Ch.195Chapter 21. The Art of Deceiving Each Other (7)

– 3 o’clock.

Leticia’s brief radio transmission. As soon as I heard it, I turned on the police car siren. Wee-woo, weep, weeee! Before long, sirens echoed throughout the city. Wee-woo, weep, weeee!

Where people had hidden in buildings, zombies writhed and walked toward them. If the sirens had only sounded in one place, they would have concentrated there, but since they rang evenly across the entire city, the creatures spread out in all directions.

Which means that silver airplane drawing contrails across the eastern sky won’t see anything particularly interesting.

“They seem to be coming more often these days.”

I lounged on the hotel bed, taking it easy. Befitting a five-star hotel, the bed was comfortable and the blankets so soft that I could fall asleep as soon as I covered myself.

Many things had changed since infecting the zombies and accepting the fanatics. First, the quality of life improved. While we still had to be careful of zombies that could attack from anywhere at any time, the risk of getting shot by humans had almost disappeared.

That’s not all.

With fanatics flocking to the central district, security had become relatively safer everywhere. Though my chastity had become endangered in various ways with cries of “Lord Johan, please take shelter!” But after realizing that humans hungry for sex were easier to evade than zombies, it wasn’t particularly difficult anymore.

“Mmhmm, socks filled with Lord Johan’s scent!”

The planes had started flying over not long ago. Leticia and Camilla asserted that “those are military reconnaissance aircraft.”

“They frequently deployed reconnaissance planes in the early stages of the zombie outbreak. Many information networks were down. They originally used helicopters too, but had to stop because of too many bird strikes. The same went for low-altitude reconnaissance.”

According to Leticia, “flocks of zombie birds” tried to “devour” the reconnaissance planes and helicopters. After losing numerous aircraft, they finally raised the altitude to levels birds couldn’t reach. Then they stopped deploying them due to aviation fuel shortages.

The reason they’re flying planes at this point is simple. The primary objective is to monitor the movements of Minsk in the Western Nation. The Elsa border guards withdrew long ago, so if Minsk’s armored division invaded, no one would be left to warn us.

The secondary objective is likely to keep an eye on us. Many of the fanatics were former military personnel. A significant number of them were still in contact with other fanatic cells infiltrated in the military, so they shared a lot of military inside information.

Of course, much of it was just rumors and unfounded claims, but just “understanding the military atmosphere and knowing what stories were circulating” was tremendously helpful.

– A person who herds zombies has appeared in the mid-western region, and he is a miracle-bearer who doesn’t get bitten even when surrounded by zombies

That was a typical example of such rumors.

“So, when did you say we’re leaving?”

On the adjacent bed in the suite room were Camilla, lying at an angle, and Cassandra, crouched on the bed.

When I announced we would leave the city, and later when they heard about my future plans, Cassandra looked at me like I was a monster, Camilla shrugged and said, “Well, if that’s what you want,” and Leticia jumped up like a child receiving a gift box.

“In about two weeks, since those people need to prepare too.”

Virginia had given Minsk in the Western Nation a month, but based on the military intelligence we’d gathered, it seemed that even with her absolute power, a unilateral declaration of war would be difficult. The President himself had objected vehemently, and Roemer’s opinion was also negative.

But in the end, she’ll do what she wants. Because she’s a madwoman. So to make that madwoman even crazier, I need to subtly provoke her anger.

“Johan. Do you think it’s possible?”

“I think so. But we have a lot to prepare too. Cassandra, you should use my body as much as possible while you can. I plan to set up a small lab in the trailer, but the conditions won’t be as good as here.”

“…”

Cassandra remained silent. Even Camilla, who hadn’t seemed to care much, was visibly uncomfortable.

“Cassandra, we have no choice. Virginia will definitely declare war. This place could fall into Minsk’s hands or get caught in Elsa National Gendarmerie bombardment. Rather than that…”

“Rather than that, you want to occupy and infect the entire west, right?”

Cassandra tilted her head askew. I nodded.

“Yes.”

What I can do is spread the infection. I will spread “my” Crowe virus to more humans and zombies.

“Cassandra still isn’t sure if this is the right thing to do.”

After hearing my declaration, Cassandra was extremely confused. Everything she had done for us until now was for our safety. Now that I was talking about using it as a kind of offensive weapon, her confusion was understandable.

“The reason Cassandra came to this city and stayed with you, Johan, was to develop a vaccine or cure. I thought if all viruses could be unified, even a single vaccine could be highly effective. But now that I’m starting to understand the infection mechanism, you’re talking about leaving on an indefinite journey…?”

“Cassandra, don’t think of it that way. We’re not going to wander forever.”

Camilla chimed in, unable to stay silent, but I could somewhat understand Cassandra’s feelings.

Although she had done it as a child without fully understanding what she was doing, Cassandra had contributed to causing the current zombie outbreak. She might not have knocked over the domino, but she had at least set up the chips.

And now she was in a position to repeat the same thing. And at the behest of someone she herself had chosen.

Helping spread a virus in order to conquer it. I got up from the bed and approached Cassandra. But she quickly pulled the blanket over herself.

“…Could you not come closer?”

She must have been quite upset. I stepped back. Camilla frowned but didn’t do anything more.

“Cassandra, please wait a little longer. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until everyone in the world is infected with ‘our’ Crowe virus and then cure them all at once?”

“…There’s no guarantee. Mutations happen all the time. Maybe now is our chance to save at least some people. Above all, Cassandra…”

“Yes?”

“I want to cure you all first. No matter how stabilized the virus is, no one knows what might happen. It wouldn’t be strange if you all turned into zombies overnight. Cassandra has bad dreams every day. Dreams where Cassandra has to execute you all with a pistol after you’ve turned into zombies.”

Camilla, seemingly upset, hugged the blanket-covered Cassandra. My heart wavered a bit too, and I moved toward her. The blanket lump squirmed, but Camilla held her tight so she couldn’t escape.

“Got you.”

“Eeeek!”

A strange sound came from under the blanket. A moment later, the blanket shook violently. Cassandra, using her full strength, broke free and ran away.

“Whoa. It’s all wet inside the blanket. Look at this heat. Was her body temperature always this hot?”

Camilla, feeling the inside of the blanket where Cassandra had been hiding, stuck out her tongue. I saw it too. Cassandra’s clothes were soaked with sweat, and her face was bright red.

“Still, it’s touching that Cassandra cares about us this much.”

Camilla sniffled.

* * * * *

I set the fire.

The wildfire spread faster than I had anticipated.

The fanatics answered my call. No, they had been waiting for someone to follow for a very long time. I just happened to fit the role by chance.

I didn’t draw them in. They drew themselves in.

The fanatics loved each other and spread the Crowe virus.

The zombies, whose relationship had changed from “mutually hostile” to “neutral” (though that’s a bit ambiguous), devoured and infected other zombie groups that saw everything except themselves as food.

In just a few days, we took over the entire city, and after a week of reorganization, we set out on our journey. We packed everything we could, and for what remained, I convinced them that “we can come back for it later.” In truth, I had no intention of leaving this city for good.

For now, I just needed to act conspicuously enough to be visible to the reconnaissance planes.

“Lord Johan, where shall we go?”

Countless gathered people asked me.

So much manpower. So many resources. With these people, it should be enough.

What I had been searching for all along. Something not yet created. But something that would exist for those who would still fall into this world, even if it truly headed toward destruction.

Each map in the Erysichthon Protocol has a starting point. The starting point is a safe zone where users cannot attack each other, and even zombies cannot enter. All starting points were called “shelters.”

I know the location and structure of every shelter.

“There’s an abandoned military base about 40km from here. Let’s go there.”

There probably won’t be a shelter there yet. It’s too early for one to exist. The National Gendarmerie hasn’t built it either. So, I will create it.

A space as safe as a period at the end of the world.