## Chapter 84 – Zombie Parade
It was sunset.
As always, returning to the city meant seeing the sky dyed orange, which made me feel tired. Orange was a color that symbolized fatigue. The unique, cozy atmosphere made my eyelids feel heavy.
However, the city was overflowing with energy, with lights lit everywhere due to the festive atmosphere.
Priests soliciting donations, nuns singing hymns, and even bare-chested, muscular paladins performing feats of strength on the spot. Various religious figures were constantly stoking the city’s fervor.
“I must return now, as Sister Blaret is waiting. Thanks to you, Saint, it has been a devout day. I am simply grateful.”
Elise, who had stopped, smiled and bowed. I decided not to think about how she could smile like that even with her armor covered in the Undead’s black blood. If she was happy, whatever she did, that was enough.
“Don’t mention it.”
“I’ll see you next time.”
“Yeah. Say hi to your sister for me.”
“…Y-You mean, my sister?”
When I mentioned her sister, intending to tease her, Elise’s face immediately turned red.
“Just kidding. See you later.”
“…Then, goodbye.”
She left like that.
The way she scurried off showed she was embarrassed after all.
“Hehe.”
After the greeting, Claudia wrapped her arms around my waist and spoke in a seductive voice.
“Shall we go back to our room?”
“Uh… let’s take a look around for a bit before we go in.”
It was better to go in after midnight if possible.
After all, if we went in now, I would surely have my energy drained until midnight before falling asleep. At that rate, I wouldn’t have any stamina left, so I had to go in as late as possible. Whatever the case, my bedtime was pretty much fixed.
She was a Dark Elf hybrid, a woman like a wild, untamed horse. I had to buy time to reduce the amount of time my energy was drained.
“Alright, shall we?”
And so, with the sunset sky as our backdrop, I strolled through the streets with Claudia. Fragrant smells wafted from the stalls of various religious figures. I saw them selling things like wine and skewers for talents. They looked so delicious that my mouth watered.
“Ah, I’m hungry.”
However, the stalls run by ordinary citizens didn’t seem to be doing very well. Just as there were people enjoying the festival, there were also those hidden in the shadows. The civilian stalls had a dark atmosphere, in contrast to the bright atmosphere of the city.
I had to save my talents, so I went to a street stall run by a civilian and bought a bird skewer with cash.
The owner, an old man, grumbled that business was bad because of those damn religious folks.
Well, all I could say was that it was a shame.
That’s just how things go in life.
“Thanks.”
I handed a skewer to Claudia, chewed it, and walked on.
“Damn, it’s undercooked.”
When I chewed on two of the skewered pieces of meat at the same time, I realized they were undercooked.
No wonder business wasn’t good. That bastard.
“I like it better when it’s undercooked, though?”
“Really? Actually, I like it that way too. This is so good.”
“Hehe, what?”
Since I had a specific item in mind, I decided to go to the Salvation Heaven Church.
The Salvation Heaven Church, which worshiped the Light God Sertoga, was also sponsoring the festival, so they were offering sacred artifacts as prizes.
There were a few things among them that I had my eye on. I was worried that someone might take them, so I needed to check. I would lose motivation if they were sold.
“Welcome, pilgrims!”
“The Light God is watching over you!”
“Head this way to exchange Undead remains!”
Even though it was close to night, the priests’ energy seemed very high.
Their faces, which were clearly working overtime, were filled with joyful smiles from the bottom of their hearts. They, too, were truly enjoying the festival, in their own way.
Their enthusiastic appearance was like that of fanatics who truly believed that a better world would come about by slaughtering the Undead. Their passion was so hot that it felt like I would get burned.
I should take a quick look and leave.
Because it was crowded, I grabbed Claudia’s hand tightly and led her through.
And then I shouted like I was having a seizure.
“You’re my girl! You’re my giiiirl!”
“K-Katt?”
“I’ll caaaall you ‘you’!”
“S-Stop it! Everyone’s staring!”
I deliberately sang loudly so people would clear the way. As expected, the crowded path split open like the parting of the Red Sea. I grabbed Claudia’s hand, who had her head down, and crossed through the area.
“Hmm, still crowded.”
“Ugh… don’t do weird things.”
“Weird things? You’re calling expressing my affection a weird thing?”
“N-No! It’s not, so please don’t sing!”
“I’ll let it slide this time.”
The church’s parade ground was also bustling. However, the displays were all neatly organized, making it very easy to check the products. From simple consumables to equipment items, accessories, and all sorts of miscellaneous goods, everything was arranged in a pleasing manner.
Every single one of them was so tempting that my brain salivated.
“Sacred leather gloves with Sertoga-nim’s emblem for 20 talents!”
“How about a glass of wine?”
“An opportunity to get a Crusader’s axe for 40 talents!”
“We’re giving away 5 talents for new believers! Please, anyone, come on over~.”
The nuns and priests were shouting their lungs out, trying to sell all sorts of products.
Their appearance felt like the warmth of people from home trying to feed kimchi to foreigners. I felt like wrapping talents in kimchi and eating them.
“Ah, damn. Sold? Sold?”
Personally, I was lacking leg armor, so I was aiming for the [Sacred Greaves Containing the Very First Morning Sunlight of the Salvation Heaven Church] here.
It was an item with a whopping price tag of 120 talents, but the greaves, which looked stylish and practical, were truly desirable. That was my goal. I regretted wasting talents by buying a bottle of holy water in the middle.
“Ah, there it is!”
The greaves were still there. They were displayed high up, showing off their brilliant appearance. It seemed that no one had taken them yet due to the high price. Good. I prayed that no one would buy them.
“Hmm, this sword looks good.”
Claudia was also looking around. Blades seemed to pique her interest. It was a uniquely shaped saber with a sacred emblem engraved on the cup hilt. The price was… let’s not talk about it. It’s expensive.
“Hey, you, you tall person there!”
Then someone called out to a tall person. Usually, the only tall person around was me, so I looked around. Then I saw a nun.
“Yes? Me?”
“Yes! Come over here!”
The nun, who had made eye contact with me, waved her hand, confirming that it was me.
I approached her.
“You’re interested in accessories, right? Right?”
Looking at her, she seemed to be in charge of accessories. Various necklaces and rings were laid out on the stall. Bracelets with religious emblems looked pretty good.
But, as I’m revealing now, I was a Buddhist, so I wasn’t very drawn to them.
“Hey, hey, how about these rings?”
“Rings, you say?”
“Yes! Rings! This is a pair, and if you give them to your lover, a long and happy life together is guaranteed! We’re offering this rare opportunity for only 40 talents!”
A long and happy life together was probably just salesman’s bullshit, but the silver rings looked pretty nice to me. Would Claudia like them if I gave them to her? She’s the kind of woman who wears dangling earrings, so she’d probably like rings too. 40 talents wasn’t something I couldn’t afford.
Of course, I didn’t have it right now. I only had 20 talents.
“Well, it sounds good, but I don’t have enough talents right now.”
“Ah, I see.”
As soon as I said that, the nun, who had suddenly turned cold, called out to another customer.
Seriously, this bitch?
“Claudia, let’s slowly…”
“You! You!”
Just as I was about to leave, a muscular middle-aged man with his shirt off suddenly called out to me. He had a ceremonial sword used by the church hanging from his waist, so he looked like a paladin.
“You’re in great shape!”
“Uh… yes?”
The middle-aged man’s face was flushed as he said that. What was this, just a muscle-loving drunk?
“You’re even tall! You’re a man with a strong build!”
He suddenly handed me a booklet with a very energetic voice, which featured a detailed drawing of a muscular, naked man. Looking at the title, it said [Essential Educational Content on the Sacred Physical Training Methods for Devout Paladins – Written by Saint Carlson Kradet Cuthbert].
What the hell is this crazy book?
“Are you interested in paladin training methods? I’ll give you a paladin training book for only 5 talents right now!”
I’m not interested, you macho bastard.
“I’m not interested.”
“Don’t say that! You have a great physique!”
“No, I don’t have any talents.”
“Then why did you come in here!”
“I wanted to see what you were selling.”
“We happen to be selling this book containing training methods!”
This guy didn’t seem to be in his right mind.
“No, damn it, I don’t need it.”
“Don’t say that!”
“C-Claudia!”
When he grabbed my shoulder with a scary expression, I had no choice but to desperately call out for Claudia.
“Yeah? Are we leaving now?”
“Let’s go quickly!”
I grabbed her hand and ran out of the Salvation Heaven Church as if I were escaping. From behind, I could hear the cries of a monster with a legend that if you turned around, you would turn to stone, but I ignored it with superhuman patience.
“Hah! Hah! That was close!”
“What, what happened?”
“A muscular guy kept touching me!”
“…”
“More importantly, let’s eat before we go in. One skewer isn’t enough.”
“Okay, shall we?”
I didn’t bother asking what she wanted to eat. Lately, she had been forcing me to eat stamina-boosting foods. Before I knew it, we were ordering and eating only those kinds of dishes. Let’s just have soup today.
“Let’s go eat soup.”
Those kinds of foods were a bit pricey, so I had to compromise with soup. I never thought I would go broke from eating, but if I kept going like this, I would surely be ruined.
After finishing dinner, the sky was dark. But the surrounding streetlights were on, so it wasn’t too dark. In that atmosphere, Claudia intertwined her fingers with mine.
“Shall we go in and rest now?”
“…”
There was no way I could rest.
Rather, the real work was about to begin.
Night work, that is.
Just as we were heading towards the lodging in a friendly atmosphere,
“Yo, Barbarian!”
Copson crawled out from the darkness.
No, he really crawled out.
Suppressing the urge to be shocked, I rubbed my eyes and looked again, and he was really crawling.
“Won’t you help me up?”
“W-W-What the hell, you bastard! Which son of a bitch beat you up like this!”
For a moment, I was flustered, thinking that he had been beaten up badly somewhere, so I helped him up.
“Calm down, Barbarian. I drank a little too much, and the world is spinning.”
“Ah.”
He was completely drunk. Judging by his appearance, he had been drinking all day. Copson was a great lover of alcohol and a heavy drinker, pouring all the money he earned into alcohol.
“Hehehe, I spent all my talents. How about it? Won’t you go Undead cleansing with me tomorrow?”
“Can you even wake up tomorrow?”
“What do you take me for? I’m a farmer’s son, you know. A hangover is nothing to me.”
I don’t know what being a farmer’s son has to do with a hangover, but I could at least tell that he was very drunk. This bastard probably doesn’t even know what he’s saying right now.
Anyway, where should I take this guy… Looking at him crawling around, I should probably support him and take him home…
“Ouch!”
Just then, Claudia poked me in the waist with her finger.
She was making a very dissatisfied expression and mouthing the words ‘leave him’ without making a sound.
In that case, I have no choice but to leave him.
“Hey, then I’ll see you tomorrow. Come to the city gate in the morning.”
“I’ll definitely go. Ugh, by the way, won’t you take me to my lodging… Hey, where are you going in such a hurry?”
Claudia dragged me to the inn like a lioness carrying its prey.
