*Sorry I didn't post yesterday, a little compensation. But there won't be any chapters this weekend either, okay.
Thanks to everyone who's been reading this and my other stories.*
Are you going to sleep or not? (Maybe then I can get some peace of mind.)"
"~Aaahhhmm~ I'm going, okay? You know what to do and what you need to keep an eye on, right? Besides how to access the 'safety net' the plants made, right?"
"Yes, yes, I know. Keep an eye out so no monsters or stray darilhos show up to try and loot what's left of the house. Keep an eye out in case Mom and Dad come back, since they said they wouldn't be back until morning."
"To access the plants you use to keep watch, I have to take the root of one of the rose bushes that climbed onto the roof and inject it directly into it. Like I do when I bite someone, only in reverse."
"Okay, excellent, now I'm going to sleep. It's a bit weird going to sleep at 6 p.m., but what can I do? It's the apocalypse."
…
No, I think being able to go to sleep at 6 pm (or any time really) in such a blasé way during an apocalypse is already a pretty good thing to do. I'm sure many people would go after my little sister if they saw her acting like it was a nuisance.
"""""""""""""""""""""
"Wow, she's really sleeping soundly."
I thought, seeing my full-size sister lying on the bed in my room. Right after she said she was going to sleep, she promptly "linked" my mind with the "surveillance plant network" she'd created (I didn't ask how, I have no idea) and fell into bed.
For safety reasons, she stayed upstairs, although her room was still largely untouched thanks to Mai (the smaller turtle, but just as territorial as the little monster that apparently lives in the lake out front).
This magic is a bit strange; it doesn't make you feel threatened like I thought it would. It literally creates an image of the area demarcated by the surrounding plants, in a perfect 50-meter circle with our house as the focal point.
Basically, it creates the image of an RPG-style map with red dots indicating intimates in the immediate area directly in your head, just like notifications.
With my sister having gone to hibernate and her dogs resting, I decided to take the time to calmly evaluate things (as if an afternoon of conversation would be enough).
Or rather, I was nervous about being on guard duty, so I decided to spend some time evaluating what I still had here at home.
It might seem like a small amount, since practically everything useful was on the ground floor, but no. What was on the ground floor was everything that was immediately useful, but also things that might be useful later, like tools, raw materials (or that can be used that way), and even things that could be used as weapons.
These were on the second floor.
Right at the top of the second floor, there were weights from the "home gym," which could be used as both a weapon and material, you know, melted down and made into something else.
Not only the weights, but also iron from other equipment, like the cheap elliptical, a small treadmill, and a combined weight training machine, where you could remove both iron and steel wires.
Besides the things that could be used as material or weapons, there were also the bed linens from the guest room. There were also several sheets and blankets, so we'd hardly be cold.
And finally, I checked our father's "junk room." Basically, the attic where we threw almost everything. It was crammed with materials, from metals to less useful things like porcelain.
Where would there be porcelain? Sometimes we break vases here at home and my mother is very sentimental about them, so instead of throwing them away first, she tries to fix them (or asks our father to try to fix them), but she usually ends up forgetting and they end up piling up here (they keep piling up, it seems like there are several of them, no, just the right ones from about 4).
Obviously, there are things here that can be used as weapons, too. Like the gardening axe, the 3-kilo hammer, or the pickaxe. We need to do some renovations here at home.
"Okay, let's see. Iron, Dad's messy workbench, electric welding, more iron, an open toolbox with everything scattered around, an old skateboard, a Styrofoam children's surfboard, even more iron, a steel wire fence, a semi-rusty iron fence, spare ceramic tile from the last time Mom wanted to change the flooring. Up here, everything's the same as always."
I went to the first floor and decided to do the same thing. But here it was much faster. Aside from a few things in the cabinets near the outside sink, there was nothing, just some plastic bags and some glasses that no one wanted to take.
Inside the house, it was the same except for Mari's room, which Mai still watched like a hawk (despite being a turtle).
*pluck*
Speaking of her, she came out of the water shortly after I entered, hooked me, and then jumped back into the water. Luckily, she's not as... Beth as Beth.
Going into the living room, I took a good look at the damage: the cabinet was destroyed and toppled over, plants had been taken from their pots and thrown haphazardly, the door was ripped off its hinges, my mother's glass animal collection was partly stolen and partly destroyed, as were the photos on the central table.
Even though I knew it was useless, I still decided to rummage through the remains of the cabinet to see if there was anything that could still be salvaged. What I found were some slightly less damaged vigro animals, a few incense sticks still intact, and a searing pain in my hand.
[-5 HP]
"Holy shit, how did this happen?!"
Putting what little I found in the item box, I used my new strength to lift the cabinet as quietly as I could. And there in the back, among the pieces of wood and glass, I saw something glinting in the light.
"Are you kidding me?"
Of all the things the saviors could have left behind, and they left just this? Just looking at it made my eyes burn like the hand that had touched it.
For those who know vampires, you probably already know what burns a vampire just by touching it, and it's not sunlight, right?. Yep, that's right, silver.
The looters who came to my house left a genuine silver bowl here? They probably didn't even notice it after they turned over the cabinet.
'But then why didn't they see it before turning over the cabinet?'
Human idiocy never ceases to amaze me. Even in a chaotic world, things made of precious metals like gold, silver, and bronze still had value. They took my school medals, and they were made of really cheap metal, and they didn't take a silver bowl?! What's the logic in that?!
'Well, that doesn't really matter. ~aaaaahhhh~'
I thought and lowered the cabinet again until I noticed something near the bowl, something white.
'Wow, seriously, this also survived after the cabinet fell?'
The white thing was an ivory tooth. No, not a tooth, an ivory tusk from a walrus. My mother had gotten it from a neighbor she befriended a few years ago. It's a shame she ended up dying of a stroke early this year.
"It's useless, but..."
Reaching out again, careful not to touch the silver, I managed to reach the tusk and place it in my item box.
"It's still a keepsake from a friend. I think her mother will be happy to see she's okay."
With that, I finished checking the house, and honestly, I felt a lot more relaxed. I went back upstairs and was soon on the roof, looking down at the street from a spot where I could at least partially hide.
I took out two blankets from the item box. I used one to cushion my "observation nest" and the other to cover myself, both from the cold and to better disguise myself.
Before I could even settle in, my sister's "plant radar" was already showing its usefulness, with 4 red dots appearing on the right.
I think this is going to be a long night for me.