******* Arthur's POV *******

The woman is still screaming questions at King Carolus.

I don't understand the things she been asking. The only thing I sort of understand is the thing about the four ancient heroes.

King Carolus is just standing still letting them woman almost reaping off his shirt.

I was about to move and stop her whatever she is doing but I just remained still since King Carolus asked me to.

After the screaming and crying for a while, the woman suddenly starting to lose strength in her legs.

She loses grip on King Carolus shirt and is about to fall down but King Carolus just quickly catches her.

He then carries her in his arms and started walking towards me.

"The weakness status is probably gone but she still weak so bring her upstairs and let her rest." He said to me while handing the unconscious woman to my arms.

I quickly received her while still wondering what she is talking about.

I can see that King Carolus is still calm even after all the things that happened.

I also noticed that the woman said he lived for a long time but I don't really know how to process that information.

Did she mean literary that he had lived for a long time or metaphorically?

I don't know what is happening but I'm glad to know that there is really a way to cure an individual that turned into a zombie. Now I'm starting to remember all the zombies I killed.

"What are you waiting for?" I suddenly hear King Carolus voice.

He asked me since I just remained standing holding the woman in my arms.

I quickly bowed my head and started walking.

I was about to open the door and leave when I take a quick glance at King Carolus.

I fully remembered the one story that my mother used to tell me when I was really young. It is my favorite story and I used to ask my mother to repeat it over and over again every night.

The story about the four ancient heroes that tried to save the world and the fifth one that supposed to lead them but never appeared.

******* Carolus' POV *******

Glad the woman passed out after screaming and crying.

I was starting to panic since I don't know what she is talking about and she really insisted for me to answer her questions.

I was thinking on just karate chop her to sleep but just remained still and waited for her to calm down but then she loses consciousness and I just let Arthur carry her upstairs to let her rest.

The moment the door closes behind me, I quickly breathe out a sigh of relief.

I don't know what is going on a while ago but let focus on the zombie curing for now.

I started walking to the other two zombies to figured out what to do next.

The first zombie curing is successful so I'm confident that zombie Merek will also be cured so I decided to try to cure the other zombie.

This zombie has fully black eyes and his skin is really green.

He is a full-fledged zombie and I doubt he can be cured but I need to try.

I opened his cell door and waited for him to come out in the open.

After reaching the middle of the room, I quickly threw a weakness potion at him and the bottle quickly breaks upon hitting his body.

I noticed that he is starting to get weaker so I take this chance to open his mouth and shove a golden apple inside.

He started to shake and trash on the ground the same with the first zombie curing.

After a while, he is starting to turn into a human.

I was about to turn horrified to myself since I killed a lot of zombies while they still can be cured but when I look at the body, he just remained still and he looks dead.

I quickly approached the body and started to expect to see if he is breathing or he has a heartbeat.

Nothing.

I can hear nothing in his chest and I didn't notice him breathing even after a long time.

He is dead

He is really dead and not the zombie kind dead.

It seems that you can cure all zombies in this world but the one you can truly save is the one who is not turned for a long time.

I theorized this by seeing the differences in their clothing about how preserved and new it is between the woman and the other zombies so I know that she turned into undead months or probably weeks ago.

I just wasted one potion of weakness and a golden apple but it doesn't matter. This is for the name of science.

I stared at the dead body and wonder what to do with it.

I should get rid of this and give him a proper burial.

I can't just carry him upstairs though because it might cause a misunderstanding.

I just have to carry him out of here using the tunnel and bury him somewhere in the north.

I grab a huge clothe in my inventory to cover the body for the meantime.

I quickly got back on my feet and started walking to the final zombie in my basement.

I began staring at zombie Merek while he is banging in the bars of his cell.

Okay.

Arthur really hates this guy but I don't want him to stay a zombie for long.

I might need him when I decided to travel to the Kingdom of Xaerin.

I quickly opened his door cell and walked inside.

I tackled him to the ground and force him to drink the weakness potions and shove a golden apple inside his mouth.

I didn't bother to wait for him to turn into a human and just lock his cell door leaving him inside.

I quickly turned my attention to the dead body on the floor and began wrapping him carefully with clothing I just used to cover him.

I then carefully carry him in my arms and started walking to the tunnel.

******* Rose's POV *******

"What are we still doing here, Rose? We already lose half of our people from skeleton and slime attacks. You want all of us to die?"

I can hear the leader of my guards but I just ignored his plea since we still haven't found the person we are looking for.

The prophet said that the person that was promised by the goddess to save this world is inside this forest.

We were given an order to find that person.

We set out with around 100 people equipped with decent armor and weapons but there are only about less than 50 of us right now.

I know this is a foolish mission given to us but I have to find him and ask him why he is done nothing for a long time and why he just stayed hidden.

"Zombies! There are a lot of zombies coming here!"

I can hear someone shouting from a distance and quickly ready my bow.

I'm riding a horse so I can see the surroundings better than everyone even in the darkness of the night and I can now see lots and lots of zombies coming towards here.

I began ordering everyone to defend themselves and I also started shooting arrows to the coming horde.

We managed to hold out at first but was quickly overrun since there is so many of them.

Even with the odds, I still continue firing arrows until I was grab in my horse and was thrown on the ground.

I quickly equipped my dagger and shoved it in the head of the attacker.

I was about to climb back to my horse when suddenly something just attacked me from behind and bite me in the neck.

I screamed so hard and my consciousness began to fade.

My eyes quickly opened and immediately rose up.

I was greeted with a terrified old woman who is holding a wet towel in her hand and quite a lot of children around me.

I noticed that I'm sitting in a very comfortable bed and was covered with a beautiful blanket.

I also noticed that I'm now holding a bow and arrow in my hand.

I can see everyone around me is very afraid so I quickly store my weapon back to my inventory.

I raised both of my arms to let them know I mean them no harm.

"Bad dream?" The old woman asked me after the intense moment finally died down.

I didn't answer her and just nodded my head and started looking at the surroundings.

I am in a room made of stone and noticed that the door of this room is made out of iron.

Who in this world would waste an iron crafting it into a door?

I also look above me and see a beautiful block that emits an elegant glow that is both soothing and relaxing.

"Oh. King Carolus just recently replaced all the lighting in the castle. He called them glowstone and they are really beautiful." I can hear the woman explaining things from me since I keep staring at the block.

"Children. Would you mind leaving the room while I talk to the young lady?" She turned to face the children and quickly ordered them to leave.

They immediately run towards the door and after a while, there is only me and the old woman in this room.

The old woman sat on the chair beside the bed and hand me what it looks like a cup of water.

"Thank you," I said while grabbing the cup and slowly drink it.

"I was starting to worry that you might not wake up since you were asleep for about three days."

What? I was sleeping for about three days?

I started to think about what happened before I passed out.

I then remembered something.

I finally found him.

The man I was looking for.

I quickly shoved away the blanket that was covering me and was about to stand when I noticed that I'm really weak and having a hard time moving my body.

The woman quickly helped me so I don't fall on the floor and tried put me back on the bed.

"What are you doing? King Carolus said that you might still be very weak for being a zombie for a long time."

Zombie? Did I turn into a zombie?

I started inspecting my body for any symptoms of turning into a zombie but I didn't see anything.

"Don't worry. The king said that he fully cured you." I can hear the woman saying something while I was furiously checking my body.

What? Did he cure me?

That is impossible.

The way to cure someone that is starting to turn into a zombie or that is already turned is by forcing them to drink a weakness potion and force them to eat a golden apple.

But there are no longer golden apples in this world.

The golden apples started to run out in this world the moment the tree of hope vanished.

The last recorded golden apple that is used to save a life is about a century ago.

"My name is Eleanor."

The old woman started to introduce herself after I calmed down while trying to cover me again with a blanket.

She smiled really brightly and I was mad at myself for not noticing that she probably took care of me while I was asleep.

"Rose. My name is Rose." I said to her after a while.

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful lady." She said to me while she started to wipe the wet towel in my body.

I didn't complain since I can barely move my body and let her clean myself.

I was named after a flower by my father.

I have the same red hair color as my mother so my father decided to call Rose.

I remembered him keep saying these words to me.

'You are the most beautiful flower that bloomed in this world.'

If only he didn't die defending the kingdom from phantom invasions.