Chapter 77
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Last Bastion
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The palace of the Graydon Kingdom.
The entire building where the servants resided was under lockdown.
The heavily fortified Graydon Palace had only three gates.
One was the main gate, used by all. Another was a secret gate known only to a few members of the royal family. The last was a service gate used by the staff to transport various supplies for the palace.
Two of these three gates had already fallen and were now overrun with monsters.
The only remaining gate was the one for supply transport, attached to the servants' quarters.
Crown Prince Theodore had invested a great deal of effort into securing this very gate. He then designated the servants' building, the closest to the gate, as his base camp.
On the top floor of the building, Theodore sat in the chief chamberlain’s office and let out a sigh.
“I hear that Lloyd fellow has set up a survival camp at the Devonshire estate.”
His only brother’s movements were concerning.
The figures gathered at the Devonshire estate were too formidable for it to be a simple survival camp.
Marquis Devonshire, Count Adler, Viscount Hanworth.
They were all among the most powerful, influential, and vocal nobles who supported Prince Lloyd.
In contrast, how was his own survival camp faring?
‘We’re practically wiped out.’
Could anyone have predicted things would turn out this way?
It seemed that among the factions supporting Crown Prince Theodore, none had survived, save for Duke Lontail.
‘But it’s surprising that Duke Lancaster isn’t at Lloyd’s camp. Is he already dead?’
When the disaster struck, the palace was the first to fall, and the king and queen had perished. To be precise, they had likely turned into monsters and were now wandering somewhere within the palace grounds.
Theodore tapped his fingers on the desk. He then looked at his aide, Elderson, who stood before him, and asked.
“What’s the status of the advance to Brunel? Have you found Ethan?”
“Contact was lost near Westmore Station. It appears advancing beyond Westmore is difficult.”
To get to Brunel, one had to first take a train from Benton through Westmore, Honderf, and Kintne. From Kintne, another carriage ride was necessary to reach Brunel.
Yet, they were repeatedly blocked at Westmore, unable to even reach Honderf or Kintne.
“Does that mean we’re all trapped here, with no way out?”
“…I’m afraid so.”
“Dammit. I wonder if other countries are in the same situation.”
“At this rate of infection, it’s likely that other nations are not faring much differently. The Western Continent might be a different story, but the Briwood Kingdom, which borders Graydon, is surely in the same predicament.”
Elderson was right. It was possible that all the countries on the same continent had already fallen. Or would soon.
But he couldn’t give up just like that. He couldn’t stand by and watch the world sink into oblivion.
He had to find the cause of the outbreak as quickly as possible and stop the infection. After that, the monsters would be exterminated.
With the king dead, he, the crown prince, was the only one with the power to protect this country. He had to keep his wits about him and break through this crisis.
“I need Ethan.”
Theodore muttered, his face lost in thought.
Ethan was not only the heir to the Lancaster ducal family but also a man of exceptional ability.
Though he had declared he would start from the bottom as a police officer, Theodore knew his swordsmanship and marksmanship were already the best in the Graydon Kingdom.
When they attended the Royal Academy together, Theodore usually took the top spot, but that was only possible when Ethan wasn’t interested in the exams.
Ethan excelled in every subject; there was nothing he couldn’t do. A genius who didn’t need to try. That was Ethan.
During their time at the Royal Academy, there had been a large-scale student riot over an admissions fraud scandal.
Students from the Royal Academy’s military department were brought in to suppress the protest.
At that time, Ethan had quickly identified the ringleaders, then dismantled the protest from its core, subduing the students in a short amount of time.
It was Ethan who had made the greatest contribution to successfully ending the riot without any casualties.
In terms of ability alone, Ethan was better suited to be a soldier than a police officer.
He was a brilliant strategist and was adept at leading people to execute operations.
That was why, in an emergency like this, a talent like Ethan was absolutely essential.
“And Lady Lancaster?”
“I believe she is resting with the other ladies who accompanied her.”
At Elderson’s words, Theodore rose from his seat.
There was no time to rest.
The palace and the capital were already saturated with roaming monsters, and their ability to hold out here was reaching its limit.
An apocalypse they were unprepared for was this devastating. So much so that a nation's leaders were left helplessly isolated, unable to do a thing.
“I need to have a proper talk with Lady Lancaster. We have to get Ethan.”
“Sir Ethan… shouldn’t we first confirm if he’s even alive?”
“You have a lot to say for someone who claims we can’t even get past Westmore.”
Elderson fell silent, having nothing more to say to Theodore’s sharp rebuke.
“Besides, Ethan wouldn’t have died. I’m sure of it.”
Furthermore, Knox and Cherry Sinclair were in Brunel with Ethan. And wasn’t Knox one of the most skilled doctors in all of Graydon?
And if Cherry Sinclair was there, then Harrison Howard would surely be there too… Cherry might be useless, but Knox and Harrison were valuable assets.
Of course, that was assuming they were still alive. But if Ethan was there, the chances of them being alive were high.
Theodore once again reviewed his reasons for needing to go to Brunel.