416 Human Nature

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

The night passed peacefully. With her [Magic Power Detection] spread, Elicia finished creating clothes for Saeko, Takashi, Saya, Rei, Shizuka, and Kohta. Then, once all her work was complete, she woke up Alfonzo and went to sleep, allowing him to take over the night watch.

A few hours later, shortly after the sun peeked over the horizon, Alfonzo decided that he would make breakfast for everyone. And like always, he was looking forward to their reactions.

And just as Alfonzo expected, all their reactions were over the top. While Takashi's eyes opened wide before he started shoveling food into his mouth, Kohta started to cry silently as he ate. Meanwhile, Saeko, Saya, Rei, and Shizuka moaned sensually.

Unfortunately, Shizuka's reaction, the most sensual moan he had ever heard in either life, was more than he could handle. On top of that, the way she writhed around and caused her breasts to jiggle forced him to wolf down his food and run to the bathroom to take a cold bath.

"Huh? Is Alfonzo okay?" Shizuka asked innocently. "Does he have a tummy ache?"

That was the last straw for everyone at the table, causing them to laugh uproariously. Everyone except for Kohta, that is. Though, he had started shedding tears when he first started eating, that was only until the ladies started eating, too. And their moans hit Kohta much harder than they Hit Alfonzo. As a result, he was now unconscious with a sloppy smile on his face and covered in blood from his own nosebleed.

Luckily, the clothes Kohta ruined were just the simple clothing Elicia created for him to sleep in. Otherwise, he might have had a very, VERY, bad time if the way Elicia was staring at him, was any indication.

Eventually, breakfast ended, and everyone was ready to complete their tasks for the day. So, as they discussed the night before, Alfonzo led Saeko, Takashi, Saya, and Rei in gaining control of their magic power. Meanwhile, Kohta went out into the backyard to set up targets that Alfonzo made for target practice. Shizuka, on the other hand, cheered for the trainees enthusiastically.

And while Alfonzo was training the others, Elicia ventured out into the town on her own to find survivors, scavenge for food, and exterminate as many zombies as possible, putting extra emphasis on killing the magic power enhanced zombies.

"Ugh! I hate this." Elicia said as she ripped through a small group of zombies with her threads. "They're so gross and they smell so bad. I should have stayed back and trained the others. So what if Fonzie is better at it than me?"

["Stop whining."] Scylla said in an annoyed tone. ["It's not like there's anything you can do about it now. Instead, just focus on the task at hand."]

"I know~~~." Elicia whined.

Despite all her complaints, Elicia had just cleared all the zombies on a street leading to a shop where she could feel several untainted magic power signatures. So, she made her way to the shop to let the occupants know that the street was safe.

*Ring!*

As soon as she opened the door to the shop, Elicia quickly looked over her shoulder when the bell over the door rang.

"*Sigh* I guess that wasn't loud enough to bring any zombies from farther away, right?" Elicia muttered to herself as she turned back to the front. "Hey! is everyone in here okay?"

As soon as the bell rang, Elicia could hear movement from the back of the store. So, she called out. However, even after a few moments, she did not receive a reply.

"Are they hurt?" Elicia thought allowed. "They aren't even moving. On top of that, they're all huddled together."

["Be careful."] Scylla said cautiously. ["Something seems off."]

Nodding in reply, Elicia made her way through the store front slowly. Eventually, she reached the door leading to the back of the store. Then, she carefully placed her ear on the door to see if she could hear what was going on.

A moment later, however, Elicia's expression changed for the worse. Then, she channeled her magic power into her right leg.

*Bang!*

In the next instant, she kicked the door off its hinges. And what she saw was exactly what she was expecting to see.

Currently, there were three men forcing themselves on a silently crying woman. And the lifeless expression she wore caused Elicia to act before her brain could process her actions.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men asked.

"Doesn't matter." A second man said lustfully. "Now we have another--- Argh~~~~~~~~~~!"

Before the second man could finish, Elicia's threads looped around his penis before constricting. As a result, he lost his manhood.

"God damn it!" The third of the men shouted in a panicked tone. "That bitch is a wizard!"

With that, the two unharmed men jumped away from the woman they were violating. Then, they lunged for the weapons they kept nearby.

*Swish!* *Swish!*

Before they could reach them, however, Elicia's threads looped around their wrists and cut off their hands.

"Animals like you three are even worse than the undead roaming around." Elicia said angrily as she stepped forward.

"No, please don't kill us." The first man said as he pushed himself away from Elicia while leaving a pair of bloody trails on the floor.

"Oh, I'm not gonna kill you." Elicia said as she reached the woman's side. "You're not worth the effort."

Then, Elicia kicked the man whose manhood she cut off away from the woman before kneeling down and cradling the woman in her arms.

"Everything's gonna be okay." Elicia said in the most gentle tone she could muster. "I'm gonna get you outta here, okay?"

Instead of responding, the woman turned her head in a certain direction. Following the woman's line of sight, Elicia saw a man's corpse leaning against the wall with a hole in his chest where his heart should have been.

"Was that your husband?" Elicia asked consolingly.

Nodding her head in response, the woman weakly struggled out of Elicia's arms. Then, after a few moments of struggle, she raised herself to her feet.

With wobbly steps, the woman walked over to the weapon, a short sword, the first man to speak lunged for. Then, she lifted it with hatred in her eyes.

"What are you doing?" The first man asked in a fear-filled tone. Then, he turned his head in Elicia's direction. "I thought you said you weren't going to kill us."

"I'm not." Elicia replied plainly. Then she pointed her finger at the irate woman. "She is."

*Thunk!* *Thunk!* *Thunk!*

At that moment, the woman plunged the short sword into the chest of the man in front of her.

"Ahh~~~~~~!" The man screamed in pain and fear. "Please stop! Don't do this to me!"

Instead of listening to the man's plea, however, the woman removed the sword before plunging it into his chest repeatedly, only stopping when the man's eyes lost their light and his screaming stopped.

Then, with wrath in her eyes, the woman slowly walked to the other targets of her revenge and repeated the process.

Eventually, while covered in the blood of those who killed her husband and brutally violated her, the woman raised her head with tears trailing down her cheeks. Then, she turned her head in Elicia's direction while wearing the saddest smile Elicia had ever seen.

"Thank you..." The woman said weakly as she raised the short sword's tip to her throat.

"No, please don't..." Elicia said as she raised her hand in the woman's direction, intending to use her threads to take the sword away.

However, after seeing the look in the woman's eyes, she could not bring herself to do so.

"Now, I can be with him in the afterlife." The woman muttered.

*Thunk!*

Then, she plunged the short sword into her own throat without hesitation. A moment later, with a smile still on her face, the woman fell to the ground as her life slipped away.

Seeing all this, Elicia could only lower her hand slowly as tears welled up in her eyes. Then, without a word, she turned around and left the shop.

"I hope you can be happy in your next life." Elicia said quietly as she stepped past the shop's threshold.

["I know it's sad, Elicia."] Scylla said in a soothing tone. ["But we both know that living would have been even more painful for her."]

"I know." Elicia said as she shot her threads at the top of a nearby building. "That doesn't make it any easier to see, though."

["Yeah, I get it."] Scylla replied.

"But if I ever find out who performed this ritual, I promise they won't die quickly." Elicia said in a much gloomier tone than usual. "I wanna go home. I want a hug from Fonzie."

With that, Elicia swung towards the next untainted magic power signature she could sense.

Hours later, as the sun started to set, Alfonzo, who was overseeing the survivor's magic power control training, felt Elicia flaring her magic power.

*Clap!*

"Alright, let's call it for the day." Alfonzo said after gathering everyone's attention on him with a loud clap. "Lici is calling me. So, I'm gonna go see what she needs. Meanwhile, you guys should get some rest. And remember, don't go outside or do anything too loud. But if you're still feeling restless, it's okay to do some target practice. Those dummies I made absorb sound and all the magic guns have been silenced."

Then, without waiting for a response, Alfonzo ran out of the living room and down the stairs. Not long later, a violet flash lit up the front of the building as Alfonzo flew off in a hurry.

"Hmm... I wonder what that was about?" Rei said as she flopped down on the couch in the living room.

"Elicia must have contacted him somehow." Saeko said. "I mean, he seemed a little worried.

"Either way, I think I'm gonna go practice shooting." Saya said as she walked towards the stairs. "Come teach me how to do it, Fat a--- I mean, Hirano."

"Sure." Kohta said as he stood up and followed Saya.

"I hope Lici is okay." Shizuka said as she looked out a window.

Not long later, Alfonzo landed next to Elicia, who was standing outside a warehouse.

"Lici, what's wrong?" Alfonzo asked as he dispelled the arcs of lightning on his body.

Instead of answering immediately, Elicia flung herself into Alfonzo's arms, making him even more concerned.

"Lici, are you okay?" Alfonzo asked gently as he started combing his fingers through Elicia's hair.

"I hate this quest." Elicia said quietly while burying her face in Alfonzo's chest.

"What happened?" Alfonzo asked.

With that, Elicia told Alfonzo about what happened in the shop she entered earlier. As she did, she tightened her arms around Alfonzo's torso.

"Don't worry, we'll make whoever did this pay." Alfonzo said. "And I have a feeling Junko had something to do with this, too."

"Yeah, but I don't think she actually performed the ritual." Elicia said. "She wouldn't have run away like that if it were her. She would wanna see all the despair she caused."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Alfonzo replied. "Anyway, what happened that you called me out here. I mean, if you just wanted a hug, that's fine, too."

Finally letting a small smile find its way onto her face, Elicia raised her head and looked into Alfonzo's eyes. Then she pointed a finger at the warehouse she was standing in front of.

"All the people I was able to save are in there." Elicia said. "But I can't bring them all back to our base. So, I wanted you to help me make it safer for them to stay here. I've already found them as much food as I could. But I can't do anything about the sounds coming from inside."

"So, you want me to soundproof the place, huh?" Alfonzo asked rhetorically. Then, he released radio waves to map out the building before tapping his right heel on the street as he continued. "Done."

Though it could not be seen from outside, Alfonzo coated all the interior walls, doors, and windows with an ultra-thin layer of sound dampening metal. Though there would still be space for air and sound to enter and exit the building, unless the people inside were deliberately trying to be heard, no one would be able to hear them from outside.

"Thanks, Fonzie." Elicia said before standing on the tips of her toes and pecking Alfonzo on the cheek.

"No problem." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Ready to go back now?"

"Mhmm." Elicia hummed as she nodded.

Then, Alfonzo, with his arms wrapped around Elicia's waste, levitated into the air and started heading back to Rika's apartment. Before they could get halfway to their destination, however, they felt a trio of untainted magic power signatures moving in their direction.

On top of that, though it was not very close, a horde was moving in the same direction. And Alfonzo and Elicia could feel five of the more powerful zombies walking along with the horde.

"Damn, there are people out on the street this late?" Alfonzo muttered.

"Seriously... Things are a lot more dangerous at night." Elicia added. "I mean, just the lowered visibility is bad enough. But then there are those ones that eat other zombies."

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Looks like we're taking a detour on the way back. I mean, we can't just lea---."

"Fonzie?" Elicia asked in a concerned tone, surprised that Alfonzo stopped mid-sentence.

"Damn, I know exactly who they are." Alfonzo said as he sped up. "And if we don't hurry, that little girl is gonna become an orphan."

The reason for Alfonzo's change in atmosphere was because he felt the magic power signatures, a little girl with pink hair and purple eyes, a middle-aged man with brown hair and black eyes, and a white puppy, had stopped.

If that had been all, Alfonzo would not have been bothered. However, he could feel a metal blade approaching the trio. And if things were like they were in the Highschool of the Dead anime/manga, that blade was about to be plunged into the man's chest.

So, without another word, Alfonzo and Elicia disappeared from where they were flying in a flash of violet light.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

At the same time, the brown-haired man, carrying a wrench covered in dried blood in one hand, knocked loudly on the front door of a house.

"All I'm asking is for you to give my little girl a place to stay!" The brown-haired man shouted angrily. "Just open the door. Once you let her in, I'll leave."

"Please, just go away." The voice of a scared man said from the other side of the door.

"If you don't open this door, I'll break it down!" The brown-haired man said as he raised the wrench in his hand.

"Daddy..." The pink-haired little girl said in a scared tone as she tugged on the hem of her father's shirt.

A moment later, before the man could smash the wrench into the door, it opened slightly.

"Good..." The brown-haired man said in a relieved tone as he lowered the wrench in his hand.

Unfortunately, the brown-haired man was relieved a little too soon. Because in the next instant, a knife that had been fastened onto the end of a walking stick shot out of the slightly opened door, aimed at his heart.

"Kya~~~~~~!" The pink-haired little girl screamed in both fear and surprise.

Before the knife could sink into the man's chest, however, it came to a complete and utter stop, thoroughly confusing the brown-haired man, the man in the house, and the pink-haired little girl.

*Flash!*

*Bark!* *Bark!* *Bark!*

In the next instant, everyone present was blinded by a flash of violet light which caused the puppy to start barking in a panic.

"Alright, there's no need for that." Alfonzo, who appeared with the flash, between the brown-haired man and the front door of the house, with Elicia in his arms, said as he tapped a finger on the completely immobilized knife. "Why don't you just take this back and close the door. I'll take them with me."

With that, Alfonzo stopped exerting control over the metal of the knife. Then, the man in the house pulled his makeshift spear back quickly...

*Bang!*

… and slammed the door shut.

Meanwhile, Kohta, who had been watching the entire event through the scope of the magic sniper rifle they found in the safe, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, they saved them." Kohta said, causing Takashi, who was ready to run outside to help the little girl w