Employment Ice Age of the Dead - Chapter 11

Skeleton

"Were you summoned to another world and defeated the Demon King?"

"Believe it or not, that's up to you, Sakata-san, but this ability is a leftover from those times. You can just think of it as magic tricks, though."

"There's no way this is a magic trick. Without any setup or gimmicks, out of nowhere, you produce convenience store bento boxes, bottled drinks, and even convenience store sweets... Shirai-san, you're not shaken by this at all..."

Unlike Sakata-san, who listened to my explanation with a solemn expression, Shirai-san had already polished off a katsudon, an extra parent-and-child bowl (oyakodon), and was now eating two convenience store cakes.

She must have been terribly hungry.

"Eh? Isn't it because you spent five years fighting in another world that you've gotten so incredibly strong, put on muscle compared to a few days ago, and look so refreshed with such clear skin? And these convenience store bento boxes and sweets were gathered from a convenience store where everyone disappeared because of the zombies, right? You put them in an 'Item Box,' and the food doesn't go bad while it's in there. That's amazing. I've seen manga with that exact premise before."

"You aren't surprised?"

"Well, Sakata-san, suddenly a swarm of zombies landed from the ocean and attacked the people in town. I'd love to say 'this isn't some B-grade horror movie,' but this is reality. Hearing that an old man defeated the Demon King in another world just feels kind of... whatever at this point, you know?"

"We've had nothing but impossible things happen these past three days..."

"Truth is stranger than fiction, right? Come to think of it, based on past common sense, you bringing food from the town's convenience store would be considered theft. But if you had just left it there, it would have long since rotted and become inedible, right? I think your quick thinking, bypassing old common sense to gather those things just to survive, is amazing."

"...The old common sense doesn't apply anymore... is that it?"

"Sakata-san, you were almost offered up as a human sacrifice to zombies by the student council president, weren't you? Our high school has high academic standards, and the students come from wealthy or powerful families, so with society's eyes on us, you'd think people wouldn't normally do something that cruel. The student council president was harsh toward me and the old man, but she had a reputation for being kind to everyone else normally."

"Once the situation changed, she couldn't maintain that kindness. The moment she couldn't keep up the facade, her true nature came out."

"I wasn't thinking about it that deeply; I just thought about gathering the food we needed to survive. As for the student council president, isn't it a case of 'A full belly makes for good morals'?"

I had seen plenty of people like that in the other world, too. People who were kind souls in a time of peace, but the moment a crisis threatened their lives, they easily harmed, betrayed, and killed others.

"That's a quote from Guan Zhong."

"Sakata-san, who is Guan Zhong?"

"He was an ancient Chinese philosopher and statesman."

"So to be a good person, you need to have some breathing room, huh?"

Unconsciously, because my top priority was simply surviving, I hadn't hesitated to gather food and supplies from abandoned convenience stores and shops. Perhaps this was also influenced by my constant, narrow-margin battles with the Demon King in the other world, as well as how the infrastructure along my journey had been destroyed, leaving me struggling to secure food, water, and supplies. True, the Demon King and his underlings were strong, but before that, how on earth were we supposed to reach a Demon King's Castle with hardly any roads or even human settlements without starving? In reality, securing food with the necessary calories and nutrients, clean water that wouldn't upset the stomach, and a safe place to sleep was just as much of a struggle as defeating the Demon King.

"And that's going to be the exact same for this world moving forward."

Until now, I had been desperate just to run away so I wouldn't be turned into a zombie. But from now on, we have to secure food, clothing, and shelter while making sure we aren't attacked by zombies. If we can't do that, we'll die of starvation even if the zombies don't get us.

"We actually have it tough starting from now, don't we?"

"We won't have the luxury of worrying about other people. The school will run out of food soon, and there's going to be conflict between the people at school and the town residents who evacuated..."

In the end, some people likely managed to escape when the zombies broke in, but most of those people probably ended up being turned into zombies. Recalling that, both of their expressions turned serious... but Shirai-san immediately flashed a smile at me.

"Hey, Kozo-san."

"Eh? Ah, yes."

"I've been calling you 'old man' the whole time, but it feels kind of distant. After all, we're going to be living together from now on. So Kozo-san, you don't have to call me by my last name like Shirai-san—just call me 'Ruri'."

"Um, well..."

"I'm telling you it's fine, so it's fine."

"Ruri-san..."

"You can just drop the honorifics, you know. Kozo-san is so stiff. But I suppose I can just view this as you having room for another stage of personal growth."

This girl, was she always this bubbly? Maybe the zombie crisis just brought out her true personality.

"Shirai-san?"

"Um... well. I won't force Sakata-san, so don't worry. This is just a matter between me and Kozo-san."

"Kozo-san, please call me 'Kaede' too!"

"Eh! Yes... Kaede-san."

Is that a sense of rivalry? Even so, an about-to-turn-fifty middle-aged man is weak to requests from beautiful girls. I ended up calling both of them by their first names. Keeping the "san" suffix is my absolute last stand of resistance... or is it even resistance?

"First off, I think we should reinforce this place to be our home base."

Over the past three days, the internet has cut out and phone calls stopped working. As for the TV... There was one at my grandfather's house, but since there's no electricity to begin with, it won't even turn on. As for electricity, gas, and running water, supplies to this specific district had been cut off ever since my grandfather, the last resident, passed away.

"It's safe here for now, but on the flip side, it's become harder to get outside information."

That's because this was an abandoned village deep in the mountains—well, not quite a village classification, but rather treated like a settlement belonging to Shinmei Town where we lived. Moreover, it was completely uninhabited until we arrived, and far away from any other populated towns. Without television, radio, or the internet, we have no means of gathering outside information. Because it's such an isolated place, it happens to be safe from zombies for now.

"My late grandfather was the last resident here. Since no one has lived here since, there shouldn't be many zombies around."

"Scarcely any?"

"It's only been three days since zombies broke out in massive numbers across this world, right? Without a doubt, the number of zombies is going to keep increasing."

I answered Ruri-san's question. The zombies that have massively spawned in this world are eerily similar in ecology to the zombies of the other world. So far, they share many common traits, and if they follow the same rules...

"If a person is bitten by a zombie, no matter how minor the scratch, they die. And then they turn into a zombie themselves. The only things that can prevent that are Anti-Undead Medicine or Anti-Undead Magic. And even then, it has no effect on someone who has already turned into a zombie."

"I was bitten by a zombie, but Kozo-san made me drink the anti-undead medicine and saved me."

"What we can gather from that is that the infection rate of zombies is high. I don't think it's airborne, but touching zombies with wounded hands is also a risk. And as the number of zombies increases in this world, different kinds of undead are going to start appearing."

Already, I had fought dog and cat zombies out in town. Moving forward, various animal zombies are bound to show up as well. And the most terrifying thing of all is...

"People who have already passed away. And corpses that are left behind."

For instance, if a zombie bites a corpse before it can be cremated, that corpse will turn into a zombie. Even if they've been cremated into bones, or buried in a graveyard, they carry the hidden danger of turning into something much more troublesome than a regular zombie: a Skeleton.

"Are Skeletons stronger than zombies?"

Ruri-san asked while munching on potato chips she took out from my 'Item Box'. She really must have been hungry. Still, she sure eats a lot. Thanks to that, she's been growing quite a bit, though not quite as much as Sakata-san... wait, no! They are looking to me, their elder, for guidance. I mustn't harbor such improper thoughts.

"Skeletons are just bones, so compared to zombies, they're physically lighter and easier to break. But using common sense, how could something move purely on bones alone?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Which means undead entities are completely outside the realm of common sense. The more an undead is like that, the stronger it is. And even stronger than skeletons are entities freed from physical bodies, like 'Wraiths'."

Above all, Wraiths have no physical form, so the ways to defeat them are extremely limited.

"Because Wraiths have no physical body, they can phase right through walls. Even if we attack them with swords, it deals zero damage. Fire doesn't work on them either. And yet, an ordinary human can be killed just by being touched by a Wraith for a few seconds."

And people killed by Wraiths turn into zombies themselves.

"Since they're undead, you can halt their movements with holy water, though it's less effective than against zombies. Still, make sure you keep this equipped at all times."

I handed the two of them water guns filled with holy water.

"It'll only stop them in their tracks, not defeat them. Also, as a precaution for living here for a while, try not to act alone."

"Isn't it safe here?"

"Before long, there's a high probability that zombies and skeletons will start appearing around here too. The carcasses and bones of dead animals in the mountains will turn undead."

And then they'll hunt living animals to increase the number of zombies.

"It will take some time for things around here to reach that point, and I'll take countermeasures before then, but it won't be foolproof. Especially never go into the mountains alone."

"Undead are such a pain. But if that's the case, me trying to go to Tokyo to check on my parents' safety was a pipe dream to begin with. At the very least, it'll take a long time."

"We don't even know where the refugee camps are right now. For now, building a safe living environment in this village is our top priority."

"That's right. Sakata-san, you think so too, right?"

"Yes. Preserving our own lives comes first."

Indeed, under our current circumstances, even finding a place where I could safely leave these two girls would be difficult. For now, we have to use this rundown house in the mountain-deep abandoned village as a base and build an environment where we can live with peace of mind. The two young ones will probably leave this place before long, but as for me, while calling it my 'remaining years' might be stretching it a bit, I can't go back to being a janitor anyway, so I think I'll continue living here in self-sufficiency as my second act in life.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll get right to work."

"I have things I need to take care of, so you two should rest inside the house."

"Kozo-san, I'll help out too."

"I'll help as well."

"No, undead activity picks up at night, and they have a sharp sense of smell. Besides, if all three of us move together, it'll actually hinder my movements. I want you to understand."

"Kozo-san, could it be..."

"There's one place I'm wondering about. A skeleton might have spawned there. So I'm going to go take care of it first."

"Skeletons are stronger than zombies, right?"

"They're strong, but my level has gone up quite a bit, so I should be able to handle them."

"Level? This really is like a game, huh?"

"Can you definitely win?"

"If it looks like I can't win, I can just run away since I'm alone. I'll put up an anti-undead barrier around the house before heading to the graveyard. Don't leave this room until morning. I don't have much, but please use these to pass the time."

I pulled out Othello, playing cards, Hanafuda, UNO, board games, a portable gaming console with its software, and other items from my 'Item Box,' handed them to the two girls, and stepped outside the house.

"Kozo-san, please come back safely."

"We'll be waiting for your safe return."

"You don't need to worry, I'll be fine. Well, I'm heading out."

I'd never had anyone see me off like this in my entire life, but it's not a bad feeling. Families might not be so bad after all.

"Now then, let's see if skeletons are spilling out from that graveyard..."

If they haven't started yet, I can put a seal on the graveyard to prevent them from coming out, which would be easier, but things probably won't go that smoothly. With my current level and five years of combat experience, I don't think I'll lose, but I must make sure not to let my guard down.

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