A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 87

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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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“This is….”
What Smoothie showed me was the dead Local Lord’s secret ledger.
The ledger, which he had managed directly without even showing his own steward Smoothie, contained crudely written entries of the dates goods arrived, their condition, inventory, and sales records.
Those goods were, of course, human beings.
[17th. Blonde. Boy. 16 years old. Thin and pretty. Urgent buyer found. Exchanged for two golden larks.]
[19th. Mother and daughter. Ordinary. Daughter died during transport. Attempted escape multiple times, so removed one toe.]
“The dead Baron wasn’t particularly talented at document writing… so it was difficult to decipher, but as I traced back through the entries, I discovered a pattern.”
Smoothie continued, swallowing hard.
“Most of the people were being sold to a place called the ‘Circus.'”
“The Circus…?”
“It’s not an actual place name.”
“Could it be referring to Sodom? The dead Baron said he would sell you to Sodom, after all.”
Tangerine added from beside me. Smoothie nodded in agreement.
“I believe so as well. When I calculated the transport costs listed in the ledger, the distance matched. The problem is that there’s no direct evidence that this ‘Circus’ refers to Sodom.”
“…Other than the dead Local Lord’s own words.”
“Yes. I apologize that I couldn’t provide concrete proof.”
“It’s alright.”
If someone sold slaves, then someone bought them. Both must be punished. Especially the buyer—they must be caught at all costs.
‘Because there will be slaves sold to that place.’
It was as urgent a problem as the undead.
But without evidence.
Without evidence meant the Imperial officials had no justification to raid Sodom and search the region thoroughly on my behalf.
‘No matter how much authority the Emperor wields.’
Tangerine whispered to me as I fell into thought.
“If it’s Sodom, it’s one of the two regions we need to visit and investigate.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. A region where communications have been cut off. I never expected to hear its name mentioned like this.”
“…I see.”
I turned to look at Smoothie and asked.
“When was the last contact with the ‘Circus’?”
“A few months ago. Since the Circus and Promé are far apart, they seemed to have sent as many slaves as possible at once to save on costs. There was no other exchange besides that period.”
“….”
So Sodom’s communication wasn’t cut off only with the Imperial Family.
“If they bought and sold that many slaves at once, the payment must have been substantial, but there are no records of promissory notes exchanged?”
“No. That’s also what makes us suspect Sodom. Since Sodom is famous for gambling, it would have been easy to liquidate cash there.”
“And from the dead Baron’s perspective, receiving cash would have made tax evasion easier.”
No matter how I thought about it, that Local Lord died far too cleanly.
Now I understood why my ancestors practiced disembowelment of the corpse.
Sodom.
The city of indulgence.
The place where those kidnapped and enslaved were taken.
A location from which all contact had ceased some time ago, and where my Younger Brother had gone.
‘There’s no way around it—I’ll have to see it for myself.’
“Thank you for the information, Smoothie.”
“Not at all. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
I grasped Smoothie’s hand and shook it lightly in farewell. For some reason, his face had flushed crimson, and he shook his head in embarrassment.
‘He seems to have a fever.’
Well, his entire life had turned upside down in a single day, after all.
I rose quickly to give the exhausted-looking Smoothie some rest.
As I left the Office, I recalled the faces of those I’d encountered.
The Dead Woman hanging in the Maze, the prisoners locked in the Prison. Smoothie’s youngest sibling, who had died long ago.
‘I’ve witnessed far too much death since arriving in this place.’
I turned to Tangerine, who was attempting to carry me again.
“Tangerine, what are the Baroness Promé and her children doing now? You said they were being held for interrogation, correct?”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t even seen the second one’s face.
“I believe we can resolve the evidence that Sodom is a Circus through the Baroness Promé’s testimony. Would it be acceptable if I spoke with her?”
Tangerine shook her head.
“Both the Grand Duke and I have already interrogated her, but the Baroness Promé refuses to speak! She even wounded her own mouth to prevent herself from talking!”
“What about her son?”
The one who had mocked me from the moment he came to greet me.
“The son is asleep after the Baroness Promé gave him a sedative! It was such a potent drug that he wouldn’t wake even if we struck him!”
“She gave her own son a sedative?”
“It seems she did so to prevent her son from being interrogated! It was the same drug she had put in the cinnamon roll she tried to feed you!”
“That must have been it. But how did you know? That the Baroness Promé was trying to feed me a cinnamon roll?”
“When you briefly woke up earlier, the Crown Prince told us!”
“Ah….”
So he saw it when he came looking for me that day.
Tangerine continued.
“And he said something else as well!”
“What did he say?”
“That you left bite marks on the sofa to signal that you’d been kidnapped! He said you were intelligent and composed!”
“Oh….”
It’s nothing special, yet I feel embarrassed.
So Praha goes around praising me behind my back….
At that moment, Yujein, tilting her head beside me, interjected.
“Tangerine, didn’t the Crown Prince say something more?”
“What do you mean?”
“That you dared to make the young lady bite the sofa, and that he would have all the teeth extracted from the Baron’s entire family….”
“Gasp! That was supposed to be a secret!”
“Gasp!”
Is that a secret?! Yujein cried out, covering her mouth with both hands. Beside her, Tangerine whispered urgently.
“She said it looked too cruel, and told us to keep it secret from the Lady!”
“That’s right, she did!”
I could hear everything…
‘Praha has quite the temperament hidden beneath that exterior.’
“Anyway, Lady, there’s nothing you’ll gain from meeting the Baron’s family right now!”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
I smiled at Tangerine and Yujein, whose eyes had grown wide as they stared at me.
“I have magic, after all.”
A one-minute spell.
‘That should be enough to find out which region the Circus is actually in.’
“If the Baroness Promé can’t speak because her mouth is injured, I can have her write her statement instead.”
But Tangerine’s response was firm.
“That’s still not allowed!”
“Why, why not?”
“You’re a patient right now, Lady! If you use magic, you might collapse again, and we can’t let that happen!”
“Oh… I’m fine though.”
“We’re not fine with it!”
“That’s right, Lady!”
Yujein quickly approached me and linked her arm through mine.
“We already know where the Circus is anyway—we just need evidence. The Imperial Family’s officials won’t arrive for a while yet, so you can take your time.”
“But…”
I’m the type who needs to handle things immediately once they come up.
The kind of person who showers the moment I get home from work.
“You need rest, Lady!”
“That’s right, you’ve only just woken up!”
“Why don’t you have a meal first!”
“Well…”
Tangerine approached and lifted me up effortlessly. And so I was hauled away by these two relentless women to the Dining Room.
“If I just eat this, I can go see the Baroness Promé, right?”
“Of course! Once you finish all of this!”
“But you’ll have to go with us when you do!”
‘Yujein, even you…’
She was definitely timid and well-behaved at first, but spending time with Tangerine has made her increasingly headstrong…
“Eat this!”
“And this too!”
“So I can see the Baroness Promé sometime today…?”
Just then, a voice suddenly cut in from behind.
“There’s no need to go see her.”
“Eek!”
“Hic!”
The sudden deep voice startled only me and Yujein; Tangerine remained unfazed.
Cyprus sat across from me, holding a caramel milk in his hand. Our eyes met, and he tilted the corners of his eyes in amusement.
“Would you care to try some? It’s quite delicious.”
“No thank you. But what did you mean about not needing to visit the Baroness?”
Had he already confessed everything?
Had he actually extracted all her teeth?
In response to my question, Cyprus gestured with his chin toward the fork in Tangerine’s hand.
“Once you finish all the food that Tangerine is currently holding, I’ll tell you.”
“No, that’s far too much…!”
“Then don’t ask.”
“Ugh.”
“You mustn’t eat hastily. You need to chew thoroughly before swallowing.”
“…”
It seemed my companions were deliberately teasing me today.
In any case, I was the weaker party. I chewed carefully as instructed and swallowed, even finishing with grapefruit juice that Yujein offered me to cleanse my palate.
While I ate, Cyprus sipped his caramel milk and interjected with “eat this too” and “eat that as well,” before finally dropping his words casually.
“The Baroness is dead.”
“Pardon?”
“What?!”
“Was it suicide?”
Tangerine asked with an unperturbed expression.
She was a woman who surpassed even her husband in cunning, so it seemed plausible.
“The Baron’s Son, upon waking, strangled his own mother to death. It appears he was devastated upon learning that his family’s crimes had been exposed and his life was ruined. He intended to kill both his mother and younger brother, who were imprisoned with him, and then take his own life. So he murdered his mother and brother first, but…”
“…he failed to kill himself.”
“Yes. He was too afraid to go through with it.”
“…”
“Only the Baron’s Son survived, but he’s completely lost his mind. He sits in a corner soiling himself, repeating that he doesn’t want to die. He’s in no state to be interrogated.”
“…”
“His charges will include kinslaying. He’ll meet death in the slowest and cruelest manner possible among his own family. Such a pathetic end for someone who spent so long ruling and destroying countless lives.” Cyprus added this before taking a sip of milk.
We fell silent.
It was yet another death witnessed in Promé.
And the least tragic one at that.
Cyprus spoke.
“Still, that son did leave behind one thing.”
“What is it?”
Cyprus opened his palm toward me as I looked at him.
[(Safe Zone) Promae Castle]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (Alive)
I don’t see a Korean line to translate in your message. Please provide the Korean text you’d like me to translate, and I’ll translate it to natural English using the character names from your glossary.

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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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