A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 129
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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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“…What on earth is that…?”
An Elephant appearing in the City of Sodom…?
Where do Elephants normally live anyway? The desert?
No, but surely not in the middle of the city, right?!
“Ahhhhh!”
“Kyaaaah!”
And are Elephants normally that enormous?!
People shrieked at the appearance of an Elephant—something I’d only seen once before during a trip to Thailand.
A young man who had been sprawled out smoking a water pipe moments ago leaped up in panic and fled, while shoppers scattered in all directions with screams.
Pwooooo—
The Elephant raised its trunk high and trumpeted a long, resonant call.
The youths who had roped the Elephant’s grey body strained with all their might to pull it in their desired direction, but an Elephant wasn’t something that could be controlled by three people!
Crack. Snap.
“Oh no, my stall!”
Cyprus clicked his tongue at the screams, his brow furrowing.
“This is going to cause an accident.”
“Indeed, if someone gets trampled by the Elephant’s feet or pierced by its tusks…”
The stalls already beneath the Elephant’s feet had been crushed and collapsed.
“Praha, don’t you have any good ideas… Why are you holding a bow!”
“To shoot.”
“You’re going to kill an innocent Elephant?!”
“…I don’t have the skill to kill an Elephant with a single arrow. It’s an arrow coated with tranquilizer.”
“B-but will the arrow even pierce the Elephant’s body?”
“I’ll let you know after I try.”
“Brother, that’s so cool!”
Beside Praha, who spoke so calmly, a man (presumed to be a Priest of the God of Light) clapped enthusiastically, bouncing on his feet. Seeing the Priest’s excited movements, Praha spoke.
“I think I’m the younger one, so why are you calling me brother?”
“Huh?”
“I look at least ten years younger.”
Is that really what matters right now?!
While I stared in astonishment at Praha’s priorities—apparently age mattered more to him than being called brother by a man—
Pwooooo—
The Elephant was entering the arrow’s range.
Pwooooo—
Perhaps being the sole focus of everyone’s attention was stressful for the Elephant as well.
It trumpeted again, then suddenly began to defecate.
“Ahhhhh!”
The man who had been pushing the Elephant’s rear to make it walk forward quickly retreated and dodged—
But he was just a moment too late…
“Ugh…”
“Ugh…”
What am I supposed to do?
Please, let that man’s house be nearby…
In the moment when everyone turned their heads away.
“Kyahahaha!”
A cackling laugh rang out.
A bright, high-pitched, refreshing laugh. A voice brimming with joy, even clapping along with the sound.
The sound was coming from atop the Elephant.
Unlike me, who flinched in surprise, Praha, Cyprus, and Tangerine merely narrowed their brows—they already seemed aware of this Elephant rider’s presence.
“Ahahaha! You’re completely filthy now!”
Cyprus stepped aside so I could crane my neck to see the person riding atop the Elephant.
It was a young girl wearing clothes that were severely lacking in fabric.
A red-haired girl with her arms, legs, and belly fully exposed lay sprawled halfway across the Elephant’s back, laughing down at the people below.
In her pale hand holding a long pipe, I could see the Elephant’s reins tangled together.
“Good heavens.”
Yujein sighed.
The Elephant wasn’t resisting and refusing to move on its own—it was obeying this girl’s control.
The three servants below were desperately trying to keep the Elephant from straying off the path.
What is she? A child tyrant?
“Heave!”
As she spoke, the girl rose from her seat and scattered something toward the overturned stalls and the people who’d nearly been hurt.
Gold coins and tobacco.
I wasn’t sure if it was actually tobacco… in any case, it was some kind of leaf.
The people who seemed to regain some of their senses at the Elephant’s appearance caught the gold coins and tobacco raining down from above, then slipped right back into their dazed state.
People rolling around in Elephant dung to pick up the fallen coins.
“Ahahaha, this is so much fun…!”
As she watched, the girl clutched her belly and laughed again, and her gaze reached us gathered at the Temple entrance.
The girl tilted her head upon seeing Praha and Cyprus with furrowed brows.
Unlike the intoxicated people on the street, the girl’s gaze was sharp and clear.
An arrogant finger, showing utter disregard for others, pointed at us.
“Who are those handsome men over there? Bring them to me.”
* * *
“Prince Ali↗”
“What kind of melody is that…?”
“Yeah, I just made up this song.”
“You can’t sing, can you, unnie.”
I flicked Muffin’s nose with my finger as she looked at me with pitying eyes. Ow—Muffin grabbed her nose and glared at me.
“Truth is always oppressed, you know.”
I spoke teasingly and looked around.
An open ceiling without a roof, four pillars standing against the walls. The gentle sound of water flowing through a channel. A deep purple sofa that swallowed my body the moment I sat down. A plush carpet that buried my ankles.
“Chirp, chirp.”
“If you’re going to mimic me so half-heartedly, I’d prefer you didn’t mimic me at all, Grand Duke!”
Bird cages scattered here and there.
Doorless rooms lining the corridor in succession. A languid, hazy fragrance drifting through the air.
The atmosphere deliberately warmed to a sultry degree, ripe fruit within arm’s reach, sweet liqueurs….
This was the Lord’s Castle of Sodom.
So here’s how this came to be.
“Bring me a beautiful man!”
The girl who had shouted with such bravado couldn’t wait even a moment and slid down directly from the elephant to approach us.
“My goodness!”
The instant she saw the faces of the two beautiful men she’d been seeking, she covered her mouth with both hands in great surprise.
That’s right. She had recognized Praha and Cyprus.
It turned out this elephant rider was the eldest daughter of the Lord of Sodom.
Fifteen? Sixteen? She still seemed too young to properly serve as an heir to a territory, but an heir is an heir nonetheless. We had just been led by the girl into Sodom Castle.
As I surveyed the castle’s interior—which felt like stepping into a resort in the middle of a desert—Tangerine whispered to me.
“He actually seems perfectly fine?”
“I think so too.”
“But then why didn’t he respond to the Imperial Family’s contact!”
“We’ll have to press him on it when we meet the Lord.”
“Your Highness, should I sharpen my blade?”
“Not yet.”
[What we need to do in Sodom]
1. Confront him about why he ignored the Imperial Family’s messages despite being perfectly fine.
2. Determine whether the Lord of Sodom is involved in human trafficking crimes and resolve the matter.
3. Find a clue about the zombies (though I haven’t seen a single one yet).
4. Help Muffin and Cheese find their families.
Bonus. Find my younger brother.
While my mind raced through the tasks, I unfastened the bag I’d been carrying on my back. When I’d packed that morning, I must have made a mistake—I pulled out the item that kept jabbing into my back.
“So that was the culprit.”
An aggro doll I’d bought at Mascarpone’s shop when leaving the Capital. The kind that makes a squeaking sound when you throw it.
Though now that I’d brought it along, it seemed I’d rarely found a proper use for it.
Holding the unnecessarily cute doll in my hand, I examined it this way and that.
“Ahem. I apologize for keeping you waiting.”
The Lord’s eldest daughter reappeared from the far end of the corridor.
The red-haired girl who had been dressed so revealingly before now wore a yellow dress. Her hair was neatly tied back, and her previously bare feet were now clad in light indoor slippers.
The sight of her was rather like….
‘Watching a delinquent teenager suddenly act well-behaved.’
Like a problem student suddenly turning on the charm with a teacher she usually ignored whenever she wanted something….
Or like watching someone who’d gotten into trouble suddenly put on their school uniform before heading to court.
In any case, the girl—now showing some semblance of propriety—bent her knees in a respectful greeting.
The Crown Prince and Grand Duke were grinning without a trace of fear, their etiquette flawless on the surface, though their rough training showed through the cracks.
Clinging to the hem of her skirt was a young girl with the same unruly crimson hair as Muffin.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Pochacha. This child is my younger sibling, Melon. Melon, greet them.”
“Hello!”
“No, you should say ‘good day to you.'”
“Hmph!”
“This is….”
“Never mind. Where is the Countess?”
“Ah, Mother hasn’t woken yet! But I was told to slap her awake if necessary, so she should be up soon.”
‘Slap your own parent…?’
“What hour is it, and she’s still not awake?!”
“She drank last night.”
Pochacha answered curtly, showing no particular embarrassment.
Praha, cutting through Pochacha’s words, asked a question.
“What about the Elephant?”
“I’m sorry…?”
“What happened to the Elephant?”
“I’m not sure. Since the walk is over, it’s probably shut away in the Stable, isn’t it?”
“Do you always take walks in such a manner?”
“Ah… well, you know.”
Only then did Pochacha realize that Praha was pointing out her dangerous method of walking, her expression souring in an instant.
Now I understood.
‘She’s not drunk or anything like that. She’s simply… a spoiled child.’
Still growing, utterly unrefined.
Regardless of what Pochacha did, Praha continued.
“I have urgent business, yet the Countess sleeps. Her successor should be able to answer me instead.”
His tone was coldly cutting.
Even against Praha’s demeanor, Pochacha seemed unafraid as she replied.
“Yes. I am listening.”
With a metallic whisper, Tangerine’s blade slid halfway from its sheath. Observing Tangerine, Praha asked his question.
“Why did you not respond to the Imperial Family’s communications?”
[Sodom]
-Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Muffin, Cheese, Cheese’s Younger Sibling (Alive)
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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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