I turn my face aside to avoid Lex’s sorrowful gaze. If what he says is true, then there are no other humans aside from us. In other words, we can’t expect help to come. Walking through the poisonous swamp to find land is out of the question. To be blunt, there’s no hope of being saved.
I never really had any particular ambitions in life, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy living. As weird as it is for me to say this, I still have a long life ahead of me. I’ve optimistically lived out my days thinking I have plenty of time to find what I want to do with my life… But now I’m going to die in obscurity before I ever discover what that is.
I plop down on the ground with a loud sigh. I pull my knees up to my chin and bury my face in them. Is there a point in living if there’s nothing for me to do? There’s nothing more painful than endless boredom. Maybe I should just make it easier on myself and dive into that acidic poison…
Negative thoughts overwhelm my mind, my mental state descending into chaos. My one forte is my optimistic energy that gets the regular customers and owners at my part-time job to say, “Seeing you always smile like that cheers me right up too!” but even a cheerful person like me loses hope in a hopeless situation.
The torturous feelings rising inside me turn into tears and spill over. Teardrops drip from my blurry eyes. The drops splatter on the ground.
All of a sudden, the ground faintly glows.
Startled, I spring to my feet.
Wh-What’s going on now?!
Once the light spreads over the entire desert island, weeds sprout from the dead earth, covering what had been a wasteland moments prior. As if taking that as the cue, the light scatters as if shattering into pieces, eventually turning phosphorescent and quietly fading away.
“W-Weeds grew…!”
“Indeed…they did grow.”
I gape at the ground with Lex. What in the world is happening? Less than a second after my tears hit the earth, the island was covered in green. That’s the only thing I know for sure.
“Lady Mizuha…may I ask what it is you did?”
“I-I don’t really want to say because it’s embarrassing… I just cried a little. When my tears fell, the ground suddenly started glowing.”
“To think you returned life to the putrefied ground with your tears… As I thought, you truly are the holy priest—”
“You’re just looking for excuses to call me that now.”
It seems as if he wants to treat me like some kinda priestess no matter what. I’ll admit that bringing plant life back to barren land with just my tears is a holy-sounding power. That being said, I don’t want to acknowledge myself as some priestess, regardless of how much power I might have. The reason is simple—everything people view as holy or sacred tends to be beautiful.
Sorry to burst this world’s bubble, but I’m no otherworldly beauty. I think I have average looks, but that’s about it. It’s obvious people will be disappointed when they imagine their priestess as some stunner and then see me. They’ll think, What the heck? That’s her? Then again, this might just be baseless worry when the only people around to disappoint are zombies. Do zombies feel disappointment?
Anyway, Lex is staring at the noxious swamp with hopeful eyes. “While we don’t have proof yet, mayhap if you cry over the poison—”
“We might be able to purify it?!”
“Please try it, Lady Mizuha!”
“Okay, leave it to me!” I roll up my sleeves and gallantly stride over to the island’s edge. I poke my head slightly over the side and strain my eyes. “Geh! The tears aren’t coming! They dried up the second I thought I was saved! Ugggh.” At my wits’ end, I pound my hands on the ledge. No matter how much I pray for my emotional side from several minutes ago to return, it won’t. The pointlessly optimistic side of me has taken full control of my brain.
“Pardon my language, but how about saliva?”
“What are you suggesting with a straight face?”
I knew it, his good looks were too good to be true. There’s always a catch.
“Apologies… I simply thought perchance any of your body fluids might work, Lady Mizuha.”
“T-True. That is a possibility. But why saliva?”
“Because it seemed the optimum choice. Of course, I am all for trying some other options, such as—”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. So please don’t finish that sentence.”
Spitting in public is plenty immodest as it is. I don’t want anyone seeing me spit.
“I-I’ll try it. Can you face the other way?”
“Why?”
“Obviously because it’s embarrassing!”
The day I get labeled as a girl who spits and drools is the day I can no longer get married. Though I guess the chances of me getting married now that I’m in a post-apocalyptic world are close to zilch.
Facing the edge again, I drop to my knees and poke my head over the side. My shoulder-length hair falls into my eyes, annoying me. I brush my hair up and over my ears.
It’s not like Lex is watching me, but there’s something terribly embarrassing about this that it’s making my face heat up. I remind myself I’m doing this to survive and open my mouth to spit the saliva I haven’t swallowed yet. Not having had anything to drink for a while has made it sticky. The drop of saliva breaks off from the threadlike trail and finally drips into the poisonous liquid.
There aren’t any ripples, but a bigger change occurs instead. The poisonous muck surrounding the island unleashes a blinding light high into the skies. The bubbling and popping stops, and the color turns from a sickly purple to transparent. Last but not least, even the stench assaulting my nose vanishes.
“I-It actually worked…”
“How can this be? As I suspected, Lady Mizuha is the—”
Pushing Lex’s new favorite phrase out of my mind, I survey the area around the island. It’s blue for as far as the eye can see. It looks just like a beautiful, clean ocean or lake. Not a trace of poison remains.
“Do you think it’s really been purified?” I voice my doubts.
“Allow me to confirm.” Lex leans over the island’s edge and thrusts his hand into the water without hesitation.
“Hey! Are you okay? Your flesh isn’t melting off?”
“There is nothing wrong with it. The water is very cool and refreshing,” Lex says, dunking his cupped hands into the water and bringing it back to his lips. He takes two loud gulps of it and stares at the water, stunned. “I have never tasted such delicious water before…”
I’m relieved. I don’t know what I’d do if something were to happen to him. But once the relief sets in, I become aware of a disturbing fact—my saliva is mixed in with the water Lex just drank. Ew! I start squirming, my face burning hot, when Lex turns to me with a sparkling smile.
“This is the power of your spit, Lady Mizuha!”
“Leave out the part about it being my spit’s power! PLEASE!” The heat goes right out of my face, and I dip my hand into the water too. While I’m at it, I scrub the zombie stench off my right hand. The water is cool and refreshing, just as Lex said. Taking a closer look, I realize it’s quite clear as well. I can see all the way to the bottom.
“Is it actually really shallow here?”
“It is. This is Lake Nidel. Some sections are deep, but it shouldn’t come up higher than your knees in most areas.”
“We can walk through it, then.”
“We certainly can. Grantz Castle is located in that direction. Let’s head there.”
I’ll turn into a dried-up husk if I stay put on this island, so I decide to go along with Lex’s suggestion.
One strange thought occurs to me as we head out: Was Lex scuttling along the bottom of the lake like some sorta zombie crab?