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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 66
Chapter 9. Complacency is a Luxury ‌‌We Cannot Afford
"Pardon? Moving corpses?"
"Indeed."
"So you're saying the dead walk about alive, attacking the living? Is that correct?"
"Indeed." ‌‌‌‌
"And yet, if we ‌‌‌‌simply sever the head, they die completely?"
"Indeed."
"...I beg your pardon, Your Majesties. I fear my ears have deceived me. I cannot fathom what the Crown Prince is describing...."
"Truth be told, I was captivated by you at first sight. Since I've already divorced my wife, how would you consider me as a remarriage prospect?"
"I beg your ‌‌pardon?!"
"Would you give it thought?"
"Ah, no, so suddenly... this is far too abrupt... are you sincere?"
"Of course not."
"...."
"Your ears seem to be functioning perfectly well."
Praha slurped his coffee audibly.
For someone who ordinarily made not a sound when handling dishes, this seemed decidedly like mockery.
We were currently taking coffee in the Prome Lord's Private Chamber.
It had been merely thirty minutes since ‌‌the Lord had rushed in upon seeing us return in such ‌‌‌a wretched state.
'What are you doing?! Prepare a bath and food at once!'
'No. There is a more pressing matter.'
Thud.
Behind Praha, who had restrained the flustered Lord, Cyprus set down the chest he ‌‌had been carrying.
'It is urgent.'
Praha emphasized once more, and as a result, we now sat in this opulent chamber, trailing dirt and dust.
"Please, I would like some pastries!"
Praha regarded Tangerine, who was gulping down orange juice, with a troubled expression before speaking flatly.
"Unbelievable as it may seem, it is the truth."
Corpses walk about. When the living are bitten by these corpses, they too become walking corpses. We have dealt with every corpse we encountered, but some may ‌‌remain on Prome Mountain.
Therefore, forbid the territory's residents from ascending the mountain for the time being.
Lay the cord from the chest we brought around the territory's barrier, and strengthen patrols.
Seek assistance from the nearby Temple.
All expenses related to this matter shall be covered by the Imperial Family from the ‌‌‌‌Crown Prince's personal funds.
Any remaining corpses that may be wandering the mountain shall be eliminated ‌‌by our forces.
"I apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your cooperation. The Imperial Family shall bear full responsibility for all damages incurred to Prome as a result of this incident. We shall thoroughly search the mountain and eliminate any remaining corpses."
The Lord, who had been listening with an expression of lingering doubt, furrowed his brow at the final statement.
The Prome Lord asked.
"If I may be so ‌‌‌bold, Your Highness. If we install that cord you mentioned around the perimeter, would the territory not be safe?"
"...For now, that would be the case."
"Then why must you all personally dispose of the corpses left on the mountain?"
"...Because if we don't, the people who climb the mountain could become infected."
"In any case, no one visits this fiefdom through Prome Mountain. The terrain is too treacherous."
"Your fiefdom's people who went to gather medicinal herbs or mushrooms could still become infected."
"Everything that belongs to this fiefdom—from a single weed growing on that mountain—is my property as its Lord. If someone attempted to steal the Lord's property without permission, wouldn't losing their life be just punishment?"
"What did you just say?"
"If they were caught carrying away even a single blade of grass from that mountain, they would have lost ‌‌their heads anyway. They would simply die a bit sooner...."
"...."
Execution for picking a single herb?
'No wonder I haven't seen a single fiefdom resident wandering around Prome Mountain.'
There was a reason for everything.
Rather than sympathize with his own people starving and gathering plants on the mountain, he beheads them? My blood boils from the depths of my being as I observe the Prome Lord's glistening, oil-slicked skin and protruding belly—the result of consuming far too much.
Praha, his expression darkening visibly, was about to speak when Cyprus stopped him.
'Later.'
First things first.
Cyprus, having restrained Praha, ‌‌‌‌opened ‌‌his mouth.
"Let me be clear: I do not condone your methods of governance. However, since this is your fiefdom, I have no right to interfere. Unfortunately."
"...."
"But ‌‌‌we have our reasons, so we will dispose of the corpses remaining in your fiefdom and depart."
"Exactly! We don't need any support! We came ‌‌to warn you, not to ask for help!"
Tangerine, interjecting, clenched her fists.
"We'll search through ‌‌‌every nook and cranny of Prome Mountain like ‌we're combing it, and find every last hair...."
"Absolutely not!"
The agitated Lord leaped from his seat.
Realizing his rudeness, he sat ‌‌back down, but his face was already ‌flushed red.
'What's gotten into him?'
"If corpses are wandering that mountain, how could I, as a loyal servant of His Imperial Majesty, possibly allow you both to enter? Absolutely ‌‌not!"
"Pardon? But we said we would go...."
"Absolutely, absolutely not!"
'Is he really that insistent?'
"The Prome Knight Order will handle the corpses. As the Lord of Prome, I strongly urge you both and the Saint to leave this now-dangerous Prome as soon as possible!"
"Huh?"
"What are you saying? We need to handle it ourselves...."
"I will prepare for your departure tomorrow!"
The Lord, ‌‌‌‌practically covering his ears, rang a bell to summon attendants.
It was ‌‌‌a stark and sudden change in demeanor, unlike the Lord who had been fawning before us.
Eyes shut, ears closed, pushing forward ‌‌‌‌relentlessly—he was the very ‌‌‌picture of a K-nation politician.
"As one who has received delegated authority over Prome from His Imperial Majesty, I refuse your both's stay in Prome. Please understand ‌‌my loyalty...!"
"As one who has been entrusted with authority over Prome by His Majesty the Emperor, I refuse your stay in Prome. Please understand my loyalty...!"
When I came to my senses, we had already been driven out of the Prome Lord's Private Chamber.
The Prome Lord's sudden expulsion left me utterly dumbfounded.
"Why is he acting like that?"
Tangerine summed up my feelings in a single sentence.
"Indeed."
It seemed the Prome Lord disliked the idea of us returning to the mountain.
But to cast people out so abruptly?
"So we're just supposed to be driven away like this?"
"Unfortunately, yes. No matter that we are the Crown Prince and the Duke, the ‌‌Prome Lord is the one to whom the Emperor granted authority over this fiefdom."
"But ‌‌‌‌the Crown Prince is here, isn't he?"
"He is Crown Prince, not Emperor."
"Good heavens." ‌‌‌
While I stood in shock, Praha remained silent, lost in thought.
Sensing my gaze, Praha looked at me and spoke.
"I was thinking something seems odd."
"Yes. I thought so too."
"I also thought ‌‌‌it was strange!"
"I, I ‌‌‌did as well."
"Ah. Me too."
Cyprus rubbed the end of his eyebrow with his index finger and spoke. ‌‌
"Corpses could be wandering his own fiefdom, yet his reaction suggests he cares far more about us searching the mountain than about the possibility of bodies roaming about."
"Unless there's something weighing on his mind!"
But as I had just said, if the Prome Lord drives us away, ‌‌we have ‌‌no recourse.
He is the Prome Lord, after all.
At this rate, we would be cast out empty-handed.
"This is troublesome. And time is running short."
Cyprus said.
'Hmm.'
After weighing several possibilities in my mind, I spoke.
"I might be ‌able to resolve this, if I'm fortunate."
"You, my lady?"
"Yes. I'm not certain, but... ‌‌‌‌‌to do so, I need to meet with Smoothie first."
"Smoothie? Ah, right."
"Yes. The Prome Lord's ‌‌‌‌steward."
* * *
"M, m, m, my lady?!"
"Yes. It's been a while, Smoothie. May I come in?"
"Pardon me."
Before I could even finish asking ‌permission, Praha strode boldly into the office.
His demeanor was noticeably colder than usual.
When Smoothie saw the Crown Prince appear in his office in the middle of the night, his face went pale as if he might faint.
"Y-Your Highness the ‌‌‌Crown Prince...."
"Is there anything ‌‌‌‌to drink here? The coffee Marquis Prome gave me doesn't suit my taste at all."
"I prefer sweet beverages!"
"Eek!"
Following him came the Grand Duke and an Imperial Knight.
"Ah, hello?"
Even the Saint, who had been hidden from view until now, suddenly popped out and greeted him.
Leaving Smoothie, who was now on the verge of tears, behind, I leisurely surveyed Smoothie's office for the second time.
For the office of someone in a relatively high position—a financial administrator of this fiefdom—it was remarkably cramped and dilapidated.
My reason for dragging my companions all the way here was simple.
I flashed a smile at the trembling Smoothie while quietly locking the office door behind me.
Click.
"M-Miss. Y-Your Highness. Saint. Knight. E-Emperor? Ah, the Emperor isn't here.... W-what is the meaning of this...."
"Ah. I'd like to see the ledgers."
"Y-yes?"
"You're the financial administrator for the Prome Lord, aren't you? You ‌must have the accounting ledgers for the merchant houses and ‌‌fiefdom operated by the Prome Family, right?"
Even if the originals are in the Lord's office, ‌‌‌‌there should certainly be a copy here somewhere.
"I'd like to see those." ‌‌‌
"B-but why the ledgers...?"
"Because I need ‌‌to ‌blackmail the Lord." ‌‌‌‌
If my initial impression when I first arrived in this fiefdom was correct, the Prome Lord ‌was definitely evading taxes in various ‌‌‌ways.
The crime of ‌‌‌‌avoiding taxes that should go to the imperial ‌‌‌treasury and be used for the Emperor and the Empire's people is grave.
It's as good as directly stealing ‌‌‌‌from the Emperor himself.
'And if the Prome Lord is indeed committing tax evasion or embezzlement.'
Smoothie, the Lord's financial administrator, is the ‌‌primary accomplice in that crime.
A quite capable one at that.
'Did I really forget such an important fact?'
If I could shake down the documents Smoothie possesses, uncovering the truth would be simple.
Only then did Smoothie, realizing why we had come, offer timid resistance.
"B-but I cannot show you the ledgers unless you are the Lord himself. They are confidential information of the fiefdom...."
"Of course! That's your duty as a financial administrator! I knew you'd say exactly that!"
I clapped my hands, praising how admirably you're fulfilling your professional obligations! Clap, clap, clap.
Confused, Smoothie asked.
"Then w-why...?"
"That's precisely why I dragged all these ‌‌people here!"
I pointed in turn at Tangerine sprawled ‌‌on the sofa, Cyprus smiling, and Praha's expressionless face.
Yujein, her lips pressed together with grim determination, rushed to the door and stood guard to prevent Smoothie from escaping.
Praha, whose eyes met mine, ‌‌‌‌‌nodded and rolled up his sleeves.
"You don't need to show us the ledgers, Smoothie."
I'll take it by force.
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Smoothie's Office]
- Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (Survived)

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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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