Lulu and Fran dashed through the forest. The villagers followed them from the rear, but it wasn't long before their presence disappeared.
"T-thank goodness."
Lulu gasped for breath as he looked around. Fran turned to a breathless Lulu, and laughed.
"Aren't you glad that I saved you?"
"…Thank…you."
Lulu averted his gaze before expressing his gratitude. He didn't want to admit it, but he did receive the girl's help, so he couldn't do anything about it.
"So show me your ears!"
"… So that's what this is all about, huh?"
Lulu sighed and took off his robe, and when he did, his rabbit ears shot up. It was shameful for a Moon Rabbit-kin to receive help and not pay it back in turn. He believed it should be okay as Tom had reassured him that no one would believe the words of children.
Upon seeing the ears, Fran looked surprised.
"Wah! It's really ears! Real ears! Boing Boing~!"
Fran began to touch the ears all over.
"Now stop!"
When Lulu took his ears back, Fran looked disappointed.
"Fine… Oh yea! Come this way!"
Fran began to walk deeper into the forest again, beckoning him to follow.
"W…!"
"Hurry up. If you don't… the villagers will catch you."
Fran disappeared into the forest. Only her voice rang out, which Lulu followed using his excellent hearing.
"Wait, where are you?"
"Here! Here…!"
He continued walking, and arrived at the entrance to a cave, which contained a pit not too far in. Fran smiled as he waved both her hands.
"Here! Hide here! Rabbits hide in caves!"
"… I'm a Rabbit-kin, but not a rabbit."
"But you're a rabbit!"
Suddenly, Lulu frowned, he could hear something from the pit. Lulu tilted his head and craned his neck toward the source of the sound.
"…me."
"Give… me."
Lulu turned his ear to hear properly.
"Give me drugs!"
Without a chance to react, someone pushed Lulu from behind.
"…?!"
Lulu looked over his shoulder, and saw Fran smiling darkly.
"Rabbit is offering to our God!"
And with that, Lulu fell into the pit.
He smashed his head onto the pit's side as he rolled down, before coming to a painful stop on the damp earth at its bottom. There was a horrible stench, while flies and maggots were seemingly everywhere.
"Uwek! Ptoo Ptoo!"
Lulu spat out mud that had found its way into his mouth. As his sight adjusted to the dark, and formless shadows took shape, he froze.
"…?!"
It was a pile of corpses, some still moving. There were people that weren't quite dead yet. When they finally noticed the fallen Lulu, they began to wriggle as they tried to grab him.
"D-drug! Drug-! Give the blessed holy water!"
Then, they began to bite down onto Lulu's arm. Not only his arm, but the humans scattered all over began to bite at the rest of his body.
"This bastard must have drank some of the drug! The drug must be flowing in his blood! Drink his blood!"
"The blessed holy water must be in his belly! Split his belly!"
"Uwaaack!"
Lulu kicked at these people and broke away from them. Befitting their emaciated bodies, they were weak. But the places they bit him were torn and began to bleed. As the wounds mixed with the mud, the pain grew worse.
"J-just where is this place…? A-are humans always this scary…?"
Lulu began to limp. The leg that one of the humans had bit was broken. As he tried to walk, he heard a voice.
"Ey, move it quickly!"
"Ooo, the stench. It shouldn't be stuffing itself with the villagers so much."
"Haha! Did you just see that one bastard? Begging for a blessing…? Hahaha! Wasn't it hilarious or what?"
Lulu held himself to a wall as he heard unfamiliar voices. As the footsteps drew closer, he hurriedly hid himself with illusory magic. They were different from the villagers. These people wore black robes and carried something like a staff on their backs. They were carrying a corpse which they threw onto the muddy water.
"Hah… I'm exhausted…!"
"Why do we mages have to do this kind of thing? Can't we just have the villagers do it? There were strong mercenaries and adventurers as well!"
"Hah? What are you talking about? The villagers think all these bastards went to heaven. If news of this gets out, it'll be hard to deal with them, even with the drugs. Let's just get on with this peacefully before we absorb another village."
One of the men wearing a black robe pulled the staff from his back and poked at one of the struggling humans.
"D-drug, give me drugs…"
"Drug? Ah, the drug that can help you reach heaven? Haha… I'm sorry, but it's wasted on you. Don't you know how much those sell for? There is nothing better to help fund our work."
The unknown man smashed the begging human's head with his staff.
"Aren't they pathetic? They abandoned their homeland to avoid taxes and donations. They abandoned their nation for their family, and kept running despite the fear of being eaten by demons, but in the end…"
The man in the black robe narrowed his eyes as he finished talking.
"Not only their families, they even sold their souls here as well. Truly a pathetic existence."
"D-drug…! B-blessing…!"
"You all will be our offering. Fucking blessing, who's offering?"
The staff pierced the man's chest. The man began to spit out blood as his body convulsed before his eyes rolled back into his head. His jaw went slack as he shouted some strange noise and stood up.
"K….krrrr…."
He began to waver and vomit blood from his mouth. He turned to look at his summoner with his eyes still rolled over.
Zombies. They were the lowest of grade among the undead. They moved slowly, but they were several times stronger than humans and did not tire. Also, upon the order of their summoner, they would rush to face certain death. Watching the entire scene unfold, Lulu's eyes grew wide. Only Necromancers could use such magic.
'Spirit Mages!?'
Dark Mages existed on the continent, but the only ones that could raise the dead were Necromancers, and even the Dark Mages loathed them, as it was a despicable magic that imprisoned one's soul and forced them into eternal servitude
"Haha! If we use that thing you call religion, people become a lot easier to handle. If I show them a bit of magic and call it a miracle, they say 'Ah~! Our god~!' and follow so easily? Isn't it?"
"Yea. When our teacher raised some dead bastard into a zombie, they rejoiced, calling it a resurrection."
The Necromancers laughed mockingly.
"People that have lost their homes and have nowhere to rely on are the easiest to manipulate. They are so desperate to rely on someone that they followed us?"
"Especially in this place, that Chief is the worst. He sold out his village to save his own family. Haha! Well, in the end, his granddaughter is addicted to the drug and not in her right mind."
"Now I see why the Petrification Herb has been banned in the Holy Empire! It's truly a terrifying narcotic."
'Herb? Narcotic? What are they talking about?'
It happened when Lulu gulped. One of the Necromancers stopped talking and looked around, suspicious.
"Ey, Don't you… feel magic power from somewhere nearby?"
— Ω —