The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 61

There weren’t many zombies left at the Southern Entrance of the Royal Palace.

It seemed there were none that had accidentally fallen into the moat around the castle walls or had wandered in from the entrance.

Just a few zombies were meandering around near the entrance.

“Alright.”

Based on my observations so far, it seemed that Esmela’s guess was correct.

“Then, I guess I should move on to the next step.”

“Peep?”

Piyo was watching me keenly from the rooftop as I observed the Royal Palace.

“Oh, right. Piyo, could you hide up on the castle wall for a bit? I need to take care of the ones at the entrance before going inside.”

Piyo nodded with a serious expression, flapping her wings as she flew up to the wall.

She was so small that I wondered if she could fly high, but it seemed my worries were unfounded.

“Alright, then…”

I drew the dagger from its sheath at my waist.

“Let’s take care of this quickly.”

*Woo!*

*Kiik…*

I plunged the dagger into the back of the last remaining zombie and pulled it out, watching as the creature crumpled to the ground.

“Huh…”

Letting out a low sigh, I shook the blood off the dagger before returning it to its sheath, cautiously checking to see if any other zombies in the vicinity had noticed me.

“Alright, looks like that’s it.”

The Southern Entrance had an oddly low number of zombies compared to other places in the Royal Capital.

So, the task of eliminating the zombies went smoothly.


I crept in as quietly as I could, taking out four before they could sense me, then dealt with the five that charged at me after they spotted me, and before I knew it, the situation was resolved.

“Peep!”

“Oh, you’re here. Try not to cry too loudly. Other zombies might hear us.”

“Peep..!”

Piyo hurriedly covered her beak with her wings.

“Haha, I was just joking… I took care of the zombies around here, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

I pointed my chin toward the nine zombie corpses sprawled on the ground.

“Peep…”

Upon seeing that, Piyo seemed extremely flustered and hastily turned her head away, as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

Oh no. I had forgotten that for someone—or rather a bird—not accustomed to the Zombie Incident, this sight would be incredibly gruesome.

“Oh, I’m sorry… It probably wasn’t a pleasant sight. Now, let’s hurry inside the Royal Palace before any other zombies find us.”

I reassured Piyo and carefully cradled her in my right hand, gently holding her as I rushed inside the palace.

As soon as I entered the palace, I sensed that the interior was much quieter than any other place in the Royal Capital.

It felt even more desolate since there were neither people nor even zombies in this empty space.

Alongside Piyo, who rested on my shoulder, I strolled leisurely through the quiet garden of the Royal Palace, where not even the chilling screams of zombies could be heard.

If it weren’t for this situation, I would have admired the elegantly decorated garden and the splendid palace buildings with pure delight.

“As Esmela said, living inside the palace might not be so bad…”

“Peep!?”

Suddenly, upon hearing my words, Piyo fluttered her wings rapidly, seeming quite surprised.

“Whoa, why the sudden reaction? …Ah, right. You served Yuria, so of course you would know about Esmela.”

“Peep! Peep!”

Piyo nodded vigorously, as if to confirm.

“Ah, well, don’t dislike Esmela too much. After all, she’s the lady I serve, and she’s not as bad as you might think… probably.”

Even I found that unconvincing. From Yuria’s perspective, Esmela’s actions toward her were likely not something easily forgiven.

“…”

It seemed Piyo was thinking the same thing, giving me a curious look.

“Ahem. Speaking of which, you wanted to take me into the Royal Palace, right? Is there somewhere I need to be?”

“Peep!”

Piyo shook her head vigorously at my hastily changed subject and flitted around above my head, seemingly frustrated that she couldn’t convey something important to me.

After circling the air for a while, the little bird suddenly

“Peep!”

Seemingly having remembered something, she hastily flew down and landed on the garden’s dirt floor.

“Peep!”

Piyo began energetically drawing something in the dirt with her beak, using it as a pencil.

“Oh…”

As I quietly watched the fascinating sight of a bird drawing with its beak…

“Peep!”

Finally, after finishing the drawing, Piyo looked up at me with triumphant eyes.

“This is… Yuria?”

A portrait of a girl with long black hair was drawn on the ground.

Specifically, it depicted Yuria as a student still in her uniform, from the main story of [Roinah].

“Wow, you did a great job…”

It wasn’t just a simple, fairy-tale-level depiction but captured Yuria’s features accurately and cleanly with minimal lines, like a caricature.

“Peep! Peep!”

“Ah, right. This isn’t the time for admiration. So, you want to meet Yuria?”

“Peep!”

Piyo nodded energetically. This was the most spirited I had seen her all day.

“…I’m sorry, but that might be difficult.”

“Peep?”

Piyo looked puzzled as I explained the situation briefly.

After the Royal Capital got caught up in the Zombie Incident, there had been plans to gather survivors at the Royal Palace and join forces with soldiers who came to support from outside the capital to escape.


Esmela and I, along with the servants of House of Herta, had attempted an escape with the survivors of the royal family, but due to some accident, only Esmela and I were left behind in the capital while the others escaped.


Yuria probably had already managed to leave the Royal Capital with other members of the royal family… and after successfully escaping, they placed an impenetrable barrier around the capital, making it impossible to leave now.

“…Peep.”

After hearing my story, Piyo’s beak fell open in shock, looking as if she were saying “no way…”

“…So, it’s likely that we won’t even get to meet Yuria, let alone escape the Royal Capital. Not unless we figure out how to get past that barrier…”

As I said that, I looked up at the dark blue barrier covering the sky of the Royal Capital.

It was now a familiar scene yet also a prison that confined us.

“…”

Perhaps my story was so shocking that Piyo was now frozen in place, hardly moving.

“Hey… I’m going to start searching the Royal Palace quickly from here. I want to get back before dark if possible.”

But it seemed Piyo couldn’t hear what I said.

“Well… there’s nothing I can do.”

Resigning myself, I carefully cradled Piyo again and began my search in the palace.

In short, my initial impression upon entering the Royal Palace turned out to be exactly correct.

There truly was no one inside the palace. Neither people nor zombies were around.

I had imagined encountering someone who stayed behind for reasons we couldn’t understand or running into a zombie that had accidentally wandered in, but…

After making a full round along the castle walls inside the palace, that did not occur.

While it was fortunate to avoid unnecessary trouble, I couldn’t shake off the flicker of anxiety.

Was it possible that besides Esmela and me, there were truly no people left in this vast Royal Capital?

“Alright, the last remaining building looks like a storage house.”

To shake off that anxiety, I spoke loudly to myself, shouldering the massive door open.

*Creek…*

Fortunately, the lock wasn’t engaged.

I swung the door wide and peered into the dark interior to find…

“Whoa!”

Stacks of various food supplies piled up in bags awaited inside.

It was nothing less than an unexpected windfall.

This storage house seemed to contain a wealth of supplies that had been left behind when the inhabitants of the Royal Capital fled.

Considering that most were raw ingredients like flour, it seemed they only took what they needed to eat immediately as they left the palace.

“Ha ha ha! Yes, sometimes you just need a lucky day like this!”

Ever since the first Zombie Incident broke out about twelve days ago, I hadn’t laughed this heartily until now.

“Peep…”

“Are you still feeling down? Cheer up! If we’re alive, we might meet Yuria… I mean, the Princess one day, right?”

I comforted Piyo, who sat on my left shoulder, while starting to inspect the towering pile of food supplies that was higher than my head.

After investigating, I found that there was enough food in the storage to sustain both Esmela and me for at least six months.

That was excluding any crops that might sprout and be unharvestable, like potatoes. Of course, there were no vegetables, and we only had one bag of dried raisins for fruit…

But was now really the time to be picky? Just finding food was a blessing.

After finishing my final inspection of the food storage, I headed back to the Southern Entrance.

“…It’s better than I expected.”

Having surveyed the Royal Palace, it was starting to seem like a suitable place for us to stay.

The walls showed no signs of damage, and there weren’t any noticeable hiding spots for zombies.

Of course, this conclusion was based purely on my superficial check of the place, and Esmela’s claim that we could close the gates and come and go through underground paths still needed verification…

But for now, I had no choice but to conclude that we could use this place as a stronghold.

“It’s almost too good to be true, which makes me suspicious…”

After being hit with nothing but misfortune for the past few days, it was hard not to be skeptical about this sudden stroke of fortune right in front of me.

“Guess I should head back now.”

After setting up a wooden barricade I found in the storage in front of the gates, I plan to return to Esmela.

That should help keep the zombies from flowing into the Royal Palace, even just a little.

“Peep?”

Feeling so good that Piyo, perched on my shoulder, looked more adorable than I could handle.

“It’s time to go back to Esmela. I hope you two get along.”

After all, I was sure Esmela would welcome Piyo. Who in the world would dislike such a cute little bird?