◆

“BY the Goddess…have I returned to normal…?”

The now-living knight examines his body as if he can’t believe his eyes. I don’t know his deal, but I don’t blame him for being confused after reverting from zombie to human. That said, I can confidently say I’m even more confused than he is.

I mean, a zombie that was moaning “Bwah bwah” and trying to eat me turned into a human just by me touching it with my right hand. Does this count as bringing someone back from the dead? He was a zombie. But considering his filthy armor became clean and shiny, and the way the scream ripped from his throat when he glowed, purification seems like a better explanation. Yep, purification it is.

My eyes meet the knight’s while I’m in the middle of escaping reality by analyzing my situation. Having grown up with an older brother, I’ve never had a problem chatting with boys at school, but while that may be true, I still have reservations about talking to some guy who was a zombie trying to eat me a few moments prior—no matter how cool-looking he is.

“Are you the one who restored me to my former self?”

“I didn’t do anything so grandiose. I only touched you with my hand…”

More like I shoved him with all my strength. But telling him that will only draw attention to how violent my method was.

“I knew it… I vaguely remember things from when I was a zombie. I see, I see. That powerful thrust to my chest was your doing,” the knight says as he brings his right hand to his chest.

Crud. The fact that I shoved him is completely out in the open!

“I-I didn’t hit you because I wanted to. It’s your fault for cornering me while groaning ‘Bwah bwah’!”

The knight deeply bows his head to me. “Thank you very much.”

“Um, er…”

I’m stumped. All I did was touch him—or rather, gave a hard push to his chest— which normally wouldn’t do much at all. Even if my joking conclusion that I have the ability to purify zombies is somehow freakishly true, it’s not something I’ve done before. I’m not aware of having an ability like that. Though if purification really exists…I wish it’d purify the horrid odor exuding from my hand!

The knight raises his head and introduces himself. “My name is Lex Irvine, a knight with Grantz Kingdom’s Royal Knights.”

I could tell he wasn’t Japanese by his looks, so I’m not surprised by his foreign name. The issue is with the rest of what he said. I’ve never heard of Grantz Kingdom.

Between the existence of zombie knights and poisonous swamps, I’m starting to think this is a different world from the one I know. It’s a ridiculous theory even to me, but taking all the available information into account, there’s a high chance the “another world theory” applies here. Though the biggest mystery is how we’re communicating without a language barrier.

“If I may ask, what is your name, fair maiden?”

“Kusunoki— Ah, that’s my last name. I’m Mizuha Kusunoki.” Since the knight had introduced himself with his first name first, I switched midsentence to match the “local” custom.

“Lady Mizuha… You have a gorgeous name.”

This is the first time a man who’s not related to me has addressed me by my first name. It’s a tad embarrassing, but it’s not a bad feeling. But calling me by name isn’t the only problem here!

“U-Um, why are you calling me L-Lady? I’m not someone of high status. You can drop that part.”

“Because you are the fair lady who saved my life! I must treat you with the respect you are due!” he firmly declares, shooting down my request.

I was just starting to think he was the gentle-mannered, easy-to-get-along-with type, but it turns out he might actually be the difficult-to-handle type! Even so, he’s the only other human around. I have no option but to rely on him right now.

“Excuse me, Sir Lex?”

“Please just call me Lex. I would be most pleased if you spoke with me casually as well.”

“I can’t do that. I only just met you, Sir Lex.”

“LEX! Please call me that.”

I knew it. He’s the annoying type. Is he just serious to a fault or more stubborn than a mule? Actually, he’s probably both. At any rate, it’s just a waste of time if I get hung up on responding to his stupid comments in kind.

I take a deep breath and let the tension out of my shoulders. Then I stare at the man in front of me as I tell myself, All this guy has going for him is his looks. He’s a weirdo on the inside. A weirdo. Okay, that should do it!

“Fine, I’ll be casual with you, then. Um…Lex? I have a lot of questions for you. Will you answer them?”

“If it is within my ability to answer you, with pleasure.”

“What in the world is going on here? It looks like we’re on a desert island in the middle of the deep ocean. We’re surrounded on all sides by some sorta venomous-looking muck.”

“I don’t know what has transpired either. All I can say is that the world suddenly rotted around us, and every person, without exception, turned into a zombie as if in a chain reaction. The only power I know capable of this widespread influence comes from…the Dark Djinn.” Lex pauses there and looks at my face. “M’lady, are you feeling unwell?”

“Ahaha. Yes and no. I’m physically fine…” I say, holding my head in my hand.

Zombie-esque things exist. I probably shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but not even I could have predicted that a term like “Dark Djinn” would come up so easily as a part of a normal conversation. My zombie apocalypse nightmare has just turned up the fantasy-world ante.

“Uh, stop right there. Every person without exception? I’m not sure I really want to know the answer to this, but is it possible there are no other living humans around?”

“Correct. At least, that was supposed to be the case as far as I know.”

“Supposed to be the case?”

“Lady Mizuha…the curse didn’t befall you.” Lex’s expression turns serious as he studies my face. “What in the Goddess’s name are you? The Dark Djinn’s power is indomitable. None should have been capable of escaping its curse. And yet you—”

“I want to know the answer to that question more than anyone. When I came to, I was here without a clue about anything.”

“My inkling might not be so far off after all. That sacred power that allows you to not only break the Dark Djinn’s curse but also return me to my former self…I believe it means you are the holy priestess sent here by the Goddess to save our world, Lady Mizuha.”

I can’t help blinking at that preposterous conclusion. Is this guy all right in the head? Maybe his brains fried when he turned into a zombie.

“Me? A holy priestess? Not a chance. I’m just a high school girl.”

“Hi-High? S-Sch…ool? Girl?” Lex tries sounding out the words.

“Oh…my older brother likes to just call me a schoolgirl, but I guess you wouldn’t get that either?” I mentioned that with the fleeting hope he might know what that is, but it’s no good. Face scrunched up in a confused frown, Lex cocks his head at me. “Well, in any case, I’m just a normal human.”

“You can’t be. A normal person does not possess the holy powers you used—”

“What I’m trying to say is, don’t give me special treatment or look at me funny. I mean, look around. Whatever power I do or don’t have, it’s not getting us out of here.”

The power to purify a zombie and revert them to their original human form. I can’t deny that’s an awesome power, but it’s meaningless if I can’t escape this tiny island.

“…Lady Mizuha.”

I turn my face aside to avoid Lex’s sorrowful gaze. If what he says is true, then there are no other humans aside from us. In other words, we can’t expect help to come. Walking through the poisonous swamp to find land is out of the question. To be blunt, there’s no hope of being saved.

I never really had any particular ambitions in life, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy living. As weird as it is for me to say this, I still have a long life ahead of me. I’ve optimistically lived out my days thinking I have plenty of time to find what I want to do with my life… But now I’m going to die in obscurity before I ever discover what that is.

I plop down on the ground with a loud sigh. I pull my knees up to my chin and bury my face in them. Is there a point in living if there’s nothing for me to do? There’s nothing more painful than endless boredom. Maybe I should just make it easier on myself and dive into that acidic poison…

Negative thoughts overwhelm my mind, my mental state descending into chaos. My one forte is my optimistic energy that gets the regular customers and owners at my part-time job to say, “Seeing you always smile like that cheers me right up too!” but even a cheerful person like me loses hope in a hopeless situation.

The torturous feelings rising inside me turn into tears and spill over. Teardrops drip from my blurry eyes. The drops splatter on the ground.

All of a sudden, the ground faintly glows.

Startled, I spring to my feet.

Wh-What’s going on now?!

Once the light spreads over the entire desert island, weeds sprout from the dead earth, covering what had been a wasteland moments prior. As if taking that as the cue, the light scatters as if shattering into pieces, eventually turning phosphorescent and quietly fading away.

“W-Weeds grew…!”

“Indeed…they did grow.”

I gape at the ground with Lex. What in the world is happening? Less than a second after my tears hit the earth, the island was covered in green. That’s the only thing I know for sure.

“Lady Mizuha…may I ask what it is you did?”

“I-I don’t really want to say because it’s embarrassing… I just cried a little. When my tears fell, the ground suddenly started glowing.”

“To think you returned life to the putrefied ground with your tears… As I thought, you truly are the holy priest—”

“You’re just looking for excuses to call me that now.”

It seems as if he wants to treat me like some kinda priestess no matter what. I’ll admit that bringing plant life back to barren land with just my tears is a holy-sounding power. That being said, I don’t want to acknowledge myself as some priestess, regardless of how much power I might have. The reason is simple—everything people view as holy or sacred tends to be beautiful.

Sorry to burst this world’s bubble, but I’m no otherworldly beauty. I think I have average looks, but that’s about it. It’s obvious people will be disappointed when they imagine their priestess as some stunner and then see me. They’ll think, What the heck? That’s her? Then again, this might just be baseless worry when the only people around to disappoint are zombies. Do zombies feel disappointment?

Anyway, Lex is staring at the noxious swamp with hopeful eyes. “While we don’t have proof yet, mayhap if you cry over the poison—”

“We might be able to purify it?!”

“Please try it, Lady Mizuha!”

“Okay, leave it to me!” I roll up my sleeves and gallantly stride over to the island’s edge. I poke my head slightly over the side and strain my eyes. “Geh! The tears aren’t coming! They dried up the second I thought I was saved! Ugggh.” At my wits’ end, I pound my hands on the ledge. No matter how much I pray for my emotional side from several minutes ago to return, it won’t. The pointlessly optimistic side of me has taken full control of my brain.

“Pardon my language, but how about saliva?”

“What are you suggesting with a straight face?”

I knew it, his good looks were too good to be true. There’s always a catch.

“Apologies… I simply thought perchance any of your body fluids might work, Lady Mizuha.”

“T-True. That is a possibility. But why saliva?”

“Because it seemed the optimum choice. Of course, I am all for trying some other options, such as—”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. So please don’t finish that sentence.”

Spitting in public is plenty immodest as it is. I don’t want anyone seeing me spit.

“I-I’ll try it. Can you face the other way?”

“Why?”

“Obviously because it’s embarrassing!”

The day I get labeled as a girl who spits and drools is the day I can no longer get married. Though I guess the chances of me getting married now that I’m in a post-apocalyptic world are close to zilch.

Facing the edge again, I drop to my knees and poke my head over the side. My shoulder-length hair falls into my eyes, annoying me. I brush my hair up and over my ears.

It’s not like Lex is watching me, but there’s something terribly embarrassing about this that it’s making my face heat up. I remind myself I’m doing this to survive and open my mouth to spit the saliva I haven’t swallowed yet. Not having had anything to drink for a while has made it sticky. The drop of saliva breaks off from the threadlike trail and finally drips into the poisonous liquid.

There aren’t any ripples, but a bigger change occurs instead. The poisonous muck surrounding the island unleashes a blinding light high into the skies. The bubbling and popping stops, and the color turns from a sickly purple to transparent. Last but not least, even the stench assaulting my nose vanishes.

“I-It actually worked…”

“How can this be? As I suspected, Lady Mizuha is the—”

Pushing Lex’s new favorite phrase out of my mind, I survey the area around the island. It’s blue for as far as the eye can see. It looks just like a beautiful, clean ocean or lake. Not a trace of poison remains.

“Do you think it’s really been purified?” I voice my doubts.

“Allow me to confirm.” Lex leans over the island’s edge and thrusts his hand into the water without hesitation.

“Hey! Are you okay? Your flesh isn’t melting off?”

“There is nothing wrong with it. The water is very cool and refreshing,” Lex says, dunking his cupped hands into the water and bringing it back to his lips. He takes two loud gulps of it and stares at the water, stunned. “I have never tasted such delicious water before…”

I’m relieved. I don’t know what I’d do if something were to happen to him. But once the relief sets in, I become aware of a disturbing fact—my saliva is mixed in with the water Lex just drank. Ew! I start squirming, my face burning hot, when Lex turns to me with a sparkling smile.

“This is the power of your spit, Lady Mizuha!”

“Leave out the part about it being my spit’s power! PLEASE!” The heat goes right out of my face, and I dip my hand into the water too. While I’m at it, I scrub the zombie stench off my right hand. The water is cool and refreshing, just as Lex said. Taking a closer look, I realize it’s quite clear as well. I can see all the way to the bottom.

“Is it actually really shallow here?”

“It is. This is Lake Nidel. Some sections are deep, but it shouldn’t come up higher than your knees in most areas.”

“We can walk through it, then.”

“We certainly can. Grantz Castle is located in that direction. Let’s head there.”

I’ll turn into a dried-up husk if I stay put on this island, so I decide to go along with Lex’s suggestion.

One strange thought occurs to me as we head out: Was Lex scuttling along the bottom of the lake like some sorta zombie crab?

                                                                Next