Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 68 - The Four Men’s Conversation

It wasn’t only Elizabeth who was being put through harsh training. All of the party members were going through it too.

The difference was that, unlike Elizabeth, they were training themselves voluntarily.

A holy knight, a mage, a spirit contractor, and an aura-using sword master.

These four knew exactly what they needed to do to become stronger, so they trained on their own without complaint.

Elizabeth would be shocked if she heard this, but compared to the amount and intensity of training these four did, her stamina-building exercises were barely at a beginner’s level.

They were going easy on her because she had been a complete ordinary person. If Elizabeth, who looked half-dead from training, heard that, she would have exploded in anger.

Ruth gulped down the mana recovery potion he had made himself. Drinking more than the recommended daily amount wasn’t good, but it was the only way to ease the exhaustion.

“Still, it’s a relief that the Duke figured out the culprit behind the zombie incident is a sorcerer.”

“Ruth, want some of this? It’s good.”

Benedict held out a grilled vegetable skewer meant for a late-night snack.

“Oh, thanks.”

Ruth didn’t refuse and took a big bite. Between training like he did when he first entered the Mage Tower, research, and all kinds of odd jobs, he was hungry all the time.

Even though he was eating more meals than usual, he wasn’t gaining weight at all—in fact, stress was making him thinner.
The mansion’s chef had even started deliberately serving him greasy food.

Life was busier than when he had been shut up in the Mage Tower, but strangely, Ruth’s heart didn’t ache anymore.

“The problem is that it’s hard to find information about sorcerers within the empire. Sorcery is taboo in the Caladia Empire—it’s almost extinct.”

“Yeah. That’s what’s annoying.”

According to one story, a dark sorcerer once tried to kill the first emperor, Caladia. Enraged, Pope Anais banned all forms of sorcery within the empire.

There were white rituals as well as dark ones, but because of Anais’s strong opposition, all sorcerers were rejected and persecuted.

Sorcerers who had lived as natives within the empire were driven out and left for Quina, the cradle of sorcery.

Because of that, generations grew up within Caladia who didn’t even know what sorcery was.

Even these four, each powerful in their own field, knew almost nothing about sorcerers.

Benedict chewed on a pine mushroom as he spoke.

Around him, spirits glowing like fireflies clustered together.

“The spirits say that fairies probably know more about sorcery than people of the empire, at least.”

“Really?”

Ruth showed interest, and Benedict swallowed the mushroom before continuing.

“In the past, it was mostly dark sorcerers who hunted fairies. So if there are any old fairies who survived back then, they might know something.”

“When was that?”

“Hmm… at least 300 years ago? Maybe even 500.”

“Come on. That’s way too long ago! Mountains and rivers change in ten years—sorcery from hundreds of years ago would be totally different. Even basic magic textbooks would’ve had seven revised editions by now.”

“I see… so it’s not much help.”

As Benedict drooped, the spirits got angry and flew over to Ruth, poking him with their tiny hands and feet.

It felt like toothpicks, but with so many of them stabbing at once, Ruth quickly surrendered.

“Sorry, sorry! I wasn’t trying to put your contractor down! I was just stating facts!”

“…Ruth. That makes it worse.”

“Huh? Really? Ack! I’m sorry! I was joking, joking!”

When the spirits started gathering power in their palm-sized range, Ruth hurriedly bowed his head and apologized.

Michael sighed as he watched the two fool around like dumb and dumber.

“This is no time to play. Even now, the zombies may be waiting for a chance to leave the capital.”

“….”

At Michael’s words, the others fell silent.

Crackle, crackle. Only the sound of firewood burning in the campfire remained.

‘If the zombies cross the capital’s walls, it’s over.’

If the zombies spread beyond the capital Agatha to other regions, the world could fall apart.

With their terrifying infection rate, and no known solution other than the fact they were created by dark sorcery, the only option was to stop them from spreading.

Aston turned over the roasted bird he had caught for archery practice so it would cook evenly.

Fire burned in his red eyes.

“If it comes to it, we might have to seal off the capital and burn it all at once.”

Aston seemed deeply impressed by how Elizabeth had destroyed zombies with mana bombs.

At the chilling statement, Michael and Ruth only rolled their eyes silently.

‘No matter what, that should be the very last resort.’

‘According to the Duke, that guy’s the second prince who got kicked out of the imperial family. He’s got some serious screws loose.’

Unable to say it out loud, the two quietly poked at the campfire while Benedict spoke.

“…If you do that, the trees will be sad.”

“….”

It was a very fitting answer from a fairy-blooded spirit contractor.

Aston looked at Benedict, then pulled his gaze back.

“I’m talking about a worst-case scenario, fairy-blood.”

“But this is Duke Kitten’s home. The mansion we’re staying in is here. If this place is destroyed, the Duke will be sad.”

At the mention of Elizabeth, Aston’s hand paused mid-turn.

No matter what, imagining her being sad made his chest feel like it was being crushed by stone.

Even though part of him thought that Elizabeth—who shot zombie heads without hesitation and set off bombs—might actually allow it.

“…That wouldn’t do. She’s the homeowner, after all. We should refrain from destroying someone’s property. We owe her.”

Aston tore off a wing of the roasted bird and started eating.

Michael, Ruth, and Benedict watched him and thought:

‘He’s soft on Duke Kitten.’

‘…Is he in love? Like me?’

‘Still, it’s probably less important than lives.’

Amid their different thoughts, Aston spoke again.

“But if the absolute worst happens… the Duke would probably agree to blowing the entire capital away.”

Everyone nodded at that.

Elizabeth Kitten, chosen as a Saint, was doing everything she could to save people.

She was serious about killing zombies, and she had a natural talent for fighting bravely.

Charging head-on at unknown monsters that any normal human would fear took incredible courage.

“We should secure mana bombs, just in case. Though I don’t know if those rotten old men in the Mage Tower will hand them over generously.”

At Benedict’s innocent but painful truth, Ruth rubbed his dry eyes.

“It’d be great if mages came to help.”

“I agree. It would’ve been nice if the temple’s holy knights and priests were here too. What a shame.”

Just thinking about the Pope who had run away made Michael grind his teeth.
He even wished the man would get bitten by some wild animal—zombie or not.

After going in circles, their talk returned to zombies once again.

“…Do you think the dark sorcerer will come looking for us?”

At Michael’s question, Aston replied,

“If he’s the kind of madman who wants all living humans bitten to death or turned into zombies, he definitely will. Judging by how things are going… his goal is probably the extermination of all humanity.”

“Even that small god in the form of a hamster, Zero, can’t find his identity. I don’t know if we can.”

Ruth voiced his doubts.

“At this rate, we should just be glad we don’t turn into monsters ourselves while fighting zombies.”

“But you’re strong, Ruth.”

“No one survives a group beating.”

Ruth playfully grabbed Benedict’s nose and shook it.
Benedict slapped his hand away, telling him not to treat him like a kid.

“The problem is how fast the number of zombies is increasing. We need to start reclaiming areas of the capital little by little, even if it’s dangerous… but one wrong move and we could be wiped out.”

That was why, even knowing how much Elizabeth hated it, they were forcing her to train her stamina.

Normally, a healer would stay in the back, but this situation was no different from a war.

‘If, while we’re fighting, a zombie slips through and bites Elizabeth Kitten…’

Just imagining it made their blood run cold.
Michael, Ruth, Benedict, and Aston all stiffened, clearly thinking the same thing.

“After the sandbag laps, we should make her do push-ups.”

“Sit-ups too.”

“And teach her how to throw a dagger accurately. What if she runs out of bombs and bullets?”

“That’s right.”

“Exactly.”

“Absolutely.”

Terrifying training plans were discussed. The four men seriously debated how to turn the fragile, baby-deer-like (?) Elizabeth into someone who wouldn’t even blink at zombies.

Zero, who had gone out for a night walk while Elizabeth slept, overheard the four dark-looking men discussing things with serious faces.

“…The ones the possessor should be trying to kill might be those guys, huh?”

Elizabeth’s party members were desperate to turn her into a human weapon.

Smiling, Zero listened to the horrifying training plans and slowly backed away.

“It does seem like a green light… but… maybe not?”

Even as a god who loved drama, Zero felt a little sorry for the possessor assigned to party members with ambitions rivaling instructors from hell.

“Hang in there, possessor! The future of this world—and your return—are on your shoulders!”

Even when the angry possessor ground her teeth and vowed to kill him, Zero still slept faithfully by her side every night.

‘Better run before she misunderstands and thinks this was all my idea.’

Zero wanted to live.

Having only asked them to take good care of “their kid,” Zero justified himself, insisting he hadn’t done anything wrong.