ESMLT 18

Chapter 18

“…What’s the matter?”

“Miss, aren’t you becoming too lenient with this one?”

“Then, Your Highness, why don’t you do the laundry yourself? I’ll praise you if you do.”

The Crown Prince immediately nodded as if he liked that idea.

“I’ll take care of it from tomorrow.”

“…That was a slip of the tongue. Don’t do anything.”

I recalled the Crown Prince volunteering to do the dishes yesterday, apologizing to me without remembering the original story at all…

The memory of the shattered plates flashed in my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

It was a relief that we’d be leaving west tomorrow; otherwise, I might have ended up sitting at the table like a dignified orangutan, eating with bare hands.

For reference, the Crown Prince and Jaeger were the absolute worst duo when it came to household chores.

In the original story, it was so bad that Xien had to angrily stop them from touching anything before chopping off their hands.

They had turned perfectly good ingredients into poison and ruined clothing and bedding.

Hah…

I sighed, and the Crown Prince pouted, asking what was wrong.

Anyway, don’t do anything. Nothing at all.

“Won’t you open the door?”

Jaeger, standing at attention and staring at the door, gestured toward the armory—essentially telling me to stop talking and just open it.

I nodded and inserted the key into the doorknob.

I was curious about the armory, which hadn’t appeared in the original story.

As I turned it slightly, something clicked, and the door opened with a clear, satisfying sound.

Inside, a narrow space appeared, big enough for three or four people.

The Crown Prince, holding a lantern, led the way slowly, signaling me to follow cautiously. Given that this armory was full of deadly weapons, he was wary of traps.

The Crown Prince placed the lantern against the wall of the armory first. And what revealed itself was…

‘Huh?’

I couldn’t help but feel deflated.

I had expected it to look like an armory from a zombie movie, with guns and swords lined up along the walls—but it wasn’t.

‘Empty…’

I smacked my lips and stepped over the low threshold into the interior.

Straight ahead, heavy-looking plate armor was on display.

On the left wall, perhaps where Xien’s revolver had been, was an empty spot next to another revolver.

Though reloading and removing shells would be inconvenient normally, Xien could use magic to generate and remove bullets, which made it efficient for him.

‘It would be nice if I could use the remaining one…’

I looked around the armory hopefully, only to sigh.

‘No bullets.’

This weapon was useless to anyone but Xien.

Well, it was expected. After all, this was a sanctuary in the Holy District.

It was surprising enough that there was an armory in a place where weapons were forbidden, but it wasn’t meant for actual killing.

The sanctuary sometimes had wild animals appearing, so weapons were there for intimidation, not for lethal purposes.

I smacked my lips and glanced at Xien examining the revolver.

“Master of the Mage Tower, I can’t handle firearms outside because I don’t know the zombies’ behavior.”

After all, in zombie movies, zombies swarm at the sound of gunfire. Since it wasn’t clear whether zombies would react to noise, caution was wise.

Xien examined the revolver and glanced at me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll reduce the noise using preservation techniques.”

“Is that even possible?”

I let out a faint laugh of relief at his confident answer.

The reason Xien had seemed indifferent to firearms was that using them in combat was risky.

The fact that he could reduce noise while shooting made him a tremendous asset.

“Is that that good?”

“Of course. We now have a combatant.”

I smiled happily and looked around.

The Crown Prince and Jaeger were examining daggers displayed on the wall.

They discussed which items could be used as weapons and which couldn’t. Most were daggers, likely intended for hunting or for throwing at zombies’ heads in dangerous situations.

I glanced around and noticed a bow hanging at the end of the wall.

‘…There’s a bow too.’

I had brought one myself anyway.

At the thought of using it, memories I hadn’t wanted to surface came up, and Xien approached me.

“What’s wrong, Lia?”

Jaeger and the Crown Prince’s eyes turned to me in response.

“…Ah, I don’t think I need this. I already have one.”

“Still, why not take it as a spare?”

For once, Jaeger, who usually disliked me, spoke first.

His rare proposal slightly unsettled me.

‘He’s unexpectedly proactive in combat.’

Having missed the moment to refuse, I sighed and nodded.

“All right. We might be short on bows.”

I used a miniaturization kit from my pouch to shrink the bow and put it in my bag. I planned to gather the other weapons tomorrow.

“That should be enough. Shall we get some sleep? We need to move tomorrow to find the other survivors.”

Specifically, we’d go to the western sanctuary where the last male lead was, but I didn’t need to hint at that by speaking carelessly.

The visible goal of our journey was to find additional survivors to fill the warp scroll quota.

‘Ha… this day is far too long.’

I tapped my shoulders with my fists.

I woke up, tossing and turning.

My habit of overthinking made me wake easily.

I blinked and looked down.

The Crown Prince was asleep, leaning against the ladder of the bed, with one arm through the window frame and only a jacket draped over his shoulders.

‘Setting traps and expecting someone to come? Falling asleep on guard duty… might as well sleep comfortably. Humans are so tiring.’

I got out of bed, fixed my messy hair, and touched the blankets hanging on the line. Not yet dry. I had no choice but to fetch my own quilt and carefully cover the Crown Prince.

Even so, I wondered why I was fussing over someone who had made me cry.

‘…Even this iron man is human. If he catches a cold, that weakens our force.’

I looked at the sleeping Crown Prince with my head slightly bowed.

‘He looks like a child when he’s asleep.’

Heh. Feeling mischievous, I wrapped him up like a snowman in the quilt.

After that, I brushed my hands off and went outside to catch my breath.

The early morning air struck my skin, waking me up. I stretched my arms, then froze.

Clack, clack, clack!

A dull sound of something hitting at intervals reached me.

I quietly moved to the backyard where wood was stacked.

‘Duke Jaeger?’

Under the dim sky with the eastern sun rising, Jaeger was training.

Clack, clack, clack!

He had set up a log and was rapidly throwing three or four daggers, found in the armory, at the target while running.

Apparently, just a mace wasn’t enough. He drew the daggers somewhat irritably, then threw three at once past the log.

Clack! The daggers hit the designated points on the log simultaneously.

‘Oh…’

I gasped in admiration.

Clack-

Before I could blink, another dagger whizzed past my face from a distance.

“…!”

I jumped, my eyes wide like a rabbit’s.

But soon, irritation crept in.

‘Both the Crown Prince and this one… why do they start by throwing swords?’

I glanced at the daggers stuck in the wood, frowning, and spoke.

“When did you know I was here?”

Jaeger straightened his posture while retrieving the daggers.

“How could I not know when you make your presence felt like that?”

His cold tone carried a faint reprimand.

It was the indifferent treatment I had gotten used to over the past few days.

But that didn’t mean it was okay. I couldn’t be an emotional trash can forever.

‘No choice. Time to execute that plan.’

I had planned before coming here.

If Jaeger accompanied me, I would apologize for Redria’s past behavior.

It wasn’t my fault, but Redria had cruelly harassed Roeni and disappointed them, hadn’t she?

Although I couldn’t confirm the attempted murder of the saint, I had to calm this guy’s heart.

‘Sorry, Redria.’

I apologized silently to Redria as Jaeger approached to pull out the dagger behind me, and I didn’t move, looking up at him.