Leave of Absence

December 28, blizzard

Today was my eighth day in Zombie City. To humanity, Zombie City was a place so terrifying that even speaking of it made their faces change, but to me, it was the safest place of all.

Zombies were everywhere here, and I could control them at will. Whether it was entering the city gates or staying in this villa, both were the result of controlling zombies.

The state of Zombie City came as a great shock to me. The proportion of rational zombies in the city was even more astonishing than I'd imagined—it had already reached a terrifying one percent.

Rational zombies lived just like ordinary people. They even ate the same food, with no desire to drink blood or eat people.

What, exactly, was the difference between rational zombies and humans?

Never mind. I wasn't suited to thinking about these kinds of questions. That was for scientists and philosophers. I was here to investigate the eight zombies known as "Kings."

According to several zombies who had seen a Corpse King in action, the Corpse King of this city was immensely strong. He rode an elephant and could even carry it on his shoulders as he ran, tossing it into the air and catching it as it came down.

As for the limits of this Corpse King's strength, no one had ever seen them.

It was still unclear whether my ability to control zombies would work on a Corpse King. Better to be careful. If it didn't work, I was afraid I'd have no choice but to pledge myself to the will of the zombie planet and become a true Corpse King—or would "Corpse Emperor" or "Corpse Sovereign" be more appropriate?

Or was this guy, the will of the zombie planet, keeping quiet about the eight Corpse