A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 96

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

“You need to stay quiet.”
“Woof.”
“Do you understand?”
“Whine.”
It’s frustrating when you can’t communicate with a dog.
In the end, we decided to take this troublesome puppy with us.
It kept whining and crying as if it knew we were deliberating.
I knew it wasn’t the wisest decision.
‘But I can’t just abandon it, can I?’
If there’s anyone heartless enough to leave behind a small, injured, and filthy puppy after looking into those black eyes, I’d like to meet them.
Yujein enthusiastically agreed with my suggestion to bring General along, and the others seemed to have no objections.
“I’m not so weak that I’d be annihilated over bringing along one puppy, Grand Duchess.”
I pretended not to hear Cyprus’s words as he added them with a silly grin.
Right. Just this once, let me be foolish and kind. We’ll take responsibility for the puppy.
“If we all die, you’ll be left alone on this Island. So you need to behave. If you understand, give me your paw.”
“Woof.”
“That’s your face, not your paw…”
“General, let’s go with me.”
Instead of me, who pressed my forehead in exasperation after attempting cross-species communication with the puppy, Yujein picked General up in her arms.
We began walking cautiously toward the Village formed in front of the Dock.
The sound of waves splashing, thick darkness blanketing everything, the scent of salt.
It looked like a quiet Island Village in the Mediterranean, but the absence of people made it feel eerie.
“There really is no one here…”
“Do you think everyone fled to escape the zombies?”
“Then shouldn’t there be at least some zombies lingering around?”
The silence made it even more frightening. It felt as though zombies could burst out from blind spots we hadn’t yet noticed. I rolled my eyes around, but all I could see was darkness.
‘I should have taken better care of my eyesight.’
Grumbling inwardly, I pressed my nose against Cyprus’s back as he walked ahead.
“Grand Duchess, are you frightened? Shall I hold your hand?”
“Would holding hands solve the underlying problem?”
“Well, no.”
“Then let’s just go.”
I thought I saw Praha chuckle beside me at my firm response, but I wasn’t certain.
Even after we fully entered the Village…
“Still no one around.”
“Indeed.”
As we approached the white houses standing closely together with a narrow street between them, the state of the Village became clearer.
Dozens of fish caught in nets lay dead and abandoned on the single-story house with the blue roof closest to the entrance. At first, I thought it was a zombie because of the pungent stench of decay. General, whose sense of smell was far more developed than ours, pressed his nose into Yujein’s forearm.
Praha, who had surveyed the scattered nets, laundry, and abandoned fishing tools scattered about, spoke.
“Something happened here.”
It was exactly as he said.
Some houses had open windows as if their inhabitants would return any moment, while others had food laid out on drying racks for fish. The handcart at the village entrance lay overturned by the wind, and the gate on the fence creaked in the breeze.
Yet there was not a single trace of blood or a corpse anywhere.
It was as though someone had taken an eraser to the everyday landscape of the Island Village and selectively rubbed away only the people.
That was precisely what made it so unsettling.
“If zombies swept through and everyone fled in panic, shouldn’t there be bodies or blood left behind?”
“Y-yes, you’re right….”
“This is strange!”
The other houses were equally devoid of bodies or bloodstains.
We circled the modest village once over, yet found no significant traces of what had occurred.
“In all my years, I never thought I’d be searching for corpses.”
“If you cross that field, the Upper Village is right there!”
“Should we go check it now?”
“Isn’t it already too late?”
“That’s true. If you misstep and fall….”
Praha nodded at Yujein’s concern.
“Let’s borrow a house that looks safe and spend the night there.”
“Borrow, right Praha?”
“…Let’s break into a house that looks safe and spend the night there.”
“I hope it’s a house with food!”
“Tangerine, even if there is food in the house, it’s probably all rotted by now….”
“That’s why I brought dried meat!”
“Oh.”
“Hehehehe!”
“It’s cold….”
Cyprus, a man from the Southern Region who felt the cold keenly, wrapped his arms around himself and muttered under his breath. He was stretching out his words ridiculously—”It’s sooo coooold”—and trying to edge closer to my side, so I gave his forearm a sharp slap.
“Ow.”
“Warm now? You’re burning up from embarrassment.”
“That’s too much.”
As Cyprus pretended to cry, Praha casually tossed him a pocket knife.
“If you’re cold, you can pick that lock.”
“What does that have to do with being cold…?”
“You’ll warm up from the exertion.”
With that, he vaulted over the fence alone. By the time Cyprus skillfully inserted the blade and opened the locked door, Praha had already finished searching the house.
“It’s safe.”
“What’s that smell?”
“There’s leftover food in the kitchen. It looks like it’s been rotting for a while.”
Praha’s hand pointed to a pot that looked far too frightening to actually open.
Well, it had been quite some time since this island lost contact with the outside world. If this food had been left sitting since then….
I had a feeling insects would come flying out the moment we lifted the lid.
“Ugh.”
Seeing me shudder, Praha grabbed the pot and hurled it outside entirely. Then he gestured toward the window where moonlight filtered in dimly.
“Look over here.”
The others gathered in the direction Praha indicated. He showed the approaching group the footprints on the floor.
“These appeared after the house became like this.”
Indeed, several small footprints were pressed into the white dust accumulated on the floor.
“They look like a child’s.”
“But there’s more than one.”
“So there are people in this Village?”
“…Where?”
“Perhaps they’ve gathered in the Upper Village.”
“Woof.”
“We can check first thing after we wake up tomorrow!”
We hastily swept the dust from the floor and gathered together for dinner. Fortunately, the cheese stored in the Basement was edible, and we “borrowed” it once again.
After eating our fill, the young pup fell asleep first.
“Hey, wake up. You’re taking a watch shift too.”
I attacked his thigh until he surrendered Cyprus’s snacks as well, then poked his bloated pink belly repeatedly, but he didn’t stir.
“What kind of General shows his belly so easily? He’s not living up to his name.”
I toyed with the pup’s front paws, their needle-like claws pricking softly, as we decided the watch rotation.
As always, Yujein and I took the most comfortable first and last shifts, while Praha, Cyprus, and Tangerine took the middle ones.
“I-I’ll take a middle shift this time too…!”
“Me as well. Let’s be fair about it.”
I suggested this because it always felt uncomfortable that we alone took the easier shifts.
“Do you two… not trust us that much…?”
“The heavens are collapsing.”
“Is that fallen piece my heaven?”
“No, but still, let’s be fair…”
“How is it fair to divide the burden equally when everyone has different stamina?”
“Tangerine didn’t pay good money to graduate from a military academy just to stand watch like an ordinary person!”
“That’s right. Don’t say such things elsewhere. You’ll be expelled from the Southern Region. If you become a Grand Duke without Territory, you’ll end up living off someone’s charity.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Do you have to butt in every time like this, Praha…?”
All three of them turned serious, so I gave up.
In the end, as usual, I took the first watch, and Praha took the next shift.
“I’m counting on you, my lady!”
“Of course.”
The others crawled sluggishly into their blankets, and I pulled General close to me, leaning my back against the wall.
I added wood to the stove, checked outside the window for anything lurking, did sixty squats when I had time, memorized some ancient characters. Then I noticed.
‘Praha isn’t asleep.’
He’s just closing his eyes, pretending to sleep.
When I stared down at him, he must have felt my gaze—his lips tensed.
I stayed silent rather than ask why he wasn’t sleeping, and he simply pretended to wake from slumber, stretching as he rose.
“Let’s switch. You should rest now.”
“There’s still an hour left before the shift change, isn’t there? Your Majesty should sleep more.”
“I’ve slept enough.”
“I can’t fall asleep.”
“Then let’s stay awake together.”
Praha answered readily and stroked General, who nestled in my arms. His petting went the wrong way, making the dog’s fur stand on end.
With everyone else asleep and the two of us doing this, it felt like we were having a secret affair.
‘It’s as if he didn’t sleep just to be alone with me.’
When I awkwardly cleared my throat, Praha sat up.
“I’ll go check outside.”
“Oh, then I’ll come with you—”
“Stay inside. It’s cold.”
The blanket Praha had been using draped over my shoulders.
“Keep it wrapped around you.”
He hesitated, then gently arranged my hair beneath the blanket before leaving. His fingertips brushed subtly against my chin.
Buried in the soap-scented blanket, I felt oddly restless.
I set General down and went outside.
As soon as I stepped out, I saw Praha leaning against the wall, gazing out at the Village. White breath dispersed into the air.
Seeing me approach, Praha instinctively tried to remove his jacket to drape it over me.
“If you take off your jacket for me, Your Majesty will be standing there in just a shirt?”
What kind of happy prince are you? Giving everything to me while you freeze to death.
I laughed softly and stood beside Praha.
For a long while, we gazed out beyond the wall in silence.
Cold, dark, an Island where anything could emerge—and yet the feeling isn’t unpleasant. It would be fine if time stopped like this.
“Your Majesty, I’m curious about something.”
“If you don’t call me Your Majesty, I’ll answer.”
“Praha, I’m curious about something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why did you name the puppy General?”
“Because that’s what he looks like.”
….
That white dog, no bigger than a palm, trembling constantly?
“You must have seen many generals like that on the battlefield.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to them?”
“They died. All of them.”
….
That’s grim….
“General is fine. We will protect him.”
‘We.’
A word I found myself turning over and over in my mouth.
I looked up at Praha.
As if on cue, Praha was already gazing down at me, and our eyes met instantly.
His eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked at me—as though there were light emanating from my direction, so brilliant he could scarcely bear to look.
Yet it was night, and this Village held not a single flame.
‘Get a grip, Yusara.’
You cannot afford to develop feelings for this man.
You will only be wounded.
You have always been the type to charge headlong toward anyone you come to care for.
Inevitably, you will collide with something and cause a catastrophe.
You cannot.
And yet, perhaps this much is permissible….
I asked impulsively.
“Would you give me a nickname as well?”
Praha answered without hesitation.
“Valkyrie.”
“Ah, really….”
The moment I laughed, Praha pulled me close.
[Uninhabited Island]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, General (Alive)

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————