🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 77
“Did you perhaps go back up into the forest to look for me?”
My mind raced at the unexpected question.
Had he seen me in the forest?
No, that was impossible…
Why would he ask something like that?
While I hesitated, unsure how to answer, Rumi—who had been lying beside me—let out a small “Ah,” as if something clicked. She turned from staring at the ceiling and rolled over to look at me.
Come to think of it, even Rumi didn’t know exactly where I had met Idorian or how we entered together.
“No,” I replied quickly before it was too late.
If Idorian was asking like this, it meant he wasn’t certain. Besides, when he first saw me—or even after we came here—he hadn’t asked whether I’d gone up the mountain. It likely wasn’t a question with any deeper meaning.
“I tried going up, but I was afraid we’d miss each other, so I came right back down.”
“…I see.”
As expected, Idorian simply accepted my answer without further comment.
“But why’d you suddenly ask something like that, Idorian?” Rumi tilted her head.
That was exactly what I wanted to know.
“…No reason.”
Idorian’s curt response made it clear he had no intention of explaining.
Time passed in silence, broken only by Uben’s light breathing. Then, Idorian spoke again.
“It just felt like… someone was nearby.”
After that, nothing but breathing filled the room again.
Idorian never mentioned what happened in the forest—how he hurt his arm, how he managed to bring down that house-sized bear, or how scared he must have been. He said nothing at all.
The next morning
I got up early and told Rumi everything from the day before: watching Idorian from afar, chasing after him down the mountain, how he believed I’d been hiding in a farmhouse storage room nearby, and how despite smelling blood, he hadn’t fallen asleep immediately like usual.
“Hm. You did well not showing yourself to him,” Rumi said quietly after listening.
“But I’m not sure how long we can keep this hidden.”
She was right—this place was far riskier than the fortress had been. When things got urgent, I ended up doing strange things, like carrying Rumi on my back at inhuman speed. That alone could raise suspicion.
And Idorian was exhausting himself trying to protect me, which was another problem. Crossing the lake, fleeing zombies—none of that had actually been dangerous for me. If anything, I was the one making him strain himself more.
If he knew I was a zombie, maybe we could move more efficiently.
I could lure zombies with sound while the others moved… something like that.
The real reason the thought came to me was because, somewhere deep inside, I felt this:
Neither Uben nor Idorian would try to kill me even if they learned the truth.
“No.”
Rumi cut sharply into my thoughts—as if she’d read them.
“Uben and Idorian may not reject Penelope right now. But we don’t know how they’ll act later.”
She held my gaze, firm and resolute.
“Handing someone your weakness and waiting to be judged is foolish.”
Rumi was unwavering. She, of all people, knew better than anyone that revealing my identity would make everything easier for me—yet she refused.
“Most of all, Penelope wants to enter the capital, right?”
She told me not to reveal my secret.
“If the people in the capital discover you’re a zombie, do you think they’ll let you in?”
“…Ah.”
She was absolutely right.
If the truth became public, I would never set foot inside the capital. I wouldn’t be able to do anything except wait for execution. Even if someone killed me, they’d only need to claim I attacked them, and no one would question it.
…And yet, a part of me still believed Idorian and Uben wouldn’t expose me.
“The more people know a secret, the harder it becomes to control.”
Rumi shut down my wavering thoughts again.
“…Yes. I’ll be careful.”
I finally agreed. She had never once steered me wrong, and everything she said made sense.
“…Penelope, do you have something else to say?” Rumi tilted her head.
I must have been staring at her for a while.
“I was just thinking… I’m really glad you’re here, Rumi.”
“…Huh?”
“If you weren’t here, I would’ve been much more lonely and scared. Thank you. Truly.”
It was sudden, but sincere.
Rumi, however, was utterly flustered. She looked away, ears turning bright red. I had never seen her react like that.
“You were already awake.”
Idorian came down the stairs, speaking as he spotted us. He glanced outside as though checking the time. Dawn’s gray light still lingered.
Uben was still asleep—but the surprising thing was that Idorian had gotten up after Rumi. Even on the island, he hadn’t slept properly. Uben had been telling the truth.
Idorian sat right beside me—far closer than necessary. Our legs touched. He must have realized it, because he shifted slightly and spoke:
“About what I tried to say yesterday. I looked through every house where you two might’ve been… but none of them had any food left.”
No food.
I’d half expected that.
That must be why people of the Retern territory risked their lives climbing into the forest.
At first, we had climbed the mountain to escape zombies. High ground gave us an advantage—they couldn’t jump.
But now, zombies were everywhere—even above. The people of Retern must have climbed because there was no food below. They wanted storerooms full of supplies.
Surely, we could find enough for just the three of us…?
We didn’t need overflowing storage—just enough to survive.
“In this state—with me and Rumi injured—it’s harder to move,” Idorian continued.
My thoughts scattered.
“…Yeah. I think I sprained it pretty badly,” Rumi admitted. “I can walk on flat ground, but stairs hurt.”
“So hills will be painful too?”
“I don’t think I can climb the forest anytime soon.”
Idorian nodded.
“And there’s something else. My father said the imperial army may arrive sooner than we expected.”
He explained the worst-case scenario: If we climbed the mountain and reached the fortress only to miss the imperial army on the way, they might already have departed before we arrived.
“Then how about heading for the entrance of the village instead?” Rumi suggested. “Unlike the mountain paths, the village entrance is a route they must pass to reach the fortress.”
“And again on the way from the fortress back to the capital,” Idorian agreed.
“Then let’s aim for the entrance.”
“Yes. Joining the imperial army is our top priority.”
Even if our injuries slowed us and we missed them on the way up, we could still meet them on the way back down.
“Only problem is… still no food.”
“If we keep searching, we’ll find something—enough for us, at least,” I said, trying to lift the mood.
Idorian caught on and smiled weakly. “Right. I’ll go out and look around again.”
But that was a rather strange thing to say.
