Chapter 47
While running for some time, I suddenly realized I still had time and stamina left. I thought it would be a good idea to raid a grocery store while looking for Eden.
“Now, where was the grocery store?”
Scanning my surroundings quickly with Knox on my back, I noticed the monsters that had been gathered in front of the fountain were losing interest and beginning to scatter. Among them, I saw a few that had spotted us from a distance and were sprinting our way.
“Side! Side! Sinclair! To your side!”
At Knox’s shout, I ducked quickly. A virus monster had closed the distance and swung its long arm right at us.
The sudden movement caused me to lose my balance, and I tumbled across the ground with Knox. I heard him let out a small groan.
Seeing the monster raising its hand to strike again as we lay flat on the floor, I scrambled to grab my axe and swung it.
Thwack!
Once again, the monster was sent flying by the blow.
Knox, who was pushing himself up while groaning in pain, stared at the flying monster with a look of pure shock.
“Who… what are you, really?”
“Cherry Sinclair.”
But now with memories of my past life.
I swallowed the rest of the sentence and pulled Knox’s hand to help him up. With a small wince, Knox limped and grabbed his bag.
Of course, we didn’t have the luxury of taking it slow. Seeing the monsters swarming toward us, I hoisted Knox onto my back again and resumed running.
According to the map, the grocery store should be around here.
Scanning the area, I spotted a grocery store situated next to an inn. Fortunately, the glass of the front door was already broken, making it easy to slip inside.
I set Knox down at the entrance and immediately searched the interior with my axe raised. There was no telling if a virus monster might be lurking inside.
“Miss Cherry, I think we should cover this part first.”
Knox let out a sigh and pointed toward the broken glass of the front door as he struggled to stand.
I picked up a tablecloth lying nearby and tossed it to him. While he covered the broken area, I finished scouting the interior; fortunately, there were no people or monsters.
“There are more monsters nearby than there were a moment ago. If there’s no back door, it’s going to be hard to get out.”
At Knox’s words, I pressed a hand to my forehead.
“There’s no back door. That’s the only way out. No windows here, either.”
“…Then we’re trapped.”
I slumped down onto the floor. The grocery store was still stocked with everything from fresh vegetables to various foods. But what was the point of all this if we couldn’t make it out alive?
“I’m sorry. I got greedy,” I murmured blankly.
Knox, who was unwrapping a lollipop, looked at me silently. He popped the candy into his mouth and answered with a tired expression.
“Let’s call it even. You saved me, after all.”
“Even? I didn’t know you used words like that.”
It wasn’t the kind of slang I expected to hear from the man who was supposedly the epitome of an arrogant aristocrat.
“It’s a phrase your friend used to use. It seems there are other nobles besides the Lancasters who use such vocabulary,” Knox replied nonchalantly.
“My friend? I don’t have any friends…”
I tilted my head in confusion, then realized a moment later. Among the people in Brunel Village whom Knox might consider my friends, the only noble who would use a word like ‘even’ was Vanilla.
“Ah. You mean Mr. Ruskin.”
But since when were Vanilla and I friends? Though he was certainly the type of person to use that kind of language.
‘Come to think of it, I wonder if Vanilla is safe.’
I approached Knox, who was standing precariously by the front door. The wound on his thigh looked worse than before.
Though his face remained calm, his lips were pale and trembling. His mental fortitude was almost impressive, considering he could chatter away so casually while looking like that.
“Sit down. Let me see the wound.”
Knox didn’t try to stop me. When I pressed down on his shoulders, he obediently leaned against the front door and sat.
I examined the injury visible through his torn, tattered trousers. As Knox had described, it was a puncture wound from a sharp iron railing.
‘That must hurt.’
It was a wound that made me wince just looking at it.
“I need to disinfect this first. I think you might need a tetanus shot, too…”
“You know about tetanus shots?”
At Knox’s question, I looked at him with an expression that asked why I wouldn’t know. Then, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to be that Cherry Sinclair.
In this world, most people were ignorant of medicine unless they were professionals. And Knox likely thought that a ditzy girl like Cherry Sinclair would be even more so. Before I remembered my past life, I certainly would have been exactly the person he imagined.
I quickly looked for things to disinfect the wound while giving a vague excuse.
“I’ve traveled abroad since I was young, so I picked up a fair amount of miscellaneous knowledge.”
In the future, whenever people questioned the knowledge I possessed, it would be best to use this excuse. It was the perfect cover.
I’d be found out eventually if I met Harrison, but right now, I didn’t even know if Harrison was alive or dead.
‘I hope he’s safe.’
I let out a worried sigh, thinking of Harrison.
Fortunately, Knox simply tilted his head and seemed to accept the explanation.
“Don’t worry, I already got a shot when I was at the clock tower.”
“Was there someone else there?”
“No…”
Knox trailed off, hesitating for a moment before lifting his doctor’s gown. Hidden beneath it, I saw a small belt bag strapped to his waist.
“I brought some medical supplies with me.”
“Oh my god!”
Medical supplies! I couldn’t be more grateful.
One of the things Happy House lacked most was medical supplies. Of course, I had asked Harrison to get some for me, but it took quite a while for a civilian to obtain professional medical supplies because it required approval from the medical association.
Because of that, the world had ended before I could properly stock up.
“I’ve done some basic first aid, but I haven’t been able to wrap the bandage yet. Could you help me?”
Knox asked in a gentle tone. I nodded and pulled out disinfectant and bandages from his belt bag.
I cleaned up the edges of his torn trousers, poured the disinfectant, and wrapped the bandage.
“Thank you, Lady.”
Knox flashed a faint smile. I gave his leg a light, reassuring pat and stood up.
“Anyway, we’ll aim to leave when the number of monsters decreases. Keep a lookout. You can at least do that even with a hurt leg, right?”
I grabbed an empty bag and began stuffing it with groceries as I spoke. Flour, bread, vegetables, meat, seasonings, and rice—I packed them all in diligently.
“Put this in too, if you would.”
Knox picked up a pack of cigarettes rolling on the floor and tossed it to me. Since there was room in the bag, I tucked in the cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey as well.
“Did you always smoke?”
I didn’t recall seeing him smoke before the apocalypse. I only ever saw him with a lollipop in his mouth.
Knox pulled the curtain aside slightly to check the street as he answered.
“I was quitting, but it seems there’s no longer a need to quit. Why bother looking after my health when I don’t know when I might die?”
Knox wasn’t flustered, nor was he in despair. He was as calm as if he had always known the world would turn out this way.
Though, if he were a person who truly knew this would happen, he probably wouldn’t have been trying to quit smoking in the first place, just as he said.
I finished packing the bag and placed it on an empty table. Then, sitting in a chair, I rubbed my face with my hands.
“What do you think happened to Sir Eden?”
“He’ll be fine. He’s not the type to die easily.”
Knox answered dismissively again. He spoke as if he knew Eden better than anyone.
‘Eden said the same thing.’
I’d felt this for a while now, but talking to Knox made all of this feel like it wasn’t a big deal.
“How can you be so sure Sir Eden will be safe?”
“Because he’s just that kind of guy.”
What on earth did that mean? But Knox offered no further explanation.
Silence settled over the grocery store, save for the low growls of the monsters wandering outside. Knox sat leaning his back against the front door and looked at me.
“Can I call you Cherry? We’ve become quite close now, haven’t we?”
“Keep using formal titles. We aren’t quite that close yet.”
“As you wish, Miss Cherry.”
Knox nodded readily without any sign of offense.
With the lollipop still in his mouth, he continued to check outside.
He didn’t seem nervous, but I couldn’t tell if he was the type who didn’t show it or if he truly wasn’t anxious at all.
And then, Knox suddenly looked at me. Our eyes met directly. Wearing a pretty, thin smile, he abruptly threw a difficult question my way.
“You know why the world ended up like this, don’t you, Miss Cherry?”
There it was. The inevitable question I would have to face from now on…!
