Ch.194Chapter 21. The Art of Deceiving Each Other (6)

Those bastards have appeared again. The naked ones.

At least this time they’re wearing thin clothes and shorts. I suppose it’s because they get bitten by mosquitoes and such when they’re completely exposed.

However, in the outer areas, some kind of “love integration” seems to be happening, with people who look like fanatics and gang members mingling together.

The ones with neat hairstyles, who are sobbing, or constantly mumbling something are the fanatics.

The ones with piercings in their ears, nose, lips, or navel, wearing underwear over their clothes, or sporting tattoos covering a quarter of their upper body are the gang members.

I’ve seen them so often now that I can easily distinguish them at a glance.

“Oh, Lord Johan! Please bestow your blessing upon us!”

And I am currently sneaking up on them.

– Are you really going to do this?

Camilla’s radio transmission. She’s probably watching me through a sniper scope from a rooftop about 800 meters away. Of course, since I don’t know exactly where she is, I raised my hand in response instead of answering.

– There are over twenty of them. Even I can’t react immediately if something unexpected happens. Wouldn’t it be better to let these guys go and show yourself when a smaller group comes?

“I have a gun too.”

– Sure. We have two guns, and they have twenty.

“If things get weird, I’ll set off a smoke grenade and run. I brought flash grenades too.”

– You’d better.

I tried to act tough with Camilla, but honestly, I’m a bit scared. If these guys were hostile, I would have shot them without hesitation.

But these guys worship me. I have no idea what they might do to me. Surely they won’t stuff and mount me somewhere, or hang me by a noose and bow to me.

“Kruk.”

A military police zombie approaches me, acting familiar. I toss it a compressed pound cake. Its expression was slightly peculiar, probably expecting chocolate, but it seems to find it edible enough as it chews enthusiastically.

“If you behave well, I’ll give you one with raisins.”

“Krurruk.”

“Hey. Do you know how great raisins are? Ancient humans used raisins to make yeast, you know? Without them, they couldn’t freely eat bread.”

“Krurruk….”

“You eat them well enough when I give them to you.”

I tore off pieces of raisin scones and threw them to the zombies around the military police, and they devoured them. Clearly, they all truly loved raisins deep in their hearts.

“If you’ve eaten enough, let’s go.”

For this day, I had tied a white cloth to a long pole. I sprayed pheromones on the cloth so it would flutter freely in the wind. Holding the flag and dropping bread crumbs, the zombies followed me.

Only two guns? What does it matter? I have forty mouths surrounding me.

I walked toward the fanatic friends with my flag. When they saw the zombies, they frantically pulled out their guns, but they stopped when I waved the flag a couple of times.

“You guys stay here.”

“Kruk.”

Even dogs become almost impossible to train once they’re adults, let alone zombies. Since there’s no way they understood what I said, I threw small chocolate bars around with all my might. As the ones who knew the taste of chocolate wandered off, the slower ones followed.

Thanks to that, I was able to approach the fanatics with just a flag in hand.

“It’s really him.”

These people, instead of answering my question, just stared at me blankly.

“It’s real. It was real! Oh, Lord Johan! Lord Johan! Please, bestow your blessing upon us!”

“I don’t want to become a zombie! Lord Johan!”

From what I can see, these people seem more starved than the zombies. I held up my palm to signal them not to come closer, then pointed to the zombies I had scattered.

“Please don’t come any closer. We don’t know when those guys might attack. No, more importantly, how on earth did you make it to the central district?”

A man approached with an ecstatic expression in response to my question. Seeing the shy young man with his pupils wide open and his cheeks flushed red made me so embarrassed I wanted to run away.

“It’s the power of love, Lord Johan. Before, we hated and slandered each other, but after seeing the miracle of those baptized by you not being eaten by zombies, we finally became one.”

“What, did you become some kind of collective?”

“Uh, I’m not sure what you mean…”

“Let’s move on. Anyway, what’s the situation outside the central district?”

The man neatly folded his hands together. It seemed to be his own way of showing respect. Is that how they greet in Elza? I should ask later.

“Saint Catherine of the Incontinence and Guardian Elian are busy ‘educating’ the unbelievers. Other priestesses too. They spread the warmth of love from mouth to mouth, and from body to body…”

“No, no, wait. What are they doing?!”

What are these crazy people up to? The man answered my question.

“Light kisses are common, and those who are compatible freely engage in sexual relations. Of course, we’re careful to avoid unwanted pregnancies, but the more love people share, the less zombies approach them. Oh, Lord Johan! It’s thanks to you teaching us about love! By sharing love, we’ve even forgotten our terrible hunger!”

Uh, I never taught them that much. The man’s eyes were getting moist, which made me even more uncomfortable.

“But none of us can love those zombies. They only look human on the outside; they’re beasts who don’t understand love. Yet you, Lord Johan, truly love even them.”

“What?”

Wait a minute. This is making the context very strange.

“Aren’t they also moved by your love, Lord Johan! I can see it all. If we share enough love, could we also communicate with zombies?”

It’s somewhat possible if you treat them like dogs rather than people. I scratched the back of my head.

“It’s possible, but not easy.”

“Then please love me too!”

“Look, I told you to keep your distance! Those zombies aren’t ready yet! If you approach carelessly, no one knows what they might do to you!”

Those words stopped the man. He seemed quite dejected.

“…I see. I thought if I followed love, I might be able to talk to my family and friends who became zombies again… But it’s not possible yet?”

The atmosphere suddenly became solemn. Looking carefully, it wasn’t just this man; the men and women around him seemed to have similar thoughts.

They wanted to reclaim their families and friends. They wanted to confirm that they were humans, not monsters. As someone without any blood relations in this world, it was something I hadn’t considered.

“Ahem. Well. Love is powerful. At least they don’t see you as walking lunchboxes anymore. I think that’s already a success.”

“That’s true, but…”

I felt a bit sorry for the dejected man. So I spat on my palm, walked up to him, and rubbed it on his shoulder. I don’t know what was happening to my body, but it felt quite hot. It was like having flu symptoms without actually having a cold.

“Cheer up.”

“Lord Johan.”

“Yes.”

“Could I… could I hug you just once?”

“Briefly. If you go beyond that, the zombies won’t stay calm.”

Indeed, the military police zombie was watching us with interest, making a “krung” sound. Aware of the zombie, the man quietly embraced me and sobbed. The twenty onlookers also crept closer and touched various parts of my body. Fortunately, they didn’t steal my belongings; they just lightly touched me.

“Thank you. Thank you…”

“You haven’t appeared before others, but you’ve acknowledged our devotion. Thank you…”

Well. To be honest, I wanted to say, “I’m not the person you think I am!” This is quite burdensome. But considering what I need to say next, I can’t say that. For what I need to tell them, it’s much better if they think I’m their messiah.

“Ahem. Do you believe in me that much? I’m not sure about that.”

“Do you want proof of our faith?”

“Uh, no, don’t undress! I mean, what exactly do you see in me that makes you believe so strongly?”

My question must have been a bit stupid. Judging by how the people around me unanimously pointed to the zombies surrounding us.

“Can’t you see it now? You united us. You treat zombies with love. None of us can do that. They understand your love, and we want to love the world as you do.”

“Well, you could just destroy what you don’t like.”

“Without love, what else would we live for?”

But your eyes are so empty.

Somehow, these people remind me of Camilla. Of her still not knowing how to live or what to live for.

They too were struggling to survive. It wasn’t simply about not getting bitten by zombies today. It was about something that helps them endure today and live through tomorrow. Love is just an excuse. These people want to live.

And people who want to live become blind followers. Easy to manipulate.

“If you really want to live, you may need to leave this place soon.”

The people were surprised by my unexpected words and began murmuring. A woman who looked somewhat older raised her hand.

“Are you referring to the central district?”

“No. The entire city. Soon, there might be a war between Western Nation Minsk and Elza. Cannons and fighter jets or bombers might fly around. It will be difficult to survive in that bombardment. You’ve all heard the radio, haven’t you?”

Virginia should have talked more.

Virginia may be wicked, but she’s not stupid. There’s only one reason why that terrible woman would want to start an impossible war.

Using all the knowledge I have, and after hearing Leticia and Camilla’s words multiple times, Elza doesn’t have the capability to wage a full-scale war.

In other words, Elza alone cannot eliminate the zombies in this world.

But what if she declares war and draws Western Nation Minsk into Elza? Minsk’s weapons are powerful, and their firepower is strong. They could at least clean up the western part of Elza.

From Minsk’s perspective, they would have to advance toward Elza’s capital while fighting off countless zombies, wasting enormous firepower. She must have calculated that it’s worth fighting against a country incapable of full-scale war and a country that must engage in a war of attrition.

But that’s only when there are zombies between Minsk and Elza’s capital.

“Since it’s come to this, I’d like to meet your leader. I want to discuss this in more detail.”

I took one step closer to them.