The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House-Chapter 93

Though I was standing a bit away from the soldier, I could still see his face at an angle. He swallowed hard, his tension almost palpable.

“I... I can’t tell you that. You’ll have to see for yourself.”

“I saw people being dragged away earlier. What are you planning to do with them?” Ethan pressed.

“That wasn’t our doing,” the soldier replied quickly. “From what I’ve gathered, they’re planning to use the survivors as slaves.”

Slaves? The word hit me like a punch. Before I could fully process it, Ethan continued interrogating the soldier.

“Who are ‘they’? Are you talking about the ones you’re fighting in this town?”

“We don’t know exactly who they are. They attacked us as soon as we entered Brunel. All we know is they’re from Kint.”

Kint's survivor camp.

According to the original novel, Kint did have a significant survivor group.

I’d mentioned before that Love in a Ruined World revolved around survival camps consuming one another, a grim territorial battle for dominance. Ultimately, the victor was Crown Prince Theodore’s camp, which included the heroine Aurora, so Kint was never truly a threat.

Piecing it together, the soldier’s explanation seemed to confirm:

The mysterious Kint group infiltrated Brunel with some hidden agenda. In the process, they clashed with the kingdom’s soldiers—who weren’t actually soldiers but impostors sent to abduct Ethan. That’s why the two groups were now locked in a gunfight.

Why the hell is everyone causing chaos on my turf?

Brunel was my territory. Sure, no one officially said that, but how much effort had I poured into this town? These invaders, regardless of faction, needed a lesson.

It wasn’t hard to guess Kint’s motives. They were probably after the leftover food and supplies in Brunel.

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The soldier still had Ethan’s revolver aimed squarely at his head, his nerves stretched taut. I pulled my axe from its holster, and his face went ghostly pale when he saw it.

“I’m not letting you take Ethan. Try and steal him from me if you dare!” I declared boldly, though Ethan’s expression in response was... complicated.

Not that it mattered. I was serious. I hadn’t borrowed Ethan just to see him kidnapped by these clowns. The only person I’d ever hand Ethan over to was Aurora.

“Wow, Cherry. I didn’t realize you were so devoted to me,” Ethan said with a smirk.

“Nope. I don’t like you. I just want your body.”

Technically, his blood with its antibodies, but details.

The soldier’s face twisted as if he were looking at a complete lunatic, while Ethan clicked his tongue in exaggerated disdain. “So the pervert’s been here all along...”

Bang!

Ethan never finished his sentence. A bullet fired through the police station window struck the soldier square in the chest, piercing his heart.

Because Ethan was standing at an angle, he narrowly avoided being hit himself. Both of us instinctively ducked low.

Bang! Bang-bang!

More bullets rained into the station, embedding themselves into walls and furniture. The soldier crumpled to the floor, clearly dead.

“We need to get to the basement,” Ethan said, crouched low to the ground. “Can you move?”

I nodded, crawling forward on my stomach. There was no other option. We had to move before the attackers outside stormed the building.

Leaving the monster corpses unburned was unavoidable. The stench would be horrible later, but we didn’t have the luxury to care.

Eventually, we reached the basement door. Pushing it open, we hurried inside and shut it behind us. Only then did we allow ourselves to stand and take a breath.

Ethan slumped onto the stairs, running a hand through his hair in frustration. I sat down as well, trying to process the chaotic series of events.

“The ones who killed that soldier—they’re from Kint, right?” I asked.

“Most likely. They’re trying to take over Brunel. It looked like they were clearing out the town’s monsters.”

“Clearing out the monsters? Sounds like they’re doing us a favor.”

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. Should we let them handle the monsters and then strike them from behind?

But how?

Their numbers clearly outmatched ours.

Aside from the underground passage to the station and Happy House’s catapult, we didn’t have much to work with.

“We need to hit them before they fully take over Brunel. We can’t let them steal the supplies,” I muttered.

Ethan, who had been resting his chin on his hand, perked up and looked at me.

“We know Brunel better than they do. We can use the terrain to our advantage. Plus, we have the underground passage.”

“Use the terrain?” I echoed.

“We’ll herd them,” Ethan said with a wicked grin.

I immediately understood what he meant. Matching his grin, I nodded.

“Let’s give them hell.”

“It’s a shame they didn’t know about the crazy lady in the haunted house,” Ethan mused.

“And they’re in for a real treat when they meet Benton’s Mad Dog.”

As I absentmindedly bantered with Ethan, a sudden realization struck me.

“Wait, why do we both have nicknames that make us sound insane? Two crazy people working together—doesn’t that seem like a problem?”

Ethan folded his arms and nodded seriously, as if wholeheartedly agreeing. “Perhaps I should have partnered with you from the start.”

“Excuse me, but shouldn’t at least one partner be normal?”

“Two lunatics might balance each other out and seem normal by comparison.”

Ethan, at least, didn’t seem remotely normal. That much was clear. Still, I thought I was at least a bit better off than him.

“Who do you think sent those guys who tried to kidnap you?”

“They disguised themselves as the kingdom’s soldiers, so one thing’s certain—it wasn’t the royal family. More likely, someone who wanted it to look like it was.”

“Someone trying to make it seem like the royal family’s behind this... That’s highly suspicious. Could it be connected to the virus?”

“There’s no way to know for sure yet.”

But I was confident it was. The fact that they specifically targeted Ethan, who had antibodies, made their motives painfully obvious.

I brushed myself off and stood up. The problem was that we’d left the lantern back in the police station. The thought of navigating the pitch-black underground passage without it sent a shiver down my spine.

“Let’s head back to the mansion and come up with a detailed plan,” Ethan said, standing and extending a hand toward me. I glanced at him, puzzled.

Though my eyes were adjusting to the dark, I couldn’t quite make out his expression.

“Take my hand. We don’t have the lantern, so we’ll have to manage,” he explained.

Reluctantly, I took his hand. This was strictly because of the lantern situation—nothing else.

With the darkness heightening my other senses, I became hyper-aware of the hand holding mine. It felt oddly distracting.

“Careful, the stairs end here,” Ethan warned.

True to his word, the stairs gave way to the entrance of the underground passage. Suddenly, he pulled me close, practically into his arms.

“You almost hit the edge,” he said.

He wasn’t wrong—without his quick reflexes, I would have smacked my shoulder against the entrance. I nodded, still partially pressed against him.

“Th-thanks.”

What was this? Why did I suddenly feel so awkward and flustered? I cleared my throat and continued walking cautiously, still holding his hand.

Ethan navigated the passage with ease. He found the way down, leapt gracefully, and called up to me.

“Jump. I’ll catch you.”

Staring into the pitch-black void below, I hesitated. What if I misjudge the height and break my leg?

Just as I was wavering, Ethan spoke up again.

“Cherry, I’m a trained swordsman and marksman. Even without light, my senses are sharp. Trust me and jump.”

His words sounded convincing—or maybe it was just that they came from him. I swallowed hard.

“Alright. I’m jumping.”

“Go ahead.”

“One, two... three!”

I jumped, tensing up, and landed securely in Ethan’s arms. He caught me with ease, steady and stable. Clutching at him, I exhaled deeply.

“This... was scarier than killing those damn monsters,” I muttered, clutching my pounding chest.

Ethan burst into laughter, his body shaking slightly as the sound carried through the passage. For some reason, it felt oddly intimate, almost out of place.

And yet, I couldn’t deny how flustered it made me feel.