Chapter : 04
Things always went wrong when survivors were brought into shelters like this. It was a common trope in zombie dramas.
If they weren’t bitten, that’s two extra workers—might not be so bad.
Just in case, I took a dagger and a handkerchief with me. If they had been bitten, I planned to cut them down. Thankfully, I’d learned a bit of swordsmanship for self-defense when I was young.
I turned to the Count and Countess and to Leila.
“I’m opening the gate.”
Using the large pulley, I began to open the fortress gate.
Creeeak—
The gate, which hadn’t been opened in a long time, slowly began to move.
As it opened, a young knight appeared, his face filled with relief, as if he’d survived by a hair’s breadth. His red Imperial knight uniform was so soaked in blood that it was impossible to tell where the fabric ended and the blood began.
“Th-thank you!”
“Step back first, and slowly dismount from the horse.”
“Y-yes?”
The knight looked confused by my wary expression, but soon dismounted and slowly raised both hands.
I asked him,
“Have you been bitten by the undead?”
“Absolutely not! Neither His Highness nor I have been bitten! I swear it to God!”
“Hm…”
“It’s true! If we had been bitten, we would have already turned into undead on the way here! Please believe me!”
He spoke desperately, as if he were about to kneel in front of me.
He does seem sincere. Still, I can’t be sure yet.
As I undid the latch, I said,
“Come inside for now.”
“Thank you!”
The knight carefully led the horse carrying the Crown Prince into the fortress. He stared around in awe at the large, sturdy structure.
“Lay His Highness down. And you—take off your clothes as well. I still need to check.”
“Do we really have to go that far, Vanessa?” Leila whispered to me.
I shook my head and replied firmly,
“Yes. We have to.”
This peaceful life had been hard-won. I couldn’t let it be ruined because of these two. If I let my guard down and they turned into zombies, the fortress would be destroyed—and I’d die with it.
Seeing my expression, the knight sighed and began removing his uniform. I stepped closer and carefully examined his body. There were no signs of zombie bites.
“All right, I’ve checked you. I’m sorry, but could you set His Highness down? I need to check him as well.”
The knight hesitated, then gave up and started putting his clothes back on. The Count, Countess, and Leila swallowed nervously as they watched me.
I slowly removed the Crown Prince’s clothes and examined him. There were scratches here and there, but no telltale bite marks from zombies.
Turning to the knight, who was watching me anxiously, I said,
“All done. Both of you are clear.”
“Then here…?”
“Yes. I’ll show you to your rooms for now. We’ll hear the details tomorrow morning.”
Gesturing for him to follow, I walked toward the house. Thankfully, it was a three-story building with plenty of empty rooms.
“There’s a bit of dust. Will that be all right?”
“Yes, yes! It’s fine!”
The young knight nodded eagerly, smiling brightly.
“There’s a lot of work to do here. If you’re going to stay, you’ll have to help with farming. It might be hard at first—are you okay with that? You may have to start as early as tomorrow morning.”
“The only thing I can do is manual labor. I’m confident!”
And just like that, I’ve acquired one young worker!
Now that I was sure neither of them had been bitten, I felt relieved—and at the same time, I started thinking about how to put them to use.
Let’s see. I can have him spread manure, plow fields… plenty of uses. First, I’ll put him to work harvesting wheat tomorrow.
Lost in thoughts of labor assignments, we reached the third floor. I pointed to a room.
“You can stay here. Lay His Highness in the room next door.”
I led the Crown Prince into a clean, spacious room.
The knight carefully laid him on the bed, then gave me a short salute.
“Thank you very much for letting us in.”
“It’s fine. I’ll be getting plenty of work out of you.”
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Get some good rest.”
After bowing, the knight left. I took one last look at the unconscious Crown Prince and was about to leave myself—
When suddenly, a chill ran through me and my vision spun. My back hit the soft bed.
The ceiling came into view.
And above me was the face of the Crown Prince, who had pushed me down.
He spoke quietly,
“Who are you?”
You bastard—I help you and this is how you repay me?!
His killing intent made my body stiffen, but I forced myself to speak clearly.
“I’m the owner of this place.”
“When did you build something like this?”
“…Do I really have to answer that?”
“Seems you don’t value your life.”
It wasn’t an empty threat. A sharp killing intent burst out of him instantly.
Breathing became difficult, but my mind raced.
Should I lie?
No. I hadn’t coordinated stories with Leila, and she was terrible at lying.
It would come out eventually anyway.
So I answered honestly.
“A year ago.”
The Crown Prince let out a disbelieving scoff.
“…So I finally found you.”
He drew his sword from its sheath.
What?! Why are you drawing that?!
The killing intent pouring from him intensified, to the point where an ordinary person like me could barely breathe.
Inside, I screamed.
What do you mean “finally found you,” you lunatic?!
Without another word, he pressed the blade to my neck. The cold steel touched my skin, and bright red blood trickled down.
“You built this fortress a year ago. And then the undead hordes appeared.”
I swallowed hard.
“And… so?”
“And you knew that when the undead bite people, they turn into undead as well—despite never having seen them before.”
…Tch. So he was awake earlier.
It seemed the Crown Prince had already been conscious and was just pretending to be unconscious.
He continued,
“When you put it all together, there’s only one possible answer left.”
“…Which is?”
A sense of dread washed over me as I looked into his blue eyes. Blue flames flickered within them.
He pressed the sword closer, drawing more blood from my neck.
As if delivering a final verdict, he said,
“That you are the dark mage who created the undead hordes.”
How did it come to that?!
This crazy bastard!
His killing intent was razor-sharp, and it didn’t look like he had any intention of pulling the sword away. He brought it even closer, as if he might cut my throat at any moment.
But I, Vanessa—
After everything I’d done to survive until now, I wasn’t about to die here. Tomorrow, I still had to take care of two newborn calves and a piglet—and harvest wheat.
I couldn’t let his presence overwhelm me.
If he brought pressure, I’d push back with pressure!
I shouted,
“Wait!”
“What is it? A final struggle?” he asked with a sneer.
Ignoring his mockery, I lifted my chin proudly.
“Unfortunately for you, I am not a dark mage.”
“That’s impossible. You—”
“Then check the mana flowing within my body.”
The reason he could fight off the endless waves of zombies in the novel was simple: he was a magic swordsman who could wield mana.
And magic swordsmen, by nature, could measure the mana of others.
I don’t even have a grain of rice’s worth of mana, you bastard.
I had been born with very little mana.
So little, in fact, that when I was born, a mage had been shocked and wanted to study me.
In other words—
Your guess is wrong.
Still, the Crown Prince was stubborn.
“I don’t listen to the words of a dark mage.”
What is this, ‘I don’t listen to the weak’ nonsense?
Annoyed by his obstinacy, I tapped his blade lightly and spoke forcefully.
“Then stop killing innocent people and just try it! You can kill me afterward—it won’t be too late!”
At that, he narrowed his eyes and lightly placed a hand over my head. Blue energy rippled from him as he measured my mana.
When he opened his eyes again, his expression was one of utter shock.
“There’s really no mana at all… That can’t be right! You’re…!”
“See? Your Highness. I don’t have any mana.”
“Then what in the world…?”
Taking advantage of his moment of confusion, I subtly moved my neck away from the blade.
Ow, that stings.
Wrapping the handkerchief around my neck, I said,
“My maternal family has prophet blood. I kept dreaming of undead hordes invading the capital, over and over. So I thought, ‘Something’s wrong. Let’s run,’ and fled in advance.”
“…I’ve never heard of a noble house like that. If one existed, the Empire would have known.”
“How can you be so sure you know everything? The Empire has a ‘Dark Age,’ doesn’t it?”
At that, the Crown Prince flinched, as if pricked by his conscience. The Empire’s Dark Age referred to the era when all those capable of prophecy were hunted down and killed—only a hundred years ago.
Prophetic ability had once belonged exclusively to the imperial bloodline, but when that line broke, prophets began appearing among commoners.
Every one of them foretold the fall of the Empire. Enraged, the Emperor captured and executed them all. Thus, the official story was that prophetic blood had vanished.
But who knew?
A surviving prophet could have secretly passed the bloodline down.
Of course, my family didn’t have even a drop of that blood—but it wasn’t a complete lie either. After all, as a reincarnation, I did know part of the future.
End Of Chapter : 04
