The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 68

“What’s with her?”

Hmm. Looks like you’ve chosen ‘that girl’ over ‘bitch’ this time.

“I’m trying to finish what we were talking about yesterday. It’s about the fairy tale book that came out of the Princess’s room and the phrase ‘Fabrication of the Puppet Gods’ written on the last page.”

“Isn’t that already concluded? It’s obvious that she colluded with the Black Witch to incite this situation.”

“Seems like a hasty conclusion. Sure, the phrase the Black Witch mentioned being in the Princess’s fairy tale book is hard to call a coincidence, but still.”

Esmela’s speculation has quite a bit of validity, but we aren’t at a stage where we can definitively conclude it based on just one fairy tale book.

“Ah, this is frustrating. If only we could escape the Royal Capital, we could report her and have her executed right then and there.”

“…Have you remembered anything about the Princess in the meantime? Something that could be related to the Black Witch?”

“Nothing.”

It seems Esmela doesn’t want to talk more about Yuria, as she turned her gaze out the window in a huff and leaned her chin on her hand.

There’s likely nothing more to glean from her about Yuria.

“Hmm…”

Letting the sulking Esmela be for a moment, I decide I need to sort my thoughts, even if it’s just by myself.

First off, Yuria is definitely related to the Black Witch. That’s almost certain.

But what that relationship specifically entails remains too uncertain at this stage. Is it a cooperative relationship, an adversarial one, or is it just that Yuria knows the Black Witch unilaterally…?

This ambiguous fact leads to one more question surfacing.

What does ‘[Twin Sorcerers]’ actually signify?

‘Puppet God.’ A term that has appeared twice so far.

Once it was used by the Black Witch to mock Arit, the Saintess of the Radain Church, and another time it was used to criticize the content of the fairy tale book deeply involving the Radain Church at its end.

And Piyo kept pecking away, emphasizing the ‘twins’ part.

I cautiously hypothesize. Could it be that the Black Witch knows something about the Radain Church’s secret?

If that’s the case, it explains why she criticized Arit for ‘playing around without knowing anything.’

And if we connect that to the content of the fairy tale…

Considering that the current circulating edition of [Twin Sorcerers] was issued by the Radain Church, one could suspect that the Church edited the original fairy tale to fit their narrative before spreading it.

And Yuria, who possessed the fairy tale book with ‘Fabrication of the Puppet Gods’ written in it, might also know what that secret is.

Then what could that secret be? Is there any way to deduce the secrets of the Radain Church from the fairy tale? Are the Twin Sorcerers real people? If so, does Piyo also hold some knowledge about the secrets of that fairy tale book? Is there a prohibition preventing us from disclosing that secret? If so, who imposed it…?

“Ugh…”

As I try to resolve one question, countless others unravel, leaving my head in a whirl.

This won’t do. I can’t develop my speculations any further. Could it be that thinking is simply not my forte…?

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Snapped back to reality, I find Esmela still resting her chin on her hand.

Yet her red eyes are directed back at me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Just needed a moment to think.”

I guess that’s enough for now. Let’s put this matter on hold until we have a new lead.

“…”

A serene silence settles in the bedroom. There isn’t even a candle to light the room, but fortunately, the sky is clear without a cloud in sight, and despite having gone through a barrier, the moonlight hasn’t lost its luster and gently illuminates her right cheek as it spills over the window.

Without uttering a word, she’s still fixedly staring at my face, lost in thought.

“Ah…”

After a brief silence, Esmela lets out a deep sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just… frustrated.”

I immediately recognize the multitude of meanings contained within that short sentence, even without her needing to explain.

It’s frustrating to be physically trapped here in the Royal Capital.

It’s frustrating to be trapped with zombies.

It’s frustrating not being able to meet with others from the House of Herta, including the head of the family.

It’s frustrating to not be able to do anything to uncover the truth behind Yuria, the Black Witch, and this entire situation.

Like caged birds, we are stuck in the Royal Capital, enduring day by day without even the promise of an end.

I hadn’t voiced it, but I had been thinking the same way as her all along.

“Is there really no way to break free from that barrier isolating the Royal Capital?”

I cautiously ask Esmela, recalling that she had burst out in frustration the last time I asked her that.

“…It won’t be easy.”

Fortunately, this time Esmela responds to my question without getting agitated.

“If we were outside the barrier, that’d be different. But we can’t grasp the structure of the barrier from inside, so reverse engineering it to break it is impossible.”

“Is that so? It seems that the barrier looks the same whether you’re inside or outside, protected by a shield of the same magical energy…”

“Think about it. If you could figure out what the barrier is from inside, the people trapped inside would obviously try to analyze and break it. Then there’d be no point in setting up the barrier in the first place!”

Esmela crossed her arms, looking at me as if I were pitiful.

“The barrier must ensure that nothing can be understood about it from the inside while allowing an analysis of its state from outside to prepare for any eventualities. That’s the basics of barrier magic. Conversely, if the purpose of the barrier is to protect the inside from the outside, then the spells must be crafted in the opposite manner.”

“I see. So how about simply breaking the barrier with brute force? If you unleash the Flame of Herta, it should be possible, right?”

If that dark flame, said to be more powerful than dragon breath, could melt the barrier, it shouldn’t be impossible.

“…I’ve thought about that too.”

However, Esmela’s expression turned slightly perplexed, indicating she didn’t seem to agree with my opinion, even though it was about the Flame of Herta that she always took pride in.

“But I can’t guarantee it. Above all, this barrier is the first trump card that the Magic Tower has finally decided to use to control this vast city, after having kept it a secret all this time. If I were to pour all my power into attacking the barrier with the Flame of Herta and it doesn’t break…”

Esmela trailed off, but I could easily grasp what she was implying.

The uncontrolled black flame that would follow might turn the entire Royal Capital to ashes. Both the zombies and the two of us would be included.

“And even if we succeed in breaking the barrier, that’s still a problem. You know, we can’t just let loose nearly 100,000 zombies into the Kingdom the moment we escape.”

“Then won’t the barrier naturally dissipate over time?”

After having my faint hopes systematically dismantled, I finally let out the last shred of optimism.

“That’s not certain either. No matter how advanced the spells that form a barrier may be, they can’t deviate from the basic principle of supplying magical energy to create the shield. But when the Magic Tower created the barrier, they must have considered such factors, right? When thinking about the original purpose of trapping those zombies inside the Royal Capital, the Magic Tower must have established data on the power source for the barrier. They wouldn’t know when those zombies might disappear, so they’d maximize the barrier’s longevity. For years, perhaps even decades…”

As her voice trailed off, a heavy silence settled back into the bedroom.

“…So, it means the only path left for us now is to find a way to live here in the Royal Capital, just the two of us, plus Piyo.”

“That’s right.”

Esmela has seemingly come to terms with that fact, giving a calm nod.

“My lady.”

“Yes?”

“Even though our current situation is bleak… let’s try to stay strong. We will overcome it together.”

I throw out words of comfort. On the surface, they are meant for Esmela, but really, they serve to encourage myself.

“Well, I have no intention of just sitting around and becoming their meal. Don’t worry. And, although I’m not fond of zombies… being left alone with just you isn’t so bad, I guess…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“…?”

“Anyway, do you have anything else you want to discuss?”

“Um…”

There are still things I want to ask her.

Like why our relationship with Yuria turned sour, unlike in the original.

Or the mystery of my previous life, and how I suddenly gained a skill called ‘System Eye’ that I haven’t told anyone about either.

But that’s for another time. It’s not the right moment for either.

If someday, Esmela can share even her deepest wounds with me, and I can reveal my secrets to her, then at that time…

For now, I’d like to outline our future course of action.

“Then, to conclude our discussion…”

“That took quite a while. The moon’s almost setting.”

“Indeed. Were you bored?”

“Well, considering your unremarkable conversational skills, it wasn’t a bad chat.”

“Glad to hear that. So now, to the main point. I, Lanit, as your personal butler, would like to make a proposal to you.”

“Proposal?”

She looks genuinely surprised.

“What kind of proposal?”

“I was thinking of training you. What do you think?”