"Ugh... Ms. Marikawa sure works hard, huh?" Luo Jie barely managed to suppress the urge to blurt out a sarcastic remark, his words carrying a double meaning.
"Ah! No, no!"
Just as Luo Jie was about to push himself up with his legs, he suddenly felt a lightness behind him. Marikawa Shizuka had actually forced herself to stand again, gritting her teeth against the pain in her ankle.
"What's wrong, Ms. Marikawa?"
Luo Jie turned around in confusion, only to see Marikawa Shizuka behind him, looking awkward as she tugged at the form-fitting black pencil skirt that was stretched taut over her ample curves.
That's when it finally clicked. In the original story, it was this criminally designed pencil skirt that Busujima Saeko had torn open from the side all the way to the hip under the pretext of "ease of movement," justifiably providing a fanservice moment. And that, in turn, had prompted Marikawa Shizuka's iconic line—"Which is more important, clothes or life?" "Both are important."
To be honest, Luo Jie was tempted to do exactly what Busujima Saeko did in the original, to give that designer skirt a good "riiiip!" right then and there. But the zombie virus hadn't broken out yet. If he actually did something like that, it would be straight-up sexual harassment.
"I've got it!" After furrowing her lovely brows and thinking hard for a moment, Marikawa Shizuka suddenly clenched her small fists, her expression resolute as if she'd made a great decision. "I think I can hop back on one foot! Don't look at me like this now, but back in elementary school, I was the long jump champion!"
Elementary school... Her chest probably hadn't developed yet back then, right? That's not comparable to now at all, big sister...
Thump—thump—thump—splat!
"..."
Luo Jie facepalmed, wordlessly watching the Marikawa onee-san (big sister) in front of him, her butt sticking up and her face making contact with the floor, completely at a loss for words. Is this some kind of slapstick daily life anime...
"Oh no, I think I twisted the other foot too."
Marikawa Shizuka knelt sideways on the floor, blinked her beautiful golden-brown eyes, and looked up at Luo Jie with an innocent expression, sticking out her tongue in embarrassment.
Luo Jie facepalmed again. He was suddenly starting to doubt if choosing this natural airhead as his protection target was the right call.
His original plan had been to help Marikawa Shizuka back to the infirmary, but he hadn't expected this ditz to manage to twist her only good leg too. Walking was definitely out of the question. Luo Jie simply slipped one arm around her slender waist and the other behind her knees, lifting Marikawa Shizuka up off the ground.
"Ah——!"
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Marikawa Shizuka, who was completely unprepared, let out a startled cry. Even with her rather carefree personality, being held in a princess carry by a young man made a shy blush creep onto her cheeks. For any woman, this position carries a special significance; it's not something just anyone can do.
It was still the first period of the morning, so all the students were in their classrooms. Only a few school workers were around, maintaining the facilities. Luo Jie carried Marikawa Shizuka through the campus; though it was quite a sight, it didn't attract too much attention.
Luo Jie wasn't exactly sure where the infirmary was. But he remembered a scene from the original story: after the virus broke out, some zombies had broken through the infirmary window from outside and bitten a male student who was protecting Marikawa Shizuka. Ordinary zombies can't climb walls, which meant the infirmary must be on the first floor.
Fujimi Academy had a unique architectural style; if viewed from above, it formed a "concave" shape, with east-west wings connected by a skywalk on the second floor. Since the functional buildings were connected to the teaching buildings, Luo Jie easily found the infirmary around a corner on the first floor.
The infirmary had been converted from an empty classroom, so it was quite spacious, divided into an office area and a treatment area by two white folding screens.
Luo Jie placed Marikawa Shizuka on the infirmary bed. It was only then that he noticed the ditz had somehow fallen asleep. This woman's lack of vigilance is really something else...
"Ms. Marikawa, wake up." Luo Jie gave her shoulder a gentle push.
"Ah? Is it time to eat already?" Marikawa Shizuka was still groggy from sleep, rubbing her bleary eyes and staring blankly at Luo Jie for a moment before suddenly remembering everything. She scratched her somewhat messy blonde hair and giggled sheepishly. "Oh, we're already at the infirmary... Yeyan-kun (Nightmare-kun) is really reliable, and so strong too."
"Ms. Marikawa, I think your top priority right now should be your ankle injury." Luo Jie pointed expressionlessly at her swollen ankle. He didn't want to be stuck carrying a grown woman while fleeing when the zombie virus broke out.
"Yeyan-kun is so serious about everything! Just like Rika..." Marikawa Shizuka pressed her index fingers together like a little girl, muttering in a small, wronged voice before pointing out the location of the medicine cabinet to Luo Jie.
[Marikawa Shizuka's Strain Relief Oil]
Type: Medicine
Quality: F (Green)
Effect: When applied, rapidly restores Stamina.
Description: A homebrewed ointment by Marikawa Shizuka. Its appearance is strange, its ingredients are a mystery. It has a miraculous effect on bruises and sprains. When used with massage techniques, it can greatly relieve muscle fatigue, though it seems to produce some strange side effects.
Identification Cost — 400 Points.
So it's this...
This ointment was one of the more valuable items in the "Highschool of the Dead" Illusion and was quite famous in the player markets of his previous life.
What made this ointment most memorable wasn't its rapid stamina recovery effect, but rather the almost irresistible, enigmatic sense of pleasure it induced in the person it was applied to during the process. Because of this extremely unique side effect, in his previous life, [Marikawa Shizuka's Strain Relief Oil] was always traded as a kind of... aphrodisiac, and was very popular among the player base.
"Ahhh... Yeyan-kun, a little gentler, not so hard... Yes, like that, slowly, don't rush... Ohhh, not there, it feels... strange all over..."
A few minutes later, Marikawa Shizuka collapsed onto the bed, sweating profusely, her eyes misty and her consciousness somewhat addled. Her pink cherry lips opened and closed unconsciously, muttering who knows what.
Luo Jie wiped the sweat that had faintly broken out on his forehead, suddenly feeling like he should light a cigarette right now for the perfect mood.
Okay, just kidding. After all, he was just helping Marikawa Shizuka, who couldn't bend over, apply the medicine and massage her ankle a bit. Everything else was just that blonde onee-san putting on a one-woman show.
Looking at the voluptuous figure on the bed, who was practically unconscious, Luo Jie spent the points to identify [Marikawa Shizuka's Strain Relief Oil] and stored it in his inventory, silently labeling it as a "banned substance" in his mind.
These side effects are just... way too terrifying...