Chapter 1 9.30~11.30
We were running in the woods before dawn.
Running for our lives in the woods of the familiar Reien Girls Academy.
“Ah!?”
However, a scream just like in a manga was emitted followed by the nuisance of falling.
She was embarrassingly tripped by a tree root, falling face first into mud.
“I say, Shizune!? You fall face first onto the ground!?”
Oh, Azaka-chan, this is the thing you were worried about.
“Seo-san!? Ah ah really, why did you purposely pick this kind of moment to cause other people problems. You should be like me, act a little more lady-like!”
Ouji-senpai always has the inability to read the atmosphere.
Even so, the 2 persons waling in front... Azaka Kokutō and Misaya Ouji stopped in their advance, and turned around. Their expressions were tense. They were being chased. No, the situation was much worse than that.
This was because, we were being chased by dozens of zombies.
“Ah, uwah, uwaaahhh…!”
Even though I tried to get up as fast as I could, due to the extreme chaos my arms couldn’t move at all.
I could not have the courage to tell them “Just run, don’t care about me”.
The sound of the violent footsteps became more and more clear.
The rotten corpses came out from the woods while producing creaking sounds.
Fingers that couldn’t be identified as either bones or rotten flesh reached out and grabbed my ankles. To have a taste of live human flesh, even the corpse whose identity is hard to determine bent downward for the girl's ankles.
“_____”
....Alas, this was the ending.
It also became this kind of progress. This future. This ending. I regretted very much.
We also lost our target this time, and our progress forward performed a life threatening accident.
“AzoLto----!”
In the nick of time, came the fate changing moment.
The woods at night suddenly burst into an ocean of flames.
Azaka Kokutō’s long dark hair danced with the wind, just like a falling star.
The person that changed my death fate is no one else but my friend, Azaka Kokutō.
She immediately turned around, her fist hit the face of the corpse that is about to eat its prey… Shizune Seo, in an instant, it ignited into a hot flame with a boom.
That was either the powers from the gloves she was wearing, or her personal powers. Even though this was rather sudden, but she is a girl that allows everything she touches to be ignited.
7 days ago before the world became like this, she simply admitted that “it’s not really anything strange, it’s better than a lighter, but not as good as a flame thrower, just a power that doesn’t deserve to be proud of or anything”. Even though any average person can’t let anything that they had hit to burst into flames, she herself however doesn’t feel that it was any big of a deal, that could be explained by any principle out there.
Azaka Kokutō, just like Shizune Seo, was Reien Girls Academy year 2 student. 17 years old.
Even though she was born with the looks of a rich dainty girl, her expression was frank yet energetic at the same time. Her personality was upright, she valued her friends with an extreme sense of justice to finish off the perfect protagonist role. Her survival skills were able to aspire every student of the academy; she was a person complete with integrity.
“Shizune, get up quickly! Those things are coming here soon!”
“Tha- thank you Azaka-chan. But there is no use, we can’t escape anymore!”
However, no matter how special is Azaka Kokutō, she still couldn’t escape from fate.
She should have had ran away. From the moment she stopped and chose to help her friend, she lost her escape route.
We were slowly surrounded by more zombies.
A man wearing his suit. A rather handsome young man that got his hair dyed white that was bitten. Familiar Reien Girls Academy students. The sisters that were still strict yet gentle 7 days ago. Etc etc. The people that were different both on the outside and inside, but became something that chased down humans that were still alive together.
“…Can’t escape, does that also means I will be killed?”
“…Azaka-chan, if you protect me you will be bitten by a second one. If not, when the fifth one reaches you, you will be gone.”
“…Uwahh----I don’t want to hear this kind of future. There is no brighter future? For example, ‘when the younger sister is in danger, the big brother will arrive like some knight in shining armor’ or something?”
“Um, that kind of future never existed. But don’t you worry, in 5 minutes it will be the same, no matter what, in another hour it will all be over. Even though we are able to pull through now, at the end---“
“I had already told you; don’t tell that kind of prediction to anyone anymore! If you want to give up, please wait till you are alone and it will not be too late!”
Then, the woods started to rustle.
I should mention that the rustling was like a breeze. Countless, more accurately dozens of transparent “things” flew through the woods, attached onto the zombies.
“This is great. Please rest in peace.”
Misaya Ouji was as if a conductor conducting her song.
At her command, the “things” that were attached onto the zombies exploded in succession, creating holes in the stomach or chest of the zombies. That destructive power could rival a bomb.
“Misaya-senpai, beautiful!”
“…You should be properly thanking me, and then reflect on your actions Kokutō-san. Fighting is about the survival of the fittest. Even though you are unbeatable in close combat, but if the enemy bit you even once, you are dead. I warned that getting close to them is not a good idea already.”
“I already knew about that without you telling me. Misaya-senpai’s fairies are to clear off the small fries, while I am dedicated for the ‘BOSS’ fight. Now that I’ve mentioned it, didn’t you mention that you’d used all of your fairies already?”
“Well, they are reserved for emergencies only. Don’t be so picky when you were saved.”
Upperclassman Misaya Ouji grunted, flicked her long hair.
***
If Azaka-chan was a maiden, Misaya-senpai was a mature female. She has a tall figure; her actions gave others a more ‘womanly’ feel than a ‘girl’ feel, more ‘queen’ feel than a ‘princess’ feel. The hair band above her bangs was her only ‘student’ look.
…Even though those were the past, but Misaya Ouji was a student and ruler of Reien Girls Academy.
No matter what, she was the chairman’s eldest daughter; she also used to be the student council president, after her retirement she became the vice dormitory president. For Shizune Seo, she was as if a towering castle; for Azaka Kokutō, she coincidently became an enemy.
However, Misaya-senpai had a side of her that no one knew. She was able to control dozens of roughly 5cm of height fairy-ish things that can’t be seen by the naked eye.
“Even though it is a special power, but it was not that much of a big deal. I am just able to control low level creatures that can’t be seen by the naked eye.” That was what she exposed 7 days ago.
The standards of these fairies even though were equivalent to bees, but they are ferocious in numbers, some of them could also self-destruct, which saved us countless times already. Misaya-senpai had the ability to single-handedly escape and met up with us at the dormitory. It must have been because of the fairies controlling powers. However, this queen is only the queen of her dying country.
“Even though I used up all my cards, the situation now has changed. We just need to get to the teaching building and we could be saved right, Seo-san?”
Misaya Ouji took a deep breath, her expression slowly relaxed when she observed her surroundings.
“Uh… I, that one, this one…”
“Please speak clearly. You are the one who told me that ‘if we stayed at the dorm only death awaits us’. I already know that your prediction abilities are true. This is really great, if only you could be more confident…. ‘We could only last till yesterday if we stayed at the dorm. Only if we managed to cross the teaching office and reached the guest house on the hill then we won’t be completely annihilated’, this is the best future you saw right?”
Just as Misaya Ouji said, I had the ability to predict the future. Just as Azaka Kokutō and Misaya Ouji revealed their powers, Shizune Seo revealed hers as well.
“Ah, so that was it. I always had this feeling before. Shizune was always like a puppy, sometimes she would be like a cat, suddenly staring at a spot unmoving.”
That above was her roommate, Azaka Kokutō’s comment.
Even though it was an exaggeration, Shizune Seo was just an average looking girl that could be found anywhere. She had short hair that was uncommonly found in Reien Girls Academy, as well as an average body height and weight… Even so, she was loved by her seniors for reasons such as ‘she’s a late bloomer at every aspect. That’s why she’s cute’.
My hometown is at the northeast, the only daughter of a brewery from that was opened since the Edo era. Even though my ability to view the future is produced from my brain, for further details please head to another story to understand better.
Now the main point is that I am able to see the future…which is also the ending.
Today’s evening. Shizune Seo told her friends that were lucky to still be alive about her ability to see the future. They believed her…or you can say, that the powers had saved them countless times which they had to believe her…they started to head towards the guest house which was the only desperate way out of the deathly ending.
“The only way to make it out alive is to get to the guest house !”
They only thing they could do are to risk their lives for that ambiguous prediction.
“Ahwaaa, but it’s impossible! Especially Misaya-senpai! I could only see senpai ‘ha-gu’ by a bunch of zombies!”
“Why is it just me?! And what does ‘ha-gu’ mean? Is it the sound of getting bitten? Or is it ‘hug’?!” Misaya-senpai tried to protect her body in a state of panic. I also hate the ending where she would become a zombie.
“We won’t be able to kill all of them if we only rely on Misaya-senpai! If their hearts are not destroyed they will not stop! See, the bunch just now is not entirely dead! Our encirclement is turning smaller by the second!”
“How uncivilized. Just like Kokutō-san’s demonstration!?”
Misaya-senpai ran towards Azaka Kokutō.
She was more useless than me when she used up her fairies. The decision of ‘it would be wiser to hide behind Azaka Kokutō whom possessed strong advanced capabilities’ was just right, which caused me to tear up.
“Hey, why did you run back?! I thought you could ran away yourself?”
“I, how could I just abandon my kouhai! I can carry Seo-san, Kokutō-san will just be responsible for those guys that are dripping viscera!”
“Uwah, that’s gross. Why didn’t you blast off their heads? Even though those fairies self destructed, but if you aimed for their head they would be dead!”
“…That’s because comparing with smaller target, which is the head, a large torso would be easier to aim right?”
“Oh, so you are not confident with your own accuracy!”
Azaka Kokutō crossed her arms in front of her face; her stance leaned forward slightly before she dashed forward.
As if the bell rang for the boxes to advance towards their opponents.
She dashed into the group of zombies, using her left hand; she gently pushed away a reckless attack from a zombie while her right hand smashed into its face.
Fireballs burst out in the darkness.
Azaka Kokutō right fist, even though without the ability to destroy the skull, was able to cause things to be ignited. The temperature could reached 2000 Celsius and above. The brain immediately turned into ashes which caused the corpse to stop moving. Even though the other parts of the zombie were destroyed it could still move, but if the brain is mostly damaged, it will turn back into a corpse.
“Ha, ha, ha….”
However, Azaka-chan that managed to defeat the zombies became tired.
***
Even though her ability to light things on fire won’t cause her to be fatigued, she had to be within the distance that the zombies could touch her, and they are opponents that may not be defeated in one hit. So when there’s a conflict, a girl like Azaka Kokutō will have a hard time when they compare strength. She may be overpowered and bitten in no time.
A one on one fight always has the risk of death. If she were to be ganged by at least 3 zombies, Azaka Kokutō’s advantage would most probably be gone.
This caused her to be really tired. The extreme stress, as well as the reality of killing those humanoids and staying alive, all of them ate away at her strength and spirit.
You can say that our situation was really bad.
3 young girls that had their eyebrows furrowed.
The group of zombies that had their numbers well over 30 that are surrounding them now.
“We almost reached the final chapter now. Are you able to see the future now, Shizune?”
“…Azaka-chan, that one…”
“You can use this time to lie that ‘I could see my cute classmate win’ that I could consider you as a really considerate friend… but this matter-of-fact situation can’t be of any comfort.”
“Misaya-senpai… I apologize for not being very smart. Also to tell you the truth, I feel that senpai is really cute when you curl your hair.”
I thought about the past events in the Reien Girls Academy, which caused me to begin laughing. Even though I was in this situation, no, it was because I was in this situation; I was able to reveal all my emotions which I bottled up.
“…Ha. Even though I don’t want to say this, but there are no more ideas. Kokutō-san, we are going to deal with the zombies at the teaching office, we’ll allow Seo-san to use this opportunity to run into the building, how’s that?”
“Misaya-senpai?!”
“How about this? I can deal with the 2 on the left and right and meet up with Shizune. The only one that will die in vain is you, senpai.”
“Well, whatever you say. I still have some trump card I haven’t used yet, the only one that will be turned into a zombie is you.”
“Uwah, you are such a trustworthy senpai! How many trump cards do you have actually?”
“Whatever you say. Skillful women have unlimited trump cards.”
The encirclement slowly shrinked.
The 2 girls made mental preparation before they tried to break through the situation they found themselves in.
The girl that could see the future gave them a pained expression.
“Uh, Azaka-chan? Excuse me for interrupting you and Misaya-senpai, but there’s a change in the future. The fireball that Azaka-chan made just now seems to have attracted Asagami-san.”
Something ‘strange’ happened when the other 2 were about to react to that statement.
There was a loud sound.
Everything around them, zombies and the woods included, started to tremble, and bent.
The dust flew into the air, the trees were destroyed. The zombies were bent out of shape and could not move.
The me at that moment, understood fully ‘that earthquake will not only affect the earth, the air – as well as space can also be affected as well’.
“Everyone, please don’t move from your spot, I think I overdid it by a little bit.”
A sound made by human came from the other side of the woods.
It came beyond the fence of the teaching office.
A girl wearing the Academy’s uniform emerged into the lighting.
There was suddenly the sound of drums in my head.
It was as if there was fog that caused her debut to be more dramatic. Azaka Kokutō and Misaya Ouji’s powers are known as ‘magic’, while Shizune Seo’s future sight is known as ‘super powers’ of the biological functions.
However, she was the combination of both. Or you could say she’s an abnormality
That was the Reien Girls Academy’s pride and young lady with a traditional look that has the power to distort the physical law and bend things. Her power level and bust size were unrivalled, Fujino Asagami….!
“-- -- Please bend.”
She said it in an ominous tone.
The surface of the earth started to roll upwards.
The forest that surrounded us started to distort, knead, and tighten all the corpses into a big blob.
…That scene looked like it came out of somewhere when the world ended. Even though this description was quite weird, but you could imagine the world now being a picture, and it was kneaded into a mess by invisible hands.
This was the mystic eyes of Fujino Asagami.
No matter how big or hard the object was; she will be able to bend them if she saw them, it was a veritable power.
Now, the corpses couldn’t move anymore because they and the trees were rolled up like slices of cheese.
We ran across the earth that changed into a flat surface again to meet up with Fujino Asagami.
“Asagami! You saved us, thank you!”
“I apologize; I should have met up with you earlier.”
Fujino Asagami had an apologetic smile on her face.
Her face was pale. The ‘bending’ just now made her use a lot of her mental energy.
Even though the scale was different, regardless if it was bending or future sight, the whole brain still needed to perform calculation. As for the mental energy, it was better to refer to it as a burden, because it caused wear to the brain and took up calories. Future sight only needed to replenish its user’s glucose level to be used again, however if it was at the power level of Asagami-san’s bending powers, the burden will be directly reflected on the user…. Worst case scenario, after she used her bending abilities, she will not exist anymore.
The weapon that contained the highest power level but consisted of many constrains…. That was the role of Asagami-san. I can explain that in detail as well.
“…I am really sorry. This is actually really depressing. I am just like an undead; my perception of reality is distorted. That was why I could destroy both humans and the ground as easily as destroying paper. However, even though this is a curse, it could still be used now. Please allow me to lend you a hand.” ---- 7 days ago, she did confess everything to us.
“Really, you gave us a lot of problems Asagami-san. You were separated from us when we ran from the dormitory, and we were really worried about you as well. Looks like you overexerted yourself when you said that you could ‘see really well in the dark’.”
Misaya-senpai gave a little ‘hmph’ while she complained. However everyone knew that she was not afraid when she was in trouble, but it was expressed because she was worried about Asagami-san.
“I had caused you some trouble… I was interested in the huge bunch of corpses at the dorm…. There was so many of them, so I should be really lucky…”
“….So, you came back again, and stayed at the dorm, Fujino?”
Azaka-chan took a couple of steps backwards.
“That’s right. That was why the numbers were considerably less than before, you can say it was killing 2 birds with a stone.”
Asagami-san’s face had a ‘did I do well’ grin.
…This person that was ladylike, a traditional Japanese looking girl that puts others ahead of her first, sometimes could be more bold and ruthless than us.
“Let’s get to safety first in the teaching office. There should still be food in the office, I also had the keys.”
Misaya-senpai led the way into the teaching office. We wanted to find out if anyone was accidentally bitten or not to make sure that everyone was safe.
***
Reien Girls Academy. A catholic school with full boarding style that had a long history, just like a sterilized room, the girl academy was totally separated from seculars and current trends.
Situated at mountain far from the downtown, the land was mostly covered with thick woods.
Using the exemption methods of entry, the teaching office was separated into junior high and senior high. Due to that there were close to 600 students who lived there, so it was not too much if you said that the academy was a convent. The school uniform usage of the Sister’s clothing as a base also received praise from the general public.
The academy currently had less than a few handfuls of survivors left.
The situation should be explained starting from the morning 8 days ago. Or more accurately you could say it was 10 days before the end of the world, due to that the school was so isolated, the students could only receive news from the outside world from the Sisters themselves, and sometimes it could be incorrect.
Things started to change 2 days later.
One morning, a few outsiders tipped the school gate and invaded the school grounds.
The few Sisters that went to warn them ended up not returning at all. The outsiders then turned towards the senior high division. From that moment onward, the 60 year history of the Reien Girls Academy ended.
In summary, the outsiders that invaded the academy were patients.
***
The disease robbed the humanity off those patients; they stopped breathing and lost their ability to carry out metabolism, which caused their heart to stopped beating, and their blood stopped circulating which led to the body rotting.
The scariest part was, even though the victim died, the body still can move. They will drag their rotting body and moved about, used their god-knows-what instinct to find healthy human beings, tear their bodies apart; either using their teeth, or infect them using their saliva to increase their numbers.
According to the horror movies, they were referred to as the Living Dead.
Or commonly known as zombie.
They were referred to as infected.
According to Misaya-senpai, about half a year ago, there was already news about a ‘new generation of infected’. We only knew about it 8 days ago about how dangerous they were. That was obvious. The disasters at this level were always too late when you noticed it.
It was not even half a day, Reien Girls Academy was already filled with zombies. Was it lucky or unlucky? Azaka Kokutō and her gang were gathered at a special classroom that they escaped the crisis. When they recovered, the teaching building was already littered with pieces of flesh of students, the infected students marched towards the junior high section.
Azaka-chan immediately offered to rescue her juniors, thus we all set off in that direction; after witnessing the reality first hand, and we ran from the dormitory disconcertedly.
We accidentally bumped into Misaya-senpai. Even though she was there at the junior high section first, she was chased by a group of zombies and so close to being bitten.
At that moment, Azaka-chan and Asagami-san used their powers. At last, Misaya-senpai joined our little gang that would live or die together.
7 days after that, we stayed at the dormitory. A few hours ago, the future sight that was useless….Shizune Seo saw the most horrible future. If before dawn they could not reach the guest house opposite of the senior high section of the teaching building, everyone will die in a horrible death.
That was why we were running away in the middle of the night in the woods.
“Excuse us… Ah, not a single soul to be seen. That’s alright, com’on in everyone.”
“There’s still electricity left. Even though there’s no one at the power station it could still run for a while, so if there were no incidences that would happened, the power supply won’t be a problem for a short while.”
“This is the benefit of automation. But you should not turn on the lights Shizune, we will be spotted by those guys.”
“We should be safe here. The guest house is just mere meters away, so we don’t have to rush. Everyone should be tired, just spend 30 minutes to drink some tea.”
“WOW. From mineral water to electric kettles, you are well prepared, Misaya-senpai.”
“Senpai, is there snacks? I want some cookies, no matter how much I will pay you for it.”
“That’s alright. You were already broke…. The butter cookies are inedible now. There are a few macaroons left, but if it is in this state the taste is different. It was a specialty from Paris right?”
“FAUCHON! The specialty macaroon from Paris are called fauchon!”
Everyone was purposely on a row. The macaroons even though were made from eggs, if it was stored in the fridge it could still be eaten.
“Even though it’s hard, if it was still sweet than it is alright. Here, Asagami-san, eat up.”
“Thank you Seo-san. But I still have some nutritional supplements, everyone should have some. I had some but I don’t know what the taste was like.”
Asagami-san closed her eyes, revealing a smile that was happy yet troubled.
Aside from her powers, she was always filled with dignity and elegance. However, she closed her eyes because of the accident that happened a year ago, after that, her eye sight slowly became weaker. If she could be alone, she should still be able to see. Should.
The small tea party commenced; we began our 30 minutes of rest.
After so long, this could be our last supper. We concealed the fear we had in our hearts, and begun to enjoy the hot black tea and hardened sweets.
Outside came some pattering sounds.
I remembered about the night when the typhoon came when I was younger.
Under the shaking light, the student council classroom looked bigger than normal, what’s more interesting is that you would feel that you are in a theater at that moment.
There were still people gathering and issuing messages on the internet, or appealed to the general public, however the government’s report division had no reply since 3 days ago. Or, this area was abandoned, or measures had been taken. Even so, this would have no effect on us. We could not imagined ourselves survived, no, we could not even create that kind of future.
***
The world that everyone took for granted already ended 10 days ago. From now on, it was to see who would die next. Even though the situation turned bad, but they still could enjoy the tea party.
“I would still like to take a bath.”
“Kokutō-san, it was already a tacit approval.”
Asagami-san reprimanded Azaka-chan for her wisecrack.
Since they were roommates for so long, they could differentiate between a serious conversation and a joke without looking at each other faces.
The young girls these days were like this, not even at the end of the world, or surrounded by zombies, or if all the students were dead, even though they almost got hurt, but it was equivalent to the problems felt by their bodies.
Even though they could withstand hunger, they could not stand the filth on their bodies. When they were in their dorms, the first thing that they would do was to collect their towels, water and wipes. This time it was a bit special. If there were to be a male among us, this kind of scene would be delayed.
“It’s a little hard to believe. Everyone else became a zombie, we were the only ones alive, and the future where we died before dawn, even nightmare will have a limit…. Well, I also knew that it was wishful thinking.”
“Azaka-san is a dreamer. I firmly believe that this is a dream since the beginning.”
“That is really reassuring Misaya-senpai, may I ask why do you believe so?”
“You still need an explanation? There was no way that things could become like this. Zombie or anything, it should already be outdated. If it was an infection, it should take half a year to one year for humans to be wiped out. It’s been only 7 days, no, 10 days the world will end, this ending is impossible. And it should only take another half a year to take any measures against this. So, even though this is a reality, I will still strongly believe that this is a dream. If there are any errors, I as a human will strongly refuse to admit, this will solely be a dream.”
No matter how impossible, Azaka Kokutō will only accept the truth; if the situation is impossible, Misaya Ouji will not accept that kind of truth.
Who was the dreamer and who was the realist, I cannot decide.
However, I can feel that they made the decision based on their own beliefs.
“That’s right. I also feel that this is a dream. Even though it’s not very accurate, this is still the first time my heart beat so excitedly.”
Fujino Asagami as if observing those two, silently smiled.
It was as if she had a different opinion.
“……………”
I was being tormented by my conscience.
Shizune Seo was different from the others, she didn’t reveal the truth.
When they reached there, a future did not exist anymore. I was ashamed to tell them.
Even though they were lucky to escape a BAD END, they already reached the end.
…..Because I was mistaken again.
Shizune Seo was careless again. The future scene ‘reach the guest house at dawn’ was the only thing she saw. However, this future could not be seen again.
“…I say.”
No matter what, she could not see the future in 20 minutes.
No matter what the decision that Fujino-san or Azaka-chan made were useless. Events will unfold like whirlwind, bring an end to everything.
“Seo’s future sight, it was just information processing at the end right?”
“Ah? W-what’s wrong, Azaka-chan?”
“I was talking about your future sight. Even though you said that you could see the image in the future, you didn’t think about the principle. So, your view is not actually paranormal, at the end, it is just a first person view right?”
“En, that’s right. The future I see is just what an average human can see through their naked eyes. I have never seen the future sight of the view from above like God.”
“How about the future of other people? For example, even though you are not in the scene of the future are you able to see things in a 3rd person view?”
“…even though that’s really rare, I could still do it. But, that could only work if only the person is in front of me. For example, Azaka-chan and I, I can view the future whether if you are going to embarrass yourself or any other situations.”
That’s right; the so-called future sight was just an accurate prediction, and also an obvious reasoning.
Shizune Seo can only derive ‘the things that could happen after this moment’ after going through the information received by the 5 senses. The people that were categorized under seers are just people who had the brain capacity to perform the above.
“Ah---no wonder you would say weird things sometimes. ‘You should be late today’, ‘Don’t let Mikiya make a phone call today’ those kind of things. Hm, I understand now. And also, thank you, you were always so nice to me, those were a really big help.”
It was as if she was reminiscing her life as a student.
This was Azaka Kokutō, crisp and straight to the point, thanking you without a hint of slapdash.
Due to the nobleness of the gratitude, the atmosphere of the tea party became quite and peaceful.
“However...”
A nervous voice disrupted the atmosphere.
“That could also mean that Seo already knew the answers. You saw the reasons we were killed. If it wasn’t so, you wouldn’t be able to see the future. It was either you could not recognize the reason, or you already forgotten about it.”
“…either could not recognize, or forgotten…?”
What she said was the truth. In a lifetime, most of the time signs will be given for the answer before the time runs out. However, humans will miss out these signs and regret only after they found out about their failures. Bad endings don’t appear when it is too late, they appear when humans missed out these signals.
“This chat will have to end here Azaka-san. It is almost time to make a decision.”
Misaya Ouji prompted us to make a move.
***
30 minutes had passed without us noticing.
Even though it was just a 10 minutes’ walk till the guest house , there were so many zombies wandering about on the way there.
Dawn was merely an hour away. The peaceful moment ended.
We exited through the emergency exit of the senior high division.
We used the flowerbeds as our cover and headed towards the guest house .
Under the lighting of the street lamp, we could spot several zombies.
“How lucky…! There seems to be only 4 zombies, we could potentially go around them…!”
“We are going around them…!? Why don’t we just let Asagami-san ‘bend’ them!?”
“No good. I will attract the attention of the others after I ‘bend’ these. Their numbers are higher in the forest, if the others come at us like a tsunami, it will be troublesome…. If we were surrounded like insects attracted towards a light source, wouldn’t that be disgusting?”
“Uh… I don’t understand what Asagami-san’s reference was.”
“It should be referring to them as being really stupid. Fujino’s mystic eyes are like cannons, it is nothing towards the enemies that only know how to dash forward.”
“That’s right. Animals with intelligence will definitely retreat; zombies are the dead that don’t have any feelings. Even though they saw their own comrades have their necks bent in front of them, they will not feel any fear.”
Azaka-chan nodded at Misaya-sempai’s statement.
“Ah?”
However Fujino-san opened her eyes that were always closed, clearly in shock.
“Uh?”
“Those ‘people’ should still have their intelligence, I think. Because they made the decision between ‘assimilate’ or ‘consume’ towards healthy live humans.”
“W-what does that mean?”
“I am referring to their methods of killing. The zombies will attack humans, but differentiating between ‘tearing the human apart before eating them’ and ‘killing them’.”
“The humans that were eaten will not even leave behind any bones, if just killing the humans they will turn into zombies. This will naturally be eating and reproducing. Wouldn’t that mean that those zombies use their own will to differentiate between ‘nutritious food’ and ‘food that can become one of them’?”
“Ah… No, that is correct… But how could that be true? Fujino, are you saying that they are not entirely dead and brainless?”
“Who knows? I myself am not clear on that, but they should have some kind of intelligence. Regarding what kind of intelligence that is, only a zombie understands it better than us.”
This was as if trying to prove the existence of reincarnation. If you didn’t die once, you will never know, but when you die you are never going to tell anyone else. The view of the dead and the living is entirely different, even though they were humans, they could not communicate with each other.
“I think these ‘people’ are not just mindlessly eating human flesh, but to expel out a different race? Becoming a new race of primates of this world?”
“….Are you saying that they are not zombies but a new kind of humans? That is so primitive. I wouldn’t think that they have any kind of intelligence.”
“That is also helpless. Those ‘people’ are like 10 day old beings that were newly born. No difference from a baby.”
“_______”
Everyone was speechless.
Nobody had ever thought of that before. Fujino Asagami’s view changed the concept of humans towards zombies. Zombies even though have thinking capabilities; they lack moderation, just like a one year old toddler.
However till now, killing a zombie was equivalent to killing a live “human”.
“…I am sorry. Are you feeling any better, Azaka-san?”
“…A little. Even if we know more about the opponent’s situation nothing has changed. 10 days ago, the life here has become nothing but kill to survive.”
“…………………”
“…Well, if this hypothesis is correct, we should have some sort of hope. Even though it is a little childish, but in time there should be a day where we could communicate with each other.”
The reactions among 4 of us were different.
Due to Fujino Asagami’s words we wasted more time than expected. There were only 20 minutes left from the future.
We made a decision to rush from the front.
From the slope towards the guest house , through the 4 scattered zombies.
The woods both sides of the slope still had dozens of zombies; we wanted to rush up the hill, straight into the guest house and shut the doors.
There was about 200 meters of sprint.
Azaka Kokutō and Misaya Ouji that were used to running will have no problem.
However Shizune Seo and Fujino Asagami… may only have 50% chance of surviving.
“…Seo, can you see it?”
“…No problem. The sun rise at the guest house , I can see it clearly.”
I didn’t mention it was a lie.
“Ok, let’s go. Let me handle the zombies on the slope. I will first close the distance and let out a few punches---What the!?”
Azaka Kokutō suddenly yelled out. Shizune Seo and Fujino Asagami that were behind her suddenly paled as if they had seen a ghost.
On the hill, stood a shadow that does not match well with the scene.
The other 3 zombies were definitely ex-Reien Girls Academy students, however, the other one, is a black haired girl wearing white long-sleeved kimono.
As if she just finished her New Year’s prayers.
Even though she was a zombie, but the deep black eyes still contains consciousness and intelligence.
Her right hand, an unsheathed knife gleamed with light.
***
“Th-that? That person, is it Ryōgi-san?”
“No matter which way you see it’s that Shiki asshole! She’s still wielding a katana! We are so dead…!”
“Ah, she just grinned! She saw us!”
That’s right, Shiki Ryōgi entered the battlefield.
What kind of person she is, I still did not know. Because I didn’t have a chance to get to know her. How much I knew about her, is just within these 7 days whenever Azaka Kokutō and Fujino Asagami mentioned her.
“If it was Shiki, even though her opponent is a zombie, it will be no problem. She’s so scary that she could be friends with them.”
“Even though I don’t want to see her, but if Ryōgi-san was here, we can feel safer. That person is undefeatable.”
“That’s absolutely right. I don’t want to say this, but if Shiki was here the situation will be easily handled.”
They were talking as if she was invincible.
That invincible person was now among the zombie ranks, the final BOSS battle is now in front of us. Azaka-chan and Asagami-san’s hopelessness, even I who was standing behind them could felt it.
“Hmm~ That person named Shiki, how powerful is she Seo-san?”
Misaya-senpai, who only just seen Shiki Ryōgi was sarcastic.
“Hm, that one…”
I couldn’t come up with anything so I just looked anywhere else but Misaya-senpai.
“To be honest, it was as if King Arthur was wielding the Excalibur.”
“So that means we absolutely cannot win this.”
Suddenly came some footsteps sounds.
It was the sound of Shiki Ryōgi’s sandals stepping on gravel.
The first to react was Azaka-chan. She used the fear on our faces to act as a catalyst, dashing forward alone.
“If it’s this kind of situation, there won’t be anything that holds me back anymore! Let us settle our resentment once and for all!”
Azaka yelled out ‘revenge for my brother’ while she rushed forward.
Misaya-senpai panicked and followed her, the rest of us were shocked, rooted to the ground.
Fujino Asagami slapped her own face, looked at Shizune Seo and said:
“---Shizune-san, you will head to the guest house from the woods, I will help you attract the attention of the zombies.”
Even though Asagami-san did not have any future sight, she understood the situation.
Azaka Kokutō was beheaded first.
Misaya Ouji could only watch before getting beheaded.
The slope was inaccessible because of that woman.
So, even though the forest was dangerous, it was the one and only way to reach the goal.
“Run quickly. I don’t want to affect Shizune-san.”
Her voice was very calm, she won’t allow any rebuttals.
“…I will head there first and wait for you at the guest house .”
I ran.
At the moment Shizune Seo blended into the forest, the slope was bent.
Fujino Asagami and Shiki Ryōgi.
Both were users of the mystic eyes, they begin their last battle.
And then, I reached the guest house .
This is the westernized building that was based on Rokumeikan. Apparently, due to the western influence there were a lot of these kinds of buildings that was built, but most of them were just a copy. The finished buildings were mostly mixed with some of the Japanese aesthetics, this is one of those buildings.
Now it was entirely unrecognizable.
There were only burned ruins after the walls. There were rumors about something similar. There was an arson that caused one of the dormitories to be burned to the ground.
“….Ah, in the end…”
This was similar to what I had seen, I murmured to myself.
My footsteps faltered through the rubbles on the hill.
Shizune Seo’s scene of the future was exactly ‘looking at the sun rise from the guest house ’.
“…That’s right. The night 3 days ago, I could see some light coming from the dormitory’s window.”
Shizune Seo did not realize that it was from the fire. She was as if a camera without its own will, captured all the answers, she could only notice the parts that she was interested in. Only noticing the things that she wanted to know about, she was very human, hopelessly degrading/improving.
I slumped to the ground.
I kneel on the highest point of the ruins, as if I had given up everything and looked at the sky.
A knife came from Shizune Seo’s back and held against her neck.
“■■■■■■■，■■■■■■■■？”
It was Shiki Ryōgi. But I did not understand a word she said.
So, to avoid any confusion it shall be translated. (This is translated from the original)
“You are one of the onsets of the disease. So, you are better than those bastards running around. Well, even though I will kill those that were infected.”
Confused. I looked at my left hand.
There was the bite mark of a zombie. Zombies were able to differentiate between food and comrades by themselves, so they used different methods to kill humans.
Comrades were those that will become zombies after being infected.
Food was those that were unable to become a zombie even after being infected.
But how did they differentiate between those two?
“Whatever, judgments were already made. Because 10 days ago, all the humans were already infected. This infection’s incubation period is very long. If the infected numbers did not reached 7 billion it will not have any effect.”
…That could also mean every human being in the world was infected at the same time with the flu?
“Ah. The viruses are also living things that will do anything to multiply. But due to their structure they are unable to do whatever they want. Due to that they can only multiply in the human body, but because of this multiplication that other human beings will want to destroy them.”
The disease that was spread among humans that will not be able to destroy mankind.
But if it was like that, within 7 days humans will be entirely wiped clean. From the beginning we were just fighting in a world that was going to die.
“The end of the world is only like this. When you noticed that something is wrong it was already too late. 7 billion humans collectively gave up. It was so easy to snatch the world.”
So from the beginning, Shizune Seo and her friends fought and gained friendship within these 7 days were for naught, just like dirt on film.
“_____”
Even though she could not understand the language, but the meaning was conveyed.
Shizune Seo cried while she prayed.
There was a hissing sound.
The glorious sunlight shone at my feet.
As if the monsters that turned into ash in the sunlight, everything turned into dust.
This was also a kind of World End.
I closed my eyes silently.
Chapter 1 END
Originally Posted by You
hope this one gets translated all the way
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