<Episode 25>

I shone the light down.

A few steps away, I saw a rabbit stuck to the ground, crying profusely like chewing gum.

Poor thing, it’s crying.

“Come here.”

“Gne-gne…”

The rabbit flapped its long ears and ran over to me, jumping into my arms.

At this point, it seemed to recognize me as its master.

I patted the rabbit’s head and opened my pouch once again.

It seemed like it was time to use that item I had given to the male leads.

‘I was trying to avoid using Hayden’s magical engineering items as much as possible.’

The more I expose it, the more suspicion it will raise about my intentions and its source.

As I plunged my hand into the spatial pocket to look for the item, I heard a rustling sound.

Rustle!

There was a movement in the forest.

Leaves fluttered, and a shadow flickered.

‘Could it be a zombie?’

In fact, the fact that I hadn’t encountered a zombie so far had been pure luck. Of course, that luck was also aided by the shifting ground.

In the original story, zombies could find humans as if they had a sixth sense, even when they were trying to hide.

‘It felt like we were getting through this quietly.’

I slowly stood up and pulled out the hammer hanging from my belt.

I took a combat stance, gripping the enlarged hammer.

My hands became slightly damp with tension.

Rustle!

The bushes shook.

Rustle!

It shook again.

Whack!

Just as something was about to push through the bushes, I swung the hammer without hesitation.

‘Huh?’

I froze in place as I locked eyes with gray ones.

In the wind, dark blue hair fluttered lightly.

“Duke Jaeger?”

The gray eyes glared fiercely at the hammer aiming for his head.

“Put that away.”

I quickly sheathed the hammer and forced a smile.

“I was startled. I thought you were a zombie.”

“Who do you think was more startled? Are you trying to take revenge for throwing the dagger a few days ago?”

Jaeger spoke in a voice dripping with coldness as he brushed off his jacket.

‘He seems to know that throwing the dagger was wrong.’

It was ridiculous that he was only blaming me for my mistake, so I shot him a sideways glare.

“Where are the Crown Prince and the Tower Master?”

“It seems they’ve scattered.”

Jaeger frowned as he considered the situation.

I silently laughed at him and strapped the hammer back to my waist, rummaging through the pouch again.

Before long, I felt something round and blunt at my fingertips.

‘Ah, found it.’

What I found was a yellow sapphire brooch adorned with a gold string.

“Isn’t that the one you shared with everyone?”

Jaeger asked for an explanation as I pulled out the brooch I had shared. His was a blue sapphire.

This was one of Hayden’s magical engineering items, and choosing a different color brooch would allow me to track the location of the target.

If I tapped the brooch and spoke, communication was possible within a 200m radius.

I briefly explained it to him and urged him to wear it.

“……”

Immediately after, I put on my brooch first, watching Jaeger attach his to the breast of his white jacket before I spoke.

“But it feels like a ghost is going to appear here, doesn’t it?”

That was also a question to gauge whether he had met the previous Tower Master.

“……”

Jaeger paused while putting on the brooch and stared at me intently.

“What is it?”

“…Are you still scared of ghosts?”

His tone was more of a confirmation than a statement of ridicule.

‘Still, huh?’

I blinked.

“I was afraid of ghosts?”

Jaeger looked at me with narrowed eyes, gauging my intentions.

“Are you really not remembering?”

He quickly turned his head and finished putting on the brooch.

“…I was afraid. I couldn’t even sleep alone.”

…?

He knew I couldn’t sleep alone?

How did he know that?

Kueek!

But before I could ask, a horrifying cry echoed.

My instincts made my ears perk up.

I stood alongside Jaeger, staring into the darkness. The rabbit, sensing my unease, scratched at my legs anxiously.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time to comfort you.”

I enlarged the hammer again.

Jaeger also reached behind him to pull out the mace he had tucked in his backpack.

How long had it been?

I felt a tremor in the ground.

It was different from an earthquake; it was a vibration as if something was stomping on the earth.

As I raised my light to illuminate the darkness, something was slowly bouncing toward us from within the dark.

‘Good.’

I relaxed my guard.

There was no way it could be a zombie.

If that was the case, it could very well be either Si-en or Ri-hard.

‘Wait? But can a person run and make a thudding sound? And didn’t it just cry out “Kueek”?’

Just then, Jaeger took my light and shone it closer.

“…By the way, there is a stable in the western shelter.”

“Really?”

I responded casually while squinting.

Just then, I recognized the creature.

In the white light, three horses with an eerie glimmer were charging toward us, their thick drool flying around like whips.

“Those are zombified ‘horses.’”

“……”

Jaeger and I locked eyes directly.

I began to sprint backward with all my might.

‘What the hell! You should have told me sooner!’

* * *

Huff, huff. Huff, huff.

We dashed down the forest path, relying on the faint glow of the light.

Fortunately, the zombified horses couldn’t run at their usual speed due to their infection, so they couldn’t easily catch up to us. Still, the fact that they were horses made it a problem.

But an even bigger problem was—

I glanced back.

Hee-hee-hee!

‘Damn it!’

The horses, galloping with their mouths wide open as if to eat me, were terrifying enough to give me goosebumps.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

As I ran, I looked down at the brooch; the light it emitted was flickering.

‘I’m getting further away from the male leads.’

And I was out of breath, being chased by horses.

‘I can’t just keep running away like this.’

I began to think frantically.

Should I use a grenade?

No, it would draw the attention of the zombies.

A flashbang?

No, it would be the same.

A smoke grenade…

No, what would I do with smoke in this pitch-black place!

“Gneek…”

I turned my head to where the sound was coming from.

The rabbit, who I hadn’t noticed until now, was clinging to my shoulder, flapping its large ears desperately.

‘What about Jaeger?’

I glanced at Jaeger, and he looked as if he were jogging in the Han River, calm and collected.

‘Only I’m panting like a dog, great.’

Even though I had trained so hard in the mansion, it seemed that systematic self-directed study wasn’t as good as natural talent.

But at least it was a relief.

I wasn’t alone.

Squeak-.

I turned around as dirt flew up beneath my feet.

Jaeger stopped when I did.

“Let’s split up. You take two, and I’ll take one.”

Jaeger seemed to understand that he couldn’t avoid a fight and immediately assumed a combat stance.

“Why are those horses going crazy? Isn’t it only the skeletons that get infected?”

I gasped for breath, feeling my throat stick together, and replied.

“I told you. If a zombie bites, a person can get infected too. After that, they go wild, trying to bite humans.”

I had no idea why skeletons that couldn’t even eat could be so greedy.

Jaeger nodded and prepared himself.

“So we just need to avoid getting bitten?”

“Right. We just need to avoid being bitten.”

Hee-hee!

But our time was running out.

It wasn’t long before something that wasn’t human burst through the darkness, closing in on us with its two legs.

Clank-!

At that moment, Jaeger took the chance to swing his mace horizontally, blocking the horse’s mouth.

Thud-thud-thud-!

But the zombified horse, with its sturdy hind leg muscles, pushed against Jaeger.

Damn it, Jaeger muttered under his breath as he wrapped a spiked chain around the horse’s head, hoisting it onto his shoulder before flipping its heavy body forward.

Thud-! Hee-hee-hee!

The toppled horse flailed its legs in the air before crashing to the ground.

Jaeger seized the opportunity and drove a dagger into the horse’s head.

Thud-thud-thud!

At that moment, another horse burst through the darkness, kicking.

“Redria!”

I was startled and reflexively swung my hammer.

Thwack-!

‘Nice timing.’

Thanks to that, I cleanly knocked off the horse’s lower jaw.

Thud-!

To confirm the kill, I slammed the hammer down onto the horse’s head, which had rolled back in a daze.

Thwack-! Thwack!

The horse’s movements gradually ceased, and it finally went limp.

Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew…”

Just as I wiped the sweat from my brow and lifted my head.