The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House-Chapter 183: 32. Survival Rules of a Ruined World

"Are we heading towards Happy House?"

As Yuanna mentioned, the pigeon circled the outskirts of Brunel village before heading in the direction of Happy House.

Watching its flight, Harrison checked his crossbow. They had delayed too much. Cherry must be waiting and worrying about them by now.

Above all, he didn't want to worry Cherry—not like on the day the world ended.

He never wanted to be apart from Cherry's side, yet circumstances always seemed to flow unpredictably.

"We should hurry too. Let's secure just three pigs."

At Harrison's words, Jose showed a reluctant expression. He glanced at Harrison, then hesitantly spoke up.

"Mr. Lawyer, we've come this far with difficulty; isn't it a pity to take only three? Since they've all eaten Elpinos herbs, how about taking one more?"

Indeed, they had all consumed Elpinos herbs beforehand.

The barn team had been given Elpinos because they needed to move livestock.

However, Harrison firmly shook his head.

"No, it's too dangerous."

The village chief, listening to their conversation, timidly supported Jose's suggestion.

"Well, Mr. Cambrun has a point. I've heard that the number of people in the mansion has increased. In such times, the more food and livestock, the better."

"Right, it doesn't seem like there are many monsters in the forest right now. Why not take one more?"

Finally, Amy also chimed in. The chief and Amy exchanged high fives, smiling in agreement.

Harrison paused to consider, counting the heads of the group and looking around the barn again.

After checking the weapons and ensuring there were no monsters around, he pondered for a long while.

The group waited in silence for Harrison's decision.

After a long pause,

"Let's do that then."

Relieved by Harrison's decision, everyone hurriedly gathered the pigs.

"Will tonight's dinner feature a meat dish?"

At Jose's remark, Amy nodded with a bright smile.

Aurora, who had only been listening, picked up her weapon with a slightly excited expression. She pulled her bowstring, guarding their rear.

"Leave the back to me."

Aurora's silver hair fluttered in the wind, her mysterious purple eyes scanning the surroundings intensely. A strange, almost non-human aura emanated from her.

Aurora proved to be more helpful than expected.

She also seemed to have a considerable talent for archery, standing as if she had been thoroughly trained in shooting a bow, though she seemed unaware of it.

'Didn’t she say she had no memories before she was fifteen? I’m curious about her actions before then.'

Oddly, looking at Aurora always brought a sense of unresolved issues.

However, the thought vanished as he remembered that she would soon return to the capital.

'She’s leaving, no need to think too deeply.'

Harrison had decided to take the lead with the crossbow, so the village chief, Amy, and Jose were assigned to move the pigs.

Harrison looked over the well-prepared group and nodded.

"Then let’s get moving."

*****

The work to clear Route 8 resumed.

This time, Sir Hamel, Eden, and two knights who had stayed in the mansion began their work to clear the passage.

The rest of the knights, along with Nikolai, went to support Harrison's group, leaving the mansion less guarded.

"Leonardo is ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) still asleep."

Michelle, who had become Victor's assistant chef, muttered while wearing her kitchen apron at the front door.

At the end of her gaze was a mutated monster, anesthetized and sleeping in front of the cabin.

No, it was Leonardo when he was human, but she was referring to him too familiarly. To an outsider, it might seem she was talking about a pet dog.

"Michelle! Where are you?"

"Yes, sir! Right here!"

Victor stormed out of the mansion's front door.

He briefly greeted me before asking Michelle.

"Didn’t I tell you to marinate the deer meat we hunted last time? Why did you cover it with a handkerchief?"

"Huh? You said to marinate it, so..."

"Come with me right now."

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Victor.

Anyway, I had come out to the garden to check on the mutated monster but ended up spotting an unexpected sight—a pigeon circling in the sky.

"What’s that?"

As I stepped outside, the pigeon, as if it had been waiting, began descending towards me.

"What, what?"

Startled, I hesitated, and in that moment, it gently landed at my feet and pecked at my shoe.

I stood frozen, unable to move.

The pigeon seemed insistent, pecking at my foot as if trying to get my attention.

Curious, I slowly bent down to take a closer look. I noticed something like a note tied to the pigeon’s leg.

"Are you a carrier pigeon?"

I crouched down and untied the note from its leg to read the message.

The note was succinct:

Curious if the mansion is safe. Also curious who will read this. I’m trapped and need help. -

Huh? What’s this? I wondered who would send such a note.

From the content of the note, it seemed the sender knew the mansion’s address and was not with us but in another location.

And they were trapped? They needed help?

'Is this note really meant for Happy House? Maybe it was supposed to go somewhere else but ended up here by mistake.'

As I pondered, Nox emerged from the mansion, presumably to check on the mutated monster like I had.

"What’s that?"

Nox noticed the note in my hand and asked. I handed the note to him. Nox took it with a slightly excited face.

"Just say it, why use a note..."

He must have thought I was passing a message through the note. His expression hardened as he read the contents.

After a short scoff, Nox flashed a grin that somehow felt eerie.

"Miss Cherry, are you secretly pen pals with someone? Who is this?"

"Is that even possible? I have no idea who it is."

My incredulous reaction seemed to ease Nox's expression slightly. He shrugged, his face now noticeably calmer.

"I thought so too."

Claiming he needed sugar, he pulled a candy out of his pocket and started eating it, glaring at the note in his hand. After examining it for a moment, he asked me again.

"Then who do you think sent this?"

"I’m not sure. It could be someone who knows about Happy House, or it might just be a coincidence they ended up here."

Could it be Ezra? If the theory holds that Ezra is the original owner of this mansion, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were curious about its current state.

I entertained the thought briefly before shaking my head.

There was no evidence.

Nox made a thoughtful sound, "Hmm," as he stared at the pigeon on the ground. The bird tilted its head side to side, cooing softly.

"It doesn’t seem like it’ll leave unless it has a note tied to its leg. Miss Cherry, how about replying?"

The pigeon appeared to have been trained to only move once it had a message secured to its leg.

Nox's suggestion was tempting. After all, I was just as curious as he was about the sender.

"That’s a good idea. Wait here. Keep an eye on the messenger."

Nox nodded at my words, crouching in front of the pigeon to observe it.

In the meantime, I returned to my room, fetching paper and a pen to draft a reply.

Who are you? Reveal your identity and the purpose of sending this letter first. If you tell me about yourself, I might be able to help you. I can also tell you about myself and the mansion we’re both so curious about.

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.

I folded the note and left the mansion.

The pigeon was strutting elegantly back and forth in front of Nox, who was watching it while sucking on a lollipop.

"Is it ready?"

At his question, I nodded and tied the note to the pigeon’s leg. As expected, the bird flapped its wings and took off the moment the message was secured.

"I hope we get a reply soon."

"Me too."

I murmured as I watched the bird disappear into the distance. Nox, still holding his lollipop, hummed in agreement.

After some time, Nox turned to me with a question.

"By the way, Miss Cherry, isn’t it about time the mutant monster woke up? What should we do?"

The mutant monster, still leashed like a puppy, was snoring away beside the shed in the vegetable garden.

"What about the samples?"

"I’ve already taken some, but since it’s a mutant, I’m not sure how useful they’ll be. Ideally, we’d also test on a regular infected creature. And it would be best to collect the blood sample once all the necessary materials are ready. Blood taken in advance might spoil."

So that meant we’d need to keep the creature longer to collect fresh samples later.

What? Does that mean I have to keep looking after it?

Snore—

The mutant monster snored loudly, smacking its lips before falling back into a deep sleep.

"It’s really making itself at home, isn’t it?"

"Feels like we’ve got ourselves a guard dog."

Nox and I exchanged quips while watching the sleeping monster. After observing it for a while, I spoke to Nox.

"Mr. Ludfisher, about the cure... promise me you won’t give up on developing it."

At my words, Nox waved the poster I had pinned in the lobby earlier that morning.

"Survival Rule #7 of Happy House: Never give up. Don’t worry, I’m keeping it in mind."

"When did you even take that down?"

"I wanted to memorize it before putting it back."

Just then, Suzanna and Emma came out to tend to the garden and greeted us. Following them was Vanilla, who was soon joined by Theodore.

Theodore, seemingly intrigued by our conversation, asked, "You have survival rules? I wasn’t aware."

"I made them yesterday," I replied, glaring at the poster in Nox’s hand. He casually reached out to fix the mess of hair on my forehead.

"Let’s hear these survival rules," Theodore suggested, clearly entertained. Nox handed him the poster with the rules written on it.

Survival Rules of Happy House:

Survive at all costs.Trust no one.Love people anyway.Develop your unique survival skills.Hold onto hope.Don’t be greedy.Never give up.

Theodore gave me a surprised look. "Vague, but they’re exactly what’s needed."

"So what if they’re vague? Happy House’s welfare is Sinclair anyway."

Vanilla’s response made all of us turn to look at her simultaneously. She shrugged nonchalantly under our gazes.

"Lady Sinclair must be an excellent leader. I’m a bit jealous."

"Then be as pretty as Sinclair. Ah, well, Your Highness, you’re quite attractive too."

Vanilla glanced at Theodore, quickly conceding as she scratched her cheek, seemingly embarrassed by her own words.

"I’ve always had a weakness for beautiful things."

"Miss Cherry is certainly beautiful," Nox agreed.

Meanwhile, Vanilla made a coin shape with her fingers and said to Theodore, "If you show a little heart, I can boost your self-esteem too. You won’t regret it. I can do anything—hunting, cooking, cleaning, errands, scouting, stealing, you name it."

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything. I’m pretty skilled, you know."

"Hmm. With those skills, I’d like to recruit you to the capital."

Unable to hold back, I added, "Your Highness, how many people are you planning to recruit? You didn’t come all the way to Brunel for this, did you?"

Of course, it wasn’t like he had come to Brunel voluntarily. Theodore remained silent, unable to respond, while Nox burst into laughter beside me.

Hearing his hearty laugh for the first time in a while, I found myself laughing along.

Looking up at the sky, I remembered that Harrison’s group had left yesterday afternoon. It was now nearing noon, and they hadn’t returned yet.

Although Nikolai’s team had gone out to support them, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

"I think I need to check on the village."

It seemed I had to go and confirm things myself.