Golden Experience

Chapter 97: “Don’t Underestimate NPCs”

After clearing out the castle, Sieg and the zombies were left in charge. Some of them had already been living here, so they should know how to manage it. Not that Rare had any idea how much of their past lives they remembered. Unlike other zombies, while their brains were of course rotting, they at least hadn’t been damaged, so she didn’t think it would be a disaster, at least.

“Ah, wait, it might have nothing to do with their brains. Deas had been nearly all bones, but he still had memories left. With the way he looked, there was no way that his brain had been intact.”

Deas had been tasked with making more undead out in the city. The fewer citizens there were resisting, the more materials he had to work with.

With the castle completely neutralized, next was to finish off the rest of the town. Going by the reports from the adamantite soldiers in the streets, most of the noble mansions had been taken out, and the larger buildings used for lodging such as inns were under their control.

Since Rare was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to navigate the castle’s hallways without getting lost, she had found a waiting room in a corner of the audience chamber which had an overhanging balcony from which she could fly up into the open sky. Over her shoulder, she saw Deas jump down from the balcony himself, so he was probably planning to get out on foot. She would have preferred him not making holes in the garden, but, well, it wasn’t a big deal.

Looking down on the capital city from the sky, things had become quiet. There was almost no fighting. It seemed the adamantite soldiers’ reports were true; they had suppressed nearly everything. Since Rare and Sieg had finished off all those nobles, there shouldn’t have been many strong knights left.

In other words, the one remaining fight should be where Wayne was.

She didn’t know if it was lucky or not, but Wayne, Gil, and Mental Magic guy were together. There were also two knights with them.

“How strange… I thought almost all of the nobles were dead, so why are there still two knights left?”

“Hey, Wayne, look!”

“Shit, it’s the catastrophe!”

They had spotted Rare. The sun had completely set and everything was wrapped in darkness, so they sure had impressive perception.

“So you’re so strong you don’t need to use your invisibility skill or something? You stick out like a sore thumb in the night sky being so white…”

—Oh, I see. Even with just a tiny bit of light, I’m completely visible.

“…I’m glad to see you’re enjoying yourselves. Your revival was certainly quick. Incidentally, I believe almost all of the people in this city have been turned into undead, so I wonder if those two men there are your companions.”

“Fuck! That must be why Lawson and the others suddenly died!”

“I’m not sure who that is, but most of the city’s nobles are dead. Seeing that those two knights there are still living, we must have missed some. Maybe it’s time to do another sweep for them…”

The knights simply stayed silent and glared at Rare up in the sky.

“… but given that you didn’t react whatsoever, your owner doesn’t seem to be in this city at all. Were you dispatched here from somewhere else, then? Does that happen often?”

Again, no answer. However, she did notice their bodies shift this time. Rare remembered something similar happening before. It was at the fall of La Colline, if she remembered correctly. During that battle, there were knights who were still alive even after the city had been thoroughly destroyed. Their master must have been somewhere else. It was a bit hard to imagine nobles buried alive under the rubble, holding their breath to avoid detection. She thought of it as an event that took place a while ago, but it actually happened only that morning. It hadn’t even been a full day since then.

“La Colline, hmm…”

Rare had subconsciously mumbled that aloud, but the knights reacted oddly. They were clearly distraught, and they exchanged looks.

“Oho?”

It was just a coincidence, but it seemed their master was somehow related to La Colline. Perhaps she should be glad that they weren’t part of the royal guard; if they were, then killing them now would serve no purpose. Considering the situation, the king must have brought along all his followers and relatives when he fled. It surely looked quite conspicuous, but there was probably no way that they would have gone east, the direction that a catastrophe had invaded from. So if Rare wanted to try finding them, she had no choice but to go in a direction she knew nothing about. In light of all the blunders she had made today, she couldn’t possibly do that without first coming up with a solid plan.

Anyway, right now she had to deal with these knights before her. There were no masters in La Colline, only knights. Same for the capital here—no masters, just knights. It was unlikely for the two situations to be completely unrelated. So the question was where she could find their master.

“Is your master in La Colline? In the remains of that city?”

This time their reaction was much more subdued than before. Meaning they already knew about the attack. If anything, Rare thought the knights’ master would have been in the capital city. However, there were barely any nobles left here. But supposing their master had actually been in the last city, where could they possibly have been?

“Underneath the rubble… They were playing dead? That’s where the nobles were? That’s…”

…impossible, she thought, but then she remembered the prime minister. It was dangerous for her to underestimate NPCs. She opened her eyes and looked at the knights. Rare wasn’t particularly good at reading people’s expressions, but if this was all an act, then these men shouldn’t have become knights—they had a much more suitable profession to pursue.

Rare was pretty sure her conclusion was solid. Given the timeframe, there was no way they could have known what had happened to La Colline. However, it wouldn’t be strange if they could tell the status of their own master. And so, the disturbance on their faces told her everything she needed to know.

“That’s certainly a tasty morsel of information. I didn’t miss anything here in the capital; it was back in La Colline. I have certainly not been my best today, have I…”

With her eyes open, she aimed an AOE spell between the knights and Wayne’s party.

“I have a little errand to run now. As for you people… see you soon, wherever that may be. You’ll return from the dead no matter how many times I kill you, right? Then I’ll just have to kill you again every time you come back. Until we meet again.”

After finishing off Wayne’s little group, Rare returned to the castle. She descended down onto the balcony, then walked over to Sieg, who was issuing orders to the undead in the audience chamber.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty. What is the situation outside the castle?”

“Everything is just about cleaned up. In all likelihood, the only force left in the capital is ours.”

That was evident from the fact that she was able to set the royal castle as her home. However, she wanted to turn the capital into a dungeon with an undead boss waiting in the deepest room, so she declined.

Rare was curious where those two knights would end up respawning, but assuming they used the same system as players did, the latest update should make them spawn somewhere without a lot of enemies.

“Just in case, some odd knights could possibly respawn within the capital. Keep that in mind.”

“Allow me to take care of it, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, and also…”

Rare thought for a moment, then pulled out a Philosopher’s Stone from her inventory.

“If you think it necessary, use this to strengthen one of your subordinates. If XP is needed, you’ll be asked for permission; when that happens, contact me.”

“Ooh, this honor is wasted on me… I am ever so grateful.”

If Sieg and Deas were to be defeated, then everything that had happened here in the capital would have been all for nothing. She would have believed the possibility unthinkable once, but sometimes the unthinkable can still happen. Rare herself now knew this better than anyone.

“Don’t be a miser—use it to efficiently strengthen your forces. About the city, well, I don’t really care what you do with it as long as you don’t damage the buildings, but at the very least, you should establish the castle’s defenses as soon as you can. They must be hardy enough that no one can get in.”

Sieg got down on one knee and bowed his head. “As you command.”

“…Having a hot guy kneeling in front of me kinda… makes me feel like I’m playing a different kind of game…”

The development of those types of games certainly had a great influence on the advancement of VR technology.

“That’s right; I have a little errand to run, so I’ll be heading out. I’m leaving you in charge here.”

“Where will you be going?”

“La Colline. The place the artillery ants blew up this morning. There may still be some loose ends there, so I’m going to check.”

“Please do not say you plan to go alone…”

Of course Sieg would be concerned; Rare just finished telling him not to let his guard down, and now she was about to fly off by herself.

“But no one else here can fly…”

“I implore you, at least wear Dame Yoroizaka.”

He was right. She could [Summon] Yoroizaka and the Kenzakis here, equip them, and still fly without issue.

“Then I shall do so. All right then, I’m off… Ah, right. You can use that seat if you want. If I decide I want to use it later, I won’t mind at all. Okay, later.”

Turning her back on Sieg, who had lowered his head once again, Rare [Summoned] Yoroisaka and the Kenzakis to her.

“I’m very sorry for before. Eventually, we’ll find and kill the guy who threw that Squid Ink Ball at you, Yoroizaka. And I already took care of the one who cast [Fear] on you boys, but I’m sure we’ll meet him again. Right, let’s go.”

Second revenge: a few hours later.