Zombie Girls Revival System-Chapter 173: How the Zombies Really Began… The Red Rot Revealed.
Evelise continued,
"You said I was the savior, Mayor. Saviors need access to the tools of salvation. I am offering you the cure for the pandemic and the long term management of the Nexus. In return, I require governing access to the source of my people’s existence. I must protect the Nexus, for if it dies, we all die."
Sid, watching from the servant’s perspective, felt a spike of admiration mixed with fear. She was demanding the keys to the kingdom.
The Mayor stood, walking to a window and staring out at the manicured grounds. The room waited, breathless. Evelise sat perfectly still, radiating defiant patience.
Finally, the Mayor turned back, a grim acceptance replacing his former arrogance.
"You drive a hard bargain, Evelise," he conceded. "Too hard for a mere ’pet,’ I’ll admit. Very well. The three points are agreed upon: Land, Law, and Nexus access. The contract is drawn upon these terms."
He looked her straight in the eye, his voice low and threatening. "But you must succeed on the trial. You will cure my... wife, who is currently dying from the Red Rot. If you fail, Evelise, the agreement is nullified. Your people are will never set foot on the city and not in the Nexus tree, and you... you will be taken into custody for study, regardless of the marriage."
Evelise nodded, accepting the terrifying risk. "I understand the cost of failure, Mayor. And I accept the terms of the Test of Vows." She stood, offering a final, formal curtsy. "Then I believe our agreement is concluded."
The Mayor clapped his hands together, the sound sharp and final, shattering the fragile tension in the room.
"Excellent! The agreement stands," the Mayor declared. "Now, Evelise, since you are so confident in your ’Miracle Variant,’ the trial will begin immediately. We will waste no time."
Evelise’s parents immediately became a picture of terror. Her mother let out a tiny, frightened whimper.
Evelise’s father gripped his hands together, shaking his head slightly. "Mayor, surely a day’s rest... the Lady needs time to prepare her compounds, to assess the situation—"
"Nonsense!" the Mayor snapped, turning his attention to the anxious father. "This rush is the point! If she can save the High Councilman’s daughter, she can save her now. We are dealing with a crisis, not a scheduling conflict. This city requires immediate assurance."
Evelise, however, straightened, a look of grim determination replacing her composure.
"The rush is acceptable, Mayor," Evelise announced. "In fact, it is preferred. My people are currently facing hardship outside your walls. The sooner I prove my value, the sooner they find safety. The truth is, my people need this alliance more than your council needs my cure."
She turned, her eyes finding the servant Sid was inhabiting.
"You," Evelise commanded, her voice crisp. "Gather my satchel of equipment from the carriage. You will carry it and remain with me."
Sid immediately bowed, understanding the role. He retrieved the heavy leather satchel of herbs and vials, and was soon trailing behind Evelise, her parents, the Mayor, and several officials and scientists, as they proceeded down a long, immaculate corridor towards the medical wing. The air of grand political theater had been replaced by clinical urgency.
They arrived at the Mayor’s private medical suite. The air in the room was oppressively humid and thick with the sterile, medicinal scent of chemical sprays— an attempt to mask something far worse.
As Evelise and Sid stepped inside, the full horror of the situation was revealed.
The Mayor’s wife lay in a grand, ornate bed, but the opulence of the room couldn’t hide the decay. She was thin, frail, and utterly motionless. Her skin, where visible, was covered in patches of deep red dots— weeping sores that looked like internal rotting. She couldn’t speak or move; she was weak, wasting away.
Beside her stood a professional doctor, impeccably dressed and holding a syringe. He looked terrified as the Mayor entered.
"Doctor Alton," the Mayor snapped. "Report. How is my wife?"
Dr. Alton stammered, gripping his clipboard. "Y-Your Honor, she is stable! My combination of hyper-antivirals and protein stabilizers is doing remarkable work. The fever has slightly lowered; she is... healing."
Sid, observing the skeletal figure on the bed, wanted to laugh hysterically.
"Healing? She looks like she’s already halfway to becoming a dried out husk!"
Evelise, however, spoke, her voice sharp and authoritative. "She is not healing, Doctor. She is suffering through the initial stages of tissue collapse. Your antivirals are merely delaying the inevitable necrosis."
Dr. Alton spun around, his professional dignity instantly offended by the humanimal’s intrusion.
"Who is this... rabbit woman?" Alton demanded, his voice laced with condescension. "And how dare you contradict my clinical assessment? This is a sophisticated viral agent! What could a... a folk healer know about modern pathophysiology?"
Sid’s inner gamer was buzzing with realization.
"This is it. The genesis event. The Red Rot, the first step towards the plague that turned people into the shambling zombie mobs outside! It’s good that the devs gave me the backstory! So many of these garbage zombie movies just start with the bite and never explain the ’why’. Here, it started as a sickness, a severe systemic rot..."
"Doctor," Evelise continued, ignoring his insult, "your medication is suppressing the symptoms, but the underlying rot is consuming her. She cannot move, she cannot speak, and her skin is degrading. Her body is trying to fight an infection you are fueling with chemicals. This is not healing."
Dr. Alton bristled. "This is medicine, not your barbaric animal cures! Her condition is complex, requiring precise pharmacological intervention! Your herbs are for beasts! They are dirty, unproven, and will undoubtedly cause systemic shock!"
"My herbs are derived directly from the very nature," Evelise countered, her eyes flashing with defiance. "They are the only things in this region that possess the natural regenerative properties required to repair genetic damage caused by this... pandemic. Your medicine is failing her; my method offers a chance."
The debate was fiery, a collision between arrogant human science and desperate humanimal instinct.
"I will not permit this woman, this animal, to contaminate my patient with her unsterile filth! I’m treating it aggressively! It is not contagious through air; it requires significant fluid exchange, typically through a bite or a deep wound like the one she received from that homeless man last week. We have isolated the contamination! She is healing!""
Alton declared, stepping forward to physically block Evelise. Before the argument could escalate into a physical struggle, the Mayor intervened, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
"Enough!" he commanded, silencing both of them. He looked at Dr. Alton with cold fury. "Doctor, your medicine has been applied for three weeks, and my wife continues to rot. Your treatment has failed the ’Test of Vows.’"
The Mayor turned his gaze to Evelise, his face grim.
"Lady Evelise has offered a solution, and she holds my promise of unification. Step aside, Doctor. Let Evelise do her work."
The doctor stared, utterly astonished. "Sir! Mayor! You cannot permit this barbaric ritual! It is madness!"
The Mayor cut him off with a frigid look. "Silence, Doctor. We have an agreement. The life of my wife is now in the hands of the Lady Evelise. You may observe, but you will not interfere."
Dr. Alton stood frozen, his face a mask of astonished betrayal, then reluctantly backed away from the bedside. He stood rigid against the wall, watching the humanimal— the despised ’rabbit’, approach the patient, carrying the satchel of ’barbaric’ herbs and vials that Sid was still holding.
Evelise looked down at the Mayor’s wife, her expression softening with genuine pity for the suffering woman. She turned to Sid.
"The satchel, please," Evelise said quietly. "The trial begins now."
Evelise accepted the satchel of supplies from Sid, her movements calm and focused. The entire entourage— the Mayor, her parents, the startled officials, and the indignant Dr. Alton, watched in breathless silence.
Evelise ignored the clinical tools and the fearful doctor. She opened her satchel, revealing finely ground powders, dried roots, and small, luminous vials of thick, green fluid, all derived from the distant, sacred Nexus Tree.
She carefully selected a glowing, jade colored root and began to grind it with a mortar and pestle she produced from the bag. The scent was earthy, fresh, and powerful, momentarily overcoming the stale medicinal odor of the room.
"Doctor Alton," Evelise addressed him, her voice low and instructional. "Your medication focused on attacking the viral agent. You failed because this is not merely a virus; it is a genetic destabilization accelerated by environmental blight. My method focuses on repairing the body’s internal structure."
She scooped the fine powder into a ceramic cup, added a few drops of the luminous green fluid, and mixed it into a thick paste.
With utmost gentleness, she approached the Mayor’s wife. She dipped her fingers into the potent paste and touched the nearest patch of weeping red dots on the woman’s forearm.
The effect was...
