Picker’s First Battle
“Yeah!”
The “Holy Water Ball” wielded by Catherine turned several vampires into dust at once.
The movements of the vampires were a little sluggish, perhaps because they were hit by the holy water, and even Catherine’s attack was effective enough.
However, she had to pull the ball back to her hand and ready it. The second wave of attacks came through the opening.
The vampires, claws and fangs bared, attacked Catherine, hoping to turn her into one of them.
“Dodosei!”
The one-armed knight swung his holy water-soaked stick.
With a single blow, which he secured under his armpit and swung with his entire body, the vampires who tried to attack Catherine were blown away.
“I can’t hold out much longer! Not yet!”
“I see a sliding door behind the God Statue!”
The statue of God moved to the side from its original location, and hidden behind its legs was a sliding door with peeling paint. A slight breeze blew in from behind it.
The half-exposed door, however, was tightly closed. The door was locked.
“Where’s the key!?”
“This guy must have it! He’s a cousin of the Marquis or something and he has the key! … Whoa!”
The one-armed knight pointed at a man who had fallen with his hand still holding a stick, and immediately after, he gave the vampire who was coming at him a near thrust that turned him into white ashes.\
“Dangerous, I thought I was going to die.”
“… I can’t watch! Hey, you’re up! You, come here!”
Two of the servants who had been moving the statue of God stepped forward, as though fed up with the dangerous battle.
“Give it to me! I’m more powerful than you.”
“Um, if that’s the case, then it’s more about that person than me…”
“No problem, they’ll take over too.”
The two servants took over the weapons from the one-armed knight and Catherine and began swinging them around as hard as they could.
Even though they had no combat experience, they were naturally more powerful than the knight and the eleven year old girl. The vampires couldn’t even get close to them, and they fell to the ground in a heap.
“I asked for the key!”
“Yes!”
Catherine, who had her hands free, thrust her hands into the clothes of the man who was said to be the cousin of the Marquis. She felt and smelled blood, but she didn’t feel sick about it. Her head felt like it was burning white and she was paralyzed by the sensation.
Catherine fumbled in the blood- and holy-water-stained pockets of the trousers and pulled it out.
“There it is!”
“Alright!”
The one-armed knight raised his fist and looked down at the corpse as if noticing something.
“Hey, his clothes … still work, don’t they?”
“I-I’ll make it I’ll make something like that!”
“I’ll help you!”
Maids burst out from among the women who had been frozen and trembling at the back of the chapel.
They stripped off the man’s clothes and began to make a weapon similar to the one Catherine had made, tying it with the decorative strings and belts on the altar.
As soon as they were finished, they too began to wield them.
The increased number of offensive moves immediately pushed up the battle line.
The undead could be easily defeated by a single blow of holy water. Moreover, their main weapon was their ‘Bite’. As long as they had the right weapons, even amateurs could fight them.
In the meantime, Catherine took the key to the work team that was opening the passageway.
The maids and even the ladies had joined in to fill in the gaps left by the servants who had joined the line of battle doing the heavy lifting.
“Here!”
“Thank you… You had some nerve.”
“Excuse me, may I ask who you are, young lady?”
The servants who received the key praised Catherine for her work.
They were servants of the Marquis family, but as expected, they did not seem to know Catherine’s face.
“Please remember my father’s name rather than mine. If I am worthy of praise, it is because I grew up watching his back.”
Catherine never thought that the day would come when she would be praised for her courage to fight, but it would not be modest enough for a lady to be praised here.
She needed to be humbled.
Half of the reason she was able to act so courageously was because of her … enemy, René, or whatever she called her. And the other half, Catherine thought, was thanks to her father, who gave her a sense of justice and determination.
“I am Catherine Margaretha Keely. I am the daughter of Oswald Mikal Keely.”
“Keely…”
“What, Earl Keely! My goodness…”
Catherine greeted her with a pinch of her skirt, and a gasp of admiration came from the crowd. It was praise without flattery or social pleasantries, and it tickled Catherine in a way that was new to her.
Soon it was no longer about that.
“The door won’t unlock!”
“Eh!?”
“Damn it, even the lock is rusty!”
The servant who stuck the key into the keyhole of the lattice door punched the door with a blue streak.
He tried to move the key with a noisy clattering sound, but the key would not move like it was stuck on something.
“Get out of here, young man!”
“What…”
The old man who had advanced pushed the servant out of the way and pulled the key out of the keyhole.
He then forced the end of the cane he was holding to support himself into the keyhole.
“≪Bomb≫!”
The keyhole exploded.
The sound of metal cracking resounded, and parts fell apart.
The door creaked audibly as it screeched and slowly swung open.
“Oh, my God, that’s amazing! It’s a piece of wood!”
“Grandpa, do that to the undead!”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have enough range, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done this, so this is all I can do.”
The old man, who had broken the lock with his explosion magic, was slapping his hip, clinging to his cane.
Even if they were not talented enough to make a living from it, there were a few people who could use this kind of magic with a little training.
Now at last there was an escape route.
The God statue that had blocked the passage was only half moved, but there was still enough space for a person to pass through.
“Okay, it’s open! Run, run!”
“Me first!” “Let my son run away first!” “Hey! Don’t push!”
“Calm down, calm down! Get in order!”
The people who had been waiting rushed in at once.
People were pouring in little by little, pushing and shoving and jostling each other.
If it were a matter of fact, those who could fight would lead the way to ensure safety, but there was no time to spare. All they could do was hope that they would not be ambushed at the exit.
“Gyaa!!”
The scream came from behind them, not from the exit.
Those who had been trying to escape turned around.
A servant who had been fighting with a horned club was lying in a pool of blood.
Stabbing him with his sword was a … new undead.
Indeed, its skin was pale, but it was not dried up like those vampires. Rather, its body was as muscular as that of a living human.
Above all, unlike the vampires, who were dressed in nothing but their clothes, the new undead had proper armaments. Wearing lightweight knight’s armor and a helmet, bearing a sword and a shield.
“Kyaaaaaaa!” “Another monster has appeared!” “Widen the exit!” “Get back!” “Hurry up!”
People were in a state of panic immediately.
There were several screams as they bumped into each other trying to escape into the narrow exit. Although there was no telling what the conditions were like inside the passageway, if they were to fall in, they would be trampled to death by those following them.
“This guy!”
A servant with a “Holy Water Ball” slammed a full swing into the knight’s undead eyes.
From there it seemed to flow.
The knight’s undead repelled the ball of holy water with his shield and cut off his fully extended belt with his sword. With the deadly weapon flying in the direction of the day after tomorrow, he stepped in with the returning blade and pierced the servant’s chest.
“Gah…!”
The servant fell to the ground, spraying blood.
“… Don’t come here!”
The maids wielding the “Holy Water Ball” retreated while launching their attacks in a threatening manner.
The undead knight approached slowly, showing no sign of fear.
Catherine’s back touched something as she backed away, trying not to take her eyes off of them.
It was someone waiting for their turn to enter the passageway.
–What should I do! If there was one more minute, everyone would have escaped!
The undead knight closed the distance between them, staring at her carelessly with clouded eyes.
Just to buy time. But this was an opponent of such strength that no amateur would be able to compete with it. How could she buy time in this situation?
“I hate this!”
Finally, a “Holy Water Ball” was thrown at the undead who were approaching without any fear.
The undead lightly flicked it away with the shield.
Three seconds were gained.
That was it.
–I’m going to get hit…!
Just as Catherine was preparing to die, she heard something crack loudly above her head.
“Get down!”
A voice came down.
Catherine looked down without understanding what was happening.
Pieces of broken stained glass rained down on the area.
Next, a man with a somewhat stale atmosphere descended.
The undead knight quickly covered his head with his shield.
The man who came down landed on the ground kicking the shield with his mithril boots, and at about the same time, he thrust his sword through a gap in his armor into the undead’s neck.
He then twisted off the neck as he gouged out the sword he had inserted.
He was wearing shining blue orichalcum knight’s armor, but his arms, which should have sprouted from his shoulders, were nonexistent. Instead, he held his sword with his right arm, which looked like a metal skeleton.
“A knight should be a gentleman. It’s a shame you have to rough up a lady.”
“Second Knight Commander-sama!”
The man who burst through the stained glass windows was Bertil Lagerbeck, who once served as the Second Commander of the Order of Knights.
It was Bertil Lagerbeck.
“I’m sorry for coming late, but I’m glad you’re safe. I was going to come and help you, but I couldn’t get close enough to you because of the mess outside.”
With the people behind them, who still had no idea what was happening, Bertil faced the army of the undead alone and pointed his sword at them.
“A mountain of bloodsuckers and three knight ghouls in command… Oops, two left. Hey, boys. I know you’re probably dead by now, but if you don’t want to perish in vain, turn back.”
Looking at the numbers alone, they were at an overwhelming disadvantage.
But Bertil’s tone left no doubt about his victory.
The undead faced Bertil with emotionless faces.
Catherine could not tell if they understood his words or what he was thinking, but she could tell that they had no intention of running away.
“No one is going to run away, huh? I admire your loyalty, but you are not strong enough to beat me.”
Bertil snickered with a tone that almost sounded like a sigh and held up his sword as if to hide his own face.
“Kneading technique” [Silent Running]. However… If you can see me, that is.”
Bertil stepped out with a bouncy thump, and the next moment he exceeded the limits of Catherine’s dynamic vision.
Two knight ghouls and nearly 30 bloodsuckers were blown away at once like dust blown by a breath of air.
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