Chapter 76
There is a survival camp in Kintne, the neighboring village. However, the leader of that camp was known to be quite vicious.
He was surprisingly resourceful and reportedly held a significant amount of food extorted from other survival camps.
‘Maybe I should raid that place.’
His camp was established in a location I knew very well: the Sinclair Hotel, Kintne branch.
‘Hmm, but to do that, I’d have to travel all the way to Kintne. Can I make it there safely?’
A fight might break out if things go wrong. This probably wasn’t a feasible plan.
I am a pacifist. I had no intention of devouring survival camps and reigning as the top power player like Aurora did in the novel <Love in a Ruined World>. I didn’t have the stomach for it anyway.
‘I’ll just live a quiet life…’
We should just endure and survive together in our own small way.
Besides, Aurora and Theodore will eventually find a way to resolve this situation. They’re the main protagonists; they’ll handle it somehow.
“I think we can gather food from the back mountain or hunt wild animals, but since there might be monster attacks, we should divide into teams and plan our strategy carefully. Let’s hold out like that until the crops grow.”
It would be great to scavenge the remaining food from Brunel Village, but there were too many monsters there. Of course, it wasn’t as bad as the major cities, but it was still a lot.
“Understood. Let’s try to draw up a concrete plan later.”
Harrison agreed with my opinion as if he had no other choice.
Since Vanilla is the hunting expert, it would be best to talk to her.
“More importantly…”
Harrison suddenly trailed off and took off his glasses. He pressed the bridge of his nose and continued.
“I am truly relieved that you are safe, My Lady. I am also very curious about everything that has happened.”
“Ah… It’s only natural that you’re curious. But I’m curious about your story too, Harrison. How you got here, and how you ended up meeting Hose and Vanilla.”
I was genuinely curious about this. I wanted to hear the details of how he became entangled with Hose, a major character in <Love in a Ruined World>.
“If you speak first, My Lady, then I shall explain as well.”
Harrison replied firmly. Oh boy. Where should I even start? Haha.
I gave Harrison a strained smile and briefly explained what had happened.
How I met Eden and Knox after settling in Brunel Village, the sudden end of the world, and the story of Susanna’s death.
Just then, Emmy entered the salon at the perfect time.
“Sister! The doctor is looking for you. He says it’s time for your regular checkup.”
“Oh, really…?”
Thinking this was a perfect opportunity, I practically bolted from my seat. It was supposed to be Harrison’s turn to bombard me with questions. I wanted to get out of here before that happened!
“I guess I have no choice but to go!”
Hahaha. I gave Harrison a cheerful smile and tried to leave the salon, but he ruthously handed down my death sentence.
“My Lady, I think it would be best if we had a talk this evening. A very long one. I haven’t even begun to ask the questions I want to ask.”
He issued a chilling notice for tonight’s interrogation. I stopped in my tracks and, moving stiffly like a Lego figure, walked back in front of Harrison.
“Does it have to be today?”
I could guess what he was going to say, and I wasn’t ready to answer yet.
“We haven’t finished our conversation, so we must talk today. I cannot delay this any longer.”
In the end, I couldn’t postpone the sentence and nodded obediently.
“Alright…”
Seeing me like that, Harrison let out a laugh as if he found me hopeless. However, he did not revoke the death sentence.
‘Harrison, the truth is, the world is going to end soon. An infectious disease that turns people into monsters is going to spread. I went to Brunel to prepare for the apocalypse.’
Damn, I shouldn’t have said that. What excuse should I make? If I talk about the novel, he’ll probably treat me like a crazy person again.
Harrison is the type of person who won’t let things go until he’s personally convinced, so if I don’t come up with a decent excuse, the conversation will never end. I could already feel like I was boarding a non-stop express train.
Since he said we’d talk in the evening, I’d have to spend the time until then thinking of a plausible excuse.
…………….
……….
….
But in the end, evening arrived without me being able to think of a single excuse.
‘I’m doomed. Utterly screwed…’
How many hours would Harrison’s nagging last this time? It would be fun if there were someone to place a bet with.
I’ll probably be exhausted, so should I drink some milk before starting? That’s probably the last of the milk. It might be the last of my time, too.
As I was lost in a dazed stream of consciousness, people began to gather in the banquet hall one by one.
In the kitchen, Victor was cooking passionately, managing three burners at once.
Since we had to conserve ingredients, it would be a stew at best, but the important thing was that it was a stew made by a real chef.
“I’m already happy.”
Hose stared blankly toward the kitchen, clutching a spoon tightly.
Hose is so easily moved. Seeing such a pretty boy looking so deeply touched wasn’t a bad sight, but I wished someone would close his hanging mouth. It looked like he was about to drool.
Right on cue, Emmy, who was sitting next to him, shut Hose’s jaw. She then stuffed a napkin into his shirt, making a makeshift baby bib.
Anyway, despite her being on edge and saying Hose was suspicious, she had been looking after him quite a bit ever since he took her side during the role-distribution meeting.
It was a very good change. If she pried too much into Hose’s background, it would be awkward for both me and Harrison.
As I watched Emma bring out the stew bowls, I stood up from my seat, and my shirt thread got caught on a protruding nail on the chair.
Riiip—
And just like that, the shirt tore easily.
“Yikes.”
At my small cry, Emma came over, set down the stew, and inspected the torn shirt.
“I’ll mend that for you, My Lady.”
“Really?”
“It’s my specialty. I was a clothing shop owner, after all; just leave it to me. It’ll only take a moment.”
Emma gave a gentle smile. I heard she was in her forties, but she still looked like a fresh flower. She was like a lily.
Actually, there were many women here younger and prettier than Emma, but she was so beautiful that one might think she was the most stunning of them all. For the record, second place was Hose.
As I was staring blankly at her beautiful smile, I heard a strange sound from somewhere.
Thump.
It was the sound of something colliding. Like someone hitting a wall with an object.
What was that?
A brief silence fell over the banquet hall.
It was because the sound had come from inside the mansion, not from outside.
“It sounded like it came from nearby.”
Knox leaned out and looked down the hallway outside the banquet hall. The direction of the sound was indeed very close.
Recalling the time Susanna disappeared, I quickly scanned our surroundings. Eden, Knox, Harrison, Vanilla, Emmy, Hose, Victor, Emma. Fortunately, everyone was in their place.
Then Eden stood up, placing a hand lightly on my head.
“Everyone stay here. I’ll go check.”
I stood up abruptly to follow him.
“It’s my house. I should go.”
And with a grim face, I picked up the axe I had placed next to my chair. Seeing me, Harrison, who had approached, widened his eyes.
“My Lady. This is dangerous.”
He carefully took the axe from my hand and placed it back on the table. He was doing this even after seeing my super strength when we rescued Victor and Emma.
‘Wait… hold on. Did I ever tell Harrison about my super strength…?’
It was a fact I had even told Susanna, and while I wondered why I had kept it a secret from Harrison, why hadn’t Harrison asked anything about it either?
‘Could it be that he was planning to ask during tonight’s interrogation?’
There were so many expected questions Harrison might bring up that it was overwhelming.
Knox spoke up as if he couldn’t understand Harrison’s attitude.
“Dangerous? I think I misheard you, Mr. Lawyer. Miss Cherry is probably the most threatening person here.”
Stroking his chin and speaking leisurely, Knox winked at me when our eyes met.
“One punch from Miss Cherry might kill us all instantly…”
“Mr. Rudfercher.”
When I called his name, he gave a playful smile and shrugged.
“I like you, Miss Cherry. You know that, right?”
“No. I didn’t know.”
As I was glaring at him, Harrison said something unexpected.
“I know that you possess super strength. I didn’t find out by seeing you swing an axe; I knew from the very beginning. But even so, I want you to be as safe as possible…”
“What?”
What? He knew? And from the beginning? I had tried so hard to hide it because I was embarrassed about having super strength!
But before Harrison could even finish his sentence—
Thump—
The sound from earlier rang out again.
Eden finally bolted out of the room. I followed him, and the others trailed after us in a line.
Eden stopped in the hallway and looked around. To be precise, he was between his room and mine, right next to the banquet hall.
“Miss Cherry, did you hear that? It sounded like it came from inside a room. The sound was close.”
I heard it too. So I stood beside Eden and carefully examined my room and his.
Thump, thump—
Then the sound came again. This time, I heard it clearly.
The sound came from my room.
