“Professor. We should be cautious. The entrance is relatively narrow, so there may be a brief opening, but-“

It’s only a matter of time before they come pouring in.

I let out a sigh and rose from my seat.

“Lady Chris, be careful. Those bastards freeze their prey solid and then drain their mana. Without supporting your own body, it’s hard to move again.”

Bandage chimed in with a word.

If you’re going to bother saying something, at least tell me the counterstrategy. And stop making that face that says, ‘Hmph, someone like you would find even this advice tedious.’

Anyway, if that’s their characteristic, it’s actually fortunate we’re facing them in a place like this. This tactic is guaranteed to work.

The Protagonist nodded as if reading my thoughts.

“It comes down to that after all, Professor. The only option is for that bandaged lunatic to take responsibility and be offered as a sacrifice…….”

Right, just sacrifice Bandage. ……No, wait, hey. That’s not it! Would that even work!

“Young master, don’t use this opening to quietly dispose of someone you don’t like. Push your luck too far and you’ll lose your head.”

“Tch.”

Did he just say ‘tch’? When did his character get this rotten, huh? ‘Chris’ can’t exactly teach him manners.

-creak, creak, screeech…….

Well, whatever. He’ll deal with this guy, settle his past, and grow on his own. That’s what Protagonists do.

I took a step forward.

If there’s one thing I’m certain about regarding these monsters-

“Michael, Maria. Step back.”

They’ll always target me first. Who else here has as much mana and looks as appetizing?

[Bead: Hey hey hey, something’s spewing from its mouth?! Why aren’t you dodging? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of blocking it with me-]

Oh, great idea, thanks Bead. I’ll definitely try that next time!

I casually extended my hand forward. Then, light flashed from the ring on my finger.

‘The Ring of Reflection from the last quest reward.’

Its effect was to reflect a single attack. Simply wearing it would automatically trigger the effect, but-

-screeeech!

At the exact moment something like seawater poured from the monster’s mouth, I deliberately timed it and lightly snapped my fingers.

Snap!

-creak, screech, it hurts……?!

-kkikeek, mama, geek! geek…….

Pang!

With the sound of air bursting, the seawater—its direction now reversed—crashed over the swarm of monsters. Crowded together in the narrow entrance, there was no room for them to dodge or let it miss.

They seemed to resist by flailing their arms wildly, but.

-ki…….

In the end, they froze solid like stone and could no longer move.

Oh, the performance is absolutely killer.

Inwardly surprised, I maintained an expression that said this was trivial, lightly dusted my hands, and turned around.

There stood the Protagonist with a somehow bitter expression, and Bandage, whose breathing had grown rough.

“Professor…… you’re amazing as expected. I didn’t even need to step in.”

“Lady Chris, of all times to show me such a provocative display, it had to be when I’m in this state. That’s too cruel. Once my mana recovers, just one sparring match…….”

“They’ll crumble on their own once dawn breaks, so leave them as they are.”

I casually ignored Bandage’s words and addressed only the Protagonist. Then, as if nothing had happened, I sat back down and half-closed my eyes.

[Bead: Wow…….]

What.

[Bead: No, it’s just fascinating how shamelessly you pretended you did it all yourself when it was entirely thanks to an item from start to finish.]

Excuse me. Utilizing items at the right time and place is also my ability. It’s not a complete cheat, you know.

[Bead: So you admit it falls into the realm of cheating?]

Ugh. Can’t I leave this chat room? Repeatedly sending messages I can’t refute is a violation of etiquette, old man.

Or should I use the Bead Shield fair and square next time. Yes, let’s do that! That’s better than using a cheat item to muddle through!

[Bead: Oh my, our Lady Chris. Subduing monsters with a single snap of the fingers—truly, you are worthy of being called the strongest.]

That’s right.

* * *

When dawn broke, the mass of monsters blocking the entrance had vanished. In their place, small magic stones and various miscellaneous objects were left behind.

“These are…….”

The Protagonist couldn’t continue speaking as he picked up the objects and stared at them.

They were probably familiar to him. These creatures were born the same way as the monsters that had chased us through the flower field.

‘Borrowing the System’s terminology, they would be “Spirits.”‘

The quest had clearly stated as much.

[Accept his invitation, spend quality time in the village where Michael lived as a child, comfort the spirits of those who remain, and return.]

‘Spirits’ occasionally arise at sites where massacres have occurred. When objects nearby are exposed to the mana released from a person’s body upon death, they transform into these monsters.

“Then…… the monsters I saw here were really our villagers?”

But he shouldn’t be mistaken. Their souls had long since departed this world.

‘No wonder Twin-braid keeping Bob Hair’s soul trapped was considered so extraordinary.’

“Young master, a monster is a monster. They merely copy the words and actions of the corpses that were nearby when they were born, repeating them like dolls.”

Bandage, whose eyes had regained their light, stood beside him and said.

“Then the surviving humans like yourself, young master, get bewitched and come willingly to be eaten.”

“…….”

“Therefore, it’s best to discard pointless attachments. When a person dies, that’s the end. Isn’t that right, Lady Chris?”

Bandage must have regained enough mana to run his mouth again. I looked down at the Protagonist and spoke.

“Michael, get up. Move. If you don’t burn those, they’ll start moving again at sunset.”

This was wisdom from the original work. In <Hero Rampage>, there had been trouble because someone didn’t clean up afterward.

These monsters begin their activity around sunset and are nothing more than ordinary objects while the sun is up. It’s like a mishmash of vampire and zombie settings.

“……Yes.”

His spirit was completely deflated. What a troublesome fellow.

“This is what happens when you don’t give them a proper funeral. Since you’re already here, you deal with it.”

“Ah…… yes!”

Now it was time to put his deepest past to rest.

“Well then, I should be off as well, Lady Chris. I’d love to stay longer, but I need to continue my experiments before my wounds heal. Look at this, doesn’t it seem rather promising? I lost some mana from my mistake earlier, but I think I can do better next time.”

Excitedly, Bandage extended his arm, which had chunks of monster skin tissue embedded in it.

I thought so. No matter how much the monsters ganged up on him, I couldn’t imagine him getting hurt that badly. That bastard Bandage had been experimenting on his own body and blown himself up.

‘I’m already terrified of how much more of a monster he’ll have become the next time we meet.’

Ugh, crazy bastard. Please let it be later, much later.

“You’ll hear good news soon. Stay well until then.”

After sending Bandage off, the Protagonist and I made our way back up to the village.

“Professor. I think we’ve gathered quite a lot.”

The Protagonist didn’t obsess over collecting all the Spirits—that is, the belongings. He surely knew that would be realistically impossible.

‘Seeing this makes me think he’s grown a little.’

The Protagonist gathered them in an empty lot in the center of the village.

Then, without hesitation, he reached out and ignited a dark crimson flame.

The blaze, growing rapidly as befitting the Protagonist’s fire, soon devoured all the belongings.

“…….”

The Protagonist stood quietly, watching. If I hadn’t spoken up, he probably would have stayed like that for a long while.

“Good.”

“……Yes. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to atone, even like this-“

“No. You realized these people didn’t burn to death, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“Their deaths came before the burning of the village.”

“……?”

“You still don’t understand? If they had burned to death, their belongings would have been destroyed, leaving no opportunity for monsters to form. This scale and number……. They had considerable time. Enough time for the mana remaining in the corpses to transfer into objects.”

The Protagonist drew in his breath. Like someone who had realized something too late.

“Think about it. Among all those countless monsters, did even a single one say ‘it’s hot’?”

“That’s…… that can’t be……. Then those people…….”

The Protagonist’s knees gave way. His shoulders trembled finely, followed by wrenching sobs.

Relief, guilt, anguish, hatred, indignation……. Countless emotions mingled together and streamed from the Protagonist’s eyes.

[Bead: Don’t tell me he thought he had killed them all this whole time, and he actually hadn’t? That’s too much…….]

That’s how this novel is. Watching the Protagonist cry, I felt a lump rise in my own throat and turned my gaze to the empty sky, but-

[Quest Complete! You have received ‘Item Combination Recipe’ as a reward.]

[Click to view the description of this item.]

Beyond the ordinary reward notification window,

[Conditions for proceeding with Michael Foxin’s Awakening Quest have been met. Would you like to proceed with this quest?]

A new System window appeared.