Deep Slasher

Roko's first thought was to retreat into the tomb again to be able to fight the zombies on solid ground and defend until the zombies were either all dead or they could make an escape. However, there was no guarantee the flood of undeads would stop and retreating would also mean trapping them inside the tomb with no other methods of escape.

"Get your shoes on." Roko said as he quickly attached his own snowshoes on, "We're fighting them in the snow."

"Wouldn't we be better off fighting in the tomb?" Mikado asked.

"We'll end up trapping ourselves inside if we did that." Roko scowled as he finished with his shoes and drew his sword, "We don't know how many zombies we'll need to kill to escape and if we can't hold out, we're guaranteed to die."

"Alright." Kaguya nodded, "We'll make a break for it."

Roko stepped onto the snow, very aware of just how limited his movement has become thanks to his snowshoes. Thankfully the zombies were still struggling to dig themselves out of the snow, giving enough time for Roko to preemptively kill some before they could free themselves. Having dealt with the closest zombies at hand, Roko looked up to see the farther zombies finally pulling themselves out of the snow and beginning to stand and shamble towards him. There was still time until they reached Roko and company so Roko scoured the edges of the forest around the cemetery. He looked for any sign of a manipulator in the darkness, using magic to call upon the zombies. But he could not find anybody in the midday shadows.

"We're ready." Mikado said as he joined Roko on top of the snow, "I'm going to be relying on you to protect Kaguya."

"Got it." Roko said as he turned to the zombies shambling towards them, "Have you ever fought in the snow?"

"Yes, though not quite this high." Mikado replied as he drew his sword, "Balance is quite precarious here."

"Well if you don't know how to fight in this, I sure don't." Roko grumbled, "It shouldn't be too hard given yesterday's fight. Just don't get stuck."

Mikado drew his sword and together, they met the advancing zombies. Roko swung his sword directly at one of the dead soldier's neck, landing a clean slash but failing to sever the head from its body. Roko frowned. A slash of that strength would have been enough to kill an undead from yesterday. But it seems these new zombies were stronger than before. Inexplicably. Having survived the slash, the zombie closed the final bit of distance and lunged forward to try and bite Roko. Roko shifted his sword to block the zombie's head, pushing the edge against the dead's neck. The zombie continued to push forward, ignoring the blade that it was digging deeper into its own neck. Roko pushed against the zombie but not only was it sturdier but it was stronger. Not quite strong enough to overwhelm him but enough to disorient Roko. But if he continued to struggle against the one zombie, Roko was well aware that he would be overwhelmed when the other zombies arrive to swarm him. Roko took one hand off his sword and punched the zombie in the head, knocking it away to the side and denting its head quite a bit. But the zombie was already recovering so Roko made one more stronger slash and finally separated the undead's head.

Taking a moment to reassess his expectations, Roko glanced at Mikado who seemed to be doing quite fine against the zombies, already having dispatched at least three of them.

"One step forward but still miles away." Roko growled as he turned his attention back to the zombies.

Getting used to the new quality of these zombies, Roko went right back to tearing away at the horde even as they pulled themselves out of the snow. Slowly, they made their way out of the graveyard, Roko and Mikado keeping Kaguya in between them as they fended off zombies from both sides. Kaguya stepped slowly and calmly through the skirmish, eyes forward, without a hint of fear or concern. As they neared the entrance of the graveyard, Roko almost called for a dash out until he spotted someone standing in the darkness of the tomb. Cloaked in black and holding a black book.

Roko's mind froze. The mastermind has shown themselves. When did they get there? Were they always in the tomb? Perhaps behind the tomb? Why didn't Roko check behind them? All those superfluous questions flitted through his mind, given the barest recognition before he focused on the real question.

Should he go after them?

…

"Get out while you can!" Roko called as he turned around as began to run towards the black robed person.

"Wait, Roko?!" Kaguya cried as she turned around to see the robed figure herself.

Roko ran as fast as he could towards the mysterious person. As fast as he could in snowshoes at any rate. Thankfully he could still outrun the zombies as he closed in towards the person in back. Roko lunged forward, sword drawn to incapacitate the stranger before another sword flew out from nowhere and threw him back. Stumbling a few steps back, Roko saw a man stride in between him and the robed person. His eyes were completely blacked out and his hair was pure white. He was armored in ancient looking leather armor, decorated with important looking royal ribbons which were now in tatters. Most importantly, thin cracks crept over its pale face like a doll whose head had been fixed together. This man was a zombie like no other. He neither dragged his body nor lurched about with its body hunched over. There was no part of him that seemed to be rotting and his composed face seemed to glare at Roko though he showed little emotion. Whoever this was, he was almost a few steps away from being brought back to life.

"Who are you?" Roko scowled as he glared past the perfect zombie at the robed figure, "What are you trying to do?"

The hooded figure just stood there, ignoring his questions. Roko tried to peer past the robe's shadows and see their face but it was almost impossible to tell. Without a motion or word from the robed figure, the perfect zombie suddenly lunged towards Roko. Roko brought up his sword in defense, but despite blocking the attack, he was flung into the air by sheer force, falling flat on his back through the soft snow.

"Roko!" Kaguya's voice called out to him but Roko was struggling to pull himself out of the snow.

He could hear the crunch of snowy footsteps as the zombie knight appeared next to him. Roko stared back at the zombie's black eyes, unable to register an emotion from the undead man. Roko tried to think of a way to escape or retaliate but first he had to get out of the snow which he continued to struggle with. There was no way for him to free himself in time to defend himself. Roko almost resigned himself to death until the zombie's eyes shifted away from him and he knelt down to pick something up. When he stood back up into Roko's vision, he could see the journal he had taken from Kirito in his hands. Roko quickly patted his pocket but it was clearly no longer there. It must have fallen off him when he was thrown back. Roko's mind shifted from whenever or not he'll die to whenever or not they will take the journal. It was certainly mysterious, sure, but Roko didn't think it was relevant to the necromancer. But if they were going to take it, then it must be important. Was there something about the journal that he was missing? Could he still get it back from them?

The zombie stared at the book with stoic eyes, not a single thought crossing his face. Then his eyes turned back to Roko and to his surprise, the zombie tossed the book back to him, landing softly onto Roko's chest. Without another word, the zombie turned and walked away, out of Roko's vision.

Roko laid there in the snow, confusion echoing in his mind as he tried to process how he survived. Not only did they let him go alive, they returned the journal to him. Was the journal important? Did they need it? They certainly seemed interested by it. But why didn't they take it? Why leave him alive? Roko's mind was still struggling with questions as Kaguya and Mikado arrived next to him and pulled him out of the snow.

"You okay?" Kaguya asked as she brushed some snow off him.

"I'm fine." Roko replied, still bewildered, "What happened to the guy with the book?"

"They walked around the tomb and disappeared into the woods." Kaguya explained.

"You didn't go after them?"

"Well we had much more pressing matters." Kaguya smirked, "Not like we could have gotten to them anyway."

"You don't think you can get past that super zombie?" Roko asked.

"That certainly was a much more complete resurrection compared to everything we've seen til now." Kaguya sighed, "But the biggest problem was that man's identity."

"Who was he?"

"Tsukishiro Kyousei. Otherwise known as Sodai Higosha Seiketsu no Hakugin. Or the Magnificent Guardian of Pure Silver Snow."

"That's quite the title." Roko gulped, "What's the history?"

"Too much to recount." Kaguya sighed, "He was an old military general back when I was a child. By then, he was already legendary for coordinating several impossibly difficult defensive operations. It's because of him that the country of Hatsuyuki gained the reputation of being impenetrable."

"So he specializes in defense." Roko nodded, "Wait you said he was old?"

"Yes." Kaguya sighed, "He was in his late 90s when he died."

"Then that means the necromancer aged him back to his prime!" Roko bit his lip, "Just how powerful is this foreign magic? Are you sure it's him?"

"The armor he was wearing was the unique imperial veneration armor given to him after his long career. He was buried in it when he died."

"No mistake then." Roko scowled, "That's one hell of an enemy."

"We're lucky they retreated." Kaguya nodded, "All the remaining zombies suddenly died as well."

"..." Roko looked down at his feet where the journal had fallen when he was stood back up. He knelt down and picked it up again.

"It seems like this journal is important." Kaguya said as Roko stood up again.

"Yeah. Though how or why, I have no idea." Roko stared at the book, a brooding feeling now rooted in his stomach.

"Guess you should keep investigating." Kaguya said, "That seems to be what they want."

"Yeah… Doing exactly what they want gives me a bad feeling but I don't think we have any other choice." Roko frowned, "Wait, just me?"

"Of course." Kaguya smiled as she patted Roko on the back, "We've got a rebellion to quell."

"Is that really that important right now?"

"Of course it is."

"It sounded like a pretty minor rebellion to me."

"Negotiations take time and effort." Kaguya shrugged, "Convincing them to disband won't be easy, depending on how stubborn they are."

"..."

"Worried?" Kaguya chuckled.

"Just one swing from the guy was enough to tell me he was leagues stronger than any other humans I've faced." Roko sighed, "With some exceptions, I suppose."

"I'd be interested to hear what these exceptions are." Kaguya raised an eyebrow, "But for now we have to return to the castle. At the very least, we deserve a good lunch after all this."

Kaguya and company arrived at Shizuka Castle in the late afternoon. Roko was about to go inside until Kaguya stopped him.

"We can't get lunch in the castle?" Roko frowned.

"We can, it's just not quite as good as Mani's." Kaguya chuckled.

"You can't even get a good chef for your castle?"

"There's a lot of things the castle doesn't have."

"Oi! Kagu!"

Takeko waved at them as she walked over to them, "Been looking for you all morning!"

"Something up, Take?" Kaguya smiled.

"Azayaka wants to talk to you."

"Of course." Kaguya sighed, "I guess lunch will have to wait for us. Do go ahead and eat without us, Roko."

"Got it."

"I recommend Hachi's diner if you want something unique." Kaguya said as she waved goodbye. Mikado bowed politely as he followed Kaguya into the castle.

Takeko and Roko stood there for a moment, unsure of how to talk to each other or whenever they should.

"So is Hachi's cooking the good kind of unique?" Roko asked.

"Depends on your taste." Takeko grinned, "You like fish?"

"Selectively."

"Hm. Do you like stargazy pie?"

"How does someone from here know how to make that?"

"Oh, Hachi's an immigrant." Takeko laughed, "He got exiled from his old country."

"I...see..."

"Actually, I hear Hachi's not even his real name."

"You sure know a lot about him."

"I know a lot about everyone." Takeko smiled, "Except for you, I guess, newbie. Anyway, just tell me what you want for lunch. It'll be on me."

"Well, it's not necessarily for lunch but..." Roko shrugged, "Do you know where I can get tiramisu?"

"Tiramisu?" Takeko blinked, "Why do you want that?"

"It's to help me focus." Roko sighed.

"Mmmm...I don't think I know anybody who knows how to make that." Takeko replied.

"Figures." Roko sighed again.

"I bet I could make one though." Takeko mused.

"Wait, you can?!" Roko cried.

"Yeah. Just gotta dig up the old recipe." Takeko grinned, "Gotta be somewhere in the library. Or...the kitchen."

"I...guess that'll work." Roko blinked, "If you don't mind making it."

"Oh no, it's fine!" Takeko beamed, "I'll have it delivered when I'm done. You live at the Asakura Inn right? Just give me a bit and temper your expectations!"

Takeko waved goodbye as she ran back into the castle.

…

"Now what do I do for lunch?" Roko sighed.

Not long after Roko finished his lunch, a man in a suit arrived at the inn Roko was staying at with a bag. Inside was a normal looking tiramisu and a note from Kaguya explaining that she will have to sleep over at the castle again. After trying a bite of the tiramisu, Roko determined that it was a step or two above the store bought ones from his home but that might not be that high of a bar to pass. Still, he had just finished lunch so he wasn't particularly ready to eat an entire tiramisu. Regardless, Roko sat down to force himself to read through the journal from the beginning now that it was more important than before.

Kabuto 16

A strange death occurred today, This one hits especially hard. Lady Yuno was found dead. A kind young woman who was loved by the people found dead after the disappearance of her husband. Everyone agrees this death is senseless and the common folk are restless. The nobles have made a show of investigating the death but they're all incompetent. But so long as they don't get in my way, they can continue playing pretend for all I care. As for what I've found, there are many peculiar details surrounding this death. Strangely, the death is by internal bleeding with no external wounds or bruising to be seen. There is no sign of any struggle, neither on her body or her surroundings. But that's where it gets interesting. Yuno was found in the middle of the garden, laid across one of the benches, as if she fell asleep. Her shoes were taken from her room and placed on her feet. There was no dirt on it as one would think there would be if she went for a stroll through the garden and fell asleep on the bench. Not that Lady Yuno was the type to do that in the first place nor did anybody see her in the garden that night. Plenty of people noticed the shoes but no one could think of why. The reason is clear to me. Clearly the shoes were disposed of since they were incriminating but since we don't have them, one can only speculate on how. But there was only one reason why they would dispose of the shoes. Clearly they was some kind of evidence on the shoe that the killer could not get rid of just by cleaning it. A kind of evidence that could be found on a shoe that cannot be washed off while still being incriminating has little possibilities to consider. Some sort of paint? Perhaps even blood? Without the shoes in hand, I can only speculate but the possibilities cannot be found in the castle. There is nothing that can stain shoes so permanently and no blood to be found in the castle. Therefore, the answer lies outside, possibly in the village. After asking the villagers, it seems someone who could fit the description of Lady Yuno was seen last night heading further outside the village with some sort of basket. So I go now outside the village to see what I can find.

I asked around the village if there was anything to be found out there and I learned something incredible. At first, I couldn't believe it but I had to see it for myself. I traveled out the entrance of Fuyuki and to the northeast, deep in the forest, I found the burnt ruins of a farm. It was rather small and it had clearly been ransacked and burned down only a few days ago. No such event was ever reported and when I asked the villagers about this farm, they seemed to avoid giving details about it. I checked out the farm and███████████████████████████████████████████

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Roko blinked as he picked up a piece of paper that was folded and neatly tucked into the spine of the journal. This passage seems to have been added to the journal though the paper didn't seem like the rest of the journal and the passage didn't necessarily have to do with the killer but from the look of the hand writing, it was clearly the same as Kirito's. An append? It sounded like the events of this murder took place early. Earlier than the oldest entry in the book. Most interestingly, the rest of this passage was blacked out. From what he could tell, this wasn't a recent tampering. The ink block was aged though it was still unreadable. But there was enough to spark intrigue. This farm was important enough to warrant being blacked out. Perhaps this was what the necromancer wanted him to find. Maybe this append was placed by the necromancer themselves. Maybe there's a trap waiting for him there. Either way, the only thing Roko could do was to investigate.

Roko sipped the last of his hot chocolate and polished off the remnants of the tiramisu. Despite snacking on his comfort foods throughout his study session, Roko could tell it was nearly time for dinner now, his stomach longing for something more substantial than desserts. Slightly worried about his eating habits, Roko went downstairs to eat dinner alone for the second night in a row. As he walked down the stairs, his mind turned to the perfect zombie that guarded the necromancer. Kyousei, Kaguya had said his name was. There was no doubt that this person was strong. Defense seems to be his specialty but so was Roko's. But his method of defense was to bait an attack and land a powerful counterattack though. At least when it was against another living being. Controlling the opponent was Roko's best chance to survive though not all his opponents were the type to trip over his words. Kyousei was one of those opponent. Even if he wasn't an emotionless zombie, Roko didn't see someone of Kyousei's caliber falling to his taunts even if he was alive. As always, Roko was woefully not fit enough to put up a decent, fair fight, though with its enhanced strength, it wouldn't have been much of a fair fight either. There had to be something Roko could take advantage of. Something that didn't rely on the varied strength of their combatants.

"Are you ready to order?" Mani asked as Roko stewed over his thoughts, pretending to look over the menu.

"Is there a weapons shop around here?" Roko asked.