---------------
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 9
Dazling bolted ‌‌ahead with his sword raised. Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, and the Grand Duke carrying Yujein followed in his wake. Yujein flinched in surprise when the Grand Duke ‌‌lifted her without permission, but she had no choice in the matter.
"This way! ...Wait! Don't come yet!"
Dazling, who had reached ‌‌‌‌the Left Stairs first, was clenching his teeth so hard I could see ‌it clearly from this distance.
Mascarpone, startled ‌‌and trying to stop, stumbled. The indoor slippers she wore ‌‌slipped up around her ankle.
The Grand Duke caught her with his free arm as she began to slide.
"Are you alright?!"
"Dazling ahead...!"
"Stay behind me!"
The Grand Duke, steadying Yujein in one arm, turned to look back.
Our eyes met as he checked whether I was following.
And I realized something.
The Crown Prince wasn't following.
I looked behind.
The Crown Prince was backing away, calmly watching the horde of zombies approaching.
What is he doing?!
"Hey!"
He didn't even look at me when I called out.
"Hey! Are you insane, ‌‌‌‌‌‌trying to get yourself killed?!"
I was about to rush over and drag him by the collar when—
The Crown Prince unwound the magical rope from his wrist.
He tied one end of the rope to a protruding pillar on one wall, then secured the other end to a window latch on the opposite wall. ‌His movements were practiced, as ‌‌‌if he'd done this before.
After setting up the trap with such speed, he came running toward me.
"Why aren't you running?"
This time it was ‍‌the Crown Prince urging me on.
"Because you weren't coming... Ugh!"
"Pardon me."
Without breaking stride, the Crown Prince wrapped his arm around my waist and hoisted me onto his shoulder like a sack of grain.
My body suddenly shot up approximately 190 centimeters into the air, and I swallowed a scream.
"Ugh!"
"Bear with it."
Whether my arms flailed or my head swung wildly up and down, the Crown Prince simply ran.
It was a speed I couldn't ‌believe possible while carrying a 169-centimeter adult woman on his shoulder.
All I could do while being carried away was try not to bite my tongue.
Behind the Crown Prince's back, I could see the corridor we'd just passed through.
The zombies that had been chasing us were getting caught on the rope he'd set up, their necks being severed as they fell.
Slice. Thud. Thud. Clatter.
"Shriek...!"
The sight of corpses' jaws and necks separating and dropping to the floor unfolded before my eyes like some kind of VR game.
Spraying ‌‌‌blood and a severed head rolling across the floor—the zombie behind it stumbled, collided with another, ‌‌and the thin ‌‌‌‌wire supporting their weight trembled as if it might snap at ‌‌any ‌moment.
"Grraaagh!"
The white cord, taut as a musical string, turned crimson in an instant.
"Kyaaaah!"
The zombie charging toward us with gaping maw had its ‌‌‌lips sheared clean off by the blood-soaked wire.
The first wave of zombies that rushed forward had their ‌‌necks severed, collapsing in place, yet still they came. As a mass of them became entangled in the wire simultaneously and tumbled over, the window latch supporting it was torn ‌‌‌away.
With that, the trap was finished.
"The trap has collapsed!"
"Keep running regardless!"
How am I supposed to run when you're carrying me?!
A zombie with an outstretched arm looks ready to grab my ‌‌hair any second now!
If the distance closes, I'll be the first one caught! I shut my eyes and clung to the Crown Prince's back.
Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.
"Kaaaaaaagh!"
Please, please, please....
'Damn it, I'm terrified! Waaaah!'
The sound of slicing from ahead where I couldn't see. Screams. Footsteps.
"Mascarpone!"
"I'm fine, aaaah!"
"Get away!"
"Are you alright?!"
"Yes! Lord Dazling...!"
"I'm fine as well!"
Coming down the staircase like that, I genuinely thought I might bite my own tongue!
"This way!"
The moment we descended the staircase, we had no choice but to take shelter in the most obvious place ‌‌‌within sight.
Whoosh!
The instant the Crown Prince and I entered, ‌‌‌‌the Grand Duke shoved the curtain closed. Behind the thick blackout curtain, the Crown Prince lowered me down in a smooth motion.
Tap-tap-tap-tap. The ‌‌‌‌sightless zombies rushed past us by mere inches.
A sigh was about to escape.
"Shh."
The Crown Prince pulled ‌‌‌me into his embrace, confining ‌me there.
His large, rough palm cradled the back of my head. My face was buried against his shirt. The Crown Prince, shielding me with ‌‌‌‌his arms and body, peered through the gap in the ‌curtain at what lay beyond.
From where I lay, all I could see was the Crown Prince's throat and his rising and falling chest.
Each time he breathed, the muscle against my nose swelled and deflated gently.
Sweat, and the scent of soap mingled with the smell of blood.
The Crown Prince's natural scent. ‌‌
"Wait... this is too..."
As I tried to pull away, he held me tighter. The Crown Prince whispered.
"...Stay ‌‌‌still."
"...."
"There's no door here."
Only then did I realize that the space we'd just entered was separated from the outside by nothing but a thick curtain, with no actual door.
Zombies infesting the corridor, and there's no door either.
Isn't this insane?
'Reaching the Kitchen? Fat chance!'
The situation had gotten even worse than before!
I suppressed my ragged breathing by burying my face in the Crown Prince's shirt hem.
Heat and breath radiated from the man's arms wrapped around my back of my head and waist.
The Crown Prince, focused solely on the situation outside, merely flinched each time my breath touched him, as if he'd forgotten the fact that I was nestled in his embrace.
Or perhaps he was prepared to offer his own arm to the zombies instead and shield me if anyone broke through.
I remained still for a moment.
'This is suffocating....'
I twisted my body, but he didn't budge.
His hand, tangled within my hair.
I raised my arm and tapped the forearm that was holding me in place. Only then did the Crown Prince lower his head toward me.
I whispered against his approaching lips.
'Please let me go now.'
I can't breathe!
"...Oh."
"...."
"My apologies."
Only then, slowly, did the Crown Prince lower his arms.
The moment I was released from his embrace, I peered through the gap in the curtain. Immediately, my eyes met with a zombie's, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"...!"
If I hadn't recalled that these creatures had no vision, I would have screamed.
Ignoring the Crown Prince, who seemed desperate to push me to the safety behind his back, I surveyed the outside.
The zombies that had descended from the second floor following us, along with all the first-floor zombies that had poured out at the commotion, were wandering the Corridor, emitting sounds like "Kieeeek..." and "Krrrgh...."
Navigating through the gaps between them to reach the Kitchen was... well.
'It might be possible if you were skinny enough to slip through the spaces between falling raindrops.'
In other words.
We were finished.
I turned back and saw my scattered companions. Nuisance Man was sprawled flat on the floor, while Yujein and Supporting Character 2 were huddled beside Mascarpone, who was leaning against the wall.
Everyone was breathing heavily like freshly caught fish, their chests heaving, and because they were covering their mouths with their hands to prevent any ‌‌sound from ‌‌‌escaping, they seemed unable to calm down at all.
"Gasp. Gasp. Gasp."
Even so, when I saw Nuisance Man slowly shifting his back to hide behind the others, Mascarpone let out a scoff.
"Seriously though...."
"Mascarpone...."
Supporting Character 2, who was gripping Mascarpone's leg, shook her ‌‌head.
"If... if you make a sound... we're all dead."
It was a fair point.
Only a curtain separated the corridor from this narrow space where we now stood.
'Did the Grand Duke and Dazling go inside to scout?'
Beyond where the two had disappeared lay a long, narrow corridor illuminated only by dim lighting. Despite its darkness—as if something might leap out at any moment—it possessed an ornate quality.
Silver lettering adorned the black walls.
[Brocol.
Emperor of the Empire, blessed by the Twelve Deities. ‌‌‌
Sovereign of the lands where the sun never sets.
(...)
In honor of the Imperial Family's infinite glory.]
Seeing legible text brought me ‌‌unexpected relief. ‌‌
'Wow, I can actually read the characters here?'
So I'm not illiterate!
Thank goodness!
Judging by the ‌‌inscriptions on the wall, this appeared to be a gallery displaying Imperial Family treasures.
[Building Layout Revisited]
Second Floor: Staircase/Central Staircase/Secret Room
First Floor: *Gallery*/Kitchen/Dining Hall
This meant we'd need to travel half the distance again just to reach the Kitchen.
Then the Grand Duke and Dazling, who had been surveying the ‌‌interior, emerged from the darkness.
Seeing ‌‌us clustered behind the entrance, they tilted their heads in confusion.
The Grand Duke spoke.
"Why ‌‌‌‌are you all crowded here?"
At the Grand Duke's clear voice, Supporting ‌Character 2 waved her hands frantically like a startled seal.
"Your Grace, your voice is too loud...!"
"This volume is fine."
"But...!"
"Really, it's fine. ‌The only person who would hear a voice this loud and chase after us would be that foreign princess who claimed to have received divine revelation commanding her to marry me."
Such a person existed? ‌‌‌‌
"If you all moved further inside and sat down, you'd find it far less frightening. You could also breathe more easily."
That was true.
Yet the others made no move. They seemed too exhausted to budge, and too afraid to venture into the ‌‌‌‌darker interior.
Sighing at their immobility, the Grand Duke approached the Crown Prince, who continued watching the corridor outside. The Crown Prince asked without turning.
"How is it?"
"There isn't one."
"I see."
Mascarpone, sensing something ominous, furrowed her brow and asked.
"Excuse me, Your Graces. What do you mean there isn't one...?"
Instead of the Grand Duke, who ‌smiled awkwardly, the Crown Prince answered calmly.
"There is no door in the ‌‌‌‌‌interior that ‌‌‌‌Cyprus just explored. The only entrance to this gallery is...."
"Grrrrk!"
"...."
The Crown Prince didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what came ‌‌‌‌next.
The only entrance and exit to this ‌Gallery was—
right here, where I stood guard.
'We're trapped.'
Outside, wandering zombies. A Gallery with no way out.
'What if we went out, cleared the corpses, and carved a path through?'
Dazling spoke through lip movements. ‌‌‌The Crown Prince, somehow understanding, shook his head.
'There are too many.'
Right. Zombies had rained down from the sky. There would be far more of them roaming about than the original population on the Island.
The Crown Prince, the Grand Duke, and Dazling all seemed ‌‌‌to find that strange.
'The total number of people supposed to be on this Island was thirty....'
'How is this possible....'
Hmm.
I turned my body away from the three of them exchanging words among themselves.
I met eyes with Mascarpone, whose gaze was weary. Her once-neat hair was now disheveled, and the soles of her feet were blackened. The hem of her dress was wrinkled and creased. She'd been so quarrelsome ‌‌‌until moments ago, but now, exhausted, she said nothing.
I crouched down in ‌‌‌front of Mascarpone, who hadn't even bothered to fix the slipper caught around her ankle. I tapped her outstretched leg lightly and called her name.
"Mascarpone."
I'd been curious about something since earlier. Now seemed like the right time to ask.
[Imperial Villa First Floor Gallery]
- ‌‌‌‌Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, ‌‌‌‌Grand Duke, Dazling, Mascarpone, Supporting ‌Character 2, Nuisance Man (Alive)

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