A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 141
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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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Cyprus’s expression suddenly vanished.
Words leaked slowly from his lips.
“Crown Prince Praha of the Empire. You will….”
“….”
Cyprus spoke, his lips trembling as though possessed by something.
“Lose your beloved woman to a charming, wealthy blond-haired handsome man.”
“….”
Was he joking, or was this serious….
In Cyprus’s eyes, which still feigned a dazed expression, unmistakable mischief gleamed.
Praha, who had been staring at Cyprus with an expressionless face, spoke.
“Then I’ll make a prophecy too.”
“Not just anyone can make a prophecy….”
“Cyprus de Mer, royal blood of the Empire. You will die by the Crown Prince’s hand today.”
At the same moment, the sword sheath flew through the air.
As though he’d anticipated it, Cyprus laughed and dodged. Then Praha immediately changed the direction of the sheath.
Strike, dodge, strike, dodge, strike, dodge.
The Crown Prince desperately trying to pummel his friend with the sheath, and the Grand Duke desperately trying to evade….
They really knew how to play around….
“An additional prophecy. Praha, you won’t land a single hit on me today….”
“Cyprus, you will be beaten to death by me today….”
“Enough!”
How old are you two anyway!
“Are you both really going to act this childishly?”
I’m dying of urgency here!
My exasperation completely dispelled my worry.
In frustration, I smacked Cyprus’s back with whatever strength I had.
“Ow, ow.”
While Cyprus ghosted every swing of Praha’s sheath, he meekly accepted my blows and whined dramatically.
“It hurts.”
“My hand hurts more from hitting you!”
Then Praha stared blankly from beside me.
Since I’d only hit Cyprus and not Praha, I carefully placed my hand on Praha’s forearm as well.
Smack.
A very soft sound, yet Praha looked delighted.
If the Underworld God were watching this scene right now, he’d surely collapse from frustration.
After all that effort to set the mood and deliver a prophecy, this is the mockery I receive in return.
‘At this rate, the God will throw a fit and kill all three of us.’
But that’s a matter for the distant future. I still have approximately seventy-five glorious years of life ahead of me.
It’s the age of living to a hundred these days.
“Do we really have time to be doing this when we don’t know what chaos might be happening inside right now?”
“About that, Yusara.”
“What!”
“There’s no one in the Guard Tower.”
“…What?”
I snapped my head up in alarm.
While Praha and Cyprus were locked in their chaotic struggle, we’d somehow crept right up to the castle gates.
This was the very spot where guards had been posted when we’d left the castle earlier.
Just moments ago, guards had been up there in the tower, taking turns sweeping searchlights across the grounds below.
But now.
“…There’s no one there.”
Despite all the noise Praha and Cyprus were making, not a single beam of light cut through the darkness, nor did I hear a single voice crying out “Who goes there!”
“Was the Guard Tower empty when you left, Praha?”
Praha shook his head at my question.
“There were still guards in the tower when I escaped. It was chaotic, though.”
“Chaotic?”
“Yes. It seemed they were all rushing into the castle to search for an intruder.”
“I see….”
Shouldn’t they be even more vigilant and hold their positions if there’s an intruder?
If they all stampeded off like that, a thief could simply slip out of the castle without a care in the world.
“I thought it was strange behavior, but I was too focused on escaping to investigate further.”
“Hmm.”
So the thief still hasn’t been caught?
I tilted my head and gazed up at the castle.
I stared at the golden roof of the castle shrouded in darkness for a long moment, but no one came bursting out to dash across it in escape.
“Cyprus, can we get back in through the exterior staircase we used to leave?”
“Doubt it. No key. We could make it if you let me smash the door, though.”
“You didn’t even steal the key?”
“Sorry. The only thing I’m good at stealing is hearts.”
Don’t even start.
“Praha, which route did you use when you left… Praha?”
I was ignoring Cyprus and looking at Praha when I suddenly flinched.
The eyes of Praha, who was watching me exchange words with Cyprus, were burning with that same intensity as before.
“Praha, what’s wrong?”
What am I actually doing wrong?
But that expression vanished quickly, and soon Praha’s usual expressionless face pointed toward a path leading around the back of the Guard Tower.
“This way.”
* * *
“…And that’s how it happened.”
“Are you alright?”
As we circled the Guard Tower toward the rear entrance, Cyprus briefly explained to Praha what had transpired between me and Aspara.
Aspara didn’t say he’d pushed me and fled—he simply claimed that my gambling-addicted younger brother had stolen my chips while careless and bolted.
Praha, who showed little interest despite Aspara’s absence, reacted the moment he heard the Minor Duke had stolen my chips.
“If the Minor Duke catches my eye, I’ll sever his wrists.”
“Wrists are too lenient. Let’s cut his neck.”
Cyprus escalated the threat from beside me.
“Addicts gamble with their feet if they have no hands.”
“Then we’ll cut those off too.”
“No, just cutting his neck solves everything, doesn’t it?”
And so the two of them decided my younger brother’s fate.
“Now that I think about it, I’m furious. The Minor Duke claimed he’d never visited Sodom! How dare he lie to someone as handsome as me?!”
“The Countess’s neck will have to be cut as well.”
And just like that, the Lord of Sodom’s fate was sealed too.
Praha asked Cyprus, who was stomping his feet in indignation.
“Was the location we visited today listed in the gambling house directory the Lord showed us before?”
“It was, but the name and scale were different.”
“You said everyone in that basement was dragged away while gambling. So where are the people kidnapped by the Human Trafficking Ring?”
“We’ll have to investigate that starting now. But where are we?”
“The Garbage Disposal.”
Praha led us to the back entrance where servants disposed of trash.
“It smells awful.”
“It’s a garbage disposal.”
Cyprus, who had just declared he’d become my trash bin with such grand aspirations—spouting something like a one-minute self-introduction from a job interview—now covered his mouth with his sleeve and made a fuss.
“Yusara, can’t you cover my mouth with your hand?”
“No. You can’t.”
“Then should I cover my own mouth with my hand?”
“With that hand?”
His entire face would be covered, not just his mouth.
I carefully navigated through the narrow passage stacked with an enormous quantity of bottles.
Praha ahead, Cyprus behind.
Already dark, and with two walls blocking my vision, I could see even less.
Feeling my way along the wall with my hand, I stumbled and kicked a garbage bag.
Clang!
“Oh.”
“Are you alright?”
“You okay, Yusara?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
I held my breath and surveyed the surroundings, but heard no sign of anyone jumping out.
“…Why is it so quiet?”
Earlier, there was a theft, and servants were running around in chaos.
Shouldn’t all the lights be on by now, everyone awake, and everyone reacting sensitively to even the smallest sound?
“If we just walk in like this, they’re not going to suddenly set off fireworks and shout ‘We’ve been waiting for you!’ are they?”
I made a flippant joke and tried to take another step—only to nearly kick another bottle.
‘Why does this remind me of Promé?’
That time in the 1st Floor Recreation Room packed solid with zombies, when I’d walked around in nothing but socks.
Back then, Praha had cleaned up all the garbage scattered across the floor, but I’d stepped on a piece of broken pottery anyway….
“Please lean on my back.”
Praha, realizing his bulk was blocking my view, offered his back for me to steady myself on. I did as he suggested, worried I’d kick something else if I kept going like this.
The moment my hand touched him, I felt his back muscles tense rigid even through his clothes.
“Is it ticklish? Should I stop?”
“…No.”
At Praha’s gritted response, Cyprus chuckled from behind.
“I can’t see either.”
Cyprus, feigning helplessness, placed his hand on my shoulder.
The three of us filed through the back door into the Mansion like a train.
Creak.
“….”
“….”
Still silent.
And hot.
This paradoxical feeling—hot yet chilling.
“At least the smell is gone now.”
Cyprus wedged the cork from a bottle we’d picked up into the door crack, just in case, and spoke.
I looked around the unfamiliar corners of the 1st Floor.
“Where is Tangerine?”
“He’s with the children and Yujein, waking them. We decided to observe the situation from there and move if necessary.”
“Was the Mansion this quiet when you escaped, Praha?”
“…No.”
“Ugh.”
Did they really resolve everything and go to bed already?
I hoped so.
I brushed off my soiled hood and asked.
“Should we head upstairs right away and regroup with Tangerine?”
I hated it most when our party was split up like this.
“That would be best.”
“Wait.”
Then Cyprus gestured toward something.
“Look over there.”
“Huh….”
Light was seeping out from inside the vast Dining Room on the 1st Floor, positioned diagonally across from the back door we’d entered through.
It was the same Dining Room where I’d eaten with the Local Lord on my first day in Sodom.
“Is the light on?”
“The luminosity is too faint for that.”
“Right. There’s no door, yet light is seeping through like that….”
What is it?
Cyprus spoke from beside me as I tilted my head in confusion.
“Go up first. I’ll check that place before following.”
[Sodom Castle 1st Floor]
-Yusara, Praha, Cyprus (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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