TFVZ 02

Chapter 2

Two zombies wandered aimlessly around the tightly shut fortress gate.

I have to get over there… but how?

As long as those zombies were there, I couldn’t approach the fortress.

Of course, they wouldn’t bite me.

But that was exactly the problem.

I couldn’t let the protagonists see that zombies didn’t attack me.

Whoosh—

As I was racking my brain for a solution, an arrow shot down from above and pierced one zombie’s skull with perfect accuracy.

A moment later, two more arrows followed.

The remaining zombie reacted to the sound nearby, but apparently failed to catch the scent of any humans and simply staggered around in confusion.

The one firing from the watchtower was the Crown Prince.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he loosed another arrow and killed the second zombie as well.

Right… they regularly cleared out the zombies.

Zombies responded to sound first and foremost.

If one zombie made enough noise while wandering around, it would attract others.

To prevent that from happening, the protagonists took turns patrolling the area around the fortress in the novel.

Setting aside that minor detail I’d only just remembered, I hurried toward the fortress.

Looking up at the watchtower, I raised both hands high so the Crown Prince wouldn’t mistake me for a zombie and shoot me.

Just as he was nocking another arrow, the Crown Prince abruptly leaned over the battlements.

He was standing high above me, and the sunlight behind him hid his expression, but judging by the way half his upper body was hanging out the window, he looked thoroughly shocked.

Pretending to panic, I frantically looked around before gesturing for him to open the gate.

After hesitating for a brief moment, he suddenly broke into a run.

He disappeared from sight.

Not long afterward, he reappeared in front of the massive gate.

“Haa… haa…”

Gripping the iron bars, he caught his breath.

“Penelope?”

His eyes shook violently, as though he couldn’t believe I was alive.

“Your Highness, hurry.”

I urged him on as he carefully examined me, apparently checking whether I’d been infected.

Perhaps because I looked exactly like a normal person—and was even speaking—he concluded I couldn’t possibly be a zombie.

The gate slowly began to rise.

The moment it had lifted high enough for me to duck beneath it and step inside—

“Your Highness, you opened the gate?”

The Grand Duke emerged a moment later, immediately pointing his sword at me as I entered the fortress.

“I simply let Lady Penelope in because she’s alive.”

“And how can you be certain she isn’t infected?”

“Should I have left her outside until the zombies gathered around her?”

The Grand Duke clearly disliked the Crown Prince’s unilateral decision to open the gate.

But faced with that rebuttal, he couldn’t find an answer and merely fell silent.

Of course…

His sword remained aimed squarely at me.

“How did you survive, Penelope?”

The Grand Duke slowly looked me over before asking.

The physical differences between humans and zombies were simple.

Swollen veins.

And unfocused eyes.

A zombie’s vision had deteriorated, causing it to rely mainly on hearing and smell.

Its gaze naturally lacked focus.

Not because it was completely blind—but because seeing clearly required conscious effort.

The greatest giveaway, however, was the grotesquely swollen veins.

Fortunately…

He wouldn’t find either of those signs on me.

I’d hidden both my unfocused eyes and my bulging veins.

The trick for dealing with swollen veins was surprisingly simple.

Cold water.

“How can a zombie look exactly like a human?”

“Because its body was washed in cold water.”

In the novel, one husband couldn’t bring himself to kill his wife after she became a zombie.

Instead, he tied her up and kept her alive.

When he washed the blood-covered woman with cold water, her appearance became almost human again.

Unfortunately, the bite wound itself remained unchanged.

“…You seem disappointed that I survived, Your Grace.”

Luckily, I’d been bitten somewhere my clothes could conceal.

That allowed me to appear completely human.

So I spoke with confidence.

Kyaaaagh—!

At that moment, the Grand Duke looked away from me.

More zombies were approaching outside the gate.

The sound of our conversation had apparently attracted them.

“They’ll only gather if we keep making noise. Let’s head inside first.”

The Crown Prince said that and turned to leave.

The Grand Duke, however, still didn’t lower his sword.

“Those things go mad the moment they smell a human.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“I still don’t understand how you managed to make it here without attracting them.”

He jerked his chin, signaling for me to walk first.

He was clearly prepared to cut me down the instant he confirmed I was a zombie.

Even so, I calmly walked into the fortress.

Yes… if I just keep acting like this, it’ll be enough.

They might find my survival suspicious.

But there was no evidence that I was a zombie.

“Penelope?”

That assumption, however…

Was foolish.

I’d forgotten one important fact.

I was a zombie.

“My Lady! You’re alive!”

The heroine, Lilia, burst into tears as she ran toward me and threw her arms around me.

The moment she hugged me—

I cursed inwardly.

“I’m so glad.”

Her scent flooded my senses.

I want to bite her…

The urge hit me with overwhelming force.

It was so intense I wanted to sink my teeth into her immediately.

Her shoulder-length clothing was torn, probably from being scraped somewhere.

A tiny amount of blood had gathered on the grazed skin.

Ordinarily, I never would’ve noticed such a small wound.

But now…

The smell of blood drifting from it made my mouth instinctively begin to open.

Don’t bite her!

Whether I was suppressing the instinct because of my human morality…

Or simply because I feared the consequences afterward…

I didn’t know.

But I desperately forced my jaw shut.

My entire body began trembling from the effort.

The first to notice something was wrong was the Grand Duke.

He grabbed the back of my neck and yanked me away from Lilia.

I don’t want my head cut off!

Don’t bite her.

Endure it.

He threw me violently onto the ground.

Looking up at the gleaming blade that seemed ready to separate my head from my body at any second, only one thought filled my mind.

I’d struggled so hard to reach this fortress.

I couldn’t die here.

“Lilia!”

“…Lady Penelope?”

The Crown Prince finally noticed my trembling body.

He pulled Lilia behind him and drew his own sword.

They were completely suspicious of me now.

If I couldn’t erase that suspicion…

I would die.

“Do you have any idea what happened to me because of you?!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted as though consumed by rage.

“You’re wondering how I survived? How I made it back alive?”

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

My heart began pounding rapidly again.

Words that normally would’ve come out slow and slurred flowed effortlessly from my lips.

“That’s right! All of you wanted me dead!”

Lowering my head, I raised a hand and wiped at my dry eyes.

From the corner of my vision, I noticed the Grand Duke’s sword was no longer pointed at me.

When I glanced up, he was still staring at me with his usual expressionless face.

But…

The tip of his sword now pointed toward the ground.

He’d clearly lowered his guard.

“You abandoned me because you wanted me to die!”

Awakening.

The state in which zombies smelled human blood and their physical abilities dramatically increased.

So… this is Awakening.

Every finger moved exactly as I intended.

My speech flowed naturally.

I even felt like I could run.

I knew far too little about this body.

I’d nearly died moments ago because I hadn’t even realized I’d react to the smell of blood.

I needed to learn exactly what I could—and couldn’t—do.

Having reached that conclusion, I got to my feet and sprinted straight toward the stairs.

“…Penelope.”

Ignoring the Crown Prince’s hand, half-extended as though trying to stop me, I raced upstairs, entered the room at the very end of the corridor, and shut the door behind me.

Even after charging up the stairs at full speed…

I wasn’t out of breath at all.

Zombies couldn’t feel pain.

Apparently, they didn’t suffer from physical exhaustion either.

While in an Awakened state…

It seemed they could run forever.

I wonder…

Am I stronger now, too?

Not every zombie possessed abnormal strength.

But among them, there were certainly some that were exceptionally powerful.

Curious, I gripped the chair sitting in front of the mirror with all my strength.