Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse – Chapter 76 – Recapture Complete

Author: Asternkm

「Sob, sob. A diet? You’re so mean, human…….」

With Zero looking gloomy, sitting on my shoulder, we moved to another place.

Using the excuse of “because of time,” we only roughly covered Crown Prince Louis’s body with dirt. It was Aston who buried the body, even if only shallowly.

“It’s alright now. I think I can forget.”

‘……What is he talking about?’

Muttering something I couldn’t understand, Aston handled the crown prince’s body with a much lighter expression.

Some people seemed unsure about leaving the crown prince’s body behind, but since Aston—who used to be the Second Prince—said it was fine, they appeared relieved.

“Ah, more zombies are coming over there!”

Without even having time to catch our breath, more zombies began to swarm in.

Duo–Sector 1.

It was a place where only the most powerful families among the central nobles could live. It was Agatha’s prime land, extremely expensive, and its size was second only to Unus, where the Imperial Palace stood. Yet compared to its size, it had the smallest population.

In other words, it was a neighborhood of grand mansions owned by powerful and wealthy noble families, so it had the fewest zombies.

“Guuuaaaah…… aaah…….”

“Grrr…… grrrrk…….”

“Guuaaahhhhh…….”

As expected, the number of zombies roaming Duo–Sector 1 was much smaller than in Duo–Sector 2.

As if memories from when they were alive were holding them back, the noble zombies of Duo–Sector 1 rarely left the area.

‘Then that crown prince zombie wandering out of Unus and into Duo–Sector 1 must have been a special case.’

If that was true, were the zombies lingering in front of Duke Keaton’s residence also people who used to live in Duo–Sector 1?

Thinking about it like that made my heart ache a little.

‘……Well. What’s already happened can’t be undone.’

I made sure not to ruin things by getting lost in useless thoughts.

I was thankful that not many zombies from other sectors had flowed into this one.

‘Hmm, come to think of it, since Duo–Sector 1 has a low population for its size, maybe the zombies lost interest early and moved somewhere else.’

For me, who had to complete the quest Zero gave and reclaim even a small piece of land, that was good news.

“Attack!”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Gunshots, the sound of crossbows firing, and magic spells being chanted mixed together.

So that more zombies wouldn’t gather from hearing the noise, Ruth and Merion worked together to cast a temporary barrier that blocked all sound within our limited area for a short time.

Everyone aimed precisely for the forehead and hit without even the slightest error, successfully turning zombies back into corpses.

The maids, Emily and Rose, were beyond excited.

“Your Grace! We did it!”

“The magic crossbow is such an amazing weapon. We never miss! Even beginners like us can hit perfectly, so it’s not scary anymore.”

“That’s good.”

When I looked toward Ruth, he gave me an okay sign with his hollow eyes.

It was thanks to him casting buff magic earlier, increasing the accuracy of the weapons our party fired.

Ah, of course, Nadia’s case—fighting zombies while wearing knuckles—was a bit different.

With the skill “Help Me, MacGyver!” that I received from Zero, plus the knuckle blueprint and the materials I generously provided, Benjamin gladly crafted knuckles for Nadia.

As a result, Nadia’s knuckles became a rare item with an S-grade evaluation.

They were made of silver infused with holy power, and engraved with hydrangeas—the symbol of the Rutrery Count family—so that it wouldn’t offend the aesthetic sense of a noble lady. The design was beautiful.

Seeing knuckles that had not only style but destructive power too, I gave Benjamin a thumbs-up.

When we brought her the finished product, the Nadia who used to complain about sweaty training was nowhere to be found.

〈Y-You’re really giving this to me? Waaah!〉

She was just overjoyed, like a child who had received an unexpected birthday gift.

〈“As the only daughter of the Rutrery Count family, which has produced many great warriors, I’ve developed an eye for quality weapons.”〉

After receiving those knuckles, Nadia went to the training grounds on her own every single day to learn hand-to-hand combat, even if no one in my party told her to.

The martial art of striking an opponent’s weak points using knuckles suited her very well. Her skills improved rapidly day by day.

Her teachers were Michael and Aston, and they personally sparred with her.

〈The young lady of the Rutrery Count family is a born warrior. Teaching her is quite enjoyable.〉

〈When it comes to martial arts, teach her one thing and she understands ten. I can see why so many generals have come from the Rutrery Count family.〉

With praise from a holy knight and a sword master, Nadia trained steadily, and as a result……

“Ew! These gross-looking zombies! I’ll smash them all!”

“Gu—kk!”

Like slamming down dough for handmade dumplings, she crushed the heads of every zombie she saw.

「If someone is that overwhelmingly strong… even a brawler can show that kind of shocking power. I didn’t know…….」

Where Nadia passed, headless zombies fell to the ground like autumn leaves in the wind.

‘……I shouldn’t tease Nadia too much.’

I definitely wanted to avoid ending up like dumpling dough myself.

While I was secretly making that promise, Nadia ran up to me and asked,

“Unni.”

“……Yes?”

“I did well, right? I looked cool, right? You can praise me, right?”

‘……Was praise the goal?’

“Yes. You did well.”

It felt like I was being forced to give praise, but when I did, Nadia’s face brightened.

“Then please pat me just once!”

“……Why?”

“Just because. Hehe. I wanted to get a pat from you.”

Was it really necessary? Still, I carefully patted the head of Nadia, who had just blown away zombies with a single punch.

The whole time I patted her, she purred like a cat.

“At this rate, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hunting zombies!”

Looking at the delighted Nadia, I desperately shouted inside my head,

‘Don’t raise a dangerous flag!’

If we kept hunting zombies, that meant zombies wouldn’t disappear from this world……

Hoping that wouldn’t be the case, we thoroughly swept through Duo–Sector 1.

Maybe because many zombies had gathered in Duo–Sector 2, there were far more on the Sector 2 side when looking at the boundary between the two sectors.

Thanks to Ruth’s magic, we moved unpredictably and managed to eliminate almost all the zombies spread across Duo–Sector 1.

“Please cover me!”

“I’ll cast a buff spell!”

“Eek! Zombies are so ugly! Scary! Go away!”

“May the dead now rest in peace.”

“Return to the cradle of the dead.”

Guns and crossbows, magic, fists with knuckles, and swords filled with aura flew through the air, piercing holes in zombie heads.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Just as we finished off the last zombie, feeling like we had completed a huge cleaning job—

“……Is that all?”

At my question, Zero replied,

「Yeah. Good job.」

Since everyone cooperated well, it was a successful achievement without a single sacrifice.

‘We did it.’

I did it!

Pride filled me for choosing to clear Duo–Sector 1 first.

Ding.

A notification sound rang from the status window.

[Sub Quest – Let’s Give the Zombies a Punch! 1]

[Build up your stamina and go zombie hunting with your party members!]

[Select one sector and reclaim that area.]

[Reward: Acquire skill ‘Grow, Stamina and Strength’]

[Current Progress: Duo–Sector 1 Reclamation (100/100%)]

[Quest Complete!]

[As a reward, the skill ‘Grow, Stamina and Strength’ has been granted.]

With that, I completely secured Duo–Sector 1.

Now that I had achieved my goal, there was no reason to stay outside dangerously any longer.

“Let’s go back! To Duke Keaton’s residence!”

My voice as I said that sounded unusually cheerful.

****

When my party and I arrived at the residence, thunderous cheers erupted.

At the news that we had reclaimed Duo–Sector 1, the people in the mansion fell into a festive mood.

“Waaahhh!”

“Your Grace is amazing!”

“You’re the best!”

The servants’ shoulders seemed ready to touch the sky. They were extremely proud and happy that I, their master, kept bringing victory.

If the former duke, Henry Keaton, had been helplessly killed by zombies, then I, the current duke, was driving those zombies out. Of course they would feel encouraged.

“Keaton! Keaton! Keaton!”

When someone started chanting the Keaton family name, others raised their glasses and shouted it loudly together like a chorus.

‘Wow…….’

There weren’t even a hundred people, but seeing so many eyes filled with joy and hope looking at me and my party, cheering us on, made my heart pound.

‘I’ve never experienced something like this before.’

Being treated so generously, like some kind of hero, left me not knowing what to do with myself.

「Since you’ve been chosen for the job of Saintess, you’ll be standing at the highest place when this story ends.」

‘I don’t really want something like that.’

I’m just an ordinary person who’s satisfied as long as daily life is peaceful.

When I argued with Zero, he puffed his round cheeks even more.

「Hmph! Other humans would be desperate to grab an opportunity like this!」

‘That’s just being greedy beyond your place.’

The highest place…….

In this country, that would probably mean the emperor’s throne.

But I didn’t want such a grand position.

‘Do you know how much work an emperor has to do?’