I’m In A World Infested By Zombies… But I Have Special Perks As A Formerly Isekai’d Person! - Chapter 15: Hoshino Natsuki

Chapter 15: Hoshino Natsuki

Hayato, who had delivered the second batch of supplies, left the school building after being taught by Kobayashi how to obtain gasoline.

――What I brought… is just expired bandages and stuff though.

From Hayato’s perspective, it wasn’t much. Despite this, in the first exchange, he learned about batteries in exchange for salt, and in the second exchange, he learned about acquiring gasoline in exchange for leftover pharmacy supplies.

Hayato felt that he was receiving too much, but since the other party was a teacher and Hayato was young, it could be that the teacher had a sense of teaching students.

As he walked toward the school gate, lost in thought, he saw a familiar girl with long hair ahead.

“Hello, it’s been three days, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. What a coincidence though.”

Last time they met when he came to the school, and now they met again as he was leaving. What were the chances of meeting the same student on both visits?

As Hayato’s mind wondered about the odds, the girl asked him.

“Did the negotiations go well?”

“Yeah, it’s going smoothly. The car should be able to run soon. There are still some issues, but…”

He still had to search the city for a battery and tools to obtain gasoline. However, he was confident that it would work out in the end.

There were many abandoned cars in the city, and there should be some usable batteries left, so even if he failed, he could try again. The hose to extract gasoline from the underground tank at a gas station should also be somewhere.

As for whether gasoline was left in the underground tanks, he thought it was likely that some places had been missed when the employees turned into zombies and the police couldn’t clear everything.

“Have you decided where you’re going once the car is fixed?”

“No, but I at least understand that the upstream of the river is a no-go. I appreciate your help with that.”

“Even spring water isn’t always safe, so be careful. If we had internet access, I could look up where might be safe…”

Unfortunately, civilization collapsed about a year ago, and there’s no electricity, so he couldn’t connect to any servers. Even if he charged his phone, he couldn’t access online information—he could only play downloaded mobile games.

“By the way, do you remember any places where the water quality is safe?”

“I heard that Mount Yotei in Hokkaido has a spring that produces 8 tons of drinkable water a day.”

After thinking for a moment, the girl mentioned a famous place. However, Kirigaoka City was located on Honshu.

As Hayato thought of a distant place across the sea, his mind wandered to the Seikan Tunnel under the sea.

“Can we drive through the Seikan Tunnel connecting Honshu and Hokkaido?”

“I think it’s not possible.”

“Sorry, I meant at least somewhere in Honshu.”

It wouldn’t be impossible if they could drive, but if not, it would be unfeasible.

“Moreover, Hokkaido is said to be cold, and if there’s no air conditioning, I’d have to worry about where to live.”

“Whether it’s cold or hot, neither sounds pleasant.”

“Yeah, and the vice principal, Oomori-san, said that while they couldn’t accept evacuees, they could exchange supplies. If we exchanged seeds for vegetables or fruits, we’d need to find a place to grow them…”

While Hayato was talking, the girl’s expression changed drastically.

Her eyes became cold, and her face stiffened. Seeing this, Hayato fell silent.

He realized that something in his words had caused her reaction. Most likely, it was when he mentioned, “Oomori-san said that they couldn’t accept evacuees, but could exchange supplies.” He had already explained that exchanging supplies was the purpose of his last visit, so there was no new information. The only thing left was the refusal to accept evacuees.

――She had agreed with the sentiment about how tough it was to be controlled last time.

Oomori’s policy, which was about “maintaining a group while not disrupting food supply to the whole,” made sense from a third-party perspective like Hayato’s.

But for someone whose family had been rejected, how would they feel? If it was just a policy being relayed, it might not feel real, but with actual experience, it would certainly be painful.

――I can’t fully understand, though.

Hayato didn’t feel the urge to search for his parents. If he found them in an evacuation center and they were alive, it would be a happy thing. But if they said, “Let’s live together,” he’d have trouble using his physical abilities, sacred magic, or spatial storage.

If his parents were starving or infected and were forced to use his powers to help, they’d become guinea pigs for Japanese-made medicine—he wanted to avoid that scenario.

Hayato prioritized his own survival first. He assumed that his parents would be happy if he, their child, survived and passed on his bloodline, which was biologically appropriate.

If his parents wanted him to become a guinea pig for humanity’s sake, he’d just think, “I don’t care.”

So, he thought that the best option was to not meet his family, and he didn’t feel sad about not being able to live with them.

However, Hayato was in a unique position due to his ability to transfer.

“I don’t intend to join Kirigaoka, but the policy of rejecting teachers’ and students’ families is bound to cause trouble.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Her reply came out with difficulty, and Hayato felt that something was off.

Before he could respond, the girl continued.

“There are people who died right in front of me because they couldn’t get in…”

It wasn’t just a matter of not being allowed in. She must have lost family members right in front of her because of the school’s policy. Hayato understood this without her saying it, but he didn’t mention it aloud. He instead chose his words carefully.

“If you could go somewhere, would you want to?”

“I would. I don’t feel any real attachment here anymore.”

After a brief pause, the girl quietly murmured.

Hearing this, Hayato inwardly sighed.

The reason she didn’t leave was because zombies were everywhere. If she left, she’d either have to wait for death by starvation or get bitten by a zombie along the way.

After a long silence, the only sound was the rustling of trees in the wind in front of the school gate.

In the stillness, with only distant birdcalls in the air, Hayato took off his backpack, reached inside, and started rummaging through it.

After a moment, he pulled something out and offered it to the girl.

“A deal. This is in exchange for the information about the spring water.”

“Heavy.”

The girl, tilting her head, took the backpack. She was surprised by the unexpected weight. When she opened it, she saw supplies filling about one-fifth of the capacity.

There were one bottle each of hair care, body care, and skin care products, two sets of toothbrushes and toothpaste, a pack of sanitary products, and a tin of cod liver drops.

“What’s this?”

“I brought these, but since there might be disagreements over the distribution, I didn’t use them in this exchange.”

“Yeah, that would cause a big fight.”

The girl agreed with Hayato’s reasoning. Salt could be used for everyone’s meals, but consumable items couldn’t be shared easily. The cod liver drops had 180 pieces, and with their La France flavor, they were precious since sweet treats were hard to come by now. With a group of 200 people, the 20 who didn’t get any would likely hold a grudge.

“Aren’t you giving too much?”

“No. If I drank from the spring water upstream and got sick, that would be a big problem. My health isn’t cheap. This is a high-value trade.”

The girl smiled at Hayato’s words.

“A high-value trade, huh. A trade… though we don’t even know each other’s names.”

“That’s true. I’m Hayato Kumakura. I graduated from Kirigaoka High three years ago, and I’m a citizen of Kirigaoka City.”

At the moment, he was unemployed with a blank three-year period. While he hadn’t been doing nothing, he certainly couldn’t list “Imperial Army” on his resume.

“I’m Natsuki Hoshino. A second-year student at Kirigaoka Agricultural High School. My classes are only practical now.”

When Hayato introduced himself, the girl also gave her name. Then, with a slightly reddened face, she said:

“I’ve never received a gift from a man before…”

“Huh?”

“This… might have been unexpected.”

Natsuki was likely referring to something other than shampoo or a toothbrush.

“I’m sorry about that.”

Natsuki’s previously cold atmosphere seemed to lift, and Hayato, while apologizing, felt a sense of relief.