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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse
Episode 69
Over the past few years, the events in my life have followed a predictable pattern.
1. Insubordination
"Hey, you know that intern from the next team? ‌‌He mouthed off to his manager at the company dinner."
"That's ‌‌‌insane."
"And he didn't show up today."
"Even more insane."
2. Infidelity
"Hey, you know Yuji? He sent an all-company email at dawn tagging everyone, with photos of his team's assistant manager and director having an affair."
"Crazy... Is that why today's training got canceled? How did I miss it?"
"The management audit team ‌‌deleted it as soon as they came in this morning. I only saw it because I woke up to use the bathroom at dawn."
"You should've taken screenshots! But seriously, wasn't Yuji afraid of getting sued? How does he plan to show his face at the company after this?"
"No idea... Anyway, that whole team got called in right after."
"Wait? I need to get some documents from that team by this morning..."
"Hang in there."
3. The Smell
"Our new hire's mother came to the company today."
"The one with the smell problem?"
"Yeah... His mentor called ‌‌him in yesterday and talked to ‌‌‌him ‌about it. The team was struggling, so he asked him to pay more attention to personal hygiene."
"And then?"
"Then today he didn't come to work, and his mother showed up at the company instead. She was demanding to know who insulted her son, saying she'd sue. ‌‌‌She was screaming in the lobby—it was a complete mess."
"Maybe she should've ‌‌spent that time teaching him how to use a washing machine..." ‌‌‌‌
And countless other minor and major troubles.
"How am I working at the same company as these people?" "How am I on the same level as these people?"
Events that left me ‌‌‌drowning in self-loathing, one after another.
But while such incidents thoroughly eroded my self-esteem, they posed no actual threat to my life.
Yet since arriving here, there have been ‌zombies and kidnappings...
And here I am, constantly letting my guard down despite knowing I shouldn't...
"Life is exhausting..."
"Ugh..."
My head felt like it was splitting open.
My head couldn't maintain its balance and kept tilting to the side.
"I'm dizzy. I can't see ‌‌properly."
Is this a concussion?
"Focus. Concentrate on the basics."
What's my name? Yusara.
Where am I? I don't know.
Why am I here? I was kidnapped.
"I went to negotiate—blackmail, really—using evidence of the Prome Lord's tax evasion, but then the Lady of Prome suddenly appeared and..."
If these people realize we're ‌‌hunting humans there! We're all dead men!
Right. That's true.
The Prome Lord and his wife were conducting human trafficking and hunting on Prome Mountain, which they owned.
Insane bastards.... ‌‌
"I think I'm going to be sick...."
I crouched down, clutching my head with both hands as it rang like a bell filled with paper.
As I took steady, deep breaths, the sensation gradually subsided.
I began piecing together the ‌‌‌puzzle in my mind.
1. When I first ‌arrived in Prome, Praha asked what the main source of income for this fiefdom was, ‌and Marquis Prome answered that there was a Trading Company operated under the family name.
2. Smoothie, the property ‌‌‌‌manager of ‌‌‌‌‌‌Prome, said the items handled by that ‌‌Trading Company were "artworks favored by the ‌‌higher-ups," but none of us knew ‌‌what those were.
'Those artworks were human beings.'
Prome Mountain had few passing travelers or merchants, and the fiefdom's residents were forbidden entry, so they could freely abduct people and lock them away.
Even if an abducted person managed to escape, they would lose their way on the mountain and soon be recaptured.
The act of recapturing or killing those escapees was what they ‌‌‌called "hunting."
'...Wait.'
Then the bile wine that the Lord said he ‌‌‌personally hunted and brewed surely couldn't be....
"Ugh."
Nausea surged up, and I covered my mouth with my hand.
My head was already pounding, and now my stomach was churning—it was ‌‌‌maddening.
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and pushed myself up.
'I've walked straight into a den of criminals who make human trafficking their business. I don't have time to lie here.'
If I wasn't careful, I'd lose my autonomy to this petty Prome Lord before the God of Light could even claim my soul.
I pressed my throbbing head with both hands and surveyed my surroundings.
A small room, perhaps fifteen square feet. Three walls were dark, damp stone without windows, and ‌‌the front was iron bars.
From the cold stone floor and wall crevices came the stench of blood and urine from those who had been imprisoned here before me.
Beyond the iron bars lay a narrow Corridor lit by torches.
'A typical Underground Dungeon.'
I grasped the ‌‌‌‌rusted iron bars with both hands and peered through the gaps.
Cells stretched out on both sides of mine, and at the far end, I could see a Staircase leading ‌‌‌upward. The guard's chair placed in front of it was empty.
I couldn't see how many adjacent ‌‌cells there were or whether anyone was inside them.
————————
Narrow Corridor
————————
Cell Cell Cell Cell Cell
Prison Prison Prison Prison Prison
(Me)
This building didn't seem to have been here from the beginning, and it appeared to have been constructed specifically ‌‌‌for the human trafficking business.
How many years have they been ‌‌doing this? ‌‌‌
"Hello there...."
I called out, hoping to find any other prisoners.
"Excuse me...."
"...."
"Excuse me.... Is anyone here...?"
In ‌‌this desolate and frigid dungeon, only my voice echoes back, raising the hair on my skin.
My feeble voice sounded to my own ears like that of a maiden ghost freshly risen from a pond. No wonder no one answered.
'Should I speak in a more cheerful tone?'
But wouldn't that be even stranger when I've been kidnapped?
"Excuse me.... I was brought here too.... If anyone is around...."
"There's no point trying like that. Everyone here has had their tongues cut out."
"Eek!"
I jumped back in terror at the low ‌voice that suddenly came from the adjacent cell.
"Who are ‌‌‌you?!"
"Unlucky Adventurer."
I took ‌‌‌‌a wrong turn and ended up in this region, and now I'm in this predicament. The Unlucky Adventurer spoke as if singing.
His ‌‌voice was hoarse, as though he hadn't spoken in quite some time.
I imagined the face ‌‌‌‌of a man in his early thirties with stubble bristling across his cheeks as I asked my question.
"Why haven't they cut out your tongue?"
"I haven't been here long."
"...."
"There are two others in this cell besides me. Probably about that many in the other cells too. Come ‌‌on, shouldn't you introduce yourself?"
He seemed to nudge the person beside him.
There was a brief scuffling sound, then a noise came from the adjacent cell.
"Ugh...."
A sound as though a throat were constricted. I flinched at the moment.
The Unlucky Adventurer spoke.
"You heard that? That's the state we're all in."
"...."
"I ‌‌‌can't have the last one introduce himself. His wounds are infected ‌‌‌and he's unconscious."
"Why do they cut out tongues?"
"Isn't it obvious? Everyone brought here is an illiterate commoner. If those who can't read also can't speak...."
"...it would be ‌difficult to plan an escape."
Even if we were fortunate enough to escape, it would be all the harder to report ‌‌this to anyone.
"Exactly."
The adventurer coughed ‌‌‌‌roughly before continuing.
"We'll soon meet the same fate. Unless you happen to have an exceptionally beautiful voice with enough commercial value that they'd spare it."
It seemed ‌‌my tongue might be safe after all. The Unlucky Adventurer added this ‌as a jest. ‌‌‌
That ‌was when it happened.
"You understand your future quite well!"
Screeeech.
The door connecting to the upper level opened with ‌‌‌‌a harsh grinding sound, and light and footsteps flooded in.
Thud, thud.
Clink, clink.
The Prome Lord entered with his subordinates, a bundle of keys jingling at his waist.
I watched as three or four of the lord's men carried a massive sack stained with blood, distributing its weight among themselves.
The subordinates dragged the heavy sack as though it weighed considerably, then ‌‌‌hurled it in front of the prison door where I was ‌confined.
Something inside writhed faintly.
The Prome Lord glanced between the sack and me, then grinned wickedly.
"Today's harvest is quite bountiful."
"Yes, my lord."
I immediately recognized the faces of the subordinates wiping sweat from their brows behind the lord—they were Prome's knights.
Prome's knights.
'So they weren't knights at all. Just thugs.'
"You've been well-behaved and caused no trouble, have you, Lady?"
The lord spoke with a sneer, then kicked the sack lying on the ground.
"This is the only one that survived from yesterday's personal hunt. I brought it to give you a cellmate, ‌‌‌Lady."
The lord attempted to unwrap the sack to show me the face of the person inside, but upon seeing it caked with dirt and blood, he withdrew his hand.
The lord commanded his subordinate.
"What are you doing? Put it in the Lady's cell."
"Yes, sir."
The subordinate who received the order took the lord's key and approached my prison.
The subordinate's eyes met mine, and he smirked.
"Step back, Lady. You might get hurt."
Ordinarily, this man would never have dared speak to me or even meet my eyes—yet now that the opportunity presented itself, here he was.
The lord's subordinate opened the prison ‌‌door and rolled the sack into my cell. Even that required considerable effort; veins bulged across the thug's arm.
The size. The weight. I was certain the sack contained a sturdy adult male.
'He's ‌‌‌deliberately putting me in a cell with a man. He's trying to frighten me.'
The lord spoke.
"Our business has been flourishing, so we're running short on cells. No matter how noble a lady you are, you're now a slave. Shouldn't you learn to coexist with others?"
"...."
"I'll verify the merchandise's ‌‌‌condition later. It will be ‌‌‌‌‌a special pleasure to slowly discover who your first cellmate is, Lady."
"Yes, sir."
"Well then, now...."
"...."
"Shall I ‌‌teach you how we treat slaves and what your future holds?"
The lord's gaze turned toward the ‌adjacent cell—where the Unlucky Adventurer was held.
[Prome Mountain: Underground Dungeon, Level ?]
- Yusara (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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