"Let's just let what happened today pass. You didn't see anything, right?"
Lux turned his gaze to Reine.
Order had already collapsed, but a bit of pressure never hurt.
"Huh? Yes, yes. I didn't see anything, and I didn't hear anything either."
As a mid-level manager, Reine immediately understood what he meant and nodded like a pecking chick.
From what she had just seen, the gun-wielding girl named HK showed absolute obedience to Lux. Reine had no desire to be silenced.
"We'll be moving together with Old Bob for now, heading to X High School to see if we can help him along the way. That route is extremely dangerous. If you come with us, you might die."
Seeing that Bob still hadn't woken up and that Reine wasn't a bad person, Lux warned her.
"…Mm."
"If you stay here and wait for rescue, it should be relatively safe, but rescue is never guaranteed."
"I can leave you four high-calorie cans. The calories should keep you from starving for about ten days. The water in the dispenser—if you drink it alone—should last you over twenty days."
"Decide for yourself. Come with us, or stay here and wait for rescue."
After laying out the pros and cons, Lux waited for Reine's answer.
He had done all he reasonably could. She was an innocent life, and he didn't want to abandon her casually.
If he weren't heading to X High School, Reine might have had a chance following him.
But helping Bob meant extreme danger along the way, so he didn't advise her to come.
"I… I…"
Reine struggled internally.
"Please give me the cans. I want to stay here and wait for rescue."
"MDR, give her your tactical ration cans."
Lux issued the order.
By his estimate, Reine would eventually starve to death if she stayed, but there was no better option at the moment.
MDR took four cans from her pack and placed them on the desk.
Their tactical rations refreshed daily anyway, and after eating well with Lux for a few meals, she didn't really care about the cans.
"Thank you so much. Please tell me your name. If I survive… if I survive, I'll definitely repay you."
Reine looked at Lux with gratitude.
"Heh. Let's skip names. If fate allows, we'll meet again."
Lux shook his head. He was still hiding the secret of the system. If Reine noticed anything strange when he wasn't paying attention, he didn't want his personal information leaking out.
This was the apocalypse. He would help survivors occasionally—but only when it didn't bring trouble to himself.
"Hey… there are a few things I want to say. They might sound unpleasant, and you might think I'm ungrateful, but I still want to say them."
"Old Bob really treated all of us well. I'm grateful to him. But just the four of you going to a school with thousands of people… that's basically suicide."
"Do your best… do what you can, and leave the rest to fate. Maybe you'll think of a better solution along the way."
"I hope a good person like you can keep living."
Reine said helplessly.
"I'll take that as a blessing."
Lux replied with a bitter smile.
"Ugh…"
Leaning against the wall, Bob's body twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"You're awake? Then let's go. I'm guessing even if I told you to rest, you'd still be desperate to go find your daughter."
Lux walked over, picking up the katana from the floor.
The blade weighed over a kilogram. Before, he would've needed both hands just to hold it level, but after the genetic enhancement, it felt much lighter.
He estimated he could now wield one in each hand without trouble.
Still, to avoid exposing the system, he didn't plan on redeeming more weapons for the time being.
Bob pushed himself up unsteadily.
"Thank you… thank you, young man."
Bob said repeatedly.
"Let's be clear. If the situation threatens my life or my teammates', I'll turn around and leave without hesitation."
"I understand. Just taking me to X High School already makes you a benefactor to my family."
Bob moved to kneel, but Lux raised a hand and stopped him.
"Don't waste time. If we're saving someone, we move fast. You have a head injury and haven't eaten for three days—you'll need time to recover your strength."
"Eat these sausages on the road. Recover your energy and join the fight as soon as possible."
Handing Bob three sausages, Lux walked out of the curator's office. MDR and HK416 hurried to follow behind him.
"Goodbye, Miss Reine."
After bidding farewell, Bob took a few quick steps and caught up with the three already heading downstairs.
"Old Bob, can you drive?"
Lux asked.
"Yes. Five years on the road. I'm a pretty good driver."
"Do you have a car?"
"Cough… well… my salary wasn't very high. I couldn't afford one."
Bob said awkwardly.
"Doesn't matter. Let's see if we get lucky and find a car where the owner left the keys inside while running for their life. If that fails, we'll try hot-wiring it."
Lux waved his hand indifferently. Cars would only be usable for a limited distance anyway.
"First, let's find a convenience store to restock food. There aren't many zombies around here. X High School is inside the urban area—searching for supplies there will be far more dangerous."
"We'll follow your lead, sir."
Bob nodded repeatedly.
"The current plan is this: I'll take point and clear the way. MDR, you're second—stick close behind me. Only fire if there's danger and you need to cover me."
"Roger~ Leave it to Miss MDR~"
"After that is Old Bob. Your task today is to recover your stamina as fast as possible. You'll probably only have one or two days to do so."
"If the X High School campus turns out to be extremely dangerous… we won't go in with you. At that point, you'll be on your own."
"Yes, yes. Thank you, sir."
"HK416 will bring up the rear. Try not to fire unless absolutely necessary."
"On the way here, there weren't many zombies on this road. I should be able to deal with them using this blade."
Lux still remembered the number of zombies MDR had encountered earlier. The largest group had only been four.
After using the gene enhancement serum, he also needed some zombies to test his blade on.