A Nostalgic Place And A Little Sister

I land with a thud on top of a pile of rubble.

This is the place where I was crushed under the rubble and activated 【Necromance】 on my own body.

I still remember the path from here to the deepest part.

“Rats—what’s the situation?”

I share vision with the Shadow rats I’ve attached to tail the Holy Church.

“They’re in a bit of a hurry. I can only share vision, so I can’t tell what they’re saying…”

I can see a blonde female Holy Knight who seems to be giving orders, and the Holy Knights splitting into teams of six dispersing in all directions.

“Are they splitting up to look for stairs down to the lower levels? Still, that woman’s grim intensity worries me.”

For now I send remote orders to the rats and place at least one watcher on each scattered Holy Knight squad.

“That’s odd…the kid in the sister’s habit isn’t here. Did we miss the tail?”

As I advance through the dungeon keeping an eye on the Holy Knights’ movements――

“Kyaaaaaaaaa!!”

――A girl’s scream echoes through the corridor.

This voice—I remember it.

It’s the sister I met on the carriage.

“Huh! Why are you in such a lower level!?”

I dash toward the sound and spot the source at the end of the corridor.

“Gwooooooo!!”

The sister girl is sitting on her rear with her long blonde hair spread on the ground, and opposite her stands a red-skinned orc about to bring down a club.

――Swoosh!

I kick off the ground and leap between the girl and the red-skinned orc―taking the blow with my left arm.

“Gwooooooo!?!?”

I draw my longsword with my right arm and lop off its head; the red-skinned orc falls backward, dead.

That red skin—this is a higher-tier orc, a Red Orc.

“Are you all right?”

“Th-thank you so much! Ah! You’re the Shikai Tribe person from the other day!”

“We meet again, then.”

The girl takes my hand to stand and bows deeply.

“You saved me from a dangerous situation, truly thank you. You are my benefactor.”

“Don’t worry about it. Consider it thanks for the baked goods.”

“No! One piece of candy isn’t enough compensation! Ah, blood is coming from your arm! You were injured protecting me…?”

It’s the wound from taking the orc’s attack on my left arm when I cut in between it and her.

“Don’t worry. It’ll heal right away――”

“I’m good at healing magic. 【Heal】.”

The girl reaches for my left arm and casts healing magic, and then―

――Sizzle sizzle sizzle… whoosh!!

“Gah!?”

――My left arm bursts.

“Eh!? Wh-why!?”

Like the girl, I can’t hide my shock.

‘Sid, you are already the same as me—an Undead. Healing magic becomes poison instead.’

“(It’s true you can damage Undead-type monsters with healing magic, but I never expected my body to be like that too…)”

An unexpected weakness of my Undead body is revealed.

“Why…I definitely cast healing magic…!? Did I somehow cast an attack spell by mistake…?”

“Calm down, I’m fine. Don’t make that face like you’re about to cry.”

I soothe her by patting her head with my remaining arm.

Meanwhile, the blasted arm regenerates.

“N-now the missing arm is…!?!”

“Ah—it’s a bit of a peculiar constitution: when I get hit with healing magic it damages me instead. In exchange, my wounds heal on their own—like this. So I don’t need healing magic.”

“Th-that sounds like… Un-Un—”

The girl realizes she slipped and clamps both hands over her mouth before finishing the word ‘Undead’.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m kinda like an Undead. Creepy?”

“N-no… that doesn’t change that you saved my life. If anything, I’m sorry I didn’t know about your constitution and caused trouble instead!”

Rather than recoil, the girl places her small hands on the arm that just burst.

She is probably showing by action that she isn’t rejecting me.

She’s truly an unusual sister.

“So then, what are you doing here alone? Do you know this is the bottom of an S-rank dungeon?”

“Th-the bottom!? I-I didn’t know that.”

From what she says, she was with companions at first but got hit by a teleport trap and was sent somewhere else alone.

Apparently she was found alone by a Red Orc and nearly killed, and I came because I heard her scream and saved her.

“I see. But why did the Holy Church come to an S-rank dungeon in the first place?”

“Eh!? W-well, that’s…”

The girl fidgets, looking embarrassed to speak.

But, feeling indebted for having her life saved from the Red Orc and guilty about blowing up my arm with her healing magic, she begins to slowly explain why she came here.