Many things happened all at once after Tolg arrived.

First, the entirety of Nail’s party was roused in panic. They frantically ran outside to meet with the beastkin who had delivered them the terrible news. Even Mie, who had been in a foul mood all day, looked like she had been before the bandit incident.

Like the veterans that they were, none of them asked stupid questions. Ujel helped immensely in dispelling the party’s doubts; after all, the confidence she had when she described what she felt was much more convincing than those of a beastkin they didn’t know. And after they obtained all the information they could, which wasn’t much, Nail immediately gave them orders and prepared to head out.

It was decided that he, Ujel, and Mie would head towards the most likely location of such a ritual – the town graveyard. Together, they constituted the highest firepower in the party when it came to taking down the undead. Meanwhile, Kilo was delegated to messenger duty to inform the guild, the town guard, and the resident knights. Finally, Egan was tasked to retrieve all of the equipment that they had left inside their inn and purchase additional bags of holy water.

“Shall I guide you?” Tolg offered to Nail’s party. Considering that he was the first one to have detected the anomaly, he was naturally the best person to lead them. However, Nail simply raised his hand and refused.

“We appreciate the gesture. But we work better as a team. And you have a more important thing to do.” Nail looked at Matthias and elaborated. “Please inform the town lord and get him to issue an evacuation. If Ujel is right, this will spell disaster. Your friend here might not be the best person to explain it, but with you there with him, he’ll have no choice but to listen.”

“... Because I’m a noble?”

“Yes. You’re the only one who could do it.”

Despite how much he wanted to be part of the team to directly handle the situation, he was aware that the place where he was needed the most was somewhere else. So, he reluctantly agreed.

But before they headed out, they needed to find shelter for the kids. The threat of the town guard suddenly paying a visit during the interim still loomed over them. Considering their nature, all of them didn’t think it was beneath those cowards to hurt the kids. In addition, staying in the slums to wait for the evacuation order was too dangerous. The only question was, who should lead them to safety? Nail’s entire party was already going to be busy, while Matthias and Tolg had their roles. And Manna…

“I refuse.”

That was that.

Then, at that moment, Jelyn finally came back, still wearing her pure white Pharmacist uniform. She was initially frightened at the sight of the large beastkin, but she managed to calm down after seeing that Matthias and Nail’s party were getting along with him just fine. And when they explained to her what was happening, her face contorted in terror again.

“Are you sure…? Necromancy… I thought it was very hard to use it.”

She was right. Unlike the four elements, nobody, at least in recorded history, was born with an affinity for necromancy. In general, the four elements were distinct in that the magic of those alignments was possible due to the influence of what people called "spirits". On the other hand, necromancy, as well as holy magic and other outliers, didn't rely on them. For example, holy magic was manifested using prayer, using the caster's faith as the medium and mana as fuel.

But that did not mean nobody could become good at it. As with everything, training always closes the gap.

“T-then we need to get the kids out!”

The question was how. The town gates were sealed by that time, and only the town lord could have them opened outside their schedule. They were worried that the town lord would issue the order too late. Worse, he could be sleeping and not allow anybody to disturb him. In that case, they would need to barge into his mansion without permission. Matthias would prefer not to trespass. But if he needed to, he would, reputation be damned.

He wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

As they struggled to come up with a plan quickly, Jelyn's white uniform caught his eye. Suddenly, a particular memory resurfaced in his mind. It was an insignificant event but he was able to remember it because at that time he had been fascinated with that era's way of doing a particular thing.

“Jelyn. Does the Pharmacy Guild still conduct sewer disinfection?”

“”Disinfection”? You mean cleansing?” she asked, bewildered. "Yes, we do. We're the only ones who can do it. Or rather, the only ones…"

"Have you been down there?"

"Y… yeah… many times…" She was rather sheepish with her reply, probably because it wasn't a good memory. Then, she realized why he asked. Once she did, she panickily shook her head and cried out, "Wait! No, I–"

"It's for the kids. Please."

The sewers were a nasty place. There was no shortage of rubbish and excrement piled throughout its tunnels. However, it offered a path to the outside of town that wasn't strictly monitored by the garrison. On top of that, Ujel explained that it may actually be much safer to go through it than on the open streets.

For one, all sewers had been pre-blessed by high priests to prevent animal carcasses inside from becoming undead. Then, there was regular cleansing by the Pharmacists to prevent plagues. Its walls were also made to be quite thick to prevent the stench from escaping. Even the resident slimes inside, which ate rotten flesh, would act as a major obstacle to any zombie that tried to enter.

It still smelled abhorrent, though.

After they had explained that to Jelyn, she looked much less hesitant about doing it. But she sensed that she was wasting everybody’s time when Nail decided that they needed to leave, so she ultimately agreed. Fortunately, she was very familiar with the sewer system. And even though it wasn’t as large as those in the big cities, the tunnels were large enough to accommodate an adult if they crouched inside.

As for the matter of convincing the kids, she would have to do it herself.

“Dorian?”

But when Nail’s party left, they saw the dwarven child peeking at them from the half-opened church doors. When she was called out, she reluctantly walked towards them while twiddling her fingers.

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“What’s wrong?” he asked and patted her head. It didn’t seem like she was afraid of Tolg, unlike Jelyn. Or maybe she just didn’t see him due to the insufficient lighting and his black fur against the night sky.

She bowed her head and kept silent for a while before she replied. “Are we… going away?”

Her voice was full of apprehension. She had heard everything, and likely even understood at least part of it. He realized that underestimating the kids, at least Dorian in particular, was a bad idea. But her trembling hands showed that she was still a child. Smiling, he cupped her cheek and raised her face so they could look at each other eye to eye.

“Just for now. You and your friends are going on a trip with Jelyn over there. But you have to protect them, all right?”

“...”

“It’ll be scary. But you can do it. With help, of course. And once all the monsters are gone, you can come back with everyone.”

Dorian’s dry lips twitched, mouthing words that she couldn’t form. She tried a few times, exhaling nothing all the while. But she didn’t need to say anything. Matthias read her words. “Will you be okay?” was what she was trying in vain to say. He couldn’t help but hold her head on a crushing pat.

He didn’t know what she had experienced in life. Perhaps she had lost many friends or lost particularly precious people. Maybe it was a lingering trauma from her parents? The smile on his face widened in pride. It only took him a few hours to get along with her to the point where she’d worry. Maybe he wasn’t hopeless after all.

“Don’t worry, kid. We still have the training to do, remember?”

She didn’t reply. But her glimmering eyes told him everything. Nodding to her, and to himself, he gave her shoulders an encouraging tap and walked away.

----------------------------------------

“I didn’t know you took care of kids, sir Matthias.”

Tolg’s huge body made distinct thuds as he walked on the packed soil. Though there were no lights on the streets, their pace was steady and their directions were certain. Matthias could use the same augmentation magic he had learned from Soleil to see in the dark despite being human. Tolg, being a beastkin, could see just fine under the same lighting conditions.

Because their surroundings were so quiet, they elected to have a conversation about anything to shake off the gloom of the situation. And that was the first topic Tolg had raised.

“Nah. I just met them yesterday. They’re all Soleil’s kids.” Realizing that it was easy to misunderstand his words, Matthias quickly corrected himself by saying, “I mean she takes care of them.”

“Haha, no need to be so flustered. I understand. After all, if your companion was a mother, then she wouldn’t be adventuring with you, would she?” he said amicably. “By the way, is your companion with you? Is she also the hiding type like your hunter friend?”

“If so, then she’s excellent. I can’t sense her at all.” Tolg mused in a very soft voice. Matthias was easily able to pick it up, though. Body augmentation truly was a wonderful thing.

“No. She’s not here. Got herself in a bit of a pickle with the feds.”

“... ”Feds”, you say? What do you mean?”

“Ah, oops,” he stammered. “I mean the town guard.”

Matthias told him the whole story. It wasn’t a secret, anyway. Practically everybody in the guild already knew about it, and some people were already gossiping in town regarding the deaths of a handful of adventurers. While Tolg was still technically a stranger, Matthias didn’t feel like he was someone to be guarded against. Showing up to warn them about the necromantic ritual even though he had no obligation to the city, especially since he was a beastkin, appealed to Matthias’ sense of righteousness.

After hearing of her predicament, Tolg sunk into a contemplative silence. It took him a while before he spoke up again.

“That sounds quite suspicious.”

“Obviously. Everyone agrees, too. They’re just using her as a scapegoat, right?”

Tolg didn’t reply. Instead, he continued thinking with a hand on his chin. He looked so deep in thought that Matthias couldn’t help but ask what was wrong. In response, Tolg questioned him in a low voice.

“Your friend. You said that she… killed the undead drake?”

“Yeah. She’s really strong. But quite eccentric. What about it?”

“It’s… nothing.”

That was strange. It certainly didn’t feel like it was nothing. But Tolg didn’t look like he wanted to elaborate. Maybe he thought of something absurd and didn’t want to put it into words. Soleil couldn’t be described more aptly than the word “absurd”, anyway. Matthias was sort of worried but ultimately decided not to pry.

Tolg was able to go back to his usual self after a while, so it must not have been an urgent matter.

“This is it.”

No sooner had they entered the inner district did they arrive at the gates of the lord’s castle. Since the layout of the district wasn’t built around it, one could arrive at the manor quickly when approaching from the southeast.

As expected, most of the lights were already out. However, there were a couple of sentries on both sides of the massive wooden gate and another group that manned the walls. Security was tight.

Having to negotiate with the guards was going to waste their time, even if he threw his weight around as the son of a duke. That was why they decided to not bother from the beginning. The walls weren’t high anyway, and as expected of a manor of a lord that had the reputation of a typical noble, there were many holes in the surveillance. It wasn’t difficult to spot a location where they could jump over the walls and into the premises.

He was going to have to face the consequences of trespassing, but at least it was for the good of the people.

“Are there any barriers?”

“None that I could sense.”

They waited for a short while until the characteristic sound of a whistling arrow was heard. It landed right beside Matthias’ feet. He gestured at Tolg that it was fine and then looked for the second arrow. He quickly saw it embedded at the top of the wall a short distance from where they were.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah, okay.”

Matthias collected the arrow and ran towards the second. Then, the third. He carefully followed the path that the arrows connected, collecting them as he went. Despite the darkness, he caught a glimpse of a wire in the courtyard.

As a hunter, Manna was very familiar with traps. So she scouted ahead and marked where it was safe to pass. And being able to arrive at the mansion walls without a scratch proved her competence at it.

Using his augmented legs, Matthias scaled the sheer walls with just three leaps using the window ledges as footing. Tolg followed him quickly using the same jumping points. After no more than a minute they had managed to get from the outside of the estate to its roof. After he placed the arrows in a dark recess he randomly found for Manna to retrieve, he bolted towards the location where the lord was likely located–a lit study room with French windows.

Strangely enough, the lord was still awake despite it already being past midnight. That was fortunate, he thought. All he had to do was to barge in and endure the accusations for a short while before dropping the bomb regarding what was happening in town.

Through the windows, they saw the lord sitting on his chair behind a large wooden table. He was reviewing a stack of documents on his side. The tea beside him was still steaming, which indicated that he did not plan to sleep anytime soon. A butler-like person was at one side of the room, tending to the fireplace.

Matthias contemplated how they were going to enter the room. At one point he considered just knocking on the front door. But he had already trespassed on the manor by skipping the gates. That wouldn’t do anything but make him look stupid. If the lord didn’t take him seriously due to that, then he wouldn’t be able to live it down.

“Just going through the windows seems fine.”

It wasn’t. That would just give them the first impression of burglars. Still, it was the fastest way to do it. Time wasn’t something they had an excess of.

But just as he was about to reach for the window, he heard the door inside swing open.

Seeing the third figure enter the room, Matthias was surprised. It was a priest. He stumbled into the room in a panic, his white robes covered with sweat and dirt. Even the lord and the butler were taken aback.

“Wh-what the hell?” the earl stammered. “Are you all right?”

The priest took the butler's hand and pulled himself upright. But he neglected the words of concern meant for him and blurted out immediately:

“Lord! A message just came from the church! Undead! The… bodies! On the catacombs! They’ve become undead!”