Chapter 42
“Excuse me…?”
I let go of the catapult and took the binoculars from Eden to scan the village.
Just as he said, I could see a shadow moving behind the large tree in the plaza.
The problem was that the area surrounding the square was swarming with monsters. The man was isolated, unable to even attempt an escape.
“Why is he in a place like that…?”
“He probably tried to make a run for it and got stuck.”
Eden clicked his tongue in annoyance. He stared down at the village with an expression of pure uncertainty.
It couldn’t be helped. I stepped back into position in front of the catapult and steeled my resolve.
“I’ll provide cover.”
“Pardon? Cover for what?”
“For Mr. Rudfercher. If we want him to get out of there, we have to clear a path first. We’ll distract the monsters. With this.”
The original plan was to destroy the statue of the girl located right in the center of the plaza where Knox was standing. However, since we had to save him, I decided to modify the plan slightly.
It looked like Knox was trying to escape toward the left side of the plaza, so I planned to demolish a building on the right. If the monsters swarmed toward the sound of a collapsing house, a path would open up on the left.
“It doesn’t look like we have a very large supply of stones. If we do this, you can’t afford a single missed shot. Can you do it?”
Eden asked me, sounding a bit worried. I nodded confidently.
“We were planning on drawing their attention anyway.”
Even if I was going to destroy a building, the goal was to avoid the useful ones as much as possible. It would be a disaster if I leveled a grocery store or a general store filled with essential supplies.
“First, I’ll aim for that stall.”
There was a large stall on the right side of the plaza. It wasn’t a permanent shop inside a building, but a temporary structure like a shipping container used for market days. It wouldn’t be an issue if that got destroyed.
“It’s a miracle that’s still standing,” Eden muttered, peering through the binoculars before giving me the signal.
“On the count of three, fire.”
Eden was on lookout duty, and I was the muscle…
I wasn’t sure why I was always the one doing the heavy lifting while this sturdy man stood by, but since I was technically stronger…
Whatever the reason, it was a sad reality.
“One. Two…”
Eden gave the signal, and I pulled the firing lever down with all my might.
“Three.”
The moment the command dropped, I released the lever—
Whish!
The boulder drew a high, wide arc across the clear sky and scored a direct hit on the stall.
CRASH!
At the massive impact, I saw the monsters’ heads all snap toward the wreckage.
“I hit it!”
The thrill of a successful hit was incredible. Unable to hide my excitement at the first success, I made a bit of a fuss.
Eden gave a faint smile at the sight of me, but his voice remained firm.
“It’s too early to relax.”
He had already looked away from me and was scanning the village through the binoculars again. I calmed myself and followed his gaze toward the town.
Looking closely, it seemed more monsters were actually crowding into the plaza. Hitting the stall had successfully distracted the nearby creatures, but the sound of the explosion had drawn in monsters from further away.
Behind the tree in the square, I could see the dark figure hesitating, shifting back and forth as if deciding whether to make a run for it.
Knox, who had been gauging his timing to escape, seemed to give up due to the sheer number of monsters and sat back down behind the tree.
“Do you see that building to the right of the stall? We should aim for that next.”
Eden, still surveying the area, pointed it out. I loaded another boulder and prepared to fire.
I adjusted my aim toward the building he indicated. The catapult was essentially fixed in place, making it nearly impossible to pivot the direction as much as I wanted.
‘I’ll just have to use brute force.’
If I forced it to turn and then held it steady with my strength, I could make it work.
‘I don’t care, I’m strong! You’re all dead!’
I pulled the lever down with everything I had.
“One. Two…”
Eden counted quietly.
“Three!”
As soon as the signal fell, I let go.
Whirrr!
Once again, a boulder traced a parabolic arc through the sky.
BOOM!
The stone completely demolished a portion of the target building’s wall.
“Did you see that? A perfect shot!”
Unable to contain my excitement, I accidentally raised my voice. Eden quickly reached out and covered my mouth.
“Shh.”
His large, firm palm pressed against my lips.
I frowned and looked at him with a disgruntled expression, but I soon remembered that the monsters were sensitive to noise and let out a sigh.
‘Fine. That was my fault.’
Because I sighed, my warm breath pooled against his palm, causing Eden to reflexively pull his hand away.
Regardless, the monsters that had been lurking around the stall began moving toward the right, where the new sound had come from.
Finally, a gap opened on the left side of the plaza. An escape route had been created.
Not missing the opportunity, Knox darted out from behind the tree, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings.
“What is he doing? Run!” Eden muttered impatiently.
At that moment, Knox looked in our direction. Without thinking, I reflexively waved my hand. Beside me, Eden stared at me as if asking what on earth I was doing.
“I think he’s trying to figure out who’s throwing the rocks.”
I couldn’t see Knox’s expression. However, he remained frozen for a moment, looking toward us. He had to move quickly, though, as monsters were starting to approach from a distance.
I watched as Knox successfully escaped through the empty left side of the square and ducked into an alleyway. Once he entered the alley, he was hidden by the buildings, and I could no longer track his movements.
I rolled my arms and massaged my shoulders to loosen up.
“Right. Shall we start the real game now?”
Eden looked at me as if I were a reckless child, but hey, as long as I get the job done, right?
With a vigorous motion, I loaded a stone onto the end of the catapult. It was finally time to hit the statue of the girl.
One hour before Cherry began using the catapult,
Knox, who had been wandering the streets to avoid the monsters, found himself trapped in the plaza.
The number of monsters surrounding the square was so overwhelming that he couldn’t find a single opening to escape.
For two days, he hadn’t slept a wink, caught in a repetitive cycle of hiding and fleeing. Yet, there seemed to be no way out of this small village of Brunel.
The streets were crawling with those unidentified monsters.
Knox thought back to when he first encountered this madness. It was right after he’d had a trivial conversation with Cherry in the village square.
The incident broke out as soon as she left Brunel, saying she had business in Kintne. An unidentified monster had burst out of the carriage rental office and began devouring people.
It was as if the whole world had been stained with blood.
People bitten by the monsters turned into monsters themselves and devoured more people, while those who managed to avoid them fled and hid.
It had been a hellish time.
Yes. Knox had seen hell. And even now, he was unable to escape its depths.
‘What the hell is going on? Dammit!’
He had managed to hide behind a massive tree for a moment, but he couldn’t stay there forever. It was a position far too exposed to the creatures.
But then.
Suddenly, massive boulders began flying in from somewhere. A stone leveled the stall on the right side of the plaza, and then another one came down, collapsing the wall of the bookstore a bit further away.
“I hit…! Perfect…!”
He could hear the faint sound of a woman shouting from somewhere. In truth, he wasn’t even sure if she had actually shouted those words. The distance was quite significant.
Hiding behind the statue, Knox jerked his head around.
In his line of sight was the mansion on the hill. Actually, because of the thick trees and foliage, all he could really see was the roof.
But there were people on top of it. Two of them.
The smaller of the two figures was jumping up and down with both arms raised. Honestly, they looked a bit like a madman.
‘That’s Cherry Sinclair’s Happy House…’
Only then did it occur to Knox that the person jumping around might be Cherry Sinclair.
Looking ahead again, he saw that a path had briefly opened on the left side of the monster-infested plaza. It was thanks to the stones drawing the monsters’ attention to the opposite side.
He hadn’t seen it the first time, but the second time, he saw it clearly. The small figure jumping up and down was using something like a catapult to hurl another boulder.
Knox quickly ducked behind an alleyway, escaping the plaza as he thought to himself:
If that person really is Cherry Sinclair…
‘Just who the hell is that woman?’
