Chapter 11
Next, it was time to inspect the second floor. I headed up via the staircase in the central lobby.
There were nine rooms in total on the second floor. The room at the very end must have been a nursery, as it was filled with a crib and baby supplies.
The adjacent rooms also bore traces of past inhabitants. It seemed a considerable number of people had once lived in this mansion.
‘And it doesn’t seem as old as I thought.’
Though it was messy with layers of dust and plenty of scratches, there was quite a lot of furniture that still seemed usable.
I was finishing my tour of the rooms and scanning the sofa in the large second-floor lobby when it happened.
Creeeeak.
The sound of a rusted hinge moving echoed from behind me. I froze mid-motion, my hand still resting on the dusty sofa.
What… what was that sound?
It definitely came from the direction of the nursery. Of all places, why did it have to be the nursery?
I slowly turned my head. The dim second-floor hallway came into view, and at the far end, I saw the nursery door standing slightly ajar.
‘Was that door always halfway closed like that?’
I was certain I had left it wide open after checking inside.
As I stood there frozen for a long moment—
Creeeeak.
The eerie sound rang out again. I heard it clearly this time. It was coming from the nursery.
I forced my feet to move, one slow step at a time. Regardless of what it was, I had to identify the source of the noise. This was my house now, after all.
Creak. Creak. The sound continued to emanate from the nursery. It sounded exactly like something moving. I swallowed hard and took another step.
Thump.
But I misjudged my strength, and my footfall echoed loudly through the hallway.
Cree—
The noise from the nursery stopped abruptly. I froze in place, unable to move.
‘I’m scared!’
I’d seen this exact scene in horror movies a thousand times. I wanted to turn tail and run, but I couldn’t. I had to turn this house into a shelter no matter what.
‘Right. Compared to virus-ridden monsters, a ghost is nothing.’
I grit my teeth and walked forward briskly. Then, I flung the nursery door wide open.
The curtains fluttered between the open windows. A breeze drifted in along with the warm sunlight.
Creak.
That’s when the rocking chair in front of the window moved. It seemed the wind had been pushing it.
“You scared the life out of me.”
I let out a long sigh, wiping the beads of cold sweat from my forehead.
‘Dammit, how is this a romance novel? This is just a survival horror story.’
Why is it always just my genre that’s different? Always just mine.
After calming down a bit, I took a closer look around the nursery. That’s when I noticed the name ‘Segrave’ engraved on the rocking chair.
Since the family often appeared as heroes or guardians in fairy tales, their name was frequently found on children’s products like this. Perhaps because I’d seen the ‘Segrave family’ mentioned in today’s newspaper, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Regardless, standing alone in an empty nursery gave me a very unsettling feeling.
‘I need to start cleaning right away, or I’ll lose my mind.’
Spooked, I hurried to begin the cleaning process. Maybe things would feel different once I threw out all the old furniture and scrubbed the place clean.
‘Should I just ask for help…?’
With one phone call, Harrison would send people to this rural village. He would spend a fortune and use a massive workforce to transform this mansion into a magnificent shelter in the blink of an eye.
But if I did that, a mansion optimized as a shelter would draw far too much attention. I was, after all, the world-renowned Cherry Sinclair.
It would become impossible to survive quietly. After the end of the world, all sorts of people might come knocking on the doors of Happy House, begging to be saved.
‘I’ll be busy enough just surviving on my own; will I even have the capacity to look after others?’
I wasn’t that kind of person. I certainly didn’t have the qualities of a leader.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
Ultimately, I resigned myself to the task and decided to get on with the cleaning. I picked up a broom and began sweeping the floor vigorously.
Cleanliness was also a matter directly linked to survival. Besides, this mansion was disturbingly filthy.
A few rooms in the mansion still had beds and furniture. After tossing the bedding and wiping away the dust, the pieces were actually quite usable.
Though, of course, I’d still have to buy a new bed for myself.
I dragged all the unnecessary furniture from the nursery downstairs and piled it up in the garden.
If there was one good thing about having super strength, it was being able to move furniture all by myself.
I dusted off my hands and looked at the pile of furniture in the garden with a sense of pride.
Now I needed to refill the empty rooms with new furniture, which meant I’d have to visit the neighboring city where the furniture stores were located.
‘I’ll worry about that later.’
After clearing out the furniture, I grabbed a rag and focused on scrubbing the marble floors and any surfaces that would be touched directly by hands.
I was glad I had memories of my past life. The old me was not the type of person who would ever mop a floor, even in a crisis.
Is this what they call a self-inflicted disaster? Anyway, it was clear that a path of extreme hardship lay ahead of me.
After just one wipe, the rag would be covered in black dust. I ended up having to clean with a bucket of water right next to me.
But the water got dirty so quickly that I spent more time walking back and forth to the well.
Dammit.
But the real problem was that even after cleaning all day, I had only managed to finish half the mansion.
“Damn it! There’s no end to this!”
…no end to this!
…end to this!
…this!
My shout echoed through the empty building like a mocking refrain.
No. This isn’t right. This isn’t something a human should be doing.
I ordered an orange juice at the only restaurant in Brunel and sat there, slumped over.
A cold drop of water trickled down from the corner of my eye. It wasn’t a tear; it was sweat.
Surviving is too hard. To think it’s this exhausting when the real survival hasn’t even started yet…!
Maybe I should just tell Harrison everything, dammit. I had these thoughts dozens of times a day.
Then, imagining myself meeting the apocalypse while locked in a hospital again, I clutched my head.
“I can’t let that happen!”
“What can’t you let happen?”
Eden asked me. He was sitting across from me, leisurely reading a newspaper. I let out a hollow laugh.
“Excuse me, sir. Aren’t you going home?”
Only then did Eden fold his newspaper. Setting it down neatly on the table, he offered a thin smile.
“This is my home now. The Brunel Police Station is my place of work, isn’t it? I am currently performing my official duties.”
In what world does that look like a police officer performing his duties? Exactly what ’official duties’ is he performing? He looks like he’s just slacking off.
“I’m sure you are. Yes, yes. Keep up the good work.”
I gave a half-hearted reply and avoided his gaze.
Eden was skilled at leading questions. I couldn’t risk getting caught up in his pace and revealing my secrets, so the best plan was to avoid him and pretend to know nothing.
‘Should I try to recruit him to my side instead?’
Eden was a man with such high survival skills and combat prowess that he was ranked number one among people you wouldn’t want to meet as an enemy. That meant he was someone worth bringing to my side.
‘But that would make things too complicated.’
Ugh.
‘For now, there’s still a little time before the end, so I’ll put that on hold.’
Just then, my orange juice arrived. The woman who brought it was a familiar face.
“Oh? Ms. Ruskin.”
Vanilla Eddie Ruskin. The former owner of the mansion.
As a side note, having a three-part name in Grayden meant one was a noble. Like Eden Duncan Lancaster.
“What are you doing here?”
At my question, Vanilla tucked the tray under her arm and answered briskly.
“I’m working part-time.”
I mean, aren’t you a noble?
I swallowed the question. It might be considered rude.
“G-good luck.”
She nodded in response. But even after the greeting was over, she didn’t leave. Did she have more to say?
When I looked up at Vanilla quietly, she rubbed her thumb and index finger together and said to me,
“You didn’t give me a tip.”
Watching that vulgar hand gesture, I wondered if I had misheard her name as Vanilla Eddie Ruskin when it was actually just Vanilla Ruskin. Besides, wasn’t tipping a culture from the neighboring Kingdom of Briwood?
I tilted my head in confusion but took some money out of my pocket and handed it to her.
After receiving the tip, Vanilla looked at Eden. Without hesitation, Eden also took out some money and handed it to her. Like me, Eden probably had more money than he knew what to do with.
Vanilla accepted the money with a moved expression and looked back and forth between us.
“I like you people so much.”
Seeing Vanilla turn away after her refreshing comment, I hurriedly grabbed her.
“Wait a moment, Ms. Ruskin.”
Actually, this was perfect timing.
Just in case, I quickly unfolded the blueprints of the mansion I had brought with me.
