"Does the village chief mean me?"

"Yes, Captain. That's what he told me to relay to you."

"Hm. Do you know why he wants to see me?"

"That I am not sure of... But I think it's probably related to the deserter you mentioned earlier."

Erich scanned the villager's expression. Erich had already been planning to visit the village chief.

But, surprisingly, the village chief took the initiative and sent someone to Erich, along with a letter expressing his wish to discuss the matter of the deserter that evening.

After sending the villager away, Erich glanced sideways at Barnes.

"What do you think?"

"I'm not sure."

"Hm... So he's up to something then."

Erich sunk into deep thought. The village chief had the whole village under his thumb.

'And yet, he called for me separately. Why? Does he want to make a deal with me? But with what?'

As he turned these thoughts over in his mind, Erich naturally came to a realization.

"It could be that there's another force acting as the intermediary between the chief and Nicholas."

Barnes's eyes widened at this. But Erich continued to stretch his imagination, following the thread he'd just caught.

Nicholas, the Orca-roid, the Barbarians, the village chief.

And the Undead.

Each fragment, apparently unconnected, held a curious correlation to this place, Morris.

Even without Barnes's warning, Erich could tell. The biting cold, and the sensation Barnes had described—everything matched what he had experienced in his previous life.

'But would the Undead show up already, here?'

And if the force behind this was indeed linking the chief and Nicholas, then that enemy was tying together two utterly separate factions: the Undead and the Barbarians.

But how? That question remained an unsolvable riddle gnawing at Erich.

Still, one thing had become clear.

"They could be planning to eliminate us, just in case."

"How did you know that?"

"Hey, you're starting to speak a bit long, aren't you?"

Barnes turned his head away with an embarrassed smile. But Frederick gave a snort, as if to say he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No matter how much the world's gone to hell, Palmer isn't going to do anything to us."

"I already told you, didn't I? They've got someone supporting them from behind. He'll try to borrow their power—and it might not be the first time, either."

"But do we need to just wait until evening? Why don't we strike first?"

At Frederick's suggestion, Erich nodded quietly. It wasn't wrong. Rather than charging into an ambush prepared by the enemy, it would be better to seize the initiative.

But something weighed on Erich's mind. If all this were just a matter between people, such a move wouldn't matter.

However—

'Barnes's words linger with me.'

The presence of the "Undead" he claimed to have felt—if what Erich and Barnes had sensed were precursors to an Undead event, they had to tread carefully.

If this was evidence that the Undead were active even before their great invasion, it was a hugely significant development...

'And that makes it all the more dangerous.'

Erich thought back to the state of the Watch before his regression. When he had first joined and was struggling to adapt, bizarre things had been happening here.

'At that time, the Watch was functioning abnormally at every turn. If it wasn't just coincidence...'

A chill ran down Erich's spine. Just imagining that there had been lurking Undead waiting for an opportunity from this early on was horrifying.

But, on the other hand, if he could crush these machinations now... the present and future of the Watch could be utterly different from what they'd been before he returned.

Erich quietly raised the corners of his mouth. A fully prepared Watch, standing against the Undead army—

That, he thought, was not a bad future. If it could be realized, he'd risk almost anything for it.

Immersed in thought, Erich after a short while rose from his seat and buckled the sword at his waist.

—Clack.

"It's going to be a long night."

With those final words, he headed for the palisade. Barnes and Frederick followed.

As the sun set, Barnes checked the thermometer and approached the main gate of the outpost. But as he reached for the crank—

"Wait. Let all the villagers inside tonight."

"... Is that an order?"

"Do you want to be the officer instead?"

"... No, sir."

—Ding, ding, ding, ding.

The sound of Barnes's bell rang out. Once again, the villagers came grumbling back inside the walls.

"There, there, the idiot's at it again."

"Why can't the ghosts just take that fool away?"

But this time, the villagers didn't dare try any of the stunts they had earlier. Because Erich and Frederick were standing by Barnes's side.

Then, just then—while Erich was quietly listening to the villagers' complaints, he commented to Barnes,

"Doesn't it make you mad?"

"Which part, sir?"

"The way they behave."

Without looking at him, Erich muttered slowly,

"Aren't they just foolish brats, laying their heads down with no idea where they're likely to die? Not one of them seems to have noticed even a glimpse of those terrifying beings."

But Barnes only shook his head.

"They're just following the logic of the world as they know it, unlike me. Honestly, it's you, sir, who seems strange to me, reading so much into things."

"You remind me of a madman I once knew."

"Excuse me?"

Erich spoke, his eyes momentarily filled with reminiscence.

"That guy found out one day that new enemies had appeared... And they were utterly merciless, ridiculously strong. For everyone there, just keeping themselves alive was all they could manage. Then, if anyone ran, he was branded a coward. No one believed what he said."

Erich paused. Barnes's face, hearing this story, shifted into a strange expression.

Erich suddenly realized: seeing such stories spoken with such a young, almost boyish face—how others must see this. It was a shock now newly engraved in his mind.

While talking to this young Watchman, he sensed the gap between Erich the former commander, and the current post commander, and bridged it.

"... I think I get what you mean."

"But someone did believe him. Just one person. And that person turned out to be pretty special."

"Don't tell me... you mean yourself, sir?"

"That's up to you to decide."

They stayed silent for a moment. Erich broke it.

"You're pretty lucky yourself."

"Sir?"

"I'm believing you, aren't I?"

For a moment Barnes just stared at Erich. If he drew a parallel to the story, Erich would be that 'special person'.

To describe himself as such, even indirectly—he really was a remarkable man, in a way.

Just then—

"C-Captain!"

A villager rushed up to them, breaking the conversation.

"What's wrong?"

"Y-you need to see this. The chief says the deserter ran off toward the mountain behind the village!"

"Max?"

Erich's eyes turned cold. At the same time, Barnes spoke softly,

"Sir, do you feel it?"

"Yes. It's impossible not to."

That intense, bone-chilling gaze. Erich felt a strange rush. He knew this sensation all too well.

Frederick's face also twisted in discomfort.

"... Feels like my bones are freezing. This is fucked up."

Erich gazed beyond the palisade, and in a flash, assessed the entire situation in his mind. He spoke,

"Barnes. Stay here and guard the main gate. If things look dangerous, fall back to the final line of defense we discussed earlier."

"... What do you mean, if it looks dangerous?"

"Just in case. Just in case."

Erich stressed the words 'just in case'.

There shouldn't be any need, but if, by some chance, the enemy he expected really did appear...

"I'll do my best."

"Let me be clear—if you see them, take off their heads. Nowhere else matters. And don't, under any circumstances, hesitate."

"Yes..."

"Let's go, Frederick."

Without another word, Erich took Frederick and left. Barnes didn't understand everything Erich had said, but could sense it instinctively: what was moving out in that far shadow wasn't something trivial, and it wasn't just in his imagination.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=The zombies... are coming!!!【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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