Outside Kelston.

The knight commander, who had been watching the town entrance from afar with a frown, exhaled a small sigh as if anxious.

The day was gradually dawning.

The townscape that had been hidden in darkness was also slowly revealed, but no matter how much he looked, there was no sign of his master.

His subordinates also showed signs of unease.

Their faces reflected a mixture of fear of the undead, worry for their master, and the burden of potential crisis.

“What will you do?”

One knight asked carefully.

“……”

“Soon… the sun will rise.”

The knight commander, who had silently looked around at his subordinates, turned his head back to the entrance of Kelston.

Even when he looked again, not even his master’s silhouette was visible.

The knight commander took a deep breath and shouted to his subordinates.

“Get ready—! We’re going into Kelston.”

“……!”

Everyone had been expecting this. As if the inevitable had come, a solemn light shone in the knights’ eyes.

The cavalrymen who had dismounted to rest checked their saddles, and the swordsmen and archers maintained their weapons.

The knight commander stood watching his subordinates with a detached expression.

Despite the heavy responsibility, he tried to hide his tension and open his mouth as solemnly as possible.

That’s when it happened.

“Th-there!!”

A knight standing in formation shouted, pointing behind the knight commander.

The knight commander quickly turned around.

“…This can’t be….”

And he too opened his mouth wide, full of astonishment.

Far away inside the town, something was desperately running toward the entrance, raising a noisy cloud of dust.

It was the knights who had left with Arkle.

However, what shocked the knight commander wasn’t the knights. The ghastly-looking people chasing after them in a crowd… even from a distance, they were unmistakably undead, as their bodies appeared damaged.

“C-commander— That’s—”

“I never expected there to be so many……”

“G-God almighty….”

The knight commander was the first to come to his senses.

“Get in formation—! Shield bearers and archers to the front! We’re going to support them right now!!”

At the knight commander’s shout, the knights, regaining their senses one by one, formed ranks.

“Charge!”

Led by the knight commander, the knights charged toward the entrance of Kelston.

Their comrades fleeing from the undead in the distance were now almost at the entrance.

‘Just a little more… just a little more!’

The knight commander looked at his comrades with desperate eyes.

‘Once they pass the entrance, the undead won’t be able to come out because of the barrier— Please let everyone escape safely without bloodshed…!’

As if strengthened by his desperate wish, the fleeing knights reached the trees guarding the town entrance.

‘Made it!’

Just as the knight commander let out a small sigh of relief—

“……!!!”

The knights who seemed about to pass through the town entrance suddenly collapsed and began to suffer as if they were dying.

An ominous thought crossed the knight commander’s mind.

‘Could it be… that the undead can also handle magical power?’

“Stop—!! It might be magic!”

The knight commander shouted urgently while pulling on his reins.

Approaching without understanding what was happening could be tantamount to suicide.

Since they had almost no information about the undead, it wouldn’t be strange if they could actually use magic.

Therefore, he couldn’t approach rashly.

‘What on earth is happening…? First, assess the situation—’

The knight commander tried to maintain his composure as much as possible while observing what was happening at the town entrance.

“Arghh—!!”

“Aagh!”

The fallen knights screamed in pain and rolled on the ground.

Although he was somewhat distant, the knight commander could clearly see their faces contorted with pain and fear.

And behind them, the group of undead was drawing ever closer.

Though they weren’t fast due to their damaged bodies, they were getting increasingly closer to the knights.

“Commander…! We must go save them….”

At his subordinate’s words, the knight commander furrowed his brow painfully.

He didn’t want to just watch his comrades die either.

But….

“If I don’t return, everything falls on your shoulders.”

Hasty judgment could lead to annihilation.

As Arkle had said before leaving, with everything depending on him, that was something he had to avoid.

“We’ll observe the situation further.”

The knight commander said with a resolute expression.

At his low, serious voice, his subordinates, though pained, had no choice but to follow the commander’s orders.

“……!”

A light of hope flashed in the knight commander’s eyes as he watched his comrades with furrowed brows.

The comrades who had been suffering on the ground began crawling toward the entrance.

The knight commander unconsciously clenched his fist.

‘Yes, they just need to exit the town…! Just a little… just a little more…!’

As if they knew this too, they desperately crawled on the ground with pain-filled faces, getting closer and closer to the entrance.

The distance between them and the pursuing undead was gradually widening.

‘Just a little more…!’

Finally, the upper body of one knight passed the trees at the entrance.

Following him, the other knights gritted their teeth and increased their speed. Now almost all of them had only their legs still within the barrier.

“No!!!”

The knight at the front let out a desperate scream.

His ankle had been grabbed by the undead group that had suddenly approached at a rapid speed.

The undead holding the knight’s ankle from both sides began to pull him back mercilessly.

“Nooo—!! Please, save me!! Save me—!!!”

It was a desperate voice that seemed to tear his guts out.

The other knights, frozen with fear, also had their legs grabbed.

One of the knights being dragged reached out his hand toward those watching him.

“……!”

It was a chilling expression filled with resentment toward comrades who were just watching him die.

Just as the knight commander closed his eyes tightly at that face that seemed unforgettable even in dreams—

“Cut—!”

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out.

‘This voice…?’

When the knight commander, recognizing the familiar voice, slightly opened his eyes, what entered his vision was….

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Whew— That was tough.”

The knights who had been helplessly dragged away got up from their places, dusting themselves off. And then they were exchanging greetings with the undead.

“Everyone, good news! I think this scene can stay as it is. It’s amazing that we got it in one take, everyone.”

“Are you sure we don’t need to film it again?”

The silver-haired woman who had appeared before them directing the scene, and the tall man assisting beside her, were clearly his master and lady.

Lize, turning around, waved at the knight commander who was blinking in bewilderment.

“I’ll come over there soon!! No need to worry!”

Though he still couldn’t grasp what was going on, at least it didn’t seem to be a dangerous situation.

Just that fact alone almost made the knight commander’s legs give out from relief.

From far away, Lize’s voice was heard.

“How was it? The final scene of our movie. Exciting, right?”

“……”

Though he couldn’t understand what she was saying, one thing was certain.

If he experienced that kind of excitement one more time, he would depart this world from a heart attack.

❖ ❖ ❖

I was filming a movie through the video stone I had brought from Kelston.

The genre was mystery, horror, and chase thriller combined.

The cast consisted of Cayenne’s knights and all residents of Kelston.

The plot was roughly about humans who came to a cursed village for adventure (played by Cayenne’s knights) trying to escape while evading the villagers (played by Kelston residents) but eventually getting caught and killed.

Even after hearing the explanation that all this was a staged situation for filming a ‘movie,’ the knights waiting outside Kelston still looked like they had no idea what was going on.

Among them, the mustachioed knight commander seemed the most confused.

I patted his shoulder and said reassuringly.

“This is all a strategy to find out the sorcerer’s location.”

“Is that so…?”

And since the result was successful, the knight commander had no choice but to accept it even if he didn’t understand.

“I want to, do it again.”

Khan, the undead I first met in the square, told me with an excited face.

“After standing still, for so many years… moving like this, it’s been a long time.”

Light was returning to his eyes that had been darkly dead when I first saw him.

Khan wasn’t the only one who had regained vitality.

“Uuuuh… one more time.”

An old woman whose skin had almost completely rotted moved her tongue with difficulty.

“Grandma, your acting was superb. If we film a sequel, I’ll definitely cast you again!”

“Uuuh… promise….”

“It’s a promise.”

After hooking fingers with the old woman, a young woman with half her face peeled off approached me.

“That was fun….”

“I’m the one who had fun. Everyone followed the director’s instructions so well without complaint that we were able to finish safely.”

“And, thank you for not being afraid of us… for not finding us disgusting.”

“Well, you’re neither scary nor disgusting.”

When I said this casually, the woman looking at me smiled shyly.

“Putting so much effort into something… it’s been so long…. It was really, fun.”

I was glad that the method I thought of after hearing Khan’s story in the square had worked well.

In my experience, the easiest and most powerful way to overcome helplessness is simply to do something.

‘Though that’s surprisingly difficult.’

So I created something for the residents of Kelston to do: acting.

‘Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone?’

I chuckled as I hung the video stone around my neck again.

Khan, who had said he had no reason to help us when we first met, was now clearly showing a favorable attitude toward me.

At that time, Khan had no will to negotiate with us, nor any will at all.

‘But now, at least he’s in a state where we can attempt negotiation.’

Plus, I no longer had to regret the absence of horror movies in this world.

‘Because I filmed one myself!’

Now all I needed to do was go back, stitch together the footage, and edit it to complete a movie.

The residents of Kelston, as if the impression hadn’t faded, formed groups and talked about their recent experience.

Cayenne’s knights who played the human roles and gave passionate performances looked tired but judging by their expressions, they didn’t seem to mind.

Everyone looked satisfied.

“……”

Except for one person, Arkle, who had volunteered for the role of the human leader but ended up as a filming assistant due to his serious lack of acting skills.