The heroes and his party arrived in Kanatini after defeating low-level monsters for two days.

"If I keep fighting such weak monsters, my skills will get dull."

Elliot swore during the battle.

They arrived at a village with a population of about 300 people. Karna walked at the front, occasionally talking to the villagers, until they reached a relatively large wooden house.

"This is my mother's house."

As Karna walked up the stairs to the door, a man in a priest's robe appeared from the door.

"Ah, are you the one treating my mother?"

"Yes? Ah, are you Diero's daughter?"

"Yes, that's right. How is your mother doing?"

"Well, well, now..."

He gave a vague answer.

"Let me take a look at you."

"No, you'd better not do that."

"Why? I'm already an intermediate level healer."

"Well, I can't show you because you're family. Your condition has been getting worse for the past two days..."

"No way..."

Karna let out a cry of despair and collapsed on the spot.

The group was eating at the only inn in the village. Whis and Belhard were not drinking out of consideration for Karna. He was also concerned about his father's presence, but he ended up not asking.

Karna was not making any progress when Kate landed in front of him.

"Now, now, don't be too disheartened, Karna. You've got four intermediate level mages with you, right?"

"Yeah... that's true, but..."

"Hey, let me have a taste of Karna's mana too!"

Kate begged, hopping up and down on the spot. Karna's small smile was full of joy at the sight of her. Karna holds out his finger to Kate and releases mana. Kate rubs her cheek against Karna's finger.

"Yes, Karna's has a gentle taste. I'm sure he has a pure heart, just like Elliot."

Karna thought she was trying to encourage him.

At that moment, the door to the inn slammed open.

"There you are, Karna. It's been a while."

It was the innkeeper. She seemed to have just returned from shopping, and colorful vegetables were visible from the basket she was holding.

"Your mother seems to be having a hard time. I've heard a lot from the magicians who come and go."

"Auntie! ...That's right, she seems to be in a pretty bad condition."

"You still don't know the cause?"

She places the basket heavily on the dining room table.

"Yes, I haven't seen her condition yet, so I don't know."

"She wasn't feeling well to begin with," the innkeeper pulls out a chair, sits down, and begins to speak. "Since Latis-san started performing her rituals at the graveyard late at night, her condition has been getting worse and worse. I think that might be the cause."

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"Did you do that, Mom?"

"Karna, are you talking about the Barzana Cemetery?"

Elliot asks.

"Eh... Yes. The only graveyard around here is the Barzana Cemetery."

"That's where the cause lies. Let's go and defeat some monsters tonight!"

"Yeah. I don't know much about monsters, but that's a possibility."

"Then let's take a short nap and head to the Barzana Cemetery late at night."

Everyone is getting more and more excited. Karna realizes that he's not alone. His mood lifts a little.

"I understand, thank you."

The four of them took a nap at the inn and left it late at night. It would be a few hours until dawn. There were no light sources around, and the only guides were the moon and Kate's light.

"My father told me not to go out at night because monsters might appear, but it's still creepy."

"My eyes aren't that good, and it would be troublesome if I were attacked in this condition."

Meanwhile, Trasteria was wrapped in a blanket in the carriage and breathing heavily.

"But the Barzana Cemetery is on the outskirts of the village, right? There's no way monsters would appear there."

Belfhard, who knows the reason, encourages everyone. They arrived at the Barzana Cemetery about ten minutes after leaving the inn.

"It really feels like something might appear..."

"Whis, were you really scared of this?"

"You're stupid. No ghosts come out."

Karna opened the iron door with the key he had borrowed from the village chief during the day from his pocket. The small village cemetery was surprisingly large, probably because it was used for burials. The group stepped in hesitantly. The neat rows of waist-high gravestones were creepy. The cries of nocturnal birds echoed in the forest deep inside. The voice sounded like a voice of rejection, separating the human world from the natural world.

Whis put the notch on his bow and prepared for battle.

"Kate, can you make the light a bit stronger?"

"I can, wait a moment."

As the light emitted by Kate grew stronger, Whis noticed something moving beyond the gravestone.

"Nooooo!!"

Whis fired an arrow. The arrow hit the head of something moving.

"You idiot, Whis! What if it's a person?!!"

However, the figure pierced by the arrow did not stop moving.

"It appears to be a living dead. And ghosts, wraiths, and wights! Wights are dangerous. Don't touch them!"

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by undead monsters. The living dead, with an arrow still stuck in its head, dragged its stiff body and gradually approached.

"What will you do, Karna?"

"I'll purify the entire surrounding area with a magic I just learned. Buy yourself some time until then!"

"Okay, I'll just buy you some time!"

Belhard put his shield forward and pushed down the living dead and wights.

Elliot slashed at the ghost with his sword, but the blade pierced it and it tried to attack Elliot. He quickly used wind magic to knock the ghost far away.

Whis screamed and fired arrows in rapid succession.

"Just a little longer, hold on!"

A pale green light gathered around the sacred stone of the mace Karna held up.

The three of them were protecting Karna as they were gradually overwhelmed by a group of about twenty monsters.

"Let's go!"

He raised the mace, which had filled with enough light, high into the air and poured most of his mana into it. Green lightning shot out from the mace, tracking the undead in the vicinity. The lightning hit all of the undead, purifying them without a trace.

"It was a success..."

Karna was panting and used his mace as a walking stick. Elliot ran over to Karna, who was unable to hide his fatigue.

"Well done, Karna. You're amazing. Here, drink the potion."

He took the potion out of his pocket, opened the lid and handed it to Karna. Karna drank it all in one gulp.

"I think I understand the reason for my mother's illness."