Chapter 30: The Fated Departure

Night darkness gently wrapped around Kirigiri City.

No light spilled from building windows. Streetlamps remained unlit. Only moon and stars cast their glow.

In a quiet corner of the city, Hayato lay on a bed illuminated by an oil lamp, staring blankly at the ceiling.

A soft knocking sound reached his ears.

Very quiet. Clear in the silence of the house.

Hayato turned his gaze toward the door. It opened slightly. Yui peered in.

"...Are you awake?"

"I am."

Hayato answered in a whisper. The door eased open. Yui entered quietly.

The soft light of the oil lamp softly outlined Yui's shape.

Her small frame was wrapped in a thin cardigan. Her medium-length hair swayed gently.

Yui pushed the door back silently, careful not to make a sound.

She moved toward Hayato’s bed, step by step, avoiding any footfall.

She sat on the edge of the bed, turned her body sideways, and looked down at Hayato.

“Any pain?”

“Already healed.”

Hayato rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and showed the treated area.

The wound had vanished completely. The skin was smooth again, as it had been before.

Yui took Hayato’s left arm in her hand. With her small, childlike palm, she pressed and tapped it gently.

“Does it hurt?”

Hayato answered calmly, as Yui’s voice carried a tone of wonder.

“As you can see, no discomfort at all. Fully healed.”

The healing magic was not perfect.

Even after removing the virus from Mio, it only produced a corpse.

As he thought this, Hayato reviewed the events of today.

On the fourth transaction, when Hayato arrived at Kirioka Agricultural High School, unfamiliar men were present.

Listening closely, he overheard a report about zombies being scattered.

He protected Natsuki, who had ties to the situation, and abandoned the effort to save Mio, who was already beyond help.

Then he retaliated against the group responsible for spreading the zombies, and returned home to the present.

Stated simply, it had been the most difficult day since returning to Earth.

"Hey, why did you show off your strength?"

As Hayato recalled today's events, Yui questioned his actions.

Hayato, who did not want to become the government's virus-removal drug, believed showing strength was incorrect.

If Natsuki was the goal, rescuing her and bringing her back would have been sufficient.

Defeating the Kikinawa group was not necessary to bring Natsuki back.

The four Kikinawa members were eliminated. But they might have been seen from the faculty dormitory.

Zombies multiplying is dangerous.

Yui tilted her head after hearing Hayato’s statement.

Even if they’re strong?

Hayato did not see zombies as an immediate threat.

They could be pushed back by force if they attacked. The virus could be removed even if bitten.

Doubling the number of zombies would make little difference to the current situation. The Kikinawa group could not double the zombie count either.

...That’s true.

The textbook for the fourth transaction, which had been lacking, was now recovered through Natsuki’s textbook.

Natsuki herself had been brought along. The outcome was better as a result.

Thus, the argument that the Kikinawa group had interfered with the fourth transaction was weak.

Hayato wondered why the Kikinawa group had bothered him.

If zombies increase, Yui’s risk rises. Maybe that’s why he wanted to reduce the risk.

Is that it?

"Probably. Lions and hyenas are said to kill the offspring of threats to their own young."

Hayato considered the biological imperative—survival and the propagation of offspring—to be the natural order.

If propagating offspring was the natural order, then an increase in Zombies posed a problem for Yui and her descendants.

Eliminating the Kikinawa group was, in Hayato's view, an action aligned with the natural order.

Whether Yui accepted Hayato's justification was uncertain, but she ceased her inquiry.

"What about the school staff?"

"Unknown."

When Hayato escaped from Natsuki's room, he had redirected the Zombies gathered at the girls' dormitory and the boys' dormitory elsewhere.

The third Kirioka Agricultural High School Municipal Marathon was thus held.

The Zombies that pursued Hayato climbed onto the roofs of cars placed along the barricade and exited the campus grounds.

The remaining Zombies were also drawn toward the explosion sound from the main gate.

The main perpetrator, Oniwa, was also brought down.

— I suppose it has decreased significantly.

But if the students bitten within the school turn into zombies, their numbers return.

If the teachers lean out from high places in the building and lure the zombies, then drop objects, they might manage to knock them all down.

But he might not be able to be defeated, and Hayato cannot bear responsibility in the first place.

When fighting the demon clan in the other world, defeating the enemy took precedence over rescuing the village. Expanding the mission meant failing to achieve the original objective.

Is that so?

I was shot. Natsuki was there. The teacher was not my protected subject to begin with.

Hayato has no intention of going to Kirioka Agricultural High School for help, even after he has eliminated the Onigawara group, healed his left arm, and regained full health tomorrow.

The influx of the zombie virus was not Hayato’s responsibility.

Hayato, a civilian, had no obligation to eliminate zombies across Japan.

Now that the textbooks had been secured, Hayato had planned to leave the city of Kirikawa.

Seeing Hayato’s expression, Yui changed her question.

"What about that person?"

That was likely the true purpose of Yui’s visit.

Hayato hesitated, unsure how to respond to the new question.

The group consisted solely of Hayato and Yui.

The group existed entirely due to Hayato’s strength.

Yet both had agreed to travel together. Hayato had brought Natsuki without her consent.

“Can’t leave her behind—would be trouble if the secret got out.”

When Hayato struggled for an answer, Yui offered a lifeline.

Her eyes held not just annoyance, but resignation.

“Ah, sorry.”

Hayato nodded in response to Yui’s words.

In the dim room, the flickering flame of an oil lamp cast shadows across Yui’s face.

Eventually, Yui withdrew her hand from Hayato’s left arm and continued speaking.

“Also,”

Yui’s voice suddenly turned cold.

“Affection level was actually quite high, but it dropped. Rebuild it.”

If she said the affection level had been quite high, it meant it had been significant.

Possibly, they were nearing the point where the Demon Lord’s castle could be conquered.

But bringing Natsuki along meant the affection level would inevitably drop.

“…Understood.”

Hayato lowered his shoulders slightly, then answered briefly.

Thus, Hayato and Yui reached the day of departure.

This concludes Volume One (approximately 100,000 characters).

We hope you will continue enjoying the story.