Nox had said the same thing earlier, but I was still startled enough to ask Amy again for confirmation.
"Yeah. I told you already—I’m a herbalist."
Right. She had mentioned that earlier.
But maybe the impact of her being a pickpocket had overshadowed it in my memory.
Regardless, I looked at Amy again. Now there were two Elphinus herb experts—Nox and Amy.
If Elphinus herbs could just grow quickly, the problem would be solved. She said they were tricky to cultivate, but with two experts on hand, what was there to worry about?
After a long moment of consideration, I nodded.
"I’ll get the crossbow."
I headed straight inside the mansion to retrieve the crossbow.
While coming down from the second-floor armory with it, I ran into Nox.
"Quite a commotion. What’s going on?"
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Nox rubbed the back of his neck and stepped out into the center of the first-floor lobby, looking at me inquisitively.
I studied his expression.
"How’s your leg?"
"Thanks to you. I owe you, Sinclair."
He gave me a wink and a sly smile. Judging by his flirty demeanor, he really seemed fine.
"Then can you help me out?"
In a situation like this, any extra pair of hands was invaluable.
Nox, looking slightly puzzled, nodded. So I took him along and headed straight to the garden.
I needed to deal with the monsters quickly, treat Amy, plant new Elphinus seeds, and manage the rest of the crops.
So much to do. So much.
*****
Brunel Village. Second-floor room of the inn. The villagers huddled together, nervously peeking out the window.
"Do you think Amy’s okay? She’s just a kid..."
"A kid? She’s tougher than any of us."
Emma, the owner of the clothing shop, replied, and Victor, the inn’s head chef, followed up.
Hesitant murmurs grew louder as more villagers added their thoughts.
"Shouldn’t we just head to that abandoned mansion on the hill?"
"We need to stop talking about it and just leave already."
"Right. Let’s take that mansion for ourselves."
Victor glanced toward the jagged roof of the mansion visible over the hill outside the window.
The others might feel safer at the mansion, but unlike them, Victor had no intention of taking it by force. If anything, he’d rather beg the mansion’s owner to take them in.
'We’ll have to plead with the lady of the mansion.'
Getting there was the priority. Convincing her could come later.
At the very least, it was better than staying trapped in this deathtrap of an inn, smack in the middle of the village.
Victor pulled a knife roll out of his apron.
Amy had taken one of his knives earlier, but he still had three more.
The villagers stiffened slightly as Victor drew his blades.
"Arm yourselves."
His words spurred the hesitant villagers into action. One by one, they began gathering whatever weapons they could find. Victor handed one of his knives to Emma.
Emma and Victor had been childhood friends—for over forty years.
Back when they were younger, Emma had even proposed to him, suggesting they live together. But Victor, uncertain of his ability to provide, had turned her down.
His dream of becoming a renowned chef in the capital had crumbled when no restaurant would hire him, and he had no money to his name.
Eventually, Emma married a postal worker from the neighboring village, who had been brave enough to confess his feelings to her.
But her husband took his own life just five years later, overwhelmed by gambling debts that had grown out of control. Those debts fell on Emma’s shoulders.
The villagers shunned her, as debt collectors constantly harassed her at home and in her shop.
When Victor heard the news, he rushed back to Brunel, turning down a promising offer from a famous restaurant in the capital.
Since then, he had worked as the head chef of the inn’s dining hall, protecting Emma from the debt collectors who came to cause trouble.
"Do you think we’ll survive?"
Emma, still as graceful and elegant as ever despite the years, clutched the knife he had handed her with a worried look.
Victor nodded firmly.
"We will."
Summoning the courage he hadn’t found twenty years ago, Victor held Emma’s hand tightly and spoke with conviction.
This time, I’ll protect you.
With that vow, he opened the door to the inn’s room.
*****
Harrison, Jose, and Vanilla were hiding inside the ticket booth at Kint Train Station.
“How can you be so sure Cherry Sinclair is still alive?”
Jose unwrapped a piece of candy from his pocket as he asked. Vanilla, leaning casually against the back of the booth, raised her head.
“If she was at Happy House, then she definitely survived.”
“Happy... what? What kind of name is that?”
Jose frowned in disbelief. Vanilla shrugged and replied.
“Happy House. That’s what Cherry Sinclair called the abandoned mansion.”
Jose let out a dry laugh. Happy House? Could there be a name less fitting for a world that had already fallen apart?
“Sounds just like her.”
Harrison, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke. Jose and Vanilla turned to look at him.
“I think it’s a perfect name. Doesn’t it sound like that house could be the hope of this world?”
Neither Jose nor Vanilla could come up with a response to that.
Screeeech!
A chilling shriek echoed from beyond the ticket booth, immediately flooding the room with tension.
Their goal was to make it to Cherry’s Happy House.
Jose thought Harrison wasn’t entirely wrong. From what he and Vanilla had heard, Happy House was practically a fortress.
And right now, for the three of them navigating this hellscape, Cherry’s Happy House felt like hope itself—a chance, however slim, for safety.
“We’re almost to Brunel. Just hang in there a little longer.”
Jose loaded fresh rounds into his semi-automatic rifle’s magazine and chambered a round as he spoke. Vanilla checked her shotgun’s magazine and gave a sharp nod.
“What kind of gun is that?”
Jose squinted at Vanilla’s weapon. While most guns used for hunting—rifles or shotguns—tended to look similar, hers was slightly different in design.
Vanilla replied flatly to his question.
“Winchester lever-action rifle.”
“What? That’s the same as ours.”
“I modified mine.”
“That’s illegal.”
“Having guns at all is already illegal.”
Fair point. Jose nodded along, conceding to her logic.
Meanwhile, Harrison assessed the movement of the monsters outside the ticket booth. After a long, hard look, he finally gave the signal.
“Let’s move.”
*****
“She looks like she’s in pretty bad shape. Hey, kid, were you bitten by a monster?”
Nox scrutinized Amy with sharp, wary eyes as he questioned her. Given the scratches all over her body and the blood-soaked clothes, it wasn’t an unreasonable suspicion.
“I wasn’t bitten.”
Amy replied casually, fishing a lollipop out of her tattered jacket pocket and popping it into her mouth. Watching her, Nox suddenly held out his hand.
“Then how about sharing one with me, little lady? I’ll patch you up.”
“Drop the ‘little lady’ crap.”
Amy shot back, her tone full of teenage defiance. Nox simply smiled, unfazed.
“What’s your name?”
“Amy. Amy Wharton.”
“Well then, Lady Wharton, I could really use a lollipop.”
Nox acted like he’d die without one, practically begging her.
Despite having a stash of cigarette packs he’d looted from a convenience store, he’d suddenly decided to quit smoking. Watching him struggle with withdrawal, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
Amy, clearly flattered by the ‘Lady’ title, tossed him not one but two lollipops. Nox unwrapped one, stuck it in his mouth, and let out a contented sigh.
Watching the scene, I briefly wondered if there was something in those lollipops—some kind of drug I didn’t know about.
Anyway, the plan to clean up the Elphinus herbs spilled near the front gate was as follows:
Once Nox and Amy opened the gate, I would shoot arrows tipped with Elphinus herbs into the cluster of monsters outside. Ethan would finish off the stragglers with gunfire.
That meant Ethan had no choice but to unlock Amy’s handcuffs.
Amy held out her wrists, staring at Nox the whole time Ethan removed the cuffs.
Nox, rubbing the back of his neck like he was already exhausted, noticed her stare and raised an eyebrow.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Lady?”
He flashed his usual charming smile, and Amy’s eyes lit up.
“You’re such a gentleman—unlike a certain someone.”
“The real weirdo here is the guy calling a brat ‘Lady,’” Ethan shot back irritably as he pocketed the cuffs.
For a moment, Amy’s behavior reminded me of my pre-apocalypse self. Ethan was as grumpy as ever, and Nox—who’d suddenly been dragged into this—just shrugged and raised both hands in mock surrender.
Amy studied the two men like she was sizing them up before skipping over to me.
“Pretty lady, so which one is it?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
I answered without looking up, focused on tying Elphinus herbs to my arrowheads. Amy grinned—a mischievous, teasing smile that was every bit the embodiment of a bratty teenager.
“Who’s your boyfriend?”
Cough!
Ethan choked mid-breath, and Nox stumbled, almost twisting his injured leg.
What the hell is wrong with them?