Chapter 9: 9

“Kidnapped by zombies?”

With a dumbfounded face, I looked through the monastery’s window . It should’ve been the middle of the day right now, but thanks to the relentless downpour, it was quite dark outside .

Since it was so poorly lit outside, one’s range of vision should be impaired because of it as well . It kind of felt off that the zombies took advantage of the weather to not kill, but kidnap a person instead .

Now normally, zombies wouldn’t try to age a person like a fine wine before devouring the poor sucker, so they must’ve been aiming for something else here .

1

However, just a single villager?

“Did you say it was just one person?”

Gril nodded his head . He continued on with a deeply flustered face, “Yes, just one! It’s a young lady who moved into the neighboring village around three months ago . She’s… You know… that person you tried to score with…”

1

“I tried to do what now?”

This was my first time hearing about this story .

Gril snuck glances at our surroundings before whispering in my ear, “Well… she’s such a looker after all . I’m not sure if you can remember what happened, but after you got rejected by her, the shame led you to–you know… hang yourself…”

1

“…”

I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut just then .

Aaaargh… this was so damn embarrassing .

The dude killed himself not because he felt despair at his doomed fate, but because some girl rejected him?

I could now understand why the Holy Emperor abandoned this foolish grandson of his .

Since he probably treasured the family’s honour more than his life, he would’ve definitely wanted to forget all about this mangnani grandson for good .

I groaned helplessly as I massaged my temples . “Okay, so how did she get dragged away?”

“Pardon? T-that is…”

Gril looked flustered, unsure .

Actually, the person who was feeling more flustered than him was me .

Villagers were now standing guard outside the monastery . So, it’d be safest to stay indoors–anyone even thinking of stepping foot outside right now was obviously not right in the head .

“The young lady is very kind-hearted you see . Her personality won’t let her forsake any injured people around, and this was why she said that she’d go and procure some medicinal herbs and…”

2

What was up with this annoying development?

A bite wound wouldn’t pose any threat whatsoever with a sip of holy water . And yet, this woman personally went out to ‘procure’ medicinal herbs?

4

Gril continued on, “That’s why the villagers wish to form a search party . ”

“Aren’t you guys scared of the zombies?”

“She was the village’s herb gatherer and many people were saved due to her hard work, you see . Many of us are indebted, and… She’s one of the most beautiful women in the village too . And also single, your highness . ”

Meaning… all the love-struck men wanted to rescue her?

2

Actually, there was something bugging me about this as well . If the zombies really kidnapped her, then I should find out what they were really up to . I needed to find out whether this was a mere simple kidnapping or perhaps that woman and the zombies were involved in something shady .

“I get it now, but can you guys even track her down?”

“We have an experienced hunter named Hans with us . If it’s him, then it should be possible . What will you do, your highness?”

5

“Form the search party . I’m coming too . ”

“You’re going with the search party?”

Gril formed a surprised expression . Yup, he was probably taken aback by the fact that the ‘Imperial Prince’ wanted to go rescue a maiden who rejected his advance . Especially so when he already knew what the boy’s personality was like .

“Never mind whether she rejected me or not, I can’t even remember it anyway . Besides that, a person’s life is much more important, don’t you agree?” I said, sounding quite righteous for a moment there .

Honestly though, I was thinking of something else–there must’ve been a reason for the zombies to not devour the woman right away, but instead drag her somewhere else .

I thought that just maybe, searching for the kidnapped woman could lead us to the solution to this crisis . Something just felt off to me, which was why I needed to investigate it .

1

**

A search party had been hastily formed .

“It’s this way! Over here…!”

While wearing a pair of worn-out leather shoes and a robe, I made my way across the rainy, soggy forest on foot . The location the ten members of the search party arrived at while wielding burning torches, was a cave located pretty far from the monastery .

The hunter named Hans nodded his head as he looked at the bits of flesh and blood left on the grass, as well as the muddy footsteps on the ground . “It must be here . ”

“Wow, you sure have located it so quickly, haven’t you?” I retorted sarcastically .

Actually, it wasn’t so much as having ‘located it quickly’, but more like ‘lured’ to this place, or so I thought . These zombie assholes were smart as hell, so they must’ve deliberately left all these breadcrumbs for us to follow .

1

What was their goal though? Was this a diversionary tactic to split the villagers? If not, maybe lure away small numbers and hunt them down one group at a time?

I stared into the cave’s interior, my mind still filled with several questions .

It was a pretty deep Negative Field where the outside light couldn’t reach . No matter how deep it was, though, it failed to disguise the stench of rotting corpses busy stinging my nostrils . Although faint, I even sensed demonic energy too .

Without a doubt, we discovered the den of the zombies .

“This place is definitely it . ”

The origin of the plague must be in here too .

Never mind the zombie rats, there was a pretty good chance that the zombified humans and animals could be found inside . Us stepping inside this cave was basically the same thing as presenting a veritable buffet for the zombies to enjoy .

There was no need to trigger the trap if you knew it was waiting for you .

“Should I go and get the oil for cremation from the monastery first? With that, I should be able to get rid of the zombies in one go . ”

3

The cave even sloped downwards too . By setting a fire and letting it burn for half a day, maybe not all of them but hopefully we’d get to kill about half of the zombies inside .

2

However, my opinion brought about a nervous question from the villagers .

“Your highness, what would happen to Morian in that case?”

“Morian?”

When I mouthed the unfamiliar name, Gril next to me whispered the answer, “That’s the name of the kidnapped lady . ”

Was she still even alive at this point right now?

The men were clearly getting anxious as they nervously paced about .

That lady was their benefactor, and also the object of their crush . So yeah, they should be anxious alright . Too bad, I simply couldn’t endanger everyone just to rescue one person .

I lifted the torch and pointed it at the interior of the cave . “Look, you can tell that this place is a Negative Field even with just a casual glance . Which means it’ll be seriously dangerous . It’s where the undead can receive buffs, you know?”

“…Buffs?”

The men tilted their heads . They were puzzled by such a strange term .

I replied . “…It’s where the undead can grow stronger . ”

More importantly, it was so dark in there that you couldn’t see properly . The staggering, flailing zombies would present a greater danger than before in such an environment .

At the very least, I had no reason to risk this much uncertainty .

Gril studied the reactions of his fellow villagers before whispering back to me, “What will you do now, your highness?”

This cave was just too suspicious .

“Hmm, I hope there isn’t a zombie bear or something in there . ”

7

It’d be a definite no-no if that’s the case . A damn zombie bear? The current me wouldn’t be able to properly defeat such a thing . I wasn’t even a warrior, so what was I supposed to do against such a monster if it really appeared?

The villagers were now looking at me . I guessed that they wanted me to make the final call . Even they judged it to be too dangerous to just blindly rush into the cave .

“Right now, it’d be for the best if we step back . ”

Since we now knew where the origin of the plague was, we could afford to go and prepare ourselves adequately first . We weren’t just going to sacrifice ten lives to rescue one villager .

“We return to the monastery for now . Marching straight in there will only result in needless casualt…”

It was then–a seriously thick stench suddenly stabbed into my nose . While stunned silly, I instinctively looked behind me . A chill ran down my spine .

Just as my eyes shifted towards the forest, a black shadow pounced on me and bit into my shoulder .

Stab!

Sharp fangs dug in and tore into my flesh . Soft skin ripped open and my muscles were gouged out; shoulder bones were crushed in the process, too .

“Uwaahk!!”

I screamed out loudly .

Then, my vision rotated upside down . Something was forcibly dragging me into the cave while biting into my shoulder .