Chapter 49
“So instead of cutting off her arm, you’re saying we should just isolate her since we don’t know when she might turn?”
“I oppose isolation itself. She’s a child who came here to survive. And you want to lock her up because she might turn into a zombie someday? Isn’t that just choosing the easiest path by sacrificing her?”
A hollow laugh escaped me. His tone made it sound like I was pushing the child away for my own convenience.
The hostility in his sharp voice hadn’t faded since the beginning. Naturally, my own tone turned pointed as well.
“The Marchioness of Lafran turned into a zombie. Are you certain Zenta won’t? What if we continue living together and she suddenly turns and attacks Yand? What will you do then?”
Jaeger fell silent, as if his words had run out.
Right. You’ve got nothing to say to that, do you?
The fact that Zenta showed no symptoms so far was practically a miracle. But put another way, she was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.
I steadied my emotions and spoke calmly.
“This is a decision to minimize damage. Please reconsider.”
“…Then couldn’t we at least confine her to a bedroom?”
“You think I’m suggesting the storage room for my own comfort?”
“Aren’t you?”
I put a hand on my hip and glared at him.
“Are you finished?”
Jaeger’s eyes sharpened defiantly.
“If I’m not, will you grant me the floor?”
So now I was being accused of being authoritarian.
I’d tried to avoid emotional conflict with him, but it ended up like this anyway.
But I can’t back down when everyone’s safety is at stake.
I looked to the others for their opinions.
In our community, majority rule was an unspoken law.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince—who had witnessed the infected marchioness—seemed to agree with me.
“….”
Sien glanced between Jaeger and me. When our eyes met, he smiled faintly.
“I agree too, Miss Ria. Someone who’s been bitten is dangerous. We should isolate her.”
He’d been gloomy lately, yet now he looked oddly pleased. It threw me off. Was he happy that Jaeger and I were fighting? Or relieved that isolating Zenta meant greater safety?
He was always hard to read, but these days it’s even worse.
Danha said he wouldn’t oppose my decision, though he couldn’t hide a bitter smile. Perhaps he was thinking of the younger sibling he’d left back in Jehaguk. He’d always been especially soft toward children.
With Danha’s support, the majority tilted in my favor.
“Y-You’re really going to lock her in the storage room?”
The Marquis of Lafran, who had been sitting trembling by the fireplace, suddenly shouted.
He had been out of his mind since sending off his wife, who turned into a zombie the day before.
I thought he might side with Zenta out of sympathy, but—
“S-She must be killed! She’s a zombie, isn’t she?!”
Jaeger’s eyes flickered with brief hope—then immediately went cold at the next words.
“What did you say?”
“She must be killed! Didn’t you say those who are bitten turn into zombies? She won’t be human then!”
The atmosphere turned icy in an instant.
As the others’ gazes sharpened with condemnation, the marquis looked to me for help.
“I-I can’t be the only one who thinks so. Isn’t that right, Lady Arios?”
I was dumbfounded.
Did he not realize that calling someone out like that makes it look as if they agree just by being named?
“Is that true?”
Sure enough, the accusing stares shifted toward me.
Jaeger looked at me as if asking whether I truly thought so.
I sighed and started to speak.
“Well—”
“We saw it! We saw how my wife changed! Everyone bitten becomes like that!”
I lost my chance to speak. I wanted to tell him to shut up, but instead I decided to calm him down first.
“My lord, she doesn’t look like she’ll change immediately. We can observe her over time—”
“There’s a warp scroll! Why should we stay here at all? You said it’s for five people, didn’t you? If you include me, I’ll reward you handsomely—”
Bang!
Ah…
I pressed a hand to my forehead. Sien, who’d been in a foul mood lately, had finally snapped. A magic bullet grazed the marquis’s nose and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
“Uh….”
The marquis froze like stone and slowly turned his head to stare at the wall.
“U-uh….”
Seeing the hole in the wall, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
Is he going to wet himself this time too?
As that thought crossed my mind, Sien tapped his own temple lazily with the barrel of his gun and approached the marquis.
Stopping in front of him, he bent one knee and lowered himself to eye level.
“Hey.”
Click. In an instant, the muzzle lifted the marquis’s chin.
“Is the warp scroll yours?”
The marquis trembled violently.
“N-No….”
“Then why are you acting like it is?”
“I-I’m sorry….”
“If you run that uncultured mouth one more time, I’ll add another hole to that already-ruined face of yours.”
Got it?
His voice dropped into a chilling murmur.
From where I stood, I could only see the back of Sien’s head, so I couldn’t tell what kind of expression he wore—but judging from how frantically the marquis nodded, it had to be terrifying.
Then Sien stood and turned toward me.
“Sorry I broke my promise, Miss Ria. He kept cutting you off, so I sent his tongue off properly.”
He apologized for breaking his promise—but clearly didn’t think firing the gun was wrong.
After saying that bluntly, he holstered the gun without even looking at me and walked to the window, folding his arms as he stared outside.
I appreciate him taking my side, but…
It somehow felt awkward.
Lately, Sien had been acting like a sulky teenager desperate for attention.
Like me, when I’d been furious about having to stay behind at the western shelter because of the investigation.
Is it because of the urn?
Jaeger, who had been frozen in shock, finally came to his senses.
Clenching his teeth, he turned sharply to Sien.
“If something displeases you, do you always fire your gun? What exactly are you doing?”
Sien glanced at him indifferently before returning his gaze to the window. The blatant disregard only made Jaeger angrier, but the Crown Prince stepped in.
“Calm yourself, Duke.”
Knowing Sien’s temperament, he probably judged it wiser to restrain Jaeger.
Jaeger shook off the hand gripping his shoulder.
“Your Highness, didn’t you also let it slide when he concealed the armory in the northern shelter? You let him get away with everything—that’s why he behaves like this.”
The Crown Prince’s brow twitched.
“Are you implying I tolerate the insolence of the Tower Master?”
“Are you saying you don’t?”
“Well, I’ve always been rather generous. I even forgive the Duke’s own impertinent attitude, don’t I?”
And just like that, another argument ignited elsewhere.
Danha tried to mediate with an awkward expression, only to be pushed aside with, “You’re not even from the Empire, stay out of it.” Meanwhile, the one who started it all stood by the window, utterly detached.
“Ha….”
My head throbbed.
I pressed my temple, swallowing my boiling anger.
I knew they’d all grown more sensitive and emotional after being trapped in a zombie zone.
I had lost my temper with Jaeger myself.
But still—
“That’s enough.”
No one listened.
“This isn’t the time to fight. That’s enough.”
Still no one.
“I said, stop?”
Yap, yap, yap. Was there a dog barking somewhere?
“J-just s-stop it.”
Even through clenched teeth, no one listened.
I pulled the hammer from my belt.
Seriously. One minute they cooperate, the next they ignore everything I say. And I’m the one breaking my back trying to keep them alive while they’ll one day unite the world under some saint—
Smash! Crack!
I brought the hammer down on the wooden dining table and shattered it.
“…!”
The ones barking at each other, the one trying to mediate, even the princess who had been pretending not to care—everyone turned toward me with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
Sien stared mournfully at the broken table.
“My table….”
“Then eat standing up.”
You’re not getting princess treatment anymore.
The Crown Prince looked between me and the table, letting out a dry laugh.
“My lady, I’ve always thought you rather… intense. At times like this, the rumors aren’t entirely—”
“Are you going to keep talking?”
He shut his mouth.
Jaeger glared at me expressionlessly, then abruptly turned his head away.
“….”
Danha, on the other hand—
“I’ll listen well to you, young lady.”
“….”
“…I’ll try to be adorable.”
And gently took the hammer from my hands.
An hour later, after I’d cooled down from my pillar-of-fire rage—
We concluded, by majority vote, that Zenta would be isolated in the storage room.
