The Sword hero had slayed a dragon terrorizing a village, but its putrefying body had caused a plague, a problem none of the villagers are able to solve for themselves. They beg the Shield Hero to help them in their time of need, but they find that a dead dragon is the least of their worries.
Also, Naofumi gains a new shield that comes at a terrible cost.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The villagers are portrayed as innocent victims, while in the original Web Novel, they had been revealed to have put the hit on Gaelion that Ren took solely for them to claim the Dragons' treasure. Later on, it's revealed that Gaelion had Wyndia, a little Dog Demi-Human girl whom the Dragon had adopted that the villagers had sold into slavery following his death. Time will tell if Wyndia is ever seen or mentioned, assuming she exists in this continuity.
- Dracolich: The dragon Ren slew comes back as a Zombie Dragon.
- Friendly Fireproof: Very much averted. While Naofumi's Rage Shield is an effective weapon against the Zombie Dragon, Raphtalia ends up getting burned in the process. Whats worse, her burns refuse to heal with his healing spells.
- Gem Heart: A purple crystal deep within the dragon's corpse was what brought it back to life. When Filo ate it, it died permanently.
- Made of Magic: A Gem Heart made of residual mana was what reanimated the dragon.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ren was hired by Dragon Village to slay a dragon in the nearby mountains. He did just that... and he left the body to rot, causing a plague to overrun the area. Not only that, but by the time Naofumi gets there, it comes back to life as a zombie.
- Playing with Fire: Naofumi's Rage Shield allows him to attack with fire.
- Poison Is Evil: On-top of exuding a poisonous aura, the Zombie Dragon is able to exhale a toxic miasma as a weapon.
- Polluted Wasteland: The dragon's putrified carcass has caused the surrounding area to be struck with plague. Getting too close to it poisons and quickly kills them. Since Naofumi is adept at healing magic and his high-defense stats make him immune to its effects, he is the perfect person for disposing it.
- The Power of Hate: After seeing Filo getting eaten, Naofumi's rage allowed him to summon his Rage Shield for the first time.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: While it looked like Filo was eaten by the zombie dragon, she was actually perfectly fine, having vomited some of the fruit she had eaten (which looked like blood) and swallowing a dragon crystal within the dragon trying to eat her way out of it.
