The smell of decay wafts from the Sumeragi team’s cave.
It’s a smell that makes you want to pinch your nose, but it will get worse in the future.
This is still better now. Still, it’s harsh.
「 Sasazaki’s team yesterday wasn’t this bad. 」
There are several reasons why the decomposition is much more intense compared to the Sasazaki team.
Of these, I can confirm two things even if I’m not a coroner.
It’s been a day and the decomposition has progressed and the number of people is high.
「 Shinomiya-san, what do we do? 」
「 For now, strip off the uniforms, or so I want to say, but that’s unnecessary 」
The corpses are all undressed.
However, all of them have their underwear on.
Perhaps they took off their clothes to maintain their temperature.
Wet clothing causes a more significant drop in temperature than when naked.
It’s much warmer to take off your clothes and have skin contact.
It must be the health teacher’s or Reito’s idea.
「 Let’s cremate the corpses for now. It’s not good for our hygiene to leave them alone. They’re still decomposing now, but eventually, the gases in their bodies will burst and the fluids will overflow. That would suck 」
We split up and carried the bodies out of the cave.
「 Shinomiya-san, this… 」
「 Woah 」
Kageyama showed me a corpse whose right arm had been burned by fire.
「 Probably one guy died early. Unable to bear the hunger, someone tried roasting and eating them. But in the end, they didn’t resort to cannibalism, so the body remained uneaten 」
Team Sumeragi’s corpses showed signs of struggling to stay alive.
The scene is so gruesome that it’s painful to look at directly.
And so, I tried to look away while working on it.
「 Hokage, Kageyama… 」
In the meantime, Karin and the group joined us.
「 As expected, Reito and the group didn’t make it either 」
Karin muttered regretfully.
She seem regretful, not shocked.
「 We’ll cremate their bodies to prevent further decomposition 」
Amane agreed.
“I’ll trust Hokage and Amane’s judgment,” Karin added.
The rest agreed with Karin.
And so, Karin, Amane, Shiori, and Muscle joined the workforce.
「 Still, why did we come here? 」
Karin asks.
「 The truth is, the Sasazaki team is also suffering from decomposition. According to Amane, the condition is far worse than they were yesterday. So, I wondered if the situation is the same here. So, we stopped our way back to the hideout and came here to see how things were going
「 I see. What did you do with the other group? 」
「 We looted anything notable. I don’t know if we could use them, but I just collected their pens and wallets. I figured that I could collect the coins and process them 」
「 Not a bad idea. It’s by far the least amount 」
The number of workers went from two to six. That’s significant.
In one hour, we gathered 100 corpses.
「 That’s the last corpse…It had to be him 」
The corpse sits, leaning against the wall at the back of the cave.
The corpse had a gun in his right hand. It’s none other than Sumeragi Reito.
「 Why does he hold a gun? Did he commit suicide? 」
Shiori stared at Reito’s gun.
Passing by, Amane retrieved the gun from the corpse.
She checked the remaining bullets with her familiar hands.
「 It’s empty 」
「 So, it’s like he tried to kill himself but ran out of ammo 」
“That’s likely,” Amane agreed.
「 Amane, what’s the use of a gun without bullets? 」
「 I could use it to hit something with the bottom of the grip 」
「 That’s unnecessary, burn it along with the bodies 」
Guns scare people.
So, I decided to dispose of the gun along with the body.
「 I’m wondering what happened to team Sasazaki’s corpses? I know that they’re already decomposing… 」
I asked Karin.
Karin replied, “The same as this…”
「 We burned them. Amane suggested cremating them and we agreed. Was that a bad choice? 」
「 No, that was the right decision 」
We placed Sumeragi Reito’s corpse on the pile.
Then, we set the flame on the corpses.
Fueled by firewood and textbooks, the flames intensified.
Then, the flames grow stronger, consuming the corpses.
「 I don’t want to wait until they’re all burned out. Let’s call it a day 」
「 Yeah, we should 」
Karin agreed.
After making sure that the corpses are burned in flames, we headed back to our hideout.
◇
The next day, we headed back to team Sumeragi’s base.
「 Ugh, what’s this smell? 」
As soon as we arrived at the cave, Arisa pinched her nose.
「 That’s rotting. This is still far better than yesterday 」
The pile of corpses burned to the ground.
It’s not completely extinguished, but that’s enough.
「 Well then, let’s split up and start rummaging through their luggage 」
The number of corpses cremated was close to 100.
If so, there are enough bags for that number.
It was more than enough.
There were also the bags of those who died before the storm.
「 If the teachers weren’t with them, they would’ve collapsed sooner 」
That’s the impression I had while rummaging through the relics.
「 How did you reach that conclusion? 」
Eri asks.
「 It’s because they don’t have any fire-starting tools 」
「 Oh, right… 」
We checked the cave for all the items but they had nothing they could use to start a fire.
That would make it impossible to use the drilling method, much less the bow or tailspin method.
In short, these guys were using lighters to build fire.
There were a lot of smokers among those who were in their 20s.
Most of the men were smokers.
However, our generation was different. Not many of them smoke.
The age at which smoking is legally prohibited might also have something to do with it.
As far as I know, there were only a few smokers in our batch.
In short, most of the lighters must’ve belonged to the faculty.
I’m recalling the ceiling of the staff room that’s constantly filled with cigarette smoke.
「 The lighters are running low, what to do? 」
Mana asks. I replied, “Of course, we’re taking them”
「 They should still be useful so the volume isn’t a problem 」
This time, the corpse scavenging was worthwhile.
We got lighters, condoms, and a lot of toiletries.
In addition, we got another state-of-the-art high-spec phone, the same model as Karin’s.
「 As expected, solar charging is great 」
The latest high-spec phones sure are capable
It works even though it hasn’t been connected to the charger for over four months now.
I used the phone I retrieved with my inexperienced hands.
「 This is Byakuya’s phone… 」
After opening the photos and video folder, I found out that it was Byakuya’s phone.
It’s filled with a ton of sex films with various women.
The women’s in rotation, but the guy is always Byakuya.
Some of the videos seem to have been taken from this world.
「 Show me 」
Tanaka took the phone quickly.
「 That’s…lewd…too lewd… 」
Tanaka’s pitching a tent on his pants.
Seeing that, everyone thought of the same thing.
Ah, he’s going to use that as a fap material.
「 Tanaka will hold that phone for now 」
「 Me?! Is that okay? 」
「 If anyone else sees it, I’ll delete all those videos 」
「 I will not allow it! This is now my heirloom! 」
「 Tanaka, you bitch 」
Arisa’s looking at Tanaka with a disgusted face.
The other girls also looked at Tanaka’s actions the same way.
On the other hand, the boys were sympathetic, including me.
But, it’s not that surprising.
His action is perverse but understandable.
「 This seems to be Reito’s phone 」
Another smartphone with the same model as Byakuya is found.
I moved and checked, and figured out that it was Reito’s.
「 It looked like the same model as Karin’s, but this seems to be a special one, right? 」
「 Seems like it, but it looks the same as mine 」says Karin
According to Reito, the brothers have special phones.
That’s what they mentioned on the first day in this world.
However, the appearance isn’t anything different from Karin’s phone.
Perhaps they have attached a special device inside.
「 That’s all 」
In the end, we were able to grab five working smartphones.
「 It’s going to be tough to bring it all home at once so let’s split it into several loads 」
「 「 「 Roger 」 」 」
After sorting out the items, we headed back to the hideout as quickly as we could.
「 I guess we’re the only survivors on this island now. 」
Mana said. I nodded.
Then, I felt some cold wind.
Today’s the coldest day here.
The wind caressed me and my body shivered.
「 「 「 Ah 」 」 」
Everyone noticed.
There was a white breath, albeit a faint one.
It’s gone in an instant, but that moment already informed us.
We’re in a new season.
「 it’s finally winter…it’s going to be harsher now 」
December 6, Friday
Our 143rd day in Isekai.
The other teams were wiped out, while we were going into winter…