Why Is This Kid Acting Like This Again?
"Hey!! What the hell are you staring at?!"
Yui shrieked. But Ban had just been staring at her without any real thought behind it.
"Oh. This was your room."
Haha. What a sight—casually opening the door to a naked girl's room, then picking his nose like he owned the place while staring. The guy was a legit lunatic.
Yui frantically tried to cover her small frame with the towel she'd been using on her hair and hurled whatever she could grab at him.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Ban caught every flying lotion bottle and random item with a sly grin.
He wastes those stupidly good reflexes on the dumbest shit.
"You should lock the door when you shower. No caution at all. Is that a kid thing?"
"Shut the hell up! Normal people knock before barging into someone's room, you know? And who are you calling a kid?! I'm a perfectly respectable average adult woman!"
Yui huffed angrily and ducked her body behind the bathroom wall, out of Ban's line of sight.
"Ah~ I see. I wouldn't know about the 'respectable' part since I haven't gotten a good look yet."
"What the—what are you even saying, you perverted bastard..."
"Grow up already, shorty. Anyway, where's Eve? I don't see her anywhere."
The moment he asked about Eve, Yui's temper flared for no good reason.
"How the hell should I know where that cow is?! She's probably just picked some room and went to sleep! Why, did moving into a new place make you too horny to wait? You animals in heat!"
"No, I wasn't planning anything like that. I was just asking."
Ban dumped the stuff Yui had thrown at him onto the nearby side table and turned away.
"Anyway, I'm heading to bed. You should sleep too."
"Hey... so you're not sleeping with the cow tonight?"
Yui, who had quickly thrown on a robe, poked her head out and asked.
"Nah. I'm not the kind of guy who's so horny he'd wake up someone who's already sleeping."
"Hmph... idiot. Is it really that fun? Doing that crap like beasts every single day?"
"It's fucking amazing. Men have a second brain in their dicks, you know. It's one of my goals in this second life."
"You're actually disgusting. Hey... if you're not sleeping with the cow... then today, just... with me..."
What the hell was this sudden development?
"Huh?"
"With... with me..."
"What? Speak up, mosquito. I can't hear you."
"Sleep with me!!"
Silence. A suffocating silence swallowed the living room whole.
Yui's face burned crimson like it might explode. Ban stood frozen in place.
"What kind of crazy bullshit is that all of a sudden? Kid."
"What! You said it was your second life goal—doing that! I haven't even properly thanked you yet, so... so I thought... as a thank-you... Ah, forget it!!!!!"
It was genuinely confusing when the girl who spent every day grumbling and snapping suddenly pulled something like this.
She was barely past twenty and already acting so bold.
But... when he actually thought about it, this was obviously a massive jackpot.
That small, pale body with curves that could make eyes roll. A chest size that would fit perfectly in one hand. That pretty face and long, silky straight hair.
Honestly, she was top-tier.
Ban swallowed hard and took a step closer—then Haze's warning from earlier slammed into his skull like a bullet.
'Don't touch Yui. It'll flip.'
Ah... right. Mess this up and he'd really end up with a hole in his head.
Had she warned him in advance because she knew this exact situation would happen?
Was the Sniper some kind of shaman?
"Haa..."
Ban suppressed the primal urge rising from deep in his gut and walked over to Yui. Then—
Flick!
He gave her forehead a solid finger flick.
"Ouch!! Why'd you hit me?!"
"Are you an idiot? Just because you're grateful doesn't mean you offer your body. Stop acting up when you're still a kid. You're already doing your part just fine."
Ban roughly tousled Yui's hair as tears welled in her eyes, then left the room without looking back.
Whirr—. The door slid shut.
Left alone, Yui wanted to crawl into a mouse hole from sheer embarrassment. At the same time, her heart was pounding strangely at how that perverted bastard—who she'd expected to jump her—had oddly kept his distance.
Or maybe she just wasn't attractive as a woman?
With a chaotic mix of complicated, strange emotions swirling inside her, Yui could only stare blankly at the closed door.
About six hours passed like that.
Ban woke up, washed roughly, and stepped into the main room.
"Master! Good morning~!"
As expected, their solution group was all about that miracle morning energy!
Eve came running over with a bright smile and started rubbing her chest against his arm.
And over in the corner of the sofa, Yui sat hunched up. The second their eyes met, her face flushed bright red like a ripe tomato and she glued her gaze to the floor.
Last night's events must have burned themselves deep into her brain.
But this guy didn't care much.
"This bed is ridiculous. My fatigue is seriously at zero with this level of comfort?"
The private room's bed offered a level of softness and comfort he'd never experienced before. For someone who constantly complained about being tired to say his fatigue was at zero? That said everything.
"First, let's go get the Ice Witch. She stayed up on watch all night, so she must be exhausted."
They all took the elevator up to the first-floor main building.
As expected, Haze was still perched on the Hummer's roof, eyes scanning the area. A pile of cigarette butts had accumulated at her feet.
"Hey~ Sexy Sniper! Come on down. Let's eat, then you can get some sleep."
At Ban's call, Haze turned her gaze toward them.
"Did you sleep well?"
Her stamina really was impressive. Her voice didn't sound tired at all.
"Sis, you've worked hard! Let's eat quick and then you can rest!"
"Haze unnie! Good work!"
Yui and Eve both ran over to her.
"As expected of our Ice Witch! Incredible stamina. Let's head inside."
At that, Haze's expression hardened again.
"You saw those looters gathering yesterday. All four of us going down to eat would be too risky. This is just a gas station shell with no proper barriers."
She didn't even sound tired... and every word was completely logical.
The more you owned in this world, the more you had to protect—and the stronger your vigilance became. That was the iron rule out here.
Even back in the shelter days, the four of them had taken turns standing night watch.
But the situation here was different.
The real pain in the ass was having to come all the way up from that deep underground bunker alone just to stand guard.
"Ah. Fine, fine. I'll bring some food up then. You all stay here for now. We'll hold a strategy meeting up here."
Ban headed back down to the basement, gathered bread, canned food, and a thermos full of coffee, then came back up.
They started breakfast using the Hummer's hood as a makeshift table.
"First, today's action plan."
Ban chewed loudly on his bread and raised his fingers one by one.
"Shorty, go to the control room and check if the bunker-exclusive outer perimeter CCTV is still working."
"Uh, y-yeah. Got it."
Yui answered without managing to make eye contact.
"And Ice Witch, forget everything else—just go down and crash."
"...... Understood."
"Eve, take the old-era toys Haze gave you yesterday and stay on standby here. They're super easy to use. Just shoot any suspicious bastards you see."
"Yes! Just leave it to me!!"
"I'll take my baby for a spin around the area and scout what's nearby. Sound good?"
Ban's clean division of roles. For all his nonsense, the guy knew how to lead.
"Then I'll just give Eve a quick lesson on how to shoot before I head down."
"You're seriously so diligent. Yeah, do that and then go get some proper rest. That bed is no joke, right? It's seriously the best."
Ban grinned and gave Haze's shoulder a couple of light pats.
Then he ruffled both Yui's and Eve's hair.
"I'm counting on you two. I'll be back."
"Yes!!!"
"Ah, hey! Stop messing up my hair... seriously..."
Unlike the cheerful Eve, Yui seemed embarrassed. It was oddly cute.
This leader didn't seem particularly bothered by it, though.
After the meeting, Ban pulled his beloved custom bike out of the Hummer's cargo hold.
"Shall we go, Super Lucky-chan?"
What a lame name for a bike.
Vroom—!
With a rough roar from the exhaust, Ban sped off from the gas station's high ground toward the low coastal area.
He hadn't noticed on the way in yesterday—his eyes had been half-rolled back then—but the scenery here was absolutely breathtaking.
After riding for about thirty minutes, he heard a young girl's scream in the distance.
"Kyaaaaah! Somebody help!"
He steered the bike toward the sound.
A girl who looked to be in her teens was being frantically chased by two Walkers.
"Yawn... So there are Walkers around here. This must be where the gray zone starts."
Ban stopped the bike and scanned the surroundings.
And... it was a pain in the ass, but he supposed he should help the kid.
Watching a child get horrifically torn apart and killed was something he absolutely couldn't stand.
Ban yanked the accelerator hard.
The bike slid across the sand and slammed straight into the Walkers' backs.
Thud—!
One Walker flew into the air. Ban leaped off the bike and neatly drove his knife into both their skulls.
Well, this level didn't even count as action anymore.
The girl who'd collapsed on the ground, trembling, looked up with her face covered in tears and snot.
"Heuuung... Thank you... Thank you so much..."
"Ta-da. Cool problem solver, at your service! Hey, hey... stop crying, wipe your nose, and be on your way."
"Um... you're my lifesaver, so... would you come to our camp? We don't have much, but we really want to repay you."
Normally, following someone in a situation like this was a terrible idea.
There weren't many trustworthy people left in this fucked-up world.
It could easily be a trap from bastards trying to steal his bike or supplies...
But to get a better feel for the local geography, he put the girl on the bike and headed toward the camp she'd mentioned.
What they arrived at was a tiny survivor camp hidden in a crevice along the coastal cliffs.
Even in a gray zone near direct faction territory, a small camp like this should've been wiped out by looters or a few stray Walkers and turned into a bloodbath long ago.
Yet the scrap-metal barriers surrounding the camp were surprisingly solid and well-constructed.
Though it looked like haphazardly patched plates, the design clearly showed someone who understood the fundamentals of defense extremely well.
"Interesting."
Ban lit a cigarette and observed from where he'd parked his bike in front of the barrier.
At the sound of the engine, a small inspection door built into the scrap-metal gate clanked open.
"Who is it?"
"Uncle Azet!!"
At the girl's voice, the sharp-eyed middle-aged man called Uncle Azet hurriedly opened the main scrap-metal gate.
A white-haired old man with a limp leg then rushed out.
"Anna! You're safe! Oh Lord, thank you!"
"Grandpa... Heuuung..."
The girl threw herself into the old man's arms and burst into heartbroken sobs.
Several more painfully thin adults emerged from the camp, sighing in relief at the sight of the safe girl.
"This man saved me! He took down two Walkers in the blink of an eye..."
Anna pointed at Ban with teary eyes.
The old man bowed so deeply it looked like he might prostrate himself.
"Oh my, young man. How can I ever repay this kindness... It's humble, but please come inside. We don't have much, but allow us to at least offer you a meal..."
"Ah, it's fine. I didn't do it expecting anything in return."
Ban waved his hand like it was a hassle, but the old man and the camp residents insisted on pulling him over to sit by an old brazier in the center of the camp.
From what he gathered, the girl's parents had died long ago. Including the grandfather and a handful of adults, there were barely ten people total.
A little while later, a dented tin pot was placed over the fire.
It was a thin stew with a few strands of unknown weeds and some dried, shriveled bits of meat the size of a rat floating in it.
"This is really all we have right now... I'm not sure if it'll suit your taste."
The old man carefully handed Ban a steaming wooden bowl. Ban's dead-fish eyes scanned its contents.
Maybe it was drugged. He couldn't let his guard down.
...... Sigh. No way.
He wasn't stupid enough to miss what a single pathetic bowl of stew meant to these starving people.
This was obviously a special meal where they'd thrown in two days—maybe even three days' worth—of their entire food supply.
In the eyes of the camp residents standing around them, there was more pure joy at being able to treat their lifesaver than there was hunger.
In this insane, crumbling world, these eyes were almost too warm and kind—completely out of place.
Ban quietly picked up the wooden spoon and brought the stew to his mouth.
It was extremely bland and reeked of disgusting grass.
"Krr. This is killer. Old man, your cooking could rival Michelin stars."
Ban smiled as he scraped the bowl clean. Only then did bright smiles finally bloom on the old man and Anna's faces.
Ban set the empty wooden bowl down beside the brazier and wiped his mouth.
He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and casually asked the old man.
"By the way, old man. When I came in earlier, I noticed—"
"Yes, benefactor. Please speak."
"How did you build a barrier like this? It looks way better made than a camp this small should have."
At Ban's question, the old man gave a good-natured but bitter smile and waved his hand.
"Hehe. This barrier? A mercenary group called Blackhead nearby built it for us."
"Blackhead?"
Ban's dead-fish eyes sparkled with interest.
Mercenaries. The ultimate symbol of bastards who lived and died by money.
But in this apocalypse, a group of soft-hearted mercenaries doing charity work for a penniless refugee camp? That was unusual.
"Mercenaries doing charity work? Old man, there's no such thing as free in this world. They're not planning to kidnap the kids later to sell as slaves or harvest their organs, are they?"
At Ban's blunt words, Anna beside them flared up.
"No! The Blackhead uncles are really good people! Last time when looters came, they drove them all away!"
The old man nodded and added his own thoughts.
"I understand why you'd be suspicious, benefactor, but those people are a bit different. I don't know the full story, but..."
Heh. Now that was interesting. Ban was pretty curious what kind of lunatics they were.