Chapter 33 - Throwing Practice

"HNNNGHHHH!!!"

Daiki gritted his teeth as he squeezed his way out of the narrow hole.

He looked like Jell-O being squeezed through a narrow gap.

After somehow managing to wriggle through the cramped space, he emerged into a wide-open area again.

Checking the smartphone, it seemed they were already underneath the shopping district.

"Alright..."

Takumi followed out next.

"Senpai! Looks like we’re already under the shopping district!"

"I see. In that case, let’s look for a manhole around here."

"You got it!"

The two of them began walking again.

Ryuu and Tooru, having left the welding to Seiji-tachi, had regrouped with Rei — and now all three of them were sitting there, holding their heads in frustration.

“Ughhh…”

Ryuu scratched his head and leaned back against the chair.

The three of them were trying to come up with a silent long-range weapon to use in the shopping district.

The sheet of paper in front of them was filled with ideas — but each one had been rejected.

“A bow takes too long to get good with…”

“And it’s not like we have a crossbow or anything.”

“It would've been great if we could just modify a bow into one…”

Sigh… All three let out a heavy breath.

The only bows they had at school were traditional Japanese longbows, the kind used in archery clubs.

Since the shape wasn’t a proper semicircle but unevenly curved, they’d concluded it would be impossible to make a crossbow from them.

There was also the idea of using the bamboo practice swords from kendo class, but when they considered whether it would have enough power and durability… it didn’t seem likely.

“What if we just made something like a slingshot at this point?”

“Oh! That might work!”

More accurately, what they had in mind was a sling — the kind with a cord used to hurl stones — but it did seem like a simple solution.

“Alright then, let’s at least try making one. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll figure something else out.”

“Roger that!”

All three of them stood up at once and headed off to gather materials.

"Sakku-ra-chaaan!"

Kazuma came running over to where Sakura was.

"Ah, Senpai."

When Sakura looked up, she saw Kazuma approaching with a rather slack, unfocused expression.

This guy had a pretty handsome face when calm, but when it came to women, he quickly turned into a complete fool.

"What’re you up to?"

Sakura didn’t answer right away.

There was no way she could say, "Just giving commands to some zombies."

After a brief pause — though really, it lasted all of 0.1 seconds — Sakura opened her mouth.

"I was looking at the sky."

She figured that instead of coming up with some random excuse, saying something sentimental and a little girlish would be more effective in wrapping Kazuma around her finger.

And sure enough, Kazuma didn’t question it and happily went along.

"Whoa, really? …That’s kinda romantic. Mind if I sit next to you?"

Sakura didn’t answer, but Kazuma plopped down to her right anyway.

The occasional breeze made the arrival of winter feel near.

Clouds drifted quickly across the sky, letting the sun peek in and out.

As she stared out at that peaceful scene, Sakura leaned in just a little closer to Kazuma.

Now was the chance to make this boy her subordinate.

One bite, and he would be her servant.

Meanwhile, Kazuma, completely oblivious to the danger, simply assumed Sakura moving closer meant she liked him.

Sakura gently brought her face toward his neck.

Kazuma didn’t move.

Now━

"What exactly are you two doing?"

A sudden voice interrupted them.

Sakura and Kazuma turned around.

Standing there was Yuuki, her face flushed bright red.

"I-I’d like to remind you that inappropriate relationships between boys and girls are strictly forbidden under student council rules! So, um, I’d ask you to refrain from shameless acts like... kissing!"

Kazuma frowned in frustration.

He could’ve brushed Yuuki off right then and there, but honestly, the mood was gone.

Totally ruined.

Not that there had been any mood for Sakura to begin with.

"Got it. Well then, see ya!"

Kazuma left with an exaggerated flourish, and Sakura made her way down the stairs.

And Yuuki was left standing there alone.

"…What are they even doing?"

Her gaze drifted off toward the school grounds littered with corpses below, where three people were swinging cords around.

“Take this!”

A stone released from the sling flew forward, propelled by centrifugal force.

However, it didn’t fly quite as accurately as intended.

Many stones were thrown toward the trees in the schoolyard, but only a few actually hit their targets.

“Tooru, can this really be used for real?”

Ryuu asked Tooru while setting a stone on the sling.

Tooru replied as he swung the sling around.

“It’s better than a bow… here goes!”

The stone left the sling, flying straight and hitting the center of a tree.

The bark on the trunk was slightly gouged out.

“Amazing…”

“Well, once you get the hang of it.”

“Please! Teach us how!”

Ryuu clasped his hands together, pleading with Tooru.

But Tooru smirked sarcastically and said, “Seems like it’s not ‘us,’ huh?” while nodding toward a certain direction.

When Ryuu looked, he saw Rei swinging a sling and throwing a stone.

And the stone hit the tree.

“So, apparently you’re the only one who’s bad at this, Ryuu?”

“No way…”

Ryuu was speechless.