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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 65
"Priest! Priest! Have you heard the news?"
"Ugh, you're so loud. 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 sacred relic holds, the way it was obtained—it's all so romantic. Two people who love each other so much...."
"Enough. It's not our temple's concern, so stop ‌‌worrying about it. More importantly, what are you holding?"
"This? It's a cord coated with powdered boundary stones. We're using this in place of boundary stones for now."
"Are you doing this work alone?"
"No! The other priests are setting up the barrier right now. I've only been tasked with taking the remaining cords to the Underground Storage."
"You were 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? That can act as a boundary stone? And it's in the Underground Storage?'
Could it still be there? ‌‌‌
"I really hope ‌‌it is."
The zombie that possessed this crimson stone was probably once an errand runner for this temple.
While attempting to read ‌‌‌the zombie's past, I obtained 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!"
"My lady!"
Cyprus hurried toward me upon seeing me.
"My lady, where on earth have you been? I've been searching for you."
"What?"
I pointed to the room I'd 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?
"My ‌lady?"
I smiled at Cyprus, who was looking at me with confusion.
"I must have gone downstairs for ‌‌‌‌a moment, so we must have missed each other."
"I didn't hear any sound of you coming and going, my lady...."
"You must have strained yourself lately—your hearing's ‌‌‌‌gotten worse, it seems. Anyway, that's not what matters."
I quickly hid the ‌‌‌‌crimson stone I'd been holding before Cyprus could see it.
"My hearing's gotten worse?"
Cyprus's gaze, as if shocked, darted toward my clenched right fist before dispersing without suspicion.
'This guy's too ‌perceptive. That's a problem.'
"What do you mean by 'what matters'?"
"Your Highness, let's go down to our Underground Storage."
"The Underground Storage? ‌‌‌Why?"
"Well, I just thought that if there were any leftover items lying around, they'd naturally be stored in the Underground Storage. Since we have nothing to ‌‌lose, let's go check it out."
Let's go quickly.
Don't stand here and suspect me.
"Let's go!"
I grabbed Cyprus's elbow.
Cyprus, who had been about to say ‌‌‌‌something more, flinched at my hand touching ‌‌his elbow, then followed without complaint.
"Is it uncomfortable? Should I let go?"
"No. Please keep holding it. The Staircase is slippery."
"Well then."
Watching Cyprus with all his attention focused on his elbow, I let out a breath of relief.
'When I view the memories within the crimson stone, my body must become invisible.'
Cyprus had entered the room while I was in the middle of viewing the memories within the crimson stone.
Whether my body became transparent or actually entered that memory space entirely, either way, my physical form must have vanished ‌‌‌from ‌‌this reality for a moment.
'I need to be careful when using the stone from now on.'
I shouldn't carelessly use it in front of people and get labeled as some ‌‌sinister mage.
"But what business did you have going down ‌‌to the lower level?"
"Oh, I just needed to use ‌‌the restroom for a moment."
"How ‌‌‌peculiar. There's a restroom right inside the room where the princess 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 that?"
I tightened my grip on his elbow and glared at Cyprus.
"If that's how I am, then accept it! Men who constantly question and nitpick have no charm!"
"That's also strange."
"What now!"
"I don't particularly wish to boast, but my charm has already been proven by the princess herself in the past...."
"Ugh!"
I really don't want to be around this guy!
"Why do I feel so good when the princess glares at me or gets annoyed?"
"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 person is this guy?'
I'd give anything to see him cry and throw a tantrum over love just once.
* * *
"Grand Duke! My lady! What is ‌‌‌that?!"
"It's rope that functions ‌‌as ‌‌‌a boundary stone. I found it Underground. Oh, the box is breaking. Please handle it delicately, Your Highness. Del-i-cate-ly."
"Yes, my lady. I, Cyprus, shall ‌‌‌devote myself entirely and do my utmost."
I gave instructions to Cyprus, who followed behind ‌‌‌me carrying a crate ‌‌so overflowing with rope that it blocked his vision.
When I suggested we split the load since it looked so heavy, he stared at me as if the sky were falling, so I'm just letting him carry it all himself.
'I don't know what kind of people the Priests who worked in this Temple were in the past, but they certainly had deep pockets.'
With this much rope, I could practically encircle the entire Mountain and still have plenty left ‌‌‌‌over.
Moreover, the contents and purposes were written on each crate ‌and organized neatly. Thanks to that, I was spared the trouble of wondering about and pretending to figure out what this rope was for.
'It seems only competent people lived in this Temple.'
How refreshing.
"Rope that functions as a boundary stone?"
"Yes, but I need to test whether it can actually perform its role."
Tangerine, who had been roasting potatoes ‌‌while monitoring the zombies' movements in the courtyard, approached and peered over.
Praha ‌‌‌and Yujein soon joined us as well.
I ‌‌explained my thoughts to the group.
"Even if Yujein handles the zombies surrounding the Temple now, there might be remaining zombies wandering ‌‌‌the Mountain."
"If those zombies come down to Prome Village, we'll be in serious trouble!"
"Exactly. So I'd like to take this rope and set it around the entrance to the Territory. But before that."
I turned my gaze to Cyprus, who was touching his upper arm, saying that carrying the crate seemed to have given him a workout.
"I'd like to confirm ‌‌‌‌first whether this rope actually works. So I was hoping Your Highness would help us with that."
"Me?"
"Yes. Because the zombies don't bite you, Your Highness."
Regardless of the reason, having someone the zombies won't bite is a good thing.
'That's right. ‌You need someone like this for a proper zombie apocalypse.'
I pulled a neck collar from my bag and handed it to Cyprus.
"You know how to use this, right? If ‌‌‌you put this around a zombie's neck, it can't bite."
....
"Don't worry. I have a noisy toy too!"
A toy that makes an obnoxious beeping sound when thrown.
I hadn't thought of it in the Maze ‌‌‌because I was panicked, but I'd bought this kind of aggro toy from Mascarpone in the Capital and packed it in my bag.
My plan ‌‌‌‌was as follows.
1. Yujein ‌‌strikes ‌‌‌down lightning to reduce the zombie numbers.
2. While Yujein recharges her stamina, I throw the toy to draw the reduced zombies' attention.
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 mess with Cyprus.
"Oh, and don't forget to bring back my doll!"
She added brightly.
Cyprus, standing there with ‌‌‌‌a sullen expression (though unlike Nuisance Man, he didn't spout nonsense about "You should go too! For equality!" to Yujein), gave me those whimpering puppy-dog eyes.
"My lady, shouldn't you at least bid me farewell?"
"It's not goodbye. Just hurry back."
"Sob. You're so cold-hearted, my lady."
"Hmph."
And as a result.
"Grrrrgh!"
"Ack! My lady! The zombies won't bite me, but they're still coming close! Ack! Get away!"
"Grand Duke! Hang in there! Oh! There's a zombie coming from behind!" ‌‌‌
"...Lady Tangerine, you seem to be enjoying yourself?"
"How could ‌‌‌‌I be! Kyahahaha!"
Thanks to Cyprus charging into the thick of it himself ‌‌and our Thor ‌‌‌Yujein, we managed to clear out the surrounding zombies and test the rope's effectiveness.
'The Imperial Family wanted us to capture zombies alive for experimentation.'
But we of the Investigation Team couldn't leave such consequences 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 in the meantime?
Let's not create some ‌‌‌‌zombie movie opening scenario.
Carelessness is forbidden.
"This rope certainly functions like a boundary stone. We've eliminated all the visible zombies. Are you alright, Yujein?"
"Yes, I'm fine!"
"There may still be zombies we haven't dealt with somewhere on this Mountain. Once we descend, we'll inform the Prome Lord ‌‌immediately."
"Thank goodness the rope is effective!"
"So shall ‌‌‌‌‌we head to Promé Castle?"
"Yes."
"Can't we eat some potatoes first? They're all roasted."
Descend, inform the Prome Lord about the zombies, string the rope around the village, and finish dealing with any remaining zombies.
= Clean up our own mess ourselves.
Hearing the plan, Tangerine puffed out her cheeks.
"I hate that Lord!"
"Can't be helped. We're the ones who ‌caused the damage."
"That Lord will tear down the rope we strung at the village entrance and wrap it around his own castle the moment we leave!"
Tangerine's eye for people.
Quite excellent.
I agree completely.
What kind of person is he, forcing his subordinates to drink bile wine?
'Just watching him force his employees to drink and torment them tells you everything. That man is a bad person.'
* * *
Clink. Clink. Clink.
"Your Highnesses! And the Saint! Ahem, Princess. You've returned!"
Remembering the nightmarish company dinners from my corporate days in Korea, I ‌‌‌‌couldn't help but glare at the Prome Lord rushing toward us, keys jingling in his hand.
After struggling down the mountain, the first face I encountered had to be his.
'Please, just split the dinner costs equally and transfer your ‌share. Let's each have our own dinner at home. You despicable man.'
I cursed inwardly while shooting the Prome Lord a sideways glance as he fawned over Praha.
But the Prome Lord turned out to be far worse than I'd anticipated.
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Promé Castle]
- Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (Alive)

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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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