ESMLT 05

Chapter 5

I tapped my finger on the location of the cabin where we were.

“This is the East Shelter,” I said.

In the holy zone, cabins were referred to as shelters, and there was one in each of the four cardinal directions.

A shelter was a place where grieving families, with the temple’s permission, could honor the deceased. Except for commoner warriors, most of the dead were from the upper class, so the place was well-maintained.

It had high-quality ingredients preserved with magic, clean bedding, and even spare clothes.

“Our plan is simple,” I explained.

Throw grenades to secure the central safe zone.

Break through the zombie horde and reach the safe zone.

Cross the “Split Land” in the central cemetery and head north to the Sacred Forest.

For reference, the Sacred Forest had protective barriers and was safe from zombies.

After finishing the explanation, I met the crown prince’s gaze.

“Let’s divide tasks from now. I’ll take care of the supplies in the East Shelter. I’ll give Your Highness a light magic kit, so please dismantle one side of the cabin to make a raft bridge. This place will likely collapse soon anyway, so it won’t matter if you use it.”

“A raft bridge?”

At the crown prince’s questioning tone, I glanced at him and pointed with my finger to the central cemetery, about 200–300 meters from the East Shelter.

The center, surrounded by graves, had been split into cliffs in all directions—this was the “Split Land.”

“The closest spot to the East Shelter is this Split Land. The raft bridge will be used to cross it.”

The land split by the earthquake was about 2 meters wide.

Even if the crown prince didn’t know, for me, exhausted from battle, it was a tight squeeze despite being fairly agile.

“I see,” he nodded, looking at me.

I reflected on the original story as I saw his golden, glimmering eyes.

In the original, Redria steals the supplies from the East Shelter and escapes to the dimensional cave.

The crown prince, left alone in the shelter, hides in a warehouse after the fence collapses, isolated. He barely escapes after three days but unfortunately develops claustrophobia due to trauma.

There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t end up trapped in the East Shelter like him.

Thinking that made my throat tighten.

Queeeek!

Amid that, the zombies outside the cabin let out a terrifying cry.

At the same time, the crown prince and I exchanged glances as we looked out the window.

We both knew the truth: to survive from now on, we’d have to move like our lives depended on it.

After dividing our tasks, we worked without complaint.

The crown prince was surprisingly fast and quickly completed the raft bridge.

I used a miniaturization kit to shrink the supplies in the shelter and packed them into my backpack.

Once ready, I stepped out of the cabin and saw the crown prince already outside.

Queeeek!

He faced the zombies beyond the wire mesh, carrying the raft bridge on his back with ropes.

I approached him and stood beside him.

Standing side by side with the zombies beyond the fence, it felt almost like a scene from a zombie movie—grim yet dramatic.

I glanced at him and asked,

“What are you looking at?”

“Estimating,” he replied.

“Estimating what?”

“Whether we can take down the zombies to the east.”

…Why bother estimating that, you lunatic…

Sensing my disdain, he kept his gaze forward and smirked.

“My lady, such irreverent eyes you have.”

Just a few hours together, and I already felt drained.

I exhaled and pulled my hammer from my belt.

“Aim for their heads in combat. That’s their weak spot.”

“…Weak…what?”

The crown prince turned toward me, looking bewildered as if hearing it for the first time.

Ah, they don’t use the term “weak spot” here.

I tapped my temple with a finger.

“The head.”

He laughed in disbelief.

“As expected of the famed young lady, you speak with such grace.”

“Thank you,” I replied curtly. He raised an eyebrow, but I ignored it.

Krraaah!

A strange groan sounded unusually close.

I lifted my head and saw a zombie’s head caught on the fence, being pushed like a wave.

Clatter!

Finally, it fell inward. Two more followed, and as I cautiously drew my hammer, the crown prince stepped ahead of me with a relaxed stride.

“You said the head’s the weak point, right?”

His steps toward the skeleton were unhurried, and then he flexed his spear in his fist.

He let it go lightly, grabbed it again, and swung it swiftly.

A sharp gust of wind made the fence shake, and three zombie skulls flew off.

Crack!

The two falling skulls shattered at the speed of light. The remaining bones—arms and legs—fell sequentially, collapsing like dominoes.

I laughed bitterly as I saw a skull rolling toward me like a ball.

The spear hadn’t even touched the zombie’s head. He had taken them down with wind pressure alone.

The crown prince glanced back at me, a look of deep disappointment in his eyes.

“This? Pathetic.”

What does he even expect?

…From the moment he smirked at the zombies, I knew he was crazy.

Though it was reassuring to have him, I reluctantly tightened my core and moved toward the door.

He followed gracefully.

I pulled out a dark green grenade in front of the fence.

A lethal explosive weapon, modified by my eccentric brother Heiton, capable of embedding metal fragments into zombie bones. Its blast radius was about 50 meters.

I held it up with a smile.

“I’ll handle the safety. Who’s throwing it?”

He looked at me incredulously. Naturally, it would have to be either him or me.

“I’ll do it.”

He smoothly grabbed the grenade.

Whoosh!

In an instant, he removed the safety pin and threw it into the zombie horde.

‘You crazy lunatic! At least warn me before throwing!’

I watched the grenade arc through the air, opening my mouth in disbelief.

‘It looks like a careless throw… but how far is it going…?’

It flew over 80 meters before landing in the middle of the zombies.

Boom!

The ground shook just after the explosion.

The blast was powerful enough to quiet the zombie cries. Beyond the dust rising from the blast site, a vague open space had formed.

‘Good, the safe zone is secured.’

But relief was brief.

Kuaaaah!

The wire mesh, gradually torn by the zombies, began splitting in two just like in the original story.

I urgently pointed to the fence.

“Your Highness, kick the fence!”

Clang!

The crown prince reacted quickly and kicked the mesh.

The fence fell backward, and the zombies toppled like dominoes.

My heart raced, thinking we had narrowly avoided disaster.

‘If we’d delayed, the zombies would have swarmed the cabin just like in the original.’

But there was no time to relax.

I bit my lip and focused straight ahead.

Queeeek!

Zombies trapped beneath the heavy fence poked their fingers or heads through the gaps.

Some abandoned their stuck legs and crawled out. Others, with broken spines, dragged themselves forward.

‘Damn it…’

I cursed internally at the chaos and gestured toward the spot where the grenade landed.

“Your Highness, I’ll lead the way. Cover the rear.”

It would be easier to deal with the zombies that were just getting up if I was in front.

“Do as you like,” he said cautiously, scanning the surroundings.

I muttered a spell and enlarged my hammer.

Holding the hammer firmly in my hand, it felt like my senses were waking up one by one.

‘It’s starting.’

I finally felt what it meant to be thrown into a horde of zombies with bare strength.

As I prepared to sprint, the crown prince looked at the zombies and spoke.

“Shall we make a bet, my lady?”

“What kind of bet?”

I answered bluntly, not appreciating his nonsense at such a critical moment.

“Who kills more zombies. If you win, I’ll grant one of your wishes.”

“…Does it include the over a hundred I killed before you woke up?”

“Haha.”

My eyes sparkled, and he laughed.

“Fine, that makes it more interesting.”

Interesting… I glanced at him once, tightened my core, and shouted,

“Run!”