The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 101

“I knew it… Do you have some idea about why Yuria would do such a thing?”

Robertze leaned in desperately, almost pressing his face against Esmela’s as he asked her.

Just as Esmela was about to pull away in shock,

“Your Highness, you’re too close.”

Lanit stepped in and separated the two.

“Ah… my apologies. I got a bit too hasty…”

Only then did Robertze realize his mistake and adjusted his posture.

To Lanit, he said,


“Thanks.”

Esmela shyly mouthed her gratitude.

‘…Noble.’

Lanit thought it was a smart move to interrupt.

“Ahem. As everyone here knows, Lanit and I have been trapped in the Royal Capital for three years… all thanks to a certain great individual who abandoned us and activated the barrier.”

Zap!

At this point, Esmela shot a glare at Robertze, prompting him to subtly avert his gaze.

“…During that time, we relied on the palace to survive. The walls kept us safe, and the facilities were well-maintained inside.”

“Oh really? So, thanks to you two, the palace has been preserved to some extent. That’s a relief.”

“…Anyway, we had the chance to explore inside the palace. That’s when Lanit discovered something strange in Yuria’s bedroom.”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

“Lanit, where is it?”

“It’s in my bag in my room.”

“Great. Go fetch it. We need to show everyone.”

A little later, when Lanit placed a book on the table cleared of food, everyone at the table gathered around to take a look.

“This is… [The Twin Sorcerers Who Became Stars].”

Arit recognized the title first.

“It’s just an ordinary fairy tale book. It’s a bit worn out… What’s the big deal about it being in Yuria’s room? I mean, she’s not really at the age to read that anymore…”

“Yeah. I looked through it like you said, Robertze, and found nothing special. But that’s not the important part. Look.”

Esmela picked up the book and opened the back cover to show everyone.

“Look at this sentence, which is suspected to be written by Yuria.”

“…The Puppetry of the Gods.”

“I’ve never seen that phrase before… Esmela, I have no idea what it means.”

After reading it, Robertze and Duke Herta merely tilted their heads in confusion.

However,

“Whoa!?”

Arit immediately recognized the phrase.

“Right. Arit, you would know. Who else said that apart from Yuria?”

“…The Black Witch…”

“What? Black Witch? What’s that?”

Robertze seemed clueless, but Duke Herta muttered softly as if he understood.

“?”

“You must have reported the events you experienced in the Harka Great Forest to the Hunter Guild and the Church, right? What are you saying if the Crown Prince doesn’t know?”

Sigh. Esmela sighed as if exasperated.

“Arit. Could you retell the others what happened back then? After that, Lanit and I will share what we experienced during the escape operation from the Royal Capital three years ago.”

“…So the Black Witch vanished with Elina and, thanks to her magic, Lanit and I fell asleep somewhere in the Royal Capital until nightfall.”

“…”

Arit began recounting again the encounter with the Black Witch.

Then, Esmela shared what had happened after she was dragged away by the mutant zombies and how Lanit and Elina, who pursued her, were overpowered by the Black Witch, who referred to Elina as her daughter and kidnapped her.

She even included the strange words Yuria had said to them just before being abducted.

The reactions to Esmela’s story varied.

“Such a thing happened…”

Robertze seemed to feel even more guilty toward Esmela.

“That Black Witch or whatever dared to… hurt our Esmela?!”

Duke Herta was furious at the Black Witch.

“…”

The head butler silently seemed to share his anger from behind the Duke.

“…Considering what happened in the Great Forest and hearing Esmela’s testimony, it’s clear that the Black Witch is the mastermind behind the Zombie Incident.”

Arit confidently declared that the Black Witch caused the Zombie Incident.

“It seems very likely.”

Esmela agreed with Arit.

“…and Yuria is likely involved with the witch in some way.”

But amidst everyone nodding in agreement with Esmela, only one person did not.

“But… just based on that one sentence, you can’t conclude that Yuria is in collusion with the Black Witch…”

“Are you serious!? How can you still trust her after witnessing the royal family crumble into her hands?!”

Robertze defended Yuria even amidst this, causing Esmela to glare at him in frustration.

“I’m not denying that! It’s just that while Yuria may have committed a serious crime, we can’t definitively label her as the cause of the Zombie Incident. The evidence directly linking them is… that one sentence alone…”

Despite desperately trying to argue in Yuria’s favor, Robertze found his words faltering under the disapproving gazes of the others until he finally clammed up.

“Ugh…”

‘Esmela’s feelings must be quite complicated. She’s admired a person like that throughout her childhood and schooling…’

Lanit watched this unfold, feeling a strange emotion.

‘Isn’t Robertze just pathetic? In the previous work, he was a perfect prince character. Am I misremembering?’

Twenty years playing [The Oldman]. Even a passionate fan could forget details about their favorite game over ample time.

“Ahem! So.”

Esmela cleared her throat again, shifting the atmosphere before continuing.

“After hearing Robertze, I’m convinced that the two must have some sort of cooperative relationship. The fact that the palace’s inhabitants are subjected to an unidentified curse that even sorcerers can’t detect could be explained if that curse were the Dark Magic of the Black Witch.”

Everyone but Robertze nodded in agreement.

Robertze, on the other hand, simply stared at the floor in silence.

“So what do we do now?”

At Arit’s question, Esmela paused to think.

“…To be honest, we don’t know anything about the Dark Magic those two are wielding right now. So there’s no way to prepare for it. Based on my personal experience, that power disregards all the usual rules of magic.”

Her statement brought about a moment of silence.

The rough outline of the situation was starting to take shape, but how to resolve it was a question no one could easily answer.

“…Esmela. Have you not seen Elina again since then?”

Finally, Duke Herta broke the silence first.

“…No. The last I saw was when she was taken away by the Black Witch, and I haven’t seen her since…”

Esmela’s face darkened dramatically.

“After we escaped the Royal Capital and stayed in Pedina City, we exhausted every means to locate the Head Maid, but there were no significant results.”

Lanit reported to the Duke on behalf of Esmela.

“It’s unfortunate, but as of now, we have no leads.”

“I see… I understand. If we could find Elina again, I thought we could learn about the Dark Magic from her… but it’s unfortunate.”

“The Head Maid hasn’t come here?”

“That’s right. In fact, until you brought Esmela back, we thought Elina was still trapped in the Royal Capital with you. To find out she was actually taken by the Black Witch is a shock.”

The Duke seemed solemn about the Head Maid’s situation as well.

“If House Herta were still intact, we would have come up with ways to retrieve her by any means… but now, House Herta is a mere name barely hanging on in the northern territories. It’s just frustrating.”

“Well, I don’t think we need to think so negatively.”

Seeing the Herta father and daughter in their gloomy state, Arit stepped up.

“My church, the Radaine Church, has successfully defended the sanctum against the zombies thus far. The order is also working hard to resolve the Zombie Incident, so once I return to the church to report, they should come up with some solution.”

“That’s somewhat reassuring.”

Hearing Arit’s words seemed to brighten the Duke’s mood a bit.

“Ah, right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Suddenly, Robertze shouted as if he had just thought of something, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“Arit. Contact the church and ask for assistance in restoring the royal family. If anyone can resolve it, surely they can!”

However, Arit shook his head with a complicated expression.

“Well… I’ll mention it if you ask, Robertze, but given the physical distance between the Royal Capital and the church, and the fact that, strictly speaking, it would be internal interference on their part to involve themselves in royal matters, they probably won’t prioritize this over solving the Zombie Incident, especially since, as you put it, Yuria’s rampage is solely her doing and unrelated to the current crisis…”

“Ugh…”

Robertze was left at a loss for words as his excuse fell apart.

“Then, Esmela, Lanit! Could you two at least come with me to the palace…”

“What are you saying right now!? You want to drag back someone who just returned after three years into danger again?!”

This time, the Duke was furious and grabbed Robertze by the collar.

“Wait, wait! Let go of me…”

“…Sigh.”

Lanit could do nothing but hold his throbbing head while observing all of this.

‘…It seems it will take a while for a conclusion to be reached.’