Ch.78Chapter 11. Doing Our Best in Our Respective Positions (1)

<11. Doing Your Best in Your Assigned Position>

Overall, Hampton’s jewelry store had more of a neighborhood pawnshop feel than a luxury department store.

It was the kind of place where gold watches and silver chains were crammed into display cases like fish laid out at a seafood market.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same.

For one thing, the display cases contained color printouts rather than actual jewelry.

Bulletproof glass separated employees from customers, and the staff wore bulletproof vests, helmets, and face shields.

There were even firearms displayed on the shelves in the back. It was hard to tell if this was a jewelry store or a gun shop.

“How may I help you?” a middle-aged man asked in an emotionless voice.

“Ah, I’d like to have some jewelry appraised and sell it. I have some other business too.”

“Let me see.”

The man slid a silver tray under the bulletproof glass. I placed the jewelry on it and pushed it back.

I deliberately didn’t mention that some pieces were fake. There was no point in saying so, and besides, the man was already picking out the counterfeits like someone sorting stones from rice grains.

Interestingly, he further divided the fake pieces into two groups. Even to my untrained eye, the upper group was quite sophisticated while the lower group was obviously shoddy.

“These are genuine. These are fake but well-crafted, and these below have little value. Would you like to sell them to us? I should mention that if you purchase items from our store, we can offer you a better exchange rate.”

My face involuntarily scrunched up.

It’s a tactic banks often use. “Open a savings account with us, and we’ll give you a bigger loan.” It’s called bundling—something that shouldn’t be done but that few people avoid doing. One of those dirty tricks.

I never expected to see it here.

“Do you have a chastity belt? For men. Extra large size, please.”

Camilla suddenly cut in.

“One moment, please.”

Before I could say anything, the man swiftly disappeared through the back door. It was quite a thick bulletproof door.

“Huh?”

Camilla herself seemed more surprised than anyone.

“Why are you surprised?”

“I was just joking, but why do they actually have it?”

The man really did return with something outrageous. It was the kind of thing that makes you embarrassed even when you accidentally glimpse it in internet ads.

“The main material is gold, and the lock is made of platinum so it won’t irritate the skin when it touches…”

No. I don’t want to know about that.

I glanced at Camilla, who had completely turned her body away. The fact that she wouldn’t even turn her head showed how genuinely embarrassed she was.

So she was trying to tease me. Well, let’s see how you like it.

“What’s this?” I asked, pointing to the accessories that came with it. There were two sapphires with gold rings attached and another slightly larger sapphire with a longer, thinner gold chain.

“It’s a women’s bikini. It’s sold as a set with this item and cannot be purchased separately.”

“…What?”

Curious about the word “bikini,” Camilla turned around, then jumped in shock and spun away again.

It was truly strange to see a woman who could kill spiders with her bare hands react like this. Was it really that shocking? It was just an accessory.

“Does it go on top of a bikini? That would look pretty.”

“…It’s meant to be worn directly on the naked body.”

I stared blankly at the man, thinking he must be talking nonsense. He looked at me briefly and explained in a more helpful tone.

“The pair of small rings goes on the nipples, and the larger jewel covers the private area. The gold chain connects the small jewels to the large one, and the overall structure is similar to a slingshot bikini. Anyway, would you like to purchase it?”

For a very brief moment, I imagined Camilla “wearing” or rather “adorned with” this on the beach. But then I’d have to wear “that” next to her. It seemed like an unfairly bad deal for me.

“No. I’d prefer gold bars and Römer currency. And I’m not sure if this can be exchanged too. Do you have a notepad?”

I wrote “Cassandra” on the notepad the man handed me and passed it back. He showed no reaction.

“I was told to contact this person.”

“Your name?”

“Johan.”

Camilla, startled, tried to turn toward me but caught sight of the monstrous item still on display and blushed.

She tried to glance sideways, but the darkening under her eyes suggested she was imagining exactly what I had.

Hmph, that’s what you get for showing off.

“Let’s settle the account first.”

The man handed over two 1kg gold bars and a roll of Römer currency. I easily put them in a zippered pouch.

A kilogram of gold is worth roughly 80 to 90 million won, and with the Römer notes added, the jewelry I brought must be worth a bit over 200 million. If I had to guess.

Of course, money will increasingly lose its value, so it doesn’t mean much, but this amount should be enough to buy what we need while traveling between the city and unprotected zones. For now, at least.

The man slid open a display case cover. After pressing various buttons on what looked like a control panel, there was a beep and the bulletproof panel blocking the display opened. It had been so cleverly hidden that I hadn’t even realized it was a door.

“Please come inside. Be careful not to trigger the guns.”

Both Camilla and I had left our rifles in the car. We only brought handguns. We carefully entered, making sure our equipment didn’t catch on anything. Once inside the bulletproof door, we could finally see all kinds of jewels.

“It’s bigger inside.”

Embarrassingly, the man didn’t respond, and Camilla and I just shrugged. After walking about 20 meters down a corridor, we saw a door lined with red silk.

“Please wait inside.”

“…Can we trust you?”

“That’s what we’d like to ask you as well.”

The man made no attempt to hide his discomfort. Finding this quite reasonable, I went inside. The room was dark, but when the lights clicked on—

“Wow.”

It was a completely different world. An elegant wooden floor and walls, polished and well-crafted furniture, porcelain vases with curves like Camilla’s back…? What am I thinking? Anyway, it was quite an impressive reception room.

“Please help yourself to the refreshments.”

The man turned and left. For some reason, the refreshment tray had gummy bears arranged by color. I didn’t particularly like them, but they tasted good after not having had them for so long.

“Hmm, this one’s cola flavor, and this is grape. But Johan, what did you show him earlier?”

Camilla, who had been happily sampling various treats, asked belatedly. When I explained the situation, she looked around the reception room again with puzzlement.

“Well, I guess a doctor and researcher would make good money. Is this where rich people meet?”

“Yeah. Probably wearing those chastity belts and bikinis. I’ll put that on you if you want. But then you have to wear that bikini.”

Without a second thought, Camilla immediately replied.

“…How about we call it a draw?”

“Sure. Ugh, I can’t believe there’s demand for such things when the world is in this state. Unbelievable. Really.”

Camilla kept making a sour face and fanning herself. Then suddenly she snickered.

“What?”

“…Nothing. Just thinking about the past. When money was so desperately needed, I struggled and worked so hard, but now we’re in a world where it’s not really necessary anymore. Makes me wonder what it was all for.”

“What was it for? You met me.”

“Ugh, so cheesy.”

Camilla popped a plum-flavored candy into her mouth. As she looked around the room giggling, she spotted a pile of lollipops. Remembering we were told to help ourselves, she grabbed a handful and put them in her pouch.

“Did you like lollipops?”

With the candy rolling around in her mouth, Camilla’s pronunciation was a bit slurred. Her cheeks bulged out like a chipmunk’s, which was cute.

“I used to eat them often, but I haven’t had the chance lately.”

I unwrapped a lime-flavored candy and sucked on it. It was a bit sour, but I liked the tingling sensation on my tongue.

As I quietly looked around at the elegant furniture, I too felt strange.

Camilla, Cassandra, and Leticia must have had ordinary days too. So must the owners of this room.

People can’t easily break the inertia of the lives they’ve led. It’s natural to believe that today and tomorrow will be like yesterday.

Perhaps that’s why people don’t take zombies and epidemics very seriously—that same inertia.

Anyway, the country of Elza is controlling all communications and media, nominally implementing “quarantine measures.” Though those quarantines are laughably full of holes.

“Does it make sense to divide areas into protected and unprotected zones?”

Camilla gave my sudden question serious thought.

“Hmm, in the Liberation Corps, they said that the division wasn’t for the zombies, but for the people the government wanted to take.”

“What does that mean?”

“Johan, you’ve seen it too. They don’t protect the people in unprotected zones at all. The Elza government only cares about people in protected zones.

They constantly tell those people the world is safe, build high walls, spread scary rumors about how dangerous it is outside, and say ‘if you don’t want to end up like them, follow our control.’

The funny thing is, the government isn’t entirely wrong. Zombies should be quarantined.

But if they really divided the zones that way, shouldn’t there be no zombies in protected zones? The government is helpless on that point.

They always blame it on animals crossing boundaries without restriction or careless individuals. The same old excuses.”

Camilla fearlessly unwrapped another candy, seemingly unconcerned about gaining weight. I peeled another candy too.

Maybe it was the sugar, but useless thoughts kept popping into my head. Even the government is just a collection of civil servants and office workers. They too want to maintain some kind of inertia.

Thinking about it that way made it a bit amusing. In an unprecedented disaster, no one can see the way forward, yet people believe the government should naturally handle it, and the government pushes ahead claiming they have the answers, whether they work or not.

That’s why we need experts, intellectuals, and flexibility. Above all, citizens need to follow along.

But the Elza government is pushing through forcefully with military police.

“Johan.”

Camilla crunched her candy. Then she released the safety on her gun.

“What?”

“I think we need to arm ourselves.”

Camilla pressed herself against the wall by the door, while I hid behind the desk for cover. Knock, knock. Someone was at the door.

“Johan? It’s the employee from earlier. May I come in?”

It was the middle-aged man. Camilla and I nodded simultaneously. Camilla aimed her gun at the door. I lowered my body further and shouted.

“Come in!”

The door opened.

“Relax.”

A familiar voice. Cassandra entered behind the middle-aged man. She wore a white coat, carried an impressive bag on her back, and held a briefcase in one hand.

But neither the white coat nor the black sweater underneath could conceal her large chest.

“It’s been a while, Johan. And you there, keep aiming if it makes you comfortable. Cassandra doesn’t scare easily. But if you shoot Cassandra, you’ll die from gunshot wounds too.”

Camilla looked at me questioningly. I nodded and lowered my gun. Camilla lowered hers as well.

“…It’s been a while, Cassandra. You have a lot of luggage.”

“Yes. I just got off work. I brought some documents too. But first, I need to tell you something. Cassandra is being watched.

The siren-blaring military police are always watching, so I don’t have much time. To put it briefly, you need to save Cassandra.”

“Why should we?”

Camilla remained vigilant. Cassandra looked back and forth between me and Camilla.

“…I see. She’s a pretty woman. I thought something seemed odd.”

“That doesn’t seem relevant right now.”

“No, it is important. Your virus patterns are similar. Almost identical, I’d say.”

Camilla didn’t seem to understand what that meant. I carefully asked.

“You mean we have the virus in our bodies?”

Camilla covered her mouth. As for me, well, I was surprisingly calm. After all, almost every play ends with infection.

“L-lies… that’s a lie…”

Camilla stammered. Cassandra slowly shook her head.

“The blood sample test results with your names are conclusive. I can retest if you want. If you get me out of here. But tentatively, you are carriers of the Cro virus.”