To my puzzled expression, Zero wrinkled his nose and said, “I smell it. The smell!”

“If it’s the scent of the walnut tart you eat, it’s truly amazing. I might have to ask for one too.”

Responding playfully, Zero shouted as if the world had collapsed.

“Ah, no! The walnut tarts are all mine!”

“Alright. Yes. Enjoy them all by yourself.”

When I teased him, I wanted to play around more.

Zero, who understood my intentions, angrily shook his bushy mustache and waved his staff.

“No teasing! I’m several thousand years older than you!”

“Even though our races are different. Also, talking about age like that is old-fashioned.”

“Ugh… Anyway, there are strange signs from Sienna! You must have thought the same!”

“…Well, that’s true.”

Those with divine power would look at Sienna, a zombie, like a disgusting bug.

‘But still, she expresses condolences and brings a bouquet?’

It was absurd. Sienna must have heard some rumors about the urn containing the Pope’s body.

“Did you notice anything strange about Sienna, Captain?”

“There was something.”

“What was it?”

“She trembled like a really sad person and hastily withdrew with a pale expression. Before, it felt like you shouldn’t look into the Pope’s body without reservation.”

“Look? With a feeling?”

‘Feeling?’

Zero’s response caused the walnut tart in his mouth to drop. Crumbs scattered, messing up the office desk, but I had no mind to point it out.

“You said ‘feeling’ just now? About Sienna?”

Disguised as a human, Sienna had not shown any actions directly arousing suspicion so far.

But a feeling? A feeling?

“Against Michael, who I consider a friend?”

“I didn’t feel it wrong. It was definitely a feeling. And… unless I saw it wrong, for a very brief moment, Sienna’s pupils flickered with a red light.”

“Oh, I see. That’s what it was. She must be hungry. Despite nearly perfect disguise, she couldn’t completely hide the instincts of a zombie.”

“…How long has Sienna been here?”

“Not even a month has passed?”

Right. Time didn’t stop, and outside, autumn leaves began to fall, painted in various colors.
Winter will soon arrive with its desolation. The chilling cold that freezes everything will be more beneficial to us than summer. It will freeze the decaying bodies of zombies.

Zero kept chattering incessantly to me, who was absent-minded.

“Ordinary zombies usually crave living humans as if they are constantly starving. However, Sienna has endured it continuously. We all know that despite appearing human, she isn’t, right?”

“If she couldn’t eat humans and kept enduring… it wouldn’t be surprising if she reached her limit.”

Humans can withstand not eating for a maximum of about 21 days. If even a person endured longer than that, what state would they be in now?

“It would be like a volcano about to erupt. Because she kept starving.”

“…The purpose of going to find the Pope’s body might be that. No, there might be nothing else.”

Before turning into a zombie, Sienna was a kind person. She was faithful, but that didn’t lead to reverence for the Pope.

Before dying, Sienna had no connection to the Pope, and even if she occasionally prayed, it was only to visit a small shrine dedicated to the royal family.

“Sienna is hungry. Unable to endure, she created an excuse to find the Pope… even if it’s a dead human, she wanted to eat.”

Ugh. Even talking about it made my stomach turn.

Michael also grimaced but agreed with my words.

“I think the reason for spreading the aura is the same. She might have considered it a golden opportunity. She might have thought she wouldn’t care much about already dead humans.”

If the Pope wasn’t a bad guy and I hadn’t threatened the priests, it might have been different.

“…We should reinforce security for a while.”

Thinking that Sienna might lose her sanity and try to bite people soon, I shivered.

‘What about Aston?’

Will he be unharmed?

He’s probably the person Sienna would want to kill the most, considering he’s recognized as a saint.

I stared intently at my palm.

The moment when I can use the sacred power as a saint may come soon.