The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 76

Lanit quickly returned to the Royal Palace once again.

Carried away by the joy of being able to escape the Royal Capital, he ended up leaving the castle without a second thought. However, the luggage the two had prepared at the palace consisted solely of personal belongings and essential items needed while staying at the mansion.

It took him about two hours to gather camping gear like military tents, sleeping bags, and some cooking utensils such as pots and pans he found in the storage, and then make his way back to the Southern Entrance where Esmela and Piyo were waiting.

With a desperate urge to leave the Royal Capital as soon as possible, Lanit sprinted back all the way after getting the tools from the palace.

“Gah… Huff…”

With loads of gear on his back and arms, he emerged panting through the Southern Entrance, and in the distance, he spotted Esmela and Piyo whispering and conversing about something.

“…So, it’s really frustrating, you know? I mean, Lanit is…”

“Pip. Pip.”

Sitting down, Esmela had a sulky expression as she consulted Piyo, who seemed to enjoy the role of a serious counselor, nodding in response to her words, creating a bizarre situation.

“Heh…”

Lanit couldn’t help but smile at the sight he witnessed without even realizing it.

Wanting to savor that delightful moment a little longer, he tiptoed quietly toward them instead of calling out.

“Chirp?”

Piyo was the first to see him.

“Yikes?! L-Lanit! When did you get here?!”

“Just now. By the way, it’s nice to see you getting along with Piyo. What were you two talking about?”

“I-I’m fine! It’s not an important conversation or anything!”

Esmela, flustered for some reason, stammered and hurriedly tried to leave.

“…?”

Lanit looked at her in bewilderment.


“…Whee…”

Piyo had since perched on his shoulder, tapping Lanit’s neck with her wings while letting out some mysterious sounds that were hard to interpret.

Before leaving, the two and one bird huddled around a map of the kingdom, debating their destination, and finally decided to head towards Pedina City, located to the west of the Royal Capital.

The Trine Province, governed by Count Terrelude, bordered two other nations to the west of the Royal Capital, and was the largest estate among the lands ruled by the nobility of the kingdom.

Pedina City was the most populous town in Trine Province.

There were two reasons they chose to go there. The first was that those who had left the Royal Palace were likely seeking another place to live and would gravitate toward the nearest location. The second reason was that even if they didn’t meet any members of the House of Herta there, Pedina City would be the best place to gather information about them.

Moreover, even though the Terrelude family did not directly reside there, Pedina City was still within their territory, so they might encounter Count Terrelude, who was an old acquaintance of Esmela if luck was on their side.

Having gathered the necessary supplies for their journey and set their destination, all that remained was to depart.

Thus, Lanit and Esmela embarked on the long-anticipated journey.

A journey to find their precious ones who had been separated from them.

While it was uncertain whether any members of the House of Herta were in Pedina City at that moment, such minor details were unimportant to the two who had finally been freed from three years of stifling struggles.

Even the fact that it would take at least three weeks to walk from the kingdom to Pedina City didn’t matter.

And so, with the Royal Capital behind them, the two and one bird ventured endlessly westward.

They delighted in everything they encountered.

No matter where they turned their gaze, vast open fields stretched out before them, filled with brown wheat ready for harvest after the season had passed, scarecrows that seemed too weak to hold their heads upright as if caught in a strong wind…

They chatted as they walked along the path through the fields, occasionally breaking into a run, and as the sun began to set, they found a suitable flat area to pitch their tent and closed their eyes, looking forward to the next day.

However, as time passed, that joy began to be gnawed at by a foreboding feeling rising from a corner of their hearts.

Scarecrows with broken necks and spiderwebs in their armpits, wheat fields that should have been harvested long ago, and above all…

“Why is no one here?”

On the tenth morning after leaving the Royal Capital, while packing up the tent, Esmela finally couldn’t hide her anxiousness any longer and voiced her concerns.

From the western side of the Royal Capital to the eastern region of Trine Province where Pedina City was located, the terrain was mostly wide-open flat fields with little to obscure their view.

Yet, despite crossing that vast land for days, they had encountered not a single person.

Every time they spotted places where people could live, such as shacks near the wheat fields or small villages by the river, they ran towards them with excitement, only to be greeted by empty houses and a deathly silence.

“It’s really strange. We’ve come across several houses where people live, but they all look like no one has lived there for a long time. Plus, some of them seemed so messed up inside as if the owners were in a hurry to flee.”

Lanit quietly listened to Esmela’s words.

One unsettling thought arose in his heart.

In fact, Esmela was likely thinking the same way as him.

But neither of them wanted to accept the truth and stubbornly avoided bringing it up.

“…”

When Esmela finished her complaint, a heavy silence fell upon the temporary campsite.

Even Piyo, too, remained silent, looking at the two with a serious expression.

“…Young Lady.”

Finally breaking the oppressive silence, Lanit was the first to speak.

“Perhaps… just maybe…”

“Stop.”

However, Esmela interrupted him.

“I know what you want to say. It’s fine. There’s no need to say it.”

Consequently, they didn’t speak again until they finished packing and set off.

“…”

The lively spirit they had when they first set out seemed like a lie, vanished into thin air, leaving only the two of them quietly trudging westward.

“Chirp…”

Piyo gazed at them with sorrowful eyes and let out a small whimper.

However, throughout the whole day of walking, they were unable to meet anyone, thereby firmly embedding their doubts.

Eventually, the three finally stopped at the entrance leading into a dense forest.

“This is the Harka Great Forest, Young Lady,” Lanit said, checking the map.

A flatland connecting the Royal Capital Erka and Pedina City.

The Harka Great Forest lay right in the middle of it.

As the name suggests, it covered a land larger than many small to medium-sized estates.

With dense trees crowding the forest, even the midday sunlight couldn’t break through easily, making the forest appear even gloomier just before dusk.

“It seems like it’s getting dark… how about we camp here for the night?”

“Yeah… It’s better to get up as early as possible tomorrow and aim to pass through the woods while it’s still daylight. You mentioned there’s a path through it, right? The one used by long-distance travelers…”

The two discussed their plans moving forward.

They concluded to camp near the woods and just as Lanit was about to pull out the tent fabric from his backpack—

“Kyahhh!!!”

A piercing scream, presumably from a woman, echoed from deep within the dense forest.

“…!”

“Stay here, Piyo!”

“Pip!”

The two immediately drew their swords from their waists and raced into the woods toward the source of the scream.

Their long-desired meeting was about to happen, but in a way they never wished for.

Lanit took the lead, slashing through branches and underbrush with his sword, moving as swiftly as possible.

‘It’s a sound coming from not too far away. If I keep this up…’

“Young Lady! Get ready!”

Esmela wouldn’t be visible to him, but upon hearing that, she nodded faintly and tightened her grip on her sword.

Soon, their vision brightened as they ran, revealing a small clearing ahead.

“Uh, a h-humanoid?!”

Guided by the astonished voice, what came into Lanit’s view was a woman, presumably the one who had screamed.

With a brown baker’s hat on her head, wearing a white shirt and black suspenders, she was a short woman dressed in typical stablehand attire.

She stared blankly at the two who had suddenly emerged from the forest, momentarily forgetting the danger she was in, and then snapped back to reality, shouting at them.

“Watch out! It’s a Zombie Wood Wolf!”

Wood Wolf. As the name implies, these wolf-like monsters live in packs within the forest.

With years of experience as a hunter, information about this monster instantly flashed in Lanit’s mind upon hearing its name.

And then, the descriptor attached to the Wood Wolf sent a chill down his spine.

“Damn it… are they unleashing zombie monsters now…?”

He muttered under his breath, gripping his sword tightly with both hands, and glared at the wolves before him.