The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 60

“These things are just…!”

Whoosh-

The Flame of the Sword swung horizontally, cutting through the air with no regard for its fierce momentum.

A zombie that dodged the sword jumped backward and landed on the roof of another building.

-Kirik…

Letting out a strange, mocking sound, it began to surround me along with two other zombies, keeping their distance.

Since earlier, this meaningless back-and-forth has been repeating itself.

One of them pretends to charge, but when I swing my sword, it swiftly retreats, allowing another to charge in its place.

Even when I sprint with all my might to escape, they mock me, perfectly keeping pace with me as they leap across the roofs without loosening their encirclement.

This feels less like a battle and more like a cat playing with a mouse as a pre-meal entertainment.

“Heh… Heh…”

Gripping my dagger, I turned my head from side to side, glaring at the three of them in turn.

No matter how much I swing my sword, not even a single tip grazes their bodies, so in the end, I put the Flame of the Sword away to conserve mana.

…No matter how I think about it, there’s no way out of this situation.

My strength is greater, but even with Haste on me, I can’t match their speed.

If this were a fight against monsters or people, I could try a strategy of deliberately showing weakness and counter-attacking when they come in…

But now, if I’m hit once, it would be game over; I can’t afford to give them even a single opening, or I’ll definitely end up paying with my bones.

-Kigig.


-Kreq.


-Guhack!

The three zombies seem to be communicating with each other, making high-pitched cries as if they’re exchanging ideas.

What are they talking about? Are they proposing to pounce on me all at once when I get too tired from their antics?

Having always been in the position of hunting monsters as a Hunter, I now feel completely powerless from the perspective of the prey.

“Ugh.”

Alright. I’ll humor your ridiculous game.

As per your wishes, I’ll swing my sword through the air until I collapse from exhaustion.

But I swear, I’ll find an opening to stick my sword right in your heads…!

I tighten my grip on the sword.

Just as I prepare myself for a war of attrition until I’ve exhausted all my stamina, a sudden sound interrupts—

“Peep!”

“…?”

Am I imagining things? I thought I heard the sound of a small bird from somewhere.

“Peep! Pyaaak!”

…I didn’t mishear it. That’s definitely the sound of a chick.

-…Krukk?

Look at that. Even the zombie is surprised, scanning around as if searching for where the sound came from.

“Peep!”

With a lively chirp, a small white bird suddenly popped into view right in front of me, no bigger than a fist.

“Oh…”

That bird is definitely…!

“Swiiiiiip…”

Before I could react, the little bird took a deep breath and shouted,

“Pyaaak!!!”

The sound that came from that small body was simply unbelievable.

At the same time, a bright light burst forth from the bird.

“AAAH!”

With that enormous noise and flash, I instinctively screamed, closing my eyes and covering my ears with both hands.

“…”

It felt like at least ten seconds passed before I could perceive that the sound and light had dissipated from behind my blocked ears and closed eyes.

Carefully lowering my hands, I opened my eyes just a crack to check the situation.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like much had changed.

The bird was still fluttering its tiny wings vigorously right in front of me, while the three mutant zombies continued to stare at me from their spot.

“Cheh!”

I have no idea what that was just now, but anyway, I’m in a life-and-death fight right now.

I re-focus, aiming my sword at the zombie in front of me while turning all my attention to the presence of the other two behind me.

“…”

Come at me anytime. I’m just ready to fight again…!

“…”

“..?”

Something feels off.

The zombies aren’t moving at all.

All three of them seem to be stuck in place, literally frozen, without making a single sound.

“What the…?”

I find myself in a state of bewilderment, unable to comprehend this bizarre phenomenon.

“Peep, peep!”

Then I heard the bird’s chirping from somewhere around my waist and looked down.

“Peep!”

The tiny white bird was tugging on the collar of my clothing with its beak, trying desperately to pull me somewhere.

“Oh…”

This motion means…

“…Are you telling me to escape while I can?”

“!”

The bird seemed to understand my words and nodded vigorously.

I took another look at the zombies.

They were still frozen in place.

“…”

I can’t be certain, but… it seems like this bird cast some kind of magic to stop their movements.

When I cautiously took a few steps and glanced back at the zombies, they remained motionless.

“Kiiik, peep!”

The bird was still trying to pull me somewhere with its beak.

“Uh…”

I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but this little creature is a savior, or rather a little guide for me…

“Let’s follow it for now.”

I sheathed my dagger and jumped off the roof in the direction the bird was leading me.

“Where is this…?”

The place I arrived at, chasing after the little bird flapping its tiny wings, was near the Southern Entrance of the royal palace I had originally been heading for.

Specifically, I was crouched on the roof of a four-story building nearby, observing the situation around the area along with the little bird.

“So this is where you wanted to bring me?”

I looked up at the bird to confirm, tilting my head.

“Peep…?”

But the little bird that brought me here seemed more bewildered than I was, staring intently at the entrance.

“Hey…”

It seems like the little bird doesn’t even hear me calling it.

“…”

I examined the bird carefully.

It’s evident. This little white bird that makes a ‘peep’ sound is a spirit named Piyo, featured as one of the main heroine Yuria’s summoned familiars in [Romance in Arkesia: The Four Gemstones].

In the original story, once Yuria learns spirit magic, she can summon a familiar to assist her during battles, whether it’s for monster hunting requests from the Hunter Guild or mock battles with her academy peers.

Piyo is one of those familiars, a wind-element spirit that deals weak damage with low-level wind magic while applying various debuffs to enemies.

With its cute appearance and useful skills, it was one of the familiars I often used while playing the original story.

But while Piyo is a special bird that can understand human speech, I doubt it can even use the incredible magic that just happened…

Wait, does such magic even exist in the [Roina] universe?

There are skills among the clergy that restrict movements, but nothing that completely freezes someone like that…

“…Hey.”

Pushing aside the unanswered questions in the back of my mind, I called out to the bird for something I needed to know right now.

“Peep?”

The bird flitted around in confusion for a while, then seemed to calm down and settled down on the ground.

“Are you Piyo?”

“Peep.”

The bird nodded as if it were obvious.

“And you wanted to take me to that place inside the royal palace.”

“Peep.”

It didn’t seem very certain, but sounded positive.

“So I followed you here, but why are you so confused?”

“Peep…”

It drooped its body, looking pitiful, making me feel as if it was genuinely disheartened.

“What was the reason you brought me here? And what caused you to be so surprised?”

“Peep, beep! Peep!”

Piyo began to flap its tiny wings earnestly as if expressing such a fervent speech like a person gesticulating.

…It’s undeniably adorable, but I still have no clue what it’s saying.

“…”

When I tilted my head, not comprehending, Piyo sat down in a slump, looking even more dejected.

I can understand what it says, but I can’t understand its replies. It’s quite frustrating…

“Can you write, by any chance?”

“! Peep!”

Upon hearing my question, Piyo suddenly lit up as if it just thought of a method.

“Then just a moment…”

I paused to wonder whether Piyo could write in the original story and took out my notebook and pen from my chest.

“Alright, go ahead and write what you want to say with this.”

I opened the notebook and placed it in front of Piyo, uncapping the pen and handing it over.

“Peep!”

Piyo excitedly grabbed the pen with its wings and tried to write on the notebook…

“Peep! Pyaak…”

…but instead of writing, it just made some squiggly, meaningless lines on the paper.

“Peep!”

Perhaps frustrated, Piyo vigorously tried to move the pen again, only to—

“Whack!”

It couldn’t handle the weight of the pen and dropped it, stumbling over.

I quickly caught the rolling pen and sighed as I put the notebook back in my arms.

“Seems like this is tough for you too.”

“…”

Piyo looked completely drained and had no energy left to respond.

“Okay, don’t be too disappointed.”

I gently placed the little bird on my left shoulder.

“Peep?”

I looked at the cute little white bird cocking its head and smiled warmly.

“Once we go there, you’ll understand why you wanted to bring me. Coincidentally, I need to be there too. So, shall we go?”