Chapter Nine: An Overwhelming Quantity

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Sophie stared blankly at the tent ceiling for quite a while before she finally remembered where she was. She sat up and stretched lazily. The bunk beside her was empty; Sister Superior Alena had already gotten up and was no longer inside the tent. Probably because she had been running around a lot yesterday, Sophie had still slept soundly despite the rough conditions.

"...Almost forgot," she murmured. After finishing her stretch, the novice nun hurriedly began her first morning prayer, although judging by the light outside, it was already quite late.

"You're awake? Then get up," Sister Superior called, lifting the tent flap and standing outside, watching her. "It's not early anymore."

"Okay!" Sophie quickly changed into her nun's habit and stepped out of the tent. The camp was bustling with activity, more villagers dressed in coarse cloth had arrived. The Sister Superior was talking with the monks Sophie had met yesterday; it seemed they would also take part in today’s mission. According to last night’s arrangement, Sophie was to stay in the camp. Once it was confirmed that the mine was safe, the Sister Superior planned to take her inside for a look.

Sophie had no objections—she knew that forcing herself along would only cause trouble. She had witnessed firsthand the horror of those relentless undead last night.

Looking around, she realized the young lord from the city’s mansion, who had been in danger last night, was nowhere to be seen.

“Sophie?” Sister Superior noticed her stepping out and pointed to the other side. “The washing area is over there.”

“Oh, okay...” The washing facilities in the camp were quite rudimentary, but the water in the wooden buckets was clear and clean enough to reassure her.

After a simple wash, Sophie looked up and saw Eric emerge from a small tent wearing what appeared to be a brand-new chainmail. The interlocking iron rings gleamed coldly, covering him from neck to just above the knees, with no extra decoration. He wore leg bindings and leather boots below.

Dressed like this, his entire demeanor seemed completely different from yesterday’s.

Eric didn’t notice the novice nun staring at him from nearby. He walked straight to the center of the camp to wait for the captain of the guards to assemble the team.

“Mr. Eric,” Alena approached him first. “I hope to bring along these local monks so they can observe and learn, and later participate in the purification.”

Eric glanced at the poor-looking monks who had come with her. They seemed to come from humble backgrounds, with little chance of formally studying divine arts.

“That’s fine,” he said. Then he looked at Alena, “But once they join the team, they must follow orders. Acting on their own will at least get them kicked out.”

The Sister Superior nodded. “I served in the army for a while, so I understand the rules. I will keep them in line.”

Army? Eric was slightly surprised, but Alena clearly had no intention of elaborating further.

He called Leslie over to explain the situation. Leslie frowned at the poor monks for a moment but eventually nodded.

“Young Master, we are ready as well.”

“Then let’s go.”

The city lord’s guards quickly gathered. After the captain finished briefing today’s plan, he assigned one person to stay behind to guard the camp. The rest followed the team into the mine.

“Move out!”

Before entering the mine, they had to dismantle the newly reinforced outer fence—the thick logs so tightly placed they seemed to block even the wind.

This was no problem for the guards, who could handle it barehanded. As each log was removed, the sealed abandoned mine finally reopened.

“Take some logs inside. Blocking the mine shaft directly is much more effective than just the gate,” Eric instructed.

“Yes!”

They stepped into the mine, greeted by utter ruin.

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The wooden huts and low sheds built over two hundred years ago were already nearly rotten, and under the assault of the undead, they had been reduced to scattered splinters.

After a few steps, Eric felt his foot sink into something. Looking down, he saw a large chunk of rotten flesh and was instantly disgusted.

He forced himself to adapt quickly because the mine was littered with decaying corpses and scattered pieces of flesh.

The lowest-level undead feared light and usually hid inside the mine shafts during the day. But such simple behavior was also a challenge. The guards soon spotted an undead trapped between two large stones.

“I’ll handle this,” a guard drew his sword eagerly.

“Wait,” the captain called out, turning to summon Eric.

He clearly remembered that last night the young master had said, unless it was an emergency, they should leave the killing of undead to him as much as possible.

Though Leslie didn’t understand the reasoning, it didn’t matter to him: the young master’s word was law.

“...” When Eric arrived and saw the struggling rotten corpse trapped in the rocks, he was speechless for a moment.

If he hadn’t noticed the commotion from afar, he would have thought Leslie had shoved the creature there just to give him a painless, safe experience.

—After all, Eric had specifically requested this the night before.

Eric’s goal was simple: to gain some experience and level up.

With the strength of a third-rank city lord’s guard, dealing with these undead was like slicing through melons. Without prior notice, he might not even get a taste of the action.

“Young Master, go ahead,” Leslie said.

Faced with an immobile target, Eric made no elaborate moves. He raised his steel sword and struck down directly.

SPLAT!

With one slash, the rotten head rolled to the side. A faint golden stream, as light as smoke, rose from the corpse, swirled in midair, and suddenly flew into Eric’s body.

[Swordsman profession gained 150 experience points.]

[Swordsman profession leveled up to 2.]

[Swordsman profession leveled up to 3.]

A surprisingly large amount of experience flooded his body. Three consecutive notifications hit his screen, leaving Eric stunned.

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