Chapter 70: I ran out of Periods!

(Marinkia’s POV)

Before I left, I got some directions from that caravan. I didn’t need it, but it was nice to know that the directions from Krul were accurate. Though, the image of a grotesque special zombie, going around and recruiting humans to their city, is amazingly funny to me.

Like, why not just kidnap them there? Did those special glowing eye zombies develop empathy or something? I won’t know until I make it to the city. Which wasn’t that far of a walk from where I left the caravan.

Though, to humans, it would be a journey. I consider a short walk for me to be under ten miles. The city was only 5 miles away from that caravan. A very short walk, indeed. Soon, I came close to the district.

There were some guards, and they oddly looked human. But they weren’t human at all. Nor were they Numens. Instead, they were clearly evolved zombies. It is confusing; I know. Basically, they were just those zombies with glowing eyes and intelligence, but now weren’t rotting.

Krul mentioned that we had footage of their queen, which wasn’t a lie. I saw it. Which gave me an easy time in figuring out who I needed to kill. Can I… will walking straight inside be a good idea? We don’t look that different from each other.

Eh, if it doesn’t work, I can just as easily kill my way out of the situation. With a calm expression, I walked over to the front entrance and greeted the guards.

Guard: “Did you find any humans out on your trip?” She asked.

Marinkia: “I found a caravan, but those Numens had found them before I could reach them.” I answer with an upset tone.

Guard: “A shame… You didn’t lead them back here, right?” She replied.

Marinkia: “I am not stupid.” I deny with an annoyed tone.

Guard: “Hopefully not… Those Numens being so close to our city… I’ll have to inform our queen about this.” She said with a thinking pose.

Marinkia: “That so? Well, I will be entering the city now.” I reply with an uncaring tone.

Guard: “Alright. Just don’t go eating humans randomly. We’re very short on our supply right now, and none of our people that we sent to raid the Numen human farms ever came back.” She said with a serious tone.

Marinkia: “I am not hungry, don’t worry.” I reply with a shrug.

Walking past the guard, I arrived in the city. It wasn’t that amazing of a place. Most of the inhabitants seemed to be unevolved glowing eye zombies. Does that mean that the evolved ones were rare? I guess so…

The place clearly didn’t have the workforce or drive to renovate the district. Though, due to its more recent construction, it wasn’t too bad.

The various stalls selling human meat in different forms weren’t pleasant to see at all, though. Despite there being stalls, most of the human meat smelled bad, and was rotting… Are humans treated even worse in this place?

It’s hard to say. I hadn’t been here long enough to know for sure. With nothing better to do, I explored around the city. Surely, I will find something that will help me out, right? I doubt the queen will present her head on a silver platter for me, though…

Hours Later.

Most of this district was unused. It would seem that the population of livestock humans in this city, as well as intelligent or evolved zombies, was very, very low. A telltale sign being how I got a hotel room for free.

They hadn’t figured out how to use most of the electricity in the district. So most of the rooms and buildings were lit up with, oddly, the crystals that come out of special zombies. They did glow, after all. I kinda feel like it is akin to cannibalism…

I mean, sure, my people eat humans. Or they did. But humans were considered to be a different species from us. Most likely, if you kill ever an evolved zombie, they would probably dissolve and drop one of those crystals as well.

Ding Dong!

No, that wasn’t a doorbell going off. That was just my ringtone. Why? Well, because someone was calling. Huh? Oh, you mean the specific sound. Eh, for no real reason, honestly. God… I think that I might be going insane from being away from my family for so long…

Krul: “Any updates?” She asked after I picked up the call.

Marinkia: “I have infiltrated their city.” I answer.

Krul: “Amazing! That’s my daughter alright! How did you get inside?” She asked with a curious tone.

Marinkia: “Apart from them being able to use the guns on the walls, most of the place is barely powered.” I reply.

Krul: “So… you snuck in from where, exactly?” She asked.

Marinkia: “I walked in from the front entrance.” I answer with a proud tone.

Krul: “…”

Marinkia: “?”

Krul: “You aren’t lying…” She said with a sigh.

Heh… I love making cute girls show amazing reactions. One of the best things about PCs is being able to see the person on the other side in perfect detail. Those sci-fi movies from the 2000-2030s were a little ways off, but they had the right idea about future tech in some ways.

Marinkia: “I never lie to my family. Anyway, there are other evolved zombies, like their queen. They just assumed that I was one as well, so they didn’t bother to stop me from entering into the city.” I explain.

Krul: “Oh… That would explain it. Anyway, you won’t find the queen for a while.” She informed.

Marinkia: “Why not?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Krul: “Because she is currently fighting over at a human farm of ours.” She answered.

Marinkia: “Really?” I reply.

Krul: “Yeah, really. She hasn’t tried to kill anyone, though. Which is weird…” She replied.

Marinkia: “Maybe a diplomatic solution is possible? At the very least, the evolved zombies seem to be very reasonable and very similar to us.” I propose.

Krul: “…You can try. A diplomatic solution would be for the best.” She agreed.

Marinkia: “The reason for her to be in such a hurry is because of the major lack of human livestock in their possession.” I inform.

Krul: “No wonder she has been trying to break into that farm for over an entire day now…” She said with a sigh.

I feel like we could easily come to a reasonable solution to this problem. It involves mainly me, though. I just hope that this queen will give me the chance to put such a plan into action…

Krul: “…You can try a diplomatic solution, Kia. Hey, you still have that coin that Sarin gave you, right?” She asked.

Marinkia: “…I do.” I answer.

Krul: “Do you have it on you?” She asked with a desperate tone.

Marinkia: “No. I left it in my room. Why? I had forgotten about that coin so long ago that I never asked Mai or Mercedes about it at all.” I reply with a curious tone.

Krul: “They never mentioned it to you? Well, that coin is what’s called a Pardon Coin.” She replied.

Marinkia: “Pardon Coin?” I repeat.

Krul: “To get one, you need to do something amazing. Regardless of what crime you commit, you can use a Pardon Coin to get out of it.” She explained.

Marinkia: “Why do you need it?” I ask.

Krul: “I… I spent millions upon millions of Credits buying birthday gifts for Ava. Sure, I could afford it easily. But Clare was the one who was supposed to manage our finances, and I didn’t ask her at all.” She answered.

Marinkia: “So… you want to use my Pardon Coin to make your wife forgive you?” I reply with a raised eyebrow.

Krul: “Yes.” She answered with a nod.

Marinkia: “…Good luck?” I pray for her success.

Krul: “…”

I honestly doubt that a little coin will convince Clare to not be upset. But it is funny to see such a gruesome and storied warrior act so desperately like this. Actually, it is more cute than funny. Krul does look like a little girl, you know. With nothing better to do, and with how Krul quickly ended the call, I decided to just go to sleep. Queen… please come back soon, okay? I am so missing my family right now…