The sudden gunshot attracted Inaba Tsukiyo's attention. At the same time, the zombie's head was struck by the bullet that appeared out of nowhere, flying past Inaba Tsukiyo and slamming heavily into the wall.
At this moment, a purple energy, invisible to ordinary people, emerged from the zombie's body and entered Inaba Tsukiyo's body.
Inaba Tsukiyo's body showed no abnormal reaction as this unusual purple energy integrated into her. She merely felt something within her becoming increasingly full.
After confirming the zombie's complete demise, Inaba Tsukiyo looked outside the classroom. The bullet had come from outside, meaning someone in this school was carrying a real gun?
She had to identify the person with the gun. A gun, at this time, would only make things more complicated.
She immediately went outside the classroom. The person who fired the shot hadn't left. She was holding a gun with both hands, slightly out of breath, as if she had been running.
Through her perception, she sensed it was a girl with twin pigtails, and her build and figure were somewhat similar to someone Inaba Tsukiyo knew.
"Kurumi?"
Indeed, from her facial features and other aspects, Inaba Tsukiyo felt that this suddenly appearing girl strongly resembled Kurumi, whom she knew.
"Kurumi? I'm not Kurumi! I have my own name."
After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, the girl put her pistol back, pointed to herself, and introduced herself with some cheerfulness.
"I'm Tendo Ri-se. I just watched your fight from outside. That was amazing! You must be from a Kendo family, right? That fight really got my blood pumping."
"What was that last move? Why was there thunder? What was the principle behind it?"
Tendo Ri-se had been secretly watching from outside while Inaba Tsukiyo fought the zombie.
To be honest, Tendo Ri-se was scared when she first saw the incredibly fast zombie.
Could anyone really deal with a zombie that moved so quickly? She was worried. Even the current zombies, when they appeared in large numbers, became incredibly difficult to handle.
However, Inaba Tsukiyo was even more terrifying than those zombies. Leaving aside other aspects, her speed alone was far superior to what Tendo Ri-se had ever seen from so-called Kendo masters.
Tendo Ri-se excitedly expressed her thoughts, her unreserved words leaving Inaba Tsukiyo unsure how to respond to her.
'You still say you're not Kurumi?'
Inaba Tsukiyo really wanted to retort to this girl whose personality was so similar to Kurumi's.
But at least the other party had helped her with a final shot, so she was, in a way, her savior. However… "Why do you have a gun? You should be a student, shouldn't you?"
Tendo Ri-se could only be a high school student at most. A high school student carrying a gun, and using it so skillfully, seemed abnormal no matter how she thought about it.
"Oh, you mean this? Actually, it's just a replica gun. My family has a whole warehouse full of these."
Tendo Ri-se smiled as she showed her weapon to Inaba Tsukiyo. Although such items were rare, her family's armory had a huge collection of them.
As for why her marksmanship was so good, it was, of course, because she practiced shooting with replica guns every day.
Staying at home every day was boring, so she might as well do something she enjoyed. Since her father was a soldier, Tendo Ri-se had been exposed to such items since she was a child.
Nodding, Inaba Tsukiyo took the replica gun from Tendo Ri-se's hand. Under the other party's surprised gaze, she quickly disassembled the replica gun, and after inspecting it, immediately reassembled it.
Although she wanted to ask if she knew that illegal possession of a firearm constituted a crime, Inaba Tsukiyo decided not to ask such an embarrassing question, considering the other party might be some big shot.
"Why are you here? This is Nishikowa Elementary School. It's strange for a high school student like you to be here. Are you here to take refuge?"
"Yes, that's right. My friend and I came to Megurigaoka City to have fun, and we didn't expect something like this to happen."
Saying this, Tendo Ri-se sighed helplessly. She hadn't expected that her kind invitation to her friend to come out and play would lead to something that only happens in movies.
When the incident occurred, Tendo Ri-se had already tried to contact her family, but communication in Megurigaoka City was completely cut off for unknown reasons, making it impossible to contact anyone outside.
Now, she could only hope that her family would find her soon and intervene in this matter. She had a premonition that the events unfolding in Megurigaoka City were not as simple as they seemed.
Soon, Inaba Tsukiyo and Tendo Ri-se returned to the room where Wakasa Yuri and Kouru were staying.
Wakasa Yuri and the others could hear the commotion caused by Inaba Tsukiyo's fight with the zombie.
However, she didn't run over to cause trouble, but waited here with Kouru for Inaba Tsukiyo to return.
Besides Wakasa Yuri and Kouru, there was also a Little Loli who hadn't been in the room before.
This Little Loli's height (144cm) was slightly taller than Inaba Tsukiyo's height (138cm), and she had beautiful, short, dark blue hair.
"Ri-se, you're back! Are you alright?"
As soon as Tendo Ri-se appeared, the Little Loli couldn't help but rush towards her.
Hugging the Little Loli who had rushed over, Tendo Ri-se apologetically stroked her small head, comforting the Little Loli's uneasy emotions.
"I'm sorry, Kafū Chino. I left you here alone, but I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me."
Kafū Chino, that was the Little Loli's name. Although she was usually calm, facing such a situation, even she, who was normally composed, was very scared.
Especially with so many ill-intentioned individuals in this academy, if Tendo Ri-se hadn't protected her, she would probably have gotten into trouble on the very first day.
Inaba Tsukiyo merely glanced at their interaction, then went to Wakasa Yuri and Kouru, whispering a few words into Wakasa Yuri's ear.
Wakasa Yuri slightly opened her narrowed eyes, looked at Inaba Tsukiyo, who nodded, causing Wakasa Yuri to fall into silence.
Inaba Tsukiyo and Wakasa Yuri's silent conversation attracted the attention of Kouru, who was in her arms.
It must be said that Inaba Tsukiyo's height of 138cm made Kouru feel that this Little Girl was just like her, and should also be an Elementary School Student.
But she was actually a high school student, similar in age to her own sister, and had been protecting her sister all this time.
Why did such a person have such formidable combat power? Kouru didn't quite understand, but she knew Inaba Tsukiyo was not a bad person.
"Um, thank you very much for saving me. And thank you for always taking care of my sister, um… Tsukiyo-chan?"
"Oh? Tsukiyo-chan? That's a really unfamiliar address. But, it feels nice, I like it very much."
She had always been called Tsukiyo-chan, and while she didn't dislike that address, the novelty of Tsukiyo-chan made Inaba Tsukiyo feel quite happy.
"Say it again."
Inaba Tsukiyo, outside of combat and training, was like an ordinary Little Girl and quickly became familiar with Kouru.
While Inaba Tsukiyo and Kouru were talking, Wakasa Yuri secretly left the room and went to the room where Inaba Tsukiyo had just fought the zombie.
According to what Inaba Tsukiyo told her, although the researcher's personality was already twisted, if he hadn't lied, then some of his research results were still worth collecting.
It wasn't good for Inaba Tsukiyo to do this; even if she could read the contents of documents by touching them with her fingers, it was too strenuous. It would be better to let Wakasa Yuri do it.
However, Inaba Tsukiyo forgot the smell of disinfectant and formaldehyde she had encountered.
To be honest, this room, filled with zombies, was not a gentle place. Even Wakasa Yuri, who had somewhat adapted, nearly threw up the moment she saw it.
She somewhat understood Inaba Tsukiyo's desire to kill this person. Someone capable of such things was even more deserving of death than the one who had just abused Headmaster Grandma.
That person at least revealed their true thoughts, but this one would conceal their deepest intentions and then kill innocent people when they were completely unguarded.
Wakasa Yuri ignored the devices with strange items in every corner of the room and went directly to the data, continuously sifting through the available information.
Some so-called research data was skipped over. What Wakasa Yuri needed was information about bacteria and viruses; these were the methods to solve the crisis.
After spending about a few minutes, Wakasa Yuri finally found what she needed from the data, put these items into her bag, and left the room directly.
When Wakasa Yuri returned, she found that Kouru and Inaba Tsukiyo had become very close, completely lacking the initial tension.
To test if Inaba Tsukiyo was truly blind as she claimed, Kouru tiptoed behind Inaba Tsukiyo, planning a surprise attack.
But every time Kouru tried to attack, Inaba Tsukiyo would dodge, press her head, and say, 'You're still far from it,' making Kouru pout in dissatisfaction and wave her small pink fists to hit Inaba Tsukiyo's chest.
The interaction between Kouru and Inaba Tsukiyo lightened the atmosphere considerably, and Tendo Ri-se and Kafū Chino, who were nearby, also joined them.
Perhaps because they had spent a few days with Kouru before, Kafū Chino and Tendo Ri-se still trusted Kouru, so they also extended their trust to Kouru's sister and friend.
After Wakasa Yuri returned, Kouru couldn't help but pounce on her, just like before, hugging Wakasa Yuri's waist tightly, with no intention of letting go.
"Alright, alright. Sister Ri will always stay by your side; she won't leave you, Kouru."
She stroked Kouru's small head, and Wakasa Yuri was very happy with Kouru's attachment.
"Are you ready to leave, Yuri? Leaving now, we can also look around nearby for anything useful."
Now that they had found Kouru, there was no need to stay here. It would be better to report their safety sooner.
"No, there's one more thing to do."