Restarting Life In Another World - 143 4.5 The undead Manor

“Wait, aren’t we supposed to be going straight?” Princess Eliane asked when she noticed that we made a turn.

Even though Markus told Garo about the plan, the princesses still had no idea what happened. I didn’t want to tell them during dinner yesterday, and after that, we directly went inside our tents while leaving the clean up to the knights.

“Yes, princesses, but we stumbled upon something important yesterday night. So, we decided to pay a visit to the nearby village first,” Makus replied.

The seriousness in Markus’s face was making it evident that the matter was of the essence here. That made princess Eliane even more curious.

“Can you tell us more about this important matter?”

Markus looked a little hesitant, but when Princess Anna nodded, he felt reluctant to answer.

“We found a dead body near the river yesterday night, and we fear that there is an active bunch of undead in this region… However, there is nothing to fear since your safety is still our biggest priority. We just happen to have a squad specializing in dealing with the undead, so we decided to look into the matter. This issue can become major if we don’t deal with it on time; I hope you understand.”

“That’s alright; you did the good thing. Also, we aren’t as weak as you assume. We can fight, so let us know if you need any assistance,” Princess Anna replied.

At this point, I was confident that both of them could beat any knight from Garo’s squad. They were both talented, to begin with, and after months of training and adventures, their skills had sharpened even more.

“Thank you, princesses,” Markus replied. Although his face was clearly saying that he was still having a hard time believing what Princess Anna just said. But regardless, he agreed since he didn’t want to start an argument here.

After this conversation, we barely talked since the path was bumpy, and the air around us was hot. Of course, I used wind and water magic together to cool the air around our carriage and wagons, but the roof of the carriage was still hot.

After riding for around six more hours —including breaks— we came across a small forest. According to the map that Markus had, the village was right behind that forest.

We took a break for a while once we reached the forest since the temperature there was significantly cooler. The bumps made the journey more tiring, but even the princesses were used to them at this point.

After we rested for a while and hydrated ourselves, we resumed our journey. From there, it didn’t even take us an hour to reach the Village.

When we reached inside, we could see that the village was occupied by demihumans, mostly people with horse ears, tails, and legs. They only had two legs, which made their appearance less strange. However, it was still a bit odd to me since it was my first time seeing people like these.

As we rode inside the village, I could see many people come out of their houses. They looked somewhat scared, anxious, and even sad. Nobody had a hint of happiness or smile on their faces. It was as if the whole village was grieving for something.

Like last time Garo got down from the wagon first and started talking to the villagers. I didn’t try to get out this time since I already knew the proper procedures in these situations.

After a while, Garo came towards us and knocked on the door of our carriage.

“Lord Markus, I think you should come out for a while. I think there is something you should hear.”

“Alright,” Markus replied.

Since this sounded interesting —and important— I too decided to get down and listen to what that ‘something’ was.

Outside, I could see many eyes that carried sadness and hope. It was odd, but at this point, I could somehow sense those emotions by looking at people’s faces. With time, I was becoming more and more capable of feeling emotions based on one’s facial expressions and pattern of speech.

The two of us were taken to a small hut near the village well. It was a small hut with a wooden table on the center and two wooden benches on both sides.

After the two of us took our seat, Garo brought one of the villages, who appeared to be in his late forties. Of course, the age was just an assumption, as I had no idea how long these demihumans lived.

“He is a village chief of this village”—Garo turned towards the chief—”These two are knights. The man on the left is the first son of the Duke of this province.”

The man bowed deeply after hearing those words. “I am humbled by your presence, my lord. I am not sure what brought you to this cursed village, but I will take this as a sign from the god that the village’s prosperity is about to return.”

Markus stood from his seat. That was unnecessary since he was in a higher rank, but it just showed his humbleness. Following him, I too, stood up.

“Please be seated.”

The village chief looked a little hesitant at the start, but he slowly walked up to the bench in front of us. Almost simultaneously, the three of us also took our seats.

Garo was the only other person inside the hut. The rest of the knights and Jackie were guarding the princesses outside.

“Please be comfortable. There is no need to hesitate, as we are here to help.”

Markus gave the village chief some time to collect thoughts. He looked too nervous even to speak. He was continuously staring at the table and wasn’t even looking straight at our faces. After a while, he finally raised his head and looked at us.

“Now, please tell us everything that happened from the start. We will only be able to help if we know everything.”

“Y-yes, My lord”—the village chief looked down at the table again—”We broke the taboo that we shouldn’t have. There is a legend that you are probably aware of. The one where the Great Earth Dragon king sealed a manor in the earth to suppress evil.”

“Yes, I am aware of that, but what happened. Can you explain from the start?”

At this point, even though his eyes were staring at the table, he looked lost in thoughts.

“We were facing a scarcity since our cattle started dying one after another. Those animals’ dead bodies were poisons so we couldn’t eat them, and soon the whole village went into starvation. In the famine, some villagers tried eating the meat of those dead cattle. None of those who ate that meat survived. In the end, some youths decided to visit the ruins on the hill where the evil was suppressed…”