After traveling for roughly another hour, the carriage finally came to a stop.
Roseliel impatiently hopped off the carriage and let out a big stretch, looking like a cat that had just woken up.
"Fi~~~nal~~~ly out of the carriage!"
Behind her, Lucia and Mona stepped out one after the other, both looking a bit weary.
Dusk was fast approaching, and the lingering rays of sunset cast a layer of warm glow over the entire town.
Lucia seemed to recall something and turned to ask the other two, "It doesn't matter much to me, but is it really alright for you two to leave the Royal Capital so casually?"
"No problem at all! I had someone send a letter with instructions before we left," Roseliel said, waving her hand dismissively.
Mona nodded along as well. "I'm fine too."
Lucia asked no further questions and turned toward the town entrance. "Let's go, then."
Maple Creek Town was much smaller than Roseliel had imagined. The wooden sign at the entrance had been weathered by wind and rain until its text was faded, though one could faintly make out the words "Maple Creek Town," with an unidentified flower carved beside them.
A dirt road of moderate width stretched from the town entrance into the distance. Lined along both sides were neat yet somewhat aged wooden houses, thin wisps of cooking smoke drifting from their chimneys. On a distant hillside stood a windmill, its blades turning slowly in the breeze.
Roseliel looked all around, her gaze settling on a church in the distance.
As expected of a world where gods actually exist—even a tiny town like this comes equipped with one of these.
The overall scene was identical to the background CGs from her previous life.
As they ventured deeper, Lucia's brow furrowed tightly. Her steps slowed, and she drew a little closer to Mona and Roseliel.
"It's too quiet. Unnaturally quiet."
"It must be because the Snake Cultists did something to this town," Roseliel picked up where she left off, her tone laced with just the right amount of doubt. "Have either of you noticed anything abnormal?"
"Too many to count," Lucia said, her face filled with disgust. "Just the suffocating stench of the dead alone makes me want to immediately call people to purify this place."
Mona, on the other hand, seemed slightly more energized than before. "I actually feel a bit more comfortable than earlier..."
Roseliel, of course, was well aware of the town's secrets.
The Snake Cult certainly wouldn't do something like "sneak quietly into town without making a scene."
Constantly creating chaos, they had casually corrupted this town while assembling, turning the vast majority of the townspeople into undead and sacrificing their souls to the Snake God.
The town's superficial normalcy was maintained entirely by the lingering habits the undead retained from life. Combined with the town's obscurity and its location off the main roads, they had managed to keep it hidden until now.
"Do you think..." Roseliel offered her "guess," deliberately letting her voice drop lower and lower, acting as though she were terrified, "...could it be that there are no living people left in this town?"
Lucia's body visibly stiffened for a moment before she immediately shook her head. "Impossible!"
"Should we... ask one of the townspeople?" Mona suggested.
"Guessing won't get us anywhere," Roseliel said, raising a hand to point toward a slightly more grand house nearby. "Let me go ask over there."
It was a two-story building set a short distance apart from the surrounding houses. Its outer walls looked newer than the rest of the buildings in town, resembling the residence of a mayor or elder.
"I'll knock on the door!"
After approaching the house, Roseliel enthusiastically raised her hand and stepped forward.
She knew full well what would happen after she knocked.
Three and a half living, breathing people (Roseliel counted as one, Mona as half, and Lucia as two) overflowing with the aura of the living, stepping into a town filled with the dead.
It was just like three fat sheep walking right in front of a pack of starving wolves.
Knock, knock, knock.
Three knocks resounded.
"Hello! We are passing travelers looking to stay for the night!" Roseliel put on a pretense as she gave her excuse.
Then, the door slowly creaked open.
"Eeegh!"
Just as the door swung halfway open, a withered old woman lunged out frantically, holding a rusty kitchen knife in her hand with its blade thrusting straight toward Roseliel!
Even though she was prepared, the attack came a few seconds earlier than she had anticipated. Roseliel immediately tried to dodge, but—
She had overestimated the physical capability of this body!
Before this, Roseliel had always been a delicate noble daughter who couldn't endure the slightest hardship, having barely engaged in any proper physical training. She almost exclusively traveled by carriage, making her reaction speed far slower than she expected.
Oh no! I can't dodge in time!
Just as Roseliel reflexively crossed her arms in a defensive stance, bracing herself to take the blow head-on—
A powerful yank pulled at her neck, making her feel like a cat grabbed by the scruff of its neck.
Yanked violently backward, she watched as the old woman's lunge missed completely. The old woman crashed onto the floorboards, her kitchen knife embedding itself with a loud clatter.
It was terrifying to imagine what would have happened if that blow had hit a person.
The original Roseliel is still screwing me over!
The person who pulled Roseliel was, of course, Lucia. She used the momentum to push Roseliel back into Mona's arms.
She then darted forward, her longsword unsheathing from her waist, its point leveled at the woman on the ground.
"Don't move!" she shouted loudly.
Because Roseliel had blocked her line of sight earlier, she hadn't fully seen what happened and had pulled Roseliel away purely on instinct.
"Don't hold back! That thing isn't human anymore!" Roseliel shouted to Lucia, having finally caught her breath.
"Urghhh!" The woman twisted herself upward in an utterly unnatural pose, pulled the kitchen knife out of the floorboards, and lunged at Lucia once more.
Only then did Lucia see the true face of the old woman as she raised her head:
Skin clinging to bone, sunken eye sockets, lifeless eyes—she was already the textbook image of a living corpse.
A flash of pity flickered in Lucia's eyes before turning into resolve. With a flick of her wrist, she easily parried the kitchen knife from the woman's hand, then sidestepped out of the way, causing her to miss once again.
Taking advantage of this opening, she swung her sword toward the creature's neck.
So hard!
That was her initial sensation as her blade struck. It didn't feel like striking a human, but rather a block of stone.
This was a characteristic of early-stage corpseification: the body's bones would harden significantly.
Lucia didn't hesitate. Her eyes glowed faintly, and a faint light enveloped her blade, allowing the sword to slice forward much more smoothly.
Shing!
The sharp blade swept across the neck, cleanly severing the head in its entirety. The cross-section was spotless, without a single drop of blood spilling out.
The headless body continued to twist eerily, its hands flailing aimlessly in the air.
Swish, swish, swish!
Lucia delivered several more slashes, chopping the body to pieces, until it finally fell completely silent.
Watching her move, Roseliel was filled with envy.
I wanted super-duper badly to be a hero who punishes evil and protects others in a world of swords and magic like this!
Unfortunately, the person I transmigrated into has zero martial strength and zero magic. Aside from good looks and a wealthy family background, she's completely useless.
Still, there was no time to dwell on such thoughts now.
This ambush seemed to serve as a bugle call. One door after another in the town creaked open, and living corpse after living corpse emerged from within.
Dressed in the clothes they wore in life and holding the tools they had once used for their livelihoods, they swarmed toward the trio like ants.
Low, guttural growls resonated from their throats, blending into a horrifying chorus.
"Damn it! This town has completely fallen!" Lucia tightened her grip on her sword, her expression brimming with fury.
Roseliel tugged at the corner of her shirt and urged her, "Run! There are too many of them!"
Although Maple Creek Town wasn't large, it still housed several hundred people. With all of them turned into living corpses, they rivaled a small army; there was no way the three of them could defeat them all.
Lucia didn't hesitate as she scanned their surroundings. "Where to?"
"Over there!"
Roseliel raised her hand, pointing to the only place in town that still offered peace—the windmill on the hillside.
"We're going there!"
Rate on N.U.
