Chapter 112: The Haul
Just as day was breaking, a cargo truck drove up the mountain toward the zoo.
Yoshikage Kira and Aoi Hana, both dressed in blue work uniforms, were standing at the main gate, waiting for its arrival.
Seeing the truck stop, Aoi went up to greet the middle-aged driver and bowed. "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's my duty, Hana-chan. It must be tough for you to have to get up so early," the driver said, getting out of his seat. He smiled at Kira. "Hey, young man. Are you the new employee here? Not bad, you look pretty energetic."
Kira nodded at him with a slight smile. "I'm a temporary employee here. I'll be helping out for the next few days."
"It's good to have another pair of hands. You have no idea. Before Hana-chan came, I had to unload everything by myself and leave it at the gate. That Director of yours would never, ever come out to help. He'd just stand in the ticket booth and shout orders."
The driver opened the cargo bay, and a gust of cold air billowed out, making Aoi shiver. Seeing this, Kira stepped forward and began to help the driver unload the contents of the truck. As a ripple of electricity-like Hamon appeared on Kira's hands, the driver's right arm suddenly grew a size larger, and the two of them began to lift the woven sacks of food.
Seeing that her help wasn't needed, Aoi pulled a notepad from her back pocket and began to check off the inventory.
"Young man, is your Quirk some kind of self-enhancement? Just like mine!" the driver said, surprised to see Kira easily lift a hundred-pound sack by himself.
"Something like that," Kira said, not denying it.
The driver was a bit of a chatterbox. Seeing Kira share half the workload, he began to reminisce. "It's great to be young. When I was your age, I was determined to become a Pro Hero. But my Quirk, 'Kirin Arm,' is too one-dimensional. I was eliminated in the second round of the Tottori High Hero Course exam..."
Kira listened as he worked, occasionally nodding along, playing the part of the perfect audience. But in his mind, he was already thinking about how to make this zoo famous.
When the driver paused to catch his breath, Kira suddenly interjected, "Mister, is this zoo famous in Oma City? I've been here for a day, and I haven't seen a single tourist."
"You mean this zoo...?" The driver's attention was diverted. He said with some emotion, "Actually, all the locals in Oma City know there's a zoo here, but most of them aren't willing to come. The location is a bit remote, and only a few buses pass by here each day. Aside from me, who comes once a week to make a delivery, there aren't many other visitors."
"Is there a reason?"
"As for the reason, it's really just the way society is trending..." Seeing that Kira didn't understand, the driver explained, "This is a Quirk-based society, right? Most people have different Quirks. Some people's genes mutate, and they end up with things that aren't human, like wings or tails. Other people end up looking more like animals, with thick fur all over their bodies or the face of an animal... This kind of thing is getting more and more common. When you can see animals just by walking around, why would you spend money to go to a zoo?"
In Kira's own class, there was Asui with her Frog Quirk and Ojiro with his tail. In the class next door, there was Tsunotori with her horns and Shishida with his beast form. In the past, people went to zoos to see novel creatures. But now, humans themselves were becoming stranger and stranger, far more novel than the animals whose images you could conjure just by hearing their names.
"That's true..."
Take the snake-woman, Uwabami, who was helping to fund the zoo. Her Medusa-like snake hair had won her countless fans. Most people just thought her Quirk was turning her hair into snakes. If no one told them, who would ever guess that she was a real python from a zoo, transformed into a human?
But, speaking of which, was there a pattern to the transformations? Female animals became humanoid girls, while male animals were enhanced based on their characteristics.
Just like the lizardman siblings in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. After being named by the protagonist, the female became a greenish-skinned lizard-girl, while the male just grew bigger and stronger... Could this be the will of the world?
No, I must be overthinking it. It's probably just a coincidence. Kira shook his head, dismissing the thought.
"Young man, thank you! You saved me half the time!" After all the food was unloaded, the driver dusted off his hands and looked at Aoi. "Hana-chan, is the inventory checked?"
"No problems," Aoi said, tearing a sheet from her notebook and handing it to the driver. "Here's the receipt."
"Are you two sure you can move all this stuff inside by yourselves?" the driver asked, still a little worried as he got back in his truck. "Do you need my help?"
Aoi shook her head with a smile. "I'm usually enough on my own. And today, we have Kira-kun."
Fweeeet!
Watching the truck's taillights disappear down the road, Aoi blew a whistle that was hanging around her neck. "He's gone! Come on out and help!" she shouted.
A few seconds later, a wolf's head peeked out from a rooftop. It carefully scanned the area, and seeing no other humans besides Kira and Aoi, it looked back and waved its hand vigorously. "Alright, partners! It's time for us to get to work!"
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed as the elephant appeared over the horizon, swinging its trunk. The wolf-man flipped down from the roof and opened the zoo's main gate... A stampede of animals charged toward the entrance.
"I'm first!"
A cheetah, wearing shorts and a tank top, its large belly jiggling, instantly surpassed the others and, with a great gust of wind, shot through the gate and arrived at the delivery point.
"How was that, Zookeeper? I'm first again!" the cheetah said, striking a bodybuilding pose, looking very pleased with himself.
"Same as always, Mr. Cheetah: you need to lose weight," Aoi said, her eyes half-lidded. "Besides, what's the point of you being so fast? You still can't lift anything, can you?"
"Wh-What are you talking about!? I'm a cheetah!" Mr. Cheetah walked over to the largest woven sack and, with a grunt, tried to lift it. But he used too much force and ended up sitting flat on the ground.
Aoi covered her eyes, speechless. "That's just hay. It looks big, but it barely weighs anything..."
By now, the other animals had arrived. The bird-man descended from the sky, holding a giant basket, and landed neatly on the elephant's back. The gorilla and the wolf-man took the straps on either side and tied the basket securely in place.
The bird-man grabbed a sack of goods, flew up over the elephant, and, like a bomber plane, dropped it into the basket. Then, the wolf-man acted as a relay station, continuously helping the bird-man deliver the goods, while the gorilla leaped high into the air and slam-dunked the sacks he was holding into the basket.
The rhinoceros tied a rope around its body and, like a sled dog, pulled a flatbed cart over...
In less than two minutes, with the help of the animals, all the supplies were loaded up. And as thunderously as they had arrived, they departed.
"Was that a circus act...?" Kira said with a wry smile. "They didn't need our help at all."
Aoi, however, was not moved by the animals' brilliant coordination. She sighed. "It's all the Director's fault. He's always indulging his own whims and tormenting them. Even moving supplies has to be turned into a game."
"The Director likes to... torment the animals?" Kira said suddenly. "If the Director likes it, then let's give him what he wants."
"Huh?"
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