Chapter 49 – Roadkill

I led the survivors away from the rest area contaminated with corpses and headed towards a nearby village.

I had heard from people that they had been getting supplies other than clothes from that village.

The village was close to the rest area. Part of the village was almost adjacent to the highway.

Perhaps because the dead ones had cleared it out, there were hardly any zombies in the village.

There were no living people either.

Whether they were never there or were killed by those creatures, the empty village was extremely desolate.

Leading the people along the village road for about 500 meters, we came across a small elementary school.

It was an old two-story building with a small playground.

Luckily, right next to the elementary school was a warehouse.

And it was a food chain warehouse at that.

“So this is where they got their missing food supplies from.”

The warehouse was more than half empty.

Many of the remaining items looked like food past their expiration dates.

However, there were still many items in good condition.

Enough food to feed dozens of people for several months.

That was fortunate.

“With this warehouse here, you all should be able to stay at the elementary school.”

“Huh? Aren’t you staying with us?”

At my words, the expressions of the people examining the elementary school and warehouse hardened.

Some women turned completely pale.

“No. Please don’t abandon us.”

“I’ll follow you.”

They surrounded us and begged with desperate expressions.

Although we were strange people wearing armor with long ears, they didn’t question our identity.

They didn’t try to threaten or negotiate. They just held onto us and begged.

Seeing them like this, I could understand how much they had suffered until now.

To them, we must have appeared as saviors who rescued them from hell.

That wasn’t wrong, but in reality, we were just ‘passersby’.

We had simply removed an obstacle blocking our path.

However, there was no need to be harsh from the start.

Eventually, once they learned where we were heading, they would all drop off anyway.

“We plan to continue heading south.”

“But there are monsters in the south that are scarier than zombies! Monsters that don’t die even when shot and can stop cars. Many people died, and the survivors fled here!”

“You saw us fight, right? We can get through on our own.”

I’d have to see for myself what kind of creatures they were, but unless they were Demon King’s army or monsters from the river, I wasn’t too worried.

If they were undead that were difficult to handle, it would take much longer, but we could always take a detour.

Despite my words, the women still looked anxious, but the men immediately checked the warehouse and school.

While the women pleaded until the end for us to stay, no one actually volunteered to come with us.

The situation was quickly resolved as the men took the initiative.

Seeing this, Zahina tilted her head curiously.

“The men of this world seem to grasp reality better than expected.”

A nearby man responded to Zahina with an embarrassed expression.

“Haha. Maybe it’s because many of us have served in the military. By the way, what’s your na-“

“It’s more likely because there are many pretty women here.”

The woman in a suit coldly cut off the man’s words.

She was the woman who had stepped forward as a representative at the rest area.

Not only was she remarkably beautiful, but now that she had regained her composure, she appeared even more capable.

Perhaps because of this, the women seemed to follow her, and the men couldn’t treat her carelessly.

At her words, the man hesitated before leaving the spot.

It seemed her words had hit the mark.

We also spent the night at the elementary school with the others.

Though it was a small school, there were many empty classrooms. There was no problem using separate classrooms.

The next morning, as planned, we left the school early.

We moved early because it would be difficult to leave once everyone woke up.

Unfortunately, one person was already awake.

A woman was waiting for us at the school gate.

She was wearing the same suit as yesterday.

I worried we might waste time, but fortunately, she didn’t block our path.

“You saved us, but we couldn’t properly thank you. We don’t have anything to give you… Just remember our gratitude when you look at this.”

She took out a handkerchief and tied it around my gauntlet.

Then she let us go, standing back with her head bowed.

“As expected, Sir Knight is popular. I always get treated poorly wherever I go…”

“Well… I wonder if this gift was really given out of affection?”

“Come on, she specifically gave it to you, Sir Knight! A handkerchief from a lady – that’s the highest form of favor a woman can show. I don’t think even Miss Zahina received anything…”

At Hofmann’s words, Zahina pulled out chocolate from her pocket and handed it to him.

“The men gave me lots of food yesterday. Let me know if you need more.”

Receiving chocolate from Zahina, Hofmann was frustrated once again.

“Really, I’m the only one who didn’t get anything.”

I looked at the handkerchief swaying at my wrist.

Whether she liked me or not, the woman who gave this gift was very clever.

She wasn’t an ordinary woman, thinking to give a handkerchief after seeing me in armor.

Moreover, the handkerchief had a name embroidered on it.

‘Han A-rin’.

Unlike the handkerchief itself, the embroidered name looked freshly done.

She probably stayed up all night embroidering it.

Thanks to this, I would remember her name.

We got back on the highway.

South of the rest area, on the opposite side of the car wall, there were quite a few abandoned cars.

These were cars that couldn’t make it back to the rest area.

I was able to find a usable car among them.

This time, I found a British car.

‘Land Rover.’

I was worried, remembering stories from my previous life, but fortunately, it started well and moved right away.

“Well then, let’s go!”

Things seemed to be going well from the morning, and I started the car in good spirits.

However, before I could enjoy the feeling, trouble quickly arose.

It happened when we took a wide detour around the mountain to avoid the abandoned cars.

There was a reason people had stopped on the road that had been hidden by the mountain.

As people had said, undead were blocking the road.

Dozens, hundreds of zombies, and between them, two giant raggy monsters.

They were corpse golems.

Seeing the corpse golems, Hofmann tilted his head.

“Corpse golems and zombies together. This is rare…”

Corpse golems were chimeras made by gathering zombies.

They were undead that the Demon King’s army left behind as traps.

As Hofmann said, corpse golems didn’t have the ability to lead zombies.

While Hofmann was puzzled, I thought I knew what was going on.

“There must be a ghoul.”

Though invisible to the eye, I could sense an undead with corrupted mana among the zombies.

At my words, Hofmann clicked his tongue softly.

“So a ghoul gathered them. A ghoul with two corpse golems, plus a horde of zombies… This won’t be easy.”

It certainly didn’t look easy to break through.

At least, if it had been before I came to this world.

But now, I felt we could break through.

It wasn’t just a feeling.

My senses were telling me so.

With my strength that had grown until now, I could do more than just break through – I could completely eliminate them.

“It’s a shame to abandon the car already… but I guess we have no choice.”

As Hofmann tried to get out of the parked car, Zahina extended her hand to stop him.

After stopping Hofmann, Zahina turned to look at me.

“You’re going to break through, aren’t you?”

Zahina, who had been quiet before, was gradually becoming more talkative as time passed.

Unlike before, she was now taking initiative like this.

Moreover, this time she had read my thoughts.

Hearing Zahina’s words, Hofmann’s eyes widened.

“What? But for that many undead, we’d need a proper party of knights, or an army-sized force led by a knight! I know you’re impressive, Sir Knight, but…”

Hofmann meant we needed either an elite party consisting of a mage, priest, and knight, or a force of knights and regular soldiers.

Even for someone with a reputation like me, unless I surpassed the skills of the Empire’s Sword Saint, he wasn’t wrong.

That is, if it was before I came to this world.

Until now, I had only encountered enemies I could easily defeat or manage, so it was difficult to know how much stronger I had become.

This was my chance.

It wasn’t often that I encountered enemies I couldn’t handle before but now felt confident I could defeat.

I needed to confirm my abilities now so I could properly use them when meeting dangerous enemies.

Moreover, this time I didn’t need to defeat all the enemies.

And I didn’t have to worry about limiting my weapons because of noise.

I immediately handed the steering wheel to Hofmann.

“You know the accelerator makes it go forward and the brake makes it stop, right? And this wheel controls direction.”

“What? I’ve only watched from the side…”

“That’s enough.”

After giving Hofmann the wheel, I took weapons from my pocket and handed them to Zahina in the back seat.

Rifle, pistol, grenades, and even a grenade launcher.

I piled the weapons next to Zahina.

“Please handle all the minor enemies, the ordinary undead.”

Zahina nodded at my words.

“No, I’m good with carriages but… are you sure I should drive this?”

While Hofmann was looking at the steering wheel with a troubled expression, I shifted the gear lever from park to drive.

Vroom.

Since Hofmann was pressing the accelerator, the car shot forward immediately, and I climbed onto the car’s roof.

“Damn! Why is it so fast!”

Along with Hofmann’s scream, the car’s engine noise spread far.

GRAAAH!

At the sound, the undead blocking the road turned their heads.

It was a bit creepy seeing them all turn to look at us simultaneously, but it helped me determine which undead to deal with first.

BANG! BANG!

The Land Rover continued forward, ramming into the sides of abandoned cars, and the undead blocking the path began running toward the car.

The distance between the undead horde and the car grew shorter.

“Damn! Shouldn’t we avoid ramming into them?”

Hofmann’s shout came from below, and immediately after, a grenade launcher barrel poked out from the back seat window.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Then faintly glowing grenades flew from the barrel.

Zahina’s marksmanship was accurate this time too.

The grenades hit the leading zombies precisely, and

BOOM! KABOOM!

Shattered the zombies to pieces.

The car plowed through the scattered zombie remains.

Zombies rushed at the moving car, and the giant corpse golems tried to block our path.

I launched myself from the top of the moving car.

Jumping over the rushing zombies, passing between the legs of the corpse golem trying to block us with its body.

In front of me, I saw an undead different from the other zombies.

It was the ghoul.

I swung my sword.