Reuniting With A Familiar Face

"I'm sorry... who are you?"

The woman immediately took the lead as she carried Kazuichi. She never introduced herself, and Tris was still trying to understand the situation and she was just as speechless.

Something about the woman didn't smell right, but Tris couldn't really make heads or tails of it. Then again, she was fairly certain that the woman intended to help, that's why she didn't stop her from taking over and assisting Kazuichi.

When they got back to the makeshift campfire, Amaya was surprised that there was another woman with them. Moreover, the woman was carrying Kazuichi in a princess carry. It was a pretty bizarre sight for Amaya since she knew that a princess carry was only for girls.

Meanwhile, Kazuichi constantly slipped in and out of consciousness, trying to take control of his body and endure the pain he felt in every millimeter of his body. He wanted to scream again, but he knew that doing so would be a bad idea.

Up to this point, he had no idea that a woman was actually princess-carrying him. Had he known, he'd have woken up in an instant and bolted upright even though he was fighting deadly torture.

Gently, the woman set Kazuichi down, letting him rest on her lap as Tris handed her a wet towel. The woman proceeded to wipe Kazuich's sweat with her own towel before putting the other wet towel on his forehead. A grunt came out of Kazuichi's mouth, and the woman patted Kazuichi on the shoulders as if she was trying to calm him down.

"There there," The woman cooed, causing Tris to feel a bit weirded out. Then again, she was probably more jealous than awkward right at that moment. To her, she should be the one nursing Kazuichi back to health. This woman just had to steal her spot at such a convenient time.

"You're Triciana, right? Karuizawa Triciana. And I assume this little girl's Karuizawa Amaya, right?" The woman called out. "I heard the two of you had been traveling with Kazuichi together, I can't believe I'd run into you here of all places."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Tris just had to forcefully ask since the woman still hasn't introduced herself.

Judging from her looks, she appeared to be a foreigner. And yet, her Japanese was pretty fluent, which was odd in its own right. And how was she related to Kazuichi? Were they lovers? It seemed like it.

Tris felt like shaking Kazuichi awake to ask what was going on, but right now wasn't the opportune moment for such thoughtless actions. Trying to maintain her composure, she waited for the woman's reply.

"I'm Kamigawa Arisu." She simply introduced herself. "I'm currently the acting head of the Kazuichi Stronghold."

"The what?" Tris asked. This was the first time she heard about a stronghold named after Kazuichi. Also, why would someone with a high position in a stronghold wander around in a place like this?

"Kazuichi is the leader of that stronghold. I'm just standing in ever since he disappeared." Arisu explained the distant memory of Kazuichi's kidnapping replayed in her mind, causing her to wallow in her own weakness back then.

Since then, she believed that Kazuichi was alive. However, she wasn't sure just yet. There were rumors about Kazuichi here and there, and she hoped to believe all of them.

That's why she went out of her way to look for him after all these months. Currently, the person looking after the Kazuichi Stronghold was none other than Jurou.

Before the apocalypse, he was Kazuichi's butler or something like a personal bodyguard. That's why Arisu didn't think twice about leaving the place under him for a temporary period of time.

Initially, Arisu didn't believe his claims about his relationship with Kazuichi. But over the month, he gained Arisu's trust by assisting her in the stronghold. He was also the person who was monitoring Kazuichi's movements for the past few weeks. If it weren't for him, Arisu wouldn't have been able to locate Kazuichi.

"Wait, Kazuichi is a stronghold leader?" Tris was dumbfounded. This was the first time she heard about this fact. Kazuichi never mentioned anything about it.

"Technically... but he's also oblivious to the fact. The truth is..."

When Jurou reported to her, he relayed that Amaya and Tris had been Kazuichi's companions ever since he escaped the Zombie Hunters. That's why she concluded that these two were trustworthy.

Furthermore, she was also aware that these two owe their lives to Kazuichi, just like she did, so there was no way they'd ever betray him.

"... the truth is... he's actually pretty rich. And he owned a very huge plot of land. That land had become a settlement for survivors, infected and uninfected alike. I didn't want to drive them out. Besides, they were self-sufficient... it's pretty noisy though so it's a bit uncomfortable for someone like me." Arisu continued.

"I see." Tris had no idea what Arisu was implying. She just assumed that Arisu was allergic to noises. "And before you knew it, the entire place had become a stronghold? Is it a formidable stronghold or just a gathering of survivors? If someone were to raid the place, will it survive?"

Somehow, Tris believed everything that Arisu said. After all, Kazuichi was at ease around her. If she was an enemy, then Kazuichi's instincts as a Hybrid should've kicked in by now no matter how weak he was. He'd have struggled away from her if need be.

"That's the problem. A lot of groups had already tried to raid us. Fortunately, we were able to defend ourselves every single time. We get attacked every day... do the other strongholds experience something like that?" Arisu genuinely asked.

At her casual comment, Tris let out a soft gasp as her jaws dropped to the floor. Surviving an attack from another group or stronghold just once is already a spectacular feat. And now Arisu was telling her that they get attacked every day? And they manage to survive all attacks?

If that were true, then the Kazuichi Stronghold is probably the strongest settlement to ever exist. This time, Tris had a hard time believing Arisu's ridiculous statement.

—

—

"Ughhhhh~" Their conversation was briefly interrupted by Kazuichi's groan. As if on cue, he woke up, only to find that he was resting on someone's lap.

"Eh?!"