No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

Skeleton.

A skeleton resurrected by wicked magic placed over the remains in the graveyard. So infamous that it had become cliché.

Isn’t it true for everyone? Just like how one thinks of the knight when they hear “orc” and the brawler when they hear “goblin,” when it comes to undead, it must be the skeleton!

At this point, you could almost call it the poster child of undead.

Thus, even though I witnessed a bipedal skeleton, all I felt was indifference.

I had a bipedal lizard next to me, after all. What’s a walking skeleton compared to that?

“Skeleton…! A wicked creature that defies the laws of life and death…!”

On the other hand, Bolton’s reaction upon seeing the skeleton was pure lunacy.

“Urrghh…! Blasphemous, so blasphemous! How can it be this blasphemous?!”

Bolton half-rolled his eyes and shouted loudly, as if he were having a seizure. The veins bulged from his forehead, jaw, and neck, making his face scarier than the skeleton’s.

Which one exactly is the monster here?

“By the power of Lady Elianel’s mace!!!”

Bolton yelled and charged at them.

What mace? This guy had ditched the mace for a spear, saying it was hard to use!

“Save that for later. We’re only at the entrance of this level, and there are just four of them.”

“Grrr…!”

Speak like a human, will you?

I stretched my left arm back to block Bolton, preventing him from charging recklessly.

If ‘Arrow of Judgment’, the goddess’s offensive miracle, were used, it could take down a skeleton in one hit, but… Bolton could only cast that four times.

So we should avoid wasting it here.

The warrior holds back a bit while saving magic from the mages and priests, then unleashes it against a strong foe they can’t handle.

That’s the basic strategy for dungeons.

So—

“Kikel, take care of the two on the right, please.”

“Kakkak! Leave it to me!”

Kikel dashed out as if he were facing a dog chew toy.

I leaped forward toward the left skeleton, with my long sword resting on my shoulder.

Kiiigigig!

With no excess fat, he was surprisingly quick and immediately jabbed at me with two rusty spears.

Seeing the spearheads bright red with rust, I thought if I got stabbed there, I’d surely get tetanus.

“Haah!”

I swung down my sword diagonally in one movement, cutting through one skeleton’s spear and then crashing into it with my right shoulder.

Crack!

Beyond the crushed rib cage, the dropped spine shattered like Lego bricks, scattering like snowflakes.

Then, I slapped the skull that lost its support with my left hand, creating a thud as a fist-sized hole appeared in its face.

What a pathetic durability.

Sure, it’s revived with magic, but at the end of the day, it’s just human bones. Can a stone fist not defeat a steel fist?

“Graaaahhh…!”

They can even speak, huh?

Maybe angered by seeing its half-body companion, another skeleton nimbly approached and thrust its spear toward my lower abdomen.

A spot not covered by armor. Whether it showed intelligence or instinct, it was a wise choice.

But the best choice would have been to not attack at all.

CLANG!

A diagonal cut, a crucial strike. The spear tip deflected off my sword and got embedded in the dungeon ceiling, along with the arm that couldn’t bear the impact.

“Grah…?”

The skeleton, now unable to use its double weapons, lifted its head in a daze as if looking up at a lover who just broke things off.

Its gaze was so pitiful, I couldn’t help but want to kick its calf and create a show of dissatisfaction.

Since it lost its arms and legs, it could probably find six new lovers, I guess.

◆◆

The battle ended in an instant.

Despite its threatening appearance, a skeleton was weak enough to be matched by a couple of goblins.

While they kept getting back up until the magic within their bones ran out, it was a bit troublesome, but that was meaningless when more than two were involved.

If you mixed up their bones, their powers collided, and they couldn’t regenerate, just collapsing instead.

Before this fact was revealed, they were evaluated as more dangerous than goblins, but after it was, they were treated just like pushovers.

However, there was one slightly troubling issue…

“Skeletons… Could there be Abyss Priests hiding around?”

The existence of skeletons meant that the sorcerer who created them might also be lurking somewhere nearby.

“Abyss!! Priest!!!”

Bolton exclaimed with bulging eyes. With light radiating from his glaring pupils, it was insane.

Abyss Priest.

Unlike regular mages who practice magic merely as knowledge and technique, they’re heretical sorcerers who believe magic itself is divine miracles.

They think reaching the abyss of knowledge will let them welcome the “God of Magic.”?

Under that pretext, they delve into all sorts of unethical magic, and for the goddess’s order, they’re a cult that must be burned down at all costs.

Skeletons were one of the lowest-level summons of these Abyss Priests.

“Those guys are quite annoying…”

Abyss Priests specialize in bizarre magic like necromancy, curses, and monstrosity summoning. They’re quite a bothersome bunch to deal with.

If a fireball comes flying, at least you can dodge, but curses where you can’t even know the effect until it hits you? There’s really no way to prepare against those.

If there’s a priest among the party, it’d be a bit better, but that too depends on the priest.

Unfortunately, Bolton had no divine miracles related to purification. Maybe because his accumulated good deeds were still too shallow?

In game terms, that meant he didn’t have the required level.

“Don’t worry about that.”

Amy shook her head.

“The flow of magic is too rough for it to have been created by a sorcerer. It’s a naturally occurring entity.”

“Do humans normally turn into skeletons?”

Kikel asked, his pupils vertically slit, as if questioning whether humans naturally become skeletons when they die.

“Usually not. It’s probably due to magic leaking out from some grimoires.”

Of course, that can’t be right. If dead corpses automatically resurrected as skeletons, then surely there would be no burial culture in this world.

All corpses would’ve been ground to dust and thrown into places like rivers.

“No gain here.”

Amy sighed and grumbled. When I asked her why, she cleared her throat lightly and explained the details.

The existence of naturally occurring undead was a sure sign of a grimoire located deep in this dungeon, but that’s not something one would be pleased about.

A grimoire that can raise corpses to undead simply through the leaking magic.

That meant the magic contained within was likely necromantic spells.

If it were Abyss Priests, they’d be cheering and celebrating, but for an ordinary sorceress like Amy, it was more like a troublesome burden.

Because necromancy was one of those heretical magics designated as forbidden by the Goddess Church.

While it might be something Abyss Priests would pursue, for a regular sorceress to practice necromancy, it would be akin to sniffing cocaine naked on a busy street corner.

Given that the authorities would show up to apprehend you within five minutes.

No, considering the fervor of religious folks in this world, they might just burn you alive on the spot instead of detaining you.

So, it was no wonder she felt disappointed. The grimoire discovered turned out to be just like a fugu dish with a burst belly.

“So, should we just go back?”

I asked if we should return now. After all, if the grimoire couldn’t be eaten, what was the point of finding it?

But Amy shook her head.

“No, that’s not it. Even if I can’t use it myself, having it will be proof that the investigation is complete.”

Well, she had a point there.

“What are you talking about!? Such a wicked grimoire should be burned the moment it is discovered!”

Bolton leaned forward and shouted.

His fervent religious calling had veins popping out, making him look like a tapeworm.

“Then you won’t receive your reward? After I report to the mage tower, we’ll burn it right away, so bear with it. If you don’t want to work for nothing.”

“Ah. Then it can’t be helped.”

Upon hearing no money would be given, Bolton immediately switched his attitude. His change was faster than a blinking eye.

If he were in Korea, he’d probably become an exemplary craftsman in Udyr.

“I might be fine with it, but you two should take what you’ve earned.”

I thought he would be an unexpectedly money-oriented fellow, but in reality, it was surprisingly normal.

He changed his stance to consider Kikel and me.

…Hmm, maybe it wasn’t so bad to tease him about being an Udyr craftsman.

“If you could only confirm burning it, that would be no problem. So, may I witness this?”

So, I just had to confirm later.

I thought he’d be stubborn about religious matters like a fanatic priest, but surprisingly, he was quite flexible.

“If you want to.”

Amy nodded happily.

◆◆

After finishing our conversation, we continued exploring this layer of the dungeon, smashing every visible skeleton.

It was truly endless, as if it were a mass grave or something.

Even Amy and Bolton, who had just been watching from the backlines, had to participate in battle now and then.

“Invisíbĭlis Marcus!”

“These blasphemous things!”

Amy smashed the skeleton with the magic “Invisible Hammer,” and Bolton swung his spear like a club, shattering its skull.

From the way they moved, it was clear they had experience busting a few heads.

While those two dealt with four skeletons, Kikel and I darted around, taking on several more.

“Kakkak! Now it’s getting warm!”

Kikel strapped a shield on his back, drew his axe with his left hand, and swung it around like a drugged-up mastermind.

The dual weapons in his hands crushed the bones with wild joy, playing a joyous rhythm like otherworldly death metal.

What a lively beat it was.

I twisted my body, dancing to avoid rusty spear blades while picking off the skeletons when they exposed their openings.

Thud!

Right after that, I capitalized on an enemy opening, confirming each kill.

“Haah!”

I wrapped my sword around an incoming spear, deflected it, and thrust my sword through a skull, then used that head as a club to smash another skeleton.

Crack!

Then, I picked up a rusty mace from the scattered remains and slammed it down vertically on the nearest foe.

Thud!

It felt like snapping off bamboo shoots. The skeleton shattered from head to pelvis, sending bones flying everywhere.

Handling it was somewhat awkward since it operated differently from the long sword, but against skeletons, a blunt weapon was much more effective.

In any case, we pushed through this level.

The skeletons, which had started multiplying, began to vary in type, and after a while, there were ones with shields, ones in armor, and even ones with bows.

They must be warriors buried with their gear.

Unlike those with only rusty spears, they moved fiercely, retaining their former equipment.

Among them, there were even some wielding weapons that, even after all this time, remained unblemished and sharp.

It seems there’s a gap between the undead too. Those who had a bit of cash in life felt superior even in death.

“That sword! Looks good!”

“Could fetch a decent price.”

Of course, for now, they were only our meal.

While the wielders had good weapons, what good was it against users like us, weak as they were?

Skeleton warriors were fast, but their strength was pathetic, durability even worse.

Kikel couldn’t stand it, and neither could my punches, which shattered them.

“Crack…!”

Maybe because there were just too many enemies, Kikel sometimes let a blind spear or blade hit him…

“It tickles!”

Even so, it wasn’t a wound worth mentioning.

His fur cloak and quilted armor might get torn, but as long as the scales weren’t pierced, it was nothing.

Could this be what it means to be a lizardman?

Ignoring the disadvantage of weakening in cold places, it would be hard to find a more excellent race as a warrior.

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