Volume 2 Chapter 12 (1/2)
Chapter 12 – Paradise of the Resurrected Dead
I was flying over the plains with the feeling of gentle sunlight upon my skin
I flew along the undulating terrain, passing by the flowering plants
The wind had a hint of warthat I felt like I ht nod off
Looking further ahead, I saw a country before me
Ever since I found out that this place exists, it has been my dreaht
It's a sh walls I can't see the inside of the country properly from here
However, I have a feeling that it is going to be a lot of fun The wall surrounding the country shows decoration different from that of the other countries
Well, I call it ”decoration,” but it's basically just words written on the walls in large script
”…Oh?”
This is ritten
『This country has been taken over by dead people Do not enter』
My, they certainly kno to build the right atmosphere
I finally arrived at the gates, but they were closed They don't respond even when a guest arrives? This is troublesome How am I supposed to enter?
The large gate didn't make much of a sound when I knocked on it, only a weak one
Oh, I see So that's how it is The setting is that the country was taken over by dead people—so of course the ates won't open Are there any entrances apart from here?
I wandered around near the gate for a bit
”Hmm…?”
And found it quite easily
There was a sular-sized door, the size you'd expect to see on a normal house
”………”
I noticed that there was a sign posted on that door when I made to open it
”This place has been fully taken over by dead people Please do not enter”
That ritten in bad handwriting, and below that:
”However, there ht be so and brave person, please enter and save the people inside”
That ritten there too
By the way, there was a sign saying 『OPEN』 hanging from the doorknob
”Hoho…”
Wow, they've really put some effort into this Just as I expected They know just how to make it feel authentic
I opened the door without any hesitation
I a, after all
○
This place, called ”Paradise of the Dead,” was a strange country
I've heard that this is a wonderful and bizarre country that uses houls as an attraction to entertain tourists It appears to be fairly faion, and when I asked people ”Are there any interesting countries nearby?” one in three people recommended this place to me
This place sounded so interesting that I ca with a very interesting atmosphere
Not only did they have a plan in place to entertain visitors even before they passed through the gate, the sights inside the country were also equally entertaining
Most of the buildings were partially destroyed and covered in ivy The ate was littered with rubble fro from between the pieces of rubble
It looks like this place has been like this for quite a while
”…Hoho”
Like I said, the area iate was in a horrible state of disrepair, but it truly ht show up at any time I would like to takean entire country into a place of recreation
I slowly drifted through the country while riding on my broom
Most likely, this country had been allowed to come to such a state on purpose I looked about in ade pool of water that had fore depression in the street
And that's when it happened
”Aaaaaaaah…!”
So
”Uwaaah!”
I was unable to stop or avoid it in ti a dirty, squishi+ng sound
It looks like I scored a clean hit
I was thrown off the brooh the air, I landed right in the pool of water I was soaked from the knees down Horrible This is the worst
I was angry I was really angry
”Hey! What's the big idea, ju out all of a sudden—”
However, when I turned around, I saw so even more horrible, impaled by the handle of my broom
”…Uwah”
Right in front ofin the pool of water And beside it was so that looked like a person
It was a man, and the handle ofa sword in each hand, for some reason he was naked above the waist (with plenty of erous air, but he was currently lying facedown in the puddle
Dead With the handle of my broom still stuck in him
”…Umm”
I hesitantly approached that man and touched his shoulder
And then,
”Uuuu…”
He turned his face that was noticeably ruined by decomposition towards me, and started to make some noise One of the eye sockets was e out of his mouth
Oh, it's just a ghoul
”Are you okay?”
”Aahhh…”
Looks like he's fine In that case, I should hurry and move on ahead
I put a foot on the ghoul's shoulder and tried to pull o on ahead without it, after all
”Aaaah…”
However, I wasn't able to pull it out Each time I pulled on the broohoul's head
”Hnnnnnnn…!”
I pulled even harder
And then, finally, the brooed to pull it out!
”…Ugh”
Nope, I didn't e to pull it out after all
The head of the ghoul was still attached near the tip of my broom handle Apparently, it was his head which was pulled free from his body instead
Looking down, I saw his body twitching near my feet after it was separated from the head
Ah, this is bad
It looks like I've destroyed soht off the bat I could reattach the head withthat if the head is still stuck on my broom
Even so, the idea of renant I didn't want to touch it, after all
”………”
In any case, I should find soize…
Obviously, I didn't want to walk around while holding a broohoul's head stuck on it So I used a piece of cloth I found lying around to wrap the head of the ghoul, and resu
By the way, the ghoul's head still keptnoises like 『Aaaah』 and 『Nuuuu』 even after it rapped in a cloth, so I stuffed a rock in its ht at the end of the broom's handle
”hello… Is anyone there…?”
Unfortunately, this country had the right ath I flew around asking for help
『Aaahhh…』 『Uuuu…』 『Oooh…』
What's houls just looked up at me as I flew overhead, but none of them even tried to chase me
”…Ugh”
It took so person
”…! Hey look! It's a witch! A witch is here!”
”Hey! Please save us!”
There were two people waving at oodness I've finallyhumans
I can finally say goodbye to this ghoul stuck to the end of her and headed towards those two people
”………”
And then, I looked down at the garden of that large house
”Really, they've put too much effort into this”
Iin the scene spread out below me
There were a large nuht belowan unpleasant chorus of 『Uuu's 』 and 『Aaah's』
”………”
I started to feel like breaking just one of the deal
○
I didn't notice it while I was looking at it fro, I was assailed by a sense of unease The two people who had been leaning out of the ere a decidedly strange pair
”Thanks for co You did well to find us here, but I suppose I should have expected nothing less from a witch”
One of theht think that's pretty nore sword hanging from her waist for some reason She looks really cool
”Seriously though, thanks for coe by theet dangerously low ”
The other was a youngarmor He looks really cool But he stinks I took a step back
”Do you people work in this country?”
When I asked that, the woman nodded
”Yes Or rather, we used to work here This country is no longer functioning as one As you can see, it's been overrun by ghouls”
She gave a sigh after saying that
Really, I don't want to hear about that setting anymore
”If you're people from this country, then that's fine Actually, I caize—”
”By the way, Witch-san! What's your name?”
Arh, he really stinks
”Ah, my name is Elaina and I am called the Witch of Ashes it's nice to meet you could you please not come any closer?”
”I see! It's nice to meet you! By the way my name is Anthony, and this is my partner Anna”
I ignored the Arh spirits
”This country has a lot of ghouls, doesn't it? Just how many are there?”
I asked in a roundabout fashi+on, with a light jab to accoy
”If you're talking about the ones outside, they're all real The artificial ghouls aren't active right now”
The brown haired girl with glasses, or Anna-san, said that
”Uet about your rehearsed script for no many are there?”
”…Well, if you're talking about the artificial ones, I'd say about fifty?”
”Hmm? Are there really only fifty? There were definitely h”
”Those are real ghouls”
”Is that a part of the setting too?”
”No, I'houls We used to use crappy iet by before but there was an idiot who said 『Reality is ihouls Because of that, the ghouls startedinside the city, and this is the result”
”……”
I want to think that the girl is lying, but for so the truth
”U too?”
”It's the truth”
”…Oh, come now”
She
It's a part of the setting for this place… Right?
”Unfortunately, this is the undeniable truth If you still have doubts, go and let those ghouls outside catch you You'll learn the hard hether those guys are real or fake”
”………”
”I've already said this ”
”………”
”Our country has been destroyed by ghouls”
Anna-san said that with a smile like it was of no consequence
I couldn't believe it
The ghouls that I saw all over the city were all genuine? Seriously?
For starters, I threw my broom away
○
I saw that the issues beleaguering this country were not really that co like this
About a week ago fro in this city said this:
”Why does this country insist on using such cheap knock-offs for business? Use the real ones, the real ones are better”
But wouldn't using real ghouls invite disaster into our houl, anyway? The people raised such concerns, and the ician said,
”Don't worry I'll use an incredible technique to houls obedient”
And laughed after saying that
And so, the houls to the country at a later date
”See! These are real ghouls!”
The people of the country were overjoyed
”Areat!”
”I see… So real ghouls actually look this disgusting…”
”Cohouls in our country really do look fake”
”Using real ghouls would probably excite the customers more”
”No objections!”
The o to his head
He put his hands into a ghoul's mouth, and forcibly spread it open
”By the way, I've re huht? If you do this, they can't spread any infection! So we can go ahead and use real ghouls without worrying about thehouls can stay alive forever even if you don't feed the there's no cost involved in their upkeep! What do you say, have you ever heard of a better idea than this?”
The people were once again overjoyed They once again raised their voices in approval similar to before
Of course, this ant
The houl, put his neck in its hed
”Look! No matter what they do, it's useless! I'm not injured! How's that!? Isn't that perfect!? Hahahahaha—”
And so,
『Ahhhh』 『Uuuuuh』 『Ohhhh』
This country was overrun by ghouls And they lived happily ever after
If you're wondering what exactly happened, the houls were harmless, but that was apparently not the case and they were actually able to spread the infection Just coh
No matter how perfect it seems, all plans have a chance of failure—or so Anna-san concluded
”…So can I just assume that all the people involved were idiots?”
That was all I could say after hearing that Anna-san replied,
”Your interpretation is mistaken, because I am not an idiot”
”…Putting that aside, what you're saying is that the two of you barely ed to escape with your lives and now you're the only ones left?”
”That interpretation is mistaken as well, because we are not the only two people left alive”
”What do you mean?”
Seeing me tilt my head in confusion, Anna-san explained
”From e've been able to see from here, there are around a hundred people still alive Take a look out of theYou should be able to see the es written by the people who are still alive”
Saying that, she gestured towards the brokenbehind me
Looking around, I saw a beautiful sky spread out before me
”Wow, such nice weather… Fumu”
Looking down over the devastated scenery of the city, I understood what she meant
I didn't notice thens posted all over the city with things like 『Please help!』 『I' aid』 written on them
”The day the houls to the city, we accepted visitors as usual Meaning the visitors who entered the city that day also turned into ghouls”
”I see”
”We want to go around to those signs and save the people while they are still alive, but…”
”…That looks like it would be pretty difficult”
I looked doard My eyes h
Seeing houls with a depressed expression, Anna-san let out a laugh
”No, getting past those ghouls is actually pretty easy”
”Getting past those numbers? How?”
While I was confused about what sheArmor-san came to join us
”We are scholars who studied the physiology of ghouls back when this country was still functioning norh position even a the other scholars, and she was even called the Ghoul Craftsman”
”That's all well and good, but why are you wearing armor?”
”Isn't it cool?”