“Hmph… is Senri yet to return?”
“Yeah. For God’s sake, what’s even keeping her? That… is just a monster!”
Neville looked at the clock, vexed. The clock showed that it was already time for the sun to set.
Senri had left her room a little after dawn.
The Death Knights had returned after having calculated the time it would take for the solar penalty to succeed. Upon seeing them, Senri had immediately surmised what had transpired and rushed off before she could even be stopped.
Lufry frowned remembering how Senri looked ready to break into tears.
The main objective of the Death Knights this time, was the subjugation of the second-class necromancer, Horus Carmon, and that had already been accomplished.
Which also meant the promotion of Senri Silvis to first-class, but the present atmosphere did not really put them in a mood for celebration.
Senri had the quality of naivety. It could be seen as kindness in an ordinary man, but it was something unnecessary to a Death Knight.
The Death Knights who battle against the forces of darkness employ any and all measures to succeed in their missions. All of which may not always be righteous.They may need to resort to torture or even grant gruesome deaths to serve as a warning. They may need to kill humans who have chosen the side of darkness or even disregard the lives of hostages. There are also people who became knights solely due to the resentment they held towards dark beings.
And all of that is accepted by society. Due to the existence of beings that a normal human is powerless against, beings that are said to get stronger by absorbing death energy, ones that possess abilities far surpassing the living; the undead, are the greatest enemy of mankind.
This time, Epée had uttered a falsehood to Senri. After declaring that the harmless undead, Senri was supposed to have met would be allowed to exist, he had sent the other Death Knights to hunt it down.
Nevertheless, Epée did not regret his actions whatsoever.
He did feel bad about lying to Senri. And he also realized that it would hurt Senri. However, regret, he did not.
Since he had only done what was right as a Death Knight.
Senri is precious. The power of her blessing only grows stronger with every passing day and she has already surpassed her seniors in the blink of an eye.
The only thing that is left to train… is her mind. She is too mentally ill-prepared to be a Death Knight. Hence this affair should serve as a big chance.
Fortunately, she is smart. I am sure she will see reason if we talk things out. She only needs a bit of time to settle her emotions for now.
Because there can never be an undead that is harmless.
It is in their instincts to attack humans. They envy life.
A ‘Ghoul’ feasts on human corpses and a ‘Dark Stalker’ preys on humans in the dark. A ‘Vampire’ feeds on the blood of humans. To the undead, humans are nothing more than livestock.
The undead are a curse. The abominable necromancers cast a curse on them to make them that way.
Hence the Death Knights, cleanse their souls and bestow death upon them.
“But Master, is it even possible for something that died once to be reborn as an undead with its memories intact? I know that vampires are capable of making the people they feed on to become faithful to them… but that undead was certainly not acting on its instincts. It didn’t try to attack us.”
“The reason it didn’t attack us is probably because Thelma shot through its leg at the very beginning. It’s just a coincidence! Remember all the undead we’ve come across so far? Words can’t get through to those things!”
Thundered Neville and clicked his tongue.
Neville can be a bit of a ruffian, but he has the strongest will amongst them to fight against the undead. The Order needed people like him.
Epée narrowed his eyes and without answering the question, replied in a gentle voice.
“Neville is right. Undead are meant to be extinguished.”
The existence of undead that holds the memories of its past life. That is a secret passed on only to the first-class knights even in the Order.
Death is the final adieu. The reason why people are able to move on from the death of their loved ones, despite being overcome with sorrow is because death is irreversible.
Should the slightest possibility of overturning death were to become known, then the whole world would be thrown into chaos. Maybe even some of the Death Knights might try to revive their fallen comrades by making use of abominable necromancy.
No matter how small that possibility is…it cannot be ignored that people tend to have thisbaseless thought that they are exceptions.
“That said, you should not have sentenced the undead to solar penalty. But instead granted it a quick and painless death. And Neville, that is your shortcoming. I have always been of the thought that solar penalty should not be used except in war.”
“…tch”
I should imagine that the others were less inclined from the look on their faces. They were all scowling at Neville.
Solar penalty is no less than torture to the undead. Actions that inflict meaningless torment are in contradiction to the raison d’étre of the Order of Death Knights, which is the cleansing of sullied souls.
Despite that, the reason why the Order allowed the method of punishment to be practiced, is because it brings some solace to the Knights who hold resentment towards the undead.
Strictly speaking, it should not be done. At the end of the day, the Death Knights are also human beings with feelings and emotions.
However, Epée had more reason to reprimand Neville and it was not only because what he had done was inhumane.
He narrowed his eyes at Neville thinking of his brash actions.
“I remember telling you to make sure to kill the undead. That’s why I had all of you go, despite it being the middle of the night…”
“… Solar penalty means certain death. There’s nothing a Lesser Vampire with only its head left can do, right Master? It can’t be saved nor does it have any friends to help. If there was even the slightest indication otherwise, even I wouldn’t have sentenced it to solar penalty.”
“…”
“I also made sure to check that it couldn’t regenerate. It had completely exhausted its power. Even if it hadn’t, it would probably only last around thirty minutes. Well, it could feel like hours to the monster though…”
“Master, Neville’s right. It is true that his emotions got the better of him and solar penalty was not what we had originally planned, but that undead was so… unsettling that Neville was forced to do it.”
Maybe she had recalled the events, for Thelma shuddered.
Typically, the undead are instinctive creatures. And in accordance with those instincts, they attack the living. The sense of self that ghouls begin to sprout also places their naturally strong instincts above all else.
However, the undead that possess memories from their past lives… are different.
It is unclear whether that is due to the peculiarity of the particular specimen or is the result of human memories co-existing with undead instincts. Nevertheless, undead that possess memories of their past lives came to be considered ‘singular’.
There are not many undead that are reborn with their memories intact, so there have only been a handful of precedents. There are records of battle against such singular undead back in the headquarters.
They are… beings with the body of a monster and the mind of a human. They need to be culled while still weak.
Even if that undead has not attacked any humans at this point in time, its existence can still never be forgiven.
“Neville. She’s had enough time. Go and bring back Senri. We can’t waste time in this town forever.”
“Gah… The fact that she hasn’t returned yet should mean she’s still holding it against us? She can be really stubborn. Would I even be able to persuade her to return with me…”
“I may have been the one to send you on this mission but you were the one who chose solar penalty as the method of punishment. It is your responsibility to provide a proper explanation for doing so, Neville. It’s alright, Senri is a strong girl. She can face any ordeal. She should understand where you’re coming from if you have a proper talk with her.”
Upon Epée’s recommendation, Senri will be promoted to first-class.
Should she become one, she will be permitted to access information about undead with memories. She will come to know of that ‘threat’ as well.
Although I wish she had not met that undead at this juncture in her life, such a wish was pointless anymore.
“… See you later. I’ll go get myself punched by the naive princess…”
Neville got to his feet, sighed and looked thoroughly displeased.
And right at that very minute, as though divined, there was a small knock at the door.
Everyone’s attention turned to the door in unison. The presence behind the door felt strikingly similar to that of Senri’s.
Neville visibly relaxed a little. He looked around at his peers with an exaggerated eye roll and said,
“Senri! You sure took your time. How long are you planning to brood over it?. The Master was starting to worry—”
“!! Wait, Neville–!”
Epée had felt that something was off but it was already too late when he tried to stop Neville.
Neville unlocked the door and turned the knob.
“… Ahh, sorry for the trouble. Thanks. I thought ‘I shouldn’t enter uninvited’. I wonder if that’s because I’m still a vampire even though I’m only a Lesser.”
The door creaked open a little. Neville’s face that was relaxed looked momentarily befuddled before it turned taut.
The slender silhouette sauntered into the room.
The man who exuded the exact same aura as Senri, narrowed his deep crimson eyes and smiled thinly.