## Chapter 98 – Zombie Parade
“Hoo… Hoo…”
“You see? When faith is united, there is no trial we cannot overcome.”
Eliza said triumphantly. Honestly, I’m glad we won, but I mostly feel like we won because the Flesh Golem is just a seriously shitty monster. A rotting body with an unbalanced physique, and sluggish movements. Any warrior with some skill could hunt it down.
“So, how do we deal with this…”
Even with its legs severed, the golem was flailing its arms. It couldn’t get up, probably due to issues with its physical structure.
But finishing it off was another matter. If we aimed for the head, it would be completely exposed to its arm attacks. Too dangerous. It seemed like we needed to aim for the head or chest to kill it. That was the problem.
We put our heads together.
After pondering for a while, Copson pulled out an oil flask.
“I had this, didn’t I.”
The three of us grinned.
ㅡWhoosh!
We poured two flasks of oil and tossed in a burning piece of firewood, and flames erupted. A stench filled the air. The Flesh Golem’s buttocks burned, charring its pelvis, spine, and even its internal organs.
“Light Bolt!”
ㅡThwack!
The sphere of light exploded, adding to the firepower. He had recovered his divine power by drinking the holy water in his canteen and meditating. I slashed at its half-burned side with my sword, and rotten guts burst out.
The Flesh Golem no longer moved.
Indeed, evil things must be purified with fire.
“Supreme divinity always triumphs.”
Eliza murmured, staring at the burning Flesh Golem’s body with eyes like those of a top-notch arsonist.
“Now, let’s begin the ritual. We must dedicate this victory to the God of Order.”
“Huh?”
Eliza instructed us to circle around the Flesh Golem’s corpse. She said it with such a serious expression that Copson and I couldn’t help but follow her instructions. Each of us took a position on three sides and began to rotate around the corpse.
Round and round.
Round and round.
Let’s dance around and around.
As we were rotating, Eliza muttered something like a prayer. I decided to sing a song to celebrate this victory as well.
“Clap your hands! Yay! Sing a song! Yay!”
“What kind of song is that? Some kind of barbarian folk song?”
“Lalala, let’s dance joyfully!”
The mad banquet ended when Eliza finished her prayer. Come to think of it, where’s Cloudy? She ran off to catch the warlock… Could she have been caught? If Cloudy dies, I’ll die too.
ㅡThud.
“Huh?”
Then something flew out of the darkness. Thump, thump. It fell to the ground and rolled, rolling until it came to rest at my feet.
“What the fuuuuuuu-“
It was a human head. The head, with familiar tattoos on its face, had its eyes rolled back and its tongue sticking out. The severed surface blatantly showed me its insides. Blood-soaked neck bones and muscles were clearly visible.
I don’t need to see these insides.
“That guy was the warlock.”
Cloudy approached me as I was in shock.
She had thrown this head.
“Would it have been better to capture him alive? Sorry. I couldn’t afford to be careless against a mage.”
“No, thank you so much, Cloudy.”
Cloudy dribbled the head like a soccer ball, caught it, and handed it to Eliza. Eliza naturally tied its hair around her waist.
“Katt, you guys took it down as a trio? Good job.”
Cloudy stroked my head.
“Good job? What’s that warlock… what was he doing?”
“I don’t know, I just tracked him down, seized the opportunity, and killed him in one shot. I didn’t know what kind of guy he was, and he was a mage.”
“Yeah, our Cloudy is amazing. You’re the best. I thought you got caught since you didn’t come back.”
“Hehehe, what would you have done if I had been caught?”
“I’d kill that bastard and die with you. How can I live without you?”
“…”
Cloudy’s face turned red at my words, and she bit her lip while avoiding my gaze.
She was waiting for a chance to say that line, this older sister.
“Very well. Anyway, we have acquired the head of the Flesh Golem. Does anyone know how many talents this is worth?”
“Huh?”
Come to think of it, I don’t know. I had a feeling this was going to be a jackpot. Copson and I happily severed the Flesh Golem’s head with trembling hands. In my opinion, this was a real jackpot.
“It’s heavy.”
“Open the sack.”
Copson opened the sack. I grabbed the head with both hands and carefully put it in. With three zombie heads and the golem’s head inside, it was quite heavy.
“Isn’t there anything else worth taking?”
“Isn’t it all rotten? I don’t think there’s anything else.”
“Still, I’ll take a look.”
Anyway, we decided to investigate the corpse a little more. Eliza investigated most enthusiastically. First, she needed to flip it over and cut out the evidence of heresy engraved on its chest. Of all things, it had fallen forward.
“I can’t flip it over.”
There were things that even Cloudy’s strength couldn’t do. The four of us struggled, but we gave up on flipping it over.
“What should we do with this?”
We had a discussion about how to deal with the corpse for a while. We came up with a few ideas each, and roughly concluded that we would pull out the internal organs, cut it with a knife, and cut out only the chest area.
Unpleasant liquids splattered, but cutting the rotten flesh was easier than I thought. We stuck to it for a while and cut the shoulder and back areas. Eliza finished it off. She borrowed the knife for a moment and happily cut out the leather from the chest area and neatly folded it to hang on her belt.
This nun is racking up achievements.
The night was deep, but everyone had slept a little, so they didn’t seem tired. It was probably also because the excitement of the battle hadn’t faded yet.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Then Copson took something black and round out of the corpse’s internal organs.
A black crystal?
He tore off some grass and wiped the crystal.
“That’s an orb. I can feel a very evil energy from the orb.”
“An orb?”
“Yes. In order to move such artificial creatures, there must be a power source. This orb seems to have played that role. I can feel a very evil energy.”
Eliza said, taking the crystal. I see, an orb. This is…
Then this is super expensive, isn’t it?
I looked at Cloudy.
“It’s expensive.”
She nodded.
“O-oh, oh yeah!”
A surge of intense joy! As expected, raid bosses spit out useful things! We might get several talents just for the head, and we even acquired an unidentified orb!
Eliza’s next words were enough to make my heart explode.
“Saintess and Copson should take that. Cloudy received the warlock’s head, and she also helped with the leather dismantling, so it is only right that I yield.”
In other words, instead of Eliza taking the warlock’s head and the leather with the inscription that was of no value to us, we would take the valuable orb. It was a fairly reasonable condition, so I agreed with a smile.
“H-husband and wife…”
But that wasn’t the part that Cloudy reacted to. She was shy about being treated as a couple. As if to drive a wedge into her, Eliza said.
“Aren’t you?”
“…”
“Hehehe, that’s right! We’re a couple!”
Saying that, I put my arm around Cloudy’s waist, and she blushed completely, lowered her head, and covered her face with her hands. She’s always shy about things like this.
“Anyway, shouldn’t we go back? It was a satisfying harvest. If we leave now, we’ll definitely arrive around dawn.”
“Aren’t we all awake? I agree. What about you, Barbarian?”
“Yeah, let’s go then. We have oil left, so let’s make a torch or something and go.”
It took about six hours to get here, so if we walk slowly through the night from now, we’ll arrive around sunrise. Only Eliza and I stood guard, damn it.
We started towards the city, cutting through the darkness. Copson and I took turns carrying the sack. Eliza was the top contributor to the raid, so we couldn’t make her carry it, and Cloudy also deserves a lot of credit for defeating the warlock.
It was only natural that Copson and I, who didn’t do much, would carry it.
We walked slowly, taking breaks in between. There were no other attacks. There were no undead or even monsters in the forest right now. Soon, dawn began to break. After staying up all night, I finally started to feel sleepy. I need to settle up quickly and go to sleep.
“I can see the city walls.”
“I’m getting tired now.”
The real morning had begun.
We passed the still tired-looking guard we saw yesterday and returned to the city.
“Then I’ll leave you here. I have too many things to do. I’m sure there will be an opportunity to see you again. Goodbye.”
Eliza greeted us.
“Huh? No, wait. You have to get your talents. You just need to exchange this Flesh Golem head. Let’s go together. How long will it take?”
“Thank you for your concern, but I don’t really need it. Sister Blaret has already lost her motivation… It’s not very useful even if I have it. This heretic’s head and leather are enough for me.”
Saying that, Eliza left. Only Copson, Cloudy, and I were left in the area. Well, it’s a good thing that we’re dividing it into three instead of four… but I felt a little sorry.
“Don’t worry about it, Katt. Aren’t you tired? Let’s go to the church quickly.”
“That’s right, Barbarian. I think we have a lot to do too.”
We immediately went to the Brass Celestial Church nearby. The talent exchange window was deserted. It was morning, and there were no undead. Only one sleepy-looking priest was guarding the place. I went up to him and handed him the sack.
“Priest, guess what I brought?”
“Did you bring something special?”
“Try to guess. You’ll be surprised.”
“Hmm… Did you catch a ghoul or something…?”
I grinned and immediately took out three zombie heads from the sack.
“Isn’t this a zombie’s head?”
“Drum roll, please! Ta-da!”
I immediately used both hands to take out the Flesh Golem’s large head and placed it on the reception desk.
“T-this! What is this!”
“Fleshy- Golemmm!”
“Flesh Golem!”
At that shout, all sorts of priests, nuns, and paladins gathered. They approached and began to be shocked as if they had seen something unbelievable.
“An evil creation!”
“What is this!”
“Brother, where did you find this monster?”
“Hahaha, calm down, church members.”
An impromptu exposition was held. Someone came running in a hurry. Judging by his clothes, he was a senior pastor of the Brass Celestial Church.
“T-this…!”
“Oh, aren’t you Pastor? How many talents can you give me for this?”
“B-B-Bertha, how many talents do we have left?”
“About one hundred and fifty…”
“Give them all to these people!”
Surprisingly, the golem’s head was worth 150 talents. I was so happy that I danced, and the paladins applauded. After a question and answer session, we came outside.
“Okay, take 50 each!”
“Amazing, amazing!”
“We got more than I thought?”
“Life is a gamble.”
Next was the disposal of the orb.
“Barbarian, where can I sell the orb?”
“I know a good place.”
Why worry? We have our black magician, Risha Leongreen.
If we take it there and sell it, we can get a good price. It’s a bit of a concern that we have to go to the slums, but there’s nothing to be afraid of if we go as a trio. In the first place, I’m a man who can take on gangs of robbers even if I go alone.
“Follow me.”
“Ah, are you going to that black magic shop again?”
“That’s right. The place we went to when you and I first met.”
“Hehe, is that so?”
The three of us headed to the eastern gate district. I remember the way there. I was in a very good mood because the income was good.
“But what’s a black magic shop? Is there such a thing?”
“Yeah. Remember when you and I went to the dungeon and picked up a staff?”
“Come to think of it, that happened. Did you sell the staff well then?”
“Of course. I sold it for 5 silver.”
“What! 5 silver?!”
Copson was shocked. That guy sold it with Maria back then. He got ripped off by the alchemist’s guild and sold it for a pittance, what a fool.
