Chapter 59
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Whispers in the Woods
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I set down my bag, pulled out my axe, and quickly scanned the area.
The dark forest was quiet, a stark contrast to the town behind us, which was still filled with the roars of monsters.
Confirming that it was safe outside, I shouted down below.
“Come on up!”
At my call, Knox finally climbed up the ladder, followed by Ethan.
“Is your leg alright?”
I asked Knox, who looked a little exhausted. He had slumped to the ground and now nodded with difficulty.
“It’s bearable.”
“Then we’d best get moving.”
Ethan offered his hand to Knox. Knox stared blankly at Ethan's face for a moment before quietly taking his hand and getting to his feet.
Just as Ethan had said, the forest behind the police station led to the mountain behind Happy House.
This meant we had to climb the forest hill and approach Happy House from the rear.
Though the sun had just been setting when we were down below, night had already fallen by the time we reached the top.
Once the sun begins to set, darkness falls in an instant. I took out the lantern I'd put in my bag and lit it.
*I'm going to run out of matches at this rate.*
I'd stocked a generous two-year supply at the mansion, but I had a feeling it might not be enough.
I should practice making a fire without matches or a lighter, like on a deserted island. I did buy a ton of survival books, after all. Though I can't guarantee I'll actually be able to start a fire just by reading them.
“So, are we heading to your mansion now, Miss Cherry?”
I nodded at Knox's question. Since we'd failed to make a call, we had to go back to the mansion for now.
I had expected this to happen, but Ethan probably hadn't. He'd grown noticeably quiet.
“Let’s go.”
I went back to supporting Knox, and we stepped into the forest.
Fortunately, there were no monsters in the forest. It seemed they hadn't yet strayed from the town where people still remained. Of course, once time passed and food ran out, they would gradually start to scatter.
We walked through the quiet, dark forest.
*Crunch. Crunch.*
No one was willing to be the first to speak. As a brief moment of peace settled in, the anxiety we had momentarily set aside began to creep back.
I recalled what had happened at the police station just a short while ago.
“It's no use. I've already tried dozens of times. No one's picking up. Same goes for the capital.”
“Even if the capital were fine, the trains wouldn't be running. No one would come all the way down to this mountain town of Brunel.”
Those were Mr. Hans's words. It was definitely from that point on that Ethan had grown so quiet.
*What's the situation in the capital right now?*
Just then, Knox broke the silence.
“It could just be a problem with the telephone exchange.”
“Yes. That's a possibility.”
Ethan agreed with Knox, but he didn't seem convinced by his own words. His expression turned somewhat skeptical, and he fell back into a long silence.
*Crunch. Crunch.*
Once again, there was no sound but the rhythmic crunch of our footsteps on the dirt path.
Ethan, in particular, exuded a gloomy air the entire time. To be honest, if I had a sister as precious as Aurora, I'd be going crazy with worry just like him.
In my case, on the other hand,
*Harrison will be fine.*
I had a kind of faith in that. Harrison was the type of person who handled everything skillfully.
“It still feels like I'm dreaming. A very nasty dream, at that.”
Knox sighed, looking rather haggard. He was walking with Ethan's support.
“It might be better to believe it's a dream.”
Ethan muttered in response. I didn't say anything.
“I learned something while I was trapped in that damn town, avoiding those things. It's definitely a contagious virus. You get infected if they bite you. Then, after a certain amount of time, your body changes into one of theirs.”
Knox said abruptly. It seemed he had observed the monsters quite a bit during the few days he was trapped in the town.
In any case, what he'd just said was something Ethan and I already knew.
What was interesting were the words that followed.
“This whole situation didn't seem to have started in Brunel. I saw the stable hand who first showed these strange symptoms here, and he'd been acting odd ever since he got back from the capital.”
It appeared Knox had witnessed the first infected person in Brunel. He paused to catch his breath, as if his leg was hurting, then continued.
“I suspect the first infected person was probably in the capital. If not, it was definitely near the capital.”
The theory that the first infected person might have been in the capital.
Considering the alchemists and Marquis Casey were in the capital, it could be true. But it was still just conjecture and speculation, nothing certain.
The alchemists may have conducted unethical experiments, but I still didn't know what kind of experiments they were, or what they were for.
Ethan, who had been silent, finally spoke.
“If the outbreak started in the capital, then by now, the capital must be...”
“I expect the situation is probably even more dire than in Brunel.”
At Knox's reply, Ethan let out a short, pained groan. Knox, who was leaning on both me and Ethan as he walked, looked over at him.
“Your sister's in the capital, isn't she? Our friend here won't be able to sleep a wink from worry now.”
“Don't worry about my sister. Worry about your own family.”
“My family? They'll manage just fine on their own.”
Knox laughed nonchalantly.
“We're a business family. Not as close-knit as the Lancasters.”
“The Lancasters are no different.”
Ethan replied flatly. Knox looked at Ethan, puzzled.
Though they'd known each other for a long time, it seemed Knox didn't know everything about Ethan's family situation.
The same was true for Ethan. His expression showed he had no interest in Knox's family matters either.
I remembered what Ethan had told me before. He'd said he thought his father was a great man, but he wasn't.
“My father is a great man. At least, that's what I grew up believing until five years ago.”
“He doesn't get his own hands dirty, but he's involved in all sorts of crimes and illegal incidents.”
“Is that why you became a police officer?”
“Cowardly of me, I ran away like that.”
“It was a conscientious choice, wasn't it? At least you didn't turn a blind eye. Unlike me.”
“I'm not that conscientious either. I couldn't bring myself to take my own father down, so I just left and tried to atone elsewhere.”
It seemed Knox didn't know much about Ethan's circumstances.
*Does that mean I'm the only one who knows Ethan's story and his trauma?*
It was a strange feeling. It felt like we had shared a small part of our inner selves. Of course, Ethan probably wasn't thinking about it that deeply.
I glanced between them and then spoke.
“Still, Sir Ethan and Mr. Ludpersher, your parents are still alive. Their fate is just uncertain right now, but there's still hope they might be alive.”
The two men looked at me. I caught a fleeting glimpse of pity in their eyes. I shrugged and replied.
“I've been alone for a long time. So take comfort in what you have.”
Knox then offered a small rebuttal.
“I really don't care about the well-being of the people I call my family. Besides, I think dying as a human would be a blessing compared to turning into one of those monsters.”
“That's true.”
Ethan chimed in, a rare display of agreement with Knox.
*I know he was raised as the precious youngest son of the Ludpersher family, so why is he so indifferent towards them?*
But I wasn't interested enough in him to touch on such a sensitive topic, so I decided to let it go.
In the meantime, we had climbed quite high, and Happy House came into view in the distance.
“We're finally here.”
Ethan and Knox came up behind me.
“Most of the monsters are gone. Using the catapult was a wise decision.”
Ethan said to me.
Knox, who had been gazing blankly at the distant mansion, posed a question to me.
“That catapult... that's the thing the contractor was installing on the roof last time, right? But why on earth did you have something like that built?”
Knox looked at me with genuine curiosity. Another difficult question.
“Why don't we talk about it once we're inside the mansion?”
I let go of Knox's arm, which I'd been supporting. With my free hand, I drew the axe I had tucked behind my back.
There weren't many of them, but there were still a few monsters roaming around the mansion.