Chapter 93
“Haa…! I really feel alive. I can’t rember the last ti I rested like this…”
I wanted to say that it had been a rest as sweet as honey.
No, actually, I wondered if it was even right to call it a rest.
Since my eyes had closed regardless of my will, it was closer to fainting than resting, but what did that matter?
To be serious about it, it had only been a little over a day, but perhaps because I had been pushed to my limits, it felt as if I had been tornted for a whole week.
After being rescued by Celina, returning to the airship, sleeping deeply like a corpse, waking up, washing myself clean, changing my clothes, and even filling my stomach with a al prepared by the chef, I felt like I had been born anew.
What else could happiness be?
This was happiness.
“It seems you’ve found so peace of mind now.”
As I leaned against the railing, leisurely enjoying the sunlight, Celina approached and sat down beside .
I did not know what hardships she had gone through or what thoughts she had while I was resting, but Celina’s expression was extrely serious.
Well, it made sense.
With undead fiends, the likes of which she had never seen before, swarming below in the city like worker ants in an anthill, there was no way she could remain composed as an officer of the Alliance.
Though it felt like it was not just because of that.
According to Byan, ever since receiving my distress signal and arriving near Haram, Celina had worn an expression he had never seen before.
“First of all, could you explain what happened?”
“Hmm… We’re not short on ti, are we? If so, I think it would be good to start from how I ca to Haram…”
I began to explain everything from the beginning, step by step, so that Celina could easily understand.
From the reason I decided to co here, to the fact that I had not achieved my goal, and finally, the appearance of the zombies.
Celina’s expressions varied, but they grew particularly grave during the part about the zombies.
“The dead rising to move and attack the living… I’ve never heard of such fiends. There was no information about fiends like this even in old docunts…”
“It’s not a normal situation, is it?”
“No. It’s not just abnormal… I’d say it’s an extrely dangerous situation.”
Celina, with her eyebrows furrowed, bit her lip.
“While you were asleep, Rian, I sent soldiers to investigate the zombies to so extent. Their strength, habits, characteristics, and things like that.”
“How was it?”
“In the case of the regular zombies, their strength isn’t a major problem. A soldier who has received the nurturing system can defeat them without difficulty, and even a regular soldier can handle them with enough numbers. The problem is that their numbers are massive.”
Haram was by no ans a small city.
Though it was now in ruins, just looking at the remaining traces showed how large a population had resided there in the past and to what extent civilization had developed.
And now, that city was filled with zombies.
It was difficult to even guess how many there were.
“And the special individuals hidden among the regular ones… they are too strong for regular soldiers to handle. Even for soldiers who have received the nurturing system, it would lead to terrible consequences if their levels aren't raised to a certain standard.”
She calmly analyzed the enemy’s strength.
And as the accuracy of her analysis increased, Celina’s expression gradually darkened.
“I don’t know what’s keeping them tied to Haram, but if they are released from there… the rgan Kingdom will probably face a great crisis.”
Having said that, Celina roughly ruffled her own hair as if to shake off the stress.
Now that I looked, although she had roughly concealed it with makeup, the dark circles under her eyes made it clear that she had not slept properly last night.
“For now, I have sent a report to the lord of Monora.”
“Monora?”
“Yes. Monora was the largest city in this area. Actually, it would be great if I could submit a report directly to the royal family, but that would be an overreach of authority that infringes on the lord’s autonomy… By now, the lord has probably explained the situation and requested support. A large airship should arrive within two to three days at the latest.”
“You plan to blow them all away with the main cannon.”
“Yes. I don’t know for what reason, but now, while the zombies are gathered together inside the city, is our chance to wipe them out in one fell swoop with minimal bloodshed.”
Just as Celina said.
For so unknown reason, the zombies were not leaving the city.
A large airship operated by the Alliance should be able to burn down all of Haram with a single shot from its main cannon.
With that, the rgan Kingdom and the Alliance would be able to shake off the threat that had suddenly appeared at their doorstep and calm their startled hearts.
But a thought suddenly occurred to .
Would the zombies really wait quietly inside the city for the two or three days it would take for the large airship to arrive?
“Celina. There’s sothing I want to say.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“As I said at the beginning, the zombies didn’t show themselves until I entered Haram. At most, they were just lying around like corpses in the dungeon corridor. Do you rember?”
“I rember.”
“And those creatures only started to stir after I entered the deepest part of the dungeon, right?”
Yes.
As if to cut off my escape route.
As if to prevent any information about what was happening in this city from leaking to the outside, to thoroughly isolate and deal with the only witness.
At first, I thought the presence or absence of the sun in the sky was the driving force behind the zombies’ movents, but it had already been proven that was not the case.
In that case, there was only one conclusion that could be drawn.
“These zombies probably didn’t occur naturally or by chance.”
“…Then are you saying they are fiends that soone created artificially?”
“That possibility is high. And since the goal of eliminating to prevent information from leaking to the outside has failed…”
“……”
Celina was quick to understand.
She imdiately understood what I was going to say next, and her face turned pale.
With a trembling hand, she grabbed the communicator and relayed the information to the lord of Monora.
But whether in reality or in this world, the military was a truly wretched place.
The content of the communication that ca back in response to the diligent report was truly shocking.
[I cannot report to His Majesty that Monora is in danger based on re speculation. As a lord, I cannot take actions that would cast doubt on my competence based on uncertain information.]
“What does that…! No, I’m telling you this is an ergency!”
[The army of Monora is by no ans weak. We will resolve the danger facing Monora with our own strength. Unit 917 is to buy ti until Monora’s army has finished its preparations.]
“My goodness…”
Celina, at a loss for words, clutched the back of her neck.
To put it nicely, the lord of Monora was a stubborn figure; to put it badly, he was incompetent.
And as if it had been waiting, a giant zombie punched the gate of Haram.
The gate of Haram, which had weathered the elents for many long years, could not hold and was blown away, and the zombies poured out of Haram like a school of fish escaping a torn net.
* * *
What should we do?
Neither I nor Celina could make a hasty judgnt.
As soldiers, we should follow the orders of our superiors and sohow block the zombies’ offensive, but the words to go down to the ground would not co out because we knew we would die the mont we did.
Live by the order, die by the order.
It was a romantic saying, but no matter how loyal a soldier, not many would willingly charge into an enemy camp when ordered to die.
“This won’t do.”
Celina made a decision.
“We will ignore the order we just received.”
Including myself, we who had been holding our breath, waiting for Celina’s order to drop, let out a sigh of relief, no one before the other.
We had been worried what we would do if the order to charge ca out of her mouth, so it was a great relief.
“Of course, I have no intention of just sitting back and watching. From now on, considering the direction of the zombies’ advance, I will issue an evacuation order to the surrounding villages. Rian. You have the map you used to co to Haram, don’t you?”
“Here.”
I took out the map that had been stuffed deep in my bag and handed it to Celina.
Celina unfolded the shabbily crumpled map, spread it on the deck, and marked the direction of the zombies’ advance.
There were a total of four villages located in that direction.
Unit 917’s airship flew through the sky at top speed.
Thanks to that, we were able to quickly reach Sursa, the village closest to Haram.
“…Rian. With Latia, please inform Sursa of the news and order an evacuation. I will move to the next village with the rest of the crew. For now, we will aim to evacuate as many residents as possible to Monora.”
“Understood.”
Latia and I sprang to our feet.
It would be difficult to fend off the zombies, but evacuating the residents should not be too hard.
Even the ti it took for takeoff and landing was precious, so as we always did, we jumped towards the ground without any support equipnt, and Celina’s gravity magic set us down on the ground safely.
“G-Good heavens.”
“People from the sky…”
The people of Sursa Village were utterly astonished, watching us fall from the sky.
One peculiar thing was that, unlike their voices which trembled violently in surprise, their facial expressions did not change all that much.
We went to find the village chief.
No matter how much we shouted in the village square, it would not be as effective as a single word from the village chief, who had earned the respect of the villagers over a long ti.
However, the village chief was away.
In that case, should we find the person with the next highest authority in this village?
Or should we search for the village chief?
My mind beca complicated.
It was then that a voice called out to .
“Soldier?”
When I turned around, it was the man who had extended a helping hand to in Monora when I was fretting, unable to find a carriage.
Damond took off his hat, brought it to his chest, and bowed his head slightly.
“The village chief was very worried when you didn’t return yesterday.”
“Damond. Do you know where the village chief is? There is sothing I must tell him urgently…”
“If you are looking for the village chief… Please tell . I will deliver the ssage.”
Damond, who smiled innocently as if to say we could trust him, whatever the matter might be.
I thought that Damond, with whom I had at least shared so stories in the carriage, would listen to my words better than a complete stranger I had never spoken to.
I relayed to Damond what had happened in Haram.
Damond’s face grew increasingly serious as he listened calmly to my explanation.
“A dead person’s corpse attacking people. For such a thing to happen…”
“There is not much ti.”
“I understand. For now, I will relay the ssage to the village chief and the other villagers. Would you two soldiers please wait at the dock? It will be faster to travel by boat.”
“Understood.”
Damond gathered the people who were around the chief’s house and ran off sowhere.
Left behind, we headed for the dock as Damond had said.
The villagers would follow Damond’s words, pack only their valuable belongings, and set off on the path of evacuation.
It did not seem like two more pairs of hands would be of much help to the villagers packing their things.
It would be more desirable to wait at the port in advance and focus on maintaining order among the villagers as they began to gather one by one.
It would probably take a considerable amount of ti for the villagers to gather, but perhaps because the matter was so serious, my heart had grown impatient.
It was definitely a fast walk at first, but when I ca to my senses, I found myself running towards the dock.
In the far distance, the dock ca into view.
“Huh? Senior. Wait a minute.”
Latia, who had abruptly stopped walking, called out to .
I stopped a few steps ahead of her and turned my head to et her eyes.
Latia, with her brow deeply furrowed, was not looking at but staring at the dock behind .
“Sothing… sothing is strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“As you know, Senior, the natural environnt around Sursa is completely dead. That’s why Sursa Village is engaged in fishing…”
“That’s right.”
Not just Sursa, but the areas near Haram had effectively beco places where living things could not survive.
The land was dry and contaminated, not a single blade of grass grew.
Even looking down from high in the sky, there were no water sources to obtain water from, and at most, only a little groundwater flowed.
That is why ordinary living things cannot survive in the areas near Haram.
The sa goes for people.
Since there are no plants around, there are no animals either, and since it is impossible to harvest even if seeds are sown, it is impossible to find food.
Because of this, people had no choice but to turn their eyes to the sea.
All the villages remaining around Haram now are villages engaged in fishing.
“But Senior. Look at that. The boats and the nets are too… what should I say. There are no signs of use at all.”
“……”
Only then did I shift my gaze in the direction Latia’s finger was pointing.
The boats visible at the distant dock were all old, and so were so severely damaged that I wondered how they could even float on the water.
The sa went for the fishing tools, including the nets.
The nets, which had not been maintained at all, had holes large enough for fish to co and go as if it were their own ho.
Most of all, there were not even the footprints that should naturally be there from fishern coming and going.
“Latia.”
“…Yes, Senior.”
“Draw your sword.”
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