When Roy got on the bus, Marikawa Shizuka floored the accelerator. The bus rammed through the zombies and sped toward the school gates. Thanks to the street Roy had already cleared, the number of zombies was extremely small, and the journey out was practically unobstructed.
However, no one on the bus was in a good mood.
As Roy boarded, a deathly silence filled the bus. The girls wore terrified expressions, huddling in the corners, their bodies trembling slightly, not daring to look at Roy at all.
The blond guy who had been shouting earlier didn't dare say a single word now, earning nothing but scornful looks from the others.
After killing hundreds of zombies, it was inevitable that Roy was covered in their blood, like a man drenched in red. The thick stench of blood was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
With such a peerless killing god right beside them, only a very few people could avoid feeling fear.
Busujima Saeko was one of them. She observed Roy's medieval-style clothing, a thoughtful look on her face.
"What's your name?"
"Roy."
Busujima Saeko spoke with Roy.
At that moment, a man with glasses approached. He was neatly dressed, with a gentle, somewhat effeminate appearance. He interrupted them and said excitedly, "That was some amazing swordsmanship. Are you a student from a kendo dojo?"
On the other side, Miyamoto Rei watched the scene coldly.
Roy's gaze swept across the entire bus. The people could clearly be divided into two camps: Komuro Takashi, Busujima Saeko, and the small team around them; and the group of teachers and students led by Shido Koichi.
Facing Shido Koichi's nonstop chatter, Roy merely glanced at him lightly and said in a cold tone, "You're very good at grasping human psychology."
After entering a dungeon instance, his speech would automatically be converted into the local language, and he could understand what others said as well. Roy had already noticed this back in the giant world, so communication was never a problem.
Shido Koichi put on an innocent-looking expression.
But such little tricks couldn't fool Roy. In his previous life, he had been a corporate slave in finance—dealing with people was an everyday affair, and his social attributes were maxed out.
When everyone else was terrified, approaching without any sign of disgust was already enough to make people feel favorable toward him. First came praise to win goodwill, then expressions of friendliness, followed by deliberately probing into the other party's background.
Despite clearly seeing Roy's superhuman physique and swordsmanship, he deliberately described him as a kendo dojo student. Any normal person would feel displeased and speak up to correct him, allowing the conversation to continue smoothly from there.
If Roy hadn't known this man's true nature, he might have unconsciously raised his favorability toward him by ten percent.
Realizing that the young man in front of him wasn't easy to fool, Shido Koichi lowered his head slightly, light reflecting off his lenses. "In this chaotic world, there must be a strong leader to guide everyone to survive."
"Become our leader!"
Shido Koichi bowed deeply in a perfectly standard Japanese bow, bending his body ninety degrees in front of Roy.
With his head lowered, he failed to notice Roy's expression growing colder and colder. He continued to play his petty tricks, thinking that by disguising himself as harmless, he could use Roy's strength to seek benefits in this chaotic world.
"I don't have time to listen to your bullshit."
Roy swung the Muramasa sword. A sharp flash of blade light flickered, its edge passing across Shido Koichi's neck. Blood splattered onto the bus window, still steaming with heat.
Clang!
A round head rolled onto the floor. Shido Koichi's eyes were wide open—until his death, he couldn't believe that a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy would kill so casually.
Roy's face was expressionless. What a joke—he had lived in the DanMachi world for more than ten years. The number of dead people he had seen each year was probably greater than the number of living ones.
Monsters that escaped from the Dungeon a thousand years ago, bandits traveling from north to south, ill-intentioned adventurers, gods with eccentric temperaments, the Black Dragon symbolizing the end…
Friends who were laughing and chatting yesterday might turn into cold corpses today.
He had no psychological barrier to killing—none at all.
"Aaaahhhhhhh—!"
Roy's action was an overwhelming shock to these greenhouse-grown students. The bus erupted in piercing screams.
Even Komuro Takashi and the others, who had advocated bringing Roy onto the bus, changed expressions and looked at him warily.
The girls' shrill screams nearly burst Roy's eardrums. His face remained devoid of emotion as he said flatly, "If you keep screaming, I'll kill all of you."
The bus instantly fell silent.
Everyone's eyes were filled with fear. They knew this boy truly dared to do it—and could do it.
"Is there an American military base in this city?" Roy asked. That was his real objective.
Killing zombies one by one was far too inefficient. It would take at least three or four days to complete the instance task, and he would miss what was happening over in Orario.
He intended to use heavy weapons to wipe out the zombies in one sweep!
No one in the bus answered. Just as Roy was about to lose patience, Busujima Saeko stepped forward. "There is."
"Take me there!"
Roy spoke in an unquestionable tone. A map or verbal directions wouldn't be enough to fool him.
"Alright, but only me alone—and you must not harm anyone else," Busujima Saeko said.
"Senpai!"
Komuro Takashi and the others looked worried and pained. Busujima Saeko was clearly protecting them.
Roy agreed. He wasn't some psychologically twisted serial killer.
Marikawa Shizuka parked the bus in front of a convenience store. Roy and Busujima Saeko jumped down.
Busujima Saeko gave the others a look of farewell.
Roy casually killed two zombies, entered the convenience store to look for food, tore open the packaging, and swallowed some unexpired bread in one bite to replenish his energy. "You should eat too. It'll probably be several hours of driving."
Busujima Saeko didn't refuse. Ever since zombies appeared at school, she had barely had anything besides a little water.
After eating and drinking their fill, they found a truck at a street corner. The driver had turned into a zombie, and the keys were still in the ignition. Roy took the driver's seat. With the steering wheel on the right, as was standard in this country, he felt a bit uncomfortable—but at a time like this, having a car at all was already a blessing.
Roy started the engine and, following Busujima Saeko's directions, drove toward the military base.
After a long silence, Busujima Saeko spoke first. "Do you know the truth behind this disaster?"
Her expression was filled with surprise. The boy's extraordinary combat power, medieval clothing, and long sword all made him feel far from ordinary.
"I don't know. Probably air or water contamination," Roy replied casually. With modern hot weapons, if zombies could only infect others by biting, it would be impossible to cause large-scale chaos.
If those major powers were really pushed to the brink, a single nuclear missile could level an entire city.
Only a virus spread through the air or water could possibly cause chaos on a global scale.
But he wasn't interested in any of that. He was only here to hunt zombies and obtain instance rewards.
As for the extra quest, "Save the World," Roy didn't even look at it. He knew his own limits well enough—one grenade would be enough to leave him severely injured.