Chapter 33 — Zombie Time Is Over!

The lord of Hanabusa, Ryouta, was very much on the side of the Sages that ruled over the majority of the world. But that didn't necessarily mean his opinion of them was very high. The reason was simple — since he considered himself an upright human being, from his perspective the people that worked for the Sages were disgusting. But regardless of what he personally felt, they still came to his city.

Now, one of those unpleasant individuals was casually drinking tea right in front of him. Sitting at a low table, the man wearing a black coat over a bare chest sat with his legs spread wide. His name was Masayuki, attendant to Sage Lain and head of the Immortal Corps.

"What on earth have you done?!" Ryouta made no effort to hide his anger, slamming his hand onto the table. This room was in one of Hanabusa's governmental buildings. While Ryouta had been in here panicking over the sudden emergency outside, the cause of that tragedy had appeared before him.

"Recruiting. Zombies only last for about a day, after all."

"This isn't a joke!"

The vehicles bringing Masayuki's Immortals into Hanabusa were mowing down people in the streets. Attendants of the Sages may have had the right to eliminate anyone who got in the way of their missions, but according to reports, the vehicles were intentionally running on the sidewalks. There was no way to interpret that except as pure spite.

"Why are you even here?! Lady Lain has entrusted the management of this city to me. You have no right to interfere!"

"I'm not feeling all that welcome here. Didn't we survive the same battlefield together?"

"I would hardly say survive. You've been dead for ages, right? So hurry up and start acting like it!"

The two of them shared an unquestionable bond, having fought together during their time as Sage candidates in support of Lain. As such, they had both become her attendants.

"I'm looking for someone and I need your help." Seeing he wasn't getting anywhere by trying to be friendly, Masayuki got straight to the point.

"I refuse!"

"This is an order from Lain. It's not a request."

Ryouta went quiet. If that was true, he really didn't have the option of turning him down.

"I'm looking for two Sage candidates."

"Then ask the Sage in charge of them!"

"Well, about that. These two are defective candidates who never even had the Gift installed. So we don't have a way to trace them."

"So what? Why would I know where they are? There are plenty of otherworlders in Hanabusa."

"Of course, I know you don't restrict who comes and goes from the city. I don't expect you to know where they are either."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"What I want is help from the people of the city. We're hunting a pair of otherworlders. They've got to be hiding here somewhere."

"Hold on. You make it sound like you're not even sure if they are in the city." Ryouta felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn't believe that. There was no way Masayuki would be prepared to hunt down all the otherworlders in the city if he didn't have proof that they were actually here.

"There was a train accident nearby. We're pretty sure they were on board. So thinking about it logically, it makes sense that they'd go to the closest city, right?"

"That's the best you have?!"

"Hey, this is all on Lain's orders. She told us to get rid of Yogiri Takatou and Tomochika Dannoura. I'll do whatever it takes to get that done."

"So what do you mean about having the people cooperate with you?"

"The Immortals have already been deployed. They're waiting for my signal to attack Hanabusa."

Ryouta went stiff. Masayuki said he was hunting for two people, so why would he attack the residents of the city? He didn't understand what that would accomplish.

"Hey now," his colleague continued, "if we just politely ask them to help us look, we won't get anywhere. We've gotta make it a life or death struggle for them, or they won't take it seriously, will they? Basically, we're going to say that if they don't find those two, we'll wipe out the city."

"Are you crazy?! Who the hell would help you after an ultimatum like that?!"

"It's not like we're going to ask them to search while the undead are terrorizing the city. The threat is plenty clear by now, so I'll pull them back for a bit. That should be enough to get the locals excited about helping out, don't you think?"

This was all just a game to him. Masayuki was using Lain's orders as an excuse to send the Immortal Corps on a rampage, nothing more. Ryouta bit his lip in frustration. No matter how absurd the situation was, no matter how meaningless of an atrocity it would be, as an order from Sage Lain, he had no way of resisting it.

"So hurry up and give me the key to the barrier."

"What is Lady Lain doing now?"

The barrier around Hanabusa had been set up by Lain herself, and control over it was entrusted to Ryouta. The key was a symbol of that trust. With the key in hand, one could remove the barrier, strengthen it, or limit the Gifts of those who had inherited from the Sages. It wasn't something he could hand over so easily.

"Lain is off wiping Santarou's ass for him. His territory borders hers, so she's probably fairly close by. What, you can't hand it over without her permission? Don't worry about it. This is all on Lain's orders, remember?"

Even Masayuki couldn't possibly be lying about what his instructions were. Taking out the key, Ryouta reluctantly handed it over.

"Dammit! Do you have any idea how much work I've put into this city?!"

Once the Immortals moved into action, there was no way they'd stop at just searching. Visions of Hanabusa in ruins came to his mind unbidden. All he could do now was pray that they found who they were looking for as soon as possible.

Taking the key from Ryouta's hand, Masayuki stood up. "City building sims have plenty of disasters in them, right? I'm sure one of them is a zombie attack. Starting all over is part of the fun!" Stepping close, he casually patted Ryouta on the shoulder. "That said, once the genre shifts to Survival Horror, your political cheats might not help all that much!"

"This is the worst. Why did something like this have to happen..." Ryouta hung his head. His dream of building a city of one million people was crumbling before his eyes.

◇ ◇ ◇

As the two of them stared at the hellscape before them, Yogiri was the first to regain his composure.

"They seem pretty slow. If we're careful, we can probably make it out of the city."

The things attacking the people around them were monsters, probably something like living dead or zombies. Individually, they didn't seem all that strong, but the fear they inspired was enough to throw the streets into chaos.

Monsters were a part of this world, so the existence of the undead was common knowledge. But even so, seeing a moving corpse right in front of you instinctively triggered a sense of fear. On top of that, cities protected by the Sages' barriers should have been perfectly safe from all outside enemies. For most of the city's residents, who had lived their lives entirely in peace, the sudden appearance of such creatures was something they couldn't possibly respond well to.

"Shouldn't we help them?"

"We could save like one or two people, but I don't think there's much we can do to save a whole city in a situation like this."

While Tomochika felt guilty about fleeing a city under attack, Yogiri had no obligation to protect a place that he had only just visited for the first time.

Indeed, it would be best not to get too involved. Let us escape with all haste.

As the three of them made to leave the area, a loud voice suddenly filled the air.

"Zombie time is over!"

The crackling words sounded like a public broadcast of some sort. As if that voice had been a signal, the zombies immediately stopped moving.

"Can everyone hear me? All right, people of Hanabusa. My name is Masayuki. I'm an attendant of Sage Lain and the leader of the Immortal Corps. I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but this whole situation is my doing."

The broadcast paused for a short while. With the city still in a state of chaos, he must have been waiting for things to calm down a little.

"Anyway, why the hell am I doing this? I'm gonna explain, so listen up. I want you to help me find some people. We're looking for a boy named Yogiri Takatou and a girl named Tomochika Dannoura. Both of them are about seventeen and as Japanese as it gets. Bring them to the central square, dead or alive, doesn't matter. Of course, none of you would help just because I asked nicely, right? So I figured I'd give you a taste of what'll happen if you don't. Find them quick, or the zombie apocalypse will continue!"

"Is this guy for real?!" Tomochika sounded irate.

"He does seem kind of off in the head, doesn't he?"

"I'm sure some of you have already tried, but you can't leave the city. We've changed the barrier to not let anyone through. We've also made it so that anyone who dies in the city will join the undead. The Immortal Corps is always recruiting, you know? Man or woman, young or old, we're happy to have you!"

"So...eventually everyone here will be turned into a zombie if they don't find us," Yogiri mused, "meaning the Sages will eventually get their way. But there's still a problem with that."

It was an effective strategy if they knew for sure that Yogiri and Tomochika were actually in the city. But without proof, it was nothing but pure insanity.

"Ah, right, right, the cheat that all those otherworlders have has been turned off, too. So this is also your chance to get back at those arrogant bastards. Buuuut, in one hour, the Immortal Corps starts their rampage again! So get moving while you're still alive!"

"Well, what do we do now?" Tomochika turned to Yogiri, perplexed by these developments.

"There's really nothing to do but run away, right?"

The people who had barricaded themselves inside of buildings were surging out onto the streets. Even those who had been doing their best to fight off the zombies outside were suddenly desperately looking around. Pushed into a corner by the threat of the undead, the residents of Hanabusa began a crazed search for any otherworlders they could find.

"Uh, this could actually be worse than the zombies."

There was no way they could stay hidden on the main streets. So they jumped back into the alleyway behind them.

 ◇ ◇ ◇

"There's a Japanese person here!"

"This one's got black hair, take them too!"

The city had devolved into a true witch hunt. The zombie attack had struck fear into the hearts of the residents, driving them to round up anyone who even slightly resembled the characteristics mentioned.

Yogiri and Tomochika continued to walk through the back alleys. They hadn't been spotted yet, but there was no way they could remain hidden in such an obvious place. If the whole city was looking for them, it was only a matter of time before they were found.

"So what should we do?" Yogiri asked. "Even if we get out of here, the capital is kind of far to walk."

"And I'm sure the train station won't be any better than the rest of the city."

When they had decided to run from Yuuki, their objective had been to take the train to the capital. But now the situation had completely changed.

Yogiri thought for a moment. "If they've closed off the town, the train probably isn't running. And anyway, we'd be caught instantly if we tried."

"Why are they after us in the first place?"

"Probably because I killed that Sage. I guess we won't be able to get by peacefully in this world after all." Killing the Sage had been entirely in self-defense, but it was starting to look like it would cause problems for them in the future anyway. "I guess this is what happens when I use my power so recklessly." Although he said it, there was no regret in his voice. "For now, we should try to get out of the city unseen, but that looks like it'll be difficult."

While there were certainly a significant number of Japanese people in Hanabusa, the pair of them still stood out. As Yogiri tried to think of a way to move without being seen, they suddenly lost the need for stealth.

"Over here! More Japanese kids!" A group of armed men started piling into the alleyway from the street. They were all soaked in blood. Whether it was their own blood or not, they had clearly become involved in some sort of violence. Yogiri had been hiding specifically to avoid this type of situation, but all his efforts had now been put to waste.

"Die."

In response to the mob's clear intent to kill them, he unleashed his power. The men collapsed to the ground instantly. But with their position revealed, more people had already begun to gather.

"Did they do this thinking I wouldn't kill random civilians? That's kind of irritating."

Even if they were being manipulated, the locals had decided on their own to attack innocent people. But while Yogiri felt no guilt over taking revenge, he definitely preferred to avoid killing those who weren't involved as much as possible. His irritation with the person who had set all these events in motion began to grow.