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Saeko Busujima stayed behind to take care of Saya Takagi while Shizuka Marikawa and the others rested. Rosen, meanwhile, headed out with Gabriel and Frieren to clear out zombies.
Gabriel had armed herself like a walking arsenal, raiding Saya's weapon stash on the way.
Rifles, a sniper, pistols, grenades, shotguns—she strapped on everything she could carry. On top of that, she had a huge backpack bulging with all kinds of ammo.
Rosen stared at this human armory, itching to make a snide comment.
But Gabriel just shrugged and declared she had "firepower deficiency syndrome."
Back when she played horror games, running out of bullets always stressed her out. Keeping track of ammo while fending off hordes wasn't her idea of fun. Now that she had the chance to experience it for real, she was determined to go all out and enjoy herself.
After leaving the shelter, Gabriel even flew over to the half-destroyed Nemesis they'd fought earlier and—luck of all luck—found a rocket launcher.
The Gatling gun, sadly, was useless with its electronic system fried.
"Go, go, go!"
Once she slipped fully into her role, Gabriel lit up with excitement.
Surrounded by zombies, she whipped out her weapons and went on a trigger-happy rampage.
Rosen grabbed a pistol just to try it out. After a few misses, his aim wasn't too bad.
Frieren, on the other hand, was fascinated by the cold, metal weapons themselves. Accuracy, though… not her strong suit.
"These weapons pack quite a punch," she mused. "And even ordinary people can use them."
In her world, normal humans couldn't use magic at all. They were stuck with simple melee weapons, completely helpless against demonkind.
But if they had access to firepower like this? Maybe not enough to turn the tide, but at least they'd have a fighting chance.
"Can I take one back to study?" Frieren asked.
"Go ahead," Rosen replied with a chuckle. "But honestly? To mass-produce these you'd need an advanced industrial system. With your world's tech level… I'd say stick to developing magic."
Any time demons came up, Frieren always grew dead serious.
She thought it over carefully before finally muttering, a little disappointed, "I'll research it first. If it doesn't work out, I'll just have to let it go."
Meanwhile, Gabriel was already leading them toward a nearby school.
The bloodstained gate still bore the sign: Megurigaoka Private Academy.
Rosen sighed. A place that once nurtured young lives had turned into a nightmare.
Even Gabriel and Frieren, who had been in playful spirits just moments ago, fell silent at the sight of uniformed corpses scattered across the grounds. Students who once brimmed with energy and hope… now reduced to this.
This wasn't a game.
"Let's check inside," Gabriel said grimly. "See if anyone's still alive."
Her voice shook with suppressed anger. Part of her wanted to pull out the Trumpet of Apocalypse right then and blow Umbrella Corporation off the face of the earth.
At first, she hadn't expected much. But against all odds, she actually found survivors.
A group of girls, holed up in the student council room.
They'd ventured out when they heard gunfire in the schoolyard, nearly got ambushed by stray zombies, and were only saved thanks to Frieren's magic blasting a hole through the monsters' skulls.
"Wait—there really are survivors?" Gabriel was stunned, then deeply relieved.
But the girls, upon seeing Rosen's strange crew, reacted with a mix of shock and disbelief.
The elf-looking girl—was she part of a cosplay club or something? Yet they had definitely seen light erupt from that staff and cleave through zombies a moment ago.
After being trapped so long, they honestly thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Thankfully, Gabriel stepped forward, radiating warmth and charm. With her easygoing friendliness, she calmed them down and quickly got the story.
Only five girls and one dog were left alive in the whole school.
Their teacher, Megumi Sakura, along with four students: Miki Naoki, Yuri Wakasa, Kurumi Ebisuzawa, and Yuki Takeya.
Aside from Yuki, the others were shocked but still grateful to their unlikely rescuers.
Yuki, however, was… different.
She walked right past blood-smeared hallways and piles of corpses without batting an eye, even mistaking wandering zombies for normal classmates.
"This looks like…" Frieren frowned, then nodded to herself. "A stress-induced coping response. Some kind of trauma reaction."
She'd seen similar cases during her travels—villagers who broke under the strain of demon invasions, their minds fracturing to protect themselves.
"Poor girl," Gabriel murmured. She gently pulled Yuki into a hug. "Don't worry, God will protect you. You're safe now. Everything will be okay."
Her angelic power stirred automatically, washing over the girl. Within half a minute, Yuki's vacant expression shifted. Awareness returned, and she let out a shaky apology.
"Sorry… I must've caused you trouble."
While the other girls were still marveling—moved by Yuki's sudden recovery—Rosen finally placed where he'd seen these faces before.
"..."
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