Chapter 70: The child hesitates (End of volume 1)
It was already evening when Zorey led Vernlily by the hand outside the village. Both of them left deep tracks in the dust from the remains of all 111 villagers who were raised as undead and were appeased by the young priest of death.
"Everything's okay?"
Before they left, though, Vernlily stopped at the spot where Zorey was struck by an arrow and reached down, prompting the boy's question.
"...khaah... (Y-yes...)"
The girl turned into a Cannibal zombie, flinched, and straightened her back, hissing in affirmation while hiding the hand that Zorey wasn't holding behind her back and tucking something behind her belt.
"Khaaah... Khaah...(The bag and some food are one thing, but I don't think that it was okay for you to go around the houses and take the money...) Khaah...? (What if the families of the villagers decide to move here and will notice it?)"
As they passed the gate, the undead girl hissed, and her voice was translated into worried words inside the black-haired boy's head.
"...khaaah... (The new carpenter will also notice that the varnish is missing...) Khaah...? (Why did you pour it over the walls anyway?) Khaah? (Does it help with keeping monsters away?)"
She added innocently, unable to realize what was going on.
"Don't worry about it. We're leaving this place anyway."
"...khaah...? (...leaving...?)"
Zorey shook his head and smiled at her reassuringly, but the undead girl let out a confused hiss.
"Khaaah. (Zorey, I can't leave.) Khaah. (I am a Bound Guardian knight of New Herbal.)"
Vernlily stopped right in her tracks and tugged on Zorey's hand, trying to pull him back.
"You told me that you think your grief and the reason you turned into an undead was the guilt over not stopping the wolf shaman from killing everyone. We have to leave and get stronger before we can hunt it down. This will appease your resentment and allow you to..."
The black-haired boy's smile became even softer, and he explained before hesitating a bit as his eyes filled with sorrow.
"...return to the System..."
He finished his sentence, making it sound as if he didn't want to speak those words out loud.
"Khaah... (But, Zorey...) Khaah...! (I can't leave my territory...!) Khaah, khaah! (Even if I do, all of my stats will get a 75% debuff and I will be completely useless!)"
"..."
The undead girl with a gruesomely damaged face hissed, getting troubled, which made the young priest of death lower his head and let go of her hand.
"Kha! (Zorey!) Khaah! (You know I'm telling the truth!) Khaah...! (Don't... don't get upset about it, please...!)"
*poof*
Verily got worried that Zorey might be angry at her, and she stepped forward, trying to hold hands again, but the boy was faster and ended up dodging the attempt and hugged her instead.
"Kha-haah...?! (Zo-Zorey...?!)"
"..."
The only thing that the undead girl seemed to be dissatisfied about was that her rusted chainmail and gambeson were getting in the way of her experiencing the embrace fully, so she didn't notice the strange silence of the younger boy.
"I will not leave you here. Not when there are adventurers who know about this place being overtaken by undead."
Zorey pressed his head against Vernlily's chest, feeling his insides burn with rage at the sight of the gaping wound that killed her.
"Khaah? (That's why you appeased all of them, isn't it?) Khaah. (I'm a Bound Guardian knight of this place, so I will be fine.)"
The undead girl hissed, and her words, full of happiness and confidence, translated directly into Zorey's mind.
"...if I don't take you with me, how would you know that I don't wait for a bit outside your territory and come back just to lie that I defeated it...?"
The young priest of death gulped down his saliva and asked, clenching his fist behind Vernlily's back.
"Khaa...? (Eeehhh? Lie...?) Khaah! (I would believe you, of course!) Khaah! (Even if you lie to me, it would be for a good reason!)"
"...I will not lie to you..."
Even after the exchange of assurance, neither of the two moved.
"If... if I left... how long would you wait for me...?"
After enough time passed for some of Zorey's body heat to transfer to Vernlily's equipment, the black-haired boy asked while facing an internal battle.
"Khaah? (What do you mean how long?) Khaah. (Until you come back.)"
The undead girl hissed with confusion as if she had a hard time understanding why she had been asked something with such an obvious answer.
"..."
"...?"
Zorey slowly raised his head, and with his chin still on Vernlily's chest, he looked up and gazed into the burgundy fires burning inside her eyesockets, to which the undead girl tilted her head cluelessly.
Becoming an undead would always result in a drop in the intelligence of the being that became corrupted, but it also makes them even more honest than they were during their lifetime.
"Khaa! Khaaah! (AH...! Don't look! I look awful!)"
After a few seconds, the Cannibal zombie flinched and hissed, trying to cover her face shamefully...
"Kha...? (Eh...?)"
But was stopped by Zorey stepping back and grabbing both of her wrists.
"You are the cutest in the world. You better take responsibility for making my heart beat faster for an undead."
"...kh... khaa... kh... kha...! (I... wha...? I'm not... I... eh...? Sthap...!)"
The boy smirked and declared without hesitation, making Bernlily stutter even when she was hissing, and her translated words were even more adorable.
"Vernlily, I want to take you with me, but for that, I will have to try doing something risky."
Zorey expression turned serious, and he declared, making the undead girl pay him her full attention without even budging.
"For undead that are unable to be returned to the System because of the attachment to an object, the best course of action is destroying that object as long as that's an option."
"..."
The boy pointed out, and the fires in Vernlily's eyesockets began burning with more intensity, but she stayed silent.
"However, when I studied about that, my teacher pointed out that there are cases in which even when the item of interest was destroyed, the undead actually switched its attachment to another item.... Gem creation."
*krk*
Zorey continued, and after taking a deep breath, he let go of one of Vernlily's hands and used his Skill...
[Lesser fire gem
Skill: Lesser fire (100% of user's MAT)
One time use]
...and have a red crystal build emerge on top of his palm with a completely different sound than ever before – but not only that, once it showed up, a description popped up in his vision...
"...huh...?"
A description that distracted him and made him shake his head.
There was no timer, and it was 20% stronger than ever before.
"Umm, a-anyway. I don't know if it will work the same for you because of your class, but..."
Zorey shook his head again and bit his lips, clenching his hand on the gem and closing his eyes, trying to get enough courage to get to his point.
"...haaa... Vernlily. Do not look back."
"...khaah... (...okay...)"
He asked, and the undead girl immediately nodded and let out a quiet hiss.
*whoosh*
Similar to her, Zorey didn't hesitate and leaned to the side, throwing the red crystal back inside the village utilizing the guidelines of the Throw Skill...
*crack*
*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
The sound of the item breaking apart and unleashing a spell was followed by the howl of the inferno that spread out through the village, covered in extremely flammable dust covering the entire place.
"...."
"..."
Vernlily's hands dropped alongside her body, and her burgundy flames dimmed, but she didn't move, having Zorey look back at her with determination.
"..."
The undead girl trembled, and dark liquid started pouring out of her eyesockets, dripping down her face like tears, but she still didn't budge.
The pair stood there looking at each other while New Herbal went down in flames.
They stood there in silence, facing each other until finally, hours later...
[Name: Vernlily
Race: Undead (Canibal Zombie)
Class: Bound guardian knight (Bound to none)
Rank: E
Level: 18
HP: 50 MP: 20
ATK: 18 MAT: 16
DEF: 30 MDF: 26
SPD: 14 LUC: 22
Skills: (High-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]
An updated Status Window of the undead girl obstructed Zorey's vision.
"Prayer."
*Haaa~*
Zorey recast his Skill on Vernlily and changed the way he held her left hand.
"This wasn't supposed to go this way, but I got you something."
He added, reaching into his pocket and taking out a ring with a red gemstone.
"I..."
As Zorey was holding the ring in front of Vernlily's left hand, his shoulders trembled, and he gritted his teeth to hold back.
He was torn apart between what he, as a priest of death, was supposed to do and what he, as a man, wanted to do.
"...khaah... (...it's okay...) Khaah, khaa... (I understand, I will not make things difficult for you...)"
Vernlily hissed heavily, and as her disheartened words got translated into Zorey's mind, she pushed her hand forward, making her middle finger the one to get the ring.
"...khaah...? (...where should we go now...?)"
"..."
The undead girl added, standing on the road leading to Little Barn while looking back at the black-haired boy clenching his fists.
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