City Hall

Then, a dozen or so minutes later.

Nishino and the others arrived safely at City Hall.

(Amazing...)

The first thing that caught Nishino's eye was the enormous barricade.

It had been built by gathering cars, chairs, tables, and other objects around City Hall, then packing them solid with earth.

It was high enough.

There were even trenches dug here and there.

It would serve adequately as a defense against monsters.

(There's no way this was done by human hands alone...)

It had only been five days since the world became overrun with monsters.

Even if they had started working on it from the first day, building a defense this impressive would have been impossible.

That left only one possibility.

(They made it with some kind of Skill...)

Nishino thought of President Igarashi's younger twin siblings.

They possessed Skills that allowed them to create flames and rocks from their hands.

It wouldn't be strange if someone else possessed a Skill that allowed them to manipulate earth.

"Hey, we're back!"

Fujita, walking at the head of the group, waved.

Then he saw someone waving from the roof of City Hall.

They seemed to be sending some kind of signal.

"All right, then. Shall we head inside?"

This place looked to be much larger in scale than he'd expected.

Thinking that, Nishino and the others stepped into City Hall.

Beyond the barricade, a parking lot spread out before them.

There wasn't a single car, but several temporary tents and portable toilets had been set up instead.

At the edge of his vision, he could also see armed men patrolling.

"All right, we're safe now that we've made it this far."

Fujita said that as he lit a cigarette.

At his signal, the men around him went limp and slumped down where they stood.

"I'm tired!" "I can't do this anymore... I'm seriously wiped." "Man, you really run out of steam faster when you get old." "Do we get overtime pay for this?" "Like hell we do, idiot." "Yeah, figures. Hahaha!"

They chatted and laughed, but they must have been exhausted too.

The fatigue was plain on their faces.

Of course, the same was true of Nishino and the others.

To be honest, they could barely remain standing.

The two behind him—Shibata and Goshogawara—were probably in the same state.

As for Goshogawara, he was already deathly pale and muttering things like, "Huff... huff... logs..." He might have been in trouble for an entirely different reason.

(Even so, this wasn't a situation where he could let his guard down yet...)

Although they had been rescued, Nishino didn't trust these people yet.

Besides, he had to reunite with the rest of his companions and contact Rikka.

(First, contact the others with 'Mail'—no, should I check their names in the Mail List first? I have to contact Rikka too, and there's so much to do... Ah, damn it. I can't get my thoughts in order...)

Fatigue and tension had left him unable to think clearly.

His vision was blurry, and he felt like he'd fall asleep if he collapsed right there.

As he was thinking that, he saw someone approaching from the entrance.

She was a secretary-like woman in a suit and glasses.

Her features must originally have been beautiful, but the dark circles under her eyes and the fatigue hanging over her erased that impression.

"Hey, Shimizu-chan. Good work."

Shimizu, as the woman was called, briefly frowned at Fujita as he smoked, but quickly smiled.

"Good work, Fujita-san. How did it go? What did you accomplish this time?"

"We took down quite a few monsters. Twelve ant monsters, three goblins, and five zombies, I think. We picked up all the magic stones and put them in this bag. The backpack over there has food and daily necessities in it. There were several untouched convenience stores and shops, so we borrowed some supplies."

"Thank you. Then I'll bring a cart later. And tell me which convenience stores they came from, too. We'll probably send other people there later."

Saying that, she took the convenience-store bag containing the magic stones.

They apparently planned to move the food all at once later.

When she saw the magic stones in the bag, her smile deepened.

"...That's quite a haul. You really worked hard. I'll give these to the mayor, then. This will probably raise his level again."

"Yeah, please do. Then the range will expand, and we might be able to use the other facilities too. What about the others who went out to explore?"

"Ikeda-kun and Ota-kun's groups have already returned, but Kamome-chan―――Nijo-san's group hasn't come back yet. They said they were going to check the coast. Still, knowing her, I don't think we need to worry..."

"I see. Sorry for asking you to deal with so much right after we arrived."

"That's my line. We were the ones who barged in, and we'll be happy to help however we can. ...Oh? Come to think of it, who are those kids over there?"

At that, her gaze turned toward Nishino and the others.

It seemed she had only just noticed their presence.

Nishino and the others tensed for a moment.

Seeing that, Fujita gave a wry smile.

"As you can see, they're students and an old man. I rescued them on the way here."

"I see... It must have been tough. You did well to survive. You're safe now."

Shimizu approached Nishino and the others and gently patted them on the head, as if comforting them.

"Ah..."

Nishino and Shibata couldn't help but feel their hearts skip at the gesture.

Shimizu's concern, unlike President Igarashi's, wasn't driven by any ulterior motive; she was acting from the heart.

That sincerity must have come through.

Their faces flushed bright red.

They were both high school students in the thick of adolescence, after all.

The maternal warmth unique to an older woman easily melted their brains.

"...Ah, youth really is a wonderful thing..."

The middle-aged man watching the two of them with deep emotion was Goshogawara Hachiro (55).

His personal theory was, 'Women are best after forty.'

"By the way, Shimizu-san, all of them have Skills, you know?"

"Huh? Really?"

"Uh, well... yes."

Nishino nodded.

There was no particular reason to hide it here.

Then Shimizu grabbed him firmly by the shoulder.

He instinctively tensed for a moment. What was going on?

"......Securing a new labor force."

Wait, what did she just say?

Her eyes were kind of scary, too.

"You're welcome here. Welcome to City Hall."

"Ah, yes..."

For the moment, he nodded.

"Well, standing around talking here isn't getting us anywhere. Let's go inside for now, huh? We need to properly explain to these guys what kind of place this is, too."

"Right."

"Then, you three, follow us."

Guided by Fujita and Shimizu, Nishino and the others entered City Hall.

The inside was more orderly than he'd expected.

The people he saw were lively, and the place felt much more organized than the school.

"Well, sit wherever you like."

They were shown into a reception room, where Nishino and the others sat down on a sofa.

"I wish we could offer you some tea, but... Given the situation, you'll have to bear with it."

"No, it's fine. We don't mind."

Drinking water was precious.

Nishino and the others understood perfectly well that it couldn't be wasted.

"I'm glad you understand."

When Shimizu murmured, "You're pretty put-together for how you look," Nishino gave a wry smile and said, "Someone else told me the same thing earlier."

After they finished introducing themselves to one another, Fujita brought up the main subject.

"Now, I'll ask you three directly: Nishino-kun, Shibata-kun, Goshogawara-san, would you be willing to join us?"

The question was almost exactly what Nishino had expected.

So Nishino gave the answer he had prepared.

"Of course. You rescued us from a dangerous situation, and we'd feel reassured acting alongside strong people like you, Fujita-san."

"That's good to hear."

"However... We were separated from our companions on the way here. If possible, we'd like you to help us search for them..."

"Of course we will. More people are better for us too, after all."

"Thank you."

Nishino bowed his head.

Waving him off with one hand, Fujita lit a cigarette.

He offered one to Goshogawara as well, but Goshogawara apparently didn't smoke and declined.

"Now, where should I start... Right, I might as well start with the most important thing."

Fujita exhaled a long stream of smoke and spoke.

"First, I want to make this clear: monsters don't attack here."

"...Huh?"

For a moment, Nishino couldn't understand what those words meant.

"...What does that mean?"

So he asked plainly.

"I mean exactly what I said. This place―――'City Hall'―――is a 'safe zone' that monsters don't attack."

At those words, Nishino and the others froze for a full ten seconds, then all cried out in astonishment at once.