—–
After explaining to Lucifer and everyone about my plan, they all seemed to agree with it.
“To Benettina we go then. And sure, it would be better if you just ate their souls so the dead body can be found more easily. I also would prefer to eat a more delicious human next time, perhaps something like a strong warrior.” Said Lucifer.
“I don’t like your tendencies of eating humans; did you eat humans when you were alive?” I sighed.
“Well, I am technically a zombie now, so eating flesh from humans is a necessity, but I can also eat monster flesh as well. And well, it is more like a grudge. I feel this indescribable hatred against humans, which is very hard to contain. When I see one, I just want to tear them apart and devour them, hearing their screams of agony as my fangs tear their bodies into shreds while being alive,”
“Oof. Okay, you do you, as long as it is not innocent people that literally did nothing wrong, I am fine with that,”
“Hmph, alright… you’re my master, so I cannot defy you as much as I want to. Nonetheless, it is more pleasurable to torture those that had done evil deeds. After all, the corrupt aristocrats of this Kingdom and the alliance of Kingdoms of Humans were the ones that took our children as prisoners, forced us to surrender, and then slaughtered them in front of our very faces,” Lucifer said.
“…I see,” I responded.
“Hahh… Never mind me,” Lucifer sighed.
He seemed pretty troubled. And I kind of wanted him to open up to me but forcing the situation would be bad for his mental stability, so I will let him slowly open up to me naturally rather than just forcing him by giving him a command.
“I hope that we can find somewhere to be happy one day,” I muttered.
“…You’re oddly optimistic for someone that died so terribly. I suppose missing your memories perhaps has made you this way….” Lucifer sighed once again.
“True… I won’t force you to tell me anything. You will decide when you want to share more of your past,”
“R-Right… Sorry, perhaps I went too far there… And thank you for being understanding. Despite being an oddball, you’re also quite a decent former human,” Lucifer complimented me.
“Aw, really?”
“Yes…”
“Master’s pretty nice….” Partner said beside me.
“So you, what’s your story?” Lucifer asked, talking to Partner.
“Story? I am master’s servant,” Partner replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
“…You don’t remember your previous life?”
“Previous life?” Partner asked, confused.
“Well, you see, Partner is my skeleton. I made her into an Undead and her soul was created through the over-accumulation of phantasmal energy, and therefore it is a new soul and not one that belonged to someone before,” I explained.
“Oh, so she was such a being… Wait, your skeleton?!” Lucifer asked in disbelief.
“Yeah! I didn’t want to leave it abandoned. It was the only thing I had left, you know? So I just made it into a ‘Partner’!”
“You’re really unbelievable sometimes,”
“It was thanks to her that I was able to survive. Even now, I am still a glass cannon, and she unexpectedly ended up as my Tank, so we pair up pretty well. She takes hits and charges in front while I fire from afar!” I said as Partner nodded in agreement.
“I-I see… What’s glass cannon?” Lucifer asked.
“A term you use for someone that exceeds offensively but is as frail as glass,”
“Oh… I see. I guess she’s very devoted and childish because she still has the mind of a young spirit… Interesting. Her existence is similar to a Wisp then, a being without a soul formed from phantasmal energy. However, unlike them, she wasn’t made out of grudges and negative energy,”
“Indeed, and she’s a cutie! Wait, I think she looked like my body when I was alive now that I think about it….”
Partner looked at me upfront as I realized that she indeed looked exactly like the head I saw rolling when I reincarnated as a soul.
“Interesting, through her evolutions, it is as if you had been revived, but it is not really your soul… This could cause some troubles if we come across someone that might know your face, so make sure to cover her with a hood, at least,” Lucifer recommended.
“And what about you? You look like a Majin with those looks,”
“Hold on… Look,”
Lucifer suddenly changed appearance, his horns disappeared, and his eyes looked less dead, while his skin seemingly filled with the vitality of youth.
“Wow…”
“This is the power of Morph!” Lucifer laughed.
“Eeehh… I guess you’re a shapeshifter… Oh, can you take the form of a little dragon companion so I can summon you for battle like my monster pet?” I asked.
“No… I wouldn’t want that. And no, I cannot take such a small form.”
“Ugh… I guess my dream of having a Charmander is gone,”
“Hah… you always talk so much nonsense. I suppose this trip won’t be as boring as I initially thought,” Lucifer muttered.
“Hey, finally getting softer with me?” I asked.
“Never mind…”
I guess he doesn’t respond well to teasing…
…
The area that covers the entire Duchy of Affnaria is an enormous forest named the Dark Forest.
Lesser Haunt’s and other monsters often inhabit it, but they’re mostly weak; Usually around G-Rank or F-Rank at most.
Due to this, Adventurers in Affnaria go to train and level up their first Jobs in these outskirts of the Duchy, collecting the monster’s corpses, the Mana Stones inside, and other things to sell in the Adventurer Guild.
This forest took around three days to get out of, despite us going at fast speed on Kuro’s back…
When we reached the outskirts of the forest, we were greeted by a beautiful and near-endless sea of grass, named the Vast Grasslands, which extends across hundreds of kilometers.
All the Duchies we are visiting are located past this point.
From what I read, tribes of beast-kin and even demons live around these grasslands, often as nomads.
Also, we had gone through the forest side because if we went through the road, we would risk getting caught by some passerby.
The sun was shining brightly atop the sky, and we were being bathed in it, but none of us was affected.
It seems that the sunlight is no problem!
“We can’t hide so well in such a place….” Lucifer muttered.
“We’ll go through the road then! The place looks nice. We can have a picnic from time to time too!” I tried to bring up the bright side.
“Picnic? In the middle of the road?”
We walked through the road at a fast pace as Kuro was pretty nimble, and as an Undead, he was also tireless.
Bathing in the warmth of the sun, a cold breeze brushed against my face.
Aahh… this feels nice.
It makes you just want to forget about everything and just have an adventure…
Well, we are technically having one.
“What’s that?”
Lucifer suddenly points at a group of people in front of the road who were next to three large caravans being attacked by little green guys.
Hoh, is this the typical Isekai scenario?
—–