— — — — — — —
By the time the night deepened, Lynn had finally completed the reincarnation of over four thousand Cursed Children into his Familia.
Even for him, it was a relief to be done with the process.
Among them, the last girl to be reincarnated seemed a little familiar.
"Hmm…"
"A character from the original story?"
He placed his hand on her head.
Senju Kayo looked up, her face emotionless.
"Thank you, Lord Lynn, for granting me a new life."
Though her words were filled with gratitude, her tone was empty.
No joy, no sadness—just pure indifference.
Lynn lowered his gaze, locking eyes with Kayo's lifeless stare.
Even though she had become a Devil, and even though the Gastrea Virus inside her had been erased, there was still no emotion on her face.
She should be happy, right?
His gaze shifted down, scanning her status.
[Senju Kayo]
→Rank: Low-Class Devil
→Race: Devil
→Master: Lynn Valifer
→Stats:
•Strength: I0
•Agility: I0
•Endurance: I0
•Magic: I0
→Unique Skills: [Gastrea Factor: Dolphin]
---
She hadn't been reincarnated as a special Devil.
Which… made sense.
Even though Kayo had a brief appearance in the original story, she wasn't particularly exceptional.
The Dolphin-type Gastrea Virus was far from being a notable strain among the many variations.
Unlike Midori, who had an instinct for divination and could "smell" fate, Kayo possessed no such talent.
A normal Devil—that was only natural.
Kayo continued to stare silently at Lynn, as if she was trying to memorize his face forever.
Then, placing both hands over her stomach, she spoke calmly.
"I'm hungry."
Lynn: "...…"
Why does this feel like I just adopted a stray cat…?
Shaking his head, he ordered someone to prepare food.
He glanced at the crowded shelter, filled with loli Devil heads everywhere.
His eye twitched.
Can Mahiru even handle this…?
Even as Devils, feeding over four thousand hungry little girls was no simple task.
— — —
Some Time Later
Shiina Mahiru collapsed onto the table, exhausted.
Her hands were shaking.
Even the spatula she was holding was smoking from overuse.
Utaha couldn't help but sigh. "Master, we can't keep this up forever."
Mahiru was completely overwhelmed.
The rest of the Familia had helped out, and they had barely managed to provide enough food.
If this continued…
"Haaah…"
Lynn fell into deep thought.
He needed a better logistics system.
Though, honestly…The solution was simple.
Train the lolis.
Instead of doing everything for them, it was better to teach them how to handle logistics themselves.
After all, they were already Devils.
They had survived hardship, so they wouldn't complain about some extra work.
For now, they could set up their own supply chain.
But more importantly—They needed a bigger place.
Just as Lynn was thinking about this—A message popped up in the Familia chat.
— — —
[Busujima Saeko: "Master, I found a military base. From the looks of it, it should be large enough to serve as a temporary shelter."]
[Busujima Saeko: "There are plenty of supplies here, too. Even without scavenging, we should be able to sustain ourselves for a while."]
[Busujima Saeko: "Also… while searching for the base, I encountered some survivors."]
[Busujima Saeko:(Attached Image).jpg]
Lynn glanced at the message Saeko had sent before finally opening the attached image.
What he saw was…A group of high school girls with brightly colored hair.
And standing behind them—A tall, dark-skinned woman carrying a sniper rifle.
Oh, and also…A pink-haired girl.
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
Minami Rika?
As for the high school girls, he wasn't too familiar with them.
"Huh!?"
Marikawa Shizuka suddenly let out a surprised gasp.
"That's Rika!"
Hearing that name, Shiina Mahiru, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and the others exchanged looks.
It wasn't unfamiliar to them.
After all, Lynn's Familia had taken over her house in the Apocalypse World.
After thinking for a moment, Lynn sent a message.
[Sigma Man: "That dark-skinned woman is Minami Rika. Bring all of them to the military base."]
Since they were already occupying her home, it was only fair to help her out now that they had met.
As for the four other girls and the pink-haired one—It didn't really make a difference.
One more, one less—it wasn't a big deal.
Besides—They were all girls.
At the very least, they could help take care of the loli Devils he had just reincarnated.
— — —
After receiving Lynn's reply, Busujima Saeko turned to Minami Rika and her group.
"Looks like my Master has agreed to take you in. Let's go—I'll take you to the base."
"Oh? 'Master,' huh?"
Minami Rika adjusted the sniper rifle on her shoulder, giving Saeko a meaningful smirk.
Though beneath that smile… was a hint of deep wariness.
Minami Rika knew all too well—Busujima Saeko was terrifying.
She had personally watched Saeko unleash a single flying slash, not only wiping out every zombie on the street…But even slicing an entire building in half.
Was that something a human could even do?
And yet, she had seen it with her own eyes.
No matter how unbelievable it was, no matter how shocked she felt—The reality was right in front of her.
She exhaled deeply.
Was following this woman really the right decision…?
And what kind of person could possibly be her Master?
The girls beside her didn't seem to overthink it as much as she did.
"Yay! We can all live together!"
A purple twin-tailed girl bounced around excitedly.
The brown-haired girl beside her immediately grabbed her arm.
"Keep your voice down! You'll attract the zombies!"
"Huh? But… didn't Saeko already take care of all the zombies?"
"Stop calling her by name so casually! Kurumi, You sure warm up to people fast…"
As the girls playfully bickered, none of them noticed the trace of concern in the pink-haired girl's eyes.
—
Military Base
Under Saeko's guidance, the group arrived at the base.
"Wow… it's huge!"
The high school girls all gasped in amazement.
"Looks like we can live here for a long time."
"But…"
"We should probably clear it out first."
Saeko drew her sword.
With a controlled slash, she sent a flying blade of energy through the air.
Despite its terrifying power, she made sure not to damage the base's infrastructure.
"No matter how many times I see it… it's still unbelievable."
"Saeko, you're definitely not human!"
Minami Rika clicked her tongue, then raised her sniper rifle.
"Alright, I'll pitch in too."
—
A Short While Later
The military base was completely cleared of zombies.
Saeko didn't leave a single corner unchecked.
Then—She pulled out a pre-prepared coordinate device from Lynn and activated it.
Within moments—A brilliant light flickered across the base.
Lynn and Marikawa Shizuka appeared out of thin air.
"W-WHAAAT!?"
Kurumi let out a startled scream.
"It's… it's ACTUAL teleportation magic!?"
Minami Rika was just as shocked.
Her voice was laced with disbelief.
"…Ever since the zombie apocalypse began, the world just keeps getting harder and harder to understand."
Just as she was processing everything—
Her eyes suddenly widened.
From behind Lynn, a massive, blonde-haired man waved enthusiastically.
"Rika~! Long time no see!"
.
.
.