SWY 97

“Peter, don’t let go of Lightning’s mane no matter what!”

Startled, Sharhan shouted at Peter while yanking hard on the reins. The loosely held reins went taut like they might snap, and the muscles in Sharhan’s arms stood out with tension. As he was told, Peter clung to Lightning’s mane and leaned forward, pressed tightly against the horse’s neck.

Grrrr!

The beastly roar came from a moving corpse. It had burst out from the abandoned cornfield and was charging straight for Sharhan’s thigh. Lightning was still panicking and rearing, and Sharhan couldn’t let go of the reins, leaving him stuck. He cursed inwardly, just as Lestel’s axe split the creature’s skull. But there was no time for gratitude. The once-still cornfield now stirred as if swept by a fierce wind.

Ssshhh. Grrrr.

Already rotten and dark, the entire field swelled like a living thing, ominous and shifting, before suddenly vomiting out an enormous number of corpses. In an instant, their front, back, and sides were filled with the dead.

Grrrr!

As black and rotted as the corn itself, the corpses charged forward, reeking of death. Peter’s back trembled with terror as he clung to Lightning’s mane. He let out intermittent sobs, “Hhic, hic.”

“Hold on tight. Don’t fall.”

Thankfully, Lightning had begun to settle, allowing Sharhan to grip the reins with one hand. With his left hand firmly holding the reins, he drew his sword with his right.

“Derry, set the cornfield on fire!”

The field was still swelling, spitting out more corpses. The ominous wave began at the far end and swept forward. There was no telling how many moving corpses were hidden in there. Sharhan clenched his jaw.

While Derry, momentarily frozen, quickly began chanting the activation spell, Thunder kicked at the approaching corpses with his forelegs. The ones struck went flying with crushed chests but got back up again. Those who couldn’t rise dragged themselves forward on their bellies. Lestel’s axe danced through the air, cleaving heads left and right, but there were simply too many.

They crushed their fallen comrades underfoot, trampling rotting limbs and heads to get closer. Rotting hands reached out, brushing dangerously close to Sharhan and the others. Lightning, like Thunder, kicked out with all four legs, struggling to keep the corpses at bay.

“Derry, how much longer?!”

“S-sorry! I keep losing focus…”

They’d faced danger before, but never this many corpses all at once. Derry’s voice was laced with fear. Even Sharhan felt overwhelmed by the sheer number surrounding them, so he couldn’t blame Derry. But now was the time to scrape together every ounce of concentration.

“Hurry up!”

Clenching his eyes shut, Derry chanted again. This time, a bright red fireball appeared. He opened his eyes, desperately holding onto his focus, and hurled it toward the cornfield.

Fwoooosh!

The dried corn caught instantly, bursting into bright flames. Thick black smoke rose with a vile stench. While the corpses were momentarily distracted by the fire, Sharhan swung his sword wildly, clearing a path through the ones blocking their way. Lestel’s axe followed suit.

“Let’s go!”

Sharhan kicked Lightning’s side. The horse surged forward, kicking a corpse in the chest as it ran. From the blazing cornfield, flaming corpses burst out and lunged at the group. Each time, Sharhan cut their throats with a slash of his blade, never forgetting to check if Lestel and Derry were still safe.

“Fireball!”

Fortunately, Derry had fully regained his focus and threw fireballs to scatter the corpses’ attention. That gave Lestel and Sharhan the chance to strike down the distracted ones, and they slowly started to break through.

Once they made it past the massive cornfield, no more corpses leapt out. Only then did the group speed up. Behind them, a mass of corpses came charging, shrieking in rage as the fresh prey got away. But they soon fell behind.

“Did… did we lose them?”

Peter, who had been burying his face in Lightning’s neck and trembling the whole time, finally lifted his head.

“Looks like we did.”

Peter looked around in disbelief, as if he couldn’t trust that they’d made it through. Once he confirmed they’d really escaped, he began to sniffle.

“Why are you crying?” Sharhan asked with a smile.

“I-I was scared…”

“But didn’t you pass through the cornfield on the way here too? Were you okay then?”

“Yes. I didn’t see any corpses then, but it was still scary… so I held my breath and walked really quietly.”

“That’s lucky.”

The corn had rotted all the way through to the kernels, but if Peter had been so blinded by hunger that he tried to pick and eat even the spoiled ones, he likely would’ve died, his insides devoured. Even thinking about it again, the fact that Peter had made it all the way here alone was nothing short of a miracle.

After cutting down a few wandering corpses that popped up along the way, they finally entered Salpian, running in the direction Peter pointed.

“Wait, this path is…”

Sharhan, struck by a strange sense of déjà vu, glanced at Lestel. Lestel too had raised an eyebrow, an intrigued look on his face as he recognized the familiar road.

‘This path leads to Ardelle… Ha, unbelievable. Why do I remember the name of Baron Hines’s daughter so clearly when I haven’t seen her in nearly ten years? Especially when Lestel’s the one who’s always indifferent to everyone but me. Could it be he actually liked that little brat who chased him around, asking to marry him?’

As the heir of the Ailun marquisate, Lestel was always surrounded by children trying to get close to him. But he never let anyone in. So from childhood to adulthood, it had always just been Sharhan and Lestel, fighting, competing, inseparable.

Still, there had been one person who persistently clung to Lestel, unfazed by his indifference. That was Ardelle.

With flaming red hair and a face full of freckles, Ardelle had been a real handful. She visited Serman under all kinds of flimsy excuses just to chase after Lestel, and saw Sharhan – who naturally stuck to Lestel every day – as a thorn in her side.

‘Don’t tell me the reason Lestel liked Simon so much was just because he had red hair like Ardelle…?’

Sharhan knew it was a ridiculous thought, but he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling. He glared at Lestel with clear disapproval. Noticing his stare, Lestel looked back and said,

“I think this leads to Baron Hines’s villa.”

The villa, located in Salpian, had been built so that Baron Hines, who wanted his daughter to marry into the Ailun family, could easily travel in and out of Serman. Sharhan had only visited it once, back when Ardelle got hurt while chasing after them.

She’d fallen and gotten injured, and despite having knights and maids with her, she threw a fit until Lestel was the one to take her. Lestel, unable to refuse his father the marquis’s orders, had no choice but to do so. Sharhan had accompanied them, he couldn’t leave the two alone, and was glared at the entire time.

Recalling that unpleasant memory, Sharhan’s expression darkened.

“You remember that so clearly? We only went once.”

“Of course I remember. I’ve got a good memory. Judging by your face, so do you.”

“If you remember, obviously I do too. No way my memory’s worse than yours.”

“Then why the sour face?”

“Sour? Me? No way. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Shan, you’ve got the most sullen expression right now.”

“You’re imagining things. I’m in a great mood.”

Sharhan gave a short scoff and looked away. Peter continued guiding them down the path, which began to look more and more familiar. As the distance between houses grew wider

Grrr. Slurp, slurp.

“……!”

They spotted a cluster of corpses huddled together like balls, gnawing on flesh. The group immediately stopped their horses and scanned the area. There might be survivors nearby.

If someone with the person being eaten is hiding, they’d probably be up a tree… or in that house over there?

There weren’t many corpses, they could clear them out easily. But if survivors were hiding and decided to attack them from behind, it would be a problem. In a ruined world like this, the enemies weren’t just the undead.

Sharhan slowly backed his horse up and glanced at Lestel. He was hesitating, unsure whether they should take out the corpses first or search for survivors. Lestel, eyes full of caution, was carefully checking places where someone might be hiding.

Thunk!

A small stone hit Sharhan squarely on the head just as one of the feasting corpses lifted its face. Sharhan had been unstrapping the bow from his back and was nocking an arrow when he turned toward the source. Through the thick leaves of a beech tree, he caught sight of a shock of bright red hair. Then, peeking through the foliage, the first thing he saw was a face dotted with vivid freckles.

“…?!”

Sharhan’s eyes widened, and at the same time, Peter muttered quietly, “Miss…?”

At that very moment, the corpse that had first raised its head let out a grrrr and began to rise.