21 Chapter 21: Zombie of the Hour

[Reader of Fate: Small Fatty, gifted Zero a Luxury Car.]

[Reader of Fate: Unkillable King, gifted Zero a Massage Chair.]

[Reader of Fate: Sulir'spaz, gifted Zero an Inspiration Capsule.]

"..."

A series of familiar words bombarded Zero once again– but he quickly tilted his head to the side to remove them as he was currently dealing with something probably more important.

A female human that he had met before was now standing beside him. It was weird, he thought. When Natalia and he took the elevator, it didn't seem that long until they stepped out again. But now, it felt like hours.

"You know, if you want to say something, just say it," and out of nowhere, Eleanor suddenly turned around to look at Zero… probably because of the fact that he had been staring at her incessantly ever since he got inside the elevator.

[The Readers of Fate are telling you that you should have waited for another elevator.]

[Some of the Readers of Fate are telling you to kill her right now.]

[Some of the Readers of Fate are saying that's stupid.]

Zero squinted his eyes and shook his head to get rid of the words that keep popping up in front of him. However, as soon as he did so, Eleanor gasped.

"Then stop staring at me, I'm too old for this flirting stuff. If you wanna fuck, then let's just fuck," Eleanor shook her head as she turned away from Zero, "And I guess you're the new Slayer that everyone was talking about? I went to Natalia's office but her guards said she was testing a newbie."

"..."

"The quiet type, huh? Charming."

And finally, almost as if to rescue Zero from his situation, the elevator doors opened up. And as soon as he did so, he was greeted by a loud cheer– with the Wind Mafia leading the ensemble.

"Welcome to the group of people beaten up by the big boss!"

Zero didn't even have the chance to step out of the elevator as the leader of the Wind Mafia, Hector, suddenly approached him and wrapped his arm around his shoulder,

"To Zero!" Hector then raised the huge glass he was holding, spilling some of its contents on the elevator floor.

"...You're going to clean that up, right?" Eleanor could only shake her head before grabbing the glass from Hector.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Respectfully, I need it more than you," Eleanor scoffed before chugging the entire glass of beer in one swoop before returning it empty to Hector.

"...Don't mind her, Zero," Hector then said as he patted Zero's back and lightly pushed him out of the elevator, "Can't really blame her, one of her trainees got… eaten by a ghoul."

"...Ghoul? Not zombie?" Zero finally had the chance to ask someone.

"Pft, no. If that was a zombie, then we're probably all going to die," Hector shook his head, "Anyway, let's stop thinking about work for now and welcome the newest battered member, Zero!"

And once again, Zero could not help but slightly groan as several noises entered his ears. Even the whispers felt like they were screaming right through him.

The humans… they're always loud. This is one of the main reasons the zombies, which they call the weakest monsters, are able to overwhelm them– they just couldn't keep their mouths shut.

"..." Zero then tried to ignore all the screams as he once again focused his gaze on Eleanor, who was now talking to Natalia. Just… what could the two be talking about? If it weren't for the other humans, then Zero would surely be able to hear their words.

"Zero, how was it? Can I see your license?"

"..." Zero then blinked a couple of times as Sandie suddenly blocked his view,

"...License?" Zero then grabbed the card from his tattered pocket and showed it to Sandie.

"Oh, you still haven't filled some of the boxes."

"Hm," Zero wasn't really interested in what Sandie was saying, as he leaned his head to the side to look at Eleanor and Natalia again. As soon as he did so, however, both Natalia and Eleanor suddenly looked at him.

Zero was about to turn his eyes away, but before he could do so, Natalia suddenly raised her hand.

"Yo, Zero! Stop it with the girls for a few seconds, we need you for something!"

Sandie, whose smile wasn't even fully formed yet, could not help but sigh as she handed the license back to Zero, "Come find me when you're done, okay?"

"..." Zero didn't really answer and just nodded his head; walking away without even a word as he approached Natalia and Eleanor. His thoughts, probably the most active they have ever been.

Did Eleanor recognize him?

Did she tell Natalia?

Was he going to be extinguished here?

All of these thoughts circled in his mind– and yet he knew that if he were to run, then Natalia would probably just cut his head off without him even having the chance to take even a single step.

And so, the only thing he could really do was follow where the flow takes him– as is the zombie way.

"...You again?"

Fortunately for him, Eleanor's words did not seem to contain any malice or anger– well, maybe a little; Zero could smell it.

"The two of you meeting behind my back already?" Natalia squinted her eyes as she looked back and forth between the two.

"No, we had a brief encounter on the elevator," Eleanor sighed.

"Sounds spicy," Natalia chuckled, "Anyway, he's the guy I told you about."

"Man of the hour, I guess."

"..." The two seemed to be talking about him… but why?

"Nat here said you've been out there the longest? Is that true?" Eleanor then let out a small breath as she stretched her hand out, "Name's Eleanor. Sorry if I don't seem that sociable but I've just been dealing with a lot of shit lately."

"...Zero," Zero said as… he also reached for Eleanor's hand. Hector did it before, but he reacted badly when Zero didn't shake his hand.

"I'm sure you've heard already, but a trainee of mine got… killed by a ghoul," Eleanor then said as she let go of Zero's hand, before tucking in her brown hair to move it away and get a better view of Zero,

"Since you've been out there the longest, maybe you saw it?"

"..." Zero didn't really know what to say.

"Sorry, since you look like that…" Natalia then stepped forward as she gestured at Zero's dirty and tattered robes, "...I just assumed you've been living out there for a very long time."

"...Yes?"

[The Readers of Fate are telling Zero to learn how to lie again.]

"So have you?" Eleanor's voice slightly became louder, "Have you seen anything?"

"Trainee… is a female?"

"Trai… Wait! Yes! My trainee is a girl! Wait…

…you saw her!?"

[The Readers of Fate want to strangle Zeni in frustration.]