Our 4-member crew—Captain Klimt, me, the mage Nedolus, and the craftsman Sanomel—walked for a few minutes, and then the captain stopped in his tracks, silently pointing his hand slightly to the left. Soon enough, we saw a zombie slowly but determinedly coming towards us from the left. Though its features were still covered in mist, I realized that it must be a woman, and after a few seconds, the woman reached closer to us. I began focusing the power on my hand and preparing myself to sprint after the captain's order… but even before the captain could prepare his battle position…
"[Incantation] Lesser Pit Formation."
I heard Nedolus speaking something unintelligible, but the last words sounded just like a spell. So… is this how they use magic? I was surprised for a moment, and my awe increased even more once the land just before the zombie caved in as if some invisible person had dug a small hole in a second—less than a meter in diameter and shallow. The poor zombie tripped face-down when it tried to cross that region. Nedolus smiled a little, a smug smile, like he had just impressed us with his powers and looked at me like… I did my part, now show what you got.
Wasting no time, I sprinted towards the zombie, and Captain Klimt followed me. The zombie was desperately trying to get up, but with its poor coordination, it was almost impossible. And it didn't have to struggle anymore, for I awkwardly touched the hand of the zombie as it tried to pull itself out of the face-down laying position. I still can't tolerate the sensation of zombie skin.
The moment the new zombie started lighting up, I moved away to let Captain Klimt handle the rest. After thrashing around for a few seconds—during which the zombie's wrinkled grey skin regained normal human skin texture and other features became normal—a woman in her late 30s looked around in shock and surprise, sitting on the ground. Captain Klimt gently approached the woman and began explaining to her about what had just happened. The woman took a few moments to get a hold of the events and then immediately jumped up from her grounded position and rushed towards me.
She stood so close to me, her eyes seeming to bore into me, full of reverence and anxiety. She was a little plump and her face had started to show signs of aging. Though she wasn't exactly beautiful, she was attractive in a particular way—for lack of other words, a motherly attractiveness. With her rough and uncared-for yet beautiful reddish-brown curly hair and freckled skin, she'd pass as an extremely ordinary middle-aged woman. Yet her eyes… her brown eyes exuded the aura of a mother, and I'm sure that she must be a good mother. And her eyes were filled with tears now.
"Thanks a lot for saving my life, sir hero… Can you please find my son Eliot? I'll give you anything. Please… please… have mercy on my child…"
Now this is so awkward. I sneakily asked Captain Klimt to brief the cleansed humans about what just happened so I could avoid their worship and reverence, yet this woman was too close, with her motherly eyes in tears, making it impossible to ignore her plea. I tried to turn my eyes away from her pleading gaze, but I couldn't.
And even worse, this woman reminded me of my mother—but due to their contrast.
My mother always had dead, fish-like eyes, even when talking to me in an apparently pleasant tone. I still remember that in my childhood, I wished to change my mother's eyes into normal eyes. I know that it's silly, but this dream seemed to make the profession of doctor my dream job when I was in primary school. Even after growing up and losing my mother, I still regret that she lacked those beautiful motherly eyes.
Seeing my obvious discomfort, Captain Klimt intervened and approached her with strong yet delicate steps. "Ma'am, I'm afraid you're causing discomfort to the hero. I know that you must have your concerns, but please wait patiently." And out of nowhere, Sanomel too opened up—though I think he could have been more mild.
"You're not the only one who lost someone. We all lost someone—our family or friends. Don't wail like a spoiled, stupid child and give some time for the hero, will you?" On hearing this, the woman seemed to realize her mistake as she stayed back a little and apologized. Then she introduced herself as Martha. According to her, her husband died shortly after her son was born, and her son Eliot was working in a shop of their distant relative in this city. She was on her way to the city when the apocalypse took place.
After Mrs. Martha calmed down, we resumed our mission, and by the time the sun reached the apex, hinting that it was noontime, we'd already saved four more humans. By this time, I had figured out the rough introduction Captain Klimt and the others gave to the newly cleansed and confused humans, and it's almost as follows:
"Thank goodness for giving you relief from the fate of corruption. You're saved by a hero from another world who is gifted by the gods with an ability to cleanse the corruption. Yet he's a little shy and doesn't like praise and worship." I'm grateful they didn't make me a divine character, yet calling me shy was a little unfortunate. I'm not so good at communicating with strangers, and I can't stand overly dramatic moments. That doesn't make me shy… right?
Nedolus seemed to have a superiority complex, for he always made the first move whenever he saw the zombies, as if he were the hero descended from heaven, with flashy expressions and body language. He used a variety of earth spells to flaunt his powers, including "Lesser Slip," "Quicksand," and a rather vicious one in which a stone trap-like structure bit onto the leg of a zombie, named "Stone Jaw." Everyone else, including Mrs. Martha, became irritated by his behavior and his body language, which declare a challenge with me. I don't care about it though, but the way Captain Klimt clenched his fist whenever Mr. Nedolus tried to show off reminded me of the captain's warnings about having to manage several survivors with their own agendas.
After saving the last person, the survivors seemed to prefer some rest, and I too decided to take a break from the game of tag. It sounds a little wrong calling cleansing zombies a game of tag… yet with the help of resourceful companions, this task was laughably simple. Hence, I prefer the term "game of tag." Most of the survivors seemed to be hungry now, but we'd already walked a long distance from the apple tree and water pool, and it'd be a pain to walk back there. But then Martha excitedly pointed towards a medium-tall thorny tree on the sidewalk.
"Sir hero, I know this tree. It's named Purple Palotte Tree. It can produce very delicious and juicy fruits. I heard that you made an apple tree produce apples. Please try your force on this tree."
It looked like an ordinary tree planted for its shade and looks, but what's wrong with giving it a try? So I walked towards it while the others watched the sight with anticipation. But for some reason, Captain Klimt was so cool and composed, as if he already knew the results. I gently touched its silky-smooth bark, taking care not to touch any of those thin sharp thorns here and there on the tree, and I used my power, just like I did on the apple tree.
This time too, I felt something like a mild resistance from within the tree, but with a push of force, I let my power flow into it. Unfortunately, I haven't yet mastered this application, and I had to close my eyes firmly for my power to work. And when I opened my eyes, a beautiful and delicious sight welcomed me.
A huge number of clusters of lemon-sized purple fruits were produced on the tree, and the fruits had a very smooth and waxy texture. Curiously, I plucked one, and the broken stalk oozed some white sap. Captain Klimt instructed me to peel the outer skin from the stalk side and eat the rest whole, and said that the seed was crunchy and tasted good.
I slowly raised it to my nose, and a fine, novel fruity smell made my mouth water. The smell was unlike any fruit I'd known so far… but there was a citrus-like hint, I think… yet so appetizing. It must be so delicious, I thought, as I tried to peel the skin from the stalk side. By this time, Martha came towards the tree and, with a little difficulty, plucked a rather large cluster for the others. She stood next to me to watch my reaction to the fruit like a mother. I pulled on the skin by the stalk, and it easily peeled off in a thin, flexible sheet of membrane, revealing the hard jelly-like deep purple pulp, and some small drops of juice leaked from the peeled area. I began to peel away the rest of the skin.
"You can eat the skin too, but it's a little leathery and bitter. So better peel off the skin," Mrs. Martha explained to me as she extended the cluster of fruits in her hand to another man. I think he introduced himself as Lagners, a peasant who came to the outskirts of the city in hope of a better life. I decided to eat the fruit slowly to enjoy the taste and texture of my first isekai fruit experience. And I took a small bite. Just like its appearance, its flesh was soft and fleshy, like a softer version of grapes, and the juices just gushed into my mouth.
A sweet tart and a little note of nutty flavor filled my mouth, and its rich juices had a tingling sensation as they gently passed through my throat. I looked at the inside of the fruit, and it had an inner portion that was more juicy, surrounded by a more fleshy outer region. The deep purple-colored juice itself was viscous and jelly-like, and had many small chewy fibers inside it. In its center, there was a grape-sized white seed. Martha told me affectionately to take it out and have a try. So I carefully took it out and squeezed a little. It was almost like a soft nut in hardness, and I placed it in my mouth and gently chewed it. It tasted a little bitter, but still more like some nuts.
Martha seemed to like my expressions as she peeled another one and extended it to me. With a nod of gratitude, I put the rest of the fruit in my mouth in two bites and took the second fruit in my hand. This fruit seemed to contain lots of water and almost felt like watermelons in terms of water content—but smaller and tastier. In the end, I ate three of those fruits.
After all of us ate to our fill, we rested for a few minutes, during which Captain Klimt and Nedolus decided to enter the city for a number of reasons. The major reason was the low number of zombies outside the city walls. We'd just waste our time looking for survivors outside the city. And excluding the five people who were attempting to trespass the city, the remaining folks—Captain Klimt, the mage Nedolus and a young merchant named Fralux were out of the city simply by a stroke of coincidence, which hinted that people who might be helpful in controlling the zombies are mostly present inside the city walls. Another reason is because of the night.
We obviously need to rest in some houses, and the houses around us beyond the city walls are extremely weak and offer very limited protection against zombies, whereas the houses inside the city will be stronger and safe. And if we recruit more survivors, they could take turns guarding the house against any potential zombie attacks.
Mrs. Martha kept on bugging me to check out the marketplace nearest to the city gate to try and find her son. She also talked about her life in the village and the tough life of a single mother. I decided to listen to and participate in her conversations as I found it quite interesting, and we kept talking.
Somewhere along the way, I started noticing that she seemed to talk to me more dearly and tenderly now, like I'm close to her, and at some point, she started calling me just Misato. I hate to admit it, but I too started to feel some familial feelings towards her, like a very distant aunt. And gradually, I too responded to her as if she's a relative rather than a co-survivor. So now it looks like I got a relative along with some friends in another world!
During the time I introduced myself and engaged in conversation with some other newly rescued survivors, I noticed that Mrs. Martha and Sanomel were busy with something, but I paid not so much attention to them, for Captain Klimt came towards me along with the mage Nedolus, and his face was a little serious. Captain Klimt revealed that during the panic of the mist, the guards had closed the city gates according to protocol and that we need some force to open them. He has already added the abilities of Nedolus as a mage in our group's rescue missions, but he seems like he is not so fond of the hot-headed young mage.
He also warned us to take care, as we may come across a huge horde of corrupted humans as we enter the previously populated city, and he looked at me when saying that, in this scenario, he and Nedolus should prioritize my safety over the others, as I'm the most important person in the attempts to restore humanity. Out of curiosity, I subtly looked at Nedolus during this conversation, and he was not so interested in it, and I made a wild guess that he's not so fond of giving priority to an apparently nobody like me instead of a gifted mage like him.
I have a slight concern, born from the few zombie films I watched. What would happen if a person is bitten by a zombie here? I think the mist is the culprit for the zombified beings, but still, what if a bite or a scratch spreads the infection too? However, I chuckled a little at my own stupidity for comparing a fantasy world with the films made for entertainment. Even if something bad happens, I think my new world powers will help us. We walked towards the city gate, getting prepared to recruit more survivors and rebuild society. I'd love to have background music from some zombie film right now.