing about the transformation made Albert and Mia turn pale again. They seemed fine after spending the night together, but... were they really?
By the time the Kikyo Society members had finished discussing everything and were ready to leave, the morning sun began to peek through the clear sky.
Another beautiful day. Everyone stared at the sunrise in silence for a while.
As the sun rose higher, the settlement in the basin was bathed in light. The mist covering the village began to clear little by little.
It was a desolate-looking village. Not surprising for such a remote area. It seemed like a perfectly ordinary, unremarkable country village. Or so I thought, until the mist cleared enough for me to notice one very strange thing. What was that?
"Onee-sama, what is that?"
"It looks incredibly suspicious..."
"We shouldn't touch it, but it really is weird."
The source of the mist covering the village finally became clear. It wasn't a lake or any kind of water source. It was a hole. A massive pit had opened right next to the village. Mist or smoke was pouring out of it with incredible force. What on earth was that?
"It looks like a kiln from hell has opened up."
That was a perfect description. Gas from hell that turns people into undead. I didn't know the truth, but that explanation felt right.
I could probably seal the hole with my magic. But I had no idea what kind of side effects that would have elsewhere. It was best to leave it alone. Let sleeping dogs lie.
"Well, let's head for the river in the north."
"Yeah! I hope we can catch some game before we get there."
"I'm hungry."
Everyone followed my lead as I acted like nothing was wrong. Even though I hadn't slept a wink, I didn't feel tired. Maybe it was just my desire to get away from this place as quickly as possible.
Regardless, no one objected. We quickly boarded our respective vehicles and headed north in an orderly fashion.
Man. It would have been so much more fun if we had accidentally stumbled upon a famous hot spring or some hidden resort for spa lovers.
Of all the things to find, why did it have to be the undead?
The strange journey continues for a little longer.