Chapter 4: 4 Episode 3: Differences in Perception

The bear screamed in pain and fell down. I simply swung my machete at it with all my strength.

The blade swung down without knowing how much to add or subtract, ripping through the bear's thick fur and carving its flesh. Blood spattered, but my hand didn't stop.

My body moves of its own accord. I was able to recognize my situation from a distance.

Blood splattered on my face and eyes. But there was no pain. If I had a sense of pain, I'd be in a lot of pain right now.

My arms are thin. I've never held a thing, never even swung a sword. Would my thin arms be able to tear through the thick skin and flesh of a wild beast?　Would my jaws, which hadn't been eating well, be able to bite through the flesh of a hexenbiest, even if only partially?

If you think about it, it's impossible. If a bear and I were to fight, ten times out of ten, I would lose without even thinking about it. Even if I were lucky enough to land a blow, it would never be enough to kill the bear.

But right now, I see the exact opposite. The bear was still twitching, but the machete I had given it had cut deep into its flesh, right down to the bone. Clearly a mortal wound.

How was I able to defeat this mighty beast? I guessed the main reason from the eerie shock I felt in my arm as I swung the machete down.

"Enough, it's dead. Stop it.

The Lord's command made my arm stop moving as if it was broken. His breathing is unsteady. No fatigue, no pain. There is no such thing as undead.

I just look down at my right arm gently. My right arm is so bloody it looks like it's about to rot away.

As far as I could see, my right arm had not been attacked. It was probably a reaction to hitting the bear with the machete as hard as I could.

If I had a sense of pain, I couldn't have continued the attack. Or at least I couldn't put any pressure on it. That kind of wound.

No, that's not all. The headbutt to the stomach on approach and the left arm that had been hit by the thick paw strike were both powerful enough to disable me with a single blow if I were still alive.

A broken bone protruded from my left arm, and the finger that had scrambled the back of my brain was bent in the wrong direction.

It could attack with all its might, without regard to injury, pain, or fatigue. Perhaps that is the strength of the undead.

But that doesn't mean their bodies are unharmed. The wolves that the Lord followed were still wounded along the way.

My body, which had been tormented by so much pain, now felt no pain at all. This fact shocked me even more than when I realized that I had been reborn as an undead.

The Lord glanced at the carcass of the bear, then examined my body from top to bottom, and frowned.

So much for ...... doing so much with a diseased corpse. Good, huh? If you can't use it now, you can use it later.

That's a terrible thing to say after forcing someone to fight. But I can't say it back.

The Lord sighs and points his wand at my congested flesh.

He chanted a few small incantations. It was a different spell from the white wizard's recovery spell I'd received so many times on my sickbed.

"From the abyss come the timeless, the living dead, negative force. Reverse Force.

A purple light flashed on the tip of my wand, and a sickening sensation ran through the wound. The blood in my right arm instantly receded, and my broken left arm snapped back into place. Bones writhe in my body, returning to their proper place. The jaw is repaired and the teeth that should have been shattered are restored.

I have heard that recovery magic is a very difficult magic. It costs a lot of money to heal even a broken bone with magic.

I don't know if healing spells for the undead are of the same difficulty, but I do know that Lord is an excellent magic user.

I've heard that the use of magic is accompanied by a strong fatigue, but the Lord healed my wounds and didn't disturb my breath.

I had expected this from the fact that he lives deep in the forest, but it seems that he is no ordinary person.

Lord Horos took a look at my wounds, confirmed that they were healing without any problems, and said with an unamused expression on his face.

I'll find another one. End, follow me.

In the end, I was forced to fight a total of five terrifying monsters that day.

§§

After the battle, I was taken to the basement again. Apparently, I was basically put in the basement.

Perhaps I'm like a sword to a swordsman.

With the Lord gone and the basement quiet, I had plenty of time to think.

I knew my condition well. My body works. No fatigue, no pain. I can see at night. By the way, Lord's breath was white in this basement. The room temperature is supposed to be low, but he doesn't feel cold at all, which is probably a characteristic of his current body.

As for his body, everything about it is better than before he was born, except that he has no sense of pain, so he might not even notice if his body is damaged.

I also found out that Lord is a powerful mage and has several powerful minions in addition to me.

I also saw a night wolf and some walking human bones on my way back. These are the skeletons that are often used by necromancers in stories. That was all I saw, but in the story, the necromancer was controlling a lot of undead. It is natural to assume that there are many other undead being manipulated. Of course, we also need to consider the fighting ability of the Lord himself.

But I couldn't understand the purpose of the Lord.

Why did he bring me back to life when I was so weak and sickly? Even if he wanted me to be his bodyguard, he could have chosen any number of other options.

And most of all, I'm curious about the difference between Lord's assumption and my current situation.

Some time after Lord disappeared, I started moving again.

I went to the door without making a sound and carefully grasped the knob. The door makes a creaking sound and shudders, but there is no sign of Lord's return.

Gently, you put pressure on it. The door, which at first seemed insurmountable, opened quietly and easily.

My eyes widen and I grab the edge of the doorway with my right hand.

Then I slowly take a step out with my right foot.

The sole of my foot touches the floor, outside the room.

--Just as I thought.

I can get out. I couldn't get out the first time I was put on standby, but now I can.

What's the difference from the first time?

Lord didn't give the order when he left me this time. He didn't order me to stay in the room like he did the first time.

So now I'm free to leave the room without being bound by orders.

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With a thud, I felt my heart jump, even though it had stopped beating.

This is the difference. The difference between Lord's assumption and my current situation.

Lord never envisioned the possibility of my escape. It's not like he forgot to give the order. A mage who controls the dead can't be that stupid.

Perhaps the first order was not specifically intended. It was probably just a random comment.

And why didn't he anticipate the possibility of my escape?

If my heart hadn't stopped, it would have been beating fast with tension.

I was lucky.

I thank my past self. I was really lucky that I didn't call out to Lord when I first woke up.

Come to think of it, everything he's ever said has sounded like he was talking to himself. Even when he was giving me orders, there was no indication that he was asking me what I wanted.

He retracted his foot, closed the door gently, and returned to where he had been standing a moment ago.

It was too careless to walk around the house in this situation. You should at least know Lord's daily activity pattern.

If I'm guessing correctly, Lord doesn't know I'm self-aware yet.

I don't have enough information yet, but I don't think I'm far off the mark, since he confirmed that he could communicate with me, and he didn't say anything to me even if I didn't say anything to him.

Above all, if you know that there is still self-consciousness, there should be more 'first orders'.

This must not go unnoticed.

Keep your hands slack and your posture like a statue. Whatever you were going to do, you had a chance.

The more cards in your hand, the better, whether you're going up against the Lord or not.

§ § § §

And so my new life began.

My role was to assist Lord Horos. My main job was to escort him when he went out in the field and hunt.

The Lord used me to hunt Hexenbiests and use their carcasses to create new undead.

You get used to it. At first, I was not very good at fighting, but the more I fought, the more efficient I became. I no longer need to use barbaric methods such as biting.

My body was pain-free, fatigue-free, and my backup load was perfect. No matter how much of an amateur you are, you can't lose when you've been set up like this.

And in the course of those battles, I learned that Lord was not only a master of using undead and healing magic, but was also quite skilled in offensive magic.

He effortlessly buried the hexenbiest that I had accidentally sent behind me. And he did it in an instant, without a trace. And the Lord showed no emotion at the fact that I had let a hexenbiest through.

That's when I realized once again the horror of magic. Lord didn't see the hexenbiests in this forest as enemies.

They were clearly stronger than me. There was no way that he would set up a mansion in a forest inhabited by magical beasts that he couldn't handle, but subconsciously I had assumed that this old mage was not good at fighting.

But at this rate, it will be impossible to use the ...... magical beast to bury Lord.

In the first place, at this stage, I don't know what will happen to me as a result of defeating the Lord.

In fairy tales, the undead who lose their masters do not disappear, but wander in this world forever, but the truth is unknown.

By the time a week had passed, I was able to defeat the night wolf almost unscathed if it was a single opponent.

I think I've gotten pretty good at swinging the machete he gave me. The trick is to swing with your whole body to inflict fatal wounds on your opponent.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's a bit nervous about this.

"......

Naturally, I didn't respond to those words. But it didn't feel right.

The arm that had swung the machete with all its might was not congested like it had been when he had first fought the bear. In the first fight, I had exerted too much unnecessary force due to fear, confusion, and the power of command, and the reaction was probably too great, but I don't think that was the only reason I was able to defeat the night wolf unscathed in just one week.

My body is poor. I was bedridden for several years before I died, so my muscles, bones, skin, internal organs, and everything else must have been weakened. No matter how much the power of the road enables you to exert yourself beyond your limits, if your base is weak, there must be a limit.

My current body is dead. Lord called me a 'fresh man'. If I am dead, I should not be growing physically. I should still be growing, but since I haven't eaten, there's no way my weakened muscles will return to normal.

But he's definitely getting stronger.

Otherwise, it's obviously unnatural that after only one week of actual battle, you've become able to kill demonic beasts like a skilled warrior.

I don't think I had the talent of a warrior.

The Lord looked at me in silence for a while, and then muttered to himself.

I don't think I have any warrior's talent. ...... Is my transformation into a ghoul approaching?　It's early ......, too early, but that's not a bad thing .......

Ghouls" ...... sound familiar. I'm pretty sure they were undead that liked to eat human corpses.

But I don't know much more than that. My only source of information is Lord's ramblings.

It's time to start moving .......

I stared down at Lord's wrinkled forehead and made up my mind.

I already have a pretty good idea of his life cycle. It's dangerous, but I don't think the situation is going to get any better if we just sit around.

And if the mutation is really imminent, we need to know the details before it happens.

Search the house.

The Lord is a mage and a researcher. In the room where he resurrected me, the lab, there are a number of books as well as countless mysterious instruments.

It's too dangerous to break into it, but there must be something else in there somewhere that could explain my current situation.

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