Chapter 27
“Do you have a backpack? Please give it to me.”
Jaeger obediently handed over the bag slung on one shoulder.
I fumbled to open it and slipped my hand inside.
By touch, I picked out cotton, disinfectant, and the temple’s special ointment.
“Please give me the injured leg.”
Again, he complied without resistance.
Strange. I thought he’d brush me off with a ‘mind your own business and take care of yourself,’ but he didn’t.
It must have been hurting him more than he let on.
“Do you still have the lightstone I gave you?”
I heard him rummage through his pocket, and then suddenly, the darkness lit up.
I blinked several times until my blurry vision cleared.
“…!”
Jaeger’s face was right in front of mine.
Smooth, flawless skin without a single pore in sight. A straight, sharp nose, and neatly closed lips.
…A textbook definition of a refined handsome man.
Just as I was inwardly marveling, Jaeger twitched one eyebrow and abruptly turned his head away.
“……”
I felt a bit put out.
But when we were trapped in that cave, you even held my hand. Didn’t you feel at least a little camaraderie?
Still, since his reaction wasn’t that big of a deal, I simply snatched the lightstone from him and used it to illuminate his wound.
Blood seeped through the torn fabric.
I soaked some cotton with disinfectant and repeatedly wiped the blood away.
The gash bled like fish gills pushing out water.
How did he even endure this?
Just as I was about to apply the ointment—
“Why…”
His low, husky voice suddenly broke the silence.
Jaeger’s lips moved slightly, as though hesitating.
I glanced at him briefly, then kept applying the medicine, silently waiting.
Jaeger was a rigid, ineloquent man. Careful yet oddly emotional, he must have had plenty of experiences with saying the wrong thing.
The type who needed patience, not prodding.
Come to think of it, in the original story he was more of a man of action than words.
[ Jaeger, do you even love me? ]
Even though his romance bloomed in just a few pages, he never managed to say “I love you” until the end—earning the saintess’ misunderstanding.
He was the kind of man who condemned his own natural desires for the woman he loved as vile and shameful.
As a holy knight paired with a saintess, maybe professional ethics had some influence on him.
But betray a man like that? The consequences would be terrifying.
Prejudice, once planted, was hard to uproot.
“May I ask you something?”
His voice, softer than before, came from above me as I worked.
This time, there was no hesitation in his tone.
“Go ahead.”
“Why didn’t you run off alone? I couldn’t run. If you’d left me behind, you wouldn’t be trapped here now.”
I froze mid-motion and looked at him blankly.
That was unexpected.
I knew it would be a difficult question, since he hesitated so much, but I didn’t expect him to wonder about my thoughts.
I began wrapping his thigh with a bandage and replied casually,
“Do I look like someone who’d abandon a comrade and run just to save myself?”
“……”
“Do I look like someone who’d abandon a comrade and run?”
“……”
“Do I?”
“……”
Answer me, brat.
Your big sister asked three times.
Even under my half-forced pressure, Jaeger gave no answer.
I shot a sidelong glare at the man whose lips seemed glued shut.
Well, maybe it was a fair suspicion.
In the original, the real Redria would have scrambled for her backpack and fled alone.
I fell into thought.
How should I answer so he’ll shed that damn grudge and cooperate with me?
And then, ironically, I felt a pang of guilt.
Even now, I was calculating the “right” response.
Yes, my ultimate goal was to save both him and myself…
But can I really call that a noble intention?
Surely these keen men could sense something off about my so-called goodwill.
So how could it ever be genuine to them?
Not that I expected heartfelt gratitude, but still… the bitter taste lingered.
Luckily, I had no time to dwell on it—treatment was done.
I tied the bandage tight and tidied up the supplies.
“All done.”
“You still haven’t answered me. Why didn’t you run?”
“I missed the timing.”
“……”
Maybe he caught on to my excuse, or maybe he decided not to pry further—either way, he fell silent.
Good. I wasn’t in the mood to argue.
I tightened the strings of the backpack shut and looked up at the sky.
Through the gaps, zombies were trying to force their way in.
“…This is a good chance to study zombie traits.”
“Traits?”
Yes, traits.
The original story never really described them.
The male leads, half-crazed, just slaughtered zombies relentlessly.
For them, peace was nothing more than a fleeting breeze.
Even after organizing scouting parties, building watchtowers, and trying to live day-to-day, they trembled under constant zombie attacks and the cruelty of monsters.
The ceaseless howls of zombies through the night.
Food shortages, weapon shortages, exhaustion worsened by Redria’s blunders.
They fought on with neither proper sleep nor nourishment—how could they think rationally?
That’s why it’s smart to analyze zombie traits now, while there’s still room to breathe.
Life is about bracing for the unexpected, after all.
I shone the lightstone on the ground, searching for the one I’d dropped earlier.
There it is.
Fortunately, I found it quickly.
I peeled off the soundproofing sticker and lifted the stone.
Kuweeek!
Zombies shoved their hands and heads through the narrow opening.
Jaeger looked slightly alarmed.
“What are you doing?”
“Just watch quietly.”
I picked up a pebble and tossed it among the zombies.
Clack, clatter, clack.
The pebble bounced outside the cave, but not a single zombie turned its head.
Then, how about this…
I threw the lightstone into the gap.
Thud—! Roll, roll.
It hit the slope with a duller sound than before and rolled down.
Again, they didn’t react.
Not being intelligent creatures, they hadn’t sensed any trick.
They simply didn’t perceive it.
…So zombies really can’t hear or see. Then how do they sense us?
At that moment, something soft and squishy pressed against the back of my hand.
I looked—
A rabbit.
“You’re still here?”
“Squeeeak!”
As its ears twitched, a thought struck me.
Could it be…?
I picked the rabbit up and looked it straight in the eyes. A crude test, but worth trying.
“Sorry.”
“Squeee…?”
Without warning, I lifted the rabbit high.
“Sq-quee! Sq-quee!”
Kicking fiercely with its hind legs, the rabbit resisted, but I shoved it up toward the cave’s entrance.
The rabbit wiggled its rear, squeezed past the zombie gap, and escaped outside.
But not a single zombie chased it.
Watching this, I let out a heavy sigh.
“So that’s it.”
Whatever the mechanism, zombies weren’t sensing through sight or sound.
They were recognizing.
…Damn it.
Only living humans, to be exact.
I shared all of my deductions with Jaeger.
Since he’d seen my experiments firsthand, he seemed to accept it without resistance.
I continued,
“As for the horse, I think it got infected because it panicked at the zombie cries, then got bitten when a zombie confused it for a human.”
I couldn’t explain why or how zombies specifically identified humans, so I left it at that.
Still, being trapped in this burrow wasn’t a total loss.
At least we’d safely uncovered something about their nature.
I glanced up at the zombies still trying to claw their way inside.
The forest’s darkness was unpredictable, but I knew the terrain-shift lasted only 24 hours.
If we endured just one day, we could leave here and use the tracking brooch to find the male leads.
I gathered my messy hair and tied it up.
“Until the terrain changes again, we won’t be able to get out. Let’s take turns keeping watch and resting. Mind if I sleep first?”
After staying on edge all this time and dealing with emotional labor, I was exhausted.
Fortunately, Jaeger remained silent, offering no objection.
Good.
I curled up against the narrow wall.
Once daylight came, the landscape would change again.
We’d be busy moving, so I needed to recharge while I could.
As soon as I closed my eyes, sleep swept over me without resistance.
