Expansion
I met her gaze—those dead, corpse-like eyes staring back at me—and spoke.
“Even setting looks aside, it'd be a real waste to just put a body like that to work on its back.”
“Well, how you use her is your call.”
Do Wangu chimed in agreement, grabbing the hesitant man by the collar and yanking him forward. The man hurriedly opened his mouth.
“B-Boss! Boss! Please hear me out. We were going to bring her along, but Yuna here wanted a change of scenery, so we just stopped by for a bit...”
Whack!
“...Guh.”
A palm the size of an ordinary person's face smashed into the man's cheek. He toppled over with a clatter, swallowing whatever else he'd been about to say as he endured the pain.
“I've always stressed this to you guys. Food, women—keep your greed in check.”
“And now you're just openly ignoring me right in front of a friend? Embarrassing as hell.”
“No, Boss.”
“No, my ass. Your excuses are so pathetic I don't even know what to say. I clearly told you to gather up all the decent-looking ones and set them aside. But you ignored that and just let this girl do whatever she wanted? Isn't that something worth a beating on its own?”
He said that and glanced back at me, so I just nodded halfheartedly without much interest and trudged over toward Seo Yuna.
Whether she was unfazed by the rough atmosphere around her or simply had no energy left to care, she showed no reaction even as I closed the distance.
I shot Do Wangu a look that asked what was going on with her. He flicked the cheeks of the men lined up and said,
“We've had some rough luck lately. On the way to this department store, she lost her mother to a dog zombie.”
“A dog?”
“Ah, not like the one you're dragging around. From what I heard, it was about the size of a medium dog.”
“And something like that eats people?”
“Once they're dead and their eyes roll back, nothing's impossible.”
He flipped his eyes back in a deliberate zombie impression and snickered. I looked down at Seo Yuna, who had her head bowed low, and said,
“I'm taking this one. Looks aside, if she's a culinary major, I can put her to much better use on my end.”
“Sure. No problem. But is one enough?”
“For now. So how many men do you need?”
“Ah... at least three. If you only take one, it gets a bit awkward.”
“Then use them and return them.”
I watched Do Wangu raise his eyebrows and ponder that, then continued,
“I'll send over two freeloading guys. Work them for a few days and send them back.”
“Uh... two, huh... tch.”
He smacked his lips in disappointment as I brushed past him and scanned outside through the second-floor window.
“I'll take care of that headache right in front of us myself. That about makes us even, right?”
“What headache?”
“That thing hanging on the utility pole over there.”
I pointed to the anaconda, its eerie eyes a fusion of snake and zombie pupils, searching for prey.
“...You're going to handle that alone?”
“I could if I had to, but beasts are best handled by beasts. It's more convenient that way.”
“??”
I smirked as I looked at the one yawning widely in the first-floor parking lot across from the pole where the anaconda hung.
...Woof?
When I told Na Sehee, who was playing with sparrows while waiting for me, she blinked, then whispered something to the mutt. The bastard dog looked back at me in utter disbelief.
Then it ground its teeth and took a stance like it was about to charge any second. Do Wangu, standing behind me, flinched hard and took another step back.
“Shut it before I pull out all those creepy teeth and give you implants.”
Grrraaawr-!
Naturally ignoring my words, it lunged to chomp my neck for mouthing off in front of it. Na Sehee stared steadily and whispered something else into the mutt's ear.
It immediately whimpered, plopped down on the spot, then thrashed around like it really hated the idea before finally giving up with a deep sigh.
“A mutt sighing? When the master says jump, you jump.”
No. Master. Friend. Request.
“Yeah. Everyone talks about companions and whatever, but in reality it's the same principle as a pet.”
.....
This time her inverted crimson eyes fixed steadily on me. I shooed away the sparrow flitting around my head with the back of my hand and said,
“When I'm not around, that mutt alone has to cover you if something happens. I need to check exactly how much it can handle.”
Na Sehee tilted her head at that. Then she wrote.
I'm doing it. Worry?
“If I have to put it that way. There's places I need to go alone later.”
...You did. Check. When we first met.
“You know both me and that thing weren't serious back then.”
After a brief silence, she nodded slightly.
Okay. Then.
I placed my hand on the sulking mutt's head and gave it a light stroke. Its tail immediately started wagging gently.
“Let's go.”
“Uh, uh. But are you sure we don't need to bring our guys?”
“No need.”
Na Sehee had clearly said so. Even the corpses that had filled an entire floor of that hospital when we first met weren't necessary. Only that one ridiculously huge mutt was needed.
There had to be something more I hadn't seen yet.
I'd just confirm that, drop off all the new burdens added today at the school, then head in for the factory tour.
As the crow had warned, Na Sehee's kin could invade at any time, so I had to finish cleaning up the surroundings as soon as possible.
Grruuuuh...
Across from the department store, a zombie staggered out of the alley and passed the utility pole.
In an instant, the anaconda lunged, chomped the entire head, and swallowed it whole, then hissed as it coiled its body back up.
“...Wait. Were anacondas originally snakes like that?”
“No way. If they had that kind of speed and power while alive, they'd have gone extinct long ago.”
As a direct threat to humanity, that is. Despite that brutal performance, the mutt just scratched its ear with a hind leg, completely unfazed.
Instead of the dog, I jerked my chin toward the front for Na Sehee. She swept her fingers through the hair at her temple as if pondering something.
Big. Bigger than I thought.
“Why, think it can't?”
Honestly, even I didn't think a mere dog could beat an anaconda.
If it were an ordinary dog, that is.
Na Sehee shook her head at my question and wrote.
Takes too long. Time.
I should show you. Just. Now.
...Show me what?
As I looked at her with questioning eyes, Na Sehee suddenly stuck out her tongue with a meaningful expression.
Setting aside how alluring that pose was, I just watched to see what she was up to. A few seconds later, a tiny drop of blood began to form at the tip of her tongue.
Na Sehee lowered her tongue further from her lips, then swept the blood drop onto her pinky finger.
Then she brought her pinky to the mutt's mouth.
At the same time, the mutt's aura twisted drastically.
Crack- Crackcrackcrack-
Ominous sounds rose from the muscles and bones beneath the fur. At that noise, Do Wangu who had been watching the front—and even the anaconda—all turned to look at it.
“Your blood has this kind of effect?”
I told you. Good. For health.
Whether it was really good for health I didn't know, but there was definitely at least one side effect.
Grrrrrrrr...
The mutt shook its head once, then scraped the ground with muscular arms that had become noticeably more defined on its already large frame.
Finally, its hazy white pupils turned reddish, as if mixed with a drop of blood.
“...Don't tell me I change like this too?”
Negative. Blood. Special. Entered. My will.
As the beastly madness already swirling in its eyes writhed as if about to fully explode, Na Sehee whispered.
“Kya-u.”
Devour it.
Kwaaaaaar-!
The mutt shot out so fast her hair fluttered, leaping straight up toward the utility pole with its jaws wide open.
At the same time, the anaconda hissed once, opened its mouth, and in the blink of an eye bit down first on the mutt's neck.
But the mutt grabbed its body with both front paws and yanked it down, sending the anaconda plummeting helplessly below the pole.
It desperately tried to hang on with its mouth locked on the neck, but the doped mutt's physique was beyond imagination.
Pressing down near the writhing tail on the asphalt with its front paws, it opened its jaws wide, chomped the side of the body, and shook it wildly like a dog toy.
It looked like play, but the force was such that even the anaconda's muscular body couldn't withstand it.
Crack-
Screeeeech-
With its mouth still on the mutt's neck, the anaconda's body was torn in two by sheer bite force alone.
...I was originally going to watch it struggle and then help out.
Common sense said that no matter how big and strong a dog was, it shouldn't stand a chance against an anaconda that could wreck leopards and crocodiles.
I frowned as I watched it tear into the anaconda, then looked at Na Sehee. She showed me her notebook expressionlessly.
This. I can do. Other kin. All of them. Besides me.
Don't worry. Still. I'll help.
“...Well, thanks a lot.”
I'd confirmed Na Sehee's safety, but my own mood only grew more unsettled.