A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Praha, who had volunteered to endure twelve hours alone on a barren Hill, had his reasoning laid bare by Tangerine.
“Your Highness received specialized training in concealment and camouflage for successful sniping operations!”
“Concealment and camouflage…?”
“Yes! In a Forest where snakes outnumber insects, you once survived an entire week without eating or sleeping, standing alone! Twelve hours of stillness here would be nothing for you!”
“A week?!”
Wow. Unbelievable.
I can manage pulling two all-nighters at a comfortable desk while drinking coffee like water, but a week? In a Forest, no less?
That’s torture, isn’t it?
“That’s impressive.”
I spoke my honest thoughts aloud while looking at Praha.
“It’s nothing special.”
Praha said this matter-of-factly while gazing down the slope, his ears gradually flushing red. Tangerine chattered on about how she herself hadn’t even been accepted into the same training program.
“I can pull all-nighters, but I just can’t stay still! It’s so boring! So, where will you go?!”
“Well, the Village has already been overrun by zombies… and their numbers seem to keep growing.”
Yujein, her face pale, clung to General while speaking. Behind her, a zombie climbing the Hill was struck by lightning—crack!—and collapsed into a charred heap.
Utohr, now casting lightning without even looking.
‘Seeing that, there’s definitely holy power there.’
So why did the zombie manage to attack her?
“Where should we go, sir…?”
“I’m not certain.”
Praha answered my muttered words earnestly. He must have thought I was addressing him, even though I was just talking to myself.
‘Surely I wouldn’t call you “sir” of all things.’
Praha, unbothered by the unexpected title, stated his conditions.
“Somewhere with a clear view of the Sea, no zombies, a certain escape route, and shelter from wind and rain would be ideal.”
“Can I offer an opinion?”
Cherry interjected.
“I know where young people go to meet without their parents knowing. It’s secluded, so there probably won’t be zombies, and you can see the Sea toward the Dock. If things get desperate, you could probably jump straight into the Sea from there. Every year, one or two boys jump from there and get hurt, actually.”
“…Isn’t that basically saying you shouldn’t jump?”
“That’s just the boys. You ladies and the Crown Prince here are trained people, aren’t you?”
“I’m not…”
“Me neither.”
Tangerine spoke to Yujein and me as we hesitated.
“Don’t worry! I’ll throw you both very well!”
“Huh…?”
How did the conclusion end up like that?
I looked at Praha in bewilderment. Meeting my gaze, Praha spoke gently.
“Or would you prefer to jump while being held?”
“…Being thrown seems better.”
Woof.
* * *
“There’s a place like this?”
“It’s definitely somewhere zombies can’t climb into.”
“This is how I’ve managed to keep the children alive all this time.”
At the compliment, Cherry bashfully tugged at her earlobe. Come to think of it, Cyprus hadn’t been able to find the children either.
Narrow, dark, and desolate—a cave with passages branching in both directions. If things went south, we could always escape through the beach exit and throw ourselves into the Sea.
The downside was….
Skitter, skitter.
Dozens of cockroaches scurrying about…?
Tap.
“No way!”
I scooped up General, who was lunging at a cockroach with his front paws, and held him aloft. Tangerine grabbed his dangling hind legs and shook them. She looked delighted.
“We can rest here and head outside when the Grand Duke arrives!”
Tangerine plopped down on the ground with cheerful words about finally getting some sleep, utterly unbothered by the cockroaches. Her cool attitude sent the black specks scurrying across the floor in all directions.
As I scrambled backward, Cherry asked me a question.
“You don’t like bugs, do you?”
“Most people don’t like bugs…!”
Unless you’re Fabre!
‘I can’t sit down!’
Praha watched me fidget anxiously, glancing at the floor and then the walls, and hesitated before making a suggestion.
“…Would you sit on my lap?”
The fact that it seemed like a genuinely pure offer rather than anything ulterior made me even more embarrassed….
“Or sit beside me. I’ll chase them away for you.”
“I’ll repay your kindness.”
Shameless as I was, I sat down right next to him.
With all these people around, I wasn’t about to run away, so I could only focus on glaring at the massive cockroach on the wall while managing the conversation.
“People with divine power get attacked, while people with the God of Light’s mark on their bodies don’t get attacked, supposedly….”
“Does that even make sense?”
“Even though both received the same divine blessing, women get attacked but men don’t?”
“A god like that would be better off not existing.”
“Or maybe we just saw it wrong back then?”
“No, it definitely tried to bite her!”
Ah, they’re talking about Yujein.
Right.
Cyprus doesn’t get attacked by zombies, so why does Yujein get attacked…. People blessed by the God of Light shouldn’t be attacked.
As I pondered this, I suddenly opened my mouth.
“But you know, is it actually proven for certain that Yujein’s power is divine power?”
“Huh?”
“I’m wondering if the premise was wrong from the start.”
1. Those favored by the God of Light are not attacked by zombies.
2. Yujein was attacked.
= Yujein doesn’t receive the God of Light’s favor.
That’s what I was thinking.
“The power Yujein first manifested was healing, wasn’t it? And divine power has typically manifested as healing ability. So naturally, we all assumed….”
“We merely assumed Yujein’s power was divine power.”
“Yes. It was only an assumption. We never actually proved it.”
Besides, Yujein wasn’t even a devout believer to begin with, and the sacred relic we obtained through all that suffering in the Ancient Labyrinth proved useless to her anyway.
“But Princess, the Saint definitely possesses abilities!”
“There’s another power that could explain Yujein’s abilities besides divine power.”
Magic.
Though mages capable of casting spells without incantations are extraordinarily rare.
The probability of both Yujein and I possessing a talent that appears once per generation is virtually zero.
But Sherlock Holmes said something about this.
When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
“What if Yujein was actually a mage all along? Not a Saint.”
A long silence followed my words.
Yujein was the first to break it.
“Actually, that’s a relief.”
Yujein laughed, seeming genuinely pleased.
“I’m sorry to those who’ve cared for me, but honestly… the title of Saint has always felt burdensome.”
“Why?”
“Well… it’s just…”
“Because the title sounds too holy?” (Cherry)
“Because people figure out I’m female just from hearing the title?” (Me)
“Because you feel like you have to act virtuously?” (Tangerine)
“Y-yes! That’s exactly it!”
“I got it right!”
Tangerine threw her hand up in triumph, cheering. Praha, whose brow furrowed at the sudden shout beside his ear, gave a perfunctory clap.
Yujein fidgeted with her hands.
“As long as people call me that, and as long as they expect behavior befitting that title… I have to act virtuously. Not that I want to misbehave, but it feels like being trapped in a mold. I hate that.”
“That makes sense. It really does.”
“And you were right too, Princess. I hated that people who don’t even know me can figure out I’m female just from hearing that title.”
“…Yeah.”
I absolutely despise it when someone calls me a “female officer.” There’s no proper alternative, so I’ve been tolerating it, but “Princess” is the same way. I would have hated it if someone did that to me, yet I never gave it a second thought with Yujein.
Yujein, apparently thinking the same thing, added with flushed cheeks.
“I said I hated being called a Saint, yet here I am calling you both Princess and Saint. I’m sorry.”
“Let’s just call each other by our names from now on.”
“I’ve been calling you both Princess and Saint every time. I truly apologize!”
“I’ll apologize alongside you.”
“Oh, no! That’s not what I meant!”
“No, I mean it! This Tangerine will roast a cockroach as a sign of my repentance!”
“Ugh!”
So that settles it, then.
Since magic is a measurable force, I’ll stop by the Magic Shop once we leave the Island. I thought this to myself, blinking slowly.
Praha, noticing my drowsiness, whispered.
“If you’re tired, please rest.”
“Cockroaches….”
“I’ll make sure not a single one comes near you.”
Ah, that’s reassuring then….
* * *
A hand pressing on my shoulder jolted me awake.
It was Praha.
Praha, clutching a spent signal flare in his hand, spoke quietly.
“Cyprus has arrived.”
“Ah.”
Praha helped me up as I scrambled to my feet. I rotated my stiff neck and caught sight of a pile of cockroach corpses heaped to one side, which made me flinch. Then Praha’s handkerchief was placed over it.
A beige luxury cloth draped over the cockroaches.
♡♧♥A beautifully decorated cockroach grave☆♠♭
“…What is that?”
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
The man who had slaughtered dozens of cockroaches while I slept answered matter-of-factly.
Outside the Cave, Cherry, Yujein, and Tangerine were already waving frantically toward the Sea below the Cliff.
The children on the Ship, spotting us, came rushing out in a crowd.
“Wait, the kids are with you?”
“What? Did you just switch Ships?”
I tilted my head and peered down the Cliff.
Noticing we were about to jump, Cyprus stopped the Ship and shouted.
“Be careful! Don’t get caught in the propulsion mechanism! Your body could be shredded! Jump one at a time and I’ll catch you!”
“A demonstration from a skilled instructor will now commence!”
Tangerine, gauging the height and distance, tucked the puppy under her arm and leaped first. Next, Yujein and Cherry were thrown down with Praha’s help.
Yujein, flailing her limbs as she fell, nearly did a full rotation before Cyprus caught her safely.
“See! I’ll catch you even if you jump down in complete chaos!”
Now it was my turn.
“Kyaaaah!”
I leaped down, leaving behind the sound of the signal flare and the approaching presence of zombies.
Just as Cyprus caught me perfectly in mid-air.
Cyprus’s arms wrapped around me and we spun half a rotation, a strong gust of wind swept through, and the cord binding my hair came loose.
The hair tie made from dried flowers went flying through the air.
“Oh…!”
That was the flower tie Praha gave me…!
I reflexively reached out beyond the Ship’s edge to grab it, stumbled, and fell straight down….
I didn’t—I immediately abandoned the flower!
‘I can’t die getting ground to pieces just to pick a single flower!’
Praha would want me alive more than that!
Sure enough, I heard Praha laughing from above as he watched my quick decision.
It was a rare sight from the usual Praha—a laugh that bloomed like flower petals unfurling.
He’d gone on about me being the sun, but his dazzling smile seemed far brighter than that. I gazed up at him in a daze.
That’s when I saw it.
Lime bursting from the Cave behind us, lunging to strike Praha from behind.
“Ahhhhh!”
“….”
He… was alive?
[Cliff]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, General, Muffin, and others (Alive)
– Cherry (???)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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