Employment Ice Age of the Dead - Chapter 9

Aimlessly

"Uncle, thank you for saving me."

"I'm glad I could save you, Shirai-san. If you had already turned into a zombie, there would have been no way to save you."

"I fled to the school together with the townspeople thinking that maybe I'd run into you there, uncle. Although I was ignored by the teachers and my classmates as usual..."

"Even in a situation like this..."

I could easily imagine how issues regarding food, supplies, and water quickly arose, leading to conflict between the students and teachers who fled to the school first, and the town residents who took refuge there later.

It was just as Sakata-san had described.

"I helped the Student Council President and the others look for food to try and improve relations between both groups, even if just a little, but..."

"And the Student Council President and his group ended up using you as a decoy to escape from the zombies..."

"Yes..."

Things in this world don't go that smoothly, huh...

And I ended up witnessing firsthand how, no matter how good someone's family background or academic performance might be, when pushed to an extreme situation, they won't hesitate to sacrifice others just to save themselves.

Just like the zombies, humans other than oneself could become a threat in this kind of environment.

"By the way, what are we going to do from now on?"

"I was planning to live in seclusion at my late grandfather's house."

As someone in my late forties, I have no desire to get married or have children at this point.

Therefore, I've lost interest in the future of this world; all I wanted was to live peacefully by myself until I die.

Phrases like "for the sake of the children's future" only feel empty to me, and I don't feel like risking my life for something like that.

That's why I had zero intention of saving the world.

However...

"What should we do..."

"What am I supposed to do from now on..."

"Since both of you are young, Shirai-san, Sakata-san, I was thinking of dropping you off at a refugee camp before parting ways."

For me, going to my grandfather's house and living in seclusion until death would be enough.

But the two of them are young.

In this zombie-infested world, whether they work for the sake of the world or pursue their own happiness is up to them.

Even so, I thought it would be better for them to join proper people other than myself first.

"Izaku-san, do you have any intention of using that power of yours to save this world that has become crawling with zombies?"

"Not in the slightest."

I have already saved another world from the Demon King's invasion once, working hard for the sake of many.

I almost died multiple times and it was tough, plus I'm already in my late forties now.

If anyone wants to save this world, younger and more capable people should do it.

Above all, their pride probably wouldn't allow them to rely on an incompetent Employment Ice Age survivor anyway.

"I'll leave it to people who are younger and far more capable than me, while I live quietly."

"Even though you possess such incredible power?"

I remembered that Sakata-san saw me take out holy water from the "Item Box."

At that time, I had no time to hide it, so it couldn't be helped, and even if it was exposed, it wouldn't have much of an impact anyway.

Even if Sakata-san talked to others about my power, normal people wouldn't believe her.

"Even if I can defeat a few zombies, with the whole world in this state, I'd just be overwhelmed by sheer numbers."

Besides, right now I've reset back to Level 1 and am in the middle of re-leveling.

In this state, saving the world is obviously impossible.

"That's true... With so few surviving townspeople, who knows what's happening to Japan or the rest of the world..."

Because the world was overrun by zombies, information from the outside completely stopped coming in.

Phones and the internet no longer connect; is the Japanese government even still functional?

What about other countries?

In short, everything is completely unknown.

"Since we know nothing, we can't afford to make careless moves. Even so, I need to look for a shelter where the two of you can live..."

A deserted village deep in the mountains is fine for me, but the two of them are young people with their futures ahead of them.

"Izaku-san, even if there were a camp for refugees, it might collapse internally just like Banryu High School did. Could you please let me stay in that abandoned village with you, at least until we understand the situation in this area?"

"There's nothing there, and since the house has been abandoned for years, it might be broken down."

"If we head down toward the coast in search of a refugee camp, we might be attacked by zombies again. I'll help with house repairs, cleaning, cooking, laundry, or anything else."

"Uncle, I think if the three of us work hard together, we can get back to living normally much faster. Besides, my parents went on a business trip to Tokyo, so it won't be easy to see them anyway..."

"I see..."

When I thought carefully about it, sending two young high school girls to a random refugee camp might lead to desperate people prioritizing their own desires and harming them, just like at the school earlier.

Zombies are scary, but a world where order has collapsed because of zombies is just as much of a threat to decent human beings.

"Most of the town residents were easily killed by zombies and turned into zombies themselves. Who knows how many people in Japan and around the world have turned into zombies? For now, our only choice is to flee to a safe place and regroup."

"...That's right. Even the school ended up like that, and even you, uncle, had your hands full just saving me. Since getting scratched by a zombie turns you into one, I think it's better not to wander around carelessly right now."

Shirai-san seemed to agree with—or rather understand—that it was impossible for me to fight for the sake of this world.

If my level were at least where it was right before defeating the Demon King, there might be a chance, but reaching over Level 3000 just by defeating zombies seems difficult.

Even if other types of undead appear in the future, it would probably be the same.

In the other world, undead were not particularly strong monsters when faced individually.

Which meant unless I defeated huge numbers of them, my level wouldn't go up much.

("(My current level is 13. That's less than one two-hundredth of my peak... ) Ensuring a safe location is the priority right now...")

At the very least, acting recklessly right now is out of the question.

Unless I have at least a few companions whose levels increase like mine, we won't even be able to grasp the cause of the massive zombie outbreak.

"So, setting a goal as big as saving the world is impossible right now. By the way, do either of you happen to know any information about where refugees are being taken in?"

"None at all. Smartphones don't connect anymore anyway. In this situation, there's no guarantee the Japanese government is functioning properly or setting up refugee camps."

"There might be shelters, but finding them in the first place would be really tough."

If it were inside Tokyo, maybe a refugee camp...

No, because it's a densely populated area, it might actually be crawling with zombies...

Besides, driving at top speed from here to Tokyo would take several hours.

Above all, with the whole world in this state, it doesn't look like there's leisure time to peacefully set up shelters.

While places like the school—where people spontaneously fled and turned it into a shelter—might exist elsewhere.

"The survivors from the school might have started moving toward other refugee camps. But they almost got me killed, so I don't want to meet them."

"Uncle, at least for now, rather than aimlessly searching for refugee camps that might not even exist, I think it's better to secure a safe place."

"It was your grandfather's house, right, Izaku-san? Deep in the mountains should be safer than here."

"I'm looking forward to living with you, uncle. Plus, that house is at a high elevation, right? It seems to take zombies longer to climb up to high places, so at least for now, that area should be safer."

"We have nowhere else to go anyway..."

"...If you're fine with a run-down, empty house where there's nothing..."

""Thank you so much!""

Unable to just leave the two of them behind, I drove the car alongside them toward the mountain village where my late grandfather used to live.

To think that at my age, I'd end up living with two young girls...

I wonder if a single guy like me can really act as a proper guardian for them?

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