After following Arthur for a while, Ellen looked puzzled.
"Aren't we going to the classrooms?"
They had already skirted the main building and reached the back of the campus.
This was the club-cluster area unique to Japanese schools.
Crowbar in hand, Arthur kept scanning the surroundings as he answered.
"Our target isn't in a classroom."
If he remembered correctly,
When the outbreak began, Saeko Busujima had been in the Kendo Club dojo.
It had been only a guess at first,
But piecing together the intel he'd gathered on the way back, the odds of persuading her were high.
After all, Senpai Saeko was the strongest fighter in highschool of the dead!
With her on the team, his own chances of survival would skyrocket.
Relying on nothing but a crowbar and his meager skills to fight through hordes?
Keep dreaming.
"This is... the kendo hall?"
Ellen stared at the dojo, surprised. "Is the person you're looking for in here, Brother Blank?"
"Mm."
They stepped through the open front doors; indoor slippers waited on the entrance step—Arthur ignored them.
Inside lay a spacious, wide tatami dojo.
Directly ahead, a woman knelt on the floor, eyes closed in concentration.
She radiated extraordinary poise.
Silky violet hair spilled over a porcelain neck; her refined face looked heaven-sent, calm brows lending a cool, heroic air.
Even kneeling, the simple sailor uniform flattered her stunning, statuesque figure.
Arthur lifted a foot to step forward.
"Junior, entering the dojo with shoes on violates the Kendo Club's rules."
Arthur glanced at Saeko Busujima.
She hadn't even opened her eyes, and he wore no school uniform—yet she'd identified him instantly.
Her perception was formidable.
No wonder she could carve through zombies solo with a wooden sword.
"Emergencies have priorities, don't they?"
Arthur strode forward, soles thudding onto the wooden floor.
"I don't think your business overrides my club's rules, junior."
"No, no—this isn't my business."
Arthur's tone carried a hint of enticement.
"It's yours, Senpai."
Saeko opened her eyes, gaze sharp.
"I don't know what you mean."
Oh?
Looks like he'd hit the mark.
"Senpai."
Arthur stepped closer.
"You met one last night, didn't you?"
A ripple crossed Saeko's formerly calm expression.
Bingo!
He'd guessed right!
Originally Arthur had planned to play it safe and simply mention the zombies—
That did concern her safety, after all.
But in that scenario any alliance with Saeko Busujima would be shaky and short-lived.
Saeko might be a woman, but she was no ordinary one.
Her combat strength surpassed the threat of the zombies, and Arthur would only slow her down.
He lacked the original male lead's plot-armor charisma;
He couldn't expect this kendo swordswoman to serve as his lifelong bodyguard.
To win her over he had to strike at her core weakness—
The nature she kept hidden.
In the original work, while reveling in slaying zombies, she'd suddenly faced child zombies and relived a traumatic memory.
Her blood-lust had existed even before the apocalypse; inside she'd always considered herself a latent killer.
That very flaw had given the original protagonist the opening to recruit the valkyrie.
Arthur wouldn't give others a chance.
But he also couldn't guarantee that he would be lucky enough to wait for such an opportunity.
So he could only take the initiative and attack.
Fortunately, he seemed to have found Saeko Busujima's weakness.
"Senior, it's clearly still class time."
"As an honor student who cares so much about the rules, why would you skip class to come to the Dojo to meditate?"
On the school bulletin board, there was a promotional poster for her recent victory in the Kendo tournament.
Since the Kendo competition had just ended, she didn't need to practice for any upcoming matches.
When the Zombie outbreak occurred on campus, classes were still in session, yet she was in the Dojo.
Arthur had found this a bit strange when he watched the anime.
Although the original work didn't explain the cause and effect clearly, since everything has become reality in the Reincarnation Space...
...then every event must have an inevitable reason.
Thus, connecting Saeko Busujima's hidden personality with the many irrationalities of this sudden Zombie apocalypse...
...Arthur deduced a vague hypothesis!
The Zombie crisis didn't actually start breaking out today!
Long before today, perhaps even several days ago, Zombies had probably already begun appearing across Japan.
Just like a certain pandemic in his original world, this country was best at hiding the truth from the public after a disaster struck.
The scattered Zombie sightings were likely covered up as brawls or even attacks by mental patients.
But the truth would eventually come out.
The longer it was dragged out, the higher the probability of people encountering Zombies.
And Saeko Busujima was clearly one of the unfortunate ones.
According to Arthur's speculation.
Before today, possibly even yesterday, she had encountered a Zombie!
But obviously, she didn't know Zombies existed.
So at the time, she probably just thought it was someone targeting her because she was a beautiful girl.
The long-lost experience stimulated her long-hidden violent impulses, and then, likely just like her experience in middle school...
...she lured the opponent, and then when they were about to strike... she killed them in return!
However, Zombies don't die or lose their mobility from ordinary attacks.
So, in Arthur's guess...
...the outcome was either that Saeko Busujima discovered the Zombie's undead nature and eventually killed it with her superb skills...
...or Saeko Busujima failed to control her impulse to attack and delivered a fatal blow... which is why she skipped class today and came straight to the Dojo to meditate.
She desperately needed to calm down.
Whether it was to restrain the surging urge to kill or to repent for the guilt of having killed someone.
Arthur leaned toward the latter.
Because if she knew she had killed a monster...
...Saeko Busujima wouldn't be as shaken as she was now.
She was bloodthirsty, but she didn't necessarily enjoy killing people.
She was simply addicted to combat and loved the pleasure of killing things.
If the opponent were a monster, she would only be happier.
Because she could finally kill them all legally, heartily, and without hiding!
But because she hadn't realized it was a monster...
...she mistakenly thought she had killed a person.
That was why she was so shaken.
Because she carried the reputation of the Busujima Family, such a thing could never be exposed!
And Arthur...
...what he needed to do now was give her a reason to forgive herself.
This single reason alone would be the greatest gift to this beast that had been bound by chains.
It would be enough for her to offer up her life!
After all, she was born for slaughter!
She needed someone to give her a reason to fight!
"That's why I'm here."
At some point, Arthur had walked up to Saeko Busujima.
He looked down at her with a smile.
"Senior, become my sword."