Chapter 36 "Gravestone"

　I was walking along, idly watching a small Death Worm advancing in front of me.

...Even so, I was surprised.

I was surprised that a monster could speak, but to hear it speak Japanese....

　I couldn't believe my ears when the Death Worm in the plaza spoke to me.

Because the first thing he said to me was that. I was remembering what happened a while ago.　

　"This is private property. If you have no business here, please leave."

　I was surprised at the words of the Death Worm in front of me.

　Just when I thought he was about to speak, he turns around and says, "This is private property."

But he did follow the procedure in giving me a warning.

Then, I'll go along with it.

　"No. I'm here on business. I am the owner of the land surrounding this place. I've recently discovered these ruins, so I've come to investigate."

　I haven't spoken Japanese in a long time.

　Death Worm makes a tilting motion.

　"I see...so you're not here to ravage the place, are you?"

　"That's before we get to that. I don't even know what this place is. I'd appreciate it if you could explain that to me, as well as your backgrounds, if possible?"

　Death Worm nodded and began to speak.

　"This is the tomb where our Lord rests, and we are his keepers."

　I knew it, these guys are Death Worms.

　I hope the Lord is not Genghis Khan.

　...But he speaks fluent Japanese.

　Not ruins, but a tomb.

　I guess the master of this tomb is Japanese, seeing as they are speaking Japanese.

　I'd like to hear more about this.

　Then, let's make a good impression.

　"So this is a tomb. If so, this is a chance of some kind. May I visit it?"

　"If that's the case, you're welcome."

　His voice sounded happy.

　This Death Worm must have liked the Lord.

　Once that's decided, let's get ready.

　I said, "I'm going to get ready," and left the ruins - the cemetery - and returned to the village.

　After returning to the village, I prepared the tools for cleaning the graves, flowers for offerings, and a bottle of sake, and headed back to the ruins.

　It took me a little while to get the gravesite set together, but I was glad that I had managed to get it all.

　When I hurried back, I found Heidi at the ruins for some reason.

Death Worm was about to attack anyone who didn't speak his language, so I hurriedly intervened and told him that I was with her, and we got away with it.

　Heidi seemed alarmed, so I told her to go back and I asked Death Worm to show me around.

　...and here we are.

　"Can I ask you a few questions?"

　"Sure."

　I decided to ask a few questions along the way.

"I thought I saw some guys before me, what did they do to you?"

　"First of all, they don't speak Japanese."

　...Is it a prerequisite to enter here that you can speak Japanese?

　That's a high hurdle to jump.

　It's impossible for people from this world.

　"Secondly, they have been known to act and behave in a manner that would damage this place."

Most likely, they came here with the intention of ravaging the place looking for treasures or something.

　And they were spreading it all over the place. No wonder they were killed.

　I wonder if they can understand our language.

　...I'll be careful what I say too.

"Finally, they were trying to attack me because they didn't understand what I was saying."

...Oh, there's nothing to be done about that.

I don't understand what you're saying, so I'm going to kill you right now.

　Yeah. The people who died got what they deserved.

　"I see. By the way, did you kill them all?"

　"Yes. I killed them all."

　At any rate, it seems unlikely that anything about this place will leak out to the rest of the world.

　As I walked along, I saw an open space and a staircase.

There is a hole so deep I can't see the bottom and a spiral staircase that I slowly descend.

"By the way, did you kill them yourself?"

　"No, I woke up one of my men to take care of it."

　The Death Worm in front of me descended the stairs dexterously.

　"What happened to those men under your command?"

"... he went out. I told him to go back, but I guess he couldn't resist his hunger."

"...if someone comes across him outside and attacks them, do you mind if he gets himself killed?"

　"I don't care. If the Lord were alive, it would be different, but now the Lord is me. I have no use for individuals who don't listen to my instructions."

　I see. Now I don't have to hide it anymore.

　Next time I come back, if they ask, I'll tell them I took care of it.

　If I have the chance.

　"May I ask you about your master?"

　"Please do."

　He told me a brief story of how he and his family got to where they are today.

The Lord's name is Hironori Koto.

He consists of a family of three, a daughter and a wife.

　The reason he came here was a traffic accident.

　It seems he followed the same pattern as I did and found himself in this world.

　He said he was traveling around looking for a way to return home, saying from time to time that he was worried about his daughter who was left alone over there.

　He added that he was created during his journey.

...Created?

Did Koto-something have the ability to create the Death Worm?

　No, perhaps he created it from scratch with some ability he had acquired.

He said he had picked up goblins and elf children along the way and used them as companions, but that's a bit of a digression.

　The journey was enjoyable and fulfilling, even if the prospect of returning home was not at all promising.

... wanting to go home as soon as possible because of worry about his daughter... huh....

　I don't understand it at all, but as a parent, I guess he was worried about his own child....

　I wonder about my parents....

　For some reason, I had a vision of my family kicking my corpse, saying, "You put us all to shame," but it must have been my imagination.

　One daughter means his wife seems to be dead already.

　I listened to his story with such thoughts in my mind.

It was one day while traveling.

　Death Worm said that "enemies" had appeared.

　At first, they asked Mr. Koto to join them, but when he refused, they attacked him.

　At first they were small fry, but one after another they came after him.

　As he fought them off, stronger and stronger enemies appeared, and he began to have a hard time.

　Later, another force appeared and approached him in the same way.

　When he refused, they began to attack him as well.

...What is it with these people?

　It's outrageous that they would try to kill you if you refuse to join them.

From what I hear, the two forces that recruited him ended up going after Mr. Koto, and they ended up going after him together.

I wanted to know more about those guys, but Death Worm has no eyesight, so their appearance is unknown.

　He said both of their features are dripping with magic power all the time, so they are easily recognizable when they are nearby.

　For a moment, I thought of demons, but they can't come out without being summoned by ......... no?

　I'm not sure if it's a magical creature with an ecology similar to theirs or not....

Or are they reincarnated? I don't have enough information on them at the moment.

　Mr. Koto, exhausted from his long escape, decided that he could no longer protect his children, so he let them go and used his abilities to produce a large number of Death Worms to intercept his pursuers.

　After a fierce battle, Mr. Koto managed to annihilate his pursuers, but he was mortally wounded and died.

　It is said that he was worried about his daughter and the children he let escape until the very end.

　The surviving Death Worms built a tomb for their deceased master and have been guarding it ever since.

　I understood the gist of the story.

　There was also a story about when they met their own kind along the way, but I'll skip that for now.

　After listening to the whole story, I felt a sense of urgency.

　If what I heard is true, there is a force that is going around collecting reincarnated people like me and Mr. Koto.

　Considering the fact that they attacked us when we refused, they must be trying to incorporate us into their forces.

　The reincarnated will be a powerful force.

　If they go far enough, a few of them could even bring down a country.

　I was not surprised to hear that there were other reincarnated people in the world.

...Well, I knew there would be.

　I don't believe for a second that I am the chosen one, that I have some kind of cheat, that I can be a "me".

　If I was chosen because I was inferior, I would believe it.

　I believe that I was sent here because I fulfilled some conditions.

　So I wouldn't be surprised if there are others who have fulfilled the same conditions and were sent here.

　I don't want to be actively involved, though.

　I would like to get information if possible, but that's all.

　In that respect, this talk was worthwhile.

　I might have gotten more out of it than a treasure.

"...... Thanks for talking to me. It was helpful."

　Death Worm shakes his head, "No, no."

　As we talked, the bottom came into view.

　We arrived at the bottom.

　After passing through a passageway, we came to a spacious place.

　There was a large stone monument in the center of the room with "Hironori Koto" engraved in the center.

　"You wrote the stone monument and the letters?"

"Yes, I remembered him writing on the ground before, so..."

　I heard that this Death Worm can use magic, and this cemetery was also created little by little by magic.

　As far as I can tell, this is the only one that can communicate properly.

　The others are about the same level of intelligence as the one that came to the village.

On the other hand, if I kill this one, there will be no one to control them, so I don't know how many there will be, but the gravediggers who are sleeping here will go on a rampage uncontrolled.

　And there are at least five more of them.

I had been letting it pass because there was no real damage at the moment, but I could feel a presence behind the wall.

The detection ability I took away from them by eating one earlier came in handy right away.

Death Worms...five of them, bigger than the ones I killed in the village.

　They are moving around this room.

They're not the ones they woke up, but the ones that were awake to begin with.

　Are they the elite guarding this room?　They move very fast and are very lean.

　They are always in position to break through the wall and bite me.

　Well, I'm not going to do anything from the beginning.

　Is this precaution natural, given the circumstances?

　I clean the grave easily, pretending not to notice the presence outside, offer flowers and sake, and join my hands together.

Without saying it out loud, I greet him with a simple greeting inwardly.

I have no particular feelings for Mr. Koto, so I have no further business here.

　Now it's time to deal with this place.

　It's dangerous if we don't keep people out.

　It would be a disaster if the neighboring villages were attacked every time some idiot who mistook the place for a ruin entered.

　...I'd better fill the entrance or cover it up with something.

　We decided to discuss this on the stairs on the way home.

"...that's why. I'd like to fill this entrance if I could."

　"That's not possible."

　I tried to talk him out of it, but he simply said no.

　If they didn't want anyone to enter, they wouldn't have built the entrance in the first place.

　"We have to receive the Lord's children."

...Ah, the escaped elves and goblins mentioned in the story.

Oh? I tilted my head inwardly.

　Aren't elves and goblins at war?

　.......Whatever. It doesn't matter to me.

　"I understand. But I also have a request. From now on, I won't say anything about killing intruders, but please don't attack people outside the cemetery. I don't like to put it this way, but if you do too much, you will become a target for elimination, and adventurers and knights will attack you in large numbers."

　Death Worm was silent for a moment as if thinking, then replied, "I understand."

For the time being, however, I've got the word, and that's all I need to say on the matter.

　After that...I guess I'll just send out a notice to the village restricting access to the forest and ...... will be complete.

　I'm really glad it didn't turn out to be as much trouble as I thought it would be.