Chapter 86 - The Story of Giving a Trial
Fortunately, the two who were attacked didn't have major injuries. Even the second-year girl named Shibata, who the dogs had swarmed, managed to avoid serious injury thanks to her heavy clothing. She bled, but it wasn't life-threatening. Rabies was a concern, but that wouldn't be known without observing the progress.
However, the stray dog attack dropped the students into the depths of fear. While the two were being attacked, one student holed up in her dorm room, and another was desperately trying to call 110 on a phone that would no longer connect. Most of the students—including the teacher, Yuko—had fallen into a panic. It was natural, as they had never been attacked by humans or infected until now.
After the stray dogs fled, the students frantically reinforced the school's defenses. They nailed boards to the fence surrounding the school and built barricades to prevent further intrusion from the outside. All unused desks and chairs were thrown outside and piled in front of the fence.
The work continued until the sun went down. At night, the work was suspended because it became too dark to see, but not even half of the plan was finished. If the infected were to swarm them, that flimsy fence would be knocked down in an instant.
That night, the boy was on the roof of the school building with an automatic rifle. It was to check if the presence of this place had been detected by the infected, since he had let gunshots resound quite a bit during the day. If there were infected nearby, it wouldn't be strange for them to come here relying on the sound, even with the curtain of the forest. However, the fact that they hadn't appeared even at night likely meant there were no infected nearby.
He was also permitted to carry powerful firearms like rifles—or rather, he was pleaded with by Yuko. The fact that he had been secretly walking around the school building with a shotgun in his backpack was also overlooked. Apparently, they felt such a sense of crisis from the stray dog attack that the students began carrying weapons at all times.
That said, all they had were things like bats, iron pipes, and Japanese bows for archery. They didn't have a single firearm. Yuko reportedly asked if he could lend them guns, but he naturally refused. If he handed over such powerful weapons as guns, there was no telling what they would do. Besides, there was no way people who had never practiced could hit anything with a gun, and at worst, they'd just accidentally discharge them and kill themselves or their comrades.
Instead, he was also told to take down any infected or stray dogs if they came. Because of that, the boy was stationed on the roof like this, looking outside.
After the stray dogs came, the weather began to worsen again. Snow began to flutter, and although weak, a wind was blowing. Thanks to the school's tent pitched between the lined-up solar panels, he was avoiding being covered in white by the snow, but the temperature had dropped considerably. That said, since he was wearing heavy clothing and had heat pads stuck all over his body, the cold didn't bother him much.
Hearing footsteps, the boy looked back toward the penthouse. The door opened, and Yuko appeared holding something in both hands.
"Don't turn on the light. If there's someone outside, we'll be found."
The boy said in a sharp tone to Yuko, who had taken a flashlight out of her pocket and was about to illuminate her feet. In the darkness where there were no other light sources, the light of a flashlight stood out quite a bit. Since the academy was in the forest, it likely wouldn't be visible from far away, but even so, it was better to be safe.
"I'm sorry, I did it without thinking..."
"Please be careful. If you want to survive, it's better not to let your guard down. There's no guarantee there'll be a next time."
"Right, I'll be careful. ...You're hungry, right? I brought dinner."
On the tray Yuko held were rice balls and a small pot filled with hot, steaming soup. "It's okay, there's no poison in it," Yuko said, as if seeing through the boy's heart. As she said, until now, he had only eaten food he procured himself, being wary of poison and the like. Of course, he had explained to them, "It's painful to make you consume extra food."
He thought about refusing, but they likely weren't doing something like putting in poison at this stage. However, he couldn't afford to be careless, so the boy pointed to one of the three lined-up rice balls and told Yuko to taste-test it. Similarly, he asked her to take a sip of the soup. If she refused... then that was that.
"Honestly, I understand being wary, but I wish you'd trust us a little."
While grumbling such complaints, Yuko stuffed her cheeks with the rice ball as the boy said and drank the soup. Apparently, there was no poison. Since he was also a bit hungry, the boy decided to accept the dinner she brought.
Even though they were called rice balls, since most of the polished rice had been eaten by the students before reaching its expiration date, all that remained were the retort-packed ones.
He ate the rice balls and drank the hot soup while watching outside with night vision equipment. It was a situation that any adolescent boy would likely hope for—being alone with a young woman—but the boy felt nothing. His heart now was drier than a desert where even cacti would wither away.
"Um... thank you for today. For saving Shibata-san and Sakuma-san. If you hadn't been there, those two would surely have died. We couldn't have done anything on our own."
"It's not something worth being thanked for."
"Aki-san said you were someone who would abandon others without a second thought, but why did you save those two? If your story is true, your heart wouldn't ache even if you abandoned others as long as you survived, right?"
"That's because the ones attacking were dogs. If those were infected, I would have fled long ago."
Dogs are better because they'll run away if they judge the opponent is strong. Besides, although there's a fear of rabies or bacteria in the mouth, you only get injured even if bitten by a dog (the degree notwithstanding). But the infected will just keep attacking to eat humans, no matter how many of their kind are killed around them. Intimidation doesn't work. In that respect, the infected are inferior even to dogs.
"But you used a gun to save us. Even though bullets are hard to come by, you used them to save unimportant strangers. Can I ask why?"
"What if I say no?"
"Then, I'll just have to give up."
The boy didn't answer anything. Or rather, he couldn't answer.
He didn't know himself why he thought to save them. It was true he felt that since they were dogs, repelling them would be easy. But that wasn't a reason to save them. If he really didn't care what happened to others, he could have just holed up in the school building or the car where the dogs couldn't enter, or he could have just left this place. He could have just waited until the dogs ate the two, became full, and went home.
But the scales inside him tipped toward "driving away the dogs" rather than "leaving them be." Why? He tried to think about that, then stopped. He felt that if he thought about it any further, the most important element that constituted him—the rules—would be violated.
Rules are absolute. But this time, he had taken an action that could go against those rules. He stopped thinking about the reason, and the boy fell silent. To that boy, Yuko continued.
"Listen, I have a favor to ask. If you'd like, won't you stay here and be with us?"
"You're saying I should become a comrade?"
"In short, that's it."
"I refuse. You know the rules I've decided, right? Besides, the demerits of being with you are greater than the merits. I can provide the military force to stand against the infected or thugs, but what can you provide me?"
Electricity can be used, you can take a bath, and there's a greenhouse for farming. There are facilities to live a proper life. However, if the students are there together, the value of this Sayuri Girls' Academy drops significantly.
There's still food, but it'll only last a month at most. If the solar panels or wind turbines break, there are no people or parts to repair them. The generator's fuel would be exhausted in an instant if run in full. Even for the vegetables grown in the greenhouse, if shared among more than 10 people, the amount per person is negligible. Above all, the students have no experience fighting.
It was clear that if he were to stay here, the boy alone would have to protect 11 people. Even if he gave them guns and provided training, they would only become slightly better, and there was no doubt he himself would become the core of the fighting force. Losing his weapons and instead being given the obligation to protect 11 people—no matter how he thought about it, the merits were few.
"It's true that there's almost nothing we can provide you. But we have no choice but to rely on you. We've been using the fact that we weren't attacked until now as an excuse to stay holed up in this academy. But everyone realized from today's incident that we can't keep turning our eyes away from reality forever."
It was clear that they felt a sense of crisis from the current situation, given that the barricades, which had been mostly for show until now, were being reinforced and expanded in a great hurry. That said, it didn't mean they would become people who could fight overnight. Until then, combat against the infected and such would practically be pushed onto him alone. The boy thought so.
It didn't matter what circumstances the students held or what they thought. The problem was whether they would be useful to him, or if they held something that would be a merit outweighing the demerits. That was all.
"I know it's a brazen story. But right now, there's no one else we can rely on. So please, help us. Of course, we won't rely on you for everything. We'll do anything we can, too."
"Hm? You just said you'd do anything, didn't you? Then for now, please imitate a dog."
"Eh..."
Yuko made a face as if to say she didn't know what he was talking about, but the boy continued.
"A dog. You get on all fours. Hurry up. You'll do anything, right? Then something like this is easy, isn't it?"
"It's true, but..."
"Or was that 'anything' a lie? Then I can't be with a liar; I wouldn't know when I'd be betrayed."
"...If I do as you say, will you become our comrade?"
Yuko directed eyes mixed with contempt and humiliation at the boy. Then, she bit her lip and knelt on the cold roof. Just as she was about to put both hands down, the boy said, "It's a joke."
"But in this world now, there are many things far worse than being treated humiliatingly like a dog. Sensei, you said you'd do anything just now, but does that 'anything' include killing your own students?"
At that question, Yuko's eyes widened. This time, she was truly speechless.
"If a precious student gets infected, their head goes 'paa' and they turn into a beast in human form and start attacking other students, can you kill them with your own hands then? Please don't return an easygoing answer like 'that won't happen.' I killed my father and mother, too."
"..."
"Well, I don't expect you to be resolved right away. I plan to go out tomorrow or the day after to scout the nearby village while also procuring supplies. If you come along and act according to my instructions, I might stay at this academy."
I killed my parents, I killed my comrades, and I even indirectly drove a baby to death. Until now, I've tasted pain many times and survived through heart-wrenching thoughts. Yet the people here have lived carefree until today.
I'm envious of that. It's unfair, unforgivable. The boy was aware that such feelings existed within him.
I await your opinions and impressions.