Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse – Chapter 24 – Error

Author: Asternkm

Chapter 24 Error

The zombie virus… isn’t actually a virus.

Which meant this zombie situation was something absolutely impossible to cure with medicine.

‘Well, since this world is a Western-style romance fantasy, medical science isn’t as advanced as modern times, so I wasn’t expecting much from that field anyway…….’

But still—this isn’t it, right?

I was seriously wondering if I’d have to develop a new drug like in the movies!

Then how are we supposed to solve this?

Do we have to kill every zombie to end it?

Is there even a chance I can go home?

As my face turned pale and I started stuttering, Zero slapped my cheeks lightly.

「Hey, possessor! Get a grip!」

‘Y-yeah. Okay.’

「It doesn’t mean it’s unsolvable! Look at the status window!」

‘Huh?’

[Analysis complete.]

Following where Zero pointed with his staff, I saw that the status window had finished its analysis.

I widened my eyes and stared at the results.

The window slowly displayed them.

[The cause of SP-384723’s unidentified error_zombie has been discovered.]

[Analysis result: Not caused by airborne germs.]

That part matched Ruth’s conclusion.

“Ruth, you said this wasn’t caused by germs, right? How did you know?”

When I asked urgently, Ruth pushed up his glasses and answered calmly.

“It’s nothing special. I tried using healing-type magic that works on both internal and external injuries, but the effects only restored the bitten area. Nothing beyond that worked. I even tried extracting any remaining germs afterward, but that failed as well.”

“……Why?”

“Because not a single unknown germ appeared. Only traces of common illnesses the victim might’ve had in life—like a cold.”

That’s why Ruth was certain.

“This is absolutely not a disaster caused by some plague. The cause lies elsewhere.”

Ding!

At the same time, the status window showed the same result.

But in more detail.

[Analysis result: Infection occurs when a human bitten by a zombie bites another human.]

[Does not appear to be naturally occurring.]

[SP-384723’s unidentified error_zombie appears to be a phenomenon created by artificial intervention.]

‘This was created by someone?’

As the possessor, I hadn’t interfered with the original story, so I had vaguely wondered if this incident might be someone else’s doing.

But I didn’t want it to turn out true.

While I stood speechless, feeling like the back of my head had been struck, Michael asked Ruth:

“Then what is the cause?”

“That’s what I meant when I said we’ve gained nothing, Sir Michael. It’s like being trapped in fog…… I can’t analyze anything beyond this. It’s as if someone predicted this and blocked the information from the start.”

Michael tried to probe further by infusing holy power, but failed.

“……It’s true. I can’t discover anything except that something is blocking even holy power.”

The status window was the same—completely blocked.

[Error. Error. Error.]

[Unable to probe further.]

[System access denied.]

[?!#?%#%^$#$##%?]

「What—what is this?!」

Zero jumped up in shock and tried to reactivate the window, but it was useless.

The once-blue window turned blood-red.

[Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error.]

Like a computer screen infected with a virus, dozens of overlapping windows flashed, then everything turned pitch-black—burned away—except for one last message.

[##^#I wish$%!#you’d all#%#^#$just die]

“……!”

Crackle.

The analysis window Zero had summoned met its end.

「Wh—! Why did it shut off?! This makes no sense……!」

Panicked, Zero swung his staff again to bring up another window, but it didn’t work.

[Repairing damaged system.]

[Progress remaining: 89%]

[Please wait while the system reactivates.]

「What is this?!」

Zero shouted in frustration, but the damaged system wouldn’t budge.

‘So Ruth being unable to dig deeper must be the same issue.’

Some unknown entity caused the zombie outbreak—and was also preventing anyone from discovering the cause.

Whether it was human or… something beyond human—something powerful enough to tamper with Zero’s system—someone was targeting us… targeting this world.

With a clear, heavy malice saying: I wish you’d all die.

The ease I’d felt while gathering party members suddenly felt stupid. I was terrified.

My vision darkened for a moment under the pressure squeezing my heart. I couldn’t hear anything.

‘……Is this really okay?’

Is it okay? Is it okay? Is it okay? Is it okay? Is it okay?

The suffocating fear I’d forgotten about tightened around my throat again.

So much that even those damned old memories I thought I’d buried resurfaced.

I’m scared.

My legs faltered, and then a warm hand caught my wrist.

“……My Lady? Your Grace?”

“……Uh.”

“Your Grace? Can you hear us?”

“……Ah.”

Right. Ruth and Michael were right in front of me.

“Are you alright? Your complexion went extremely pale—you almost collapsed.”

“Are you unwell? Did you perhaps push yourself too hard even before fighting the zombie?”

The warmth from the two of them, who supported me with worried expressions, pulled me back to reality.

「Hey! Are you okay?」

Even Zero, who had been furious about the status window malfunctioning, tapped my cheek lightly with his tiny hands in worry.

Seeing him like that helped my reason return from the brink.

I’m okay.

‘……I’m okay, Zero. That scary pop-up startled me.’

「You……」

Zero tried to pry further, but I didn’t want that, so I refused.

“Mr. Ruth, Sir Michael. I’m alright. I think all the tension just caught up with me, and the fatigue hit all at once. Or maybe that drink I had earlier was stronger than I thought.”

「You didn’t drink anything. Liar.」

Sometimes you have to let things slide, Zero.

“……Are you really certain you’re alright?”

“It doesn’t seem so to me.”

Ruth and Michael still didn’t let go of me, visibly uneasy.

“If you’re unwell, let me examine you with magic.”

“If not magic, shall I at least give you a blessing with holy power?”

It was a kind offer, but since the damage was to my mind, not my body, I declined.

“I said I’m fine. A good night’s sleep will fix this.”

“……Even so, overworking yourself is never healthy. If sleep truly fixed everything, there wouldn’t be any believers coming to me for healing.”

“Uh…… I was actually going to suggest we stand watch together tonight……”

Michael glared at me like I was a child wandering near a riverbank.

“You’ll collapse if you do that.”

Ugh. I wanted to take a shift—what’s so wrong with that?

……But I couldn’t say that out loud and only protested weakly:

“The servants in the mansion are enjoying the party right now. Especially at times like this, shouldn’t I, as the head of this estate and the ultimate authority, set an example?”

I expected them to retort with, “Since when do you care about your subordinates?”

But instead of sarcasm, they scolded me.

“You say that, yet you push your body this hard?”

“I told you, I didn’t!”

Hey, Ruth Kricheln. Who’s the one who really overworked himself? You, obviously……

I wanted to tell him to look in a mirror—he had dark circles covering his eyes like a panda, and now even the blood vessels in his sclera had burst, making him look like a zombie himself.

I wanted to ask Michael to back me up, but for once, he sided with Ruth.

“The mage is right. At times like this, you need to take care of your health as well.”

“But……”

“If we lose a trustworthy leader, it’s only natural for the people under her to panic. Please rest today. Don’t push yourself.”

Michael glanced at the zombie corpse briefly, then back at me.

“If there is more to uncover from that body, the mage and I will look into it.”

“He’s right. Your Grace should go and get more sleep. You’re the central pillar here—if you collapse, the servants’ morale will crumble too.”

‘I’m really fine though……’

It felt unfair to be treated like a patient just because I staggered a little.

But with both men firmly determined to send me out of the basement, there was no winning this.

“……Alright. I’ll leave tonight’s watch to you two, but Mr. Ruth, Sir Michael, don’t push yourselves too hard either. Please rest before it gets too late.”

“We promise.”

“We will.”

‘Why do I get the feeling they’re going to stay up all night……’

But I couldn’t stop them, so that was that.

Eventually, I turned and left the basement.

Having seen the status window covered in errors, I doubted Ruth would get any more information out of it anyway.

‘Showing such a weak side… sigh.’

I sighed, lifted the oil lamp in my right hand, and headed toward my bedroom. Zero murmured quietly from atop my shoulder.

「Hey.」

“Yeah, Zero.”

「Don’t get sick.」

It was a line galaxies away from his usual prickly tone—normally full of sharp, chestnut-burr thorns.

“What? Since when do you say sweet things like that?”

「What, am I not allowed to say something nice? Hmph. If the possessor I’m in charge of collapses, my shift ends that much later!」

He added that it was for his own convenience, but his warm words comforted me.

Even in this lonely, unfamiliar world where I knew no one, I could feel a moment of peace.

“No, really—thanks.”

「Hmph… then treat me better! And yourself too!」

‘You’re so cute.’

“Yeah. I will.”

I’m not alone.

For now, that was enough.

“Hey, Zero.”

「What.」

“If Ruth tries to stay up all night, use your power to knock him unconscious and make him sleep. If he collapses, I won’t be able to use that high-efficiency worker…… I mean his foraging skills—uh, magic.”

The food storage had been depleted from the party. It had to be refilled.

And for that, Ruth’s food-gathering skills… no, magic, were absolutely necessary.

“You’ll do it, right? Hehe.”

「Fine, fine.」

Zero agreed, wearing an expression that said he couldn’t stop me.

Once I confirmed that, I felt at ease. And at the same time, the fatigue washed over me.

‘Ah…… I am exhausted.’

I must have been more stressed than I realized, with zombies coming near the mansion.

I turned my head slightly toward the brightly lit hall. The laughter and cheerful voices drifting out were pleasant to hear.

Happiness flowed from those people who looked so joyful.

‘……I hope none of them die.’

Isn’t there any way for everyone to reach a happy ending?