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ABZ 2
Two zombies were loitering around the firmly closed fortress gate.
'I need to get over there, but what should I do?'
With zombies around, approaching the fortress was impossible. Of course, I wouldn't get bitten, but that was precisely the problem.
I couldn't reveal to the protagonists that zombies wouldn't attack me.
Whoosh-
I was pondering what to do when an arrow shot down from above, piercing one of the zombies' heads.
Soon, two more arrows followed, and the remaining zombie seemed frozen, reacting to the sounds nearby but unable to detect any human scent.
The one shooting arrows from the watchtower was the Crown Prince. He quickly shot down the other zombie without hesitation.
'Right, he periodically kills zombies.'
Zombies primarily reacted to sound. So, when zombies wandered around making noise, other zombies would gather, and in the novel, the protagonists took turns clearing the area around the fortress to prevent that situation.
Forgetting the minor detail I belatedly recalled, I hurried toward the fortress.
Looking up at the watchtower, I raised my hand high, hoping he wouldn't mistake me for a zombie and shoot.
The Crown Prince, who was reloading his bow, quickly leaned forward.
He was high up, and it was backlit, so I couldn't see his expression, but seeing half his body sticking out of the window, he seemed quite surprised.
I looked around urgently, gesturing for them to open the gate quickly.
He hesitated for a moment before running off. After disappearing from sight, he reappeared in front of the firmly closed fortress gate.
"Haa, ha..."
He gripped the bars, panting heavily.
"Penelope?"
His eyes shook wildly, as if he couldn't believe I was alive.
"Your Highness, hurry."
I urged him, as he looked me up and down as if worried about infection. He must have decided that I couldn't be a zombie, as I looked and spoke no differently from a human, and he opened the gate.
The fortress gate slowly rose.
It had risen enough for me to enter, and I bent down to step inside.
"Your Highness, opening the fortress gate so rashly."
The Grand Duke, who came out belatedly, aimed his sword at me as I entered the fortress, sounding annoyed.
"I only let the Princess Consort in because she is unharmed."
"How can you be sure she's not infected?"
"Should we have left the Princess Consort outside the gate and waited for the zombies to swarm?"
The Grand Duke reacted sensitively to the Crown Prince opening the gate on his own, but he couldn't say anything to the Crown Prince's retort and closed his mouth.
Of course, the sword aimed at me remained.
"How could you be safe, Penelope?"
The Grand Duke examined me closely before asking.
The only physical differences between humans and zombies were the swollen veins and the vaguely unfocused eyes.
Zombies had deteriorated vision and reacted to sound and smell, so their focus was poor, but they hadn't completely lost their sight, so focus could be overcome with a little effort.
The biggest problem and difference was the disgustingly swollen and protruding veins, but I had concealed those zombie features.
I had hidden both the unfocused eyes and the swollen veins.
In fact, the way to solve the swollen veins was simple: go into cold water.
"How can a zombie have such a human appearance?"
"It's because I washed my body in cold water."
In the novel, a husband couldn't bear to kill his zombie wife and kept her alive, bound. When he washed his blood-soaked wife with cold water, her appearance became similar to a human. Unfortunately, there was no improvement around the area where he was bitten by the zombie.
"...Grand Duke, do you seem unhappy that I'm safe?"
Fortunately, I was bitten in an area that could be covered by clothing, so I could have a completely human appearance, and I could act confidently because of it.
Kieeeek-
Just then, the Grand Duke's gaze shifted to the zombies approaching outside the gate. They slowly approached, drawn by the sound of the conversation.
"There's no point in making a fuss. Let's go inside first."
The Crown Prince said that and moved, but the Grand Duke still didn't lower his sword, wary of me.
"They get excited when they smell human scent. I don't know how you avoided them and got here."
Then he gestured for me to walk ahead. I walked into the fortress, leaving behind the Grand Duke, who was poised to cut me down if he confirmed I was a zombie, but I wasn't worried.
'Yes, if I keep this up, it'll be enough.'
They might be suspicious of me being alive, but they wouldn't be able to find any evidence that I was a zombie.
"Penelope?"
But that was a naive thought that overlooked the fact that I was a zombie.
"Princess! You're alive!"
Lilia, the heroine, who saw me entering the fortress and ran to me crying, hugged me, and I cursed inwardly.
"I'm so glad."
My body was reacting to her scent that suddenly came in.
'I want to bite someone...'
I desperately wanted to bite her.
Lilia's shoulder was torn, as if it had been scraped, and a little blood was pooling on the scratched skin.
It was an injury I wouldn't have noticed normally, but the smell of blood from that small wound kept making my mouth open.
'Don't bite!'
I didn't know if suppressing my instincts was based on morality or fear of the consequences, but I struggled to close my opening mouth, and my body began to tremble.
The Grand Duke was the first to notice my abnormality. He roughly grabbed my neck and pulled me away from Lilia.
'I don't want to die by having my neck cut off! Don't bite. I have to endure.'
I had that thought as I looked at the sword that shone as if it would drop my neck at any moment. I couldn't die like this after struggling to enter the fortress to survive.
"Lilia!"
"...Princess?"
Belatedly, the Crown Prince also saw my trembling body and hid Lilia behind him, drawing his sword. I was under heavy suspicion.
If I couldn't dispel this suspicion, I would die.
"Do you know what I went through because of you?!"
I squeezed my eyes shut as if I was angry and shouted.
"Alive? How could you be safe?"
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart raced again, and the words that should have been spoken slowly, as if buffering, poured out quickly without much effort.
"Yes, everyone wanted me to die!"
I lowered my head and raised my hand to wipe my dry eyes.
The blade that the Grand Duke had aimed disappeared from my sight. Glancing up, he was still looking down at me with a blank face, but seeing the tip of his sword pointing at the floor, he seemed to have dispelled his suspicion.
"You wanted me to die and abandoned me!"
Awakening. A state in which zombies' physical abilities are enhanced by smelling human blood.
'This is awakening.'
Each of my fingers moved as I intended, and I spoke quickly. I felt like I could run now.
I had too little information about this body. I almost died just now because I didn't realize that it reacted to the smell of blood. I definitely needed to find out what I could and couldn't do.
After thinking that far, I got up and ran toward the stairs.
"...Penelope."
Leaving behind the Crown Prince's hand, which was vaguely extended as if to grab me, I went up the stairs, entered the room at the end of the hallway, and closed the door.
I ran up the stairs quickly, but I wasn't even slightly out of breath. Zombies don't feel pain, so they probably don't have physical limitations. It seemed like I could run forever in the awakened state.
'Maybe I'm stronger too?'
Not all zombies were like that, but some zombies were particularly strong. Just in case, I gripped the chair in front of the mirror tightly.
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