The same test was run with Yoan’s blood.
I waited anxiously, but Freya’s reaction was just as lukewarm this time.
“To put it simply, the lord’s blood isn’t normal, either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Initially, it showed a similar reaction to Lady Sasha’s. The difference is that it absolutely devours the other sample. But after a while, its activity just… stops. It doesn’t slow down, it just completely halts. I’ve run the test several times, and the result is always the same.”
“So you’re saying…”
“I can’t tell for certain if he’s an antibody carrier or not.”
“Haa…” A sigh escaped me before I could stop it.
In the end, the most important problem remained unsolved. Was I supposed to just accept that my healing ability was working overtime for now?
The only silver lining was that Yoan still showed no signs of turning.
So we really do have to go to the capital, don’t we?
There had to be some other way there.
While I was lost in thought, Yoan took charge of the situation. “First, can you at least make an antidote that slows the transformation?”
“I’ll do my best!”
“I need a clear answer. We have to factor it into our next plan.”
“Ugh… I’ll do it!” Freya hesitated for a moment before clenching her fists and answering with determination.
“Good. For now, run the test on the others.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“You did well.”
“Yes, my lord! Huh? Oh… yes!” Freya, who’d been a little crestfallen by the disappointing results, immediately brightened at Yoan’s praise.
“Oh, and are there any other doctors in this town?”
“Besides me, there are probably about six others. If they’re still alive, that is…”
“We’ll find out when we check.”
Yoan had Freya get her newly developed method and the necessary supplies together.
We couldn’t set up a permanent testing station, and we had no idea who might have the antibodies, so the idea was to spread the method around.
That’s a good idea.
The original story was already a complete mess, and there was no rule saying there could only be one antibody carrier.
Freya put together a sort of testing kit and even quickly sketched out the locations and portraits of the other doctors she knew in town.
“Will this be enough?” she asked.
“More than enough.” Yoan grabbed the bag and headed out.
I patted Freya on the shoulder. “You really worked hard. Get something to eat and have a good long sleep.”
“Phew. Now that’s what I call a fine back.”
“...You should rest.” Okay, she’d been working so hard she was losing her mind.
Using what Freya had prepared, we split up into teams to find the other doctors.
Sadly, two of them were already dead, and one was missing.
I had a feeling the missing one had probably fallen in with the group Rob had mentioned.
We managed to deliver the kits to the remaining three.
“Creating something like this in such a short time…? That’s Freya for you,” said Dio, the last doctor we found.
He seemed to know her well.
“We went to the same academy. She was always a brilliant one. Never lost the top spot. For someone so smart, though, she could be surprisingly clueless about some things.”
He smiled faintly, as if remembering their school days. “It’s a shame. I’d love to see her, but I have a family to protect. Please give her my best. Tell her I hope we meet again with good news.”
But Dio would never see Freya again.
Not ever.
***
When we went back to check on Dio and see how things were progressing, we were met with the cold, lifeless bodies of his entire family.
And it wasn’t just him. A quick check confirmed that the other doctors were all dead, too.
It had all happened in the span of two days.
“This wasn’t zombies.”
I had to agree. The clean wounds, aimed precisely at vital points, were definitely not the work of zombies.
On top of that, all the testing kits we’d delivered were gone.
“Who the hell would do something like this?”
“Let’s go. There’s something I need to check,” Yoan said.
He moved quickly, gathering stories from survivors in the area. There were no witnesses, and most people didn’t even know what had happened.
But a few cautiously offered their opinions.
It was probably that scummy group. If the last of the doctors are gone, they’re the only ones left to rely on.
If people started to have hope, they might leave. Then the pathetic little bit of power the group’s leader had would crumble.
And he killed people for that?
“Who knew they’d provoke us like this?” Yoan’s blue eyes turned a shade colder.
“What will you do?”
“They’ve committed a crime. They need to be punished.”
“Alright. Then let’s head back and—”
“If we go back now, we’ll lose another day.”
“Huh? Well, yeah, but…” Don’t we need to regroup?
I gave him a questioning look, but Yoan’s expression was firm.
“Sasha, you go back to the base first.”
“Huh? What about you?”
“I’m going to do some scouting. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“No. I’m going alone.”
“Why? Will I get in the way?”
“Yes.”
The answer came back without a second’s hesitation, and I was a little stunned.
While I stood there with my mouth hanging open, Yoan finished what he had to say and stood up.
“I saw a couple of abandoned horses over there. Do you know how to ride?”
I had hoped he might elaborate on his whole “you’ll get in the way” comment, but nope.
“What do you think?”
“I’ll give you a crash course.”
“Forget it. I’ll get back on my own.”
I could run faster than I could wrestle with a horse I didn’t even know how to ride.
Pouting, I turned and started jogging back toward our base. You’d think he would have caught on and tried to stop me by now, but it was strangely quiet.
I glanced back, but Yoan was already gone.
“Wow… seriously?”
He really just ditched me because I’d get in his way?
Great. No cell phone, so I couldn’t even text him to complain.
“Jerk.”
I briefly considered following him, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before he caught me. So I grumbled all the way back to the base.
***
“Whoa,” Yoan said, lightly pulling on the reins to halt his horse.
Through his binoculars, the enemy’s base looked more like a fortress.
This is more serious than I thought.
The entrance was fortified with solidly stacked bricks and layers of heavy sandbags, creating a sturdy, makeshift barricade. Not only that, but there were also guards posted everywhere.
Yoan did a quick sweep of the area before moving to higher ground.
Pretty big inside.
It seemed impossible to get a complete picture from the outside.
We’re short on manpower, so I need more reliable intel…
No matter how he looked at it, infiltration was the only way.
For now, Yoan gathered the horse he’d ridden and the one he’d left nearby and hurried back to the base.
“My lord!” Rob, who had been waiting anxiously outside, spotted Yoan and ran over.
“Why did you go there alone? The days are getting shorter. What if something had happened? You should have at least taken me with you.”
“There wasn’t time.”
“Of course I trust you, my lord, but please, take better care of yourself.”
“Are you lecturing me right now?”
“This? Anyone can see this is worry. I’m hurt.”
“Just take care of these,” Yoan said, cutting him off and handing him the reins.
Rob’s eyes finally turned to the horses, and he naturally began to stroke one’s back.
“They look healthy, aside from being a little thin. Zombies don’t seem to bother animals. Should I put them in the stable?”
“Do that.”
“Yes, my lord. Let’s go!”
As Rob led the horses toward the back of the building, Yoan pressed his tired eyes and went inside.
The atmosphere was somber. The hope of finding an antibody carrier had been crushed.
Freya’s eyes, in particular, were swollen from losing her friends.
Jeremy, who was sitting at a small desk in the corner cleaning his weapons, stopped when he saw Yoan. “Caught the gist of it. Now, what’s goin’ on over yonder?”
“Hold on. Before that.” Yoan looked around as if searching for someone. “Do you know where Sasha is?”
“I reckon I do. Ah, that reminds me, my lord—did ya go and do somethin’ real bad out there?”
“Bad? Me?” Yoan tilted his head. What kind of nonsense was this to say to someone who’d just come back from a late-night patrol?
But what Jeremy said next was even more incomprehensible.
“Sasha seems angry?” Yoan asked.
“That’s what I said. She ain’t sayin’ a word, but the look on her face says plenty… and she’s stompin’ around, too. Ain’t like her usual self, no sir.”
No matter how hard Yoan wracked his brain, he couldn’t think of anything that would have made her angry.
“You must be mistaken, gramps. Sasha’s usually expressionless.”
“Tsk. You think I made it this far without pickin’ up a thing or two? I can tell just by lookin’. Her eyebrows were sittin’ funny, and her lips were stickin’ out a mile. Anyhow, she’s likely out back in the storeroom with Derek. Said she needed a bit o’ time to herself.”
Until then, Yoan hadn’t thought much of it, but now his eye began to twitch.
She was going to stay in the storeroom alone, without even consulting him? Did that mean everything Jeremy said was true?
“She’s angry…” But why, exactly?
“Listen here, milord. Let me give ya a bit of advice. When a woman’s in a sour mood, best thing you can do is apologize real good and often. That’s how you keep the peace ’round these parts.”
“What are you talking about? Have you finally gone senile, old man?”
“Mark my words now, just say it was all your fault. Lovers’ quarrels? Always childish, I tell ya.”
Yoan shot an icy glare, but Jeremy just chuckled, clearly amused.