A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 146

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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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Mocha laughed, his lips stained crimson with blood.
“Aaaahhh!”
The Servant trapped in the cage screamed in shock at the spectacle unfolding before his eyes. Mocha’s head snapped toward him.
He trudged forward and thrust his hand through the gap, seizing the Servant by the collar.
I had no time to confirm whether he had truly become a zombie of his own volition or if he was tearing into the Servant.
Clang, clang, clang.
The iron bars holding the zombies began opening one by one.
“Run!”
Crack!
Yujein unleashed lightning upon the zombies in the nearest cage.
Taking that as our signal, we bolted.
Mocha’s laughter—that satisfied expression of one who had achieved their purpose. Teeth stained with blood. The gleam in his eyes as he looked at me. That was the last thing I saw.
“Hurry!”
I grabbed Yujein’s hand, already glistening with sweat from casting magic in such a short span, and pulled her forward. I bounded up the Staircase three steps at a time.
“Huff, huff!”
I had insisted earlier that we should walk up the Staircase…!
But I never meant to ascend this violently…!
“Yusara, wait, just a moment! I’m going to fall!”
“No time to wait!”
“Is everyone out?!”
“Yes! Close it now!”
I forcibly dragged Yujein, who was about to stumble, out through the doorway.
I pounded my palm against the armpit of the blonde handsome man in the mural—the one I’d thought was grotesque moments before.
The door began rotating closed, moving with agonizing slowness.
“Grrr…!”
Through the narrowing gap, I could see zombies clustered together on the Staircase, unable to climb easily.
Praha, who had appeared beside me, pushed a cabinet over to barricade the door.
I exhaled and leaned my back against the wall.
Hot and parched.
“If we bring more objects to block this entrance and warn the Castle’s returning inhabitants not to drink the fountain’s beverages, the problem would be solved…or so I’d like to say.”
“But revenge prepared for at least several years wouldn’t end this easily.”
Cyprus spoke, gazing at the Castle that had grown brighter.
True to his words, the illuminated Castle now emanated a presence I hadn’t felt before.
Or rather, a zombie presence.
Bloodstains buried in the deep purple carpet adorning the Castle, barely visible. The fountain overflowing with crimson liquid. The occasional clanging sounds drifting down from the upper floors.
It appeared unremarkable at first glance, yet something felt distinctly wrong upon closer inspection.
“It seems the people have returned.”
“And as habit dictates….”
“They’ve drunk from the fountain.”
Had we perhaps left the entrance open?
I hurried to check the back and front doors, but they were locked.
“They certainly took their time securing the doors.”
“Oh, actually that might be better. If the doors were open, the zombies would have escaped the castle….”
“That’s true. Let’s go get the children first.”
I replied while shielding Praha from an approaching zombie.
Praha’s eyes widened as I grabbed his arm and pushed it behind his back without hesitation, but I ignored his reaction.
As we made our way to the bathroom where the children and Tangerine were, we witnessed scattered scenes of horror.
Servants sprawled across the floor, their insides torn out, never even becoming zombies; bloodstains as if someone had been dragged away with a shriek; scattered flesh; zombies in the midst of feasting.
A maid struggling to tear a zombie off her body, spotting us and reaching out as if pleading for help, only to have her gaze cloud over moments later….
With no door to the room, all of these horrors were laid bare before us.
“That, that person… isn’t that Count Sodom?”
Yujein whispered upon seeing the woman stumbling ahead.
She was right.
The Lord of Sodom, who had apparently just returned from an all-night prayer vigil and was preparing for bed in his nightclothes, passed by with his arms stretched forward and his neck twisted.
The front of his navy pajama pants was soaked through with blood.
“…He’s become a zombie.”
“Y, yes, it seems so. The blood….”
For one who had committed such cruelty and ruled with such tyranny, it was a pathetically hollow death.
Now he could never be brought before the Imperial Court.
Having become a zombie.
A laugh escaped my lips without my realizing it.
“It seems the God of Light he served so faithfully didn’t bother to warn him this time.”
“Perhaps this too is merely entertainment for that god. One moment he finds it amusing and warns them to prepare, the next he tires of it and lets them all perish together.” Cyprus replied with cutting sarcasm.
He seemed to be in a foul mood ever since hearing Mocha’s story in the basement.
‘Ever since we first arrived in this city, Cyprus has shown a sensitive reaction to the God of Light.’
If I asked what this was about, he probably wouldn’t tell me.
In the meantime, Yujein rushed forward and knocked on the closed bathroom door.
Knock, knock-knock-knock.
Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do↗
“Tangerine, it’s us!”
At the agreed signal, the door slowly opened from inside.
Tangerine, sword drawn, greeted us. Behind him, the children sat on the floor.
Melon, who had been complaining about the filthy bathroom, also sat with her legs stretched out, her face pale as a sheet.
The moment Melon saw us, she asked.
“W, what’s happening?”
“Did you know?”
Cyprus didn’t answer the child’s question, instead asking coldly.
His icy tone was unlike the gentle Cyprus who had wrapped cloth around her hand moments ago, and Melon’s mouth fell open.
Regardless, Cyprus continued.
Regardless, Cyprus continued speaking.
“Your mother was doing such disgusting things in the Basement. You knew about it too, didn’t you? Your family’s filthy….”
Cyprus clenched his teeth as he spoke.
“…I apologize. I’m not in my right mind.”
I placed my hand on Cyprus’s back as he trailed off and apologized to Melon.
As I stroked gently, he turned to face me.
Cyprus, his expression weary, let his forehead drop against my shoulder with a soft thud.
“Wh-why the Basement…?”
Melon murmured in confusion.
Muffin and Cheese exchanged glances as they detected something amiss in the adults’ expressions.
…It would be better not to tell the children that their parents had become zombies.
It was difficult to explain the situation without directly telling the children, ‘Your parents (or relatives) have become zombies.’
“So, if the person we’re looking for is a priest, it’s already too late,” I said.
Muffin and Cheese, who had already encountered zombies before, seemed to understand the situation immediately from just that.
“So what about my mom? My sister?”
Melon was different.
No one could tell Melon the truth as she insisted on going to see her mother.
“…So now we need to find a way to escape.”
“In summary, you’re saying we should use means other than doors or windows to slip out ourselves while keeping the wandering zombies from leaving the Castle?”
“Yes. We could steal keys, but we don’t know whose keys or which ones to take, and we could break down doors or shatter windows to escape, but….”
“If we do that, the noise will attract the zombies and they’ll follow us, which would be problematic!”
“Exactly.”
“What if we simply kill all the zombies if their numbers aren’t too great?”
“There are many in the Basement….”
“We’ll escape through the Rooftop.”
Cyprus, who had washed his face in the meantime, spoke while water dripped from his blonde hair and smooth jaw.
Cyprus pointed upward.
“This Castle also has secret passages like those the Servants use. You can trust this—it’s something I, Praha, and Tangerine discovered through taking turns on reconnaissance.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It seems to have been created to monitor guests who come to the Castle. We haven’t gone inside directly, but it definitely exists.”
“Oh….”
“Through that passage, we can slip out to the Rooftop and reach the Watchtower. We won’t encounter any zombies, so we can safely bring four children. However….”
“The passage is somewhat… unconventional.”
Praha interjected.
“Anything is fine! As long as we can get there safely without zombies!”
Yujein exclaimed spiritedly.
“Alright, which way do we go?”
At my question, Cyprus laughed and scratched his cheek.
“Actually, we can access that passage right from here.”
“…Right from here?”
* * *
“….”
“….”
“Ugh….”
This is a Ventilation Duct….
“Why would they install a Ventilation Duct in the Bathroom…?”
“Well, a Bathroom especially needs a Ventilation Duct…?”
“But it’s so large….”
I’d always thought Ventilation Ducts of this passage-like scale only existed in action movies.
Only then did I recall that when we’d consulted with each other about Mocha’s note, Praha had warned us to be careful of the Ventilation Duct.
“Shh. Someone might be hiding in the Ventilation Duct.”
That’s what he’d said.
“Are there any other secrets that only you, Praha, Cyprus, and Tangerine know about?”
I cross my arms and glare at Praha, and he averts his eyes.
“There are none now.”
“Really.”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Then let’s crawl our way out.”
From here, crawling all the way out of the Building would take quite a while, wouldn’t it?
Cyprus, who had skillfully torn open the Rooftop and climbed up first, pulled up each person following behind him one by one.
“Next, Tangerine.”
“I don’t need help!”
Before I could even see how he moved, he vanished in an instant.
Yujein, who had been waiting for her turn in front of me, whispered.
“My knees are going to hurt so much….”
“Tell me about it.”
After crawling all that way, would my knees even straighten?
I have no idea.
Somehow it’ll work out.
I’m Yusara, after all.
I’m quite skilled at groveling before my superiors in everyday life.
I’ll surely be good at crawling physically too.
Crawl, you say?
Of course I have to.
Do I have a choice~? (jingle jingle)
[Ventilation Duct]
-Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Muffin, Cheese, Cheese’s Younger Sibling, Melon (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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