I Am a Genius (2/3)

Skillfully dodging the zombies that roamed the hallways, I continued leading the group, ensuring none of those creatures could attack us. I stopped walking for a moment and noticed some windows were wet, with water running down from the top of the building.

'I guess it's been a while since those two went down,' I thought, seeing how much water had already dripped.

The two looked at me, not understanding why I had suddenly stopped.

"Is something wrong, Elijah-kun?" asked Saeko.

"I just noticed that the windows were wet, nothing serious. Where are we supposed to go again?"

"We need to go to the teacher's lounge to get the key to my car so we can escape from here," Shizuka answered confidently.

We continued walking to the staircase leading to the first floor, where the teachers' lounge was located. As we descended the stairs, Shizuka's heel slipped, and she fell towards me. Trying to save the blonde, I caught her, which made me lose my balance and start to fall as well.

"Holy shi-!" I yelled before tumbling down the rest of the steps.

Shizuka got up, sitting on my lap, as I had absorbed all the impact she was unharmed, unlike me.

"S-Sorry Elijah-chan, thank you for holding me," said the woman, embarrassed.

"I-It was nothing," I replied with some difficulty before getting up.

Saeko laughed at the comical situation and helped me to stand up, Shizuka began to check if my bandages were still in place and we continued to descend the rest of the flights of stairs.

"You said you are a transfer student, Elijah-kun," commented Saeko.

"That's right."

"Transferred from where? If I may ask."

"I came from the USA, lived in Ohio before moving to my cousin's house here in Japan," I answered.

To avoid suspicion, I told some truths along with the script created to insert me into this world. Seeing Saeko nodding as if she agreed with something, I believe my tactic worked.

"That explains your appearance, your Japanese is very good by the way, you have no accent, Elijah-kun."

"Thank you!" I thanked her with a smile.

'System, I hadn't stopped to think about it, but how am I talking to them if I don't know Japanese?!'

[System]: Because of me, of course ;). I made you capable of understanding and speaking the language of this conjunction. You don't need to thank me, Elijah-chan.

'Your nicknames just get worse'

"T-They are there!" warned Shizuka, pointing up the stairs.

"It seems they followed the noise," commented Saeko, drawing her wooden sword.

"I-I'm sorry," said the embarrassed blonde as she rubbed her fingers together.

Saeko began to walk towards the creatures with a bloodthirsty look while trying to contain the sadistic smile that threatened to form on her face. The girl skillfully leaped over the flight of stairs, delivering a brutal blow to the first zombie; the poor creature collapsed lifeless on the steps. Like a beast, Saeko continued to kill the small group of zombies while a light transparent aura hovered around her.

'What is that aura?' I asked the system.

[System]: That aura appears when someone is close to awakening, Eli-sama.

'Awakening what?'

[System]: Innate Magic, with it, it's possible to access the fundamental elements that make up Mana, allowing one to cast spells and other less relevant things for now, Eli-sama.

'Hmm, I see. I can't wait to awaken my magic,' I thought with an excited smile on my face.

With her face slightly stained with blood, Saeko returned to us after having dealt with the zombies.

"You have some blood," I commented before using my uniform sleeve to clean her cheek.

"T-Thank you," Saeko thanked me, a bit shyly.

I looked at my map and located the teachers' lounge; we were very close to it, so I felt a bit more relaxed. Hirano came to mind; at this moment, he must be with Takagi as they move towards the teachers' lounge as well. If all goes well, we'll meet there.

—AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

A female scream sounded close by; by its pitch and direction, it apparently came from the teachers' lounge. I couldn't be wrong; that scream was definitely Takagi's.

'With things being so unpredictable, I fear something bad might happen,' I thought as I ran towards the scream.

Saeko and Shizuka followed me running; down the hallway, I could see several dead zombies with a nail driven into their temples, surely the work of Kohta. A group of zombies became visible further ahead, along with a huge creature, its clothes torn due to its disproportionate size.

"That fat zombie is going to be a problem, Elijah-kun," said Saeko, reaching my side.

"~Pant Pant~ W-Wait for me, you two!" shouted Shizuka, panting as she ran right behind us.

[DANGER! A HUGE AMOUNT OF MANA HAS BEEN DETECTED!]

After the system's alert and my senses screaming about the danger of advancing, I stopped running abruptly while my expression hardened. We were too far to go back to where we came from; the only way was to move forward.

"Saeko-san!" I yelled as I pointed to the stairs that were a bit before where all the zombies were clustered; that place was our only alternative to escape unscathed from what might be coming.

Saeko, who had already noticed the strangeness in the environment thanks to her half-awakened mana, quickly ran with all she had to the stairs.

"~Pant~ Why... did we stop?" asked Shizuka, panting as she leaned on me.

"Excuse me." I picked up the blonde in my arms and started running towards the stairs.

"H-Hey Elijah-chan, what are you doing?! ~Anooo~"

Saeko reached the spot and looked at us, extending her arm to pull us up. When I got close to the staircase, Takagi's furious scream echoed through the place along with a scalding heatwave that came with an explosion.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH ELIJAAAAH!"

At the last second, I managed to grab Saeko's hand and was pulled out of the explosion's reach. Because of the whole desperate situation, the three of us were lying on the staircase.

'Hmm, so soft~', I thought as I felt my face rubbing against something soft.

"~Ummm~ Elijah-chan."

Hearing my name called, I raised my head and realized I had fallen with my face buried in Shizuka's ample bosom. I was a bit embarrassed by the situation and got up. Saeko was the most affected since Shizuka and I had fallen on top of her.

"Are you okay, Saeko?" I extended my hand to help her get up.

"I am, Marikawa-sensei is quite soft so I wasn't hurt."

"S-S-Soft?! W-What are you talking about, Saeko-chan?!"

Anyway, we had escaped the explosion; I imagine it was something caused by Takagi after awakening. I imagine her situation wasn't good at all. I went down the stairs and the smell of burnt flesh flooded my nose; it was terrible enough to make me want to vomit.

The common zombies were all reduced to dust while the big guy was completely burned and slumped against a wall. Some places in the now destroyed environment still had remnants of fire burning.

As I got closer, I could see Takagi lying on the ground with her clothes destroyed by the flames. Further back, Hirano was badly injured while trying to get up; it seems his arm was burned because of the explosion.

"Takagi-san?!", asked a worried voice.

Looking in the direction of the voice, my eyes met with those of Takashi who had come running after hearing the noise. It seems it's time to officially meet the anime's protagonist.