Chapter 35
“I knew we were looking at the same thing.”
Eden let out a soft chuckle and lifted his head. His face moved away, and only then did I finally exhale the breath I had been holding.
It was something every human being had, but the sight of the fine peach fuzz on Eden’s skin felt strangely peculiar to me. I had assumed everything that made up Eden would be nothing but hard and rugged.
Eden pointed toward the catapult, then gestured toward the statue of a young girl in the distant village square.
“We just need to launch a stone with the catapult and hit that. Given the material, it should make a fairly loud noise when it collapses.”
Agreeing with his assessment, I gave my arm a light swing.
There was a specific reason I had installed a catapult of all things at this mansion.
‘I wouldn’t have installed it if it were a weapon I couldn’t handle at all!’
“I used to toss quite a few coins into ponds back in the day, you know? My aim is dead-on.”
In my past life, I had a real knack for throwing things.
I was incredibly good at that game where you launch angry red birds with a slingshot. I was great at firing rubber bands from my fingers, too.
“What is that?”
“Just a thing—making wishes and all. Anyway, my point is that I’m good at aiming and hitting targets.”
Eden looked at me like I was a weirdo again, but I didn’t care and inspected the state of the catapult.
Hadn’t I already brought over plenty of suitable stones to use? It was finally time to inaugurate the catapult.
Eden pulled a pocket watch from his uniform jacket to check the time. Shadows fell beneath his thick, lowered lashes.
The angle of the shadows had tilted further to the side than before. Time was ticking away.
It would be troublesome if the sun set already.
No. Actually, would the darkness be better for dealing with the monsters?
“However, Miss Cherry, there is one issue we need to address. If the monsters swarm into the village, it might become difficult for us to enter as well.”
At Eden’s words, I pulled the map of Brunel Village I had tucked in my pocket and spread it on the floor. Then, I pointed my finger at the police station. The station was quite a distance from the square.
“I don’t know. Isn’t the police station the place you want to go right now, Inspector Eden?”
Scanning the police station and the surrounding geography, Eden’s expression shifted as he understood my point.
“That’s true. But even so, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still within the monsters’ range of activity.”
“Hmm…”
That was true enough.
As I fell silent, Eden spoke calmly as if to reassure me.
“It seems there’s no other way, so I’ll just act as bait—”
“Bait? What? No, you can’t. Absolutely not.”
What are you talking about? Cut that out. Eden is the one person I have to protect, even if I have to use my own body as a shield.
“No, Miss Cherry…”
“Shut it. That is the one thing I won’t allow.”
At my forceful shout, Eden stared at me with a startled expression.
If Eden dies, the world will meet its perfect end without a cure ever being developed, and if that happens, I’ll die too(!)
Of course, if I’m being honest with my hand on my heart, Eden might not need any help at all. His combat prowess was so exceptional that I should perhaps be more concerned for the safety of the monsters about to be brutally torn apart by his hands.
Hadn’t I said it before? In the novel <Ruined Love>, the man who ranked number one in survival and combat ability—even surpassing the male lead—was Eden.
But that was the original plot, and I had to account for the fact that the situation had changed now. As long as he was by my side, I had to protect him. This wasn’t about helping someone else. It was about helping myself!
‘While we’re together, I have to treat Eden’s life as equal to my own!’
Because he was the antidote—and the ingredient—himself.
So, I shook my head even more violently and added a firm postscript.
“Don’t you dare think about sacrificing yourself for a single phone call that might not even connect. I’ll be the one protecting you, Inspector.”
Besides, I was stronger anyway.
The expression on Eden’s face as he looked at me turned strange. He parted his lips a couple of times, looking at me as if he couldn’t comprehend me at all.
Of course he couldn’t. Even if he asked what I meant, I couldn’t explain it to him anyway.
“What on earth does that…”
Eden let out a dry, disbelieving laugh. He covered his mouth with his large hand, looking at me with an expression that said I was truly something else.
After laughing for a while, he stroked his chin and answered as if he had no choice.
“Then we have no option but to use the final method.”
“There was a method left?”
Thank goodness, there was a way. As I looked at him with an expectant face, Eden spoke without a change in his expression.
“Leaving it to fate.”
Dammit, what is he saying?
“It was a joke, so wipe that look off your face.”
“You’re joking in this situation?”
When I shot back in disbelief, Eden nonchalantly pointed his finger at the police station marked on the map.
“There is a dungeon in the police station.”
“In this tiny station?”
“Most police stations have them if they were built a long time ago.”
Eden then pointed his finger behind the station. There was a forest at the rear.
“There is a side door in that dungeon. It’s a door connected to the morgue.”
My goodness… a morgue.
“How many criminals could possibly die in a cell in a tiny village like this… That’s surprising.”
“As you said, Miss Cherry, almost none. It hasn’t actually been used in a long time. But there are always people who need to be locked up, no matter where you go.”
Eden’s gaze turned chilly in an instant. With a chilling look that seemed capable of killing a man on the spot, he continued.
“And there’s much more of that trash in the world than you think, Miss Cherry.”
Well, even in the modern world, unbelievable crimes happened every day; how many more would occur in this world where the reach of the law was relatively loose?
I suddenly recalled the domestic abuser Eden had been beating up when I visited the police station before.
“Anyway, it’s not that trash we need to worry about, but this morgue. If we come out through here, we should be able to avoid the monsters’ eyes.”
Eden said, pointing to an empty spot in the forest that wasn’t marked on the map.
But pass through a morgue? That meant walking into a pile of corpses to avoid the monsters…
I shuddered at the mental image.
“What does the morgue look like?”
“It’ll be better to see it for yourself. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as you’re imagining.”
Was it really not that scary? There were corpses; how could it not be scary?
Ah, right. Was he saying it wasn’t as scary as the monsters?
I stared silently at the ‘forest’ mark on the map.
In the meantime, the sun had completely set. It was a pitch-black night with no gaslights on the streets, but fortunately, the moonlight was bright.
I watched Eden as he continued to scan the surroundings with his binoculars. What could he even see in the dark?
“Then, for now, you’ve agreed to the plan of knocking down the statue with the catapult, right?”
When I asked again, Eden lowered his binoculars and looked back at me.
“But is that really possible? The distance is quite significant.”
“I’m strong, so I’ll succeed. There’s nothing that can’t be done with strength.”
I meant it sincerely. I trusted my own strength.
At that, Eden’s eyes widened as if he’d heard an answer he never expected. Soon, he burst into laughter again.
“Hey. Laugh quietly.”
I whispered lowly in his ear, but hearing that only made Eden’s laughter grow louder. Looking at the monsters going wild below the wall, I smacked Eden across the back.
“I told you to be quiet.”
“Cough.”
He let out a cough, clutched his body, and hunched over. What? Did I hit him too hard?
Worried, I leaned toward him, only to find his shoulders shaking slightly.
That damn man. He was still laughing while doubled over.
“Ha… I’m going crazy. I never imagined you’d say you’d just push through with brute force. What’s even more ridiculous is that it actually sounds plausible.”
Lifting his head, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
“It seems certain that the public’s evaluation of you is wrong, Miss Cherry. Shouldn’t you be called something like ‘strange and ridiculous’ instead of a ‘thoughtless gossip girl’?”
“…”
When I didn’t answer and just stared at him, he cleared his throat and hid his dying laughter behind his teeth.
I looked up at the dark sky for a moment and changed the subject.
“Even if the moonlight is bright, I think we need the sun to come up to increase our accuracy.”
“Fine. Then let’s wait until sunrise first.”
We decided to make full preparations to head into the village before the sun came up.
If Jose, the weapons expert, were here, he could have whipped up anything for us. It was a great shame he wasn’t here.
‘Jose is a sub-male lead anyway, so he’s probably by Aurora’s side.’
With a sigh, I prepared for our departure.
