I took the lantern and set it down next to me, then reached out a hand to Ethan.
"I'm fine," he curtly refused, gripping the edge of the opening with both hands and leaping up effortlessly onto the ceiling.
"Look at you. Are your shoulders okay?"
I felt guilty about stepping on him with my heel earlier and wanted to check his shoulders.
But as soon as I started unbuttoning his shirt collar, Ethan grabbed my hand. Even in the dim light of the lantern, I could see his face harden.
"It doesn't hurt. Even if there’s an injury, it won't be serious. We can treat it when we get back."
"R-right... Sorry."
Flustered, I pulled my hands away and stepped back. His expression was cold and stiff—it seemed my touch had been thoroughly unpleasant.
I hadn’t even considered it. I’d been so preoccupied with checking for injuries that I didn’t realize how intrusive my actions were.
Scratching my cheek in embarrassment, I picked up the lantern again and slung the axe back onto my shoulder.
An awkward silence settled between us for a moment. I busied myself shining the lantern around. But then the problem hit us—the place we’d emerged into.
"This place..."
Ethan muttered softly, his voice tinged with recognition. The surroundings were not unfamiliar to me either.
A long hallway, lined with iron bars on either side.
It was the underground prison of the Brunel police station. The same one Ethan, Nox, and I had passed through on our way to the morgue.
"Dammit. This passage connects to the town?"
My muttered words were met with Ethan’s incredulous look as he surveyed the area.
The underground prison was completely empty.
Then it dawned on me—when we’d passed through here earlier, the floor had shifted slightly underfoot in one particular spot.
"Wait, this whole shady tunnel was here, out in the open, and no one noticed?"
I turned to Ethan, baffled.
"The police station's underground prison hasn’t been used in ages. It was completely empty until I started operating in Brunel. I had no idea this existed either," Ethan admitted, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
The prison had housed only one inmate, whom Ethan had released before. It made sense that the place was now deserted.
Now that we knew the passage led to the police station's underground prison, all we had to do was return to Happy House and inform the others.
"Should we block the passage? It connects to Happy House, which could be a security risk."
"I don’t think it’s necessary. Monsters lack intelligence, and I doubt the Brunel survivors would come down here."
Hmm, that was a fair point.
"Maybe this is actually a good thing."
"...How so?"
"We’ve got an easy route from the mansion to Brunel."
Ethan’s reasoning made sense, and I nodded in agreement.
Brunel still had plenty of resources left to scavenge. Most of the residential houses hadn’t been searched yet. With some effort, we might secure a decent supply of essentials and food.
"Monsters rampaging around have left us short on food, haven’t they?"
"You’re suggesting we use this as a supply route?"
"Bingo."
Ethan held out his palm, and I clapped it with my own. It felt like our relationship had lightened significantly, now that he wasn’t interrogating me as a suspect. A good sign, for sure.
"Since we don’t have weapons or bags for supplies right now, we should probably head back..."
"Cherry."
Ethan suddenly placed a hand on my shoulder. His eyes were filled with resolve, and I instinctively tensed up.
"You're not suggesting we loot supplies now, are you?"
"Not that. I mean, since we’re here, how about we clear out the police station? I have a sword, and you’ve got your axe."
I knew exactly what he meant.
The police station still housed Hans, the former inspector turned monster. We hadn’t destroyed his brain last time, so he wasn’t confirmed dead. And who knew? The inmate Ethan had released might have joined him by now.
If we’re planning to use this place as a supply route, we’ll have to clear it eventually.
Gripping my axe, I locked eyes with Ethan and nodded.
"Fine. Let’s clean up."
Was that too blunt? Ethan gave me an odd, bemused look.
"The Monster Janitor of a Post-Apocalyptic World. Sounds like a sci-fi anime title."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I didn’t know Cherry Sinclair dreamed of being a janitor."
"And Ethan Duncan Lancaster didn’t expect to become friends with one, did he?"
"Are we friends?"
"Not really. Just acquaintances?"
"...‘Rivals’ would feel more meaningful."
The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.
"Trying to become someone meaningful to me, are you?"
At my teasing question, Ethan furrowed his brow in confusion—likely irritation. As expected. I shrugged.
"Anyway, let’s make a plan. Our roles are pretty clear-cut, right?"
"What roles?"
Ethan crossed his arms and looked at me with a face that seemed to say, Let's hear what nonsense you're about to spout now. Yet, he couldn’t entirely hide his amusement at my words.
"I'm close-range, you're long-range."
Technically, Ethan could handle both close and long-range combat, but I was strictly a close-range fighter. For us to work together effectively, he would have to cover long-range.
"I never thought there’d come a day when I’d discuss combat positions with Cherry Sinclair."
"Should we not?"
"I wasn’t dismissing you."
"If you were, I’d have hit you."
"Why is your first instinct always violence, Cherry?"
"Not something I’d expect to hear from you, Officer Lancaster."
When I reached for the axe strapped to my back, Ethan raised both hands in mock surrender.
"I wish I’d known you before the world ended. What a shame."
"Why? Because I’m different from the Cherry Sinclair you thought you knew? Forget it—whoever you think she is, it’s still all me."
I shrugged, and Ethan shook his head with a seriousness that caught me off guard.
"No, it’s not that. I mean I’d have offered you a job as my partner. That raw strength of yours is something else."
The idea of Ethan coveting my superhuman strength—of all things—gave me pause. In other stories, the heroine’s brother could double as a romantic interest or even a steadfast ally. Here, Ethan’s expression was one of genuine admiration—not for me, but for the power I wielded. It was a stark reminder that the novel Love in a Ruined World was a romance, at least on paper.
A romance, huh... this is a romance novel, right?
"Enough small talk. Shall we get going?"
Despite the strange satisfaction of earning his acknowledgment, I had a moment of introspection. Well, I am better than most guys, after all.
"Can you manage long-range combat without your revolver?" I asked.
Ethan smirked, tapping the hilt of the sword at his hip.
"Back in the Royal Academy, they called me a fencing prodigy."
I already knew. He had mastered a style of swordsmanship that worked at both close and long ranges, moving with an almost supernatural fluidity. In the original novel, he’d been described as taking out monsters effortlessly with his blade when he ran out of bullets.
Ethan walked behind me as we made our way through the underground prison, his arms casually crossed. "Do whatever you feel like, Cherry. That’ll be our plan. I can adjust to anything."
"Oh, what an arrogant statement."
"Call it confidence backed by skill."
I shrugged. His arrogance wasn’t off-putting—it was just factual. Still, there was no way I’d admit that to his face.
With our rough plan in place, we decided to head into the police station proper.
We climbed the stairs leading out of the underground prison, moving slowly. Naturally, I took the lead.
At the top was a solid wooden door. There were no windows to peek through, so I had no way to gauge what was on the other side.
After taking a deep breath, I threw the door open.
Sure enough, there were two monsters on the first floor of the police station.
One looked like a deflated balloon, dragging its sagging, torn skin along the floor as it wandered aimlessly. The other had a snake-like body with stubby limbs, likely the former prisoner Ethan had released earlier.
I set the lantern down. The sunset streaming through the windows meant we no longer needed its light.
Shhiiik—
The snake-like monster noticed us first. Sliding quickly toward us, it bared its fangs and lunged. Ethan and I rolled to opposite sides in unison.
Bang!
The creature slammed into the far wall. Not wasting the opportunity, I brought my axe down onto its head.