Chapter 19
-Only Undead Maids Need Apply
Thwack! The zombie, hit by the red object, fell backward. The young master quickly struck it with his staff.
“Young Master, are you alright?”
“Why did you throw the zombie core?!”
“Was that a zombie core?”
The young master checked the fallen zombie before answering, his tone softening slightly.
“I don’t think so. Anyway, that was dangerous. Be careful.”
“Can I watch too?”
“No. It’s not good for your education.”
“Do I need an education?”
“You need it more than you think.”
I extracted the core from the fallen zombie. This time, the young master took it out himself.
I knocked down a few more zombies wandering nearby and then approached him. He had taken off his gloves, which were stained with an unknown fluid.
I was upset that his neat uniform was now stained. Would the stains even come out in the wash?
I would have to place an order with the dressmaker in advance if he needed a new one…
“Are you alright where the zombie grabbed you?”
To be honest, the young master was more important than his clothes. I carefully examined him, worried that the zombie might have touched his skin.
His face was fine, and his skin was as clear as ever.
“That’s a relief.”
Zombies were moving corpses. They were decaying, oozing strange fluids, and smelled terrible. I was starting to regret having nostrils.
And their hands were the biggest problem. Their skin was torn and raw from digging through the graveyard dirt, and their fingers were tangled with roots and insects.
The epitome of unsanitary! Head Butler Godora would faint if he saw them.
“I’m fine. You, however…”
The young master reached out to touch my hair, then hesitated. He seemed to be concerned about his dirty gloves.
I simply took his hand and placed it against my cheek.
“I’m fine. See? I’m made of waterproof material, so all it takes is a wipe with a soft cloth.”
His blue eyes, looking down at me, seemed to be gazing into the distance. Perhaps he could see the Anna within me, the Anna that only he could recognize.
His gaze was so tender that I had such absurd thoughts.
Of course, I knew he cherished me because I was a beautiful creation. It was frustrating, but I didn’t dislike it.
The fact that I was precious to him in this new life remained unchanged.
“Estella.”
“Yes.”
He gently pressed his thumb against my cheek before slowly pulling his hand away.
“You’re right. It doesn’t stain.”
“Of course. I’m made of high-quality materials! I know everything. This material crossed oceans, mountains, fields, and everything else to get here. It took two months just to remove the impurities and refine the particles.”
The young master chuckled and asked,
“How do you know that?”
Because I was by your side during the whole process, of course.
“I just know. I’m a smart doll.”
“I almost want to believe you…”
He took off his gloves and raised both hands, as if to cup my face.
If it weren’t for his sorrowful expression, he would have looked like a lover gazing at his beloved. The young master I adored was looking at me, yet I didn’t feel happy.
“Are you really…”
Sniffle, sniffle—Rustle!
A strange sound caught our attention. We turned around and saw the zombie I had knocked down and the young master had beaten up, rustling and moving.
“Stay back. I’ll cut it in half…”
The young master grabbed my arm.
“Wait. I need to see what it’s doing.”
I followed him and approached the zombie. It was frantically tearing into something I had thrown.
“Wh-why is it doing that?”
“I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure, these things are more dangerous than we thought. Estella, how many cores have we collected so far?”
“Hmm. Plenty! About sixty, I think.”
“That’s enough. I’ll reduce the size of the boxes, so stay back.”
The boxes containing the zombie cores shrunk until they became palm-sized cubes. I gathered them in my skirt and stepped back.
“Young Master, what are you going to do?”
“Something Edna Raguel will hate.”
Rumble!
The shadow snakes grew in size and spread throughout the cemetery. With the young master as the center point, the snakes expanded their massive bodies and formed a magic circle.
‘What is this? I can see the energy flowing through the magic circle.’
When I was Anna, I couldn’t understand what was happening when the young master used magic. But now, I instinctively understood.
I could see and feel the powerful magic emanating from him, spreading through the cemetery along his shadow, like blood flowing through my body. Of course, being a doll, I didn’t have blood, or any fluids for that matter. It was just a figure of speech.
“Young Master! Shout out the name of the spell!”
I waved my hand from a distance. He completely ignored me.
Whoosh! Flames erupted from the magic circle and engulfed the entire cemetery. Shadows rose from the ground, swirling around. Wherever the shadow snakes touched, fire spread.
The young master stepped back from the magic circle. Even after he left, the remaining magic circle continued to spew flames.
“The paladins will have a hard time putting out the fire. I’m sure Knight Commander Raguel will compensate us accordingly.”
His steps as he walked towards me were leisurely. He didn’t seem to care about burning down someone else’s cemetery.
“Ah, so you’re burning it all down. Just the limbs, no, I understand. Don’t look at me like that. I won’t suggest removing just the zombies’ limbs anymore.”
“Yes. This is safer. It’s unfortunate for the bereaved families, but we’ve confirmed that the living can be attacked. It would be too late if we waited for permission and argued.”
The young master gritted his teeth as he looked back at the burning cemetery.
“I should have done this sooner. Before Anna died…”
“Are you alright? Your expression, I mean, your complexion is quite pale.”
He took off his gloves and threw them into the fire. Then, with his bare hands, he stroked my cheek, which might have been dirty.
“Let’s go back.”
“You’re suddenly being affectionate. It’s scary when people act out of character. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I just realized I don’t want to repeat the same mistake.”
Leaving the burning cemetery behind, we returned to the entrance. The paladins, who were maintaining a barrier, asked him urgently,
“What happened in there?”
“It’s best to wait at least an hour before extinguishing the fire. I’m burning all the zombies inside.”
Just then, someone rushed out, shouting,
“No! Put out the fire! My father’s grave is in there!”
The color drained from the young master’s face.
“You can’t come any closer! This is a quarantine zone!”
“You’ve been blocking us this whole time! How long are you going to keep this up! I’ll tell Lady Edna everything!”
It was an ordinary person grappling with the paladin. She wasn’t dressed extravagantly, just a middle-aged woman in a simple brown dress.
Her desperation as she tried to throw herself towards the burning cemetery was palpable.
“Young Master.”
I tugged on his sleeve. He followed me listlessly.
“If you’re going to do something bad, at least pretend to be indifferent.”
As I pushed him away, I looked back. The mourner had snatched the paladin’s helmet and was using it as a weapon.
“Maybe we should burn down the cemetery in the earldom too. Where my father and mother are resting…”
“We can think about that later! How about we think about something more pleasant? Like, what we’re going to have for dinner. I want some warm soup with chicken and candied citrus biscuits.”
“You can’t eat.”
“Did I say I was going to eat? I said I wanted to eat.”
After our small talk, the young master seemed to calm down. We returned to Knight Commander Edna’s office.
“I asked you to collect zombie cores, not start a fire.”
“We discovered that the zombies are consuming raw flesh. We eliminated dozens of them. The paladins must have been struggling for a while. The cemetery was already full of empty graves.”
The young master spoke in a somber tone. Knight Commander Edna had shed her eccentric demeanor from the morning.
Her sharp, intelligent eyes were captivating. I quietly added her back to my mental “Future Countess List.”
“The mere fact that a cemetery caught fire will be a shock to ordinary people. They’ll blame the paladins for not protecting it.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
“If you weren’t an investigator sent by Crown Prince Umbram, I would have disciplined you immediately. But you outrank me, even if it’s temporary, so I have no choice. I’ll have to handle this myself.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
The young master placed a small magic box on her desk.
“Here are the 100 zombie cores you requested.”
“I can’t deny your competence.”
“We’ll be returning to the earldom now. It’s my duty as a Count to protect my land.”
After saying that, the young master looked at me and gestured slightly with his chin. It was a sign to leave.
I didn’t want to leave, actually. I was curious about the zombie cores and wanted to learn more.
I didn’t care whether zombies were animated by magic or what their true nature was. But…
—So I can’t have a heart?
—Maybe if I study the zombie cores, I might find a way…
I clearly remembered our conversation. The reward I wanted for the zombie extermination was a heart specifically designed for dolls.
It wouldn’t be particularly useful, but it would be nice to have. A doll with a heart, just the thought was exciting. Would it be too strange to ask him to make it detachable so I could take it out and look at it sometimes?
“Are you really leaving just like that?”
Knight Commander Edna asked in a languid yet playful tone. Her seemingly casual words stopped the young master in his tracks.
“Even if there’s a way to revive the dead using zombie cores?”
The young master’s eyes flickered as he looked at her.
“Lupin Zepetto, don’t you have someone you want to bring back?”