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ABZ 19
Another new day dawned, but the schedule remained unchanged from yesterday.
I wake up early, draw water, eat, and then go to the backyard, holding my breath and quietly waiting for a bird.
“...Nice weather.”
The sun, which had been hidden by passing clouds, was revealed, and a gentle breeze lightly swept over the low-growing weeds.
Probably no one in the Empire has the leisure to feel the gentle breeze right now.
Everyone must be desperate to live.
I can only roughly guess what's happening outside, but this much is certain: I'm the most relaxed person in this fortress.
Idorian and Heresdon went to repair the leaky roof, and Lilia was busy making curtains identical to the one I made for Lumi for the others.
Lumi was busy helping Uven with the laundry and dishes, so I was the only one doing nothing.
“I need to catch something.”
Today marks the third day of aimlessly killing time waiting for a bird.
And I haven't caught a single bird yet.
Yesterday, I barely caught two small sparrows, but Uven said they were too small to eat and let them go.
So today, I'm earnestly hoping that a turtledove will fly over the fortress walls.
“What are you looking at?”
I lifted my head at the voice coming from nearby and saw Lumi sitting next to me.
He frowned slightly and looked at the blue sky beyond the fortress walls, which I had been watching intently.
“I’m hoping a bird might come.”
“Hmm, you're that desperate, huh? For this.”
He said, tapping the string I was holding.
“I need to catch this to have enough to eat.”
“Then I’ll help too.”
With those words, Lumi gathered a few branches from nearby and returned to my side.
“...Are you sleeping well?”
Lumi, who had been looking down and fiddling with the branches, raised his eyes slightly.
“I was wondering if there's anything uncomfortable. Like eating or sleeping, things like that.”
“...I’m not uncomfortable.”
Lumi blinked slowly as if contemplating his answer, but soon shook his head.
Judging by how long he was thinking, it seemed this place wasn't entirely comfortable for him.
‘Is it too hard on him?’
He said he was constitutionally weak, so maybe the work he was doing following Uven was too much for him.
It would be better if Lumi did this bird-catching job. It was just a matter of sitting and waiting.
I could do the laundry and dishes. If Uven is okay with it....
“But I heard that Penelope survived alone in the forest for a while.”
“Ah....”
I nodded lightly, and he continued.
“A zombie grabbed her ankle back then.”
His gaze was already fixed on my ankle, which was exposed because I was sitting down.
“Is this the bruise that was left then?”
“...That’s right.”
The mark from that day had turned yellow and light brown.
I was worried about what to do if it didn't fade and remained forever, but I was relieved that it was gradually disappearing.
Even so, I didn't want to show it in too much detail, so I nodded vaguely and tried to hide my foot under my skirt when.
“Lumi?”
He grabbed my ankle.
“What are you doing?”
I struggled to push away Lumi, who was examining the bruised ankle.
“Just a moment.”
But no matter how hard I pushed, it was no use. He wouldn't let go of my ankle for a long time, as if he had found something strange.
“I don’t like it. Why are you doing this?”
“...I’m sorry.”
Only after my voice rose did he release my hand.
“I thought the bruise seemed to be lasting a long time. So, I was going to check....”
“You should have told me beforehand.”
I quickly got up from my seat.
“Don’t touch me like that without warning.”
“Yes. I will. Sorry....”
His gaze, which had been following me, shifted over my shoulder. When I turned around, Idorian was standing still at a considerable distance.
He must have stopped on the way here.
I remembered the request not to fight with others and sat back down. Soon, I heard the sound of his footsteps as he seemed to be turning back.
“I’m sorry, Penelope.”
“Don’t ever do that again.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Lumi nodded, acknowledging, but still glanced at my ankle once more.
“Hey, Penelope. Still, if anything hurts or is uncomfortable, tell me. I’ll take another look then.”
“...Nothing hurts, and I’m not uncomfortable at all.”
“Even so.... No. I understand.”
Lumi answered that way and then lowered his head, as if deciding to focus on making the trap again.
“But Penelope.”
After quite some time had passed, he spoke again.
“The only part you came into contact with the zombie was your ankle, right?”
Lumi's blue eyes were shadowed by his listlessly drooping eyelids.
His toneless voice, his eyes open without tension, and his face looking at me were all indifferent, but somehow, I felt a sense of pressure.
“Yes. That was the only time.”
Unable to figure out the intention of the question, my heart beat anxiously.
“That’s a relief.”
“Why, why is it a relief?”
“...Because it must have been scary.”
Lumi frowned slightly. With the unexpected answer, the tension that had stiffened my body suddenly released.
“I was scared too. I’ve never been caught, though.”
“I see....”
With those words, silence returned.
“By the way, what’s Lumi’s family situation like?”
It was a silence that came without any particular meaning, but I couldn't stand it and changed the subject to Lumi's family.
“I have parents and an older brother.”
Lumi, who had been slowly blinking without saying anything, answered briefly.
I was scrutinizing his face in detail because of the anxiety I couldn't completely erase, and I saw the corners of his lips twisting.
He seemed worried about his family.
“Lumi and Lumi’s family must be very worried. Of course, we’re all trapped here, but to be exact, Lumi is trapped in this Empire. I guess you don’t get news from the Kingdom....”
“I wonder.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as if he was contemplating.
“Yes?”
“I wonder if other places are like this too. Idorian said that this zombie thing seemed to have started in the capital of the Empire first. I think that’s right.”
“Ah... that’s right.”
“Maybe other countries aren’t as bad as the Empire. My family will be fine.”
Lumi nodded as if he was sure of his words.
“My family must be worried about me too, right?”
This time, his face wasn't very confident.
When our eyes met, he shrugged lightly and lowered his head again, fiddling with the branches.
“More than that, we need to catch something today.”
He quickly lost interest in the conversation we had been having and changed the subject.
“That way, Penelope will eat a little. I think you eat too little.”
Lumi was still looking down, connecting the branches.
“Even if we can’t catch a bird, eat a little more for dinner tonight. I know you’re not used to that soup, but there’s no other choice.”
“Yes?”
“Anyway, let’s do our best to catch something now.”
Only then did Lumi lift his head and say, as if to cheer me on.
‘Was he watching me eat?’
I thought I was pretending to eat without being obvious....
He seemed to think that I was eating little because I was picky and that’s why I was trying so hard to catch a bird.
It’s not that I want to eat bird meat, but for the sake of the fortress's food supply.
He didn't seem to know that the fortress didn't have enough food yet.
“Oh? There!”
Just as I was about to explain our difficult situation to Lumi, he pointed to the sky.
“There, it’s coming. A bird.”
There were many birds flying in the sky. The problem was that they just passed over the fortress.
“Look, doesn’t it look pretty big?”
At Lumi’s urging, I looked up at the sky, and a bird with a majestic appearance that was clearly large was flying as if cutting through the sky.
“It looks like it’s coming here?”
As he said, it seemed to be flying towards us.
“Oh?”
“If it’s that big, we can eat our fill.”
“...But it doesn’t seem like it would fit in the trap, does it?”
The bird, which was gradually lowering its altitude, was too big to be caught in a trap.
“It’s okay, I made a slingshot.”
The branches he had been picking up were for a slingshot.
“I’ll catch....”
“It’s an eagle?”
“...Yes?”
Lumi, who had been picking up stones, lifted his head and looked at the pure white feathers of the bird that was coming straight towards us over the Outer castle walls.
The bird, which stretched out its wide, long wings and seemed to entrust its body to the wind as it glided through the sky, had a purple string tied to its leg.
It was clearly an eagle belonging to the Emperor.
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