36-66

EP.66 Otherworldly Cult – 1 

"Welcome to our country." 

A kind smile and a grand welcome. 

The first impression of those from the Carrion Kingdom was completely different from what I expected. 

I had imagined rude, snappy beastkin, but they were excessively polite. 

"Yes... well... I’m glad to meet you too." 

It’s common for diplomatic envoys to receive a grand welcome. 

But in their case, something felt a bit off. 

There was nothing to criticize, but an odd sense of discomfort lingered. 

"The king will be here soon, so please wait a moment." 

This made things feel even stranger. 

No matter how important the diplomacy, for the king himself to come meet me? And a king at that? 

A lavish welcome and calling me a hero-this was over the top. 

Strictly speaking, I’m just a noble from another country. 

"Are you alright?" 

Karin, seeing my twisted expression, looked worried. 

"I’m wondering what I should do right now." 

Should I just make a run for it here? 

But if I did, it would definitely cause problems. 

"Should we prepare to run?" 

"No... let’s see how this plays out first." 

Honestly, in the past, I might have run away on instinct. 

But now it’s different. 

Even if things go wrong, I think I can still escape. 

A little while later, a man in splendid clothes entered. 

He had a sharp, wolf-like aura. 

Strong yellow eyes. 

The overflowing dignity and the attendants at his sides made it clear he was the king of this country. 

"Greetings. I am Ullen, king of this country." 

"...Nice to meet you." 

Ullen’s face was not the expression of someone who had just hosted a grand welcome. 

His stiff expression and serious gaze were full of worry and concern. 

"Everyone, leave." 

At his gesture, the attendants quietly and swiftly left the room as if it had been arranged in advance. 

Silence filled the room, which was full of luxurious food. 

In the uncomfortable atmosphere, Ullen was the first to speak. 

"I didn’t call you here just for diplomatic reasons." 

As expected... my bad feeling was right on the mark. 

This time, it was more certain than ever. 

He had personally chosen me, despite my lack of diplomatic skills. 

"I had some idea. You probably didn’t need to call me just for that." 

"...You’re quick to catch on. The reason I called you is to ask if you can help with a problem here in Carrion." 

"What problem?" 

"I’m sorry, but once you hear this, even if you don’t help us, we’ll have to detain you for a while. Is that alright?" 

So it’s a secret that can’t be leaked. 

A problem serious enough for a king to ask for help-no need to think long to know it’s troublesome. 

This is probably my last chance to back out. 

But his serious and earnest expression moved me. 

"Since I’m here, I’ll listen." 

Ullen’s stiff expression softened a little as he smiled faintly. 

Honestly, he probably didn’t expect much. 

No one wants to get involved in someone else’s complicated problems, especially when it’s another country. 

"Thank you. I see why you’re called a hero." 

"What’s the problem that has the king so worried?" 

"Our country is currently being overrun by an army of liches." 

A powerful undead wizard, a lich is a rare high-level monster. 

There hadn’t been a sighting in decades. 

But for one to suddenly appear and rampage so aggressively-there could only be one reason. 

The Demon King. 

He’s always the problem. 

"I think I know why you called me." 

"To be honest, Carrion is facing the greatest crisis in its history. We’re only barely holding out on defense." 

"Is there any problem with holding out?" 

"Even that’s difficult due to food shortages. If this turns into a long war, we’ll definitely lose. The undead don’t eat, after all." 

Ullen’s face was full of gloom. 

He let out a deep sigh. 

It seemed the situation was worse than I imagined. 

"I apologize for calling you without explaining the situation, but can you help us?" 

I expected it to be troublesome, but this was worse than I thought. 

A worst-case scenario where a whole country could be overrun. 

But I couldn’t back out now. 

If left alone, the lich’s army would grow out of control. 

And the ever-increasing numbers would only get harder to deal with. 

If the Carrion Kingdom fell, the next would be the Lumis Kingdom or another nearby country. 

If a whole country became undead, then there really would be no hope. 

Just as it’s important to catch a disease early, it’s important to wipe out the undead as quickly as possible. 

"I’ll gladly help." 

"...You’re a bit different from the humans I know." 

"Though it’s a title others gave me, I am called a hero." 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to play the hero for once. 

The city where the fiercest fighting was happening was in terrible condition. 

The crude city walls were crumbling in places, and the soldiers’ faces were deeply fatigued. 

At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if the city fell tomorrow. 

"I need to find a way." 

While I was observing from the city walls, a middle-aged man in fine clothes approached. 

He wore a neat uniform that marked him as a soldier. 

The medals on his chest showed he was quite high-ranking. 

"Are you the Yujin the king called for?" 

He looked at me with a displeased expression, reminiscent of an old cat. 

He probably didn’t like me much. 

But what could he do? 

Their situation was like a candle in the wind. 

Like it or not, they had to trust me at least once. 

"That’s right." 

"I’m Munch, the commander here." 

"How’s the situation?" 

"Not good." 

"You’ll have to be precise if you want me to help." 

"...The soldiers’ morale is at rock bottom, and we’re outnumbered. Unlike the undead, who don’t feel pain, our soldiers have to endure terrible fatigue and pain." 

The undead can be used 24 hours a day with no problem. 

But living beings need food and rest. 

That difference becomes enormous in a prolonged war. 

Carrion’s soldiers were getting weaker and fewer. 

Meanwhile, the undead never weakened, and their numbers increased every time they killed one of ours. 

"It’ll be hard to solve this with ordinary methods." 

I don’t know what kind of tactics this world uses, but there probably isn’t a strategy suited to this situation. 

The enemy grows as they kill our troops. 

They’re literally the worst opponent. 

"I know you’re trusted by the king and called a hero, but what can you do in this situation?" 

He sighed and looked down at the exhausted soldiers below the wall. 

The citizens lay helpless on the ground. 

There was no hope in his eyes. 

Just standing on the front lines would help a lot, but that alone isn’t enough. 

There’s a saying that you can’t win against a group just by yourself. 

And I’m also worried about the lich. 

"In times like this, you need a clever plan." 

Tactical advice or plans would be pointless. 

He was much more experienced than me. 

So what I could do was come up with a method the commander wouldn’t think of, but that would be effective. 

"I saw a temple on the way here. What god do they worship in Carrion?" 

There are two main faiths on the continent: 

The Sun Goddess Lienne and the Moon Goddess Rene. 

Humans mostly worship Lienne, but it varies by region. 

"Not many people are religious, but here we mainly worship Rene." 

"How are the priests fighting?" 

The natural enemy of the undead is divine grace. 

The power of a god who governs life and death is fatal to the undead. 

The way of the world is that corpses should lie still and not move. 

"The priests are doing their best, but they’re vastly outnumbered." 

"Hmm... even if we try something, numbers are the problem." 

If there aren’t enough priests, then we just need to make more. 

There are plenty of people inside the walls. 

If we can make some of them into priests, the situation will change drastically. 

Priests aren’t common, since they require deep faith. 

But this is a different situation. 

When humans are desperate, they often turn to the gods. 

Most of the time it’s just lamenting, but if that desperation could be turned into faith, 

maybe we could mass-produce priests. 

"Seems you found a solution rather easily." 

When I smiled at him, he looked puzzled. 

"You mean there’s a way to solve this?" 

"Gather as many people as possible in the square. Prepare what I asked for as well." 

There’s a joke on Earth: 

During the world wars, countries advanced their technology by throwing engineers at the problem. 

So maybe, to win the war against the undead, we just need to throw priests at the problem?