I Defeated the Guide Angel and I Became a Necromancer ~ I Feel Like I'm Playing a Different Game from Everyone Else, but I'm Doing Fine ~ - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Various Ways to Spend the Night

◆ Demon God Temple – Dining Hall ◆

“Alright?! Watch closely!”

“Mmm~~ I’m watching, watching~…!”

… Clang clang…

“Ahahaha!!! It rolled~!!!”

“Eeeek!!! That’s amazing!!! Mmm… mmm…!! Phew!!!”

Oh, big sis and Laura-chan are already done for. They’re laughing at a rolling chopstick; there’s nothing amazing about it, and nothing funny either… big sis said she last remembered drinking when I woke her up. I wonder how big sis died… Maybe someone just killed her off quickly… While she was drinking…

“Ha~~~ This is fun, isn’t it~”

“So much fuuuun!!!!”

Laura-chan also has terrible drinking habits…! It doesn’t matter if she’s immortal, a boss, a legendary pirate captain, or a legendary witch, alcohol still works… It works because it’s not a negative status effect but a positive buff effect, marked as “Drunkenness”… Well, it’s night time. Spending it drinking and having fun like this is one way to go…

“………Gaaa… Suu~~…”

“Oh no, the captain fell asleep! She fell over~!! The captain got off the ship first~!! The captain disembarking first is unacceptable!!! Ahahahahahaha!!!”

Oh, this is bad.

“So cold…”

“Huh? Rena-chan isn’t freezing…!?”

“Wait, this, freeze? The air feels like it could freeze though.”

Eh, Rena-chan didn’t freeze…!? Did you change some equipment or something!? There’s no one else around, so it’s hard to tell if the effect actually worked… But I do feel a chill, so maybe it activated?

“Ahahaha!! Ah! Ah~… suu~… pii~…”

“She screamed and then fell asleep… Unbelievable…”

‘Tornado has become incapacitated. Automatically stored in Corpse Storage-5.’

‘Lorelei has become incapacitated. Automatically stored in Corpse Storage-6.’

“Donta and Lia-chan don’t get entombed even when they sleep… Oh, but they’re incapacitated even if they wake up in this state, so that’s why…”

“Is it effectively considered death…?”

“Maybe…”

Both of them drank and partied hard, then became incapacitated from extreme drunkenness and got automatically entombed in the corpse storage… This is pretty much like they’re dead… We were planning to go to the desert next, but what should we do now…

“Is the desert dangerous at night?”

“Well… The inhabitants become undead and wander around. But we don’t really want to kill them if we can avoid it…”

“Inhabitants? That’s scary. But can’t we control the wild undead?”

“Since they aren’t undead that I raised, it seems impossible. They seem to be driven by strong grudges.”

“Hmm… It’s hard to decide without knowing the circumstances. Should we skip the desert?”

“What should we do? For now, let’s talk about the current situation in Stellavelce while we collect the others.”

“Got it!”

For now, let’s go pick up Donta and the others while explaining to Rena-chan what I saw in Stellavelce. We’ll start with Chiyo-chan, who’s also in the dining hall. If I explain the main points, she’ll get the gist of it while we’re on the move.

“… So, I think Kashpa probably revived the power of the great serpent in an incomplete state.”

“Mm… So, if it’s a serpent, do we need poison resistance? I don’t have any poison resistance, what should I do?”

“Oh, did you change your equipment after all?”

“Now that you mention it, you weren’t around. I bought a headpiece called ‘Freedom and Responsibility.’ It’s a hat with white and black feathers; it looks pretty tacky.”

“Freedom and Responsibility… Wow, can I see it?”

“Everyone saw it during the auction, so it’s fine.”

Yes! The answer to the question that had been bugging me—why Rena-chan didn’t freeze earlier! It turns out this headgear makes her immune to certain status effects…!

]★Breaking the Silence: Freedom and Responsibility +10]
(Top-tier, Legendary, Headgear, No open slots]●])

When the enhancement value is +5 or higher, it nullifies stun and confusion.

When the enhancement value is +7 or higher, it additionally nullifies fainting, paralysis, and sleep.

When the enhancement value is +10, it nullifies all incapacitating status effects.

Duration and effect of non-incapacitating status effects are doubled.

Damage reduction rate 0% + 5%.

[Chatty Conch Card] Prevents silence status.

[Equipment Protection Ticket Applied] Player name [07XB785Y]

… No one will stop you, but with actions come responsibilities.

Enhanceable・Registered to player [07XB785Y]・Weight 0.05kg

I see, that’s why she was immune to freezing earlier! This equipment nullifies freezing, petrification, fainting, stun, sleep, paralysis—basically any incapacitating status effect! However, it doubles the duration and effect of all other status effects, making it a heavy penalty to bear. But for a rear-guard like Rena-chan, this seems almost entirely beneficial. Situations where she’d be hit by other status effects would typically be dangerous anyway, so it’s mostly advantageous. Though it might be tough if we encounter an area filled with poison.

“This looks expensive…”

“Headgear often excels. Most people prioritize boosting attack power over status effect resistance.”

“Oh, I see. So, is this around 10 million?”

“Close. 17 million.”

“Not close at all!”

“Haha…”

Wow, 17 million… But then, doesn’t that mean the Mystic gear I got back then was a bargain? Oh, but usually, people carry a shield in their left hand, so being unarmed is problematic. It’s useless for those who use two-handed weapons, and having to spend 10 million silver to unequip it is quite a burden. You’d need to be very committed to equip it. Seems reasonable.

“I focused on enhancing it instead of participating in the auction. It started at +5.”

“What…? How did you get it to +10…?!”

“I used success rate increase tickets and protection tickets for failed enhancements. I even used an equipment protection ticket at the end to ensure it wouldn’t be stolen if I got PK’d.”

“Wow, wow…! That must have cost 40 or 50 million by now…”

“If it could be bought for that, it’d be cheap.”

“Eeeeek…!!!”

What do I do… If this is +10, then Babylon-chan’s dress being +15 must be insanely… well, you know…! It’s absolutely crazy. I must never mention the performance of that equipment… If I say it’s +15, it would cause an enormous wave of jealousy and envy!

“Rinne-dono… How long are you going to keep patting my belly…?”

“Until you can stand up?”

By the way, I said we’d start by picking up Chiyo-chan, but we haven’t actually picked her up yet! That’s because Chiyo-chan’s belly is so full from eating too much! Rena-chan and I are sitting on either side of Chiyo-chan, patting her belly to help her recover.

“Hmm… This belly feels more like a raccoon’s than a fox’s.”
“No way!? I absolutely hate being called that! In that case, fuh-nu-nu-nu-nu!!!”

“Whoa, her belly is shrinking all at once…!”

“Amazing. Oh, a spirit tail just appeared…”

“There are two spirit tails now, Chiyo-chan!”

“I’m burning them right now…!!!”

“Ahh… burn those calories, burn those calories…”

“Kitsune-style… It’s like those old advertisement reenactments, they’re trending.”

“They’re trending because they’re so surreal and catchy…”

“The problem is you can’t remember what they’re advertising.”

“Exactly…”

“Nuugh…!!! Done!!!”

“Oh, she’s burned them away.”

Thanks to Chiyo-chan’s forced Kitsune-style combustion, she transformed from a plump Chiyo-chan back into a slim Chiyo-chan! Wow, kitsune are amazing… If everyone could use this when they overeat in real life, we’d probably have no overweight people in the world.

“Ha… ha…! Doing this makes me… sweat… a lot…”

“Whoa, you should go take a bath.”

“Run to the bath, Chiyo-chan! We’ll meet up afterward! We’ll wait for you!”

“My apologies… I will go now.”

She was sweating a huge amount!? Even when running around the desert, she didn’t sweat at all, so this must really burn a lot… It looked incredibly tough, so even if people could do this, not many would want to…!?

“Woof!! (I’m here!)”

“Are we departing? The desert is probably in an extreme cold state right now…”

“Oh, Donta and Lia-chan! You came just as Chiyo-chan went to take a bath because she was all sweaty. Also, big sis and Laura-chan got too drunk to move and ended up being entombed…”

“Really… They were drinking the whole time, weren’t they? That’s too much…”

‘Woof… (I don’t like the smell of alcohol…)’

Donta and Lia-chan came over. If they know about big sis and the others drinking, it means they must have been at it for a long time… Even if the drinks are free because we built the Demon Temple, they really overdid it!

“Well, well? The two beautiful ladies who were eating and drinking so heartily earlier, did they go to sleep?”

“Yikes…”

“Oh, Cook-san! Good evening. They fell asleep, so they were taken to their beds!”

“There was so much leftover alcohol, I’m relieved. We still have more and are running out of space for the new stock. I hope they come back to eat, drink, and make merry again!”

Th-this person is Cook-san…!? Rather than Cook, they have a distinctly Lovecraftian appearance…! Rena-chan froze up and hasn’t moved since she squeaked ‘Yikes…’ Isn’t she supposed to be immune to status effects!?

“Well then, I’ll take these away. Next time, bring your friends, and everyone can eat, drink, and make merry again. See you later…”

“Y-yes…”

“Cook-san is known as the ‘Ruler of Stomachs!'”

“Not the ‘Old Ruler’? He’s not one of the Old Ones, right?”

“Huh? P-probably? I mean, he’s the Ruler of Stomachs… so he’s the current ruler!”

“…ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn…”

“Stop right there.”

“Did someone call~?”

“No, no, no, no, no, we, we, we, we didn’t call for you!!! I-I’m so sorry…!!!”

“Yikes…”

“Be careful, okay?”

“Yes, we will!!!”

That Cook-san, he’s definitely Cthulhu-esque…!? We need to be careful, avoid careless remarks…!!!

“What was that chant just now…?”

“Lia-chan, that… you don’t need to know. Just forget it, okay?”

“O-okay.”

‘Woof…! (That was scary…!)’

“…I’m worried I might not be able to sleep tonight. I might stay up late.”

“Me too, a little…!”

Tonight, we might remember this when we try to sleep and have trouble falling asleep… Why did the devs suddenly add elements from that side…!? It’s most effective when you’re not prepared!

‘((((；゜Д゜))))’

“Ahhhh!!!?”

“○　　　|￣|＿”

“Ahhhh!!! Oniichan, don’t suddenly start shaking like that and scare me!!! You startled me and I accidentally hit your head! Oh no! Your head flew off!!”

“I’m back—whoa!”

“Σ(´∀｀；)”

“Darn it…!”

“No, no, Chiyo-chan! It’s my fault! Don’t cut Oniichan!!!”

Chiyo-chan!? When she came back, Oniichan’s head flew at her!? Why does this keep happening!? I’m sorry, Chiyo-chan!!! Oniichan, I’m sorry too!!!

◆ Stellavelce Guild House (Unauthorized Use) ◆

Alright… Now that things have settled down a bit…

Sad news: big sis and Laura-chan won’t automatically revive for another eight hours. If we really want to revive them forcibly, we can use NP and perform the Reanimation Ritual, but since they’ve been drinking a lot and having fun for the first time in a while, let’s just leave them be for today. However, if this keeps happening, it will be a problem, so next time, let’s make sure they drink in moderation!

“It is indeed cold. Are those the undead residents wandering outside?”

“Yes… But there are no young male or female undead. Probably, those with high utility are being kept alive.”

“If we attack, they’ll likely use them as hostages or shields. That’s almost certain with this kind of opponent.”

“Lia-chan, please don’t get angry when I say this. We might not be able to save everyone, and we might involve them, but we must eliminate the root cause…”

“It’s okay. Both I and Kashpa are royalty, even if we’re rotten. The responsibility of the royalty lies with the royalty…”

‘Woof!! (We’re here with you!)’

“Thank you, Donta-san.”

“Since we don’t have the full team today, let’s just scout? Let’s gather information starting from the outskirts of the capital, moving towards the royal palace. Let’s check out that collapsed large hole to the east first.”

“Yes, we need information. In this short period, we need to know what has changed, what has happened…”

So, for now, since big sis and Laura-chan are down and our guild members aren’t fully gathered, we’ll focus on gathering information. Directly heading to the royal palace only to find Kashpa missing would be the worst scenario. We also want to find out if people are really being taken to that large hole.

“What’s our move?”

“Let’s try to avoid fighting the resident NPC undead if possible. If we encounter any NPCs related to the Holy Meltis Church or their undead, we’ll need to eliminate them. If we happen to find Kashpa, we’ll destroy him immediately. How does that sound?”

“Hmm… If we do find Kashpa, wake Laura-chan and big sis?”

“Yes, we will.”

“Since it’s a new moon and cloudy, I don’t think I’ll be detected if I fly up into the night sky.”

“Then I’ll fly too. Donta, Rena-chan, Chiyo-san, I’ll send directions your way from above. Oniichan, can you try to sneak into the royal palace using the Interior Operation?”

‘Σ(´∀｀；)！？’

“Please give it a try if you can. If you manage to infiltrate, I’ll use Abyss Walker to teleport to your shadow and directly assess the internal situation. It will probably take some time for you to get in, so we’ll move Donta and the others in the meantime.”

‘(´・ω・)ｂ’

“Yes, let’s proceed that way.”

“Okay. No objections.”

‘Woof! (Got it!)’

“Lia-chan, please don’t go in alone. If you do, I’ll have to put you in one of the coffins immediately.”

“Y-yes… I won’t do that, I promise.”

Alright, let’s get moving. On a new moon night in Stellavelce, it’s usually too dark to see, but we’re an undead army! We have some vision enhancements in the dark… probably. It feels like we have pretty good visibility, right? Let’s investigate the capital, the large hole, and if possible, the interior of the royal palace! Let’s begin the operation!!!

Each member set off on their assigned tasks. In the pitch-black night, Rinne and Lia took to the skies, blending into the darkness. Oniichan prepared for his stealth mission, aiming to infiltrate the royal palace. Meanwhile, Donta, Rena-chan, and Chiyo-chan moved cautiously on the ground, guided by the aerial scouts. The goal was clear: gather as much information as possible without alerting the enemies.

Rinne’s voice came through the communication channel, calm and focused. “Donta, head east towards the collapsed area. Chiyo-chan, cover the rear and keep an eye out for any unusual activity. Rena-chan, stay close to Donta. Oniichan, start your approach to the palace, but take your time. We need to be precise.”

The team moved with purpose, aware of the risks but determined to uncover the truth about Kashpa’s whereabouts and the changes in the kingdom. The night’s silence was only broken by their soft footsteps and the occasional whisper of the wind, carrying with it the weight of their mission.