A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 65

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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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“Priest! Priest! Have you heard the news?”
“Ugh, what a racket. What is it?”
“The God of Marriage and Beauty has bestowed sacred relics upon his followers! They say it’s a pair of lovers who were trapped together in a cave for forty days!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! The man cut off his own fingers and fed her his blood to save the woman!”
“How remarkable. But what does that have to do with you?”
“It’s fascinating! The power the relic holds, the way it was obtained—it’s so romantic. Two people in love like that…”
“Enough. It’s not our temple’s concern, so never mind. More importantly, what are you carrying?”
“This? It’s a cord coated with powder made from crushed boundary stones. We’re using this in place of boundary stones for now.”
“Are you doing this task alone?”
“No! The other priests are setting up the barrier right now. I’ve only been assigned to bring the remaining cords to the Underground Warehouse.”
“You’ve been given a task, so what are you doing here? Get moving!”
“Hmph! You always make a fuss when I tell you anything!”
“…!”
My eyes snapped open.
‘A cord coated with boundary stone powder? Can that actually serve as a boundary stone? And it’s in the underground level?’
Could it still be there now?
“I really hope it is.”
The zombie possessing this crimson stone was likely once an errand runner for this temple in the past.
While attempting to read the zombie’s memories, I had stumbled upon unexpected information.
I left the room to share what I’d learned about the cord with my companions.
Just then, Cyprus emerged from the Adjacent Room with an urgent expression, so I called out to him.
“Your Highness!”
“Princess!”
Cyprus hurried toward me upon seeing me.
“Princess, where have you been? I’ve been searching for you.”
“What?”
I pointed to the room I had just exited.
“I’ve been in this room the whole time.”
“I just came out of that room a moment ago.”
“But you didn’t see me?”
“No.”
“That can’t be right. I was only in this room…”
Ah. Could it be?
“Princess?”
I smiled at Cyprus, who was looking at me with confusion.
“I must have gone downstairs for a moment, and we must have missed each other.”
“I didn’t hear any sound of you coming or going…”
“You must be overexerting yourself lately—your hearing’s probably suffering. Anyway, that’s not what matters.”
I quickly concealed the crimson stone I was still holding before Cyprus could see it.
“Your hearing has deteriorated?”
Cyprus’s gaze, which seemed to register shock, flickered toward my clenched right fist before dispersing without suspicion.
‘This man is too perceptive. That’s troublesome.’
“What do you mean by ‘important’?”
“Your Highness, shall we visit our underground warehouse?”
“The underground? Why?”
“Well, I just thought that if there were any leftover items, they’d naturally be stored in the underground warehouse. Since we have nothing to lose, let’s take a look.”
Let’s go quickly.
Don’t stand here and suspect me any longer.
“Let’s go!”
I grabbed Cyprus’s elbow.
Cyprus, who had been about to say something more, flinched at the touch of my hand on his elbow, then followed without protest.
“Is it uncomfortable? Should I let go?”
“No. Please continue holding it. The staircase is slippery.”
“Well then.”
Watching Cyprus with all his attention focused on his elbow, I exhaled in relief.
‘When I view the memories within the red stone, my body must become transparent.’
Cyprus had entered the room while I was in the midst of viewing the memories within the red stone.
Whether my body becomes transparent or actually enters that memory space entirely, either way, my physical form must vanish from reality for a moment.
‘I’ll need to be careful when using the stone from now on.’
I mustn’t use it in front of people and be mistaken for some sinister sorcerer.
“But what business did you have going downstairs?”
“Oh, I just needed to use the restroom for a moment.”
“That’s quite strange. There’s a restroom right inside the room where the young lady has been staying.”
“I didn’t see it. My field of vision is rather narrow.”
“It seems your field of vision is funnel-shaped.”
“Are you going to keep nitpicking like this?”
I tightened my grip on his elbow and glared at Cyprus.
“If that’s how I am, then that’s how I am! Men who constantly question and probe aren’t charming!”
“That’s also strange.”
“What now!”
“I don’t particularly wish to boast, but my charm has already been proven by the young lady herself in the past….”
“Argh!”
I really don’t want to be around this man!
“Why does it feel so good when the young lady glares at me or shows irritation?”
“You must be a pervert!”
“Exactly. I love it when you get angry like that.”
At that point, I gave up on further conversation.
‘What kind of man is this?’
I’d ask for nothing more than to see that bastard cry and wail over heartbreak just once.
* * *
“Grand Duke! My lady! What is that?!”
“It’s rope that can serve the function of a boundary stone. I found it in the underground warehouse. Oh, oh, the box is breaking. Please handle it delicately, Your Highness. Del-i-cate-ly.”
“Yes, my lady. I, Cyprus, shall dedicate myself entirely and do my utmost.”
I gave instructions to Cyprus, who followed behind me carrying a crate so overflowing with rope that it obscured his vision.
When I suggested we split the load since it looked so heavy, he looked at me as though the heavens themselves were collapsing, so I simply let him carry it all alone.
‘I don’t know what sort of people the priests who once worked in this temple were, but they certainly had deep pockets.’
With this much rope, I could practically encircle the entire mountain and still have some left over.
Moreover, the crate contents were labeled with their purposes and organized so neatly that I was spared the trouble of wondering about and pretending to figure out what the rope was for.
‘It seems only competent people lived in this temple.’
How refreshingly convenient.
“Rope that functions as a boundary stone?”
“Yes, but I’ll need to test whether it can actually perform its role.”
Tangerine, who had been roasting potatoes in the courtyard while monitoring the zombies’ movements, approached and peered over curiously.
Shortly after, Praha and Yujein joined us as well.
I explained my thoughts to the group.
“Even if Yujein takes care of the zombies currently surrounding the temple, there might still be stragglers wandering the mountain.”
“If those zombies make their way down to Prome Village, we’ll be in serious trouble!”
“Exactly. So I’d like to take this rope and lay it around the entrance to the territory. But before that.”
I turned my gaze toward Cyprus, who was touching his upper arm as if the exertion of carrying the crate had given him a workout.
“I’d like to confirm first whether this rope actually works. So I was hoping Your Highness would do me the favor.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The zombies don’t bite you, after all.”
Regardless of the reason, having someone the zombies won’t bite was certainly convenient.
‘That’s right. You need at least one person like this to make the zombie worldview complete.’
I pulled a neck collar from my bag and handed it to Cyprus.
“You know how to use this, don’t you? If you put this around a zombie’s neck, it can’t bite.”
“….”
“Don’t worry. I also have a noisemaking doll!”
A doll that makes loud beeping sounds when thrown.
I hadn’t thought of it in the maze because I was too panicked, but I had purchased such an aggro doll from Mascarpone in the Capital and packed it in my bag.
My strategy was as follows.
1. Yujein strikes down lightning to reduce the zombie numbers.
2. While Yujein recharges her stamina, I throw the doll to draw the attention of the reduced zombie horde.
3. Then Cyprus darts out and tests the boundary with the rope.
4. We confirm whether the zombies truly cannot cross the rope.
Q. Why did you give him the neck collar?
A. To tease Cyprus.
“Ah, don’t forget to bring my doll back!”
I added cheerfully.
Cyprus, dressed in mourning clothes (though unlike the Troublemaker, he didn’t spout nonsense at Yujein about how she should leave too for equality’s sake), gave me puppy-dog eyes that whined and pleaded.
“My lady, shouldn’t you at least bid me farewell?”
“It’s not goodbye. Just hurry back.”
“Sob, sob. You’re so cold-hearted, my lady.”
“Hmph.”
And as a result.
“Grrrraaagh!”
“Ack! My lady! The zombies aren’t biting me, but they’re still coming close! Ack! Get away from me!”
“Grand Duke! Hang in there! Oh! There’s a zombie coming from behind!”
“…Tangerine, you seem to be enjoying yourself?”
“Not at all! Kyahahaha!”
Thanks to Cyprus throwing himself directly into the fray and our living weapon Yujein, we managed to clear out the surrounding zombies and test the rope’s effectiveness as well.
‘The Imperial Family wanted us to capture zombies alive for experimentation.’
But we of the Investigation Team couldn’t leave such a mess behind.
‘Bringing captured zombies all the way to the Capital is problematic, and leaving them here while sending people from the Capital is also problematic.’
What if some unsuspecting herb gatherer came up the mountain and got bitten by a zombie?
Let’s not create some zombie movie opening scenario by accident.
We can’t afford to be careless.
“This rope certainly functions like a boundary stone. We’ve dealt with all the visible zombies. Are you alright, Yujein?”
“Yes, I’m fine!”
“There may still be zombies somewhere on this mountain that we haven’t dealt with. Once we head down, we’ll inform Lord Promé immediately.”
“Thank goodness the rope is effective!”
“So shall we head to Promae Castle?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t we eat some potatoes first? They’re all cooked.”
Head down, inform Lord Promé about the zombies, set up the rope around the village, and finish dealing with any remaining zombies.
= Clean up our own mess.
Hearing the plan, Tangerine puffed out her cheeks.
“I hate that lord!”
“We can’t help it. He’s suffered damage because of us.”
“Once we leave, that lord will tear down all the rope we strung around the village entrance and wrap it around his own castle!”
Tangerine’s eye for people.
Quite excellent.
I agree completely.
What kind of person is he, forcing his subordinates to drink gall bladder wine?
‘Just from watching him force-feed his employees alcohol and torment them, you can tell. That man is a bad person.’
* * *
Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.
“Your Highnesses! And the Holy Maiden! Ahem, my lady. You’ve returned!”
Remembering the nightmare of a company dinner back in Korea, the lord running toward us with keys jingling didn’t look pleasant to me at all.
After struggling down the mountain, the first face I see is this person’s.
‘Please, split the dinner expenses equally and transfer your share. Let’s each have dinner at home. You terrible person.’
I cursed inwardly while glaring sideways at Lord Promé, who was fawning over Praha.
But Lord Promé turned out to be far worse than I had anticipated.
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Promae Castle]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (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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