High School Girl Warrior: How to Save an Apocalyptic World - CH 30

Chapter 30 – Adult Work

“There’s a small truck that I’ve been eyeing, it’s probably abandoned. Let’s secure it first, then stop at the back gate of the convenience store, put as many supplies inside it as we can, then return to the school. If there are too many undead gathering, then we go to the convenience store on another day, is this alright?” Mr. Norio asked us when we were about to leave the school. We all nodded to his suggestion, as it seemed pretty sensible.

Seeing that we had no objections, he continued, “Also, Mr. Asada, here.” He took out a pistol and gave it to the surprised Mr. Asada, “Mr. Kobayakawa gave it to me, but I don’t know how to shoot. You’re from the police, aren’t you?”

“Oh… Well, yes, but I was in the general affairs section, so in all honesty, I’m not very used to wielding one.” Mr. Asada said as he looked at the gun.

“Should still be better than me anyways.” Mr. Norio said.

“… Alright.” Mr. Asada picked up the gun after saying this.

“Though do remember that the gunshots attract the undead, so use it more as a last resort.” Mr. Norio said this then.

As we heard their conversation, Asuka whispered to Kousuke, “Your dad is really cool, you know? He looks like one of those really tough novel protagonists.”

Kousuke just groaned at hearing this.

… Coming to think of it though, Mr. Norio said he wouldn’t stay here for long, but now he was participating in this operation to secure supplies. Did Kousuke convince him to stay? I don’t know if this is why, but there seems to be a real tension between the two of them.

“Mr. Asada and I will go secure the truck. Then, we’ll drive to the convenience store and the rest of you can work on getting the supplies. That’s it. No need to overdo it though, the store is nearby, so in the worst case scenario we can always try again later by doing multiple trips.” Mr. Norio said.

“About that…” I raised my hand, “May I accompany you two? Just in case.” I asked them.

Mr. Norio laughed at my comment, “I don’t need the protection of girls and children.”

Ah… That’s no good. This is a total death flag. This is definitely the kind of comment that would lead to him dying.

“Dad!” Kousuke exclaimed.

Father and son stared at each other for a small second, which seemed to let them reach some sort of agreement, as Mr. Norio said, “… Alright.” giving up on his previous position.

I didn’t understand why that single word from Kousuke was enough to persuade him, but it’s better like this.

That said, the area we’re going to should be relatively safe, so we probably won’t face any big threats… Though it’s no good to relax. Zombies are too dangerous after all.

It may feel like a walk in the park to me right now, but I still have to take them seriously.

Like this, me, Mr. Asada and Mr. Norio left the school and walked towards the location where the truck was spotted.

It didn’t take long for us to spot the first zombie.

“I’ll take care of it.” Mr. Norio said as he held a shovel in his arms.

“Want me to bait it?” I asked him.

“No need.” He replied, then quickly jumped towards the zombie and smashed its head with the shovel.

Oh, nicely done.

“I wasn’t planning on saying this in front of her, but… Mr. Asada, this is the kind of work that should be done by adult men. It’s too irresponsible for you to be leaving this kind of thing to children.” Mr. Norio said.

… What an annoying topic to choose.

“… It’s not as if we haven’t had those thoughts ourselves. It’s a topic of discussion that came up a few times, but…” Mr. Asada started saying, but Mr. Norio cut him off.

“What you’re doing is basically like strangling a fish you just caught… You ever went fishing?” Mr. Norio suddenly asked in a weird change of topics.

“No…” Mr. Asada replied.

“What a pity. You’re losing the best enjoyment life can offer.” Mr. Norio said.

… Asuka was right. He is like those tough protagonists alright… And he shares all of their annoying traits too.

Either way, he did seem to know how to take care of himself at least, so I wondered if my presence here was really necessary.

But just as I wondered that, Mr. Norio said, “The truck is just ahead, so… Ah, damn it.”

Five zombies were in our way. The truck seemed to be just after them.

“There are too many of them. We might need to rethink our strategy.” Mr. Norio said.

At this point, I was a little conflicted.

I wouldn’t have much trouble getting rid of five zombies at my current state, but I was unsure if it was a good idea to show off right now. Mr. Norio didn’t seem to have a good impression of me, and it would probably get worse if I was too flashy. It might be a better idea to let him recognize my prowess with the sword little by little.

However… He did also say that there are more monsters than just zombies in this city. In that case, the demerit of holding back and coming here another time is bigger than the merit gained from trying to increase my favorability with him.

It can’t be helped, “I’ll go.” I said.

“He-hey, wait, you!” Mr. Norio said that, but I ignored him and unsheathed my katana.

Then, I ran towards the zombies and did a quick horizontal slash, cutting two heads in half. A vertical slash took care of the next one, and the last two were taken care of by two stabs.

It took less than five seconds total. It’s not too had after all, is it?

While thinking that, I looked back towards Mr. Norio and Mr. Asada with a smug… Though I only kept it for a second, then started wiping out the blood from my sword, and sheathed it after that.

“Ah…  Ah…” Mr. Norio was flabbergasted and didn’t seem to know what to say.

“About what you were saying before, Mr. Norio… I think you can now understand why we have been relying on her.” Mr. Asada commented.

“Let’s… Let’s hurry… Before the undead, or worse, gathers.” Mr. Norio said, ignoring Mr. Asada’s comment.