12 The Airhead
Rei's eyes met mine as she greeted me with a smile, her hand rising in a friendly wave. "F-Fancy running into you here. We just came to find something useful in the Faculty room."
Great excuse to skirt around her stalking. I'd prefer it if she was honest in this life and death situation. Yet, expecting everyone to possess Saeko's level of maturity seemed unfair. The sadist kendoka was in a league of her own.
With a nudge of my foot, I pushed the lifeless zombie out of my way. "Nothing useful here, unless you count zombie guts."
Takashi gave a forced smile. "That's fine. We can leave the school together and get things from our home."
"Strength in numbers they say," Hisashi said with a polite smile. "Shouldn't you try to leave the academy in this situation?"
I shook my head. "Not until we get Marikawa-sensei. You're welcome to join our quest, provided you don't slow us down."
They were a competent bunch, blessed with fate itself to survive most tough situations. It's only a matter of time until they thrive and become useful fodders to scout my roads.
Rei scoffed as she put her hand on her chest. "As a member of the Sojutsu Club, I can hold my own with a spear."
I nodded, acknowledging her assertion without indulging it. "Good to know."
Without further ado, we headed to the Infirmary as a group. Saeko and I still led the charge. It was a fun time as I got to earn Soul XP from killing zombies and even more Soul XP from acting like a menace to society.
Soon, I could see the Infirmary, an eerie sight with zombies congesting its surroundings, their decaying bodies pressed against the Infirmary's windows as if trying to break through with their sheer weight.
Saeko sharpened her gaze. "Did Sensei get out?"
"I don't think so." I shook my head. "Can you fight?"
She nodded her head. As if something came over her, a wild gleam shone in her eye, and her tongue did this slow, suggestive crawl over her lips. "Your special drink in the Faculty room was so good. It'll be a sin to act tired after that."
Her teasing made the poor Takashi blush. Even Hisashi did a double-take at Saeko's sudden sultry switch. The psychotic woman was revealing her true colors after slicing and dicing the zombies.
"You're one gutsy girl," I instructed, then pointed at the other three. "Rei, Takashi, Hisashi—help me get rid of these zombies. Saeko, make sure they don't die."
A safe training would do wonders for someone of Takashi's potential. If they got careless, Hisashi would die and leave Rei to him.
Rei gripped her makeshift polearm. Takashi held his steel baseball bat while Hisashi took a fighting stance. The trio looked more confident with Saeko and me around, as if we would magically save them from the zombies.
I smacked my spear into the nearby window, the shattering glass piercing the ominous silence. The zombies diverted their attention, abandoning their siege on the infirmary to stagger towards us.
The grotesque parade didn't scare my three goons.
Rei charged ahead of me and pierced a zombie's neck with her spear's nail. Drawing back her spear, she kicked the zombie before smacking another with the shaft. A zombie lurched to grab her, but I stepped in the nick of time and stabbed the zombie's forehead.
[Path of Hunt grants you 8 Soul XP.]
Our combined forces made short work of the zombies. It also confirmed another one of my lingering doubts. I received Soul XP for zombies someone else killed on my orders. I was at 820 Soul XP already. At this rate leveling up won't take more than a week.
What's more I found an easier strategy to level up — create a faction and order them to murder zombies on my behalf. Would it work on a bigger scale? I won't know until I try.
Now that the windows were free, the figure of Shizuka Marikawa was visible, rummaging through the lockers for medical supplies. Her cluelessness to her environment is simply mind-blowing. She'd have been chewed alive without the protection of plot armor.
The infirmary door suddenly opened, and a student with short black hair and spectacles examined us with panic in his eyes, his shivering hand clutching onto a broomstick. "T-Thanks for saving us…"
He was the boy who sacrificed his life protecting Shizuka. It seemed like our timely help saved his ass. Well, another fodder to the team. The pink-haired tsundere and Kohta rounded up my fodder number to six. Yes, I didn't count Shizuka because Saeko had a bit of a soft side for the blonde bombshell, and I had a hard side for Saeko.
I checked his status with my [Gamer] talent and asked Ego to record it for me. Then I smiled at my precious fodder. "No worries, friend."
He glanced over to Shizuka and heaved a sigh. "Shizuka-sensei almost got me bitten. Anyway, I'm Kazu Ishii."
That's why, boys, you don't simp during a zombie outbreak and look out for yourself. Unless you carry a zombification cure like me. Then you're allowed to simp in moderation.
Saeko patted Shizuka's back with the flat side of her sword. "Nurse."
"Ou, ou." Shizuka snapped out of her thoughts and rubbed her back with teary eyes. "What gives?! Oh, a student…? Are you also bitten?"
It seemed like Shizuka didn't know Saeko. Then why was Saeko hellbent on saving her?
I patted Shizuka's shoulder then pointed at the carnage outside the infirmary. "Sensei, it'd be more helpful if you pay more attention to your surroundings. You could've been eaten alive without our assistance."
"Huh? But I'm taking supplies… " Shizuka frowned as she examined the zombie corpses sprawled outside her infirmary. "Patching their wounds doesn't stop the infection. This is such a dangerous illness."
I shook my head. "The virus probably enters the bloodstream through wounds. Bandages are useless in that scenario."
Rei's face was the embodiment of fear as she clutched Hisashi's hand. "A small bite is the end."
Hisashi gave her a kind smile. "Relax. I'm not going down that easily."
If only I hadn't seen your head getting smashed in the first episode, I'd completely believe you.
Takashi, meanwhile, stared out of the window, as if filtering out the flirting going on between his childhood friend and his best buddy. The sight was torture to his soul as he still had feelings for Rei.
Shizuka had a thoughtful look on her face. "We can't get through to the fire or police station. Those who are bitten turn into undead like in a Romero movie… Are we going to be—"
"AAARGHHH! STAY AWAAAAAAAAY!"
A toe-curling scream echoed through the school. Yup, it's the pink-haired demoness and the military freak.
"That scream," Takashi said with wide eyes. "It sounded like… Takagi."
"Well, let's go check it out."
Shizuka hurriedly opened her medical bag and shoved anything she found in the Infirmary.
I turned to Saeko, rubbing the back of my head. "Take everyone to help Takagi. I'll help the nurse with collecting medicines. Let's regroup later in the Faculty Room."
Helping Shizuka gather the stuff will let me hide my healing potions for a while longer. What's more, not going to help Takagi will help me avoid her breakdown.
Saeko looked between me and Shizuka for a moment before nodding. "Take care of yourself, Genji-kun. Miyamoto-san, follow me."
Hisashi, however, stopped Rei, a look of skepticism on his face. "My advice is we shouldn't split like this."
Clever of him to realize that he needed both me and Saeko to get out alive. He isn't Light Yagami level, but he has a good head on his shoulders.
I smiled. "In this current state, do you believe we will find medicines out there?"
Every facility would be ransacked the moment everyone knows the collapse of the societal order.
Hisashi widened his eyes before shaking his head. "You're right."
"We don't have time to waste, guys!" Takashi urged. "Takagi is in danger."
Hisashi didn't hesitate in following Takashi and the rest. Now that he was away from my protection, the chances of Hisashi coming back as a human were exactly fifty-fifty, just like Schrodinger's Cat.
I shook my head and checked Kazu Ishii's status.
[Kazu Ishii Miyamoto (High school student)
Titles - Glasses Kid, Diligent Student, Milf Lover
HP: 15/30 (Injured)
Stamina: 18/27
(Base Attributes)
Strength: 9
Stamina: 9
Dexterity: 9
Toughness: 10
(Special Attributes)
Charisma: 9
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 9
Energy: 0
(Innate Skills)
-
(Acquired Talents)
-]
Kazu Ishii's status was miserable, as expected of a background character made to die in the first two minutes of his debut. Curious, I turned to Shizuka to get her status.
[Shizuka Marikawa (Nurse)
Titles - Busty Blonde, Sexy Nurse, Angel in Mortal World, Airhead, Innocent Succubus, Booze Maniac, Light Drinker, Unrequited Lover of Thousand Hearts
HP: 24/24 (Healthy)
Stamina: 16/21
(Base Attributes)
Strength: 8
Stamina: 7
Dexterity: 7
Toughness: 8
(Special Attributes)
Charisma: 23
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 11
Energy: 0
(Innate Skills)
//Blessing of the Main Character (D) - As one of the many main characters of her verse, Shizuka Marikawa is blessed with a high chance of surviving a crisis.//
//Spirit Therapy (C) - Shizuka Marikawa might not always catch her own feet in time to prevent a tumble, but she's a pro at catching others before they fall... emotionally, that is. Using her innate empathy and caring, she has the uncanny ability to soothe emotional troubles.//
(Acquired Talents)
//Fortunate Clumsy Nurse (B): She has a sixth sense for curing common diseases, but her clumsiness often gets in her way. Every slip, trip, and accidental mix-up makes her life mess, however, her prescriptions works most of the time — even if it's never the way she originally intended.//]
Her genius-level talents will never be fully utilized given her clumsy demeanor. Everything could've been avoided if she was a yandere.
I'll try turning her into a yandere. It might work if luck's on my side.
