Chapter 720: The Kid (1)

According to what that prince had explained.

Those zombies sounded like a race with nothing left but to naturally disappear once enough time passed.

That was why the sight of them struggling to live had felt a little impressive.

But.

'Something’s strange.'

Once I actually took apart the structure of these zombies, it was a little different.

Of course, it was somewhat different from what was common in this world.

'There is definitely an organ that can take something in from the outside.'

Contrary to what they had said about starvation being their fixed fate.

Whether I knew what these things were meant to eat or not.

The organ itself that allowed them to eat something clearly existed.

At that point, I could be certain.

'That prince is hiding something.'

When I talked with him.

There had not been much taste of lies in his words.

But I knew that the power of this [Taste Bud Enhancement] was not absolute.

Even if he had not lied.

It would be perfectly possible to hide something while still not telling the truth.

That goblin had said they did not lie.

But there had to be some other reason why an organ like this remained in these creatures’ bodies.

And that prince had not revealed that reason.

'Did he think we wouldn’t notice that part even if we dissected the corpses?'

No matter how powerful a monster was.

In the end, that only meant its combat ability was powerful.

Even I had areas outside my field where I was more ignorant than a level-1 awakened.

A young insect born in this land and, in practical terms, not even two years old.

That prince probably had not expected that fragments of what he wanted to hide would be exposed through our analysis.

'......If only we had already identified every hostage’s location, I would have grabbed them all and left right away.'

I had no desire to continue a deal with creatures that were hiding something.

But there were still things that bothered me too much to withdraw immediately.

For now, we had no choice but to remain here a little longer.

“It’s something that bothers me, but it’s good that we found out there’s an absorption organ. Injecting food through here should be.......”

“Possible, it seems.”

What they were asking for was a recipe that would allow them to eat something by themselves, even without a chef like me.

And if an organ for supplying nutrients from the outside to the inside still remained, whatever it was, then the difficulty decreased drastically.

At the very least, the minimum condition for possibly creating that recipe had been met.

The problem was.

“I don’t know what kind of dish we’d have to put in here to fill those things’ stomachs.”

The energy source those zombies used was probably very different from the ordinary things we knew.

It obviously would not be glucose, fat, or protein, and it was not even mana.

Unless it was a dish that could replenish the energy source only those things used, there would be no meaning.

'In other words, if we solve that part, that’s all we need.'

Of course, it was not an easy problem.

But if I had to say whether it was completely impossible, there was a high chance it was not that far.

The probability that recipe creation would succeed could be considered fairly high.

“Howard.”

“Mm?”

And.

After judging that much, I thought for a moment, then opened my mouth.

“For now, let’s keep what we found out a secret.”

“What? Why all of a sudden.......”

“I’m certain we’ll be able to create the recipe...... but for now, let’s pretend we don’t know. We need to stall for some time by saying we’ll only know whether it’s possible after looking into it a little more.”

At those words of mine.

Howard seemed flustered for a moment, but soon nodded.

“There must be something bothering you.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll do as you say, Senior. But...... those things didn’t look like they had much time to spare either. It’ll be difficult to drag this out for long.”

“We’ll have to play that part by ear.”

I was planning to resolve my questions about those insects here anyway.

On top of that, by now Ariella should be searching all across this country and carrying out her own investigation.

Even if we broke off the deal and returned to the Legion, it would be right to hold out long enough for Ariella’s investigation to be completed to a sufficient degree.

FWOOSH.......

But.

At that very moment, as I was thinking that.

'This presence is.'

A massive presence felt from outside.

{Ah.}

The one who had left for somewhere.

The prince of those zombies.

{The three chefs have met.}

Had returned to the city.

***

{The three chefs have met.}

A voice came from outside the building.

At that voice, I looked toward the window.

Rustle.......

A gray aura covered the window.

Just like when I had seen him for the first time last time.

Instead of revealing himself, he covered the entire building in gray aura and hid his form.

'Does he happen to be terribly shy or something?'

The other zombies had not shown signs of trying to hide themselves that much.

But for some reason, that prince seemed extremely reluctant to show his own appearance.

I did not know the reason for that.

But I could sense one change in him.

'This smell.'

From the first time I saw him, I had felt it from him.

A rotten stench even thicker than that wave of countless zombies.

But now.

'It’s stronger.'

The smell of death coming from him.

Had grown so intense it felt like it would twist my nose out of shape.

'No...... it isn’t just the rotten smell.'

A taste of iron touched the tip of my tongue.

'Blood.'

When that thing had suddenly disappeared.

I had wondered why he had disappeared.

I still did not know the exact reason, but there was one thing I could be certain of.

'Somewhere...... he shed blood and came back.'

Probably.

Blood that was not his own.

{It feels good to see the three chefs together.}

And.

The thing giving off the stench of rotting corpses and the thick scent of blood spoke to us from outside the building.

{If many chefs cooperate, a good result will surely come out of it. Yes...... have you become willing to accept our proposal?}

“Unfortunately, not yet. We don’t even know whether that request is something we can do right away.”

{Is that so?}

At those words of mine.

A little taste of suspicion spread from outside.

{Even though three chefs have gathered...... you have not even confirmed whether the work is possible or impossible?}

At those words.

I thought, inwardly startled.

'Howard and I only need to keep our mouths shut.'

The problem was.

There were not only two chefs here.

'That kid.'

The kid had heard every conversation we had.

The kid would also know that we were trying to deceive that prince.

We had ignored that kid’s words telling us not to even investigate the insects, and continued the research.

I wondered if, out of resistance toward that, the kid might open that mouth on a whim.

“.......”

But contrary to our worries.

That little kid had once again crouched in the corner and kept quiet.

The kid stared at the gray aura outside the window with eyes full of hostility.

{Well...... three is a generous way to put it.}

Even though we had deceived the kid.

Was the anger toward that zombie greater than that?

{Since only the two newly joined chefs have actually investigated. I suppose that is understandable.}

The kid looked as if cooperation was out of the question, and even conversation was not going to happen.

The prince also spoke as if that behavior from the kid was familiar.

“For now, I think we’ll have to investigate for a few more days before we can decide whether to accept your proposal or not. We can’t accept something impossible.”

{Is that so? Then it cannot be helped, but I would like you not to forget that we do not have much time.}

“.......”

{If our time runs out, and we are pushed to the point of starvation...... the humans we are ‘protecting’ will no longer be protected.}

Protected, huh.

{At that point, even if the others of our kind try to turn those humans into our own kind, I will not be able to stop them.}

It seemed that thing wanted to say he was protecting the humans from other zombies or monsters.

“......I’ll keep that in mind.”

***

Like that.

Using the excuse that we were researching whether we could create the recipe or not, we succeeded in stalling for time for now.

“......Look over there, Senior.”

“That presence...... the prince is going outside again.”

As we spent time like that.

The prince continued to leave the city and return, over and over.

At times, even the presences of other zombies throughout the city moved together with that prince.

'And every time, he comes back with the smell of blood on him.'

The conquest of North Korea had not been completed yet.

Considering that, it was certain that hostile forces still remained.

I had thought they would be, at most, a few minor forces like those rock giants.

'Even if the mainstream is definitely this side. Are there more forces still resisting than I expected?'

Well, that made sense.

Our Legion had also achieved 100% in the Conquest War, but that did not mean we had exterminated every enemy within our territory.

Even now, Legion members or the Green Mane tribe members were probably eliminating the monsters in our territory that had not yet been dealt with.

If these creatures had not even achieved 100% in the Conquest War, it would not be strange for there to be a considerable number of enemies inside their territory, but.......

'Even though there were that many zombies.'

A number so enormous that it was impossible to understand unless every monster that appeared in North Korea had become a zombie.

And those creatures had been heading toward South Korea.

Probably because they had judged that there were more hosts in the south...... in other words, in the Legion, than inside the North Korean mainland.

That would mean the number of living creatures within the mainland was likely lower than even the Legion troops stationed in the north.

So I could not help finding it a little strange why they were moving around that often.

And one more thing that seemed strange was.

'Why.'

Every time he came back carrying the smell of blood.

'Does that rotten smell grow stronger too?'

The smell of death coming from his body was becoming stronger and stronger.

That was not a simple smell.

That thing called a prince was getting stronger as time passed.

'Is he continuing to evolve?'

It was strange.

But there was no way to find out about that part immediately.

In the end, the only thing Howard and I could do was continue our research.

'In the end, we need to supply whatever these things use as an energy source.'

What that was—

But then.

“......You people.”

Toward us as we carried out that research.

The little kid sitting in the corner spoke up.

***

“You people, are you really going to cooperate with that thing?”

At those words.

Howard and I, who had been tearing apart a zombie corpse, turned our gazes toward the little kid.

The kid was filled with hostility toward those zombies.

It did not seem like a meaningful conversation could be exchanged, but.......

“Didn’t you hear what we said to that thing? We haven’t decided whether we’ll accept or not yet.”

That did not mean there was anything else to do in particular.

I answered while examining the insect.

“......That means you might accept, doesn’t it?”

“That depends on the conditions. We were dragged here half under threat too. It’s not exactly a situation where those things look all that favorable to us.”

“.......”

The little kid clearly did not like that.

Still, unlike at first, the kid did not shout at us to refuse unconditionally.

More precisely, should I say the mood had strangely calmed down after the kid saw that Assistant Chef?

'I thought this was just a thoughtless child throwing a tantrum.'

The kid had been fairly good at speaking, but had kept quiet in front of that prince and the other zombies too.

Unexpectedly, it seemed the kid understood differences in strength well, and had a personality that knew how to protect oneself to some extent.

“......If you still haven’t decided, then you’d better choose to run away even now.”

And.

“Leave this country...... and never come back. That would be best.”

The crouching kid said that with a somewhat serious attitude.