Chapter 76. Compass

The morning sun had risen.

Having packed my things, I secured my bag onto Sylphid and mounted the saddle. I now became accustomed to handling horses, so I could ride well even without Sylphid, but there was no reason not to ride this fine creature.

I had grown attached to it after all.

“Sylphid, we’re heading to Hilton territory today.”

Neigh.

The clever creature seemed to understand my words, stomping its feet in excitement.

It seemed that this horse enjoyed moving to deployment sites the most. During the journey, there were no undead to encounter, and there was no need to match pace with other horses, allowing for a refreshing gallop.

I gently patted Sylphid’s white mane, which had traces of silver mixed in.

“You’re up early.”

At the voice coming from behind, I turned around.

“Sir Andantino.”

Mihail was just stepping out of the inn.

He looked at me and gave a bright smile.

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Yes.”

I replied with an appropriate smile.

In truth, I hadn’t slept a wink.

I hadn’t woken up early, rather, I stayed up all night. As far as I remember, Mihail had been awake quite late as well, but at some point, his breathing had changed to that of someone asleep.

That was just before sunrise…

That guy probably didn’t sleep more than an hour either.

Knowing each other’s circumstances, we didn’t bother to acknowledge it.

After all, I had to leave today.

Ugh. It’s sad.

“If you don’t want to go to the Grodes Mountains, I can try to do something about it.”

Surprised by Mihail’s words, I widened my eyes.

“How?”

“Well, you know.”

He rolled his teal eyes once and then gave a bland answer.

“By holding out in Sahar.”

“If this place gets excluded from deployment, I might end up stuck in the Grodes Mountains.”

“There’s that risk.”

“……”

This guy.

Is he speaking so lightly because it’s not his problem?

I was about to be touched, thinking he was being considerate, but I was a fool. Sigh.

Well.

Mihail and Claude were both the same kind of guys.

The frequency of undead appearances in Sahar was relatively lower, and the desert terrain was flatter than the treacherous Grodes Mountains. If Mihail were the lord of Hilton, he might have been even harsher.

Even now, he’s the one pushing me through the durahan legion.

“I’m going.”

I nudged the horse’s side with my foot to start moving. As Mihail walked alongside me, he spoke.

“I’ll see you off at the village entrance.”

“Thanks.”

I responded grumpily, but he didn’t seem to mind and made a gesture to me.

I know, you jerk.

I took out the compass Mihail had given me as a gift. Gauging direction by looking at the sky was difficult, but following the compass was easy.

“Head 260 degrees until you see the walls of Sahar.”

“Then head straight northwest.”

I interrupted, reciting the words I had heard many times, and looked at him…

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, Sylphid started running, causing me to let out a strange scream. Realizing belatedly that Mihail had smacked Sylphid’s rear, I glared back at him.

I almost fell off, you jerk!

If he weren’t a hero, I would have smacked him several times.

Mihail, as if he hadn’t just smacked Sylphid, stood with his arms crossed and watched me leisurely as I moved away.

To others, it might have seemed like a rather affectionate send-off, but I wasn’t fooled.

If I left like this and returned too late, Mihail would claim he was thirsty from not seeing my wonderful ability for too long and throw me into the durahan legion without hesitation.

Anyway, I’ve been going around in circles for years.

According to the plan, I should have already resigned!

Why am I still doing this? Why!

I ran through the dry desert, venting my frustration.

“Daaaaamn ittttt!”

* * *

“Whew, this section is the worst.”

I grumbled while setting up the tent.

“Isn’t that right, Sylphid? It would be nice if there were at least a small village.”

Snort.

Sylphid, busy eating hay, seemed to disagree with me. I quietly sighed, watching the creature busy with its cud.

This section, with its endless stretch of grassland without a single village, is truly lonely. There’s no inn to stay at, and no proper place to shelter from the wind.

But for Sylphid, it must be the best section. With no obstacles, it can run freely, and the wind is really refreshing here. It’s not difficult to find dry grass either.

“Eat a lot, then.”

I can set up a tent with my eyes closed now.

Even though I set it up quickly, it was much sturdier than the ones I pitched before.

This is the experience of a veteran!

Well.

If they considered tent-pitching as experience, that is.

I casually gathered branches to make a campfire. The air was quite cold, since I came up quite far north. It was even colder at night.

“Sigh…”

Seeing the white breath escape my mouth, I felt once again that the Grodes Mountains were drawing near. This chill must be flowing down from those damned mountains.

After warming myself by the fire for a while, I rummaged through my backpack to take out something to eat. It was dried fruit and jerky.

I tried hunting a few times with what I learned from Claude, but honestly, it was tedious and cumbersome, so I preferred to rely on dried food for my meals. As for greasy, juicy meat, I could eat that when I visited a village.

“I have money but can’t spend it.”

Every time I moved to a new deployment site, I visited the bank. I had already saved the amount I aimed for. But I couldn’t even bring myself to mention the ‘resignation’ part of my resignation letter. I hardly ever had a reason to go to Elmon, and even if I did, bringing up that topic wasn’t easy.

How should I put it?

It was as if every time I was about to bring it up, Ionia would inform me about the next deployment site.

I also wondered how the timing could consistently be so terrible.

I chewed on the jerky, gazing up at the night sky.

The countless stars were beautiful. So much so that I wanted to gaze at them endlessly.

If only the undead didn’t appear, the world would be so peaceful and perfect.

“I’m envious.”

Countless people, like those stars in the night sky, have nothing to do with this damned subjugation.

Why couldn’t I be among them?

Lost in such useless thoughts for a moment, I threw a few more dry branches onto the campfire and crawled into the tent.

I should get some sleep.

Once I joined the Northern Knight Order, I wouldn’t be able to sleep much. They stayed up late and yet managed to wake up at the crack of dawn; they were like monsters in their own right.

I needed to conserve my energy. I had to conserve a lot.

I attempted to sleep as if I was struggling to survive.

How much time had passed?

In my sleep, I felt discomfort and turned my body.

Damn it.

What keeps bothering me?

Someone interrupted my rare peaceful sleep, causing my brows to furrow. But the next moment, I felt the blood drain from my body, and my sleep vanished.

What could possibly be touching me on this vast grassland?

A wild animal?

The chilling thought made me sharpen my senses and slowly open my eyes.

And I realized something new. Whatever was touching me was beneath the ground. Something was wriggling under the tent.

Like moving jelly…

“Ugh!”

At that moment, I saw it. A black mass squeezing through the tent.

I knew exactly what it was.

I had seen it countless times over the past two years.

The first time was during the purifier test…

No, it was when I went out for battle as a healer mercenary and accidentally killed one…

No, in fact, it was something I had a long-standing grudge against even before that.

The ones who made me an orphan.

Ghouls.

“W-what is this…”

A trembling voice escaped my lips. I unconsciously groped the ground with my hand, searching for my sword.

Rationally, I was a high-level ability user who had no reason to fear mere ghouls. I could simply purify them.

But when confronted with ghouls so unexpectedly, the nightmares from my childhood paralyzed my body and mind like trauma.

Rational judgment became impossible.

I was a psychological weakling, panicking…

Neigh! Neigh!

Then, Sylphid let out a fierce cry from outside. The sharp sound hit my eardrums, bringing me back to my senses.

I gritted my teeth.

“You ghoul bastards!”

I jumped up and eliminated the ones occupying the tent entrance first.

“Chaos of darkness, return to ashes!”

Fwoosh…!

As light spread in the darkness, the ones trying to attack me turned to ash and disappeared.

I stepped out of the tent and quickly scanned the surroundings. It was as if a horde of ghouls had gathered to attack me, surrounding the tent.

It was horrifying.

It looked as if the dry grassland was covered with a black wave.

Of course, now that I had regained my composure, even thousands of these creatures wouldn’t stand a chance against me.

“The blessing of the noble light.”

It was the spell that purified the surroundings most extensively. It was handy when there were many low-level undead.

Swoosh…!

A thin, wide light spread in a circle over the grassland shrouded in the night’s darkness.

Screech!

The undead that had seemed threatening disappeared as if it were a lie. Even Sylphid, who had been frantically trampling ghouls to death with its hooves, calmed down.

Silence descended.

Standing amidst it, I looked around with a troubled feeling.

This isn’t an undead appearance site, right…?

Why…?