The 6th squad returned first, men cutting into each other's words as they tried to report on the zombies. The 9th followed, having no idea they'd met on the battlefield mere minutes ago.
"Don't you want to hide those projections?" Lily whispered, still clinging to Konrad's arm.
He smirked under his nose, keeping his voice down.
"They can't see it. Told you, the magic circuits on the lots cancel some of my illusions out."
The girl rolled her eyes.
"What if they lost it in the fight?" she probed as the soldiers were still in full panic mode.
"When they first touched it, the spell had imprinted on them, so even if they do, it'll last a few more hours. Don't worry, I thought about how to make my plans foolproof," Konrad explained.
While working in logistics in his past life, he encountered many troublesome customers.
He knew that even a perfect plan was for naught if he trusted it to someone else.
Safeguards were his specialty.
"I might've underestimated you, sweetheart," Lily admitted, pulling in tighter.
She was a bit distracting in her usual, scanty tribal getup, but he didn't mind.
Her skin was warm and soft, and most of it was his to touch or look at. Her freckles danced around her nose as she smirked, giving him these rare compliments. Her hazel eyes lit up, too.
"But I wouldn't have picked you if you were dumb, anyway," she teased.
"Oh, and the zombie projection also ends one square away from here," Konrad added. "So whenever they return here to give me a report, they see each other like normal."
Plus, if two teams approached at once, one would become invisible—or run into a diversion.
With all the chaos happening in his new life, he did a thorough job of preparing for everything.
It would've taken at least an aerial attack or a dragon to ruin his illusions.
Which wasn't out of the question with Maple, but even he couldn't prevent the apocalypse.
"Don't worry, the idiot's still pouting at the other end of town," Lily whispered, reading his thoughts. "She won't show her face anytime soon. Especially not in her dragon form."
He could only hope she was right.
"—and they weren't weak at all," a knight of the 6th squad finished up his report in the meantime. "They matched us blow to blow, unlike what that redheaded tribesman told us."
He must've been talking about Welf.
A side glance at his projections showed Konrad that they were on their way back, too, after a nasty encounter. The blacksmith's team even suffered its first minor injury, too.
Luckily, he had Lily with him to deal with such accidents.
"True, they almost bested us," a champion from the 9th replied. "I landed a solid hit, and that beast shrugged it right off. They are smart, not the brainless undead I've expected."
"Well," Konrad interjected, "they could've regained their memories and skills since turning."
He had to give them an explanation before they started to suspect each other.
But how many people ever encountered real undead, anyway?
If it were up to him, and he got a steady hold of Stella, none would ever do.
Another squad made it back, Welf's beaten-up team following close behind.
"It's like they're looking for something, or someone, too," a tribesman reported. "And they seemed as surprised to see us as we were to find them. What are we to do, bossman?"
So they noticed it—but still suspected nothing.
"They could be looking for Brigida, too." Konrad 'theorised'. "This complicates things."
"It sure does," Welf noted, rolling his eyes, leading his wounded sergeant closer. "Liliske, if you would. If we don't change tactics, they'll pick us off one by one."
"Shouldn't we call off the search?" a champion suggested, met with general hostility.
"You'd abandon a child?!" a Blood Moon accused him, ready to draw his sword.
"Who knows if she's still alive? Or even there in the first place?" he demanded, but another team returned right then, to join the discussion. One that followed Konrad's lure until then.
"We saw her," a tribal recruit claimed. "A young girl, blonde. Wouldn't respond to us."
"That's her," Bor yelled, as most of the squads arrived back at the starting square by now.
Way ahead of schedule.
All Konrad had to do was sit back and watch their arguments unfold.
"We must reorganize."
"No, burn the whole block down. These things are dangerous."
"You'd sacrifice a child," a tribesman accused. "Are you so afraid of a few zombies?"
"There might be more than we expected," a champion calculated. "Imagine what'd happen if they got out? We have those five hundred orphans and the entire town to think about, too."
"True," another knight took his side. "Dunno this Brigida girl, but she's one against thousands."
"Okay, we're not burning my town down," Konrad decided to intervene.
He didn't like where this was going, even if the knight's suggestion made sense.
"I'll bring in the militia and guard the perimeter so nobody will get out," he offered instead. "If you're too afraid to head back in, I understand that, too. I'll go myself, and you can all rest."
"Nonsense," tribals and knights protested in unison. "Too risky for a man of your importance."
"Please, My Lord, you stay back here and help us coordinate," a champion pleaded.
"Yeah, bossman, you're much better at strategizing than we are," a Blood Moon added. "Tell us what to do, and we'll do the fighting for ya. You can count on us, Konrad."
The overwhelming majority agreed to continue the search, and the rest followed along.
His plans almost went off the rails, but this way, the battle royale could continue.
He only had to nudge them a bit to keep playing by his terms.
"All right. If you say they're smart and organized, we can't reorganize, either. If you formed larger platoons, they'd only remain hidden and avoid fighting you," he claimed.
"True, and our goal is not to defeat them, anyway," Welf added. "Find the girl first."
"Once she's safe, we can round up those zombies and burn the place down," Bor said, rubbing his palms. "I hate to say this, but it's like the perfect setup to prepare us for the mines later."
Oh, he was catching on. And unlike the blacksmith, he never heard even part of the plans.
Konrad had to make sure they didn't put the pieces together, but, well, it was true.
He might've made his simulation too convenient.
"Then keep the current squads. Stick together, see if the sergeants you elected work or not," he ordered. "Fight the enemy if it helps in your search, and avoid them if you're overwhelmed."
With that, the second round was about to begin.
Lily finished healing the few wounded, and the squads set out one by one on the same paths as before. But they all looked more wary and prepared now.
Konrad expected even more clashes and fun to unfold soon.
And while he wasn't pleased with the motivation of some of his men, they all stuck together.
It was nice to know that the nobles didn't give him garbage. Or that the tribesmen cared more about innocent children than their own safety. Now it was time to see how they could all fight.