Chapter 30
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Ten Days Remaining
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* * *
The monster's carcass was ultimately not moved; instead, it was burned in the gardens of Happy House. Hazy smoke billowed into the sky all day long. The creature's body burned for a long, long time.
A strange atmosphere hung over the mansion. Vanilla, Ethan, and I stood silently, watching the monster's carcass burn.
As no one dared to speak, Vanilla quietly broke the silence.
“What in the world was that?”
She murmured, staring blankly at the hazy smoke.
“I don't know either.”
For now, I feigned ignorance.
An uncomfortable silence fell once more. *Crack, crackle.* The sound of firewood burning and the foul stench of the monster's burning carcass filled the air.
Dark storm clouds gathered in the sky.
“Before…”
Ethan, who had trailed off after his tentative remark, narrowed his brow as if quietly recalling something.
“I believe I've seen something similar to this before.”
My heart sank at Ethan's words. I feigned ignorance and asked him,
“Where did you see it? And what happened to them?”
“It was the 61 Notium Street incident. I believe I saw creatures similar to this in Benton. There were no casualties. The thing was already dead by then.”
“Dead before then?”
This time, Vanilla asked him with a puzzled look. Ethan answered without taking his eyes off the monster's carcass.
“Yes. They said a woman killed the monster by herself.”
Then, Ethan suddenly pulled a round brooch from the jacket pocket of his uniform.
“The owner of this brooch. I never saw her face, but I think she might know something about this.”
Ethan muttered. The brooch in his hand was all too familiar. An accessory I desperately wanted to pretend I'd never seen.
Vanilla looked at Ethan quizzically, then glanced at the brooch in his hand.
“Wait a moment. These initials… Could they be the owner's name?”
“That is my assumption.”
“They're the same as Lady Sinclair's initials, aren't they?”
Vanilla and Ethan looked at me at the same time. A cold sweat ran down my back, but I smiled as if nothing was wrong.
“How about that, what a coincidence. I can't even… Anyway, I saw the newspaper article too. What on earth could be happening?”
I quickly swallowed the excuse I was about to make: ‘I don't know how to use an axe.’
Ethan hadn't mentioned that the woman used an axe, had he? I almost confessed the truth with my own mouth.
Ethan stared at me silently, his expression unreadable. I felt like all the blood was draining from my body.
And then, unexpectedly, Ethan once again said nothing to me. I couldn't tell if he knew and was pretending not to, or if he truly had no idea.
‘This is even scarier.’
Silence fell once more. We quietly cast our gazes upon the blazing flames.
“61 Notium Street. Why does that sound familiar…”
Muttering to herself, Vanilla turned to Ethan and me and asked,
“But if this monster also appeared at 61 Notium Street, doesn't that mean it could be appearing in other places too?”
“From what we just saw, there seems to be a risk of infection as well. If so, this is a very serious matter.”
Vanilla and Ethan spoke one after the other. I couldn't give them any answer. Unfortunately, their worries were already too late.
The virus was already spreading, and the end was not far off.
“Perhaps that's why that woman killed it right away.”
Just then, Ethan muttered something quietly to himself. But I heard him clearly and realized that the woman he spoke of was me.
“First, I should report this to headquarters and begin a full-scale investigation. We need to search and see if there are more of these things.”
Ethan said, as if muttering. It seemed to be another thought spoken aloud, though his voice was a bit loud for that.
Beside him, Vanilla nodded blankly.
The ruined world was too harsh for a man like Ethan, who didn't hesitate to sacrifice himself for others, to survive.
More than anyone, Ethan was the one person who could not be allowed to sacrifice himself for others. Because his blood would save the world.
‘As I thought, it would be better for Ethan to return to the capital.’
Aurora is the protagonist, so she won't die. It would be better for him to be by her side.
As I've said before, if he doesn't, then I'll have to protect him.
“If you're reporting to headquarters and starting a full-scale investigation, does that mean you'll be going back up to the capital?”
I asked Ethan, a flicker of hope in my heart. But Ethan just stared at me. His expressionless face was quite chilling.
Finally, he answered.
“No. I will be staying here.”
“Wh-why?”
As I grew flustered, Ethan raised an eyebrow as if displeased about something.
“Because the monster appeared here. The investigation must proceed on this side as well, don't you think?”
Damn it. Hearing Ethan's words, I fell into despair once more.
‘There's still a little time left…’
I calculated the remaining days once again.
* * *
Ten days left until the apocalypse.
Happy House was starting to take on the appearance of a proper shelter.
The kitchen was well-organized with food supplies and cooking utensils, and the water tank was amply filled.
The banquet hall was ready to host guests at a moment's notice, and the wall-mounted torches and chandeliers in the hallway had been replaced with new ones, looking pristine.
The catapult on the second-floor roof, prepared for when the monsters attacked, was also fully installed.
The second-floor rooms were being used as storage, piled high with various daily necessities and furniture—enough for the three of us to live comfortably for two years with plenty to spare.
Just then, Susanna came down the lobby stairs.
“The second floor is organized, too. You cleaned so thoroughly, my lady, there was nothing left for me to do.”
Susanna approached me as I stood in the lobby.
Since buying the mansion, I had never skipped a day of cleaning, so despite its age, it had become quite clean. Susanna held a broom and looked at me with sparkling eyes.
“To think you even know how to clean. I was so surprised. Is there anything our lady can't do?”
I'll say it again: Susanna is an angel. I rushed over to her in a single bound, grabbed her hands, and shook them.
“Susanna, you're the absolute best.”
Susanna smiled shyly and nodded. I patted her on the head, then opened the front door and went out to look at the vegetable garden.
On the right side of the garden, I had planted plenty of Elpinus herb seeds, then put up a sign to mark them separately. The left side, where the other crops would be planted, had been spread with compost and was ready.
Past the garden was a chicken coop, and in the small shed next to it, I had stocked a wide array of weapons and gardening tools.
The wall surrounding the garden and the mansion had been repaired; it was now much thicker and taller than before.
I had also installed rather thick barbed wire, so it wouldn't be easy for monsters to climb over.
To think such an excellent shelter had been completed in such a short time, it truly felt like I could cry. All the hardships I'd faced flashed before my eyes like a panorama.
‘Money really is the best.’
Having tended to and decorated this place with my own hands, I'd grown truly attached to it. So much so that the absurd thought of living in Happy House until I grew old and died popped into my head.
In essence, this was no different from being independent. I had realized the dream of owning my own home, something I'd never even done in my past life!
‘You worked hard, Cherry. You did a great job.’
I comforted myself and looked toward the main gate. Susanna, who had followed me out, pointed at the gate and said,
“Opening and closing the gate isn't hard, but the crossbar is too heavy, my lady.”
She pointed to the crossbar propped up next to the stone gate.
“We won't be going out anyway.”
Of course, Susanna didn't understand what I meant.
‘Now, all I need is for Harrison to arrive.’
Today was the day Harrison was supposed to come to Brunel from the capital. I got ready and left the mansion.
Since morning, police officers had been patrolling the outskirts of the village and the area around Happy House.
Just as Ethan had said, a search was underway. It seemed their purpose was not just to patrol, but also to investigate the incident from that day.
I, too, grabbed my cricket bat and briefly searched the area around the house with them, but as expected, we found nothing.
“We've been searching since this morning, and we haven't seen so much as a wild animal, let alone a habitat. Does such a monster truly exist?”
A middle-aged police officer with a stylishly grown mustache said while rummaging through the bushes. I quickly agreed with him.
“That's right. There's no way there are more of them. This much searching should be enough.”
Unless the apocalypse has been moved up, the monsters won't appear in hordes. And even if they did, the ones showing up now would all be weaklings. In other words, the kind I could kill in one swing of my bat.
Still, I was grateful for their patrol, so I looked around the area a little longer before bidding the officers farewell.
“I have an errand to run, so I must be going. Thank you for coming out today, officers.”
With that, I hurried out of the woods.
‘So much to do.’
I need to hurry to the train station to meet Harrison.
I went down to Brunel village to rent a carriage, but the atmosphere felt strangely different today. Every time I passed, the villagers would stare and whisper amongst themselves.