Chapter 81
I took the lantern, set it down beside me, and then reached a hand out toward Eden.
“I am fine.”
He rejected me flatly, gripped both sides of the opening, and vaulted himself up. He ascended to the ceiling level with incredible lightness.
“Let me see. Is your shoulder okay?”
Feeling guilty for having stomped on him with my heels earlier, I tried to check his shoulder.
However, the moment I reached for the top button of his shirt, Eden firmly caught my hand. Even in the dim light provided only by the lantern, I could see his face was stiff.
“It does not hurt. Even if there is a wound, it won’t be significant. I can treat it when we return.”
“Right… of course. I’m sorry.”
Flustered, I pulled my hands away and stepped back. Judging by how coldly his expression had hardened, he must have found the contact quite unpleasant.
I hadn’t thought it through. I had been so preoccupied with checking for injuries that I hadn’t even realized I was practically undressing him.
I scratched my cheek and picked up the lantern. I tucked the axe back into the holster on my back.
An awkward silence hung between us for a moment. I busied myself by shining the lantern around the area. The problem, however, was where we had emerged.
“This place…”
Eden muttered softly at the sight of the familiar scenery. This was a place not at all strange to me, either.
A long corridor. And iron bars lined up in a row.
This was the basement jail of the police station. Specifically, the Brunel Police Station jail we had passed through with Eden and Knox before heading to the body disposal site.
“This is crazy. To think this was the passage leading to the village.”
At my murmur, Eden scanned the surroundings with a look of disbelief.
The basement jail was completely empty.
Only then did I recall how the floor had rattled slightly at a certain point when we passed through here before.
“Wait, didn’t you know such a suspicious passage was sitting right here in plain sight?”
I asked Eden, bewildered.
“The basement jail of this station hasn’t been used in a very long time. It sat empty until I arrived in Brunel, and that was the first time it was put to use… I had no idea this existed either.”
Eden said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
There had only been one prisoner, and since Eden had released him at the end, it was natural for the jail to be empty.
Now that we knew it was a passage connected to the police station basement, we just had to go back to Happy House and share the news with everyone.
“Should we block the passage? Since it connects to Happy House, there’s a risk of outside intrusion.”
“It doesn’t seem necessary for now, does it? The monsters have no intelligence. Besides, would the survivors of Brunel really come down to this basement jail?”
Well, he had a point.
“If anything, this might be a good thing.”
“…In what way?”
“It means a passage has been opened that allows easy access from the mansion to Brunel.”
Eden’s words made sense, so I nodded.
Even without the passage, there were still plenty of daily necessities to be scavenged in Brunel. We hadn’t searched the private homes yet. If we raided various places, we might be able to secure a significant amount of supplies and food.
“Since the monsters went on a rampage, we’ve become a bit short on food, haven’t we?”
“So you’re saying we should use this as a supply route.”
“Bingo.”
Eden held out his palm toward me. I gave him a high-five.
Perhaps because he no longer suspected or interrogated me as a criminal, our relationship felt considerably lighter than before. It was a very good sign.
“We don’t have weapons or bags to carry food, so for now, we should head back—”
“Miss Cherry.”
Eden grabbed my shoulder. I could see determination in his eyes. My face tensed in response as I met his gaze.
“Surely you aren’t suggesting we raid the food supplies right now…?”
“Not that. But since we’re already here, why don’t we clear out the police station? Fortunately, I have my sword and you have your axe.”
I understood exactly what he meant by ‘clearing out’ the station.
Inspector Hans, who had turned into a monster, would be inside. I should have attacked his head, but I failed to do so last time and couldn’t confirm his death. And perhaps the criminal Eden had released might be there as well.
‘If we’re going to use this as a supply route, we have to clear the station sooner or later anyway.’
I gripped my axe and met Eden’s eyes. Then, I nodded.
“Fine. Let’s do some cleaning before we go.”
Was that too blunt? Eden gave me a subtle, curious look at my response.
“A monster scavenger in a ruined world. Sounds like the title of a sci-fi animation.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean, but I didn’t know Cherry Sinclair’s dream was to be a scavenger.”
“I doubt Eden Duncan Lancaster ever expected to be friends with a scavenger, either.”
“Are we friends?”
“Well, not exactly. Just acquaintances?”
“…Calling it an ill-fated connection seems more meaningful.”
“Do you want to be someone meaningful to me?”
At my question, Eden knitted his brows with an unreadable expression. Does that mean he hates the idea? Figures. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Anyway, let’s make a plan. Our positions are clear, aren’t they?”
“What’s clear about them?”
Eden crossed his arms and asked back, his face saying he’d listen to what I had to say. Even as he spoke, he couldn’t hide the hint of amusement at my words.
“I’m short-range, you’re long-range.”
To be precise, Eden was capable of both, but since I was strictly limited to short-range, he had to take charge of long-range combat to coordinate with me.
“I never imagined the day would come when I’d be discussing combat positions with Cherry Sinclair.”
“Should we not?”
“I wasn’t looking down on you.”
“If you were, I would have hit you.”
“Miss Cherry… why is your first thought always about hitting people?”
“I don’t think I’m in a position to hear that from Sir Eden.”
As I reached for the axe on my back, Eden raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
“It’s a great pity. If I had known a person like you before the world ended, it would have been wonderful.”
“Why? Because I’m different from the Cherry the world knows? Give it a rest. Whoever you think Cherry is, they’re all me.”
When I spoke while shrugging, Eden shook his head with a very serious face.
“Ah. I’m not interested in that. I was thinking I would have scouted you as my partner. You possess such useful strength. I’m quite covetous of that super strength.”
An older brother of the female lead who covets my super strength. In other novels, people would be dating the female lead’s brother and doing all sorts of things…
Eden’s expression as he coveted my strength, rather than me, was genuine. Looking at that face, I reminded myself once again that the novel I had possessed, <Broken Love>, was indeed a romance novel.
Romance novel. Romance… This is a romance novel, right?
“The small talk has gone on too long. Shall we head up?”
Whatever the case, it felt very strange to have my abilities recognized by Eden. And a moment of existential dread washed over me as I caught myself thinking that.
‘Well, it’s true that I’m better than most men.’
I asked Eden.
“Can you manage long-range attacks without a revolver?”
At my question, Eden smirked. He tapped the scabbard at his waist with his finger.
“During my days at the Royal Academy, my nickname was the Genius of Swordsmanship.”
Right. I asked knowing that. He possessed sword skills that allowed for long-range attacks. His movements were incredibly agile and light.
In the original work, it was described that even when he ran out of bullets, he would draw his sword and dispatch monsters with effortless grace, as if he were flying.
Eden crossed his arms with a relaxed expression and spoke as he followed me through the basement jail.
“Move however you want, Miss Cherry. That will be our strategy. I can adapt to anything.”
“Oh. What an incredibly arrogant thing to say.”
“Please call it arrogance born of skill.”
I shrugged at Eden’s words. I didn’t find him spiteful or obnoxious for saying that. His words were strictly the truth. But I wasn’t about to admit that out loud.
Anyway, we set a rough plan and decided to enter the police station immediately.
We climbed the stairs leading from the basement jail to the interior of the station, moving slowly. Naturally, I was the one in the lead.
I stood before the heavy wooden door that led into the station. The door had no window, so I couldn’t see what was happening on the other side.
I took a deep breath and threw the door open.
Sure enough, there were two monsters on the first floor of the police station.
One was wandering around dragging a long, torn, shriveled hide, as if the air had been let out of a balloon. The other was a monster with short limbs and a long, snake-like body. It was likely the criminal who had been in the basement jail.
I set the lantern down. The sun was setting outside the window, so it seemed the lantern was no longer necessary.
Hiss—
The snake-shaped monster was the first to spot us.
It slid toward us with terrifying speed, then bared its teeth and lunged. At that same moment, Eden and I rolled in opposite directions.
Thud!
The snake’s body slammed into a dead-end wall. Without missing the opening, I brought my axe down onto its head.
