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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance ‌‌in a Zombie Apocalypse
Episode 16
"What method do you use to start a fire here?"
I spoke to the people who were looking at me with bewildered expressions.
"Since we can ‌‌‌‌kill them by smashing their heads in, it seems like burning them to death should be possible too."
"You mean to set corpses on fire?"
"Yes. There aren't just one or two corpses wandering around outside, and it's not practical to slit every single one's throat individually. If we could make something like Molotov cocktails and throw them, it would be helpful."
This is the Kitchen, so naturally there should be tools to start a fire. There's plenty of glass bottles and alcohol here.
"And who would make these Molotov cocktails?"
"Me."
I raised my hand calmly, and ‌‌‌the people ‌‌fell silent.
The Crown Prince, who had been blinking, asked.
"You know how to make Molotov cocktails?"
"Yes."
"If I may ask, how...?"
"It's basic knowledge for an ambitious noblewoman."
I saw it in a movie.
"This is really ‌‌‌‌strange...."
I ignored the Grand Duke snickering beside me and continued.
"Throwing Molotov cocktails doesn't require knowing swordsmanship. Wouldn't it be good to give one to each person who doesn't have a weapon?"
After experiencing that chaos just now, I realized we couldn't do this. Everyone needs to have something.
"...That's a reasonable point. And since you say you ‌‌know how to make them."
The Crown Prince nodded and turned his body.
He walked forward confidently, then stopped.
"Isn't the Kitchen always... already on fire?"
"...."
"Are there separate tools to start a fire?"
...And so we have the Crown Prince, who has apparently never set foot in a kitchen in his entire life.
"You ‌‌‌were boasting about preparing ritual food without even knowing how to light a fire, Your ‌‌Highness?"
Ritual food is seriously demanding.
As I stared at him saying this, the tips of Praha's ears turned red.
"Praha, your ears are red. How cute."
The Grand Duke seemed equally clueless about lighting fires.
'These noble folk.'
But I don't know either.
In a kitchen, you light fires with induction cooktops or gas ranges, right?
Surprisingly, it was ‌‌‌‌Mascarpone who provided the answer.
"I know!"
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Mascarpone approached the hearth with quick, hurried steps and dusted off her hands.
I tried to avoid looking at the iron cauldron with a person boiling inside it, and retrieved something leaning against the wall.
It was a silvery object about a meter long, resembling a spear.
"It's a magic spear. If you aim and make a throwing motion, it shoots flames," Mascarpone explained.
"I see."
I tested it by making a downward thrust motion toward the fireplace.
Whoosh. Crackle.
"Ah."
At the same moment, my body swayed. ‌‌‌‌
Mascarpone smirked as she watched me nearly collapse.
"Not everyone can use it. It drains stamina heavily. And it needs time to recharge mana."
You should have mentioned that ‌earlier!
"How long does it take to charge?"
"Assuming it's fully charged, you can fire about ten shots, and each shot takes about thirty minutes to recharge."
"What if someone with low stamina uses it?"
"At first, they'll just get dizzy like you are now, but from the second or third shot onward, they'll start bleeding from the nose or lose consciousness."
"How do you know how many shots are left?"
"You don't. Just keep count as ‌‌you use it."
Great.
How am I supposed to carry this around when I ‌‌‌don't know how much battery is left?
'No, think positive. At least it's not a flint stone.'
It wasn't the lighter or torch I'd imagined, but it looked better. I wouldn't be able to make a Molotov cocktail with it, though.
'Someone with enough stamina to use this...'
I turned the spear over in my hand, thought for a moment, then handed it to the Crown Prince. He ‌‌‌‌‌raised his eyebrows in surprise as he took it. ‌‌
"You're giving this to me?"
"Yes. The Grand Duke seems like he'd cause trouble with it."
I could already picture him laughing and smashing zombie heads with the spear, breaking it in the process.
But I couldn't dump another task on poor Dazling either.
The spear, which ‌‌had grown lukewarm in my hand, passed to the Crown Prince. He wrapped his large hand around the part I'd been holding and laughed softly.
"I'll use it well."
"It's not mine anyway."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"I think we can go now," Dazling said, peering out the door.
The thud, thud, thud sounds coming from underground now sounded like thunder.
The Crown Prince glanced at the portal door, which seemed to be trembling—or maybe it was just my imagination—and lifted the still-boiling iron cauldron onto the top of the door frame.
'He's lifting ‌‌‌that with one hand.'
I was right to hand over the spear.
The Crown Prince explained.
"The Main Portal we arrived through is located beyond the Garden, ‌‌‌‌completely outside the Villa. There's a Huntsman's Cabin next to the Garden entrance. We just need to exit through this door and walk a bit. Let's aim ‌‌to reach there first."
--------------
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Main Portal
-End of Villa-
Garden
Huntsman's Cabin/Garden Entrance
*Current Location (Villa)
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"The problem is."
There's another problem?
"We don't know how many moving corpses are lurking in the Garden."
At those words, I scrambled to recall the novel's contents that I'd read before.
I remembered absolutely nothing.
'If I'd known this would be a test where my life depended on it, I would've studied harder. Even I....'
"The Garden offers little space to hide and its layout is quite complex."
The Crown Prince, who had paused mid-sentence, confirmed that everyone was watching him before continuing.
"Moving ‌‌together as we have been will be difficult. If we ‌‌‌get surrounded by corpses or someone panics and bolts recklessly, it could be catastrophic."
"That's true, certainly with that Garden...."
"If you're separated there alone, it's serious."
"You're as good as dead."
The others chimed in with agreement, each adding their own comment.
'What does the Garden even look like?'
As someone who knew gardens only from the elevator lobby, I found it all bewildering. ‌‌‌‌
In ‌any case, we couldn't all go together.
"So what do we do?"
"First, we'll go to the Huntsman's Cabin together, and you hide there. Cyprus and I ‌‌will clear the Garden and return."
After the brief meeting, we reformed our formation.
'I thought it would be over once we reached the Kitchen. Starting all over again?'
It felt like clocking out only to clock back in.
Still, the others didn't seem as discouraged as before.
Perhaps because ‌‌‌they'd seen me handle corpses with just a shield.
If he can do it, why can't I? That's probably what they were thinking.
"Miss ‌‌‌Yujein, please wear these."
"Oh, shoes?"
"Yes. We took them from that... corpse with the severed legs earlier. I know it's unpleasant, but."
"It's fine. The Grand Duke is wearing them too. Thank ‌‌‌you, Dazling."
Even after being cursed at, Nuisance Man stubbornly positioned women on both sides and stood in the safest spot. The Crown Prince, glancing at him, opened the side door.
Creak.
The moment it opened, cold night air struck my face.
Wooden barrels were scattered along a ‌‌‌‌narrow alley that resembled a back street behind a restaurant district, and across from us, a path descended underground.
The night sky was gentle, yet the air touching my skin felt cruel—an unsettling contradiction.
"Screeeee...."
A zombie's roar echoed from somewhere indeterminate.
When I glanced back to see who had grabbed my sleeve so tightly, it was Supporting Character 2.
She didn't even realize she was holding on, so I left her be.
"Ah, over there...."
"Shh."
The moment we turned the corner, the ‌‌cabin came into view.
Despite being called a cabin, six zombies prowled in front of its surprisingly beautiful door.
"Please wait here for a moment."
The Crown Prince spoke in hushed tones, then leaned his back against the wall with Dazling. The Grand Duke remained with us.
The Crown Prince ‌stared at them for a moment, then gestured. I couldn't understand it, ‌‌but the Grand Duke and Dazling both nodded.
Curious as I was, I figured there was no point in knowing, so I stayed still. The Grand ‌‌Duke, whose eyes met mine, lowered his head slightly.
"There appear to be corpses inside the cabin as well."
"So what do we do...?"
Dealing with six zombies plus extras wouldn't be difficult, but we needed to do it quietly.
With eight of us, should we all rush in together and take ‌‌‌‌one each?
Looking up at the Grand Duke with that resolve, his green eyes curved with amusement.
"With your fists clenched like that, you look like a warrior, my lady."
"Don't talk nonsense. Do we need to step in?"
"That won't be necessary. Praha isn't called a war hero for nothing."
At the same moment, the Crown Prince and Dazling burst forward.
And then I understood.
I had worried for nothing.
The Crown Prince approached silently behind the wandering zombies, grabbed one by the hair, and slit its throat from behind.
Holding the severed neck in his hand, he kicked the corpse to topple another zombie, then cleanly severed the throat of the zombie sprawled on the ground.
"...!"
The zombie that turned upon hearing the sound was handled by Dazling.
By the time Dazling wielded his blade in a wave-like motion, ‌severing three zombies' necks in a single stroke, the Crown Prince had already opened the cabin door ‌‌‌and driven his blade into the forehead of the zombie standing behind it.
Another zombie that burst out was the Grand Duke's ‌‌‌‌target.
The Crown Prince remained composed ‌‌‌even as the Grand Duke's thrown blade flew past his face.
"Ugh...."
Everything happened so quickly that the movements were barely visible.
'The action is insane.'
The Grand Duke winked at me as I stood there with my mouth agape.
"By the ‌‌way, I'm also a war ‌hero. You've probably already figured that out."
'Damn it. That smug display just cost him ‌‌‌half his points.'
"Shall we go?"
As we approached, the Crown Prince drew his blade and wiped the blood on it ‌‌‌against the clothes of a fallen zombie. Seeing us, he spoke.
"The blood scent could spread, so we're planning to move these corpses inside the cabin. While we investigate, someone needs to stay with the bodies—would that be acceptable?"
Without answering, I stepped forward and grabbed the shoulder of a zombie that looked relatively lighter.
"So we just need to bring them all inside?"
Since it was zombie blood, ‌‌‌‌I thought the ‌‌‌‌smell spreading ‌‌‌‌‌wouldn't matter, but you never know. It's better to be cautious.
'I've lived this long only to move dismembered corpses around. Is this a free serial killer experience?'
Ha ha ha. This is exhilarating.
"This corpse has no bite marks, though?"
"Instead, there are claw wounds. It seems infection can occur from this degree of injury. I'll need to be more careful."
I stacked the severed neck and head of ‌‌the corpse neatly in a corner of the cabin. The blood pooling on the wooden floor was hastily ‌‌‌covered with a sheet.
The ‌‌bloodstains remaining outside were covered with flour that Dazling had brought from the Kitchen.
"Is it all done?"
"Yes...."
Now ‌‌this cramped cabin contained a pile of dismembered ‌‌‌corpses and only me—who had never fought anything more serious than cockfights in my entire life—along with Mascarpone, Yujein, Supporting Character 2, and Nuisance Man.
The Crown Prince surveyed our pathetic state and spoke.
"Seeing eight of them at the entrance, there's no telling how many more are inside. Stay with Dazling. Cyprus and I will go and return." ‌‌‌
"No. That's fine."
I answered ‌‌quickly.
"If something happens while only you two are gone, we're all dead anyway. So just all three of you go together."
"Are you certain?"
"Of course I'm not certain! That's why hurry back. ‌I'm begging you."
At ‌‌‌those words, the Crown Prince fell silent, and the Grand Duke laughed.
'This bastard's been tearing into everything I say since earlier.'
I gazed longingly at the magical spear hanging from the Crown Prince's shoulder as he meticulously checked for any remaining living zombies.
'Would it ‌‌be awkward to ask for ‌‌‌‌‌that back now?'
At that moment, I didn't know.
That giving the spear to the Crown Prince instead of the Grand Duke out of concern for causing trouble was a grave mistake.
[Huntsman's Cabin, Outside the Imperial Villa]
- Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Dazling, Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, Nuisance Man (Surviving)

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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