Chapter 89
Moreover, considering Harrison’s wife, Isabella, my appearance was a far cry from his usual taste.
Unlike me, Isabella had been a woman of pure, mature beauty, as if she had been rendered by a fine brush.
Harrison adjusted his glasses and muttered again, his voice like a heavy sigh.
“After all the effort I put into raising you, my lady…”
Honestly, Harrison kept insisting he was the one who raised me. While it wasn’t strictly untrue…
“Are you coming or not?”
Eden, who had already walked quite a distance ahead, turned back and called out to us. Only then did Harrison and I pick up our pace.
“But do you think the villagers will be alright?”
At my question, Harrison looked puzzled. He hadn’t been there to see the altercation with the villagers when we rescued Emma and Victor.
I briefly explained what had happened. As I spoke, Harrison’s expression twisted into something grim.
“They dared to try such a thing to you…?”
He muttered harsh words under his breath, saying they were scum who deserved to be torn apart—language quite uncharacteristic of him.
Watching Harrison take my plight so personally felt strangely reassuring. After all, he was the only elder I had left to lean on.
Harrison usually maintained a relaxed and calm demeanor, but perhaps because of the gravity of the situation, I was seeing many different sides of him in a short amount of time.
‘Then again, in times like these, how many things actually remain unchanged?’
Meanwhile, Eden, who had been glancing at the fuming Harrison, made a suggestion to me.
“If anyone like that acts up again, we’ll have no choice but to kick them out of the village.”
“Are you serious?”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
“I know what you think of me, Lady Cherry, but being righteous isn’t a synonym for being a pushover.”
“I really thought you were one.”
In fact, hadn’t Eden nearly died right after the world ended because he was running around trying to save every single person he could?
“Lady Cherry, I’m not that soft. My nickname back in Benton was ‘The Mad Dog.’”
I nodded slowly, looking unconvinced.
“Are you actually proud of being called ‘The Mad Dog of Benton’?”
“Is there a reason not to be? Everyone used to tremble like idiots whenever they heard it.”
“Then should I be proud of being called ‘The Madwoman of the Abandoned Mansion’?”
“That one’s a bit troubling because it sounds like you’re actually insane.”
“Better than being called a dog, isn’t it?”
“Wow…”
Eden let out a series of exclamations. I wasn’t sure what exactly he was so impressed by, but figuring the answer would be something strange, I decided to ignore him.
“What are you two doing?”
“…Sorry, Harrison. Let’s hurry.”
Suddenly feeling embarrassed, I quietly shut my mouth. Eden, of course, didn’t seem to care at all and continued walking with a nonchalant air.
“By the way, who dared to call the young lady a madwoman?”
Harrison—the self-proclaimed Cherry-devotee (as Emma mostly claimed)—probed in a voice laced with a subtle, simmering rage.
If I honestly confessed that many of the Brunel villagers called me that, I felt like Harrison might burn down the Village Chief’s house we were currently heading toward. Once again, I decided to play dumb.
“Not everyone called me that. There were plenty of people who called me the Star… Star… Lady.”
Because I was too embarrassed to say ‘Candy Lady’ with my own lips, I mumbled the words. Harrison furrowed his brow.
“Star… Lady?”
Beside us, Eden burst into a loud laugh. I said nothing more and remained silent.
In any case, we made our way to the Village Chief’s house while sharing these pointless conversations.
Come to think of it, since when had I become so comfortable talking with Eden?
‘Ah. It was then.’
When he told me that what I did before the fall of the world didn’t matter anymore.
Eden’s attitude toward me had definitely shifted significantly from that moment on.
‘Whatever it is, isn’t it a positive sign?’
Eden and I got along better than expected.
I wondered if his brainwashing about us being partners was actually working, but Eden was also the only person who enjoyed playing along with my nonsense.
‘It’s better not to listen to the words of trash, Lady Cherry. It stains the soul.’
Moreover, Eden was the one who held me steady when uncontrollable emotions threatened to pull me under…
Anyway, once we freed the captured villagers, Eden’s job would be done.
“Until you no longer need me, Lady Cherry…”
He had definitely said something like that.
By now, I secretly hoped Eden would stay at Happy House. But I had no idea what he was thinking.
‘Should I just lie down and insist I still need him?’
But for some reason, I felt like if I acted like that, he’d find it a nuisance and leave. Eden’s way of thinking was a bit odd, making it hard for a normal person like me to guess his intentions.
“It’s this way.”
Eden led the way as if he knew the Village Chief’s house perfectly.
The house was located in a residential alley one block behind Brunel’s main street.
It was a cozy two-story house with a large yard.
Opening the door and stepping inside, we found people huddled together, tied tightly to the pillars in the living room with ropes. There were about ten of them.
When they spotted us, their faces filled with terror and they began to tremble. They likely thought we were part of the gang from Kintne.
I immediately regretted not bringing Emmy, who would have been a familiar face to them.
However, a few people soon recognized Eden and me.
They began to twist their limbs convulsively, pointing at us with their whole bodies. None of them could speak, as they were all gagged.
Eden, Harrison, and I calmly began to untie them. Even as we did, I felt a sharp tension.
Perhaps I had developed a prejudice because of the villagers who had tried to kill Victor and Emma.
I couldn’t help but think that once we freed them, they might turn on us in anger or try to harm us.
If they showed any hostility, I intended to follow Eden’s advice and kick them out of the village without hesitation.
This village was now under our control. It didn’t matter if they claimed ownership from before the apocalypse.
We were the ones who had driven the monsters out and eliminated the invaders.
In the current situation where the social order had collapsed and lives were constantly threatened by monsters, there was no other way. This was reality.
Yet, unexpectedly, none of the villagers trapped in the Chief’s house showed any hostility or made aggressive remarks.
It seemed their fear was far greater than anything else.
“H-how did this happen…”
The first to speak was the Village Chief, a man said to be in his sixties.
I looked at him and asked, “I heard the survivors from Kintne kidnapped you and were planning to take you away?”
“Yes… Those bastards said they were going to take us as slaves. They said they needed workers to develop the mountain behind Brunel village…”
The one who answered was a middle-aged woman sitting next to the Chief.
‘Workers to develop the mountain behind Brunel…’
I had assumed the Kintne survivors came to steal the remaining food and daily necessities, but it seemed they were looking at the bigger picture.
The mountain behind Brunel would certainly be a valuable resource if secured. It was also the primary reason I had ultimately decided to purchase Happy House.
I looked around at the exhausted, disheveled people and said, “Those people are dead. They were bitten by monsters. The monsters are all dead, too.”
A heavy silence fell over the living room following my words. Everyone seemed to find it hard to believe, glancing at one another in doubt.
Then, the woman who had spoken earlier asked me again, “T-then, who killed the monsters?”
“We did.”
“The three of you?”
“We have a group.”
It was Harrison who gave the final answer.
Harrison had a calm, steady voice and a powerful way of speaking that easily garnered trust and confidence.
“The village is now safe, as both the invaders and the monsters have been dealt with. However, to stay safe in the future, we must build a defensive wall to block the village entrance. We need your help to rebuild. Will you help us?”
At Harrison’s words, the villagers exchanged glances before standing up one by one.
“How can we help?”
“You saved us, of course we must help.”
The people spoke with eager attitudes.
Ah. As expected of Harrison. A lawyer really is something else. A persuasive voice can stabilize an opponent and inspire belief. Harrison’s voice was exactly like that.
I made a mental note to have Harrison handle any future speeches.
Just then, a woman approached me and squeezed both of my hands. The attention of the room shifted toward us.
“I actually saw you a few days ago, my lady.”
She spoke with effort.
“Carrying the doctor on your back. And blowing those monsters away with the axe strapped to your back.”
The villagers began to stir at her words. Suddenly, as if a dam had broken, people started coming forward, each adding their own piece to the woman’s story.
“I—I saw it too. I was hiding on the second floor of the weapon shop. You’re the one who cleared out all the monsters outside, aren’t you, Miss Sinclair?”
“Oh my. I saw it too. You’re strong as an ox, young lady. Thank you.”
The expressions of gratitude continued. I scratched my cheek awkwardly, accepting their thanks with an embarrassed face.
Honestly, it was shocking to realize everyone had seen me carrying Knox. Knox would hate it if he found out.
“Our whole group did this together. From now on, everyone must keep in mind that we can only survive if we all work together.”
I held their hands in return and spoke firmly. They nodded repeatedly with moved expressions.
“We owe you our lives. Our lives belong to you now.”
“No. I don’t really need anything that dramatic.”
My blunt response drew laughter from all around. I couldn’t help but smile as well.
Fortunately, these people were different from the ones who had tried to kill Victor and Emma.
Yes. Because people like this still existed, perhaps there was still hope left even though the world had ended.
