Several tens of minutes later
Nis.h.i.+no and his company arrived safely at the city hall.
(It"s amazing…)
The first thing he noticed was the huge barricade. Made of cars, chairs, tables, and other things gathered together, the barricade surrounded the city hall and was solidified with soil.
The barricade"s height was tall enough, and there were holes dug on the ground here and there. It was enough to function as defense against even monsters.
(It would"ve been impossible to build this with human hands alone…)
It was still the fifth day since the world started overflowing with monsters. Even if they started building the barricade from day one, it was still impossible to build such a brilliant defense structure in five days. All things considered, there was only one possibility.
(Was it made with some type of skill…?)
Nis.h.i.+no was reminded of the twin siblings of President Igaras.h.i.+. They had skills which allowed them to create fire and rock from their hands. It wouldn"t be unusual if there was someone that had the skill to manipulate the soil.
"Hey, we"re back!"
Fujita who was at the very front waved his hand. Then, Nis.h.i.+no saw the figure of someone at the rooftop of the office building waving in response. That seemed to be some type of signal.
"Okay, let"s go in."
(The place seems larger than expected.)
While thinking about such things, Nis.h.i.+no and the others stepped into the City Hall. After pa.s.sing through the barricades, they were at a wide parking lot. However, there were no cars. Instead, there were temporary tents and toilets that had been built.
From the corner of his sight, he saw men with weapons that were patrolling.
"Okay, we should be safe around here."
Fujita claimed while lighting a cigarette. With that, the men around him dropped down from where they stood.
"I"m tired."
"I can"t do this anymore…"
"Really, my battery runs out so fast now that I"m old."
"Are we getting paid for working overtime?"
"Of course not, hahahaha."
They were laughing and chatting, but they must have been exhausted. There were signs of fatigue on their face. Well, the same could be said with Nis.h.i.+no and his companions. Speaking truthfully, even standing was difficult.
The same was true for s.h.i.+bata and Goshogawara who were standing behind him.
In fact, Goshogawara was muttering with a pale expression.
"Haaa… haaa…. logs…"
It was dangerous is another sense.
(But we shouldn"t put our guard down just yet…)
Despite having received their help, Nis.h.i.+no didn"t trust them yet. He also had to meet his other friends and contact Rikka.
(First of all, I should contact my friends with "Mail". Or should I first check the mail list and confirm these people"s names? There"s also the thing about contacting Rikka… Ah s.h.i.+t. I can"t organize my thoughts.)
Fatigue and vigilance hindered him from thinking clearly. His vision was blurry, and it felt like he could fall down any moment and fall asleep.
When he arrived at this thought, he saw someone approaching them from the entrance of a building. It was a woman who appeared to be a secretary wearing suits and gla.s.ses. Her face would have been beautiful if not for the bags under her eyes and the sense of tiredness that she was exuding.
"Oh, s.h.i.+mizu-chan. Good work."
While frowning for a moment at Fujita smoking, the woman called s.h.i.+mizu immediately smiled.
"Thank you, Fujitsan. How was the result this time?"
"We killed quite a few monsters. There were twelve ants, three goblins, and five zombies. We had all their magic stones put into this plastic bag. This other bag contains food and daily necessities. We borrowed them from several untouched convenience stores and shops."
"Thanks. I"ll bring a utility dolly later on. Oh, and tell me which convenience stores you visited. I"ll ask other people to go there later as well."
She grabbed the convenience store bag with magic stones. The food would be carried away later on. Looking at the magic stones inside the bag, she smiled.
"It"s quite an amount. You really worked hard this time. Well then, I"ll hand these over to the mayor. There should be another level up with these."
"Yes, please do that. If it works, the range would increase and more facilities might become available. What happened to the others that went on an exploration?" (TN: Don"t know what range he"s talking about. Might be the range of exploration.)
"Ikedkun"s group and Outkun"s group have returned, but Kamome-ch--Nijou-san"s group hasn"t come back yet. She said she would go near the beach. Since it"s her we"re talking about, there shouldn"t be anything to worry about…"
"I see… Sorry for asking for so many things the moment we came back."
"That"s what we should be saying. It was our side that intruded upon you guys. I"ll help as much as you need… Oh? And who are these?"
Her eyes land on Nis.h.i.+no"s group. She finally realized their presence. Nis.h.i.+no and his group readied themselves. Looking at them, Fujita smiled bitterly.
"As you can see, they"re a group composed of students and an ossan. They came under our protection while we were coming here.
"Really… it must have been tough on you all. You guys did well surviving. You guys are safe here."
s.h.i.+mizu approached Nis.h.i.+no and gently stroked his head.
"Ah…"
Nis.h.i.+no and s.h.i.+bata were surprised by her gesture. Her actions were sincere, without any hidden motives like President Igaras.h.i.+. Her sincerity was transmitted to them. Their face turned red.
They were high school students undergoing p.u.b.erty. The maternity of the older woman easily melted their brains.
"Iya, it must be nice to be young…"
The middle-aged man, Goshogawara Hachiro (Age 55), commented while staring at the two from the side. His principle was "only women that has pa.s.sed her fortieth birthday".
"Also, s.h.i.+mizu-san, they all got proper skills you know?"
"Eh? For real?"
"Well, yeah…"
Nis.h.i.+no responded. There wasn"t a point of hiding that. Then, s.h.i.+mizu held onto his shoulders firmly. Eh? What is it? That was his initial response.
"…. Captured new supply of labor force."
Eh? What did she just say? Her eyes were kind of scary.
"We welcome you with open arms. Welcome to the City Hall."
"Ah, yes…"
He nodded for the time being.
"Now, this isn"t the place to talk. Why not get inside for now? We also got to explain what kind of a place this is."
"You"re right."
"Well then, the three of you, follow us."
Led by s.h.i.+mizu and Fujita, the trio went inside the City Hall.
The inside was much more organized than he expected. The people were also more likely and more controlled than the school.
"Sit however you want."
Entering the reception room, Nis.h.i.+no and co sat on the sofa.
"We would like to serve tea, but the situation is the situation. Please understand our predicament."
"No, it"s fine."
Drinking water was precious. Nis.h.i.+no fully understood that they can"t be wasted.
"It helps that you understand."
"You"re quite well-mannered for what your appearance would suggest."
In response to s.h.i.+mizu"s comment, Nis.h.i.+no replied saying, "I"ve been told the same thing just before."
Afterwards, they formally introduced themselves again before Fujita went straight into the core of the issue.
"Now then, I"ll be straightforward about this. Nis.h.i.+no-kun, s.h.i.+batkun, Goshogawarsan. Do you guys have any thoughts about acting alongside us?"
The question was just about what Nis.h.i.+no expected it to be. As such, his answer was also what he already planned out.
"Of course we do. We were saved from a dangerous situation, and it would be relieving to have such powerful men such as you guys move together with us."
"Is it? That"s good to hear."
"However… we were separated from our allies along the way, so I was hoping you guys would a.s.sist us with finding them…"
"Ah, but of course. Our side would also want to have more people with us."
"Thank you."
Nis.h.i.+no lowered his head. Fujita tried to stop him from doing so while lighting his tobacco. He also asked if Goshogawara wanted one, but the latter refused saying that he didn"t smoke.
"Now, where should we start… Right. We should start with the most important thing."
While blowing out, Fujita said,
"First and foremost, monsters don"t attack here."
"Eh?"
For a moment, Nis.h.i.+no didn"t comprehend what was just said.
"What do you mean?"
He asked honestly.
"It means what you think it means. This place, the City Hall, is a "Safe Zone" where monsters don"t invade."
Learning about this information, the trio went silent for a good 10 seconds before crying out in shock.