A Middle-aged Man Who Returned From Another World Becomes Unrivaled In The Apocalyptic World – Vol 1 – Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I finished my food a step ahead of her and looked at Kaede, who was crying and sobbing as she ate.

“Ugh, it’s so good…”

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the same line in the last 10 minutes or so. I just eat rice with canned mackerel as a side dish, but it was the first decent meal I had in a long time, and it was a great treat. I was very happy with my first meal in this world for the first time in three years.

“I understand, so either talk, cry, or eat.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.. Ugh..Ugh!”

Talking with a dumbfounded look on his face, Kaede choked on his rice and started pounding on his chest more and more. I hurriedly opened the top of a plastic water bottle that I had left nearby and presented it to her. After gulping it down with vigor, Kaede huffed and made herself comfortable before apologizing to me again.

“I’m sorry, I opened a new plastic bottle…”

“There’s plenty downstairs, don’t worry about it, you can drink as much as you want.”

Seeing one side of Kaede that was quite childish made me smile. I’ve never experienced this, but I wonder if this is how I would feel if I had a child.

“Thank you for the meal.”

When she had finished, she placed her chopsticks on top of the stainless steel container, put her hands together, and closed her eyes.

“There’s a little left over,  I cooked too much…”

“We can eat  again later. Let’s have this for lunch.”

I picked up a bag from the contents of the luggage on the desk by the wall and showed it to her.

“Ochazuke! I like it!”

Rubbing her red, swollen eyes, Kaede gave a big smile.

Kaede was still at a very young age, and I wondered if it was because she was strong enough to smile like that despite having gone through so much pain. Or is she desperately trying to forget such an incident.

I hope that one day those smiles will come from the heart.

“Well, you’ve been up all night. Take your nutritional supplements and get some sleep.”

“…Azami-san, are you going to bed? Would you like to go somewhere?”

“…Yeah, I’m taking the day off, too.”

At Kaede’s anxious look, I replied with an unaccustomed smile, hoping to take some of the anxiety away.

It must have been hard for her to be alone in this world. If so, I thought, it would be better to make connections with people.

I would somehow deliver Kaede to the city hall or the police station. Of course, it would be easy to do this by running with Kaede on my back, but that would be too conspicuous. I’ll have to think of a way.

+++++

I entered the men’s changing room alone and lay down on the floor. I suggested that I didn’t need to sleep in the same room as a girl at my age. I said that Kaede would be fine with it, though.

I looked up at the ceiling and thought. This is the first time since I came back from the other world that I have had some time to relax.

But still, I hadn’t imagined that our world would be like this. The video Kaede had mentioned, and perhaps the address in the email from her junior colleague, must have been referring to that. If the story about the hackers on the Internet was true, then there was no doubt that it was the cause of this commotion.

But isn’t it a bit too early to say that the panic that Kaede describes occurred only a few days after the video was released? Because, according to Kaede, within a few days after she fled here, the same phenomenon had occurred all over the world.

For me, and I’m sure every other person in the world, the question arises as to whether or not the spread of a mere zombie could spread so quickly throughout the world.

It’s true that we have airplanes and other vehicles that can transport large numbers of people at high speed, but even if an injured and cursed pre-zombie person was on board, would it be possible for it to spread around the world?

Of course, it’s something I can’t answer even if I think about it, but there are so many inexplicable parts that make me feel uncomfortable.

As I was meditating and thinking about this, there was a response to my presence detection. There was a movement in the presence of Kaede in the staff room, and she seemed to have left the room.

Knock, knock…

She seemed to stay in front of the door of the men’s changing room for a while, but after a while, I heard a knock on the door.

“Azami-san, are you awake?”

I got up at Kaede’s call and opened the door. I opened the door without answering, scared for a moment, and Kaede gave me a sullen look.

“You can at least respond to me…! I mean, you’re so careless!”

I dont know if this is some kind of reprisal for the earlier exchange, Kaede said as if she remembered.

“I’m fine.”

“What’s that…?”

Umm, Kaede complained her mouth agape. I know I am not being careless because I can sense it, but there is no way I can explain it, so I will just apologize honestly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. So, is there something wrong?”

“It’s fine, but ……, um, can’ t we still sleep in the same room?”

I looked at her and saw that she was holding a blanket. She blushed a little embarrassed and asked me.

“Oh, yeah….okay.”

I guess I don’t have a choice, if that’s what you’re asking. If it were not for this world, I would tell you to be strong. I guess that’s why being alone is so scary right now.

“Yeah!”

There was a girl who was really happy to be able to sleep in the same room with such an old man, and I could do nothing but laugh at her.

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