Returning to Sasha's perspective :

The underground passage looked like a sewer, but it seemed like it was man-made. There were a few rooms, but for some reason, there were only swords placed inside. They were probably collected by a sword enthusiast, but the owner of the mansion had no eye for them. Most of them were just junk, but there were a few good ones, so I kept them.

Ah, I want to go back to the surface and take a bath as soon as possible. Ever since I was dropped into the underground, I have only been fighting rat zombies. There were too many of them, so it was annoying. After a while, I started using shockwaves infused with holy power to purify them indiscriminately. However, I could tell that their numbers were decreasing little by little, but there were still too many of them. In the end, I used an "intimidation" attack infused with holy power to purify all of them. I wonder how many of them were there?

"All the zombies on the mansion grounds have been eliminated. Since there is no point in continuing the mission, the first mission is considered cleared. You will be teleported to the entrance of the second mission in 10 minutes."

Oh! I can clear the mission just by purifying all the zombies. Even the rat zombies won't come out at all once they're all gone, so I thought maybe that would be enough, but now I can go back to the surface. Well, if the zombies disappear, the thrill of escaping will be greatly reduced. The person who made the zombie house probably included it as a clear condition in the background setting. Let's meet up with Finn and exchange information. Now, what will the next second mission be? Will it be something like escaping from the city or rescuing someone?

Oh, the teleportation has started. I can finally meet up with them.

Everyone was gathered at the teleportation destination.

"Phew, we finally managed to meet up."

"Nya! M-Master, it smells like rats here."

Not only Finn, but Iris, Jin, and Rikka were also holding their noses. With such a large group, it's bound to smell, you know. I know that too!

"It can't be helped. When I fell underground, there was a huge group of rat zombies. Of course, it's going to stink. If Iris had fallen into a pit, she would have been covered in rats too."

As soon as I said that, Iris turned pale.

"Oh no! Thank you for saving me, Sister! I'm really scared of rats."

"Well, if you had fallen, you would have turned into an Iris zombie. Oh? What happened to that short sword? It's not a magic sword, but a magic blade."

"Well, actually, Onee-sama---"

When I heard the situation from Iris, it seemed like Finn had done something reckless. He defeated five people, and the last opponent was even stronger than Finn.

"Fin, even if it's for the sake of getting stronger, you can't overdo it. If you die, it's the end. Well, you did well. You're definitely stronger than when we checked your status in front of the zombie house. As a reward, I'll pat your head."

"Hehe, thank you, master. Even the grandpa zombie from the last match thanked me."

What?! He thanked you?! That means they still have their consciousness, and their souls are still inside their bodies. In other words, the zombies in the zombie house were once human, abducted from somewhere. And after being abducted, they weren't caught by the evil tribe and were made to do some settings while keeping some of their consciousness. As for the zombie samurai in the garden who spoke to us first, it's unclear whether he retained his consciousness or if it was just a setting.

"I see. That zombie must have had his soul still inside his body. By winning, Fin removed him from his settings and completely released his consciousness. That's why he thanked you. Well done, Fin."

"Yes!"

Maybe in the next mission area, there might be someone whose soul is trapped inside a zombie. We need to be careful. If we can remove their settings and find out what happened to them, we might not have to sneak into other people's houses to find clues anymore.

"Oh, Iris, try putting as much holy magic as you can into that magic sword. That way, the magic of the sword and Iris's magic will overlap, creating a powerful holy sword. After we finish with the zombie house, I'll make it even stronger for you."

"Yes, I'll try it right away!"

When Iris poured holy magic into the magic sword to its limit, the sword shone black before gradually shining a bluish-white, then the light subsided.

"Wow, sis, it's really beautiful!”

“That's the true form of the short sword [Izayoi], right?"

Now, there are no zombies around. There's a single path through the forest. We have to walk through it. Oh yeah, let's hear some information first.

"Jin, the underground area I fell into was full of rats, and there was no information related to the mansion, but did you find anything?"

"Yes, I found some important things."

Hmm, if I summarize the information Jin told me and the hypothesis I came up with, it would be like this:

Information Jin told me:

1.   Some of the zombies have souls trapped inside, making them prisoners for eternity.

2.   By purifying them with holy magic, we can release them from their zombie form.

Here's my hypothesis:

1.   The people and animals in the zombie house became zombies due to some cause. However, it is unclear whether they became zombies in Japan or after being isolated in the zombie house. I think it's probably the latter.

2.   Everything in the zombie house is something that was extracted from Japan on Earth.

3.   How did they acquire everything in the zombie house? It is highly likely that they summoned everything on a large scale, including the greenery, buildings, and humans in the area they designated.

4.   The person who summoned everything on a large scale is probably closely related to the mastermind.

If that's the case, we have to purify the zombie house itself, but it's probably in a different dimension from Spheretalia. The first mission's mansion was relatively small in scale, and we were able to purify everyone somehow, but the potential for larger scale is higher from now on. In that case, we need to understand the space of this second mission and purify the space itself with magic. Oh, but magic is prohibited within the space, but it should be okay to use it outside the space. Well then, we have a way. Hehehe.

However, if we fail, will we be able to purify everyone like we did in the first mission? We have no choice but to do it.

"Everyone, let's first find out what the second mission is about. We should be able to find a sign if we walk this way."

After walking along the path for a while, we came to a place with no trees and a good view. The view from there was breathtaking. We are now on the mountainside, and below us is a vast castle town. And there was a big castle in the back of the castle town. Hey, it's too big in scale.

"Wow, what a great view! It's completely different from the mansion earlier. Sasha-sama, what's the name of that big building in the back?"

"That's a castle. The lord who governs this area lives there. The town spreading around the castle is called a castle town. Of course, many people live there. Oh? Rikka, aren't you scared? You were trembling during the first mission."

"At first, I felt an unknown sensation, but I'm used to it now. The enemies are just zombies."

"Yes, you seem to be okay for the second mission."

Even so, if they summoned something of this scale, the people of Japan at that time would have been in an uproar because the castle town and the castle disappeared overnight. Although I didn't learn about it in class, I was told that if someone went missing and couldn't be found, they were said to have been taken away by "kamikakushi." Some of the missing people were really summoned to another world, and what's more, unreasonable summoning to another world has been happening for hundreds of years.

"I won't forgive them! I will definitely find the person who created the mastermind and the zombie house and tear them apart!"

Crackle crackle crackle zap zap zap

"Ah, Sasha-sama, please control your magic!”

“Hiii! Sasha-sama, you're scary! Please control your magic!”

“Ma-Master”

“O-Onee-sama, please control your magic. “

Oh no! I completely forgot about it. Everyone is trembling.

"Sorry, sorry. I just couldn't help leaking some of my magic when I thought about how someone summoned us to this world so unfairly and I wanted to tear them apart the moment we met them."

"Master, please don't involve us in this."

"Sorry, I'll be careful. Well, we're outside the property, so there shouldn't be any zombies around. Finn must be tired too, so let's rest here for today. Rikka and Jin, go scout the area while enjoying your snacks (meat buns) and drinks. If you see any signs, check the mission details."

I gave Jin and Rikka some snacks and drinks and sent them on their exploration.

"Let's camp here today... Ma-Master, these snacks are delicious! I can eat as many as I want."

"Onee-sama, what is this meat bun? It's so delicious. Ahh, it soothes my fatigue."

The meat buns have a good reputation, I'm glad I researched them. It was quite a challenge to recreate this taste, buying up all the seasonings in Spheroid and researching them. Do you want another one each?"

"Yes, please!"

They answered immediately.

"Oh, by the way! Shishou, I obtained an item in the room that seemed to belong to the owner of the mansion just before the transfer. However, I didn't have time to read it, so I put it in the item box for now. I'll take it out and put it somewhere that won't get in the way."

What Finn brought out was a pile of documents. When I looked at the documents, they were translated into words from the other world, just like the diary in the child's room. Most of the content was contracts, delivery notes, and account books. Oh, there's a lacquered box. It can be opened normally. Let's take a look inside.

This is a... Covenant!

"I, Gento Izumi, swear to reign as the boss of the first mission. If I abandon my mission, my soul will be given to the Evil King."

"According to Finn, after defeating the five challengers, a muscle-bound S-rank merchant zombie with self-awareness appeared. They probably didn't expect anyone to achieve the feat of defeating all five, but Finn did it anyway. They abandoned their mission to rush to where Jin was to prevent him from taking the short sword, Izayoi. The residents of this mansion are pitiful, but their master is a hopeless fool.

After dinner, everyone was satisfied as usual. The menu was Chinese cuisine, such as green pepper shredded pork, stir-fried pork, and fried rice, if translated to Japanese style. The seasonings from another world have different names, but the taste is generally the same as Earth's.

"Sasha-sama, help me, I can't move."

"Rikka, you ate too much."

"But it's the first time I've eaten such cuisine. I can't move, but I'm satisfied."

Why are you bragging?

"I'm sorry, Sasha-sama. I also ate too much. I never thought the taste of this cuisine would be so different from previous ones, yet still so delicious. Cooking is deep, isn't it?"

Jin seems to have figured something out.

"I actually wanted to put dumplings in these dishes, but I didn't have time to make the dough."

"U-um, Onee-sama, what kind of dish is a dumpling? Upu~~."

Iris, don't vomit.

"A dumpling is about this size, and it becomes a special taste when dipped in a special sauce. The taste can be greatly changed by slightly changing the ingredients. In the world where I came from, everyone knows what a dumpling is. When you go to a restaurant, you should always order dumplings."

"Even master says so. It must be delicious if everyone gathers around such a small dish."

No, we don't gather around it. It's delicious, but that's it.

"I'll make it for you when I have time."

If she does, it might cause chaos. Everyone might gather around it for real.

It's good to hear the results of the reconnaissance mission beforehand. It seems that there was a signboard about 300 meters down from here. The second mission is:

[Everyone in the area, including the castle, has turned into zombies. Investigate the cause and report it to the castle lord.]

It seems that the lord of the castle has consciousness. If their consciousness is fully intact and they are a normal person, we should try to have [that conversation] with them. However, if they are like the owner of that mansion, we'll take them down immediately. But first, we need to find out the cause of the zombies. I want to know about that too. If we can talk to the lord of the castle, we'll find out right away, but if not, we'll have to investigate. Also, since the scale of this is so large, there may be some people among the general residents who still have some consciousness left, so we should stop purging everyone indiscriminately. We need to find a way to completely restore their consciousness.

There are three things we need to do:

1.   Find the zombies that still have souls inside them. These zombies must not be purified under any circumstances.

2.   Figure out a way to completely restore their consciousness.

3.   At the same time, go into each house and search for diaries or other clues.

4.   Go see the lord of the castle. If their consciousness is fully intact, try to have [that conversation] with them.

Phew, that's it for today's work. Let's take a break!