I’m In A World Infested By Zombies… But I Have Special Perks As A Formerly Isekai’d Person!

Chapter 16: Collection of Car Accessories

As the morning light streamed through the window, Hayato and Yui sat facing each other at the dining table.

On the table were items from another world: rye bread, cheese, dried meat, and dried fruit.

“Is this bread from another world?”
“Yeah, but I think it’s probably the same as the one from Earth.”

Since humans from Earth have been repeatedly transferred to this world, it wouldn’t be strange if Earth plants were brought along as well.

The rye bread was made by grinding rye into flour, adding water and salt, fermenting it, and then baking it in a wood-fired oven.
The outer crust was hard, but the inside was moist and flavorful.
In medieval Europe, it was a staple food.

“What about the cheese?”
“It’s from goats.”
“They had goats?”
“They did.”

The cheese was likely made in the same way, by coagulating milk, removing the whey, adding salt, and letting it ferment.
After a few months of aging, it developed a rich and flavorful taste.

“Is the meat the same?”
Hayato remained silent on this matter.

The meat had been salted, air-dried, and smoked. It was a bit tough, but if it could be eaten in a world overrun by zombies, it could be considered a luxury.

“The fruit is things like apples and plums.”
“What about the meat?”
“Who brought the apples, I wonder?”

Hayato shifted his gaze away from Yui, who was giving him a sideways glance, and thought about the fruit.
Dried fruit was made by slicing the fruit and drying it under the sun.
Since it didn’t use sugar or preservatives, the natural sweetness and flavor remained. It might take more effort to make than the commercial dried fruit sold in Japan, but even without zombies, it could be considered a luxury.

The drink was green tea made by dissolving powdered drink mix obtained from a pharmacy.

Hayato wondered which meal was more abundant, comparing it to the food he’d had in the misty fields.
As he thought about this, Yui carefully sliced the cheese and handed it to him.
Hayato reached for the bread and told her.

“Yui, I’m planning to go to a car accessories store today.”
“A car accessories store?”

Yui asked, placing a piece of cheese in her mouth.
Hayato had mentioned going to get a battery, but this was the first time he’d told her the exact destination.
Car dealerships and repair shops could also be places where batteries were obtained.
Hayato explained why he had chosen the car accessories store after taking a sip of his green tea.

“There are different types of car batteries, and new car dealerships or repair shops might not have them. But a car accessories store will likely have a variety of types, and they might even have spares.”

“Is that so?”
Since Yui didn’t have a driver’s license, she didn’t really understand much about it.

“Well, they probably have tools and things too.”
At a car accessories store, tools like ratchets and wrenches used to remove batteries would likely be in abundance.
Since those couldn’t be eaten and gasoline wasn’t something he could get, he didn’t worry too much about anything being taken.

When Hayato explained, Yui stopped lifting the cheese to her mouth and thought for a moment.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“It’ll be fine. Actually, I’m more worried about you, Yui.”

Hayato could take on zombies with ease.
On the other hand, even a single zombie would be extremely dangerous for Yui.
Still, Yui looked directly into Hayato’s eyes and said,

“Be careful, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful.”

Hayato ate the remaining bread, stood up, and quietly walked out the door.
He mounted his bicycle and left.

Kirigaoka City was the town where Hayato had grown up.
He’d never been to a car accessories store before, but he knew where it was located.
Arriving at the shop facing the main road, he found that the shutter had been partially broken, showing signs that someone had entered.

—Everything’s being ransacked.

After placing the bicycle in a storage area, Hayato slipped into the store.
The inside was dim, with dust floating in the air, illuminated by the slanted sunlight.
Hayato took out an oil lamp with a lit flame from his storage space. It was a skillful motion, as if holding a flashlight.
The warm light from the lamp illuminated the store, and shelves of products gradually came into view.
The shadows of the shelves stretched up to the ceiling, swaying gently.

“Alright, let’s find the battery.”

Hayato walked lightly, as if casually browsing the store in peaceful times.
Even though the shutters were broken, there were still some products left on the shelves.
He passed through an aisle piled with tires and wheels, then walked by shelves with car navigation systems and audio equipment.
Suddenly, he heard something fall between the shelves.

—Is it a rat?

There was no space big enough for a human to enter.
Accepting that there could be such creatures, Hayato continued his search.
Expensive items would likely be handled well, so if he found the battery section, the high-end car batteries should be prominently placed in a well-maintained area.

After searching for a while, he found the battery section in the corner of the store.
The high-end car batteries were neatly lined up in new boxes.
The corner of the store was a good spot, and they weren’t covered in much dust, so they seemed to be in good condition.

“Found it.”

Hayato smiled with satisfaction.
Next, he needed the tools to install the battery.
The car accessories store had plenty of stock.
In the lamp’s light, he quickly found ratchet sets, wrenches, jacks, and tire wheel sets.

After finding what he needed, Hayato realized he needed to organize his storage space.
His storage had the capacity of about ten 8-tatami rooms, or 20-foot containers, with nine of them filled with military supplies for a thousand people to march for a month.
There were only about ten days of supplies left, so about a third had been used up.
That left three empty spaces.

One was for the pharmacy collection, and one was for Yui’s items, so that left one more.
Batteries and tools could fit into the gaps, but if he included gasoline, he’d reach the storage limit.

“If I pack it in, I can make space, but I’d like to leave about one space open, roughly.”

Hayato thought about the supplies in his storage.
Bread, cheese, dried meat, dried fruit, salt, water, 100 spears, 300 bows, 300 bowstrings, 300 quivers, 4,000 arrows, 340 oil lamps, plant oil, 260 four-person tents, 1,040 blankets, and personal items.
The numbers might vary slightly, but that was the general idea.

“Tents and blankets, huh…”

Hayato thought about the imperial troops he’d been a part of in the other world.
Because of the harsh battlefield, there had been a fair amount of turnover, but he remembered the comrades who had used those items.
Camping wasn’t for battle, but for meals and rest.
There were those who grumbled about not having alcohol and others who gambled.

But he’d never use them again.

After taking a deep breath, Hayato moved to the edge of the store and began to place the four-person tents and blankets down.
The used ones were for a thousand people, and he decided to leave the new ones for forty people as they were.

—The new ones are too precious to waste.

The blankets were high-end items made from rare materials similar to cashmere on Earth.
They were incredibly soft and high-quality, with excellent warmth and a fluffy texture.
If one cost 100,000 yen, then a thousand would be worth 100 million yen.
On the other hand, a set of tires and wheels might cost around 400,000 yen, so even getting about three sets wouldn’t be bad.
Batteries with plenty of spares wouldn’t hurt either.

—Right now, they might be more valuable than the car accessories, so they can be considered payment.

As for the matter of the empty wooden boxes and 700 oil lamps left in place of the car, Hayato decided not to dwell on it too much.
He filled the store’s section with the supplies as payment and then moved to the next space, placing the remaining tents and blankets down.

Thus, the car accessories store turned into a high-end blanket shop.