The Shopping Outlet

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

About an hour and forty minutes later, two magic vehicles, the Escalade and the Humvee pulled up to the primary school. A moment later, Alfonzo, Elicia, Takashi, Rei, Shizuka, Kohta, Kenji, Alice, and Zeke climbed out of the two vehicles. Then, before anyone could say a word, Takashi took off towards the primary school's gates.

Having closed the gates on the way out, Alfonzo could only smile wryly at Takashi's enthusiasm. Though, he could understand how the guy was feeling. So, he wasted no time manipulating the gate with his [Metal Magic] to open it before Takashi arrived.

Turning his head to nod at Alfonzo in appreciation, Takashi continued running through the, now, open gates. Then, as soon as he reached the school's front entrance, he pulled the door open with force.

"Mom! Are you okay?" Takashi shouted as soon as the door was open.

At the same time, Sayuri, who was helping Saeko, Saya, and a few other staff members hand out meals, looked towards the door.

"Takashi!" Sayuri shouted as she dropped the serving spoon in her hand.

Then, without minding the child who was waiting for a serving of the vegetables in the pan she was serving from, Sayuri sprinted towards her son.

"I'm so happy you're alright!" Sayuri shouted as she wrapped her arms around Takashi with tears in her eyes. "I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you, too."

In this world, Takashi's father was a knight. Unfortunately, during a magic beast subjugation mission, he lost his life, leaving the mother and son alone. However, thanks to the pension received after his death, Takashi and Sayuri were able to live in relative comfort for the past year and a half.

"I'm glad you're okay, too, Mom." Takashi replied as he wrapped his arms around his mother, as well. "I was so worried about you when this all started. I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."

"No, it's okay." Sayuri replied. "It was too dangerous to be moving around. We're just lucky your friends and Mr. Marcus found us."

"Yeah, I'm glad they came, too." Takashi said. "If Alfonzo and Elicia hadn't come, I probably would have died on the first day."

Hearing that, Sayuri separated herself from Takashi to look into his eyes with a shocked expression.

"What happened?" Sayuri asked.

"It's because of that asshole, Shido." Takashi said through gritted teeth.

Then, after getting that out, Takashi proceeded to tell his mother everything he had experienced since the zombies first showed up.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Elicia, Rei, Shizuka, Kohta, Kenji, Alice, and Zeke had finally arrived at the front of the school.

"Alright, Shizuka, you should go check everyone and make sure they're okay." Alfonzo said as they all entered the school.

"Roger." Shizuka said while saluting. Then, she let a silly smile creep onto her face as she continued. "I sounded like a knight, just like Rika."

A moment later, before anyone could comment, Shizuka ran past Sayuri and Takashi and made her way over to the survivors. Meanwhile, Sayuri, who just realized Takashi did not come alone, looked towards the door to see who else had entered.

"Rei!" Sayuri exclaimed happily as she let go of Takashi. "You're safe, too. I'm so glad."

"Thanks, Mrs. Komuro." Rei replied with a smile as Sayuri wrapped her in a hug.

Then, while the two women greeted each other and talked about what they had experienced, Alfonzo, Elicia, Kohta, and Kenji went to help where they could with the children and staff. Meanwhile, Alice and Zeke went off to play with the kids, hoping to lift their spirits.

Eventually, everyone was checked for any injuries and fed. Then, Alfonzo and Elicia separated from the rest of the group.

"We still need to take a trip to Takagi mansion." Alfonzo said.

"Okay, take Saya and whoever else you want to take and go ahead." Elicia said with a smile.

"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a nod and a smile of his own. "As for you, I think you should take a couple people and head to that big shopping outlet Ms. Miyamoto was talking about. These people are gonna need more food if they wanna eat regularly."

"No problem." Elicia replied with a nod, her expression turning solemn. "I think I'll take Kohta and Rei. I'd take Takashi, too. But he just found his mother. So, I'll give them a little more time to catch up."

"Sounds good to me." Alfonzo replied. "And be careful, I know you can feel that horde that's going towards Takagi mansion. Just don't let them discover you or follow you back here."

"I know, Fonzie." Elicia said while rolling her eyes with a smile. "I got this."

"Sorry… I know." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "It's just something seems off about that horde. On top of growing as time passes, there are an abnormally high number of magically enhanced zombies, too."

"Yeah, plus it seems like their following a magic vehicle. "But the people in the magic vehicle don't seem to be in a hurry to get away."

"Yeah, that's bothering me, too." Alfonzo said with a frown.

"Don't worry, I promise I'll be careful." Elicia said as she raised up on her tip toes and pecked Alfonzo on the lips. "For now, just worry about uniting Saya with her family."

"Yeah, I know you're right." Alfonzo replied as he pecked Elicia on the lips in return. "Alright, we'll get going. See you later tonight."

"Yeah, see ya." Elicia replied.

With that, Alfonzo and Elicia separated. Then, they both gathered the members of their groups to complete their tasks.

Eventually, with Saeko and Saya, Alfonzo drove the Humvee towards the Takagi mansion while following Saya's directions.

Meanwhile, Elicia took Rei and Kohta with her to gather supplies for themselves and those staying at the primary school. In fact, it was probable that Alfonzo and Elicia's group would more than likely take up residence at the school to protect the children after today.

"So, what kind of stores are there in this shopping outlet?" Elicia asked while driving the Escalade.

"All kinds." Rei replied from the passenger seat. "Everything from clothing stores, to hardware stores, to grocery stores are in that outlet."

"I wonder if we'll find other survivors hold up in there." Kohta wondered aloud.

"Oh, we definitely will." Elicia said with a nod. "I can sense around twenty people hiding in there."

"I wanna learn how to do that." Kohta muttered.

"If you join Fairy Tail, it wouldn't be a problem teaching you." Elicia said with a smile.

"Speaking of joining Fairy Tail, what's it like being part of the kingdom's strongest guild?" Rei asked curiously.

"Well, there's never a boring day at Fairy Tail." Elicia said with a wry smile. "Quests, comrades, and fights are what you can look forward to with Fairy Tail."

"Fights?" Rei and Kohta asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, brawls happen at least four times a---" Elicia said, happily explaining what life in Fairy Tail was like until she suddenly closed her mouth and swerved the Escalade.

"*Screech!*

*Bang!*

A moment later, the sound of a gun was heard. On top of that, there was a small crater in the street, as well.

"What the hell was that?" Rei asked warily.

"Someone with a sniper rifle shot at us." Kohta replied as he took hold of the magic sniper rifle, they found in Rika's bedroom.

"It looks like the people hiding in that outlet aren't friendly." Elicia said as she narrowed her eyes. "Or, at the very least, not all of them are friendly."

As she spoke, Elicia put the Escalade under the effect of her [Hiding in Plain Sight] spell. Then, she stepped on the accelerator and sped towards the outlet.

A few minutes later, Elicia stopped the Escalade in front of the shopping outlet while still under the effects of the [Hiding in Plain Sight] spell.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Rei asked curiously while peeking at the building through the passenger side window.

"We're gonna go inside and see what's going on in there." Elicia replied.

"But they have magic guns." Rei said apprehensively.

"Don't worry about that." Elicia said. "I'll have us all covered with my [Camouflage magic. So, they won't even know we're inside."

"And how are we planning to deal with the attackers?" Kohta asked while checking his magic rifle.

"We'll immobilize them." Elicia replied after a few seconds of consideration. "And after checking the status of all the other people in the building, we'll decide how to deal with them."

"Roger." Kohta replied with a solemn nod.

"Does that mean we're gonna kill them?" Rei asked in an uncertain tone.

"That depends on what state the other people in the building are in." Elicia replied. "If they were only shooting at us to protect everyone else in the building, then we'll just take what we need and leave them alone. But if they've got the people enslaved or are using them for sexual relief, we'll take more drastic measures."

Hearing that, Kohta seemed to be unbothered. Rei, on the other hand, seemed put off by the thought. However, after thinking about Shido and the way he treated the female students at her school, she clenched her teeth and nodded.

"Alright then, let's go." Elicia said as she opened the driver's side door.

With Elicia taking the lead, Rei and Kohta also climbed out of the car with their weapons. Then, they approached the front door of the shopping outlet.

Immediately upon arrival at the front door, the trio noticed that the door was blocked. And because the doors had glass panels, they knew it was blocked by furniture and other heavy objects.

"How are we gonna get in with the door blocked like that?" Rei asked.

"Well, I could use my threads to move the blockade, but they would know." Elicia said as she spread her threads around the building. "Instead, I'll look for another way in."

"Hey, someone is watching the front door." Kohta said while pointing his magic rifle at a third story window.

Looking in the direction Kohta pointed, Elicia's eyes lit up.

"I think we found our entry point." Elicia said as she extended her threads towards the open third-story window.

At the same time, more of Elicia's threads wrapped around Rei and Kohta's waists, surprising them momentarily.

"Alright, I'm gonna pull all of us up to that window." Elicia said, informing her companions.

A moment later, after receiving nods from the other two, Elicia pulled herself, Rei, and Kohta above the window. Then, while hanging upside down, just above the head of the lookout, Elicia looked into the room. And when she did, she clenched her fists at what she saw.

"Why is it like this wherever I go in this town?" Elicia asked quietly.

Hearing Elicia's voice, Rei and Kohta were surprised. However, Elicia did not leave them to think about what she meant for long.

"Right now, there are four men in the room." Elicia said. "One of them is on lookout duty. But the other three are raping bound women."

Immediately, Rei was ready to rush into the room. However, with Elicia's threads suspending her above the window, she was unable to. Meanwhile, Kohta had narrowed his eyes as he tightened his grip on the rifle in his hands.

"Kohta, I'm gonna immobilize the lookout." Elicia continued. "At the same time, I'm gonna lower you to look through the window…"

"And I'll put them all down with one shot each." Kohta said in a cold tone. "Scum like that don't deserve to live."

Hearing Kohta's tone, Rei was taken aback. She had never heard him sound like this before. Not that she interacted with him much before the zombies appeared. Still, he always seemed rather friendly when they were at the apartment.

'*Sigh* I'm glad he was trained for stuff like this.' Elicia thought to herself. 'Even though I could take care of this myself, I wanna see if he'd be able to do what needed to be done if I invited him to the guild.'

["Yeah, but it looks like we don't' need to worry about that."] Scylla replied. ["And as skilled as he is, I bet he'd be a good addition to Alzack and Bisca's team."]

'Yeah, but I still think they need someone else who can fight at close range to complete their team.' Elicia added.

Deciding she could think about that later, Elicia quickly wrapped her threads around the lookout's mouth and torso before pulling him out of the window and dangling him upside down. She even caught the rifle he was holding, not allowing it to fall to the ground and make extra noise. At the same time, she lowered Kohta so that he could see through the window. Then, once he was in place, Kohta aimed his rifle before the three men could react to their lookout being pulled out of the window.

*Pssp!* *Pssp!* *Pssp!*

Then, in less than a second, Kohta shot a burst of three bullets, shooting each of the three rapists through the head without harming the women.

"Huh?" One of the women exclaimed in confusion when the man who was violating her slumped down on top of her.

"Kya~~~~~~~~!* x 3

A moment later, all three women screamed after the blood of their captors sprayed on them.

Those screams alerted everyone else in the building. The first to arrive were another pair of men. Elicia surmised that they were the first four men's accomplices. So, she used her threads to tie them up before they could hurt the women.

A moment later, Elicia, Rei, and Kohta climbed through the open window.

"Stay on your guard, there are more coming." Elicia said as she followed the movements of a group of six with [Magic Power Detection]. "And one of them is a wizard from what I can tell."

With that, Kohta moved to a corner of the room with a good line of sight on the door. On top of that, there was a bit of cover he could hide behind in case the other side started shooting. Meanwhile, Rei hid near the door with her spear ready to strike on Elicia's signal. Elicia, on the other hand, only smiled wryly.

'I guess they forgot about my [Camouflage Magic], huh?' Elicia said to herself.

["You can't blame them for that, though."] Scylla replied. ["It's not like they're used to working with you. On top of that, this is their first time doing something like this, remember."]

'Yeah, I know.' Elicia replied. 'Anyway, I guess we'll just wait to see who's coming.'

A few minutes later, after running up from the first floor, the group of six, led by a small woman, no taller than 5'1", with a petite figure, light brown, almost blonde, hair, and blue eyes dressed in the uniform of a squire with a magic pistol in hand and a sword strapped to her left hip.

However, when the group of six saw the state of the room, they were thoroughly confused. Three of the men who they were at odds with were dead, two were tied up and thrown in a corner, and the last was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, so it's her." Elicia muttered under her breath while simultaneously making herself visible.

"Who are you?" The female squire asked harshly while pointing her magic pistol at Elicia. "And what happened here?"