Volume 3 Chapter 142-3 Linca Training!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The cemetery was silent, save for a lone gravekeeper and a five-person adventurer party having a quiet conversation. From the snippets of their words, it seemed they’d been sent to exterminate the undead that Linca had already defeated. Their gear was basic—rough leather armor, simple steel weapons, each engraved with magical runes. Among them were three swordsmen and two mages, none of whom stood out as particularly powerful. Their magic reserves were low, and their fighting style lacked finesse.
Naturally, Kian and Linca were approached by the group. But, sticking to the plan they’d discussed earlier, they told the adventurers that Linca was a traveling merchant, while Kian was simply a nearby adventurer.
”It seems the merchant lost her companions near Ramsey,” one of the adventurers said. “Probably because of the Bloodsucking Kind wandering around here. I came from the south looking for a quest, but ended up patrolling this area after being asked to investigate those same creatures.”
”Did you go out at night?” another adventurer asked Linca.
She nodded, her face still serious. “Yes. We were rushing to keep our goods from spoiling.”
”Lord Owl warned everyone,” the adventurer continued. “Even with the Bloodsucking Kinds nearby, if you stay inside the village at night, you should be fine.”
”Hah, prioritizing goods over your own life… I’ve heard eastern folk are all about money. You seem like one of those greedy types.”
”…”
Linca lowered her gaze, a sad silence hanging between them.
The warriors began eyeing her. Their gazes slid down her elegant features, her full chest, her long, pure white legs. The expressions on their faces slowly turned base, lecherous.
Kian, noticing their stares, stepped forward and blocked their view, causing the men to take an instinctive step back.
Kian was a towering figure, easily over two meters tall, and even without any special enhancements, his raw physical presence was enough to intimidate the roughest of men.
He casually wrapped an arm around Linca’s waist, his voice polite but firm. “Excuse me,” he said, before stepping past them into the cemetery.
”This is where the reanimated undead are buried.”
Linca gestured to a gravestone near the altar at the back. Kian knelt down on the soil, blocking the gravekeeper’s view as Linca activated her magic. Bones began to rise from the earth, the skull almost complete, the skeleton intact.
”Judging by the teeth, she was in her early twenties,” Linca observed. “And from the size of her pelvis… she’s female.”
”Yes,” Kian agreed, “She would sneak out at night to drain blood… and more from the men in the village.”
”Her canines were elongated. Her bones are unnaturally strong. These are no ordinary human remains.”
”She must’ve been enhanced by the blood of the undead lord. She probably had incredible strength, but she was defeated before she could show her full potential.”
”Did you destroy her heart?”
Linca shook her head.
”No. It’s not just the heart. Some zombie soldiers can still move even if their heart is destroyed. Vital points are the same as they were when they were alive. You need to target both the brain and the heart.”
”――――.”
Kian narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the bones. He leaned in closer, inhaling deeply.
There it was. A burnt smell, the scent of charred flesh clinging to the bones. And then…
A second, more subtle scent—a thick, iron-like smell of blood.
”This is…”
Kian’s voice was barely a whisper.
”The scent of Mr. Owl’s blood.”
His mind raced back to the taste of vampire blood from the battle at Izerland Fortress. Beastmen wine sommeliers could tell the taste of wine by its smell, but Kian had become a blood sommelier in his own right. He paused, savoring the scent.
Yes. It was unmistakable. The black blood of Mr. Owl. Kian, with his close connection to the subspecies, could tell instantly.
This woman had been turned into a zombie using Owl’s blood after death.
”Are you sure?”
”Absolutely,” Kian replied. “I’ve tasted his blood before. This is the same scent I can’t forget.”
”It’s risky to draw conclusions based on scent alone. But, given the other circumstances, it’s highly likely that he’s involved.”
”Restore the bones,” Kian ordered.
Linca nodded, using her hidden magic to gently envelop the bones, returning the woman’s remains beneath the grave’s earth once again. Though she didn’t openly criticize Mr. Owl, Linca couldn’t ignore the fact that this was a violation of life itself.
”What will you do now, Sir Kian?” Linca asked after finishing the task.
Kian stood up straight, his lips tight. He looked at her, then back at the gravekeeper.
”I’m supposed to meet Lord Owl, right? You think I should negotiate with him?”
”Ms. Sarah probably gave you the order to negotiate. Disobeying might disrupt her plans and endanger Umar and the others,” Linca said. “We should stick to the plan and ask for Lord Owl’s cooperation.”
”I’m glad you’re not like Rean. He’d probably just rush in and attack Mr. Owl without a second thought.”
From his perspective, Owl’s powerful magical power and soul would be a treat.
In fact, that would be his main reason for wanting to kill him, and he would surely be happy to have a justification for doing so.
Linca’s smile was bittersweet.
”If he’s a demon who drains blood, he should be judged by Azrael’s left hand.”
”Originally, I planned to ask the guards at Ramsey for an audience with Mr. Owl. But first, it might be worth checking the joint cemetery between the Adventurer Guild and Ramsey. If there are any bodies with Owl’s blood, that would be a huge red flag.”
Notes:
• Linca – Jibril’s favorite girl. High-ranking warrior monk woman from Shin, with strong abilities like ignoring attacks and poisons.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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