The World of Tactics

Chapter Twenty-Two III: Dire Homecoming

"It has been a year since that day. That day, we encountered a horde of undead monsters. The lord had already been dead a year ago and I guess that was time for me as well.

Damn, Froggers. Why! We are so close to being able to rescue Lady Lily and the lord's child.

We were so close! Why must you betray us like this?

No, wait! You are not Froggers! Who are you? Answer me!

*Argh!*" Grey's final moment.

---

It had been so long since he had something so familiar as a sandwich like that. It was too bad that he had no stock of fresh veggies to go along with it. Sooner or later, he will be able to get some fresh vegetables to go along with it. He took some notes to stock up on some vegetables later down the line when he had enough gold coins and opportunities. He took one sandwich and gave the remaining other to Lawrence, who had just woken up. He took a solid bite of the toasted hard bread and bit onto one of the meat slices. It was crunchy and hard to chew, but the melted cheese and juicy roasted meat had made up for the bread's hardness.

He felt the deliciousness in his mouth and unconsciously wanted a second bite. He did not take a second bite because his first mouthful did not give any more space for any more bites. He slowly tasted the flavor of the hard bread, it was still as coarse as it had been. The melted cheese becomes solid as it starts to cool down. However, the meaty roasted rib meat was easy to chew and softened the hard bread quite a bit due to the overflowing juices. This is what he would call a sandwich. Too bad, the bread was hard. Even toasted, it was still as hard or much harder than before. He was not satisfied with this sandwich. Even so, he was truly happy to be able to enjoy a warm and toasted sandwich.

He was enjoying the sandwich, and so was Lawrence. Lawrence had quite a different impression because this was the first time that Lawrence had tried such a weird kind of food. This new food was quite delicious, in Lawrence's opinion, and pretty simple to make as well. They both ate in silence and appreciated the deliciousness of the sandwich. It was not plenty, but a large sandwich like that is enough for breakfast. Breakfast went by fast and the rising morning sun was even faster. By the time they were done with breakfast, the sun was up and they slowly painted the world with colors.

He was the first to finish breakfast and harvested the smoked dried meat strips. He calmly puts the meat strips into his inventory and kills off the last remaining ember in the stream water nearby. He had also washed his canteen, which was filled with earth draco lizard. Once that was done, he had also filled up his canteen with water before hopping on top of Dork. Sadly, he had used the last remaining woods an hour ago, so he did not think of the dried woods. Before continuing, he gave twenty meat strips to Lawrence. This would be their lunch and dinner would be at home. He just could not wait to get home.

They left the temporary camp by the stream and worked their way back to the main road before continuing. It might have been due to his excitement, but he could not fall asleep on top of Dork. Thinking back on it, he also realized that his vigor or [Troll's Blood] skill also plays a part in relieving his insufficient sleep. The reason why he could tell was that when he first spotted the troll's blood skill in his skill slot, he could physically feel that his blood now had some sort of magically recovering property. It was not obvious, but he knew that his blood could be used to heal other people's injuries. It was a wild guess, but he needed to drain some blood into a bottle to see what would happen while looking at the bottle's description.

The journey was relatively peaceful. The birds were tweeting in the distance, the bugs made their call for mating, the groans of the frogs, the sound of the running stream right beside them, and the blissful nature was warm yet relaxing at the same time. The enjoyment lasted for hours and hours, and it was not long before it reached noon. By then, they were already at the horizon of a small village. This is where the fief of his father lies. A small village that consists of fifty households and close to three hundred villagers. To the side of the village was an estate, a mansion, a hill away. That mansion is his home. His heart bumps in pride and joy. He is coming home.

The reason why the village was quite small was that this is just an upstart village. It only had a history of two decades or so. In terms of numbers, it was only about twenty years old. At the start, it was just some villagers that had decided to move into their father's fief due to the generous offer. For those that decided to settle on their father's fief for the first three years, their fees would only be five percent. Those that came later missed the tax reductions. However, those layers were refugees that came from the neighboring villages that suffered common attacks from the surrounding monsters. Even then, his father was still generous and only had a tax rate of ten percent. That was relatively lower than most of the other neighboring villages that had a minimum tax of twenty percent and, in some cases, was even higher.

The village was growing great and all, but he frowned. Something was not right, the village's atmosphere within his father's fief was depressive. There was no smoke coming off of the chimney and he felt that something was not right. His excited heart tightens and he frowns because he saw something in the distance. There were barely any villagers visible in the distance. At a time like this, there would commonly be some villagers tending the fields and yet there were none at all. The crops looked disorganized and weak. Weeds are visible from a distance. To him, something yelled out that there was something wrong.

It was not until he and Lawrence were a hill away from the village did he realize something. Some soldiers were patrolling, but those soldiers' movements were quite stiff. The way that the soldiers walked was not normal and unlike a flexible human. It was a coincidence that he saw the face of one of the soldiers, it was a walking dead soldier. The eyes were staring dully into the distance, the skin looked dried and blackish, which increasingly made the dead soldier quite disgusting. Their armor is one size bigger than they currently are. The most distinct feature that shows that the soldiers were dead was the shape of their heads, which almost resembled a skeleton's head due to the dried-up flesh. The hands holding onto the lance were no better.

The only reason why he was able to see such a scene was because he had moved closer. This scene had already also alarmed Lawrence. Even Dork could smell the faint dead stink in the air. It was slight, but he could also smell it as well. He is guessing that the same goes for Lawrence as well. He did not say anything and Lawrence was also silent. Lawrence was awaiting his orders, but he was currently looking at the status screen of the undead monsters before him. There were three monsters in a squad and one of the undead status screens reads:

[Name: Grey][Race: Flesh Walker (Grade 2)][Level: 30/30][Rank: 3][HP: 28/28-38/38] +10

[STR: 9(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[MAG: 1(10) / [1][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[SKL: 8(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[SPD: 7(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[LCK: 1(20) / [1][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[DEF: 14(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] [11][12][13][14] [][][][][][] ] +1 +4

[RES: 1(10) / [1][][][][][][][][][] ] +1

[Hidden: [CON: 6][MOV: 6][SKILL: [Undead Turning][Darkness Gift][Dead Flesh]][EXP: --/100][WEA: Lance E]]

[Equipped: Rusty Lance]

[Rusty Lance: Might +2, Hit +65, Crit+0, Weight=4.0, Durability: 10/24]

[Undead Turning - Turns a crest into an undead monster's soul core. All stats -2. All growth rates -10. Max level -5.]

[Darkness Gift - Instantly levels up by ten, cannot exceed the limit. Health points +10. All stat +1. All growth rates -5. One time only.]

[Dead Flesh - Defense +4.]

At first, he was quite worried after seeing the level at thirty or higher above their heads. This is the reason why he did not rush forward towards the flesh walkers. However, he was relieved after seeing the flesh walkers' stats and skills. The flesh walkers are weaker than what their level shows. Hence, he was confident about taking care of the flesh walkers. This is also a good opportunity for Goon, Uzi, Dork, and Lawrence to grow, since flesh walkers will provide a great amount of experience due to the huge level differences. Not only that, but flesh walkers also have a ridiculously high number of health points. Over yonder, he could see more. There were bare skeletons and some bloated figures that had around the same difference. He decided to slowly kite the flesh walkers. He had to be more cautious.

With such thought, his figure, which was situated behind one of the village houses, came into full view of the three flesh walkers. Lawrence was surprised by his action but did not bother to ask and grip the handle of the wooden lance harder. The moment the two sides saw each other, the gridline automatically started to draw up the battlefield. It might have been because each side was slightly small in numbers, but the battlefield's size was not that big. The battlefield was only ten by ten and some of the houses were acting as the edge of the map. The house walls are still visible, but a bit misty. He was situated near the wall. One square behind him was Dork and Lawrence. Dork was situated in the corner between two edges.

He did not go into the [Select Units] tab first but opted to look at the [Map] tab first. He wants to know the overall geographic situation first. As for the three flesh walkers, they have all positioned a turn away from them. It would be turning two before the three flesh walkers would attack them. The terrain provided nothing like usual. However, the Earth attribute benefits the most because all of the squares would provide a boost to Earth-type magic. Once he was done looking through the map, he finally went to the [Select Units] tab. In this tab, he chooses Goon and Uzi.

[Grey - A subordinate of Sir Roylis Smith. Under the leadership of Sir Roylis Smith, he was able to survive during the war and stayed loyal to Sir Roylis Smith. After he heard that Sir Roylis Smith had been granted a title and a noble's fief, he immediately rushed over to Sir Roylis Smith's fief. He plans to settle down in the fief and become a noble private soldier, Sir Roylis Smith's soldier. Over the years, he found a wife who bore him two sons and one daughter. It was only later on, at the start of the turbulence, did he be made into a flesh walker by an evil dark magic user.]