The Warray family, to which Kieran belonged, had ample motive to instigate a zombie outbreak.

“After all, their family specializes in assassination, poison, and curses, don’t they?”

The Warray Viscount family had learned all the techniques and powers that people shunned and feared.

A ruined original work right before the happy ending. The already fallen Warray Viscount family.

Kieran Warray, the current head of the Warray family, was a strong suspect.

“Look there, Zero! Could it be that Kieran Warray is…”

The moment I was about to say he might not be the culprit,

“No. Impossible.”

Zero swiftly popped a piece of tomato into his mouth and spoke to me.

“……Huh?”

“I know what you’re trying to say. But Kieran Warray can’t be the culprit.”

“……Why? He has both motive and capability.”

I still didn’t know what power was used to create zombies.

Magic? Or perhaps sorcery?

“Either of the two is merely a guess at this point…”

But couldn’t the Warray family, who have been researching sorcery to break some sort of curse, be capable of it?

Shouldn’t we head to Linstead, where they are, right away?

“I stored the large-scale, long-distance teleportation magic scroll I received as a reward last time in my inventory.”

If I used that, I could reach Linstead in one second. As for the magic power required to activate it, Roos could assist.

I had already imagined rushing to the castle where Kieran Warray might be, but then Zero looked at me pityingly.

“What, what’s with that disdainful look?”

It was the look one might give to a monkey striving to become human.

“Hey, Possessor. Have you already forgotten? What happened to the Warray Viscount family in the original work after failing to kill Crown Prince Louis?”

“……Ah, that’s right.”

I remembered.

“The Warray Viscount family had their entire foundation destroyed.”

Though their time serving the royal family as dogs had been humiliating, it was not entirely useless.

In their desperate efforts to break their contract, they accumulated knowledge on poison, sorcery, and especially curses.

Gathering data in dangerous fields naturally led them to form connections with people in those areas. Sometimes these relationships turned into marriage alliances, and gradually the Warray family grew in scale.

From weapon industries to mercenaries, to interactions with sorcerers.

Every shady business had the Warray family’s involvement.

Ironically, the shadow dog protecting the highest sun had become quite familiar with the dark night, plotting to bite and kill that sun.

By Kieran Warray’s generation, this had reached its peak.

They could procure weapons on their own, and sorcerers skilled in harmful curses could be hired from anywhere on the continent for money. Synthesizing colorless and odorless poisons was child’s play.

All conditions surrounding the Warray Viscount family were perfect, and Kieran too had confidence that in his generation he could finally sever the damnable contract with the royal family.

But what was the result?

Kieran suffered a crushing defeat, all because of this world’s heroine, Siena Evergreen.

As a price for their defeat, the Warray Viscount family lost all foundation in every inflated field. All forbidden curses and drugs were disposed of, and shady businesses were recovered by the state.

“You get what it means to say that only their lives were spared? All the foundations that the Warray family had were severed as if cutting off lifelines, and even the dark abilities possessed by the family members were all restricted.”

“……They really did leave only their lives.”

“A wise decision from the imperial family.”

A dog that tried to bite its owner once might try to do so again.

In other words, the Warray Viscount family in Linstead no longer posed any threat to the royal family.

“I thought they’d be capable of causing the zombie outbreak since they were proficient in curses.”

If all their abilities were sealed and they didn’t even have the power to do that, then the Warray Viscount family couldn’t be suspects.
My head ached as I stopped eating and lay back down. Zero began to chatter as if prompting me to listen more.

“There’s another reason it’s not possible.”

“What is it?”

“It’s system interference. That’s something a mere human can’t do.”

I couldn’t forget how the semi-transparent blue status window turned slowly to a bloody color while displaying numerous error messages.

The message that appeared on that status window, too.

“……Last time, that weird error window. It said, ‘I wish they’d all just die.'”

“Yes, that one. I mean that arrogant message.”

Zero sat down in front of my hunched figure, nibbling on salad vegetables as he spoke.

“That’s impossible for an ordinary human. Even if the Worei family is skilled in strange curses, this is a different level. Without the code of a high-ranking god, like someone at my apprentice level, you can’t even access it.”

“So you’re saying… the perpetrator is likely not human?”