FSFSLU 72

chapter 72

Now, Tio found it laughable to call himself the proud title he once bore: “The Ultimate Undead.”

Could the word ultimate really be used so lightly? No matter how much he thought about it, fleeing from a priest who ran toward him with an innocent smile hardly seemed ultimate—it made him feel utterly pathetic.

“Don’t come any closer!”

“Miss Judith, don’t be afraid!”

Isabelle, who had always started her day by running along the church corridors, didn’t care if the priests inside Castle Tina Church were startled. She chased after Tio with unbridled enthusiasm. The long corridor, running along it after so long, felt exhilarating.

The closer Isabelle got, the more Tio’s skin prickled and his strength drained.

And that sensation grew stronger, until it became a sharp, unmistakable pain.

Tio, overwhelmed with despair, could only squeeze his eyes shut at the sound of Isabelle’s footsteps behind him.

Then, Isabelle suddenly grabbed Tio’s wrist.

A surge of pain shot through him.

“Miss Judith, you don’t need to run away. I won’t report you!”

Tio tried hard not to show the pain shooting through his wrist.

“C-could you… let go of my hand…?”

“Is your wrist hurting? Is it still sore from being buried under the dirt heap? I can heal it for you!”

“N-no! I’m f-fine. Really.”

“You don’t have to be afraid! I won’t report you.”

“R-report?”

Isabelle smiled brightly and repeated her words, and each time, Tio, bewildered, had to ask again.

Soon, Tio realized what misunderstanding she had.

Isabelle currently believed he was the fake carriage driver, Judith. The last she remembered of Judith was being imprisoned in the village jail for stealing a carriage.

Seeing Judith buried under the remains of a golem near Castle Tina, Isabelle mistakenly assumed: “Judith must have escaped from jail and gotten caught up in the golem defense on the way here.”

So Isabelle interpreted Tio fleeing from her as a plea: Please don’t send me back to jail.

Fortunately, this misunderstanding worked in Tio’s favor. If he played along as the “pitiful escaped convict Judith,” he could deceive Isabelle.

Tio quickly decided what to do and started acting immediately: lowering his head slightly to appear timid, weakening his voice, and adding just the right amount of humility for a perfect performance.

“I’m sorry for what happened then, and thank you for not reporting me…”

“The goddess Sunya forgives repentant sinners with mercy. So I’ll hear your confession, Judith. And this is a secret…”

Isabelle looked around to make sure no other priests were nearby, then whispered into Tio’s ear:

“Normally, only priests can hear confessions, but I’m a representative. Even though I’m not a priest, I can hear your confession. If you need it, just tell me!”

Tio couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Confession for an undead? Even if the heavens split in two, Tio would never confess. Confession belonged to those who felt guilt—and Tio had none.

He slowly pulled his wrist back from Isabelle.

“I’m fine. Actually, I need to leave…”

“Why? Where are you going?”

Tio couldn’t answer, “Because I want to get out of this disgusting church,” so he carefully chose his words.

If he said he wanted to help with the cleanup, she’d stop him, thinking he’d get hurt. If he said he had to leave because he couldn’t pay for treatment, Isabelle might offer to cover it.

What excuse could get this clingy person to let go?

Tio found his answer.

“I just want to thank the people who helped me. I’ll just make a quick round and come back.”

Perfect. Isabelle had slept all day yesterday; she had no way of knowing whom Tio wanted to thank. And promising to return soon would ensure she’d let him go.

But…

“Did I pick the wrong excuse?”

Tio felt a foreboding sense he had miscalculated.

And he was right.

“Great! Our angel said you should go thank them too!”

“W-what?”

Tio didn’t realize Isabelle now had a quest menu in her field of view to meet the participants of the golem defense:

• Go to the Adventurers’ Guild Castle Tina branch (0/1)

• Go to the Mercenary Battalion Headquarters (0/1)

• Go to the Ludger Knights’ Headquarters (0/1)

• Meet Evan (0/1)

• Rewards: 500 push-ups, 8 hours of running, 300 pull-ups, 2 hours of sprinting

“Judith, come with me!”

It sounded almost like a death sentence in comparison.

Isabelle grabbed Tio’s hand again, refusing to take no for an answer, and dashed out of the church, her face radiant with excitement.

Tio’s pitiful screams went unheard. Luckily, she was too thrilled to notice. Otherwise, she’d have insisted on “healing” him with divine power again.

[Go to the Mercenary Battalion Headquarters. (1/1)]

“Ha ha ha!”

Tio sat with a horrified expression, Isabelle with a face brimming with joy.

The burly mercenaries around them couldn’t contain their laughter.

The first place Isabelle went with Tio was the Mercenary Battalion Headquarters, relatively close to the church.

As soon as Isabelle arrived, even the lowest-ranking mercenaries who recognized her ran around announcing, “The priest is here!” The mercenaries helping with reconstruction rushed over to surround her.

Of course, they hoisted Isabelle into the air, and she screamed in delight, ready for the toss. Tio watched, exasperated.

“Higher, higher!”
“Do you want to try too?”
“I’m fine. Let her enjoy it. She loves it.”

Isabelle was a hero to them. Without her, they would have been wiped out. Even a night of tossing her in the air would have been justified if she wanted.

Meanwhile, Hatchil returned from discussing work pay with the Castle Tina Guild and was appalled to see his foolish subordinates tossing the savior of their lives into the air.

“Are you out of your minds?! What if she gets hurt?!”

“But captain, she seemed to enjoy it…”

Hatchil glanced seriously at Isabelle.

“Yes! Can we do it once more?”

“How many times do you want?”

“Three times!”

“Then I’ll do ten. Until you get tired.”

After a dozen or so more tosses, Isabelle landed gracefully, cheeks flushed, smiling with satisfaction.

“But priest, what brings you here? I feel bad dragging you to a sweaty place like this…”

Isabelle placed her hands firmly on her hips and declared:

“Smiel sent us! And Judith wants to thank you all personally!”

“Smiel? That’s the angel who helps the priest, right? Why would they…”

“I don’t know either!”

Hatchil looked troubled. Mercenaries lived by the sword, often treated like barbarians, and some had killed before. Even if they had little guilt about taking lives, they still understood what wrongdoing was. Hatchil never imagined an angel would choose to meet them.

“So the angel only told you to meet us, not what to do?”

“I think it was just to say thank you. Thank you, Hatchil.”

Hatchil scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then bowed to Isabelle respectfully.

“We mercenaries are the type who’d say it’s fine if we die to monsters, as long as we earn money. But even so, it’s better to stay alive. Thank you for saving us, priest.”

Isabelle blushed with pride, and the other mercenaries expressed their thanks, laughing at the thought of more work because they’d saved their stubborn captain.

Tio, unable to enjoy the moment, was the only one left out.

[Go to the Ludger Knights’ Headquarters. (1/1)]

Isabelle looked surprised. The Ludger Knights had been among the first to flee during the defense.

Though they participated in the final steel golem operation, they had only watched from afar. As the subordinates abandoned their captain and Castle Tina, the Ludger Knights were essentially disbanded.

Yet surprisingly, many knights remained.

Even more astonishing:

“Ah! Priest!”

Konas was with them.

Isabelle was delighted to see Konas, but puzzled why he was there.

“Why are you here? Where’s Galtan?”

“Do you mean our captain?”

The answer came not from Konas, but from someone else. Isabelle turned and was surprised.

“Ludger?”

The Ludger Knights’ captain, Ludger, approached Isabelle.

She was shocked that Ludger referred to Galtan as “captain.”

“I’m not fit to be the knights’ captain. During the golem defense, I was too scared to do anything. I realized the title should go to Galtan, who had proven his valor.”

Not only Ludger, but the remaining knights agreed. They abandoned the old Ludger title and wanted to follow Galtan as their ideal and teacher.

Isabelle, unaware of these details, looked at Konas in confusion. He smiled awkwardly.

“It seems the Ludger Knights will officially change their name to the New Galtan Knights.”

“Is that alright?”

“They’ll need to go to the city of knights, Kabatina, for official approval to maintain legitimacy.”

Isabelle nodded confidently, pretending to understand fully.

Konas seemed calmer than before. When Isabelle asked about Galtan, he explained:

“He’s busy with reconstruction.”

“Wow, he’s really okay now!”

“Not exactly. After the battle, he just kept wanting to return to his hut.”

Konas smiled slyly.

“So we destroyed the hut, with these knights. We should’ve done it sooner.”

Tio shivered; somehow, humans seemed more barbaric than undead.