Squinting at the report in her hands, Chie scratched her head in thought. Zombies huh. Who would’ve thought? Rolling the report back up and sliding it in her pocket, Chie headed out into the darkness. Her target goal was still a little ways off, so she had some walking to do. She didn’t mind though. The weather was cool and a nice breeze was blowing. Plus nature was always fun to traverse. So many sights to see! During the day at least, seeing as how her vision was currently lackluster thanks to the lack of light.

The reason for being out at this time of night was because she was on her second Rune Knight job. Her mission was once again from a senior rune knight asking for help. Some undead had been spotted walking about so it was up to Chie to see what was up. It could just be some travelers dressed in rags, or it could be a tragedy to come. According to Marwin at least. She wasn’t going to form any opinions until she saw things with her own eyes.

After around an hour of rummaging about, Chie had come to the conclusion that either these undead were quite stealthy or there hadn’t been any to begin with. She was currently on her last loop around the area with nothing to show for it. Not from a lack of trying though. Surprisingly when she was about to make the decision to head back, she noticed a large statue downhill from where she was. Upon closer investigation, she noticed figures surrounding the marble sculpture. Were these her zombies?

Staying out of sight, Chie watched as some of the prone figures on the ground began moving. Their movements were jilted, unnatural. Zombie-like if she had to say. As another corpse was brought back, she wondered where they had gotten all the corpses from. The number of zombies seemed like quite a bit. Surely someone would have noticed all those bodies going missing?

The next twenty minutes were spent with Chie circling the camp and spying on the cultists. She wanted to get as much information as she could before heading back. Although to her it seemed pretty clear cut what was going on. Cultists summoning the undead for whatever god they had currently chosen to serve. The normal cultist shenanigans.

Sneaking backwards quietly, Chie began to head back to town. It seemed the rumors about the undead were true. Plus there were so many that she wasn’t shocked that people had noticed them. Marwin wouldn’t be happy with the news, but at least she knew their location. All he had to do now was get people to deal with them.

Making her way back through the gates and into Marwin’s office, Chie saluted her superior and told him about all that transpired. The zombies, the cultists, and the location. All vital information he needed to know. Sighing in annoyance at the news, Marwin thanked Chie for her hard work before handing her a pouch. Taking her reward money with a nod, the young woman headed off and towards the direction of her home. It was time to get some food in her stomach.

[535 words]