"What? You two are from another world?!"
After hearing the self-introductions from Drake and Lili, Rika couldn't help blurting it out.
"Keep it down."
Drake casually fired several laser beams, punching straight through the heads of a few zombies by the roadside.
"You should know loud noises attract these things."
In the world of Highschool of the Dead, zombies were called the dead.
They were a type of infected being that rapidly lost all senses except hearing.
They hunted based on the little hearing they had left.
If soone accidentally made too much noise, the zombies would swarm in like piranhas slling blood.
"Sorry, sorry… I didn't an to."
Rika lowered her voice awkwardly.
But she really was shocked—if the world ended and two travelers from another world suddenly showed up in front of you, anyone would be stunned.
Compared to that, the fact that she could accept it at all already said a lot about her ntal toughness.
Of course, part of that was probably the influence of the contract with Drake.
Thinking of that, Rika couldn't help turning curiously toward Lili.
To her, the little girl—barely over a ter tall—looked no older than an elentary school student.
"No wonder… in our world, you'd get arrested for making a move on an elentary schooler."
"Your world doesn't have laws against that?"
It took Drake's brain a few turns to process what Rika was actually implying—she thought he was using child labor.
"…What exactly is going on in your head?"
Drake answered, half amused and half exasperated, just as he was about to explain.
But Lili stepped forward first, indignantly objecting, "Lili is already fifteen! That's considered an adult in Orario!"
"And the height thing… that's just a trait of us palums!"
"And I'm the first one to have entered into a contract with Master, so I'm your senior!"
It was obvious that she cared a great deal about seniority.
But the information hidden in her words made Rika realize sothing else.
"A palum… so you're not human?"
"To be more precise, she's a demi-human race."
Drake cut off the increasingly off-track conversation.
"This is still quite far from the city center. We need to find so kind of transportation."
"If we rely on our legs alone, we probably won't reach the villa before nightfall."
Tokonosu International Airport sat on the outskirts of the city, in a fairly remote location.
Under normal circumstances, a fully functioning traffic network kept people flowing in and out without interruption.
But now, Tokonosu's transportation had completely collapsed. The streets were clogged with stalled vehicles and zombies.
"That part's easy."
Rika scanned the roadside for a mont, then found a fallen motorcycle and walked over to right it.
Its owner had apparently tried to use it to break through the surrounding horde of zombies.
Unfortunately… they hadn't made it.
Judging by the remains on the road, the process of being eaten had been far from pleasant.
"Good. The key's still in it."
"There's still enough gas… not a lot, but enough to get us to the river."
Rika climbed on with practiced ease and turned the key.
The engine roared like thunder, startling Lili badly.
"Boss, and 'senpai' too… get on."
Rika waved them over.
"If you don't, those things are about to surround us."
The engine noise had already drawn nearly every zombie on the nearby streets toward them!
If they didn't break out imdiately, they were about to face a serious fight.
"Next ti, before acting on your own, I'd appreciate a warning."
As he said that, Drake swung himself onto the back seat of the motorcycle and lifted Lili into his arms.
"M-Master, what is this thing?"
Lili clutched tightly at Drake's arm, obviously tense.
"Why does it make such a loud noise? Is it going to explode?!"
"Little senpai, that's not the sort of thing you say casually."
Rika's voice ca from the front.
"Everyone seated? Then we're going—Boss, keep your hands where they belong, or I'll deliberately wipe us out."
The motorcycle seat had clearly not been designed for three people.
Still, since Lili was so small, she didn't take up much space, so it didn't affect the speed too badly.
It had to be said, Rika's driving skills were excellent.
Drake felt as though he were riding on the back of a wild horse, with his view shaking and whipping from side to side.
And yet every ti, Rika managed to maneuver the motorcycle around obstacles and thread cleanly through the zombie horde without a scratch.
For Lili, who was riding a piece of modern transportation for the first ti, it was terrifying and fascinating all at once.
Or rather, everything about this city felt incredibly new to her.
Even the apocalyptic streetscape slowly marching toward ruin was full of an "otherworldly" charm.
...
"We're here."
After riding across Tokonosu City for roughly two hours, Rika brought the two of them to a villa district by the river.
"This is where I live."
"Tch… figures it's been overrun too."
Rika looked at the zombies wandering around near the riverside, her expression tense with worry.
"I hope Shizuka's okay… but with how she is, it's really hard not to worry about her."
As her close friend, Rika naturally knew exactly what kind of airheaded, absent-minded personality Shizuka Marikawa had.
Under normal circumstances, people would just call it "cute."
But when you were trying to escape for your life, it was more likely to be called "dead weight."
"There's still hope, isn't there?"
Drake scanned the surroundings and noticed a few details.
"Look closely. There are a lot of zombie corpses here. That ans soone cleared them out."
"Your friend may be perfectly safe."
"…I hope so."
Rika assud Drake was only trying to comfort her and sighed.
"My house is this way. I'll lead."
Once they entered a close-quarters urban environnt, Drake switched to the Blade of Grass.
The Superheated Ion Blaster was excellent, but against enemies suddenly encountered at close range, it was easy to miss.
The Blade of Grass didn't have that problem. Drake could easily cut the zombies' heads off with it.
And with his whole body protected by Jungle Armor, no matter how hard the zombies clawed and bit, they couldn't get through his defense.
Compared to the monsters of Terraria, these zombies were laughably weak.
After all, they were just transford humans. Weak in life, and not much more threatening in death.
Unless the Blood Moon arrived a week later, Drake could practically strut through Tokonosu City unopposed.
"There's… no one in the villa."
After they arrived, Rika carefully checked every room in the house and made a few discoveries.
"But there are signs that people stayed here. And not just one person."
"The off-road vehicle in the garage is gone too. Damn it… I spent a lot of money modifying that."
"Relax. Your friend probably drove it away."
Drake's words made Rika pause.
"How did you guess that?"
"I didn't guess."
After taking a walk through the living room, Drake held up a phone.
On the screen was the phone's photo album, and inside was a recent picture—taken that very morning.
It was a group photo: a voluptuous blonde school nurse, a calm-faced swordswoman, and two other high school girls…
But what puzzled Drake was that the two male mbers of the original main cast didn't seem to be in it.
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