Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 28 - The Survivors Marked in Blue

The map containing this world appeared above the status window.

Among them, only Agata, the capital of the Caladia Empire, was zoomed in.

The administrative districts divided by the current royal family, the Hainesworths, were clearly drawn across the map of Agata.

Five districts. Unus, Duo, Tres, Quattuor, and Quinquae.

On the map—like looking at a living cell under a microscope—countless white dots appeared.

‘Good thing I closed the door before using the skill.’

Just in case someone walked in during this important moment and thought something was strange, I had sealed the door ahead of time.

[The white dots represent the people who originally lived in Agata.]

The system’s dry, emotionless voice kindly explained.

As expected of the empire’s capital, the tightly clustered white dots numbered in the tens of thousands.

[Now searching for surviving “humans.”]

[Surviving humans will be shown as blue dots.]

[Unidentified error_zombie will be shown as red dots, and the dead as black dots.]

[START!]

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep—!

“……This is insane.”

The moment it started, the dense white dots were wiped away like waves, replaced by red and black.

From Unus to the slums of Quinquae—everything.

The Unus district, where the imperial palace stood, was covered mostly in red, with only a few black dots scattered around.

Starting from the palace, the white dots spread into red and black like paint spilling across water.

「……That’s no joke.」

“My thoughts exactly…….”

The waves of red and black, like splattered blood, swept over the entire capital.

Tens of thousands—maybe even hundreds of thousands—of imperial citizens had either turned into zombies or died.

‘There are barely any blue dots…….’

I expected this much, but seeing the reality was horrifying.

Only the noble district of Duo—home to the Keton Duchy and other central nobles, plus the nobles from the outer regions—held precious blue dots.

They must have activated their magic barriers using mana stones, just like at the Keton estate.

‘Sure, nobles probably have food storage rooms in their mansions, so they should be okay for now, but……’

Inside, they could’ve easily started fighting among themselves and fallen into chaos.

Feeling complicated, I stared at the blue dots, and the status window notified Zero.

[Search complete.]

[The blue dots shown on the map are all surviving “humans.”]

「Good work.」

Zero casually responded to the search window and then looked with me to see which people had survived.

The noble houses that survived in the capital were as follows:

The Damon Dukedom, the Celeste Marquisate, the Rutley County.

Only the mansions these three noble families owned in the capital had a small number of blue dots.

“Are you saying only these three noble families survived in Duo, the nobles’ district?”

There were way more noble families in the capital!

While the survivors were all prestigious families known for their reputation, the capital also had plenty of families who weren’t as powerful but still respected.

Since noble households without magic barriers were mocked as poor, most noble mansions should’ve had barriers. That’s what made this so strange.

‘The semi-noble district, Tres, is basically wiped out……’

Doctors, wealthy merchants, lawyers—they lived in Tres. It wasn’t as wealthy as Duo, but it still should’ve had magic barriers.

Looking at the map filled with red and black dots made me groan.

I pointed toward Duo, the nobles’ district now painted with red and black, and asked Zero,

“Zero, can you ask the search window why it ended up like this?”

「Alright. Search window, why are there almost no survivors in Duo and Tres?」

The status window answered without hesitation.

[The nobles who attended the crown prince’s wedding.]

[Those who were infected at the palace and turned into zombies returned home, as if driven by homing instinct.]

[Because of them, the infection in Duo and Tres began.]

“Ah……”

I understood instantly.

Seeing zombies walking through the streets, the nobles must have activated their magic barriers right away.

But seeing their own family members return as zombies—what could they have thought?

Their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, parents and siblings, who had walked out perfectly fine that morning, now wandering near their homes in horrifying form.

‘They must’ve been unable to ignore that and lowered their barriers…… and that’s when they were done for.’

Because they didn’t want to lose their families.
Because even though they looked like zombies, they hoped their family would be different.

The nobles had turned into zombies—or ended up dead—just like the common folk.

‘……Horrifying.’

I didn’t think the damage would be this severe.

I had hoped that at least the nobles would survive, but seeing the reality made me feel sick.

「That means the mansions of the surviving families are the ones that kept their doors tightly locked, even after seeing their loved ones turn into zombies.」

[Correct.]

The blue dots on the status window glowed faintly.

“……At least we should be grateful that these people survived.”

And with that, I realized just how difficult reclaiming the capital would be.

There were barely a hundred survivors total at best, and I didn’t even know if they’d cooperate with me.
On top of that—how was I supposed to handle hundreds of thousands of zombies?

‘Wow…… Even the holy water I filled to the brim at the grand temple probably isn’t nearly enough.’

How was I supposed to wipe all of them out?

While I was frozen in shock, Zero muttered,

「Hey, possessor. Don’t these surviving families seem familiar?」

“What are you talking about? There’s no way th—huh?”

The Damon Dukedom. The Celeste Marquisate. The Rutley County.

“Wait a second.”

They all had one thing in common.

“They’re the families of the supporting characters from ‘S.B.F.’, right?”

In the original story, they were the houses that either supported the heroine, Sienna, or tried to step on her as villains—and those three just happened to be the ones that survived.

Sherry Damon of the Damon Dukedom and Jacqueline Celeste of the Celeste Marquisate were Sienna’s friends. They were clearly on the good side.

On the other hand, Nadia Rutley of the Rutley County was a petty villain who followed the villainess Elizabeth around and picked up whatever scraps she dropped.

‘Why…… why does the setup have to be like this.’

All three were families hostile toward Elizabeth Keaton.

“……I’m doomed.”

If gods existed, they couldn’t possibly be this cruel to me!

Zero, sensing exactly why I was falling into despair, tilted his head and asked,

「Why? Isn’t Nadia in the Rutley County? Isn’t she kind to you?」

“Not at all. If she saw me, she’d try to rip me apart.”

「Why? ……Ah. I get it.」

Yes, Zero. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s correct.

In “S.B.F.”, I had played the role of the villainess Elizabeth exactly as written.

So just like the original, Nadia Rutley, under Elizabeth’s orders, bullied Sienna.

But because Sienna was the main character, Nadia and Elizabeth’s bullying was eventually exposed.

I—meaning Elizabeth—escaped the crisis by lying that Nadia had planned everything alone.

Like a lizard cutting off its tail, I sacrificed Nadia and survived alone.

Because of that incident, Nadia was branded as a rude and foolish young lady and was basically kicked out of the capital’s social circle.

‘Meaning what? I crushed Nadia’s marriage prospects into dust.’

From then on, Nadia was never mentioned again in the original, but if she ever saw me now, she would definitely try to tear out my hair first.

Since I ruined her future, she’d absolutely want revenge.

And since she was an only daughter, her family—the entire Rutley County—would also hate me a full 100%.

As for the Damon Dukedom and Celeste Marquisate? ……Do I really have to say it? Of course they’d hate me.

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

What exactly did they expect me to do?!

As I screamed, Zero gave me a weak attempt at comfort, offering the chocolate chip cookie he was eating……

「Hey, cheer up. What else can you do? Since things turned out like this, isn’t it better to bow your head and somehow get their cooperation?」

“You only say that because it’s not your problem! Huh?! I’m suffering like this because of who? What a—seriously……!”

While crying on the inside, I noticed something strange on the map.

“……? But why is there a dot in a color the system didn’t mention?”

「What? Where? Let me see.」

“There, look. Why is there a neon green dot flashing inside the Rutley County?”

Where I pointed—the Rutley estate in the Duo district—one vivid neon green dot was flickering.

It stood out easily among all the others.

「What the—what’s that? Search window, what is that dot?」

[It is not human.]

「It’s not human, so why is it shown as a dot?」

[Because it is only half-human, it is marked in a distinguishable color.]

‘……Only half-human?’

A name flashed through my mind like lightning.

A major character from “S.B.G.”—a sub male lead who had a solid fandom thanks to his tags like #big_dog_energy #pure_beauty #younger_love_interest.

“Don’t tell me…… Benedict Fairman?”

Benedict Fairman, a half-human, half-fairy.

“Z-Zero. Can you zoom in on the Rutley estate? As detailed as possible—like showing the whole mansion layout.”

「Okay. Search window?」

[Zooming in on the Rutley County estate’s layout.]

As soon as I saw the enlarged blueprint, I let out a low groan.

“You idiot…… why are you there……?”

A lime-green dot—just like his hair color—was blinking nonstop in the Rutley estate’s hidden basement.

It looked exactly like an SOS signal begging to be saved.

“Hah…… haha. Ha…… haha…….”

A hollow laugh slipped out.

“Nadia Rutley…… she’s seriously terrifying…….”

At the end of “S.B.G.”, Benedict Fairman respected Sienna’s choice of the crown prince Louis and tried to return to his homeland, El-Seca, where the fairies lived.

Since the story ended there, I had assumed he safely went back home.

Not that he had been kidnapped into a minor villain’s basement!

“Why…… why is my luck this bad.”

Why is it problem after problem?!

A plan.
I urgently needed a plan to get through this mess.