The Tale of A Man Who Believed That His Reincarnation Had Granted Him A Japanese Sword And The Greatest Battle Sense, Only To Have The God Finally Inform Him "Huh, I Didn't Give You Any Combat Sense… That's Scary…" - Episode 33

Suddenly, two new members, a man and a woman, joined my and Alice’s adventurer party. While Alice was explaining how to accept quests, the two introduced themselves.

“I’m Leo! Enri, right? Your fight in the swordsmanship tournament was amazing! I really wanted to team up with you and see that sword up close!”

“…I think—no, I’m definitely younger than you, so you can just call me by my name.”

“Seriously? Feodora told me to be polite, but yeah, that makes sense! Calling someone younger with a title feels weird. Alright, Enri, let’s do this!”

The man, full of excitement, was named Leo. He had the energy of a young adventurer and was ranked C. He wielded a sword and was eager to see my unique swordsmanship up close.

“Just because they let us join their party doesn’t mean you can act so recklessly! Idiot Leo! …Sorry about that. My name is Feodora.”

The woman scolding him was Feodora, a B-rank adventurer with long golden hair. She could use all kinds of basic magic and even some intermediate spells. Though, honestly, I didn’t know much about magic at all.

Alice, who had been quietly explaining the quest system to me, kept glancing at the noisy Leo with tired eyes. Not that he noticed. Still, she continued guiding me through the process.

The steps Alice taught me were as follows:
1. Go to the large board in the entrance hall and check the papers listing available quests.
2. Choose a quest, remove its paper from the board, and take it to the counter with all party members’ guild cards.
3. If the guild approves, pay 5% of the reward as a fee to officially accept the quest.

The board also showed quest types, objectives, difficulty ratings, and how many parties had failed before. Alice advised me to pick something within our limits.

Following her guidance, I selected “Necromancer Subjugation: Danger Level B.” It was the only quest that seemed suited for testing my ability to cut through magic.

Alice was clearly uneasy. “Are you sure about this?” she asked multiple times.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. If it’s humanoid, I just have to take its head off. Simple. Probably.”

“Hey, Leo, Feodora, we got the quest!”

“Already?! What did you pick… Wait, what? Necromancer Subjugation?! Danger Level B?!”

“Enri, this is too dangerous! We should take a C-rank quest at least!”

“But this one seemed the strongest, and I wanted to test cutting through magic…”

Leo’s face twisted in horror. Feodora’s expression darkened. Alice stared at me like she was witnessing something unbelievable.

She tried to convince me to change the quest, but in the end, we decided to proceed.

Feodora secured horses and gathered information about the target and the location. Leo bought camping supplies and food. Alice and I prepared potions and other necessities.

Well, when I say “prepared,” I mean I carried Alice’s shopping bags. She anxiously picked out everything she could think of, piling them up like a mountain.

That afternoon, we gathered in front of the adventurer’s guild with the horses Feodora had arranged. Leo and Feodora mounted their horses smoothly, securing their saddles and side bags.

I, however, had not unlocked the essential skill of horseback riding. So, Alice and I rode together. The horse Feodora had prepared for me became our pack mule instead.

With Feodora leading, we crossed the drawbridge out of Redinbara and began our journey.

“Hey, Feodora. Is that kid really strong? He can’t even ride a horse… What if it’s just that weird sword of his that’s powerful?”

“They say don’t judge a book by its cover. That kind of thinking is why you’re still a C-rank, Leo.”

“I mean, he moved crazy fast in the tournament, but what if it was magic? Or maybe the sword itself is special?”

Our destination was an abandoned village about two hours away. Rumor had it that a necromancer had taken up residence there. If we finished quickly, we could be back in Redinbara by nightfall.

“Enri, are you not good at riding horses?”

Alice turned back to me, curious.

“Uh… yeah. It’s embarrassing. All I can do is hold on and pray I don’t fall off.”

“Don’t worry. More people struggle with it than you’d think. I’ll make sure to guide the horse properly.”

She chuckled and adjusted her seat so I could hold on more comfortably.

Alice is such a kind person… If I had taken this quest alone, I’d be walking. That would be hell.

After two hours of riding, the air suddenly changed.

A sharp, stinging smell filled my nose, followed by the putrid stench of rotting flesh and mold. The once lively horses froze in fear, refusing to move forward.

“This is terrible miasma… Necromancy has been cast here so many times that the very magic of this place has been corrupted.”

Feodora covered her mouth in disgust. She quickly dismounted and pulled a wooden staff from her side bag, readying her stance.

Seeing this, Alice leaped down and retrieved her own staff from our pack horse.

“Leo! Get ready!”

“O-Oh! Y-Yeah! Leave it to me!!”

Leo snapped out of his shock, clumsily dismounting before drawing his sword.

“Enri! You too!”

Alice’s voice was sharp with tension. She looked ready to snap at any moment.

I carefully slid off the horse, tapped the scabbard of my katana, and focused forward.

The abandoned village lay ahead.

From the dark, overgrown forest surrounding it, low, eerie moans echoed.

The trees swayed as if opening their gaping maw to swallow us whole.

“Feodora! What’s the plan?! Enri rushes in and slashes everything, right?!”

“Idiot! The necromancer controls countless corpses! If we charge blindly, we’ll just get worn down!”

“Enri, let’s move carefully! If the necromancer is here, we should find evidence first!”

Feodora and Alice were right. Their approach was logical.

But logic alone won’t defeat an enemy that defies reason.

A necromancer controlling endless corpses? Fine. Then I’ll turn every single one into a limbless husk.

As if welcoming us, the ground split open.

Rotting corpses crawled out—two, four, eight—multiplying rapidly.

Before we knew it, we were surrounded.

“Damn it!!”

Leo swung his sword, aiming at an approaching zombie, but his blade stuck in its rubbery flesh.

He let out a choked gasp, struggling to yank it free.

“This is good.”

I stepped forward, whispering.

“Even if they’re rotting, a neck is still a neck. I’ll cut them all down.”

The undead lunged at me all at once.
Leo panicked.

“Sh1t, sh1t, sh1t! Here they come, Feodora!!”

Feodora’s voice was sharp.

“Alice! You bought Holy Water, right?! Form a barrier around us!”

“A-And what about Enri?!”

“He’s too far away! The barrier can only cover the three of us!”

The zombies surged forward.

I swung my katana—a clean, horizontal slash.

One head flew.

Yet the body kept moving.

“Thought so.”

I had seen this kind of unholy magic before.

Simply severing the head wasn’t enough.

Then the answer was simple.

I just had to cut off all their limbs, too.

One by one, I sliced through the approaching horde.

Heads. Arms. Legs.

One cut, one corpse.

Within minutes, nothing remained but piles of limbless husks.

As I cleaned my blade, I turned to my stunned companions.

“Are you all okay?”

Leo whispered.

“…Unbelievable.”