"Chaos had broken out everywhere. People were running in every direction. I watched it all from my window — people turning into monsters right before my eyes. Somewhere inside me, I felt something I'm not proud of. That woman had finally gotten her revenge. The people who were left hid in their homes.
Some adventurers tried to fight the monsters to save themselves, but nothing worked against them. Watching that scene, it felt like a war had broken out right there in the village. For several days, those of us who remained stayed hidden inside our homes.
Then, after some days, Mite came to the village. The monsters attacked him too — but he trapped them from all sides using his spear magic. On his advice, I spent four months building this wall to protect what was left of the village."
"And that's the story of how those monsters came to be," Andrev said.
Nain and Shine had already fallen asleep. Jhed had been listening carefully to every word.
"I was right — they are zombies. But slightly different from the ones in movies. In movies, zombies could be killed with fire. Here, they just come back." Jhed thought to himself.
"We'll need to leave tomorrow to continue our journey. How do we get out?" Jhed asked.
"Leave in the afternoon. They only come out at night — the moment the sun rises, they hide in the bushes," Andrev said.
"Are these things zombies or vampires?"
"Good — we'll head out in the morning then."
"It's very late. You should sleep," Andrev said.
"Yes..."
"Where am I supposed to sleep... these two already took the sofa. I'll have to sleep on the floor. I get so frustrated with them sometimes. Being around them makes me feel like a servant. Only one more month and ten days — then I'm not choosing Shine again." Jhed was quietly fuming as he lay down on the floor.
Jhed was a little too shy to give orders — that was the real problem. And Shine knew it. But Shine shouldn't forget his place. He was a slave, and he should act like one.
"It always feels like Shine takes advantage of the fact that I won't speak up. And I can't do anything about it. But I feel bad for Andrev. When he finds out his son wasn't the man he thought he was — what will that do to him?"
"Ahhh... my head is killing me. Stop thinking. Just sleep." Jhed argued with himself.
He was right to worry. The day Andrev discovered his son hadn't been the person he believed him to be — what would he do? Though perhaps that day would never come.
Jhed kept talking to himself until sleep finally took him. He'd tucked his satchel under his head as a pillow.
Silence everywhere.
In his room, Andrev was reading through old letters Mite had sent him.
"Mite... you haven't written in so many days. You must be caught up in something important." He sat there looking at the letters, still awake. Perhaps somewhere deep down, he was worried — because no matter how busy Mite ever got, he always sent a letter.
Tomorrow, if they could slip out quietly, all would be fine. Otherwise, Jhed would have to face those monsters with all his weaknesses laid bare. Shine was untouchable — no attack could reach him. But Nain had quietly become a serious liability, someone whose presence could make the road ahead even harder. Though that was a problem for later.
For now, they waited for morning.