-The Peach Garden Oath
“How do I know so much about zombies? Because I lived on the streets with them.”
When Gil answered Cheon Danbi’s question like that, Cheon Danbi shot a quick glance at me, then asked Gil again.
“You lived on the streets with zombies?”
“Yes. For as long as I can remember, that’s how it was. I don’t have any memories of living with people. I’ve never had parents or a home. Of course, there were some human homeless people around.”
Cheon Danbi looked at me again. Her expression seemed to ask, You said he was your younger brother, so what is this? So I told her the story of how I had met Gil.
When I said we hadn’t known each other for very long, Cheon Danbi finally nodded.
“I see. Then from now on, you’ll be staying with the mage?”
“That’s…”
“I’m planning to find him a room near my place. I live in a studio apartment.”
Gil, who had been hesitating, heard my answer and turned to look at me. He seemed both surprised and pleased.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t told Gil about that plan yet.
Wanting to steer the conversation back to the topic I was curious about, I asked Cheon Danbi a question.
“Anyway, go back to what you were saying earlier. Zombies originally serve to circulate life force? How does that work?”
“Humans think zombies don’t play any role in society at all, but in truth, zombies have an invisible role. If you’d paid close attention to the overall flow of magical energy in society, you might have noticed it too.”
Cheon Danbi looked at me with a reproachful gaze. Acknowledging that I had been indifferent, I asked back.
“So that’s how it was? If they’d only taken an interest, mages could have figured it out easily?”
“Not just mages. Elves or dwarves could have realized it too. Think about it. Why do zombies survive even though they barely eat? They live by absorbing magical energy drifting around them. That’s how they serve to circulate life force.”
I was a little confused. In the end, wasn’t that saying they sucked out other living beings’ mana?
“Then how is that different from the common ghost story humans tell, that zombies drain the life force of other living creatures?”
“It’s the exact opposite. It’s closer to recycling life force. They convert magical energy that living beings have shed and that was destined to be discarded into life force.”
Hearing that, I remembered what Gil had told me about the zombies disappearing.
He’d said the reason the government accepted zombie migration was because of their regenerative ability.
Then did that mean zombies recycled life force through their immortal bodies, only to be dragged off somewhere and used as test subjects for regeneration experiments?
“And yet people misunderstand and say useless zombies should be exterminated, or isolated and confined.”
“The government deliberately stirred up misunderstandings by leaving zombies to live as homeless people. Then, when some problem—whether it’s a virus or whatever—arose among the zombies, now a National Assembly member suddenly steps forward to defend them?”
She was talking about Freyja. Only now did I understand why Freyja had tried to calm the citizens’ hostility toward zombies, even resorting to mind magic.
Zombies had to exist here and there throughout the city as homeless people. Only then could they collect and recycle the magical energy shed by the city’s living beings.
And if Gil’s guess was correct, leaving them that way also made it possible to take homeless zombies away as they pleased and use them in experiments.
Amid people’s indifference, the government had been making full use of zombies, but the virus terror attack had caused a problem.
“But that incident with the zombies infected by the virus. Don’t you think it was probably the black mages’ doing?”
Cheon Danbi put down her spoon and asked with a serious expression.
“According to Gil, a biohacker organization had been abducting zombies for a while. It might have been them. But considering there were other terror attacks too, and that the virus incidents happened simultaneously in multiple places, we have to assume the black mages are behind it.”
“A biohacker organization? What’s that supposed to be?”
I told Cheon Danbi about the biohacker organization we had encountered.
After that, we went over the recent incidents one by one.
From the Incheon Port explosion, to the commotion caused by virus-infected zombies, to today’s tentacle monster.
All of them were presumed to be terror attacks with black mages behind them.
I also told her about the black mage Yasin, whom we had actually faced today.
“Really? The black mage was that skilled? He won’t be easy to deal with.”
“He won’t. Several mages from the Hall of Magic were taken down too. And the government’s response doesn’t inspire much confidence either.”
By now, all of us had set down our utensils and were drinking the remaining beverages.
The meal was over. It seemed about time to wrap up the conversation as well.
But then Cheon Danbi called over the middle-aged server and ordered two more glasses of bubble beer and one more apple cider.
“All this talk about black mages and terror attacks is making my throat dry. Let’s all have one more drink.”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
There was still more to talk about. Perhaps the most important part.
“On the surface, it looks like simple terrorism meant to throw the city into chaos, but that may not be all there is to it. We need to view it in connection with Vanaheim’s golden apple experiments. Every one of the terror incidents involves mutations in living beings or strange creatures, doesn’t it?”
Cheon Danbi spoke first. She had pinpointed the heart of the matter.
I slowly nodded and replied.
“You’re right. The incidents so far are probably nothing more than a prelude. Even greater chaos will come. The black mages must have a clear objective.
Everything is flowing toward the goal of eternal life through biological transformation. There’s no doubt the black mages are meddling in forbidden territory and dreaming dangerous dreams.”
“They must be using the creatures that failed during those experiments for terror attacks. Like the orcs that went mad, or the zombies infected by the virus.”
At Cheon Danbi’s words, Gil shuddered and opened his mouth.
“So that’s what it was. What other bizarrely mutated creatures will they exploit next?”
They had not only smuggled in races from abroad, but also called in tentacle monsters, creatures from another dimension that had never migrated to Earth before.
There was no telling how many more unfamiliar and bizarre creatures we would encounter in the future.
On top of that, it wasn’t only the black mages; even Vanaheim Laboratory, standing at the forefront of the bioindustry, was taking the lead in dangerous experiments.
“We don’t know. But we have to prepare. I’m going to track down the black mages no matter what, uncover their identities in full, and stop their destructive actions. So, with that in mind… do you want to join me?”
This was what I had wanted to say to them. But I deliberately asked in a light tone. I didn’t want to pressure them.
“What are you talking about? Isn’t that obvious? We already talked about this last time. Weren’t we a team? If we weren’t going to work together, why would we have been talking together all this time?”
Cheon Danbi said, her eyes widening as she looked at me.
“We did. But back then, we only talked about tracking down the black mage connected to the golden apple.”
“No. It’s not just the golden apple. Either way, I’m not going to sit back and watch the black mages ruin this world. I told you, I’ll do whatever it takes!”
Cheon Danbi’s resolve was quite firm.
As I had guessed last time, I got the feeling she had a personal grudge against black mages.
In any case, it was a strong enough will to make me feel reassured.
“Mage, then were you perhaps asking me? I’ll join you too. It makes me so angry that they take living beings away, experiment on them, and exploit them for terror attacks. I’ll do whatever I can. I want to be on the team too.”
Gil spoke. As expected, Gil also showed a strong will.
“Good. Then from now on, the three of us are a team. Let’s join forces and stop the black mages.”
When I said that, Cheon Danbi and Gil cheered.
What’s so great about it? I wondered, then guessed they must have liked the word “team.”
I remembered that last time, when Cheon Danbi had asked if we were a team now, I had dodged the question by saying, What team?
But this time, I wanted to make an official declaration.
“Then does this make this the occasion of our Peach Garden Oath?”
When I muttered that and looked at the two of them, they stared back at me as if asking what I meant.
“Peach Garden Oath? What’s that?”
“You know, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms…”
I started to explain, then stopped. It suddenly occurred to me that this world might not have Romance of the Three Kingdoms or martial arts fiction.
This was a world where magic had existed since long ago. Its history would be different, and so would its literature.
“Ah, don’t worry about the Peach Garden Oath. Basically, it’s when people who share the same purpose form a bond like siblings… In other words, it’s a promise to become one team.”
“Really? Then let’s do the Peach Garden Oath. How do we do it? Do we make a magic contract?”
At Cheon Danbi’s words, I ended up chuckling.
I see. In this world, there’s no need to write a blood oath. There’s a way to bind one another more firmly through a magic contract instead.
But I had no intention of going that far.
“That feeling is enough. We don’t need to go as far as a magic contract. None of us is going to betray each other anyway. Right?”
“Of course. I’d never betray you. I don’t care whether we make a magic contract or not. Either way, I won’t betray you.”
“I don’t do things like betrayal either. Do you think I just go around forming teams with anyone? I don’t. I picked carefully on my end too.”
Gil and Cheon Danbi answered without hesitation.
From my standpoint, I meant not to bind the two of them through something like a magic contract.
It would be difficult and dangerous, so if they wanted to quit, I wanted to leave them room to do so at any time.
Even if one of them were to give in to the black mages’ persuasion or threats and betray us, I had no intention of blaming them.
Preventing such a thing from happening would be part of my role.
“A magic contract isn’t necessary for a Peach Garden Oath, but a toast definitely is. Let’s all make a toast.”
I said, raising my glass.
“Sounds good. Until the day we smash the black mages, we fight as one team!”
“To our team!”
“Cheers!”
We all raised our glasses and toasted. When the clear sound of glass striking glass rang out, I found myself smiling for some reason.
It felt a little like playing around, but the feeling of standing together was sincere.
There was no magic contract, and no blood oath, but this was our Peach Garden Oath.
In truth, my heart was moved.
Just because I had been transported to a new world didn’t mean I, as a person, had become someone completely new. And yet my life was changing.
I had never even imagined I would form a team with anyone.
But with these two, I felt like it might be all right to become a team. It wasn’t only because of the abilities they possessed.
Being here together felt comfortable. They were people I didn’t mind sharing a meal with.
“Now that we’ve formed a team, shouldn’t we hold a strategy meeting about how we’re going to fight from now on?”
“Already? More importantly, shouldn’t we decide on a team name first?”
“Oh! Right, yes! Hmm… How about the Black Mage-Smashing Corps?”
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
Watching Cheon Danbi and Gil chat cheerfully, I thought it would be nice if the days when we could lounge around comfortably like this lasted a little longer.
But I had a feeling they would not.