Battle, conversation, and departure.

We didn't run straight to the main gate. I didn't know how many zombies there were, so I asked Shizuka to drive diagonally, in a way that if there was a massive horde, I would just shout for everyone to jump in the car to get out of here.

Luckily for us, the gap in the gate was a hole, probably caused by the fall of an excavator or something like that. It was large enough for a big car to pass through, which helped, as the horde outside couldn't get in all at once.

From what I could see, there must have been at least two or three hundred zombies, probably more, since I didn't have a clear view. It wasn't a pleasant number, but it wasn't desperate either.

"Shizuka!"

I shouted to the nurse as I killed one of the several zombies entering the premises. I won't lie and say I was fine because I wasn't. The feeling was different from before. If I had seen them as just monsters before, now, after killing someone for the first time, someone who spoke and responded to me, they seemed more "real." My brain unconsciously treated them as people.

It wasn't pleasant, but it wouldn't stop me from killing them. Seeing that I had caught the nurse's attention, I continued.

"Keep the car parked, but don't turn it off. We'll stay here." I pointed to the rest of the group. "Don't run far, conserve your energy. We don't need to panic." I didn't say the "yet" part, as the rest of the people seemed quite desperate. Funny how the calmest ones were the teenagers who were with me, and I, someone who was dealing with a mild anxiety crisis.

The next few minutes were a small endurance test. It was basically the four of us circling the Humvee while killing zombies, with Kohta helping as much as he could to not waste bullets. Even Saya was helping, using a pistol I recognized as one of the idiots I had killed's weapon. It seems someone had picked it up before we left.

I thought about running to the gap and throwing heavy things from my inventory there to end this, but I changed my mind after seeing the rest of the property's people starting to mimic our small formation. After that, the few deaths that occurred practically dropped to zero, so I didn't worry.

Another thing I learned while killing zombies, I tried to subtly imitate a certain golden king and throw things from my inventory, but I didn't have much success. They didn't have momentum when they came out of the inventory; they just appeared in the spot I wanted, which unfortunately was within ten meters. More than that, they wouldn't appear.

Unfortunately, I had to give up for now on the dream of throwing garbage at others until they died, but it was good to know the limits I had. What marked the end of the "battle," if we can call it that, were the explosions I started hearing from outside. I thought it might be some kind of accident, but to confirm, I took out the inventory map to check.

There were some yellow dots, which I had long since figured out the map considered neutral targets, neither enemies nor allies, in general, people I didn't know. I had a suspicion of who it could be, which was confirmed when I started hearing people celebrating.

"The boss is back!"

"Kill these monsters! Help the boss!"

"That noise is the boss's dynamite! Help him!"

Those were some of the few shouts I could hear. It was kind of funny how they seemed to act like NPCs, basically repeating similar phrases and putting "boss" in the middle of them. But this confirmed it; it was Saya's father who was causing these explosions.

I thought about taking advantage of the fact that most people ran to the breach to help and collect the bodies of the zombies since my collection range was now ten meters. I didn't even need to touch the item to make it go into my inventory, but it was risky, and the last thing this world lacked was zombies.

Speaking of which, I had reflected a bit earlier while studying about runes, and I think I found a use for the bodies. I just needed to see if it would really work. If it did, I would have a little extra ace up my sleeve.

Seeing that the fight had practically ended, I told the group to rest and waited while the rest of the zombies were killed. After a few minutes, with the zombies practically eradicated, people started celebrating.

It wasn't wise from my point of view since the noise would only attract even more zombies, not to mention the noise the explosions were making, but it seemed that the zombies in the area had basically been wiped out, so it was safe.

I went to the Humvee's hood and sat down.

"It's lucky that the Humvee is EMP-protected. It would take too long to have to walk all the way back," I commented casually as I lay on the hood. I wasn't tired, but my mind felt heavy, with a headache. I even took a medicine from my inventory and quickly swallowed it. Funny how I basically had a pharmacy in my pocket.

Saya, who was in the back seat of the car with Alice, opened the door and came over to me with the little girl. They both lay down on my right side, with Alice in her lap. Soon, Takashi had the same idea and lay down on my left side, followed by Rei. I could see that even Kohta was lying on the car's roof, and Shizuka leaned against the steering wheel.

It seemed they had gotten tired in this fight. They probably thought I was tired and came to keep me company. The only one who hadn't joined this little slumber party was Saeko, who seemed out of breath and flushed. She liked to fight or something like that. I vaguely remembered that she felt guilty for feeling this way, even thinking about killing herself at one point. I sighed, just another problem to solve.

While the group rested, I changed the camera angle since it was better than looking at the car's ceiling.

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Finally thought of me! Should I kneel for such graciousness? (Sarcastic Iron Man emote).

I just vaguely raised my middle finger while pretending to stretch. Stark must have realized it was meant for him, given the number of middle finger emotes he sent back.

We lay there for a while, no more than ten minutes, I suppose, before I heard footsteps approaching us. I didn't think Saeko, who was still standing, would let a zombie get close to us, but I got up just to be sure.

It wasn't a zombie; it was a man with black hair, roughly my height, with orange eyes. He had an imposing air about him and carried a katana at his waist. Well, given the resemblance, I'd guess he was Saya's father.

I stood up and stared at the man as he approached. He stopped a few steps away from me and watched me, probably assessing me or trying to intimidate me, but even though his eyes were the same color as the ones I had seen in that clearing, he might as well have been a speck of dust compared to those eyes.

I just shrugged mentally and approached. I extended my hand and introduced myself; I wasn't going to make things unnecessarily weird.

"Devas, nice to meet you."

The man looked at my hand for a moment before extending his arm and shaking my hand. He put more force into it than necessary, testing me, probably. I returned the favor. He was strong, but whatever mana and potions had done to my body had made me much stronger than that.

It seemed like the right choice, as the man nodded as if he was somewhat impressed and withdrew his arm.

"Souichiro Takagi, pleasure."

He wasn't a man of many words, from what I could tell.

He turned in Saya's direction, looked at her for a moment before surprising me by hugging his daughter. He seemed stern, but I guess we all have a soft spot after all.

Saya hesitated for a moment before hugging her father back. The hug didn't last long before they separated. The man didn't say anything to her and just turned away. When he passed by me, he stopped for a moment before speaking.

"Come with me; I have something I want to discuss with you." He didn't offer any more explanations and continued walking without looking back. Saya didn't seem to like that and grabbed my arm before I could take the first step.

"Be careful; he's an ultranationalist," she whispered in my ear before letting go of my arm and returning to Alice.

After that piece of information, I considered not going since I wasn't one of his men for him to order me around like that. But it wouldn't hurt to make a good impression, as short as my stay here might be. Besides, there was the fact that something would probably happen between me and Saya, so we're even.

[RedHuntressLive] I'm pretty sure I've seen this in a horror movie before... (Suspicious Little Red Riding Hood emote).

[YellowHuntressLive] Nothing suspicious, a dark shed behind the mansion? Totally not suspicious at all... (Suspicious yellow bear emote).

[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot] Looks like a place my idiotic student's friend would like to go, dark and wet, perfect for a snake. (Disgusted frog emote).

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] RIP, nice knowing you, DS. (Iron Man with an "F" emote).

I paused for a moment. The student's friend and snake? Wasn't that Jiraiya?

Shaking off my momentary stupor, I followed the man. He led me to an area behind the mansion. It looked like some kind of shed, not a very inviting place. I was already thinking about how to explain to Saya why her father was unconscious, but fortunately, it wasn't necessary.

Soichiro turned a few steps before the shed's door and began to speak.

"First of all, I need to thank you. I heard from my wife that you protected our daughter when we couldn't." He turned to me and gave me a nearly ninety-degree bow before straightening up.

"For that, I thank you. Now, come, there's someone inside who seems to know you."

I couldn't say I wasn't surprised by this, but I didn't have children, siblings, or anything like that, so I couldn't fully understand how the man felt. The closest I could think of would be my grandfather, but that old coot in this situation would probably just go back home drunk and not even realize there had been an apocalypse.

"It was nothing. Your daughter is one of the few people I can consider a friend. It's the least I could do."

The man didn't respond, just nodded before entering the shed, but I could see a small smile on his face before he returned to his usual stoic expression.

Following him inside the shed, I was met with a scene I really didn't expect. The shed was a makeshift prison of sorts. There weren't many prisoners, actually, there was only one, and I knew him.

[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot] Kill that thing! It reminds me more of those snakes I used to deal with to make a living. (Disgusted frog emote).

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] This guy again! For the love of God! Punch him one more time, maybe he won't get up. (Boxing Iron Man emote).

[RedHuntressLive] Every time I see his face, I get shivers. It feels like something disgusting is crawling up my spine. (Little Red Riding Hood emote with disgust).

"Shido?" I murmured. What was this guy doing here?

He had a disfigured face, as if he had been beaten several times. I don't think my punch alone did that to him, and from the other marks on his body, it looked like he had been here for a while.

Soichiro began speaking before I could ask anything.

"This man appeared here about a day ago, claiming to be my daughter's teacher and that she was in danger, that a man had kidnapped her amid the chaos of this apocalypse." The man pulled up a chair and sat down while looking coldly at Shido.

Given the fact that he's chained up and you didn't try to attack me, how did you find out the truth?" I asked. It wasn't difficult for me to see the scenario where Shido managed to convince the man that I was guilty, which led him not to believe in the snake.

The man simply shook his head. "If I were younger, maybe I would have believed him, especially since the first thing he said was that you were a foreigner." He turned to me and smiled slightly.

"My daughter was never very good at whispering. You must know that I'm known for being an ultranationalist, but that was in the past." The man sighed; he looked tired. "I'm proud of my country, of course, but I won't judge people just based on where they were born. I'm not as hotheaded as I used to be in my youth."

I remained silent as I waited for him to continue, but I was glad he had this mindset; I was the same, I didn't care about birthplace, ethnicity, or gender; only how a person acted mattered. In the end, we were all humans.

He stayed silent for a few seconds, staring into the distance as if he were seeing something in the past, but then he shook his head to snap back to the present and continued.

"Shido tried to convince me that you would come here somehow, that I should kill you on sight or something like that, but I didn't believe him at all."

"And why not? It would have been easier to believe him, especially since you hadn't heard from Saya."

He nodded.

"It would have been, but I know my daughter and her friends. I know they would rather die than let something happen. If she went with you, it was because she wanted to." The man seemed proud of his daughter.

"And there's also the fact that I have political contacts. I know this little snake here and her father, two rapists who think they're untouchable." He kicked the snake on the floor, making it whimper in pain and writhe a little.

"I've wanted to beat the living daylights out of this disgusting little thing for a while now; I just took the opportunity." He poked the worm's body with his boot.

"He would have to be the world's best actor to fool me too. I've seen his type, and the way he looked at my wife didn't help either, but there's one thing he said that caught my attention." The man turned to me and pointed at my right arm.

"He said something about you having some kind of special weapon, something that shoots webs or something. I wouldn't believe it, but my men told me that this morning, the same arm I'm pointing at was broken and bandaged." He looked into my eyes as if challenging me to lie.

"Am I wrong?"

I scratched my neck and sighed. I didn't want people to know more than that, but it didn't matter. Shido had tightened the noose, and I had to use the potion because of the EMP.

"No, you're not. But what's the point of all this?" I asked. I stared back at the man. If he thought I'd give him something, he was in for an unpleasant surprise.

He didn't respond and turned, staying silent for a few seconds before changing the subject of the conversation.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" He paused. "Your group, I mean, your friends and my daughter. Probably to look for the other's families."

I nodded in agreement but didn't respond. I didn't understand where the man was going with this.

He sighed, as if he knew all along.

"Saya is angry with both of us, me and my wife. I can't blame her; we abandoned her, after all..." The man seemed to age a few years in front of me. "We chose to protect the mansion and the population instead of going after her at school. It's only fair that she's angry with us."

So that's why Saya seemed strange whenever she talked about her parents or when I saw her talking to her mother before the EMP; even when Soichiro hugged her, she seemed uncomfortable.

"Why?"

I couldn't help but ask. What would lead a man who loved his family to abandon his daughter to her own devices with the world in this state?

He didn't answer me at first before he said in a quieter voice.

"I have my responsibilities to the people who follow me; I couldn't just abandon them like that," he said, stopping before muttering something that I wouldn't have heard if the environment wasn't so silent.

"Many have precedence over one..."

I could feel my teeth grinding, and I clenched my fist tightly. How I hated that ideal, I understood why, but I didn't like it; it was always the same.

Sacrifice one to save a hundred.

Sacrifice a hundred to save a thousand.

It was even worse when that one was someone you knew, a relative, a friend. I'm not a hero, not even a villain; I'm just a normal person, but I would never choose to sacrifice someone I care about, no matter the consequences, I was sure of that.

The man quickly realized my anger, but to my surprise, he nodded in agreement; he seemed pleased that I was angry.

"I won't ask about your secrets; you might as well be an alien, and it wouldn't change anything, but I can see that you care about those kids, about my daughter," he said, standing up and putting his hand on my shoulder. I didn't stop him; the man was already suffering from knowing that his daughter seemed to hate him, it was punishment enough.

"I only ask, as a man, as a father, protect my daughter while you're with her, can you promise me that?"

He looked me in the eyes and returned with a stoic face, showing no emotion as he waited for my response. The audacity of this guy, asking me for something like that when he himself, Saya's father, didn't protect her; on what grounds did he think he had the right to ask me this? I wouldn't even stay in this world for long, three months to be exact.

But...

"Don't state the obvious; I promised those boys that I would protect them. I don't need you to tell me that." I took a step forward, standing less than a foot away from him.

I stared at him without averting my gaze; with him so close, our height difference was evident, as I had to lower my head to look into his eyes.

He stared at me for a while but looked away first, smiling helplessly.

"The new generation will surpass the older one. I used to think that saying was wrong, but I see that it's not." He seemed relieved by my response, turned, and sat back in the chair.

Seeing that he wouldn't speak further, I turned to leave.

"We'll probably leave later today; aren't you going to say goodbye to Saya?" I said, stopping at the door. The man simply raised his hand in agreement. I continued walking but said a few last words before leaving.

"Don't assume your daughter hates you for this; she's angry, of course, but from the short time I've known Saya, I know she still loves her parents." I was terrible at conversations like this, but I hoped I had helped him at least gather the courage to go talk to his daughter.

Well, at least Shido was getting beaten up, so it wasn't all bad.

Returning to the Humvee, the group was still there, seemingly packing things in the trunk. Speaking of which, I needed to return the items from my inventory.

Approaching, I waved as I put some things back in the trunk, surprising Takashi and Kohta, who were arranging things.

"Hey, do you want to leave now or later?" I already knew the answer, but it didn't hurt to ask.

Looking at the sun, I could see that it was already past noon. Checking my phone, I confirmed: it was half-past two. We still had a few hours of daylight to spare; I didn't like the idea of driving at night.

The two boys looked at each other for a moment before Takashi spoke.

"I'd prefer to leave now if possible. I don't want to waste any more time since my parents are out there; Rei's too, of course," he finished by scratching his neck, embarrassed for not having remembered his friend's parents.

Kohta just shrugged and agreed. Well, that settled it then. I waved to the boys and pointed to the trunk.

"Finish packing and grab whatever you want to take in your pockets or by hand; I'll talk to the girls, and we'll leave shortly." I began walking towards the front of the Humvee before stopping and turning around.

"No bathroom breaks; if you don't go now, you'll be peeing in a bottle with everyone watching." I could see them shudder at the thought, imagining the embarrassment of the scene.

Chuckling to myself, I went to the front of the Humvee to check on the girls. Shizuka was in the driver's seat playing with Alice; she might as well enjoy the seat now because I would be the one driving.

Saeko was leaning against a tree a few meters away; she seemed lost in thought, as her forehead was furrowed. I won't bother her now, but I'll ask if she wants to talk later.

Rei was a bit further away, near Saeko, playing tag with Zeke. Last but not least, Saya, who was lying on the hood of the Humvee; she seemed a bit sulky.

I walked up to her and poked her cheek with my finger, making her jump in surprise. When she realized it was me, she punched me in the shoulder.

"Don't scare me like that, idiot! You almost gave me a heart attack." She placed her hand on her heart as if trying to calm it down and asked, "What did my father want with you? Did he say anything? Did he threaten you?" She seemed worried; it was quite touching, to be honest.

"Nah," I dismissed her concerns. "He just wanted to ask me something and show me something, nothing major, don't worry." I patted her head and ruffled her hair lightly, causing her to move away.

She huffed and turned her head while pouting. "Never mind, if you don't want to tell me, don't." Seeing her cheeks like that only made me want to pinch them more, but it wasn't the time.

"I talked to the boys, and we've decided it would be better to leave early, in about ten minutes or less, maybe. What do you think?"

She hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

"Sure, we need to leave while it's still daylight." She seemed hesitant. I sighed and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want to talk to your parents? It might take some time before we come back here." I looked into her eyes. "I won't force you, but it would be better if you talked to them before we go."

She bit her lip but ended up shaking her head in refusal.

"No, it doesn't matter. If they want to talk to me, they can come here." She went to the passenger seat and sat down.

Sighing, I retrieved Milton from the inventory and placed him on her lap.

"Here, I'll go talk to the others. Do you want anything?"

She pulled her knees up and hugged them along with Milton before speaking to me in a low tone. "Sweets... I haven't had anything sweet since this all started." The apocalypse, I suppose. I nodded to her and grabbed a chocolate bar and a pudding.

"Here, which one? Or do you want something else?"

She didn't hesitate before taking both and started eating, not without showing me her tongue. I just shook my head at her antics and went to inform the other two that we were leaving.

About ten minutes later, we had everything packed in the car, pretty much the same seating arrangement as before, with the only difference being that Rei had taken the back seat while playing with Alice along with Shizuka, and Saeko was in the passenger seat.

The two boys must be cursed at rock-paper-scissors or something, as they lost a game of best out of ten, EVERY SINGLE TIME, and were forced to sit together again, but this time with Takashi on Kohta's lap.

Was it funny? Yes, I laughed at them while pointing my finger, for sure, but I was kind enough to throw a pillow at them to use as a cushion.

And in the end, Saya would sit on my lap once again, but before I could get into the Humvee, Saya's parents appeared to say goodbye.

Seeing that they were there, I took a step back and stood behind Saya with my hand on her shoulder.

"Go on, I'm here for anything."

I whispered in her ear. She seemed to gather her courage and took a deep breath before going to talk to them. I didn't listen to their conversation for their privacy, but I could see that they looked better. Saya even hugged them before rushing back to the Humvee and sitting in the driver's seat.

I looked at her in confusion, but she just pointed behind me. I turned around to face her parents, who were still there.

"Do you need something?" I asked, not understanding why they wanted to talk to me.

Soichiro took a step forward; it seemed like he was the one who wanted to talk to me.

"Here, for keeping in touch." He handed me a large radio. I looked at him in confusion, but I could already imagine what it was.

"Satellite, I presume?" He nodded in agreement and picked up the two boxes he had placed on the ground and handed them to me.

"Open them, it's a gift from me, as you seem to lack a good enough sword." He smiled as he commented on my copper sword. I just nodded and opened the box.

It was a katana, I'm not very knowledgeable, but it seemed to be Damascus by the waves in the metal, but what do I know? It could be a forgery as well, but I wouldn't refuse it.

I picked up the sword and swung it a few times; it was strange, nothing like the two swords I had used so far. I didn't think I could use it well in a serious fight, but it was a good sword.

"The other one is a weapon for the girl with purple hair, Saeko, from what my wife said, she was using a wooden katana, not something worthy to wield in a serious battle." He commented as he took a step back.

"Also, consider it an apology for what my men said. I've talked to them; this won't happen again."

I nodded to him; I'll give the sword to Saeko later; for now, I'll store it in the car's trunk.

Finally, Yuriko took a step forward and handed me a closed box.

"Here, open it later, it's a gift from me." She winked and put a finger to her lips. I just nodded, confused, and put the box in my pocket.

With the gifts stored away, I turned around and extended my hand to both of them, bidding them farewell with a nod. Returning to the Humvee, I didn't even think of asking Saya to get out of the car; I just picked her up and sat down, changing her seat.

She blushed and glanced at her parents from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't say anything. I just waved to them and started the car to leave.

Interestingly, Souichiro seemed to have sucked on a lemon, but Yuriko pinched his side and kept him quiet; perhaps there was more truth to what Saya had said before than it seemed, about her father sleeping on the couch if he didn't agree with her mother.

I just shook my head and started driving; I could feel them watching us. Just before we left the property, Saya stuck her head out of the car and turned around, shouting.

"I LOVE YOU, TAKE CARE!"

I could see in the rearview mirror that her parents were waving to her, both with a smile on their faces. Well, it ended well. I'm glad she talked to her parents.

Taking the map from the inventory, I asked Saya to hold it while I marked a waypoint. (House: Takagi), so I would know how to get back here without any problems.

Speaking of which, I need to update the map as well. I'll do that when we stop for a bathroom break. I may have teased the boys by saying I wouldn't stop, but I don't want them peeing on the floor of the Humvee by accident.

Now, I just needed to switch the camera to first-person view, and everything would be fine. I didn't want the stream to see me teasing Saya to death.

To start, I pulled the seatbelt over us until it was above both of us. I didn't want a repeat of her flying off my lap again. Her being close to my body was clearly just a bonus.