That 211: On a Journey of Adventure

At the same time, a sudden explosion—how?

Right in the middle of the swarm of zombies I vaguely sensed, flames shot up into the sky.

They reached perhaps five or six meters high.

Dangerous, dangerous. If the position had been a bit off, the surrounding power lines would’ve been burned through.

"Beautiful."

Yoru clapped slowly, hands in gloves.

"Your technique seems far stronger than the usual one used by ordinary people."

"Really? Is that so?"

"Hmm."

"Hehehe."

I don't quite understand what's going on, but it feels like I'm being praised for hidden talent.

Turning back, Asada-san and Rinne were tilting their heads slightly.

"You changed the incantation, didn't you?"

"The incantation?...Ah, that 'Flame Column' thing from earlier?"

"Yeah. Earlier, I think you said something like 'Flame Tower' or whatever."

"Well, spells seem pretty flexible when it comes to choosing them."

"I know that, but... hey, 'Haku'. Are you really completely blank about everything that happened before?"

"？ Hmm, well..."

"Or maybe you vaguely dream about past events or something?"

"Nope, nothing like that."

"Ah, I see."

I wasn't quite sure what she had wanted to ask, but Rion seemed satisfied with that response.

"Well, whatever. If you're gonna wipe out those 'zombies,' the fourth fire-element technique would be best. It's fairly versatile, so practice it while you still can."

"Got it."

I extend both arms toward the 'zombie' pleading for mercy,

"——Inferno Blast"

A roaring flame erupts from my palm.

The red, elongated tongue of flame spread out, igniting the parched bodies of the "zombies," charring them black.

The stench of burning hair, flesh, nails, bones—every component of the human body—filled the air.

I pinched my nose with one free hand, overwhelmed by a scent impossible to describe.

The process didn't take long at all.

They say that a burned body's muscles contract, causing the arms to rise up like a boxer's pose. It seems zombies do the same—dozens of nicely charred boxers stood in a row just outside the iron gate.

"Yes, perfectly roasted~♪"

Rinne makes a callous joke.

Well, I guess you get used to it. It reminded me of a passage I read in a travel memoir about India during middle school—something about an old man playing around with a body being cremated.

"...Can't we just leave the corpse alone?"

"If it's this nicely charred, isn't it fine? Let's just run it over with a car."

"Got it."

That's when it finally dawned on me, all these years later, what the charred figure in front of 'Captain' actually was.

If you left that nicely charred corpse lying around for a while, it’d probably end up looking something like that. Probably.

What on earth…

Honestly, by this point, someone with a weak constitution might’ve fainted three times already.

But surprisingly, when something like that actually appears right in front of you in real life, there’s nothing you can do but accept it.

Good thing I’m not some sentimental heroine from a shojo manga.

▼

Getting inside the car, the first thing that struck me was that enough mountain bikes for everyone had been crammed in, even after the rear seats had been removed.

Although it's not used much these days, apparently this was extremely useful in the early stages when the end times occurred.

As zombies spread and every form of transportation is put to the test,

Move quietly and inconspicuously.

Easy to maintain.

・Abandoned immediately after use.

It can be carried by hand, depending on road conditions.

The advantage was simply enormous, they said.

Conversely, it's reported that the vehicle causing the most injuries and fatalities is the on-road model of large motorcycles.

The reason is that it easily tips over just from stepping on a little "zombie" corpse.

It's said that while this might seem sturdy when moving away from the city center, navigating the utterly devastated downtown area now poses no greater danger.

And yet, night-kun, deliberately straddling that "dangerous vehicle," asks,

"Let me confirm—cars heading to the Akihabara community are being avoided, right?"

And I'm talking with Koshiro-san, the one who'll be driving this time (a man in his late forties, formerly a truck driver).

The two of them are marking locations on the map with a highlighter pen, checking their route.

It seems that Yoru-ku will go ahead to check if the way is safe.

According to him, zombies aren't at all frightening, but ever since entering "Phase 3," things have become increasingly dangerous.

"The road itself seems fairly easy to drive on. Back when we once advanced all the way to Akihabara with a tank, any vehicles in our way should've been cleared out completely."

"Got it."

He slid the map into the bag attached to the vehicle's body,

"Then I'll go ahead. If anything unusual happens, I'll fire a red signal flare—though in our case, it just means 'There's danger, but we press on anyway.'"

Stay safe. Yohku-san.

"Okay. —And if you could, call me Yassan, or Gin-san, instead."

Then, a mysterious kiss thrown into the air.

In the quiet morning residential neighborhood, the sound of gasoline exploding rang out.

A beat later, Koshiro also started the bus engine.

"Off to adventure, then — well, that's the plan."

With the signal given, the main gate of the evacuation shelter swung open.