After talking with Keno for a while, Ren followed her toward her home.
The place was full of rubble and ruined houses, complete destruction everywhere.
On the road, the girl, being undead, stayed very alert for other undead nearby.
They arrived at a small, modest house.
"This is it…" Keno entered cautiously.
But it wasn't over yet.
The house led directly to the sewer below; the building itself was just a disguise.
The sewer was dark, damp, and stank horribly.
Yet the girl's expression remained calm, showing she had clearly lived here for a long time.
Soon, they reached the girl's little home.
The layout was simple: a small wooden table, a bed of dry grass, and an entire wall of books.
The books were well-kept, without dust, showing that she read them often.
The girl seemed uneasy.
The place was too simple, with hardly any proper footing, and the stench around didn't help.
Ren thought for a moment, then took a light from his backpack.
He quickly lit up the dark room.
Then he took out a small sofa, items he had obtained from paid draws in his adventures.
The girl sat on it carefully.
It was soft, but as if remembering something, she quickly jumped back up.
"Sorry, I got it dirty…"
"It's fine. Chairs are made to be used, not to be avoided out of fear of getting dirty," Ren said softly.
Keno relaxed and sat down, still a little uneasy.
Ren stood and walked to the wall of books.
He pulled one out and began flipping through it.
He couldn't understand a word.
It seemed the information he needed would have to come from Keno herself.
"Um… could you please lift the magic and save my mom and dad?" Keno couldn't hold back.
She left the sofa and knelt directly in front of Ren.
"What?!" Ren was stunned, unsure what she meant.
He frowned and asked, "Lift what magic?"
"The undead here… didn't you cause them?" Keno asked cautiously but boldly.
"Do I look like a magic caster? I'm undead too, but my profession is Sword God," Ren said, taking his divine sword, Ama-no-Murakumo, from his backpack.
Just seeing it made Keno shiver.
She couldn't believe what kind of sword it was.
Even looking at it made her feel cold.
Then, as if understanding something, she showed a look of disappointment.
She had brought Ren here to lift the magic and restore her parents.
Now that hope was gone.
How much longer would she have to stay here?
"If you don't mind, could you tell me what happened?" Ren squatted down and gently lifted her, helping her back onto the sofa.
After a long pause, Keno stood.
"Lord Ren, please come with me."
Ren didn't speak, quietly following her to a room.
Inside were three people.
A young girl and a man and a woman who looked alike, and another wearing a dirty maid outfit.
The three wandered around in a daze.
Looking closely, the walls were covered with soft blankets to prevent them from hurting themselves.
"My eyes weren't always red… they were rainbow-colored before…" Keno looked at the three, biting her lips tightly, and slowly began to recall the events.
Her parents could use fourth- and fifth-tier magic, and as their direct descendant, great expectations were placed on her.
The maid, Nastasha, also had an extremely high magical talent and was confirmed to be the next head maid.
But this happy life didn't last long.
One day, she suddenly felt unwell.
Her mother desperately protected her, and her father returned to guard her.
The maid gave everything she had to protect their family, but it was all in vain.
Despite her parents' full-power magic protecting her, she eventually passed out.
When she woke up, she found her parents and the maid wandering around the house in a daze.
It was eerily similar to the undead described in books.
Her reflection in the mirror no longer had rainbow-colored eyes but deep red ones.
Without a doubt, she had become a vampire, the only being in the city with her own consciousness.
From that moment on, she, who had once been lazy and avoided studying magic, began dedicating herself entirely to magical research.
She hoped to find a solution.
Years passed with no results—until Ren appeared.
He was undead, just like the city's zombies, and the only zombie with consciousness.
This gave her hope—the hope of restoring her family.
After listening to Keno, Ren became interested in the strange phenomenon and began closely observing the three inside the room.
Although he wasn't a magic caster like Momonga, his paid items allowed him to use magic.
Momonga had also relied on warrior equipment for magic, one of the reasons the game was unbalanced.
"They're not beyond help," Ren said.
"Really!?" Keno's face lit up with hope as she looked at him.
"Really. Their souls have been taken by some kind of existence, which is why they've become mindless zombies. If we can destroy the source of this, there might be a way to fix it," Ren said, stroking his chin.
Keno immediately believed him.
After years of research, this was exactly the method she had hoped for.
Even if she was terrified, she would try to get him to help restore her family.
Ren spoke up first, "If you don't mind, I can help you."
"Really!" Keno was first happy, then sad. "I don't have any reward to give you."
"The reward is all the knowledge you have about this world." Ren sighed. What she knew was different from what he knew. He was just an anime fan, completely unaware of his current situation. He could only slowly understand this world by learning from the locals.
"Is that okay? I know very little, really very little." Keno asked again and again to confirm.
"It's fine." Ren nodded. He was still too unfamiliar with this world.
Keno smiled. It was the first genuine smile she had after the disaster. After this hopeless event, she had finally found hope.
The two formed a contract and prepared to leave on a journey to find the source of this disaster.
"Mom, Dad, Natasha, I'm sorry. I probably won't be able to see you for a while. I need to go out and find a way to save you. Please forgive me." Keno spoke to the locked-up zombies, even though they were dazed and couldn't understand her words.
Ren leaned against the wall, thinking. Could Momonga's magic restore the people here? In YGGDRASIL, the player who learned the most about magic was undoubtedly him.
After saying goodbye to her family, they went to Keno's room. Ren waved his hand and stored all her books in his backpack.
Keno was shocked. Even though he wasn't a magician, he could use a magic-like ability to store things.
This was Ren's test when he was still in the sky. After confirming he could manipulate many things, he finally went down to explore.
After packing everything, Ren looked at Keno and said, "Let's go. It's time to start."
"Mm…" Keno nodded timidly, following closely behind him as they set out on their journey.
**********
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