One of the good things about chartering a carriage.
It was that if a place you wanted to visit came up along the way, you could stop briefly by the roadside and go check it out.
“Don’t just sit around back there. Do something!”
A dungeon hidden within a cemetery.
I was fighting off hundreds of zombies.
Unlike the ones I had seen in the City of the Dead, the zombies here were far more aggressive.
“I’m still deciding which spell to use.”
“At this rate, I’ll be eaten alive!”
“Weren’t you a hero once? Don’t be such a baby.”
The zombies were relentless.
If their torso was severed, they crawled forward using their arms.
If their arms were cut off, they would lunge and bite wildly.
Even with their heads chopped off, they snapped their jaws in search of fresh flesh.
“You lousy thief, try a little harder! The warrior holds the front line and the mage supports from the rear. Don’t tell me you don’t even know the basics!”
Levasthan went on like that, but the reason things had gotten this bad was entirely his fault.
“You’re in no position to say that!”
I slashed at a zombie charging head-on.
I cut and cut and cut again, moving constantly to avoid being surrounded.
Fran launched fireballs when she could, but it wasn’t enough to shift the tide of battle.
“What did I even do?!”
“I warned you they were sensitive to noise, but you went and woke them up!”
“Tsk tsk, this is why newbies are… You clearly don’t get it. If zombies start waking up deeper inside, it becomes an even bigger headache!”
“Don’t act like you know everything about dungeons just because you’re a staff!”
Even if each individual one was weak, they were hard to handle in large numbers.
Just swinging a sword a hundred times was exhausting, and in real combat, you couldn’t just focus on attacking.
Dodging, blocking, and running left you gasping for air.
You couldn’t maintain perfect form like in training, either.
Even these low-level monsters became a threat once they reached a certain number.
“I’ve made my decision.”
Fran pointed Levasthan’s head forward.
Thwoong!
A shockwave shook the entire space.
Five zombies were crushed as if they’d been stepped on by a giant.
They were the kind that wouldn’t die even when killed, yet not a single one of them moved a finger.
That was because their entire bodies had been utterly pulverized, leaving no part intact.
The spell just now was gravity manipulation magic.
Fran had generated gravity strong enough to dent the ground and crushed the enemies with it.
“If you’d done that from the start, we’d have been fine!”
She really was strong.
Not only was the spell itself highly complex, but its power was extraordinary.
As expected of a witch who could’ve become a hero…her level was high.
“…This spell might not be the best. I should think of something more efficient.”
“Enough already! I don’t care what you use, just deal with those zombies!”
“So impatient.”
Fran swung Levasthan horizontally.
Another gravity spell.
But this time, it was a different kind.
She reversed gravity over a much wider area, causing the zombies to float up into the air.
They hovered like they were in zero gravity.
The creatures gradually rose higher, then came crashing down to the ground with tremendous force.
Dozens were neutralized in an instant, but there were still plenty left.
The stench of rotting corpses filled the air.
As they slowly approached, trying to bite into Fran and me, their feet suddenly sank into the ground.
“Graaaargh…”
The solid earth had turned soft under Fran’s magic.
The zombies flailed as they sank, but the more they struggled, the deeper they were dragged down.
“Gahahaha! They keep coming even after seeing the ones in front go down—how stupid can they be!”
Levasthan’s laughter echoed throughout the dungeon.
Zombies lacked intelligence and acted purely on instinct.
They didn’t even think to go around; they just charged straight ahead.
One by one, they sank into the ground that had turned into a swamp.
“Aren’t you glad I took my time thinking it through?”
Fran had a look on her face as if to say, “See?”
Sure, it had been easier toward the end, but really…. would it have killed her to hurry a bit?
***
“There’s a dungeon at the location marked on the map. If they show up again, seal it off.”
“Zombies in a place like this… We’ve been so worried all this time. Thank you so much!”
Because of the zombies that appeared frequently, the villagers had long since given up visiting graves.
Even when adventurers cleared them out, it was only temporary.
Zombies kept crawling out from somewhere, constantly threatening lives, and had always been a nuisance in this village.
“It’s not much, but we’ve prepared a reward.”
“It’s alright. We retrieved a magical artifact from the dungeon. That’s more than enough.”
The village chief tried again to hand me the money, but I declined.
I didn’t accept compensation beyond what was necessary.
Thanks to Fran, our funds were more than sufficient, and I’d never been greedy for money to begin with.
That was because I’d experienced so many resets during my time as a regressor.
A life where I could never feel the satisfaction of earning money honestly.
It became a habit to take only the bare minimum needed to survive.
“Look at him, acting all cool!”
When I walked over to where Fran was, Levasthan as always couldn’t resist taking a jab.
“That’s not it.”
“You’re poor, and you’re turning down payment? If that’s not trying to look cool, then what is?!”
“I’m not poor. I’m just rich in spirit.”
“Hoo! You sure know how to run that mouth!”
It was Claria’s doing that we ended up solving one incident or another every time we stopped by a village like this.
That woman wanted me back in the party….and at the same time, she wanted me gone.
On the surface, she acted friendly.
But it was all just a façade.
The article that painted former Hero Theo as trash who left the party on a whim could be seen as proof.
She had used me to avoid taking responsibility for the party’s decline.
With a tarnished reputation, it would be easier to stir people up.
To prevent that from happening, I had to keep up my adventuring activities.
“I’m tired.”
Fran who had low stamina looked sleepy after just one run through a dungeon.
Since it was getting dark, it seemed like it was time to rest.
***
After securing a place to stay, we grabbed dinner at a nearby restaurant.
In the center of the room was a spacious double bed.
Having just washed up, Fran organized her personal items and sat down at the edge of the bed.
“So we’re sharing the same bed, huh.”
“I asked the innkeeper again, but he said there were no vacant rooms. Maybe it’s because the inn is as small as the village.”
All the single rooms were fully booked.
With more visitors than usual today, a double room was our only option.
“I don’t mind. I heard adventurers usually sleep in the same room.”
“That applies when it’s a group of the same gender. Guys stay with guys, girls with girls. Well, I suppose in a two-person party, it could be like you said.”
Like, say, a classic RPG party with a male swordsman and a female mage.
It was a combo capable of tackling various enemies and dungeons, even with small numbers.
In most such cases, the pair would be a couple, so they naturally shared a room.
…Come to think of it, Fran and I were technically a swordsman-mage combo too.
Of course, there were always exceptions.
“Turn around so I can change.”
Fran took out her pajamas.
“Right now?”
“I’m going to sleep.”
“Should I step outside for a bit…?”
“No need to make a fuss. We’re past the age for getting worked up over things like this.”
If she didn’t care, then… I suppose that was that.
I sat at the edge of the bed on the opposite side and turned my back.
Srrrk.
The sound of clothes brushing against skin tickled my ears.
Fran then unfolded her pajamas and calmly began changing, piece by piece.
She had said we were too old to be making a fuss over something like this.
But maybe it was precisely because we were older that it was harder to stay indifferent, like when we were kids.
Even the faint rustling sounds made me tense for no reason.
Even if we were childhood friends, she was being far too defenseless.
“All done.”
With her permission granted, I turned around again.
Fran stood there in blue pajamas.
It was an outfit I’d seen countless times when I stayed over at her house, but maybe because of the setting, it felt different now.
“Your face is red.”
“Huh, really?”
I quickly reached up to check the temperature of my cheeks.
Nothing unusual.
“I just said it to mess with you.”
Fran stifled a giggle.
“You’re at that age, sure, but you really do fall for anyone, don’t you?”
“……”
This girl….she was toying with me.
“I don’t fall for just anyone, you know?”
“Says the guy who’s interested in the healer who gave him that brooch.”
“Rosaria? I told you, I’m just treasuring a gift, that’s all. I never even—!”
I cut myself off mid-sentence when Fran gave me a curious look.
“What is it?”
Haah… Did I really have to say this?
“It doesn’t matter who I fall for. You already turned down my confession.”
Since coming to this world, I had pretty much dismissed romance as unrealistic.
Because I possessed this body as a kid, I hadn’t really fit in with others my age.
But Fran was different.
She had always been a mature child.
Maybe that’s why… we could talk so easily.
The reason we became close must’ve been because I found her reading a thick book all by herself.
For a similar reason, Fran who also tended to be left out didn’t have many people to talk to.
Naturally, we ended up becoming close.
As we spent more time together, I gradually found myself drawn to Fran.
And about three years ago, I confessed my feelings to her.
“Did you confess?”
Fran blinked.
I was dumbfounded.
“I gave you a bouquet of flowers, remember…?”
“I remember. They were roses.”
“Then why are you asking if I confessed?”
“Because you didn’t actually confess that day.”
I recalled what had happened back then.
I had chosen the bouquet carefully and was on my way to Fran’s house, holding it in my arms.
I was trying to calm my nerves as I walked, and just then, I ran into Fran who happened to be outside.
It wasn’t how I’d planned it, but it wasn’t like I could awkwardly walk away and come back later.
There was no choice but to go through with it right there.
I handed her the bouquet and tried to say the lines I’d prepared, but…
“Even though Levasthan interrupted, I still confessed! I asked you out!”
Back then too, she was carrying around her staff, and there was no way Levasthan was going to let it slide.
He made a loud fuss and drew everyone’s attention, and I ended up blurting everything out and leaving in a rush.
“You said you liked me, but you never asked me to go out with you.”
“It’s the same thing! Didn’t the flowers make it obvious?”
“……”
Unbelievable.
Fran had seemed to consider what happened that day as nothing more than “an act of expressing affection.”
That was why she hadn’t responded to the confession and why she treated me like nothing had happened the next day.
Her utter lack of situational awareness left me stunned.
“…Well, there’s no point bringing it up now. If you had any feelings for me, you would’ve wanted to date me the moment you realized how I felt.”
I should be content that our friendship hadn’t been ruined.
Usually, things get awkward after a rejection.
“Do you want to hear it?”
Fran’s calm eyes met mine.
“Hear what?”
“My answer.”
“To the confession back then?”
Fran gave a small nod.
I wanted to ask, “Now?”, but more than that, I wanted to hear it.
Maybe she took my silence as agreement because Fran slowly opened her mouth.
“I—”
My heart pounded wildly.
If she rejected me outright, it would only leave a scar.
Even so, I didn’t want to stop her.
Even if it wasn’t the answer I hoped for… I wanted to hear it.
“Wait.”
Fran suddenly stood up.
“What is it?”
“Shh. Quiet.”
I followed her gaze to one corner of the room.
“When did you get so well-behaved?”
The wooden staff lay in the corner.
Levasthan had blended into the background, pretending to be an object.
“Damn it~, I was actually keeping quiet for once. Go on! You’re really gonna stop here?”
That guy—he was always running his mouth, yet he’d been eavesdropping on our conversation?
“Go on with what? I’m going to sleep now.”
“It’s not even bedtime yet! —Ugh!”
She threw a cloth over him and cast a silencing spell, and finally, silence filled the room.
Fran turned off the light.
“Good night.”
She lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.
And there I stood, blankly, in the darkened room.
…Her answer?
Was that really it? Was it over?
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