Survive

[Quest: Save Princess Charlotte and her sister, Fey, from the zombies outside their room! Failure to save them will alert the zombies outside the castle to your position!]

[Quest has been completed!]

[You have been rewarded with a backpack with some craftable content!]

The light gleaming on the floor was the backpack. Princess Charlotte and Fey had their eyes set on the rundown bag while I took it from the radiant ray. It was a sack akin to a mountain hiker’s backpack, but better. It had multiple pouches and whatnot. But the thing was… I didn’t have to check which pocket I could get my items from, since they were automated via slot - like an inventory slot for games. As long as I imagined what I wanted to place inside my bag, an open space would be allotted and I would secure my item, food, or anything there, except zombies, humans, or living beings.

The bag… didn’t weigh a thing. In fact, I could carry this for all I could care for and still run like a hyena getting chased by those zombies.

‘Another quest done!’ I told myself, and anticipated the next quest that my system had in mind for me.

Soon, another window materialised in front of my view. And the next thing I knew, a new quest arrived, and a fresh set of rewards awaited me.

[Quest: Find the hidden path toward the dungeon and escape!]

[Reward: ???]

This time around, the element of mystery surprised me. And this quest had a reward different from the “escape” one, meaning I could receive two rewards for the price of one. My system didn’t say what I was going to get. But after completing one quest after the other, this reward should better be cool. After all, what was better than having a Desert Eagle as a gift? It was any man’s dream.

Inside the bag were one molotov and one nail trap. My eyes instantly glimmered at the sight. Cocktail molotovs were crude explosives created from a bottle containing flammable liquor, mostly gasoline, with a saturated rag on top of it. In this world, as long as the molotov would hit the ground, it would be ignited and create a wave of flames to burn anything in its way.

Nail bombs were also bombs, but on different levels. They act as land mines that only go off when an enemy is nearby. These were made in tin cans with razor-sharp objects.

Molotovs and nail bombs would be very useful against a horde of targets; however, there was a catch. I could only create molotovs by collecting bottles of alcohol and rags, while nail bombs required… well, nails and explosive powders. For now, I didn’t have any spare, so I only had one for each item.

And then, I saw three bottles, rags, nails, and explosive powders. I didn’t know why, but they were just lying on the ground and were indicated with yet again a glowing white light. It was as if these products were just waiting for me to collect. So I did.

Woefully, this room didn’t have any bricks or stones I could use as a distraction. Well, there was nothing I could do about it. The best thing I could do now was to wait for the next area and find what I could use.

Technically, I could create three nail bombs and three molotovs, which I did. I now had four molotovs and nail bombs, which was a massive arsenal on our side. And the best part was I didn’t have to make the items on my own. I just mashed them together, and the molotovs and nail bombs would be created magically via my system and magic, which I cannot explain.

I finally snapped from my thoughts as Princess Charlotte and Fey leaned toward me and became curious about the light and the sudden appearance of my backpack.

Fey was the one who asked the question to the unknown pieces in front of her. “What was that, Kisei? Is that your…?”

I nodded, and answered Princess Charlotte’s question. “It’s my magic. My own personal magic. Right here is a landmine, and this one goes kaboom.”

“Oh…. Cool.”

“I know, right?!” I answered.

Finally, someone who could appreciate the awesomeness of these items! Despite being a princess, Fey had her eyes sealed on these items in my hands. They were handy, so I got the feeling of being excited to throw them to the zombies.

I didn’t believe I got off the hook when I said those words. Princess Charlotte must have been content when I answered her queries and ended up silencing her afterward.

I wasn’t sure if magic existed in this world. But I already had an idea it did, considering my system popping up whenever it wished and the archery, swordsmanship, and augmentation skill Charlotte had within her. However, I had yet to see a magic element in action. Maybe sometime soon, I would get to feast my eyes and witness a magical battle before me.

Until then, we had to keep moving and survive from these zombies. Thankfully, for now, they were stupid and slow. But it won’t be long until the undead would evolve into a more powerful being that would stop us from our paths.

And now for our plan of action. While everything was happening all at once, I placed two nail bombs at the entrance, leaving us with only one in my hand. Maybe I could use them for later. Two should be enough to blast these zombies away if they managed to destroy that door. As long as we’re at a safe distance, we won’t be affected by the explosion… at least, that was what I had estimated.

“Princess Charlotte, do you know a secret passage leading outside of this castle?”

Charlotte hummed for a second before answering my question. “There is one path that I do know, but…”

The moment Princess Charlotte gave me her answers, the zombies outside started barging their heads and faces against the door. Just like before, we were pinned by a time limit. And the only way for us to live for another day was to act now before becoming human bourguignon to this undead group.

“Well?! Any leads, princess?” I asked Princess Charlotte, since she was around my age.

“I AM THINKING! DO NOT RUSH ME!” Princess Charlotte responded, as she stood and walked around back and forth.

“I don’t think you get it, Princess. But THERE ARE ZOMBIES WAITING FOR US OUTSIDE!”

My system also kept bugging me around, showing the quest I needed to finish. [Quest: Escape the castle with Princess Charlotte and Fey! Failure to escape the castle with them will lead to alerting the zombies and targeting you throughout your journey!] This was what my system said, and it wasn’t helping either.

As soon as Princess Charlotte succumbed to pressure, she, at long last, had an answer in mind. But it wasn’t her who told me the answer. It was her eight years old little sister who came up with an idea and recalled their castle’s secret route.

“The right hallway… from the ballroom!... From there… the hallway would lead us… to the magical library!... If we can move the correct book… the secret passage will be revealed… But.” Her voice was soft but stern. If she grows old enough, Fey might be a queen that could move millions just with her voice.

“BUT? THERE’S A BUT?! WE CANNOT AFFORD ANY BUTS?!” I raised my voice in a panic, which Princess Charlotte wasn’t happy about. “Oh, god. Don’t tell me you don’t know the secret passage.”

The two fell speechless once they heard the latter part of my sentence. This was just great. We now had an opening where we could escape, but… none of these princesses knew precisely to find the correct book.

Well, there was nothing we could do about it. The best thing we could perform was to guess the tome and somehow find it through luck.

While conversing with the princess, the zombies eventually pierced a hole in the door and slowly made their opening.

That wasn’t all. From my map, red markings surfed on the entrance, hinting that the undead outside had found their way inside the castle. When I checked my system, the quest told me that I had somehow gone past my deadline, even though there wasn’t any time limit, so these zombies were now heading in our direction. Aside from that, there were subtle hints that something flying above the castle’s walls was approaching the place.

And that was a scary sight to behold. I could handle running zombies, but flying undead? Leave me out of it.

“Got it! We need to break through these zombies and make our way past them toward the library! I know where it is!”

“Are you out of your mind, you scoundrel!? Have you not realised that this place is crawling with those monsters… or zombies, which you call them?! And those are my servants! What do you wish to do, Kisei? Do you want to kill my people just to save our lives? Are we not selfish because of that foolish act?!”

I looked her in the eyes and said, “Do you have a better plan for us to survive, Princess Charlotte? And besides, these zombies are already dead! Those people that you know and turned into one are not the same anymore… They’re monsters. They will kill and hunt down anyone standing in their way. I want to leave you two behind, but if you want to die from them, then so be it. Choose, Princess. Are you coming with me, or are you going to stay here and be eaten by those zombies?”

I didn’t want to say that Princess Charlotte’s and Fey’s father and mother were all gone. But I implied that idea.

I let the Princess decide her fate, together with her sister. She had someone dear to her, which would take a toll on her if Charlotte planned on letting her sister die in vain… and let her turn into one of them.