CHAPTER 117: CHAPTER 117: BURNING UP

"Munchkin, wake up!" Laziel knocked on Zerra’s door, frowning. He had been knocking for more than ten minutes now, and she hadn’t responded so far.

"Cassias is going to be here soon," he said. "You will be left behind then!"

He thought that the moment Zerra heard about it, she would wake up, but it was still oddly quiet.

"Are you okay, Munchkin?" He finally asked. Worry tinged his tone.

"Zee, if you are not answering soon. I am going to break open the door!"

"One."

"Two."

Before he could say the last number, Alaric appeared. "What happened?"

Laziel pointed to Zerra’s door. "Dad, I have been knocking on her door for some time. She never answered. What if something happened to her?"

Mutated animals sometimes snuck into people’s rooms. So, they would plug any opening to the house to minimize the mutated animals’ infiltration.

The infiltration would also mean that death or transforming into a zombie during someone’s sleep was very possible. Laziel feared this outcome.

"Let’s break open the door." He suggested a little impatiently.

However, Alaric fell silent for a moment. "Wait here."

When he came back, he brought Nerith to Zerra’s door. He told Laziel with a tone full of consideration. "Zee is a girl, so let Mom open her door."

They had brought out the spare key, something that Laziel had forgotten in the moment of his panic. There was a spare key!

Alaric’s consideration of bringing Nerith over was because of another reason. Zerra was a zombie, so she was mostly safe from any little mutated animals’ attack–because in most cases, those who turned into zombies in their sleep were ordinary people.

Her case was indeed strange, and most people would be afraid of having a zombie nearby, but Alaric didn’t care. It didn’t matter if Zerra was a zombie or not, as long as she was safe.

What worried him the most was Zerra turning into a fox, which was very possible. She wouldn’t be able to open the door and most likely was too scared to come out.

At some point, Nyra appeared.

"Sis, come check with M-mom... if something has happened to Zerra," Laziel called out to her.

Nyra wore an impassive expression. Her eyebrows lifted slightly, but she didn’t speak. She still walked closer to Zerra’s door.

Nerith unlocked the door with the spare key. She opened the door. At just a quick glance, she abruptly closed it again. Her eyes swept over Nyra, who was standing not far from her.

It was unknown whether she had seen the sight inside the room or not.

Laziel was bewildered. He swallowed. "How is Zerra?"

"You all get out of here." Nerith put on a strict expression. Nyra never moved from her spot. For a moment, the wheels spun in Nerith’s mind, thinking how to make her stay farther away.

She turned to Alaric for help.

Coincidentally, they heard the knock at the front door. They knew who was visiting.

"Nyra, open the door," Alaric told her, holding no hope that she would listen. However, she surprisingly did listen.

He was a little relieved, gesturing to his wife to enter the room.

"Dad, I am going to check on her," Laziel protested at his dad, who was holding his back collar, stopping him from taking a step inside.

"She is a girl. Let your sister have some privacy," He scowled.

Upon seeing his wife’s expression, he knew Zerra must have turned into a fox again. In a stern tone, he told Laziel, "You go to the main base with your eldest sister."

He dragged his son to meet Cassias.

When Nerith entered the room, she was taken aback by Zerra’s appearance. Curling up in the blanket and unconscious.

"Zee, sweetie." She brushed her daughter’s fur carefully. One touch nearly scorched her hand.

She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes wide in shock before morphing into worry. After calling out Zerra’s name a few times, her daughter was still curled up unconscious, not even responding once.

Zerra also appeared listless. The skin beneath her fur made the white color appear slightly pink. She was flushed red.

The more Nerith called her, the panicked she became.

She went out of the door, closing it, and went to the front porch, where everyone had gathered. Alaric noticed his wife’s expression in an instant.

He suppressed the uneasiness in his heart. Upon receiving his wife’s cue, he turned to Cassias. He cleared his throat. "Cassias, do you have a moment? I seem to be having trouble with my power."

Cassias keenly noticed something was wrong. They had been waiting for Zerra for a while, but she never appeared.

"Of course, Mr. Sylvaris. I am free, so I will help you." He nodded.

"Hey, Cassias, aren’t we going to the base today?" Laziel scrunched his face.

"You two go first. I will help Mr. Sylvaris for a bit and catch up with you later."

After he said that, they went back to the house.

"Huh? What’s wrong with them?" He scratched the back of his head.

Nerith opened the door and let Cassias and her husband inside. The moment they were inside, they saw the little bundle of white fur on the blanket.

"Quick, check what happened to her. The temperature is so high." Nerith told them worriedly.

She was an ordinary person. With their power, she wished they could figure out what had happened to her daughter.

Zerra was breathing heavily. Her tiny figure trembled once a while, like having a seizure. Cassias touched her paw. The temperature made his pupils constrict; his expression turned grave in an instant.

"She is burning up." Cassias muttered grimly. His heart was turning restless.

He took the spring water from his space and helped Zerra to absorb it with his mental power. The water from the pipette dripped down to her mouth.

After a while, they finally saw a minor improvement. "She might have been dehydrated because of her high temperature too."

He took out a cloth and cold water, applying the cloth to her face. Soon, her fur was all wet.

Nerith insisted on helping. She sat on the edge of the bed and held the cloth close to her forehead and cheeks, making sure she could still breathe.

"What is actually happening to her?" Alaric asked gravely. "Do we need to call a doctor?"

All of a sudden, the door was opened. Laziel burst open into the room. "What happened to Munchkin? She needs a doctor?"